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Scandinavian new breed

When I started to book the Said And Done trip to Scandinavia that’s taking place in March/April (we’ll have the dates up before the end of the year) I noticed there were some great bands coming up from that part of the world. I can’t feature them all, but I decided to pick 3, including Upright who we’ll be our partners in crime on most dates of the trip. In retrospect it’s pretty good I picked only 3 by the way, because it took me long enough to get all the answers for this one, damn you lazy bastards haha. Nah, just kidding.

Anyway, here we go. Check out 3 fresh new bands from Scandinavia that are worth your attention for sure: GUILTY from Sweden and UPRIGHT and FORESEEN from Finland.

“Dude… we need to start a band that sounds like the Mags.”

GUILTY
Sweden

So what’s up at the moment?
Yo dude, not too much. Just got home from a night out here in Linköping, so I’m just chillin right now listening to some sweet tunes!

Gotta do this, so let’s get it out of the way quick. Introduce the band to the unknown reader.
GUILTY is a hardcore band hailing from Sweden that plays tunes in the vein of classic N.Y.H.C bands such as the almighty Cro-Mags, Madball and other awesome bands. We’ve been around for like 7-8 months or so now, but only recently started playing shows since we wanted to have a demo out and be really, really well rehersed before. Since we released the demo on the internet we’ve played like 3 shows and have gotten an amazing response at those shows. The demo is now gonna be released as a 7″ on Green Menace Records, which we’re really stoked about and our next show is coming up late october playing Fat Fest with a bunch of other amazing bands.

If you had to describe you sound to people by picking 3 songs (can be any songs), which ones would it be and why?
Geez that’s a hard one… Um… Let me think about this… Ok, first of all Leeway – Mark of Squealer just cause it’s fucking amazing. It also has pretty much everything we strive for in our songs: fast parts, groovey parts, guitar solos and mosh parts. Also more kids should check them out. I don’t think they get half the credit they deserve these days. Then I’d probably put Madball – Fall this time on there. Same deal with the song being amazing as fuck but also: HARD FUCKING RIFFS. Also I don’t think that we could possibly do this list without mentioning The Cro-Mags. We could probably take any song from any record (yes, including Alpha Omega, cause it’s fucking sweeeet), but to just mention one: Apocalypse Now. Cause that’s what we want our shows to be like.

How’s everything going so far for you guys? Any highlights?
I’d say the show in Jönköping with Values was a great highlight. It was only our second show, and the response we got there was just overwhelming! Getting offered to release the demo on a 7″ two days after it was released on our myspace was also really, really nice.

How does Guilty stand in this world of ours, what should be changed if you guys were in charge?
First of all we’d change the government over here in Sweden. Recently the swedes thought it would be a great idea to let the government that have been fucking our wellfare system up beyond all recognition, rule this country for another four years. And while they were at it, they let a racist party into the goverment. Basically our country’s going to shit… Also I’d abolish all ignorance and stupidity. Without it the world would be a much better place. Oh, and without saying, religion would never have been invented in the first place… I think that should take care of most of our problems.

Let’s talk about lyrics. Pick your favorite Guilty song lyric wise and explain why.
My personal favorite is probably “off balance”. I wrote that song when I had had enough of people just giving up on their ideals. It really makes me fucking sad seeing people abandoning what they used to feel so strongly for. It really doesn’t matter if it’s people breaking the edge, forgetting their political ideals or what ever. It always makes me sad to see it happen, and to see it happen over and over again in the hardcore scene just amazes me. I always thought that this place was a place for ideals and that people in it were actually passionate about things. But the hardcore scene is slowly but surely turning into regular society, where ideals don’t mean shit all. We need to do something about it, and we need to do something about it NOW, before it’s too late.

So what would you guys like to achieve with Guilty? Any world domination plans?
We just wanna enjoy this as much as we possibly can. We wanna tour Europe, meet new people, have an awesome time at every show we play and keep going for as long as we enjoy it. We’re all really good friends, so just hanging out together is a blast every time.

