Those of us who closely follow the world Stoner, we hallucinate with the expected return of Lowrider. The parents of the Stoner European published a few months ago the exceptional Refractions after 20 years! Standby. We were so shocked that we contacted Peder Bergstrand, frontman, vocalist and bassist of the seminal Swedish band. With him we review his new album in detail, we talk about his family, about the scene Stoner and about the damn confinement.
An essential interview with one of the most interesting artists on the scene Stoner world.
Hi, Peder. Thank you very much for your time and just tell you that it is a pleasure to be able to exchange some words with you! Let’s go! How are you?
Well the whole Covid thing is pretty all over and making this year… what it is. But we are well and safe, and for that we are very grateful.
Refractions has come into our lives at an extremely complex time. The unexpected global biological crisis is shaking us hard. How do you face it on a personal level and how do you face it as a band? Have you had to change many plans?
Well, it made us cancel pretty much all plans of touring this year. We had Desertfest lined up, along with a few other festivals and then tons of plans for the fall, but all that had to go of course. Obviously that’s not optimal when we just released an album, and we were so stoked to come out and play these songs live – but health and people’s safety above all. So, instead it made us turbo charge into making the next album instead, which we already have started recording. It is what it is, but damned if it will slow is down now that we have our creative juices running.
Congratulations on «Refractions», I thought it was a huge album. After so many years, how has this album been created and what reasons have invited you to make a new album after twenty years?
Well, we always wanted to do another album, we just never got around to it before now. We stopped touring there in 2002 and me and Andreas (drums) tried recording demos, but we just never really felt that the new material we had then clicked or was worthy as follow up to Ode to Io. We’d rather put nothing out, than release something that feels meh. So, we sort of never really said “let’s not do it” it just was one of those things that got put on the back burner and … yeah, then life happened. We moved to different cities, had kids, I had another band that released two records (I Are Droid) and it wasn’t until 2013 and the reformation for Desertfest that we really realized that there was a demand for more …
So then we started working on songs, and wrote and demoed a lot of them. We have like 15 songs left after Refractions still to record. But yeah, we let the process take its time and said we wouldn’t release until it felt done. And that’s what Refractions is – the album we were 100% confident in releasing and that felt like a worthy follow up to Ode to Io.
You have returned with the same lineup: Peder, Ola, Niclas and Andreas. Who has been more difficult to convince? What has it been like to re-enter a studio together?
None of us needed convincing, we are all dear friends and have always been. And being back in the studio with these guys is truly like coming home – we are so intertwined musically, it’s really like that when we play – it’s like coming home. It has been nothing short of lovely to create and record together again.
Despite the fact that the essence of Kyuss ’sound is still in“ Refractions ”, this album has a more modern sound. Songs like “Red River” or “Sernanders Krog” seem to me incredible and very fresh. Have you found a new style within the stoner or is it your maturity as artists?
Haha the funny thing is those two tracks were (at least their foundations) written in 1999 and 2001. First of al thank you though, happy you dig them!
But I think what really does a big thing here is the production and mixing that we and Daniel Lidén worked on for so long. The songs could have been recorded in 2003 when we had that initial stab at a second record, but they would never have had the dynamic production and mixes as they do now. We needed this time to mature and grow as musicians I guess, at least that’s what it feels like to me. And I’m thrilled it seems to have paid off to give these tracks and us the time to ripen, if you will.
You have shaped the voice and here it is better than ever. Have you followed any plan or training to perfect your way of singing?
Not really, but my years in I Are Droid did very much for me to mature as a singer and also trust myself to sing like me, and not try to emulate someone else. I don’t have a classic rock voice, It’s always been very hard for me to sing that way. Only when I got older and stopped trying to be something I wasn’t, could I find the style you’re hearing on Refractions. At first it was a pretty scary thing because I didn’t know what people would think, but then I just figured fuck it, I can’t pretend and try to be something I’m not. The only way forward is being honest to what I am and what we are, and we can only do the record and the music WE want to make and hear. When we stopped trying to please everyone else, or at least what we thought everyone else wanted, that’s when we unlocked the key to go forward.
You are four musicians and I suppose that sometimes it can be difficult to get everyone to agree. How does the creative process work at Lowrider? Has anything changed about it since Ode to Io?
Well, we have to work at a distance now since we live in different cities. But that’s just an obstacle to overcome – there’s always obstacles when you make music.
