Exclusive interview: Blindside

Blindside are a four-piece rock band from Stockholm, Sweden. The band consists of Christian Lindskog on vocals, Simon Grenehed on guitar, Tomas Naslünd on bass, and Marcus Dahlström on drums. They began in1994 with the name Underfree and moved onto a name change after their 1996 debut EP. With five full-length albums, Blindside have bounced around different record labels, including Solid State, Elektra, and DRT Entertainment. They have five singles, “King of the Closet,” “Pitiful,” “Sleepwalking,” “All of Us,” and “Fell in Love with the Game.” After a break, Blindside return to the States since their last American promo tour for their 2007 EP, The Black Rose EP. After performing two dates, they will go into the studio in Los Angeles, California, to record their sixth full-length. Blindside's new record is still in its skeleton stage, but is scheduled for release in early 2010. On August 29^th at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center, Blindside sat down with me in their dressing room to discuss the music, their album, and the tour.

JM: You're generally labeled as a post-hardcore kind of rock band, but your music seems to cover a wide, eclectic range of different styles and genres. What best influences the band's personal style?

Everybody: Wow.

Simon: A lot of fancy words. [Everyone laughs] No, I think... what influences us. Fellas?

Christian: Nothing. We get inspired by everything.

Simon: We don't, like, have any bands that we are influenced by at this point.

Christian: Maybe subconsciously.

Marcus: Subconsciously, but we like to use the word “inspired.”

Simon: We don't listen to bands, though, do we?

Christian: You're right! That's sad. [laughs]

Simon: Do you have a favorite band, Christian?

Christian: No. I need one. [pause] I also think, like you said, that's usually what we say. At least, when we're on our tour, like, a band can have a lot of energy on stage and you get inspired to write energetic music. Another band might have a vibe to it that's really cool, and you kind of get inspired by that. But it's not like “Oh! They have that, so let's write a song like that.” It's just more, like, inspiration. But it can also be stuff, like, that's not to do with music that inspires you to write in a certain way.

JM: Is there anything specific that inspires you?

Christian: Uh, I mean, obviously our relationship with God. It has influenced the way we write. Some times we might get a vision for a song and then everything comes out of that. We had a vision of a big storm, like we started talking about this storm that comes in, and then the song kind of came around that, you know? To try and create the music environment for that.

JM: Christian, how do you write your lyrics? A stand-alone, like a poem, or do you write along with the music?

Christian: Along with the music, usually. Or, always, actually.

JM: Simon, since you mostly play a Gibson Les Paul, what do you get out of a Les Paul that makes it your primary choice of guitar?

Simon: I played it since we started the band, basically. I liked the bottom end to it, like the tack of the guitar. I tried the other kind of guitars. With Fender, it's, just, you don't get the bottom end that you get in a Les Paul guitar. I think P.R.S. and guitars like that are too flat, I mean, it's hard to get a dynamic through that guitar, I think. I think a Les Paul is definitely... along with the Swedish brand of guitars called Hagstrom, that I play. But that's not live, I always play Les Pauls live.

Christian: Didn't you buy your first Gibson in the States?

Simon: Yes, I did.

Christian: Yes?

Simon: Yes, it's true.

Christian: And here we are, in the States, full-circle.

Simon: In Toledo, right?

Christian: How could you afford that?

Simon: Good question.

Christian: Mom and Dad, right?

JM: Marcus, now, if I'm correct, you incorporate the drum machine in the songs. What draws you to that style of music?

Marcus: I'm a big fan of electronic music. A lot of dance music, but a lot of electronic. What brings me to incorporate it is actually Simon... [Simon laughs] and Christian, and Tomas. [Everyone laughs] For instance, the song “My Alibi,” I made a track and played it for the guys and Simon got inspired to play the guitar part over it and we were like, “Okay, cool. Make a song that's around that.” The song that I made the electronic stuff for. That's usually how it goes.

JM: Tomas, what are your bass playing roots?

