By Boardpass Members Arthur Ostrowski & Brad Taylor
Interview with Fredrik Jakobsen ( Guitar ) of the Satanic Surfers
Brad: Being from Sweden, how hard was it to pick up english?
I'm not sure, I guess… I can't say if I speak good english or not. I guess it's up to other people. But the thing is, Sweden is one of the only countries that don't dub over movies and stuff. And for me, I have three older sisters and they are pretty good in english. I mean I listen to a lot of music in english. I guess I learned stuff from there, and I watched a lot of movies, I mean American english movies. That's pretty much it.
Arthur: Was it harder to get together as a band and try to get out the right meaning in english through your music?
I think it's almost easier in english because… it's hard to explain, but when I try to write lyrics in Swedish, in another band.. It turns out more crusty. It feels to me that the lyrics turn out silly. It's hard to say but I'm not quite sure.
Brad: Do you remember the first time you played in Canada?
Yeah! I think we did one and a half or two weeks. We did a lot more in store shows, but we had a great time. Rodrigo fell off his skateboard and almost broke his hand. So he had to play with a bucket of ice and he had to put his hand in it all the time. But it was a good tour. We really had a great time.
Brad: Who were you guys playing with at the time?
We did a tour with Layaway plan about one and a half years ago. Just after the Fragments and Fractions album.
Arthur: What made you guys decide to get a new drummer now that Rodrigo is just singing?
The thing is, Rodrigo had been complaining for a while that he can't have a good time, or as much of a good time as the rest of the guys in the band. Arthur- There was a lot of pressure on him? Fredrik- Yeah! I guess that's pretty much it, but then we got to know Martin and he's a really nice guy, we liked him a lot so we asked him to play with us.
Arthur- Where did you guys get Martin from?
He used to play in a band called “Less Security” from Sweden. It's a crusty more hardcore band. He did really good and we liked that band and we got to know martin. They split up and he moved. He actually works for “Bad Taste” so he moved almost to where we live. He's a nice guy so it was a pretty easy decision to make.
Arthur- Do you think it was hard for him to pick up where you guys left off?
I think it is because Rodrigo is one of the best drummers I've ever heard. And I mean Martin is twenty years old and he's working hard on it so. Arthur- he looks like he puts a lot of effort into it. Fredrik- Yeah I think so.
Brad- What bands have influenced your music?
Lots! All kinds of bands. When we started out we listened a lot to the Misfits, the Hard-ons, RKL ( Rock and Roll Nightmare Album) Everyone was stoked on that when it came out. We listened a lot to hardcore. I mean we all used to listen to like the 10th Degree, Concrete Sucks, older Sick Of It All. We listen to everything.
Brad- Where did you guys get the name Satanic Surfers from?
The thing is, we didn't really have a name o we had to come up with something really fast. At that time our favorite bands were the misfits and the Hard-ons, so we said lets do a mix. So we took the satanic from the Misfits and the surfer part from the Hard-ons. And a couple months later we didn't know if we liked playing surf punk anymore.
Brad- What band has been your favorite to tour with?
It's hard to say, we did a tour in Sweden a long time ago with “RKL” which was really good, but we toured with “Adhesive” also. We get along so well! I love those guys very much. So I think I'd have to say the Adhesive Tour because we were such good friends that the tour was just like a picnic.
Arthur- What was your favorite touring experience?
There are some. The first time we came to Canada was one. I mean no one really knew us well. So we just went up and did our thing and had a really good time. And also the tour we did with Adhesive was really good. We were suppose to do another European tour with them in September, but apparently they split up. That tour would have been the best! But we're not really sure yet, we're still working on it.
Arthur- What makes you want to stay with Bad Taste Records?
