Guillotine interview

haragSICK

2008. december 15.

0

When the latest Guillotine promo was released I didn’t know what to do with this swedish band about that I thought they had already been broken up/disbanded a long time ago. A lot of questions aroused, I criticised Nils „Snake” Ericsson, and asked him about what had happened to them and their objectives. I don’t want to waste the time, let’s see them!
First of all, what did you do in the past 10-11 years, and how come you came out with a new album now?

We did seven studio albums with Nocturnal Rites and toured pretty much all over the world. We had a great time, actually, but looking back, it’s a shame we waited 11 years to get back out with a Guillotine album – this has been one of the most fun experiences of our lives (I know I am speaking for the whole band), both recording and mixing was a blast. How come? Well, we never stopped thinking about making a second album, and we actually made a first attempt back in the beginning of 2000. Unfortunately, our studio computer brke down and everything n it went down the drain. We had some great ideas on there and thought they ere lost forever, so our motivation kind of stopped at that. But luckily, I found cassette tapes that we’d made of these ideas, in a shoe box when I was cleaning out my house. This was just recently and one of the facts that triggered us to get back in the saddle.

Was the writing of the lyrics and the presence of lying and corruption in the cover’s conception intentional because of the actual economical crisis?

Well, current events in general influenced us for the songs, but the cover is not a result of the ongoing crisis in the world’s economies. The cover ‘speaks’ in general terms.

How satisfied are you with the cover? How did you manage to persuade Repka to make it, and how long did it take? Did he hear the material and read the lyrics before? What was it like to have him do the cover, who was responsible for big bands’ cultic albums?

We are beyond satisfied wit the cover. It came out even better than we could ever dream about. Well, Repka was our number one choice, but we thought at first that we wouldn’t get a hold of him or that he would be way too booked to be able to do this for us. However, I just dropped him a line on his MySpace and he got back the day after and said he had a hole in his schedule and coud squeeze us in. A few months later we got back this amazing cover! No, he did not hear any songs prior to making the cover.

How did you meet with Pulversied Records?

We made a few songs and shopped them around to different labels. Lots of them were really excited, but Pulverised seemed very genuine and into it on a different level, so we went for them. It has been great working with them. They are doing a super job and we couldn’t be happier.

What do you do besides playing music? How old are you guys, do you families, etc…

Well, we hang out, drink beer, watch TV…but I’d say that most of our time goes into writing music or playing music. Fredrik and me are also in Nocturnal Rites and Daniel and Efraim are in Persuader, so these bands do take some time as well. Yes, I have a wife and a son. Fredrik has a girlfriend with two kids, Efraim has a girlfriend with ine kid and Daniel has a girlfriend and a house, a horse, etc… So, I’d say we are quite busy. We are all between 28 and 33.

What do you think is important to say about the new album?

That it combines elements from the good old bands with some more contemporary influences and some signature Guillotine stuff. I think it caters to a broad array of metal fans.

Would you like to send a message to the readers of Fémforgács?

Check out Blood Money and hope to see you somewhere on the road soon!

Beer or wine?

Both!

Speed or thrash metal? Haha!

Thrash!

Something you’d like to say at the end?

PLAY LOUD!

Thank you for the interview Nils and wish you all the best!