Aside from Upright, Foreseen and you guys, what else is going on in Scandinavia at the moment? Any bands we really need to check out?
There’s a lot going on right now in Scandinavia. You should check out Big Deal, Hårda Tider, Commitment Crew, Angers Curse (they’re actually gonna start playing shows again! STOKED on that!)… Actually, you know what? You should basically just check out the compilation that’s coming out on Law And Order Records. We’ll be on it, and so will pretty much every hardcore band from Sweden right now. Trust me: You wont be disappointed.

Both Upright and Foreseen came up with a question for you too, here’s the one by Upright:

How did you find each other when you decided to form a band? How did the band get started?
It all started with me and Anton listening to Cro-Mags. We were both like “Dude… we need to start a band that sounds like the Mags”. It was basically somewhat of a joke in the beginning, but then we actually decided to try and make it happen. I called a friend of mine called Linus and asked if he wanted to go down to the rehersal place and just jam a little bit. I had a couple of riffs that I wanted to try out. Linus was stoked so we went down there and played for like an hour or so. After that Linus called our friend Dennis and asked him if he wanted to play drums in a band inspired by NYHC. He said “Hell yes!” and a couple of days later we all got together and jammed. I then called Anton and said: “yo, dude. we have a couple of tunes. when you coming up?”, haha. Our bass player joined a couple of weeks later. We live in a pretty small town so all the hardcore kids here at least know each other by name, so finding the right people for this project wasn’t really hard at all. Linus and Martin and I had already played in bands together before and Dempe was playing drums for SCA at the time when we started GUILTY. All the guys have been playing hardcore for a pretty long time so we all knew what to expect which was a really good thing.

And here’s the one by Foreseen, Best metal guitarist ever? Who wrote the most wicked riffs?
Whoa dudes… That’s a hard one to answer. So many to choose from… We’re in my couch now discussing it and it’s really hard to just say “this dude’s the main man of metal-riffs”, but Scott Ian is definetly up there but as Scott himself once said: “Without Dave Mustaine there might not even be thrash metal”. We might be obliged to agree with Scott there and say Dave Mustaine. It’s hard to discard metal heads like Zack Wylde, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Ross The Boss (Hail and fucking Kill!), but I guess we’re gonna have to… The three thousand guitar players in Iron Maiden has done a pretty good job of writing sweet ass songs too and Dimebag Darrell is not to be forgotten here… Man it’s just a question that’s impossible to answer, so don’t fucking make us!

And to close this off.. If you guys wouldn’t be doing this band, you would be… ?
In some other band.

Ok that’s it. Final words, the floor is yours.
Oh, I hate this… Everyone’s expecting me to write something smart, and I already tried my hardest doing that up there, answering the question about what we’d do if we could change the world… Should’ve known this question was coming… Dammit! So yo… I’m not gonna write anything political here. I think that if we want to say something about how fucked this world is (and it reeeeeally is…) we’ll do it in our lyrics. I think that’s what bands should be doing. So just check out our myspace, come to our shows, hang out, sing along. Have an amazing time. And stay classy.

http://www.myspace.com/guiltyhc

“It’s good to have something other to do then just wanking off all day.”

UPRIGHT
Finland

So what’s up at the moment?
Just over a month ago we recorded songs for the Upright/Foreseen split 7″ which will be our first proper release. Besides that nothing special, practicing alot, playing shows and having fun while doing it.

Gotta do this, so let’s get it out of the way quick. Introduce the band to the unknown reader.
Okay, Me(Niko) – Vocals, Heini – Bass, Markus – Guitar and Drums Mårten, we come from central Finland, and a big influence to us is late 80’s NYHC.

If you had to describe you sound to people by picking 3 songs (can be any songs), which ones would it be and why?
Goddam, difficult question… Maybe these:
Madball – Set It Off
Outburst – Thin Ice
Crown of Thornz – Juggernaut
or not… haha, i don’t know..

How’s everything going so far for you guys? Any highlights?
Everythings going great, I mean we all like our own band very very much haha, and everyone likes what others do and how they do it.
I think that almost every show has been a highlight. And of course when people come up to say that your band is so goddamn good, it feels so nice to hear that.

How does Upright stand in this world of ours, what should be changed if you guys were in charge?
We’re not very much in to politics or what I can say about me is that I’m kind of a dumb kid haha. But one thing that we all share is that we are vegetarians, so if we would be in charge we would do something to animal rights in this modern world.  Meat Is For Pussies.