We'll we've been on “Burning Heart” too. But the thing is, we always saw ourselves as a punk band. And for us a punk band don't do video's and all of a sudden Burning Heart was getting so big and all the bands were getting big. We played a show in Barcelona and the owner of Burning Heart was there, and he actually told us that “Well guys, all the other bands that I have on my label want to be rockstars, and you don't. So I can't really work that hard on you guys anymore.” It's not that we want him to work or have us as a priority. It's the backup, the support, you know what I mean. You see in the Burning Heart video. The first one they did with all the bands in the video sung it. It starts off with a conversation between two people and someone asks “oh so I'll see a Satanic Surfer video now?” and he says “ No are you stupid, Satanic Surfers never made a video.” And back then they though it was pretty cool because the Satanic Surfers were punk, but after a while you know. Arthur- you don't want to get into the mainstream? Fredrik- Well no. I mean for me promoting a punk band, what you do is go on tour. You don't do videos and waste money on that. I mean there is no place in the world where we want our video broadcasted anyway, so I don't see the point.
Brad- Being one of the originators of punk in Sweden, how hard was it to get noticed?
Well I think we had a… well we started playing before the bigger bands. Like the big American bands got really known in Sweden. So I dunno. It was like a free ride for us. I think that we were pretty lucky if you can see it that way. I'm not too sure, but I think that we always did things our own way. But I think we got a free ride. I mean when NOFX was getting pretty big, our first album came out so.
Brad- Which Album has been your favorite Satanic Surfer album?
It's hard to say. I'm pretty satisfied with the new one. Just because we had a really good time recording it. It was the first time ever where we went in and did everything and didn't have any problems at all. We went in, the atmosphere and the studio were really good. The guy who recorded it with was really cool. Also I like “ 666 Motor Inn ” just because it's got a mix that I like between the harder stuff and more popular stuff.
Arthur- What do you think about the new album compared to the old ones, because a lot of people are saying it's sounding more poppy.
We're getting old too, no but... Arthur- sometimes you just want to change your style? Fredrik- Sometimes you have to. Just to feel that you are evolving in the music style. It wouldn't feel very good for us to play twenty or twenty two “ Hero of Our Time's” every night. But I don't think it's that popular. It's really well produced and there are some really poppy songs on it. I don't think it's pop because it's not fast all the time.
Brad- Do you guys have any Tours coming up?
Well we're going on tour again in September. We did like one half of Europe before we cam over here. We did Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and France. So in September we're going to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Some parts of France and some parts of Germany.
Arthur- How do you like touring in Europe compared to touring in North America?
Canada and Sweden Are pretty similar. We're more well known in Europe. But it's pretty much the same, and I don't see that big of a difference. I love Canada.
Interview with Martin "Snake" Svensson ( Drums ) of the Satanic Surfers
Arthur- Being the new drummer for the Satanic Surfers how do you feel about taking on all the new songs as well as all the old ones?
The new songs weren't that hard because I was involved with the writing process. We rehearsed the songs together before the record. The older songs were hard to do because Rodrigo is a drum machine pretty much. Because no one can play like he can. All drummers have their own style of playing so copying his style would be nearly impossible. It is possible but I can't do it. I play the songs like I would if I wrote it in the beginning. Maybe it's a sheep version but whatever! (Arthur- Whatever sounds good right?) Martin- Yeah. I just try to keep the beats and try to work my best.
Arthur- How was the show last night?
It was good actually. I like Toronto. We played at the Kathedral. It's a pretty cool venue and we had a really good time. The last couple shows have been going really well. We just got back form the European tour on the 28th of April, so we stayed home for two weeks before we came over here to Canada. We're going to take some time off in the summer then go tour Europe again in September.
Arthur- Since it's your first time in Canada what do you think about it so far?
I'm totally stoked about it. It's almost like Sweden. I love Sweden beyond everything but the environment and land here is very healthy, everything is so beautiful. So it doesn't matter if we drive ten hours a day, because you can just watch everything pass. I love everything in Toronto and Vancouver because everything seems to be right in town.
Arthur- Do you have any plans touring in the States?
Well we haven't gotten any offers but we're trying to get something together early next year. We've been saying this for quite a while though. Then we start touring Europe then Canada then Europe again. Then we end up planning a new record. But we'll try to get over to the U.S early next year. It'll be hard the first time but after a couple times we'll get used to it. I guess we'll just try to go over there do some shows and see what happens.
