Dead Lord released “In Ignorance We Trust” on August 25 through Century Media. While they were on tour promoting their third album, we had a chance to speak with bassist Martin Nordin and drummer Adam Lindmark about it and also why Sweden id kicking the Hard Rock scene’s ass!!
M.I. - Let’s start with the more obvious: How did the band started?
It actually started with Hakim Krim (singer/guitarist). He was with another band where he played guitar, but when he quit, he moved to Stockholm and had lots of material that was never used. We met and he wanted to start a band with me but I said I was in five bands already, which is kind of a Swedish typical attitude: if you are not in three bands at least, then you are not in a band!! I was reluctant at first but when he showed the demos it was really good material, and we actually used most of it on our first recording, “Goodbye Repentance”. We had guitarist Olle Hedenstrom, and we asked Tobias Lindkvist, who was from up north, to move to Stockholm and be our bass player. Tobias and Olle actually met the day we started to record our first EP, “No Prayers Can Help You Now”, back in 2012. We never made a demo for it, just met and started playing and recording straight away! That landed a great record deal for the first record and it was out within the first year of the band’s existence. We started playing live but then Tobias left to concentrate on Enforcer and Martin join in 2015. From then on we recorded a second album, toured extensively and now we have a third album out!
M.I. – When we think about the Scandinavia rock scene, our preconceived minds takes us to the cold dark forests that set the scenery for so many death and black metal bands, but we forget Sweden has a damn good hard rock scene, with Hellacopters, Spiders and Graveyard, among so many others. How do you look at the scene in Sweden and why do you think you are so well received throughout the hard rock scene?
As you said, there is a lot of new bands coming from Sweden at the moment and touring Europe. I think we have to blame the really long winters, where there’s not much to do except to be inside the rehearsal studio, playing together. If I was living in Portugal I would be surfing all day!! Actually, Sweden is a small country and everyone knows everyone in the rock scene, so we are also inspired by each other.
M.I. – Do you get to know everyone?
Pretty much! The scene people talk about actually kind of looks better from the outside! In Stockholm the scene consist of people you meet at bars or a band which is successful, and we all know everyone.
M.I. – You are promoting “In Ignorance We Trust”, your third album. This was once again produced by Ola Ersfjord, whom we've worked with on every Dead Lord release to this day. Is he like the fifth member of the band by now?
For the song writing process we do it ourselves but we love to work with Ola because he has a lot of good ideas on how to make the songs better. He is a fifth member in the way we trust him the same way we trust all members of the band. When we come into the studio we know he knows what we want and how to get it. There’s a huge amount of trust but not to the point he would actually force something on to us. That is one of the several reasons we decided to come to Madrid to record.
M.I. – That was actually what I was going to ask next! Last album was recorded in Stockholm and now you have done this one at Cuervo Recording Service's studio in Madrid. It’s the same producer but how do you think recording in a different country/studio reflects on the final product?
I think it’s hearable without you actually being able to identify where, but your environment definitely influences you. We were sweating in the studio and you can almost taste the sweat of the songs. The first album was recorded in hard mean Dublin, and it is reflected on that sound. Where you are influences your creativity, for sure. Obviously going out of your daily life makes you concentrate 100% on what you are doing, with no routine distractions.
M.I. – Do you continue to think that for a record to be well recorded you have to tape it live, as if you were on stage?
We have always done live recording and we will keep doing it, mainly because that is how we sound and it wouldn’t work doing it in layers. Also it does sound better; you can actually hear we are playing together. When you tape it live, the small details you only notice are completely left behind. You just get a great vibe! Obviously we use the new technology for overdubs, but that’s it.
M.I. – You record the songs on studio and then you have to play them live. Do they have room for improvisation?
Of course! You always do something different, minor changes. Some of the songs we have a huge section destined to improvise. Some are very strict but a live show shouldn’t be like listening to an album. A favorite live album of mine, Blue Oyster Cult´s “On Your Feet or on Your Knees”, there is hardly a song you can recognize from their discography. Because we are used to playing it live so many times, it’s pretty normal to change the songs and play every single song live.
I think all songs on this one complement each other, so there is not really a strong favorite, but one of them, “Reruns”, our first single, we have been playing it for almost a year now and always with a great response, even though it was not recorded until now. “Darker Times” was also an instant success. It’s a happy sounding song with a dark theme but people really loved it. “Too Late” is also a great song to play live.
M.I. – The title of this album takes me back to your second album, lyrically speaking. It’s like a message against the money that controls the world and people being selfish and believing everything they read. Is that your main focus when you are writing? It’s definitely not hard rock cliché lyrics…
I think you hit the nail on that!! People are saying it is more political but we don’t want to be political to influence anyone. We are disturbed with people taking pride with being ignorant, with fake news and alternative facts. That is a big problem with the world today. We have never had so much information but we see opinion passing on as facts. That is a very dangerous road to go down.
M.I. – The album has been out since August. How are you promoting it?
We had the summer festivals up until the release date and them we will tour with Imperial State Electric in November all over Europe. With a new album it looks like a fresh start, because you get to prepare a completely different setlist.
M.I. – A final message for our readers!
Thanks for the support. Our album came out better than we expected, so listen to it! It’s really good!
Interview by Vasco Rodrigues
