1. Hi, so at first can you introduce your band, members (hobbies, age,
work) and tell us how you know each other?
Hi! We're Sabotage:
Robban, 34 (vocals) work at a school with kids aged 13-16 (not a teacher!), been
playing punk and oi! since the mid 90's. Live in South Stockholm. Besides that
I have a wife and daughter and enjoy fine ales and cheap wine/getting drunk,
playing in bands, collecting records, reading, gigs (when we get to go out)
etc...
Erik, 35 (guitar) lives with his girl, has got a daughter and works at a school (as a teacher) in
the same area where he lives and grew up, Haninge of South Stockholm. He likes
going to gigs, drinking, making up great guitar tunes and being out in the
wild.
Matte, 39 (drums) work at a firesafe company, too build cables and control
units. Live in South Stockholm with his Girlfriend and they have three
daughters and two dogs. Beside that he's running and training and like to
listen to old metal music and practice drums making new music with guitarist
Erik.
Slebbe, 28 (bass) works with mentally disabled people. Live in the Haninge area
of South Stockholm. Has got a lady and a son, playing psychobilly and
rockabilly on his spare time when not getting drunk.
Erik and
Matte are mates from their childhood in the Haninge area (South Stockholm) and
have played hardcore together with Frontlash since the late 90's (started out
as Last Warning about 1994). Me and Erik were the founding members of
Contemptuous in 2003 and Slebbe is an old acquintance of the local punk scene,
I (Robban) played with him in a very short lived project called Fenix also featuring
Radar (Contemptuous and later Antipati) who only practiced a few times but whos
songs ended up on Contemptuous' last demo among with a few other songs. One of
them is officially released - From The Ashes from the compilation LP/CD with
the same title.
2. When and why come decision to start the band and why the name Sabotage?
Robban: When we did the rehearsals with Contemptuous for the PSK
reunion, Erik asked me (Robban) if I wanted to write lyrics for and record a couple
of his old songs that he partly had written along with Matte during the
Contemptuous days with their side project Blodörn (where Carl Fritscher from
The Templars participated) or even older, and partly when he was living in the
south of Sweden (Malmö) playing with Vindicate This! I was up for it,
especially since I just had a couple of lyrics rejected by my then band
Antipati because they were too politically incorrect or just "too
vague" (not my words). Slebbe joined in when Sabotage started rehearsing
for the second recording.
Always hard with names, and I remember we had a bit difficult to find a
name that suited all... Sabotage was Matte's idea. To me it's good...
international, short and catchy. Already taken for sure, but what the hell...
Matte: Erik and I wrote and recorded two (unreleased) demos back in
2003-2005 under the name Profane Division, on those demos I played drums and
sang. All lyrics was in english. Erik played all guitars and bass. Those two
demos include all the Sabotage songs that end up on the first EP and the
upcoming 10". When we started Sabotage we reworked all songs. Some are
played like they was on the demos but in a faster pace only, some has new beats
and new riffs in it. Those songs was too good to fall into oblivion.
Yep I came up with the name Sabotage , I took the name from Black Sabbath´s
6th album with that title.
3. Your members have many experiences with playing in other bands like
Righteous, Contemptuous, Agent Bulldogg, Antipati or Frontlash...which bands
are active now and in which are you still playing?
Matte: I was the frontman for Frontlash we played our last gig in 2008 and I
sing for Sleepless Nights a few years, and I also used to play drums for a
black metal band called Aifur until last year when we brook up. Erik and I have
a thrash/doom metal band called Profane nowdays.
Robban: Matte was with Frontlash and
later on Sleepless Nights.
Erik was with punk band Sönderfall, Frontlash, Contemptuous, Sleepless Nights,
Abjekt, Vindicate This! and now only in Sabotage.
I was in The Righteous, Contemptuous, Antipati and is currently playing
with Agent Bulldogg (since 2008) and Sabotage.
Slebbe was
in punk band Cunt Sucking Cannibals, and later moved on to the psychobilly
scene to play with various outfits. Now he's in Zombie Space Pirates and
rockabilly cover band Trailerpark Rejects aswell as Sabotage.
4. You have also rhythm guitarist Silvio which used to play in French bands
Maraboots/Lion´s Law...how came French guy to Swedish band?
Robban: Yes, he is our first choice when it comes to doing gigs (only one booked yet) so we're soon starting to rehearse with him. I met Silvio for the first time in Italy when we were in Viterbo to play Tuscia Summer Fest with Antipati (although I met him briefly months before when we played in Rennes), could have been 2011 (?)... He was there visiting as he's half italian and have friends there and that was good since he spoke english fluently aswell as italian and there for was our intrepretor during our stay. We kept in touch and by coinscidence he later met a swedish girl visiting Paris, and the rest is history as they say. He's been living here for more than a year now (in the student city of Uppsala) and now Swedish is added to his lists of fluently spoken languages along with french, italian and english, very talanted guy. Now though, he has hooked up with Projekt 9 (replacing my brother who now plays in Agent Bulldogg and Avgå!), so I hope he will still have the time to do the guitar for us! (hint hint Sillen!)
5. You have released EP Betraktelser från staketet EP on Pretty Shitty Town
Records...are you satisfied with the sound and label? Can you tell us anything
more about the cooperation?