Tomas: Wow... Seinfeld, man. [motions bass playing and everyone laughs] Uh, no, I don't know. I started playing music as I watched these local bands. From that, I got inspired to play bass, basically. It's just, uh, it's nice. [Everyone laughs]

JM: That's a short and sweet answer.

Tomas: Yeah, I don't know how to say it. [laughs]

Christian: He just happens to like it. [Everyone laughs]

Marcus: I just happen to like playing drums.

JM: There you go.

Simon: Yeah, we've never been asked questions about individuals before.

Christian: Yeah, this is a good interview! You're doing a good job here.

JM: [laughs] Thank you.

Marcus: When I, what was it, like eight or ninth grade? We were going to start playing music and I wanted to play guitar. But, someone else had a guitar so I was like, “Okay, I'll do the drums, then.” You know, I've always been on drums before that, though.

JM: How does God use you on stage?

Christian: We play. I don't know, man. It's different every time, I guess.

Simon: Yeah, that's very hard to explain. We don't know what's happening.

Christian: Yeah, we don't know what's going on.

Tomas: I think we just show up and if we're not in the way of God, then we'll just play.

Simon: Yeah, it's... it's very hard as far as that thing goes. You can be very prepared, spiritually, for a show, or you think you are. You know we like to pray for long before it. You step up, and then you just don't feel it. Something just feels wrong. So you get off stage and you're like, “Alright, God wasn't here today.” [everyone laughs] You know, really disappointed. Even when you're in the dressing room for a while and you go out and talk to some people, they say, “Hey man, I was so touched by this, but this song today, you know, blah, blah, blah.” And then it's like, “Okay. It doesn't have to do with how I feel on stage, that's not important at all.”

Christian: We think God happens when we get touched.

Simon: Yeah, and that happens, too. Of course.

Christian: But when we don't get touched, we don't think He's there.

Simon: But then you can say that people get affected in a different way, you know. So it's very... you can't define it. You can't, like, grab it, because I think this is usually

how it is type of thing with just spiritual things. If you try to label it, and if you put it like, “Oh, we have a recipe for how to do it. We do this, we get off stage, and we do this little thing, and God shows up.” You know, that's not how it works. It would be nice, though.
 

Christian: Yeah. But also, I think, or even we think that He actually can move through the music, even though we don't explain anything about Him.

Marcus: It seems like the music opens up your mind.

Christian: Yeah. Like, there was a one guy who came up to, I think it was you [Simon], after a show. He said something like... if I remember correctly, it was in Denver. But, he came up, and he was like, “Yeah, I just feel like, I feel like God exists.” Then he was like, “Okay, is it lyric, or what?” “No, I didn't understand anything. Are you guys Christians?” And he didn't even know it. That just proves that it's not about the music, it's not about how good the music you write, it's just, all of a sudden he knew that we were Christians and that God was real. He didn't touch any lyrics, He didn't touch anything. It was just the music, somehow, that He existed. So it's really hard, as you said, to label the way God moves. He moves the way He wants to and you kind of go with the flow.

Marcus: We just play.

JM: The Black Rose RP, that's kind of old news since it was released two years ago, if I'm correct? But I want to talk about a few songs. So, “The Way You Dance” seems to describe a different approach to the term “dancing with the devil” and being consumed in a bad lifestyle while you sit there and watch everything unfold. Tell me about that song.

Christian: Um, let me think. [laughs] Actually, to me... I'm terrible at explaining lyrics. But, um, to me, that song was also about how women are, what do you call it, suppressed? Is that the right word? All over the world, basically. And, uh, how we as men kind of objectify women a lot. It's kind of like, you can see that in other people, what they do, but then when you really analyze yourself. You're also part of that system. Like, we do things to women, even... we objectify women all of the time, ourselves. So it's not like you can jump on a... big horse. What do you call it?

Simon: High horse.