Let’s talk about lyrics. Pick your favorite Upright song lyric wise and explain why.
Have to mention two songs of ours that I really enjoy singing, first is the song Temptations from the demo and another song called Better Days, which will be on that Foreseen split.
Well those lyrics have been current in my life all the time since i wrote them, while some of my lyrics just describe a period of time or just one incident in my life.

So what would you guys like to achieve with Upright? Any world domination plans?
World domination? not quite, haha. Just going on tour with you guys (S&D) is almost a dream coming true, and one thing I wanna do someday is a 12″. But as you achieve these things you wanna achieve more right?

Aside from Foreseen, Guilty and you guys, what else is going on in Scandinavia at the moment? Any bands we really need to check out?
I don’t know Scandinavia generally, but Finland has some really tight bands at the moment, No Part(Just recorded their first demo, goddamn how good.), Eye For All, Escape To Death, Cold Inside, Ills and of course Foreseen, the future looks bright.. From sweden i like Big Deal, Stay Hungry, and Balance, just to name a few..

Both Foreseen and Guilty came up with a question for you too, here’s the one by Guilty:
What song / songs if everyone in the bands wanna answer, have inspired you the most and why?

We talked together about this and we came up with a “few” answers:

Madball – Demonstrating My Style
– Great “crew-feeling” in that song,
“The years pass and people change
But I’m stayin’ true to my ways
Hardcore is my life, I’ll carry the name”

Gorilla Biscuits – New Direction
– Great message delivered with great music, all you need.

Mårten wanted to say Leeway’s song Mark of the Squeler, ’cause
Tony Fontão has been a big influence to his drumming.

And few more: Warzone – As One (one of the greatest song ever made) and Breakdown – Don’t Give Up (Great lyrics, I would mosh so hard on this song), Youth of today – No More (needless to say why, right?).

Foreseen came up with this one, why is it important to tell that you’re a vegetarian band?

We have mentioned this twice hah, on our myspace blog and in this interview.. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal though to our band, but personally to each of us yes, but I wouldn’t put that kind of label on us, ’cause if someone drops, we won’t kick him/her out of the band. My lyrics don’t tell about these issues that much and I guess people wouldn’t even think that way if we wouldn’t say it. And it’s not that important if your band is a straight edge band or a vegetarian band, the most important thing is that you have something real and honest to say.. We all are vegetarians but we’re not gonna do shirts which say it. And personally I like being a vegetarian, I like being different.

And to close this off.. If you guys wouldn’t be doing this band, you would be… ?
It’s good to have something other to do then just wanking off all day.

Ok that’s it. Final words, the floor is yours.
Spreading the hardcore reality in 2010, support bands, go to shows and mosh hard. Peace out.

http://www.myspace.com/uprighthardcore

“Foreseen is all about riffage.”

FORESEEN
Finland

So what’s up at the moment?
Yo Pim. We played a minitour in finland with Deal With It a while ago. And now we’re just waiting for our split 7″ with Upright to get mastered and pressed.
And yeah, we started to write songs for our LP!

Gotta do this, so let’s get it out of the way quick. Introduce the band to the unknown reader.
Foreseen was formed about a year ago (autumn 2009) when one other band broke up. We started as a three-piece and we did some search for other members. First we found Teemu to play bass and we accepted him. And then I asked Lauri to come to our rehearsals to see what’s up and I guess he was impressed enough to join the band. We were really glad that we finally had members who didn’t held back our metal influences. We wrote some songs but rejected the first two cause we weren’t totally satisfied with them. Then we wrote some more songs for the demo, but in the studio we realised that our sound was way too good for just a tape and we didn’t want to spend 500 euros on recording a 4-song demotape. So we talked with some European labels. And now here we are with a record, released by Take It Back, Powertrip and Green menace Records. Daniel from Green Menace Records once wrote “Foreseen from Finland is making heavy riffs and raw solos that will make you feel ashamed of riff that you thought was heavy before.”

If you had to describe you sound to people by picking 3 songs (can be any songs), which ones would it be and why?
Death Camps by Cro-Mags, Life Is Pain by Merauder and And Then There Were None by Exodus, because Foreseen is all about riffage.