Robban: Yes, I'm satisfied. PST always put an
effort into making their releases a bit over the average and I think that was
exactly the sound we were after. They're friends so there's no problem with
communication. Next release (10"/CD) will also be released on PST.
Matte: yes ,I´m also really satisfied with PST and our last effort there, a
really big thanks to the label boss Niklas his the man that has help us and
belive in this band. When he "signed" us for the first EP he hadn't
even heard our songs.
6. I made review of this EP last year - can you introduce it to our readers
from your point of view and also told us more about the lyrics?
Robban: The lyrics are, in the cases of songs "Bättre Utsikt" and
"Färdiga Doktriner" about thinking for yourself and not running with
the pack of idiots being the fools of other idiots with dubious political
agendas. I'm not a nazi for being against the commies nor vice versa, and even
though people will disagree on the issue, it's the truth. I have no
responsibility to declare my political views to anyone just because i'm a
skinhead in an oi! band (or whomever I would be). Got a better view from up the
fence. The song "Inget Tack" is basically about where we're at in
Sweden now, turning into a shithole like the most parts of Europe.
7. It was
recorded in three piece line up, where one member recorded both guitar and
bass....what was the reason which forced you to move from just studio project
to live band (I think you will have your debut gig on next Pretty Shitty Kjel
in 2015)?
Robban: Well nothing forced us really... We were always open to the idea of
doing a few gigs in the future, and when Slebbe was already in the band the
idea was more realistic. Then we had the offer to play PSK which I personally
have done every year since it started in 2010 (with Agent Bulldogg, Antipati
and Contemptuous), and that's just a great event, a great stage to play and
usually a great audience aswell so it was a fitting debut gig I'd say. We are
still mainly a recording band, but we will take all gig offers under
consideration.
8. Your sound is more into older punk rock like the Clash and I also hear
in it Swedish band Stockholm United...what are your musical inspirations and do
you prefer older or new bands?
Robban: It's funny you say The Clash
because that is not at all an influence even though we of course, as ex punks
(three of us) all have some sort of relationship to them :) ... Stockholm
United is a reference I've heard from some other guy. I like them but I don't
think we sound very similar. But I would say the only band we all can
really agree on is The Templars (which I think could be reckoned as our biggest
influence if there is one). Matte is a metal head with a past in NYHC and
american Oi! ... Me, I'm well into everything punk/skinhead oriented with an
extra faiblesse for the UK and french 80's bands while Erik's into a mixture of
my preferences and Matte's, topped up with various other genres. Slebbe is
mainly into the billy stuff.
9. CD or vinyl and why?
Robban: Vinyl. Nicer looking, better sounding, funnier to collect.
10. You were now recording in the studio, can you tell us more about the
new songs? I´ve read that Johan (Dims Rebellion/Agent Bulldogg) recorded some
keyboard stuff into your songs....
Robban: Yes, it's six songs basically
and they will be released on a 10"on PST as soon as possible, at least in
time for the gig. There will also be a limited edition CD version with a bonus
track - one of the songs with different lyrics (in english) and arranged a bit
differently. Johan has been doing some keyboard addition to a few of the songs,
one of them we released the other day as a teaser on youtube...
Matte: The songs we have recorded went out really great in the studio, is a
harder and has a more edgy sound compared to the first EP.
11. You come from the city of Stockholm...can you briefly describe it from
the tourist and skinhead tourist point of view?
Robban: The Venice of the North, the capital of Scandinavia etc etc... I think it's
the most beautiful city there is, even though life on a day to day basis
becomes as boring here as everywhere else. The bad things about Stockholm is
the prices, especially the prices of alcohol. As a skinhead, there are a few
pubs frequented by skins, there's the Helicopter Pad (gathering point for the
skinheads during the 80's) to see, a few bigger gigs each year and smaller gigs
every weekend with punk/ska/oi bands, a monthly club (Antisocial) and a small
but rather tight scene with roughly no (or not very much) politics. A couple of
stores for music and clothes would be Thrash Palace (second hand vinyl), Mods
& Rockers (clothing), Sound Pollution (imported and new punk/oi/metal) and
Stockholms Serie- och Skivhandel (second hand vinyl).
12. It is difficult to find a place for playing in your city?
Robban: No there are places to play, but not really good ones when it comes
to sound etc..
13. What about the gigs abroad...are you thinking about it?
Robban: As I said, we'll take all offers under
consideration :)
14. Do you know anything about the Czech Republic and the scene here?
Robban: Except for bands like Riot, Orlik, Protest, Disdainful etc I know you
had quite a non political SHARP scene there in the 90's and of course I know
about Vlad and his shop. I know a lot of czech beer, Bernard's black one being
a favourite. The traditional food is really rich. We have a good Czesh beer
hall/restaurant in Stockholm called Soldaten Sveijk.
15. Plans for the future...
Robban: Get the new songs out on vinyl, play the
one booked gig. Already new songs are being made, so another 7" might be
coming up within 2015 aswell.
Matte: Erik and I are working on a totally new song , and we also have one
last song from the old demos with Profane Division that we will rework to use
for possible new Sabotage EP in 2015.
16. Last words...
Thanks a lot
for the interview, always a pleasure!
https://www.facebook.com/SabotageSthlm <--- Our facebook page
antipati124@hotmail.com <--- You can get in touch there too
Cheers!