Sean - Progressive Ears : Tell us about the inspiration for the new CD. Is there a theme or concept running through it all? And if so - what is it?

Beardfish On Stage

Rikard Sjöblom : The guy who made the amazing album art, Spencer Keala Bowden, actually pointed it out quite well. He asked me if he got it right when he thought the red thread was about coming out of your shell, growing up, acting out and also dealing with the loss of friends and family on the way through life. I said "YES" so I think I have to stand by my word! And if that qualifies as a concept, then ok.

PE : How long did it take to compose a tune like the title track. There's a lot of twists and turns, did you hear it all in advance or let it evolve?

Rikard : It wasn't all there from the beginning, no. It started as a sort of metal / hardrock riff that sort of evolved into a lengthier piece with time. I presented the first stuff to the guys, they thought it sounded fresh and cool for us - and in time for the next rehearsal I had some new stuff written. I think the beginning and the end of the song (the lengthy solo part) were there from the beginning and then the other stuff came with time. It was changed around a lot though, and the growling part was just something that we tried out. I was in a metal band when I was younger and I did some of that back then but I didn't know if I still had it in me, so it was fun to try!

PE : Sleeping In Traffic 2 was a great CD, and seemed to me like a collection of songs - whereas this new one has a more unified sound from track to track. Any plan there or did it just come together that way?

Rikard : It so funny you should mention this, because there seems to be some really divided opinions about this going on in reviews around the net for the new album. And yes we read them, and we get happy and or disappointed! Some people think like you but most of them say that they're missing a unified sound, you know. Mostly I actually think (if they're in to the kind of music we make) that they just have to play it 10, 20 or maybe 30 times through to really get what it's all about, because it's a lot of music and not all of it is as accessible as say "The Hunter" or "South of the border" from Sleeping In Traffic 2. Not to sound cocky you know but I think it's our best ones yet in terms of musical depth, harmonies, soundwise and also vocally and lyrically. I know what I'm talking about and I can say for sure that all of the guys (including myself) are playing their asses off on Destined Solitaire!

About the unified sound I think it's mostly because all of the songs on the album were written for this album, which wasn't the case with some of the others, including Sleeping In Traffic 1 and 2, where the long ass title track was written way back in 2002 and recorded as a demo one time in 2004 and then again for the album in early 2007. Yeah that's right, before< Part 1 was released! We then ended up using that to build the entire album around it because it was so long but there's still of course a compositional difference since it was written in 2002 and most of the other songs in 2007. So there you have it!

PE : Tell us about your keyboard rig. You have some of the best vintage tones, they make your CDs a feast for the ears.

Rikard : Well first of all, thank you! These days when we make albums I mostly use Clavia gear: A Nord C1 organ (double manual) for all the organs (Hammond, Farfisa and Vox), a Nord Electro 2 (recently upgraded to a 3 though) for Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet and electric grand, an old Arp pro soloist 3 that has a whole lot of cool lead sounds. Then we also used some Mellotron sounds on the album which was recorded with the plugin M-Tron, I think. Grand piano was recorded with a Yamaha P140 this time around, otherwise I usually record my acoustic Malmsjö upright piano at home in my flat but I couldn't afford to get it tuned! For the other albums I've used my Hammonds a lot as well, a B3 and an L100 but I wanted to use the C1 this time - and also on Sleeping In Traffic 2 - because of the Vox and Farfisa sounds and the fact that we had so little time to record the basic tracks (five days) made it way easier to just plug this one in and rock out!

PE : It looks like you guys like Gibson guitars, what is it about them that you like?

Rikard : We use both Gibson and Fender. David has a Gibson Marauder as his main axe and it sounds really good but he also has a Fender Jazzmaster that he uses a lot. I mainly use my standard Gibson SG when we play live but I also pick out my Fender Strat from time to time, especially during recording sessions. It's a good guitar for solos, mainly because of the tremolo (whammy bar) and I think it's the same for David with his jazzmaster, we use them a lot for recording sweet solos [Laughs]. Other than that the Gibson just feels more natural for the time being, it's no permanent thing though I think.

PE : What do you guys use in the way of amps?

Rikard : A couple of different ones actually, David is currently playing a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 combo amp because his Musicman hd100 is in the shop for repairs. I use a Peavey Valveking combo which was a sort of cheap amp that I bought a while back that I've just fallen in love with! Robert is currently using my ordinary guitar amp, a Musicman hd135, for a head with his HH cabinet because his HH head is - oh yes, once again - on repairs!

PE : Were the tracks for the new CD cut live in the studio? How long did it take to record it all?

Rikard : The basic tracks were recorded live, yes. It took five days to record those including a lot of overdubs. The vocals were recorded in three or four sessions in our rehearsal studio and that's it!

PE : How does the cover art tie in to the music? Who did the art?

Rikard : Spencer Keala Bowden, a guy who lives in Hawaii! There were a couple of guys who contacted us and wanted to do some artwork and among them were Spencer. We checked out some stuff he'd previously done for The Watch and some other stuff and just fell in love with his style, he's an amazing young artist who just listened to our album and then made this artwork filled with pictures of the songs, it's a very lyrical artwork ... almost feels like he painted the entire album on there! Simply wonderful!

PE : It seems like a lot of the tunes on the new CD push the ten minute mark. Was there a plan to stretch things out a bit?

Rikard : No, it just turned out that way. We didn't know the songs were that long until we timed them actually!