Christian: ... high horse and just look down and say, “Oh yeah, all of those men are doing wrong” because we're all kind of part of that. So, actually, it's kind of a political song from my standpoint. If you saw something else, that's cool. [laughs]

JM: For “Pretty Nights,” I think the music illustrates the lyrics rather well. For example, as the lyrics go on with up and down emotions, without a comfortable medium, musically it seems to be the same with the intense chorus, the fast up-beat verse, and then a wind-down at the bridge. How did that song come about?

Simon: It's a long time, if I remember. [mumbling] We're in hot weather, sorry.

Christian: Yeah, yeah, I know what it's about and stuff, but I don't remember how it came together. Do you?

Marcus: I guess it just started with the music. It's also like the song “The Way You Dance,” but that became... I was walking the dogs and all of a sudden, I had this rhythm in my head. I was like, “That's a song.” Same thing with “Pretty Nights,” I had an idea, musically.

Simon: I think it developed from that riff a lot. But as you said, I think Christian captured what it is, 'cause it's kind of stressful. [hums verse riff] That's kind of what the lyrics are about.

Christian: Yeah. We've been, you know, it is... you don't have time to think and everything's running faster and faster. There's also a part, as a band, where if you're a band of faith, and there are going to be nights where you're just, “Ah, I feel empty.” And you stand out there and you feel like you're pretending. That's the worst part of it and, uh, there might be time for a little break [laughs] to recapture. Everything seems to be all right, but behind it, you can just walk off stage and feel empty and be like “[sighs] Why am I even here?” That comes along a lot of times if you're on tour too long. So, I think that song is a little bit about that. It spins faster and you're caught up in everything, and you just don't know who you really are anymore, almost.

JM: For the last song, like, for me, the lyrics for “The Color of My Eyes” seem like the most difficult to analyze. It sounds like there's symbolism in a black and white photograph that might represent maybe depression or death. The song also seems like you're falling off of the deep end, and you need some support to keep yourself from reaching rock bottom. What's the story behind that song?

Christian: Um. I got to just think about the lyrics. [laughs] 'Cause we haven't played that live, ever. Um... interesting. [long pause and then laughs] How does it go? [everyone laughs]

JM: Do you need the lyrics in front of you?

Christian: I, uh, I remember the black and white and like, the, uh, photo. [laughs] Yeah. Well, I think, uh, I think it's a call out to God. I don't want to be, what do you call it, lukewarm. I just don't want to be lukewarm. I don't want to be like a black and white photo, and I am going to be a black and white photo if You don't step into my life and make it colorful. So, I think that's what it's about. It's a desperate call because I also find it harder to, when I'm at home a long time, I find it hard to keep that fire burning, because I'm not with these guys all of the time. This is my closest church, in a way. So, that was kind of like a desperate call to God, “Please, don't let me fade away into lukewarm, and don't care about anything anymore.”

JM: You have your new album coming out in 2010, which should be, by then, five years since your last full-length, The Great Depression. Any insight as to what the new album is going to sound like?

Marcus: It's not going to be depressing. [laughs] Who knows? We...

Christian: Don't say too much.

Simon: Yeah, we have, like, twenty-five or thirty songs, more or less. We are... it's too soon to say what it's going to be about. We haven't captured the vision yet. We don't have a title for the album. A lot of times it comes late.

Christian: Very late.

Simon: Yeah. So, we're still working. I mean, we're going to start... we're going to L.A. and then we're going to start finishing the record. But we don't know exactly what it is... I don't know. That's the thing, too, us being home in Sweden with all of the families and everything, it's kind of hard to decide for the music and the lyrics 'cause you don't have enough time. I think that's why, starting Monday, we're going to really get together and find out and see what's actually in there, what's under the surface. I think that's very true for all of our records, you can't really stand behind the title of every record, or what it means. That's why we don't just, like, name it something and whatever.

Marcus: There's not even a working title.

Simon: No, 'cause About a Burning Fire has a specific story of how that came together. Silence has a specific story. The Great Depression has a specific story. We had to give birth to those titles. I think they capture, very well, the albums. So, that's why it's hard for us to know yet.

