The Breakup and Return of PERSUADER!
Interviewed by EvilG
(Sept. 2001)
Persuader's CD, THE HUNTER was selected by a number of us here as a
"Best of 2000" release.
The band was also chosen by a number of us as "Best NEW band"
for 2000. Therefore, it was quite disappointing, in early 2001, when we
learned the band had broken up. Just a few weeks ago I received an
e-mail from Emil Norberg - who informed me the band had reformed and he
was their new guitarist!! So here is an interview to bring you all up to
speed on one of Sweden's great heavy metal hopes...PERSUADER!!
I
want to start out by getting this out of the way. I remember getting an
e-mail from Pekka with the very sad news that Persuader were no more. If
I remember correctly it was partly due to musical differences. Please
explain (in detail I hope!!) exactly what happened that lead to the band
splitting up.
Basically, it happened because of personal and musical differences. Allot
of bad feelings were involved, it was sometimes hard to get along with
Pekka, and in the end it led to the departure of Jens, which was shortly
followed by Efraim.
Your album "The Hunter" showed such promise and such
hope. Why did you guys decide to split at all rather then just
immediately reform with a line-up change?
At first we didn´t have any plans to continue at all. But after a
while Jens asked Emil if he would like to start the band over with him
filling Pekka´s spot. He was interested, auditioned, and it worked out
fine.
Were you thinking about dropping the name
"Persuader"? (I'm glad you've kept it!)
No, we never considered that. It would just have been a big waste to
change the name since it has become quite established. And the line-up
change wasn´t that drastic, two of the main-songwriters are still in
the band, so the style of the music will probably stay the same as
before.
The shut-down of your label "Loud 'N Proud" must of
been upsetting. Did that play any part in the break-up of the band?
It was upsetting indeed! We kept waiting and waiting for the album to
be released, but nothing happened. It was hard to get hold of the LNP
guys, and they kept on moving the release date further and further. Then
finally, when we thought they had solved their problems, we found out
that they're going out of business. However, this had nothing to do with
our breakup. As soon we found out about LNP we made plans to get a deal
with some other label.
Who's idea was it to reform Persuader?
5. Jens made the initial contacts, but it was a mutual decision. We
had come a long way with the band, and since Emil was interested there
was no reason not to try again.
How long "down time" did you have before deciding to
resurrect Persuader and were all the remaining members up for it or was
some convincing needed to bring the former members back?
About 3 or 4 months. It wasn´t very hard to convince the remaining
members once they had thought it through.
Do
you own the rights to the album "The Hunter" and would you
re-release it on a label if one offered you the opportunity to properly
put it out and distribute it for you?
No, LNP own the rights for now. We could buy the rights and release
it ourselves if only we had the money, but we don´t. We´re checking
out different labels that can buy and release "The Hunter"
properly. So far, the album has only been released on license in France
by NTS (Nothing to say).
Pekka has since begun work on his own band. Have you guys
stayed friends with him and wish him well with his new musical
endeavors?
No, we don´t have any contact with him. He can become a rock star or
burn in the eternal depths of his trailer. We don´t care, he´s
history.
Tell me about your new guitarist Emil and where you found him!
Well, Emil is 20 years old and so the youngest member in the band…
He's played the guitar about 8 years or so. He was attending the same
school as Jens and that is where they met. They had some mutual friends
as well…
What influences or styles does Emil bring to the band or how
will his presence affect the sound that fans know from the previous
material?
I (Emil) am very influenced by allot of different stuff, like lots of
instrumental music like jazz fusion, bebop, blues and fusion and also by
folklore and stuff…. As far as the guitar playing it will be a mix of
fast melodic strange mystic and groovy solos. The difference in my riffs
to the old songs is, I tend to let the guitar do more melodies within
the song opposed to the old stuff were the song were the center… Of
course it will be in the new songs to but with a more "interesting"
twist!
What does you (Emil) think of the lead playing on Persuader's
earlier material and will you be playing this stuff live note for note
like the original recording?
I think the original solos on the previous material suck horse dick…
Magnus, who played on the hunter CD, is a really good guitarist but he hadn't
really heard the songs very much before he did the solos… I will
improvise new solos every time we play a song, I'm not really into
playing the same solo exactly as before. I think it becomes a lot more interesting
then…. Otherwise I think all the stuff we have now is just killer
material… and as soon as we've recorded some promo stuff I'll see you
an mp3 clip!
Speaking of playing live...has the new line-up played any shows
in Sweden or are their plans to?
No not yet, but we´re very excited to get out and play as soon as
possible! We´ll probably do some local gigs in September.
You mentioned to me earlier that you had 4-5 songs written. Do
they have titles yet? What do the songs sound like? Does it compare to
the style on "The Hunter"? If not, what is different about it
in terms of sound, style, vocals, etc...
Yeah, we´re working on new songs, but they´re all in the making so
it´s kind of hard to tell how they will turn out. A bit more aggressive
perhaps, we´ll probably include more harsh vocals compared to "The
Hunter". Have no fear, it will still be pure metal, just with a few
new elements. We don´t have any titles yet since the lyrics are under
construction.
When
do you hope to have an album's worth of material written and when do you
hope to have the album out?
We´ll probably have enough material for an album sometime around Christmas.
If all goes well with a new label and all, we´ll hopefully record a new
album early 2002. We´ll just have to wait a little longer and see how
things develop.
Are you recording the songs as you write them, or are you
writing them all before recording?
Usually we record some basic ideas at home and then try it out on
rehearsals. We´ll most likely record some sort of promo before the next
actual album-recording takes place, just to get a better picture, what
to change etc.
Have you sent anything to the labels yet?
We´ve been kind of slow at that, but we´re just about to ship a
load of promo-packages. We also have contact with a few labels, so
things will probably turn out for the better from here.
Will you release the next album independently if there doesn't
seem to be immediate label interest?
No, that would be difficult since we don´t have the
financials.
Will you be letting fans hear new material or clips of the new
material before the CD is done? (If so we would be happy to post some
clips!!)
Maybe, if the recordings hold an acceptable quality.
What happened to your website www.persuader.nu / listen.to/persuader?
Will the site also be put back online and if so when?
The old website was created and maintained by Pekka, and he deleted
the whole thing the same day we split up. We´re now looking for a
person skilled and dedicated enough to make a new professional one. If
anyone out there is interested, mail us (hollowman@hotmail.com)
! We might put up a temporary site just to let everyone know we´re
alive. We´ll keep you informed!
How is the scene in your local area for metal?
Well, since our city Umea isn´t that big, most bands know each other
one way or another. There´s alot of good bands, but not that many good
gig opportunities. People only seem to drag their asses to concerts if
there´s an established band playing, which is sad. But there´s a new
generation of kids discovering metal, now since power metal got so big
and all, so it might get better in the future.
Do you know what the ex-members of the band Freternia are
doing?? They were on a split-CD with you guys and I believe they are
from the same area....their demise was also a sad day for metal!!!
No idea, we haven´t had that much contact with them. They live in
southern Sweden and we are located up in the north, so...
If there is ANYTHING else you'd like us to let people know
about please include it here.
If you can´t get hold of "The Hunter" then check out http://cdnow.com/!
It´s the only place we´ve found where you can order it. Thanks for
your support, it means allot! We´ll keep you updated on everything concerning
the band. Bye for now!
Persuader Reviews
The
Hunter
Visions
And Dreams (ep)
Previous Interviews
Persuader
Guitarist, Pekka Kiviaho (Sept. 2000)
Official Site: Persuader
©2001 Metal Rules!!