Today I am interviewing Swedish Sludge/Stoner/Noise Rockers – ODYSSEY – who released the excellent album – Abysmal Despair – earlier this year.
Their blend of Sludge, Stoner and Noise Rock has seen them receive excellent praise for the Stoner Metal fraternity. Even from myself earlier this year.
Their blend of Sludge, Stoner and Noise Rock has seen them receive excellent praise for the Stoner Metal fraternity. Even from myself earlier this year.
Well the guys have kindly agreed to do an interview with me.
1. Hi guys. How is it going today? Thanks for talking to us. Much appreciated, as you know I am a big fan of the band.
all is well thank you! thanks for taking the time to have a chat with us! much appreciated - we love your work and what you're doing for the scene!
2. For people not in the know, can you give people a brief history of how the band came about
basically just three guys who wanted to play energetic stonerrock…. which later came to evolve into something more sludgier and noise controlled… this was like almost three years ago now. in this time we have
3. How would yourselves describe your sound. I class it as a lo-fi based Sludge/Stoner/Noise Rock vibe.
yeah, that's just about it innit! hum, we like to consider ourselves as a sludgestoner band… we rely much on how we work as a unit rather than individuals when we write songs.. and we hope that this comes thru in the end product - this is very important to us…
4. Which bands and artists had a direct influence on your music
oh lord… this is one tricky Q… we like loads of different stuff within the group. let's just say that it varies from woven hand to deaf heaven…
5. Abysmal Despair was released earlier this year. It has received some great press so far. Have you been happy with the feedback so far?
the feedback on the album has been just overwhelming really! we've gotten some really nice reviews! the only sad thing about all this tho is that not one of the people who wrote all these reviews have ever seen us live - which we really think they should…
6. Was it a challenging album to write and record for and were you happy with the final result?
more or less the songs on the album just came to us, more or less. when we write stuff - we jam. and we are really good at picking out stuff that we think would stick in you guys ears…. like we jam a lot… this is elemental, take that away from us and we are fucked song-writing-wise… the end result is just what we wanted it to be. but expect some heavier and noisier stuff soon…
7. What is the song-writing process like in the band? Is it down to one individual or does everyone contribute?
just like we said - we jam a-f-ing-lot! for us this is essential. not only for writing but to get closer to each other as individuals. we find that the time we get to spend with each other in our cave (rehearsal space) is not only about Odyssey, but so much more. it evolves us as human beings….. which in the end also reflects on the stuff we put out.
8. Is their a vibrant live Rock/Metal scene for you guys to perform. Or do you have to travel around to perform on a regular basis?
the city we live in is f-ing dead…… there's no joke in that! but hey, we really like to be in a car most of the day just to do a really energetic set! that's what it's about innit…? we have done loads of travelling, mostly in sweden - and every show we've done has been amazing! we really would like to travel more into europe tho… and thankfully we got a tour coming up this spring which will be mental!
9. What is the live Odyssey experience like? What should fans expect?
like when we go on stage all other worldly things disappear from our minds… it's really all about letting emotions come to life… we tend to brake stuff and get hurt quite a lot… we suppose it would look quite chaotic… for us it's more about the visual experience than the musicality, which would probably sound like we don't know what we're doing - but we kinda do….
10. You are planning a European Tour next year. How are the plans for that going?
oh, that's going quite well actually! we've got a couple dates down, all including Black Pyramid (which we released our 7"split with earlier this year). countries who will be saved this time around are czech republic, germany, france, belgium and the netherlands - we might fit in some other destinations. it's all being planned out as we speak.
11. Do you all have full time jobs or is the band itself your full time job?
we all have full time jobs part from the band, we bake bread, do tattoos and sell jeans. thankfully our superiors know that music is very important to us - so they let us off when we need to…
12. Are your family and friends supportive of your music?
100%, but they might not understand what the hell we are doing wit it…
13. What are your views of blogs promoting your music compared to mainstream publications? Has you music reached any mainstream magazines or websites?
we've actually gotten in quite a few bigger magazines. in sweden and some in the UK… we've basically been getting either shit or average reviews from those guys tho… blogs and underground publications are the one's who seems to understand what we are about tho - which is the way we like it, really… we realize that our music might not be very much intended for the"mainstream" ear
we all have full time jobs part from the band, we bake bread, do tattoos and sell jeans. thankfully our superiors know that music is very important to us - so they let us off when we need to…
12. Are your family and friends supportive of your music?
100%, but they might not understand what the hell we are doing wit it…
13. What are your views of blogs promoting your music compared to mainstream publications? Has you music reached any mainstream magazines or websites?
we've actually gotten in quite a few bigger magazines. in sweden and some in the UK… we've basically been getting either shit or average reviews from those guys tho… blogs and underground publications are the one's who seems to understand what we are about tho - which is the way we like it, really… we realize that our music might not be very much intended for the"mainstream" ear
14. We all know that Sweden has a brilliant Stoner/Sludge Metal scene with too many great bands to mention. What are your fave bands from your own home country? Any other bands that you can recommend for us to check out.
ok, so… this Q is tricky, since we don't really listen to a lot of swedish stoner/sludge music… there's a few who needs a shoutout tho - bong of c'thulu is some really heavy shit! cassus, skraeckoedlan are really good bands as well! one band that really needs some light abroad is Riddarna from gothenburg! amazing musicians and extraordinary human beings
15. Have you toured with any famous bands and do you have any cool stories that you can tell us?
not been doing a lot of shows with famous bands really… we played a couple times with graveyard and such but we really never gotten thru…
witold has been accused for pulling a knife on a sad motherfucker one time….
yeah, we smoke a lot and tend to forget the funniest shit…. released on a 10". but, really - the most exciting stuff going on right now is the fact that we get to to tour. and the fact that we get to support Black Pyramid is huge for us! this is like the next step in the odyssey-history…
16. Who are your fave bands to listen to at the moment? Or do you like listening to the classic bands of Hard Rock/Doom/Stoner and Sludge in general?
olde growth is an amazing band. Jonas is dead into The Body from portland… witold is all about Band Of Skulls and everything that jack white laid his hand into. jesper is down with the color haze and elder stuff right now. we tend to vary a lot in influences, which we think reflects in the stuff we put out….
17. What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band?
none/none.
18. Do you have any exciting plans coming up in the next 12 months or so?
we are currently writing songs for an EP. which will hopefully be released on a 10". but, really - the most exciting stuff going on right now is the fact that we get to to tour. and the fact that we get to support Black Pyramid is huge for us! this is like the next step in the odyssey-history…
19. And finally do you have anything to say to your fans?
come to our shows , get involved - buy our shit… world peace now!
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Check Out This Excellent Band In Action from the video that grabbed my attention and made me a fan. The brilliant - Wicked Witch.