It’s actually pretty similar to how it was back in the day – I write most of the stuff, Wave you come up with a riff or two that we finish together, and then we slowly but surely build on the song and record and re-record until it’s done.
What can you tell me about Refractions and its creation process? Any anecdote that deserves to be shared with your fans?
Well, it was a very long process, I think We made a gazillion demos of each song. I think one really magical thing that happened though, was when we were finishing «Ode to Ganymede», and I started hearing this Hammond organ solo in the middle, and just had to reach out to our old friend Pontus Mutka, who is pretty much the best organist I know of. He is John Lord reincarnated. Only thing was he just became a father so he had no time or energy to record anything or come to the studio. The months passed and we were rapidly approaching deadline, and I called him again and said man, «if we are doing this we need to do it now », and then he literally found 10 minutes between diaper changes to record it at home on his kitchen table, and sent it to me. It was a one take, first take, and it was GLORIOUS. It’s exactly what you hear on the record.
Love that about that solo and how it came about.
The album has been released through Blues Funeral Recordings. How did this collaboration / contract come about?
It’s really us just continuing where we left off really – Blues Funeral is run by Jadd who had Meteorcity, who first signed us and released all our other records. So it’s really the same tight knit team, like the old days!
Some of you have been in other bands during this time, for example in Greenleaf and I are Droid. How do you combine your personal life with your work and life as musicians?
Well, that’s just why the new Lowrider record took so long to finish. We will always prioritize our families above anything, so during the years when we all had small kids, we were mainly just writing and not playing. But as kids get older, we now can play more shows and bring them along also. It’s all good.
It’s been almost 20 years since you published Ode to Io, how the album has get old and how do you see it now, with cool head?
Don’t really understand the question, but I’m guessing here haha: for us, Ode to Io will always feel very special and it won’t ever really grow “old”, but also we have grown very far from the four younger versions of us that recorded that album. We love it, and we love that we made it, but it truly is a still image of that time – and we would be foolish to try to recreate that moment. It’s lovely to play the songs live, but we also are psyched to play the new ones and move ahead, writing new songs. Ode to Io will forever be the album that made us who we are, but it feels nice to finally not live in its shadow.
With the perspective that time gives to us, what decisions are you most proud of and what others should you have taken differently?
We don’t really dwell on what has been done or could have been done differently – all mistakes came with lessons learned that took us to this exact place and made us these people. But we are very proud of what we created when we were in our twenties, and that we followed our guts and just did stuff, without second guessing too much. There was a lot of beautiful naivete and “What’s the worst that could happen” attitude that made Lowrider and made those early recordings happen.
When you released Ode to Io you were something like the Sweden’s Kyuss. How have you lived the evolution of the stoner during these 20 years? Do you follow the scene closely?
To be honest, we don’t follow it very closely. We love some bands, and we always check out bands when we play live, but personally I think it’s never great to geT high on your own supply, so to speak. I think the only way we can stay relevant and keep things fresh is by listening to everything but stoner rock. With that said, we have the biggest respect and love for the scene – it’s truly something very, very special and the people who book shows, organize festivals and come to gigs are super chill, lovely, caring people.
Sweden has a spectacular rock and metal scene, speaking specifically about the stoner scene and its bands, you have exported bands like Witchcraft, Graveyard, Dozer, Greenleaf, Spiritual Beggars, Kamchatka, Truckfighters, Siena Root, Mustach… How Sweden, a country so different from what Palm Desert is, has possibly the best stoner scene in Europe?
I dunno man. I blame it on our good musical heritage and tradition actually, and that music schools are widely accessible. There’s also something in the water, I hear…
What plans do you have to present Refraction to the public? I understand that the tours have been canceled but can you give me some advance?
Well, right now we can’t play live, and have no plans to do so until it’s very super ultra safe for everyone involved, fans most of all. So can’t really give you any info on that because I don’t even have it myself.
Life encourages us to dream, to meet goals that we have in mind. What realistic dreams does Peder still have that you want to fulfill?
But yeah, we take things one day at a time. For now, we can’t do anything but focus on making more music, so that’s what we’ll do. Expect a new album from us very very soon.
Well guys, thanks for all, congratulations for the new album and see you soon (I hope so)! Cheers!
Same mate! Sees it,
Lose & Lowrider
… metal in all its extensions … the rest is saying
Source scienceofnoise.net
Translated from Spanish