How’s everything going so far for you guys? Any highlights?
Just finished recording two new tracks for Foreseen/Upright split 7″. We also played our first show abroad. Deal With It tour was absolutely a highlight. Shows were really good for both bands and hangouts even better. Van moshing to The Wrong Side, Eating and watching porn at some pizza place in Jyväskylä, Snowballfights and Life Of Agony covers by DWI. Too bad we didn’t make it to the heavy metal karaoke after all..

How does Foreseen stand in this world of ours, what should be changed if you guys were in charge?
Fur-farming. There’s no way anyone can have good arguments to support that.

Let’s talk about lyrics. Pick your favorite Foreseen song lyric wise and explain why.
Contrast’s Clear has the most personal lyrics I have ever written. It’s basically about being really dissappointed in someone you care about. It’s about my father’s drug abuse. When my mother broke up with him after 10 years of fighting, I still tried to see him a couple of times a week. I had faith in him, I really thought things were changing back for the better with him when he gets over the biggest depression what the divorce caused. Then I started working near the place he lived and I saw him once in a while and one time I saw him dropping some pills from his pocket and I asked if he really wants to walk that dead end path again and break the realitionship with his children. And I guess he said “yes” cause I saw him being really wasted a day after that. He called me a week ago and I explained that I don’t want to be in any contact with him until he goes through full rehab.

So what would you guys like to achieve with Foreseen? Any world domination plans?
If the Foreseen LP ever comes out we’re more than satisfied. Doing an eurotour next year would be really hard for us since all of us are students and Jonni is going to army in July. So I think we’re just going to do a small Scandinavian tour with some of our friend’s band or something. Let’s see.

Aside from Upright, Guilty and you guys, what else is going on in Scandinavia at the moment? Any bands we really need to check out?
Do yourself a favor and check these bands: Eye For All, Bolt, Stay Hungry, Diskelmä, No Part and Hårda Tider. Ills is working on a new 7″ so everyone should definitely keep their ears open for that. Also the Lighthouse Project’s new LP titled “Atonement” is really great.

Both Upright and Guilty came up with a question for you too, here’s the one by Guilty:

What song /songs if everyone in the bands wanna answer, have inspired you the most and why?
TEEMU: This is a hard one…. One of the songs has to be Master of Puppets by Metallica, because when I heard that song (and the whole record) I realised that I wanna start playing guitar and bass. Other song would propably be Sailin’ On by Bad Brains, because that’s when I realised that you don’t need to make complicated music to sound absolutely amazing. And finally maybe A Day in the Life by The Beatles, because that song is like a musical masterpiece to me. …and everything by Manowar & Venom, hehe

LAURI: When I started to listen to music as a kid (9-10 years old), …And justice for all was the first record I got. Pretty soon after I quit playing ice hockey and begged my parents to sell that goalkeepers gear and buy me a guitar instead, and they did. First song I learned to play was “One”. So I’d have to say that although this is not Metallica’s greatest moment, that album and song inspired me to start playing music in the first place. And of course, Manowar. Nice intro at Fatfest!

ERKKA: I think i would not be here without many number of bands, lot of them not worth of mentioning nowadays. I have to give credits to Metallica cause it was the first heavymetal band that i listened to. Also my friend Juha kept banging it to my head that Megadeth is the best and i started to pick that up so i also have to mention Megadeth. So to drop a couple of songs, i’d have to say Creeping Death and Holy Wars.

Here’s the ony by Upright (with some help of myself haha), If you could trade places with a band on a certain date in history, which band would you pick, which moment and why?
Erkka: Pantera in the 90’s.

And to close this off.. If you guys wouldn’t be doing this band, you would be… ?
Lauri would still keep shredding in Diskelmä and telling people what they can eat and what is good for their health. Jonni would still ignore everything what Lauri says and eat too many hamburgers during the break at the gym. Teemu would still live in Espoo, sweat like hell and study something, Erkka would still be married and trying to grow his facial hair. and I would still book shows and print some shirts.

Ok that’s it. Final words, the floor is yours.
Thanks to Christian Take It Back, Daniel Green Menace, Timo Street Survival, Hannes Powertrip and special thanks to you for doing this interview. Support hardcore. Listen to Warzone, Down My Throat and Nuclear Assault.

http://www.myspace.com/foreseen78

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