Christian: I think you explained it the best, though. It feels like we've been throwing up bricks. We throw up bricks in a pile, almost. [laughs] Uh, and then we kind of have to step back and see what we've built and be like, “Okay, what is this? What does this mean?” This is all on a subconscious level and we try not to plan it too much. We try to have fun, and just play, and have fun together. But I think God is in that process, somehow. Then we'll see what happens.

JM: Since you said you've had some songs prepared for this, can you describe the writing process for the new material?

Marcus: I was going to say “same as always,” but it's been difficult this time since we've been having a hard time finding times to rehearse and write songs.

Simon: What usually happens, what has been happening for the past year or two, is that we come in with some kind of idea to rehearse and jam and figure it out. Just try to figure out what's in there. A lot of times we'll come in and be like, “Okay, the verse is good, but the chorus doesn't fit.” Or you come up and make the song and Christian can't find anything. Like, it's very...

Christian: [laughing] Yeah. We're very complicated when we write songs!

Simon: Yeah, and also this time, Christian's been writing acoustically to where he actually has the whole song recorded acoustically. Then we try to transform it.

Christian: And that's something we never tried before, really. Which, [mumbles] yeah, we have tried, but it never really fit. This time, there's been some songs that have worked like that.

Marcus: There's one song on the demo where, on our own demo, where Christian just sang. He would just sing words with no meaning and then after that, we'll find words. We pulled out a chorus and Christian sang like this. He wrote a chorus around the words when he didn't even know what he was saying. That's kind of weird. It happens some times. It's not unusual.

Christian: Yeah, it's different from time to time. But it's also, like, some things come as an inspiration. Simon played a riff one day, and we kind of just started singing. I started singing on it and everyone kicked in. We were like, “Is this a song?” “Yeah, I think it's a song.” Then we just recorded it and it was a song. Other times, we just spend, like, days on one song and be like, “I can't get this right!”

Simon: It's weird. For instance, for one song, we've been working on it for two years. We've been looking for finding the right chorus. I've had a feeling that it's an important song, because some times we'll play in be like, “Ah! That doesn't work. Skip the song.” This one, we got to get it right. We got to get it right. We're trying to get it right because we feel that it's an important song and that... it's so weird, it's so complex.

Christian: But that's what I love about this band. When you come in to write, you never really know what to expect. It is very dynamic, and I don't think... I, I don't know, do other people write like this? I don't know. But it's fun.

JM: Will you be playing any new material tonight?

Christian: One song.

JM: What's that called?

Christian: “My Heart Escapes.”

JM: What label will the album be released under?

Marcus: We haven't found a label.

Christian: [laughs] Yeah, we haven't signed a deal, so we probably shouldn't talk about that.

Simon: We got something going on.

Christian: Yeah.

Marcus: To me, that's not important.

Simon: No. Not yet.

JM: Before you guys hit the studio, you're doing the two U.S. dates here in Las Vegas, and then Albuquerque. Why have you decided to do these shows?

Simon: This one, we got asked a long time ago. We just heard about the background for this show and Sonny from P.O.D. was going to be around. We were like “Alright.” Then, when this whole record thing started happening around this time, we're like, “Alright, let's do this show, and plan the whole recording around it.” And Albuquerque, as well, is close in the dates.

Christian: We were going to do some more dates, but decided to...

Simon: Yeah, we decided to finish writing. We have to prioritize on the writing process.

Christian: We want to give our fans a good record.

Simon: And ourselves, as well.

JM: What are your touring plans after the album release?

Marcus and Christian: Don't know.

Simon: I think once word comes up, we're definitely going to do a world tour in whatever shape or form. But we're going to come back and play for our audience here, because we haven't done that for a long time. But we want to make sure we have the record out, or at least a single out. We've done the mistake of coming over before the record comes out. It's always more fun to have the record out, so people know the lyrics.