Rockin’ to the Soundtrack of Our Lives
Sweden’s The Soundtrack Of Our Lives is over a year removed from the release of its ambitious double-album Communion, but the sextet now is bringing their raucous road show to the US for some select dates during the second half of this month. Communion is a brilliant collection of 24 songs that run the gamut of emotion – from happy to hapless, sorrow to insanity and back again. WTDP? had a chance to catch up with frontman Ebbot Lundberg and guitarists Ian Person and Mattias Bärjed to talk a bit about the album, a new EP, their writing process and, of course, their gear.
WTDP?: We really dig the sing-song vibe of ‘Snuff Parade’ off the new Immaculate Convergence EP. How did that tune come about?
Ebbot: Mainly Ian’s song. I helped out with the lyrics, title and arrangements. It’s about our most devoted fans actually… people on the brink of nervous breakdown.
Ian: It’s an golden oldie, written back in ’99. I wanted a Fleetwood Mac feel to the song.
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives – Snuff Parade
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WTDP?: Are the songs on the EP older tunes or newer?
Ebbot: The recordings of ‘Snuff Parade’ and ‘Take me Back’ are dated back to the Behind the Music era. So they are the older tunes. ‘From This Moment’ is the newest one. Though they were all mixed before last Christmas (in 2009 that was – not before the Wham tune.)
Ian: A mix of old and new. ‘Take Me Back’ was recorded during Behind The Music in 2000. ‘From This Moment’ was recorded during Communion.
WTDP?: Regarding Communion, which landed on a bunch of folks ‘Best of…’ lists… Double albums are pretty rare nowadays. Was this project approached from Day One as double record or did it blow up into one as material was added?
Ebbot: It grew into a double album, but we always wanted to make a proper one right from the beginning when TSOOL started as a group. And now we finally made it.
Ian: We didn’t really have a plan, just to record until we felt that we had enough material for an album. As the work progressed, the 24 songs felt like they fit good together.
WTDP?: What can you tell me about the writing/recording process for Communion? We’ve read in other interviews that it was a fun process for the band. Did the band write together or were riffs/songs brought in and worked up?
Ebbot: Mostly the guitar players come up with the songs or riffs. Then it gets TSOOL treatment from all members before I add the message with the arrangements. Me and Kalle do the mixing in his studio. My final job is to put it all together as an entity in the mastering process and give it a title that everybody feels comfortable with. Then there are discussions about art work – in this case with old friend Martin Kann – who visually captured the whole thing perfect. And this time, it all went very fast.
Ian: We usually write the songs on our own, and send demos to each other, so you get everything from an acoustic guitar with vocal melody to full blown production with drums, strings and what not. But as we start to rehearse a song, everyone puts his flavor into the song and it becomes a TSOOL composition.
Mattias: We usually write separately and record ‘home demos’ that we use as a base when we work on songs in the studio. It’s different from song to song how well produced these demos are. Sometimes an arrangement, title or some words are being kept and are used in the lyrics. In the end, the only thing that counts is the quality of the song. Working on Communion we allowed each other more freedom (respect) to move around musically than we did on Origin that in my opinion is a bit ‘stiff’.
WTDP?: We’d guess it would be more freeing not to have a major label peering over your shoulder looking for a single.
Ebbot: Yes.
WTDP? ‘Reconnecting The Dots’ is probably our favorite tune on Communion. Love the loose, rawness of that track… and what we believe is a banjo ‘plinking’ in the background! Have any favorites emerged for you guys over time? If so, what are they?
Mattias: I love Reconnecting… it’s an overlooked track. My favourite is ‘The Fan Who Wasn’t There’. It was written in 1999 and I recorded the guitars to it on Behind The Music. I think Ebbot thought that it sounded like love and wrote about Arthur Lee. I don’t know what i was thinking of… maybe trying to write as many chord changes as possible. The whole wonderful and bizarre production is totally Ebbot’s.
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives – Reconnecting The Dots
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WTDP?: Does the band feel more at home on the road or in the studio?
Ian: We enjoy doing both. It’s two very different processes. Live it’s about letting people relax from everyday life for two hours and get lost in the TSOOL world of wonders. The music dosen’t have to be presented in the same way as on the albums. In the studio, you know that you are going to have to live with the album for a very long time, so we are very conscientious with what we put on a record.
Mattias: I love playing on stage. I love the direct and communicaton with the crowd – the moment of here and now when there’s no return. And the fact that you can’t go back and control and repair everything. It can be wondeful to be in the studio too. I tend to get restless if I have to wait for people (usually engineers) to turn up. We usually record in Gothenburg and I live in Stockholm and that’s frustrating. I spent as little time in the studio as possible on Communion. I wanted to record my stuff with a whole different approach than I did on Origin where I spent too much time doing pointless guitar overdubs for months just because it was possible.
WTDP?: What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod/car stereo right now? Any current bands piquing your interest?
Ian: Lots of new demos, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac era, George Harrison, Black Crowes. As far as new stuff… Midlake and Iron and Wine.
Mattias: I just heard this beautiful Swedish band Cavarie Days on MySpace. It’s two sisters from Gävle, where we played the other night.
WTDP?: Any shot at returning to the studio in 2010 for a new full-length album?
Ian: Probably 2011.
WTDP?: We focus on gear a lot, so can you give me a rundown of your current guitar rigs… pedalboards, amps and guitar?
Ian: On my pedalboard I have a MXR Booster, Vox wah, ProCo Rat, Fulltone Mosfet Booster/distortion, a Rotovibe, Compressor and a Electro-Harmonix Booster. With amps, I run a Fender Twin with a Vox cabinet and a Fender Dual Showman. As far as guitars – a ’67 Gibson 335, ’76 Les Paul Custom, ’76 Telecaster w/Bigsby, ’68 Gibson Firebird, a ’73 Tele, ’57 Les Paul Goldtop reissue, ’03 Gibson 335 Sunburst, ’70 Stratocaster, a First Act custom (my own model, White Falcon-type guitar) and a First Act 12-string.
Mattias: For my live set up, I’ve stopped using vintage gear. I don’t wanna travel around with expensive Gibsons, Fenders, etc… anymore. With TSOOL, I use a Gibson SG Special, Gibson Les Paul with Seymour Duncan Fat Cat pickups, Gibson Flying V with Lundgren P-90s, a Esteve Nylon string and a Martin HD35. My amps include a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4×10. I use an extra 2×12 speaker cabinet with that. I also use two, 90′s era Vox AC30s. My pedalboard has a MXR Micro Amp, Xotic RC Booster, MXR Phase 90, Boss DD-3 delay, Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff and a Boss Chromatic Tuner.
WTDP?: What would you consider your ‘untouchable’ effect… meaning that it will never leave your pedal board and it will likely have to be pried from your cold, dead hands?
Ian: A good booster, works for solos, slide, etc… As long as you have a good sounding amp, a booster takes you a long way.
Mattias: I could live without any of these pedals, but I really like the simple function of a booster.
WTDP?: Is there a pedal, amp or guitar – vintage or otherwise – that you’d love to get your hands on? What is it and why?
Ian: A Marshall Bluesbreaker combo and a ’59 Les Paul Standard – Tobacco Sunburst.
Mattias: A little Pignose amp. I love UFO and I read that Michael Schenker used one for all the solos on ‘Lights Out’. Also Randy Bachman’s homebuilt fuzz pedal – The Herzog… and why not – the white Stratocaster he has on the Not Fragile album!