PE : You guys put on a great set at NEARfest. Any thoughts or reflections on the whole experience?

Rikard : It was an amazing show for us, we had a great time at NEARfest altogether with the crew, the venue and the bands playing, it was just an awesome experience! Got to meet Gary Green again as well, we met him back in 2006 at ProgDay when we played there and he remembered us and said he liked our set a lot this time...

Rikard : For me - and I think for the others as well - PFM, no doubt!

PE : A big shock to us all was the news about the Progressive Nation tour not working out. A total drag for you all, and you have our condolences. Any thoughts to share on the whole thing?

Rikard : We were so bummed about it. We got the sad news when we were at NEARfest and all the time there were people coming talking about it and saying they were going to this and that show and so on, and we just had to put on a happy face 'cause we couldn't talk about it. But as you know, the times are hard economically and without the support of SPV we just couldn't do the tour. A lesson for people complaining about the big, bad evil record labels - They do good stuff as well, you know!

PE : Any chance you all will find another way to play this side of the pond in the next year or two?

Rikard : We think so, and we really hope so!

PE : What have you been listening to lately? Any fave CDs of the year so far?

Rikard : I've mostly been listening to our own album - prior to release - because of mixing purposes and so on. And also my solo album Please Be Quiet that I'm releasing on my own label in the beginning of September under the name "Gungfly" ... for the same reason - mixing, mastering you know.... Other than that I've been listening a lot to an old Swedish folk singer called Evert Taube and also a whole lot of Todd Rundgren. I know Magnus has been listening a lot to PFM and also Todd Rundgren. Don't really know about the other guys at the moment.

PE : Tell us about the shows since NEARfest and the ones coming up. You all are headed for Moscow, is that right?

Rikard : Yeah, we're playing the InRock festival in Moscow which is gonna be fun! We played the Burg Herzberg festival in Germany a couple of weeks ago as well and it was loads of fun! They'd sold 12,000 tickets and there was a lot of happy hippies around! [Laughs] In September we're going back to Germany to play Prockfest at the club Movie in Bielefeld as well. So we have some stuff going on!

PE : Can you tell us a bit about each tune on the new album and it's inspiration?

Rikard : The album is lyrically about a person and his journey from being a complete lone wolf to stepping out into the world to grab some of whatever's available to him, whether it is love or experiences, good or bad, or food or music or whatever, I don't know... So here we go:
- "Awaken The Sleeping" is an instrumental song that sort of takes of where Sleeping In Traffic 2 ended so that's what the title is all about. It's a quirky melody that evolves into a keyboard fiesta!
- "Destined Solitaire", the title track is harder than anything we've done before, I think. And it probably came from listening to too much metal for a while. It features some jazz rock stuff and a whole lot of guitar in general, and even some growling vocals.
- "Until You Comply" continues the vocal theme of the album, about feeling alone and alienated and not belonging anywhere. It's about sitting at home and doing nothing and meanwhile the world is happening outside, you know...
- "In Real Life There Is No Algebra" has an almost Steely Dan kind of thing going on and it also has some attempts at rapping in it!
- "Where The Rain Comes In" is also about the lone wolf and his inner journeys through life - although he's considering leaving the flat at this point in the story,[Laughs] I'm guessing this one will become a live favourite of ours in the near future because it's a fun song to play. There's also a pretty strange rhythmic feel going on with the vocals here, almost in a Bruce Springsteen way - he never sings within the frames in my opinion, one of the things I really like him for. There's also some pretty cool things going on in the middle of the song between the bass and the keys rhythmically and then the drums and guitar enters and makes it almost Gentle Giantish...
- "At Home Watching Movies" is a short acoustic variation on the title track and the lyrics are about watching The Shining, if you hadn't noticed.
- "Coup De Grace" is an instrumental song featuring melodies and solos on the accordion. It's inspired by Astor Piazzolla, an amazing Argentinean bandoneon player who I listened to a lot for a while. He mostly played tango though, but the song is more inspired by his melodic phrasing which is incredible.
- "Abigail's Questions" starts off like a slow paced butter filled sleazy jazzpop song but then it evolves into something completely different and it has a bit of influences from Henry Cow and Zappa among others. Its lyrics deal with the infinity of space - oh yes, our main man has evolved here as well! And it's a love story between two people.
- "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" is once again a pretty hard song and it has a strong, steady beat going on from Magnus and Robert. David plays some really cool stuff on his guitar here as well. This one is about losing a loved one and seeing - in this case - her everywhere. It ends in a frenzy...
And that's it, folks!

PE : Do you mind being called a prog band?

Rikard : No.

PE : Does it feel like there is a renewed interest in prog music lately or is this just an internet driven illusion?

Rikard : I've been feeling that for a couple of years now, so maybe and hopefully!

PE : Any chance we will hear from the clan in Gooberville again on a future CD?

Rikard : You bet! We're not finished with those crazy bastards!

PE : What's next?

Rikard : We're anxious to see how the album is received and I'm guessing people will like it eventually, like with Sleeping In Traffic 1 which had a slow start and a lot of bad reviews and now the same reviewers who gave Sleeping In Traffic 1 a 2 or 3 out of 5 wants the new album to sound like that one! [Laughs]

And we have some gigs coming up as I mentioned before, and we have some plans for a European tour, but it's too early to say something concrete. Other than that we'll just keep on doing what we do best - play music!

Photos courtesy of Brian "VAXman" Schenkenberger

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