A little while back Elliot did a review on a avant-grade
metal band called Diablo Swing Orchestra.
They had a fantastic sound, and crazy style that everyone at the blog
really dug. When we found out they
were coming out with a new album Elliot and I decided we have to do an
interview with these guys. We got
in contact with Anders "Andy" Johansson, the bassist of the band, and
got down to questioning.
Do you want to give a
bit of a synopsis of your band’s interesting history?
Instead of the typical linear
storyline, I'm gonna start off by some real deep digging. Here I go. Beyond the
conditioning of our minds, and its assumptions – and furthermore boredom as a
consequence – there is a vast, nonjudgemental openness. That's the place where
the arts are best experienced, I'd say. Before I lose ya'll into that void, I
want to sum it up in short: That openness keps you attentive and appreciating!
Since all members of the orchestra enjoy that space, it was easy for us to
translate that attentiveness into finding those being like-minded. We all come
from rather different disciplines and we all consitute various musical
backgrounds. Something surely happens as a result when you blend all that.
Everything from baritone metal swish-swosh and mariachi hooks, all the way to
spaghetti western crescendos, and they all definitely fall into place too. I
personally believe our wide spread constitutes the essence of Diablo Swing, and
that this in turn bubbles up into a somewhat boiling «häxblandning» of musical
crayons, indeed.
How’d you come up
with the name of the new album?
As for the other two full length
albums, we weren't only looking for a great title to connect to the other ones
before it (albums or EPs), or to us as a band, but also a suitable container of
the eleven songs as a whole. Think of it as a bag of tricks, a room for safe
keeping, a collection of literary volumes, if you will. The piñata is our
container this time around, and I guess you can all image the possible contents
of it, your good selves…
Where did you draw
influence for Pandora's Piñata?
The answers above also apply here,
and along with those, since we've come to communicate quite closely with our
listeners during the last few years, we've based a lot of the lyrical content
on the mix of our own, and other people's own stories regarding relationships,
individuality, as well as society and its possibilities and discontents. We're
all very alike as humans, and these topics can't be aired enough really. Also,
with this being our third full album release, we've had some serious practicing
in the matter of composing the last nine years, and I'd say that this time
we're more of a homogeneous gathering of folks. Both regarding how we sound, as
well as how we work as individuals in a group. Judging from how the album
turned out, and from the Latin American tour we just finished, I'd say we're a
well oiled octagon machine at the moment! That unity was in itself a great
influence for Pandora's Piñata, as well as a great reason as to the album
ending up the way it did.
A lot of your songs
sound pretty different from one another. Who do you guys thing you draw
influences from the most?
Yes, indeed. And that is the key
right there. As you probably know, music is a great way to defuse the
seriousness of everyday life, and what better way of doing so, than through a
blend of styles keeping listeners alert for every upcoming move? Just as for
the case of many of our influences, you never know what to expect next.
Depending on who in the band you ask, you'd get a different anwer, since we're
wide in inspiration like that, but if I would give an honest shot, those
artists would range from your typical 1920s Benny Goodman
”Sing-Sing-Sing-Swing”, the guitar based jams of Luiz Bonfa and Django
Reinhardt, Disney soundtracks, swedish old school lullabys, vintage latin
grooves, all the way to ”The Triplets of Belleville” and modern day equals. Not
to mention contemporary alternative hard rock of course. The latter constituting
bands like Djerv, Tool, Stolen Babies, Opeth, Muse, Primus and mr Mike Patton's
projects among many others. As an example of modern day versions of the 1920s
musical glory, the band Katzenjammer would definitely be it. The use of a huge
Balalaika with a smug smiling cat on it alone. I mean — what's not to like?
Your band is slightly
larger then most bands now a days.
What do you think that adds to the group?
With Daniel Hedin (trombone) and
Martin Isaksson (trumpet) finally added as full time members, we're not only a
larger engine these days, being able to include horns in a much more integrated
way while composing. This is truly noticable on the latest album. You can
really hear the result of the eight of us being more present throughout the whole
process of writing this time. We've also, as opposed to in the beginning, as
stated before, become more glued together as a whole. For example, we're way
better regarding rehearsing our songs before we enter the studio at all. I
guess experiences of highs and lows do that to you, right? We simply know the
songs by heart now; and there is well crafted pre-production material to fall
back on, in case of issues presenting themselves while recording. This makes
the recording process a much smoother one, which of course also may be heard
audio-wise. I mean, that base helps everything from the producer to any
possible additional musicians entering our recording sphere. So, yes, we are a
larger group of folks these days, but also a tighter unit in a lot of ways.
What was it like
getting denied access to Caracas, Venezuela?
We'd just landed there coming from
Paris, and we were all just really eager to go to the hotel for some much
longed for sleep, and prepare for the tour premiere. As we all know, making
plans like that often makes God laugh though. Luckily, as for all other
possible matters appearing on tour, we've grown quite calm in the sense of
handeling them without unnecessary issues. This goes for anything from lining
up for the passport control to checking in at hotels, dealing with soundchecks
and shows these days. An example of that, is surely this one, where customs
wouldn’t let us in due to a situation regarding work visas, so we were supposed
to be deported back to Paris. According to them, that is. With a marginal of 30
minutes however, we managed to makse them deport us to Medellin, Colombia, so
the tour could continue from there instead. Close call, that one — Phew! Both
the reactions from the band members on the matter, as well as how all chipped in
to resolve the issue, was a great experience in the middle of the slight panic,
indeed. People never stop amazing me. Other than that, the learning process
sure is a never ending one...
Other then that how
was the rest of the Central/South American tour?
Since the experience in itself was
such a wide and content-filled one, I could just go on and on. Instead, I
figured I'd keep this one short though. So. Mutual sweating, merging loads of
energy and shared euphoria aside — An Amen and a few modest Ave Marias to bring
it to a halt. All good things must come to an end, however, we're counting the
days untill we can all go back for another round! Needless to say, we're truly
amazed by this adventure of rank!
How did the European
tour compare to the Central/South American tour?
I'll have to get back to you on
that, since we haven't toured Europe for quite a while now. However, we're
actually heading to the highly acclaimed metal festival Wacken Open Air in just
two weeks, so maybe I can put an answer into shape after that. That particular
festival experience is a much longed for one for us indeed, and I'm sure we can
work a few wonders down there, being really worked up post the Latin American
tour!
Can we be expecting a
US tour soon?
Unfortunately not during 2012,
since we weren't able to fit that into our Latin America schedule this time,
and the paper work for playing the US sure is an exercise in itself, so one has
to have the inside scoop early on to do all the proper planning for such a
tour. However, it looks like we'll be able to visit those much longed for
states during 2013. Maybe along with another South America and Mexico visit,
and then stay a bit longer than we did this year. Now, that would truly be
something.
Where’s the best
place to catch up on the latest DSO news?
That would definitely be on
Facebook & on Twitter, (@DiabloSwing &
@andersjohanson).
I
wanted to thank Anders, and the rest of the band for helping us out with the
interview. Check out their new
album on their website, and check out the above websites for news and shows. I'll leave you with a track form their new release.
You can follow the blog on the facebook for music news and new posts. Also check out some of our other posts with Salsa Shark, and The Spring Standards
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