SISTER SIN
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 16th August 2010.
Swedish band Sister Sin have just released their second album "True Sound Of The Underground". Lead singer Liv could comfortably sell the band on looks alone. Fortunately this is a band with real talent.
Drummer Dave answers questions.
Hi Dave, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Dave: Yes, we’re really great thanks! It’s pretty manic right now with a lot of traveling… Right now we’re halfway through the current U.S tour with the Michael Schenker Group, which has been awesome so far with some great shows, so it couldn’t be much better!!
Can you give us a brief history of Sister Sin before we get to now – how you formed etc...?
Dave: OK… We formed in 2003 in Gothenburg, Sweden but were basically just fooling around really until 2006 when we started to take this more seriously. We released our first full-length album (“Switchblade Serenades”) in 2008 and have pretty much been touring ever since, right across the globe. Right know we’re out supporting our brand new release “True Sound Of The Underground” which just came out here and I think in the UK, right?
Did you know what sort of music the band was going to play right from the start, or has it developed considerably over time?
Dave: Yeah, well almost, at least, Ha! Ha! We knew we wanted to play 80´s metal from the start, ‘cause a couple of years ago, no bands from our country were really playing that kind of style, but the sound has definitely developed a lot since…. It’s got a harder and faster edge to it now than right at the beginning, a much more driving sound. More metal, less cheese! Ha! Ha! Like I said, no one was really doing that in our area and it sounded so much more real than the stuff which we would come across!
How would you describe the sound of the band to someone who hadn’t heard you before?
Dave: Think Nikki Sixx and Lemmy getting married, dirt broke and pissed off, all at the same time. Ha! Ha! No…, I’d say early 80´s metal with an updated sound and a splash of punk rock. Old-School / New Blood!
Who or what would you list as your main influences?
Dave: Motorhead, of course…... Accept, early WASP, early Motley Crue and Judas Priest. A load of stuff, but those are the main ones!!
What is the music scene like in your part of Sweden and has it had a big influence on your musical development?
Dave: Well, like I said, we’ve not really paid much attention to what’s happened there! We’ve just tried to stick to our guns and keep the band moving forward. I think having the support of Victory was very important in that respect, here in the US where we are now…
Not long ago we had a huge throwback to the whole 80´s thing… I guess we’d seen it coming. Everybody wanted to be, sound like or look like a cross between Bret Michaels and Nikki Sixx, which really disgusted me because it wasn’t built on personal talent… It’s fading away thank god now…
We have always done our own thing; since In Flames was the ‘Flavour Of The Day’ here and I don’t think we really need to pay attention to the current scene whatever it may be.
When did you start work on True Sound Of The Underground, and how long did it take to complete?
Dave: Realistically, we started writing the songs last October and started recording in February this year….. So the songwriting took about 3 months and the same with the recording….. Although, we probably could have wrapped it up a lot faster, because the Producer never worked weekends…..!
Who came up with the album name and what’s the significance of it?
Dave: Basically “True Sound Of The Underground” is a phrase that we’ve actually used since we started. Like I mentioned earlier, In Flames and that “Gothenburg Sound” was everywhere back then and those bands used to label themselves as ‘underground’…. So we thought “fuck that”, we’re the underdogs here and printed that phrase – ‘True Sound Of The Underground’ - on stickers, on MySpace and anywhere you could think of! You name it!
The same thing occurred actually when we first came to America last year; all these ‘metalcore’ bands call themselves ‘underground’ although that genre is hyped as hell and sells 10x more albums than we do! So, we went right in re-using the phrase a lot because of that, and knowing it would piss a lot of people off, which is always good promotion, Ha! Ha! It’s a cool title; don’t read too much shit into it!
Is there a single story behind the songs on the album, or are they all standalone tracks?
Dave: They are all standalone tracks basically; every song has its own little story. I think a concept album really isn’t our thing. Maybe, if there was a very special thing, that we could all agree on making into some sort of a theme, we might be tempted, but realistically, it isn’t something we’re thinking of doing!
Could you tell us the meaning and conception behind a few of your favourite tracks on the album?
Dave: OK… The title track “Sound Of The Underground” is definitely one of my favourites and is a pretty strong in-your-face type idea as befits the title! It’s a fast paced, pretty aggressive, typical Sister Sin song. The lyrics have a punk “us against them” theme…..
Beat ‘Em Down” was one of the first songs we wrote for this album. A Gothenburg boxer and local legend called Ingemar “Ingo” Johansson passed away last year and we decided to honour him with this track…. It has a real “fight” vibe to it. Then there’s “Outrage”; definitely another favourite, which seems to get the best response live as well at the moment. The lyrics are just about, not restraining anger and emotions…, just letting go once in a while!
How does TSOTU compare to your previous album, and in turn to the other material before that?
Dave: Well, I think we’ve developed into a much more solid band than we started out as. The songs themselves are more metal than on “Switchblade Serenades”. That album had more pop melodies thrown in on some of the songs….
The arrangements are similar to “Switchblade….” but they’re definitely stronger. Our previous releases, the promos etc., were definitely more sleazy, more glam focused. I see all those recordings as a natural process whilst we were finding our sound. We will not go down that road with glam, sleaze, and dirty rock again, though. That was the past!
How does the writing process in Sister Sin work? How would a typical song be created?
Dave: Well it’s pretty much me and Jimmy who write everything. When in writing mode, we usually spend almost every day of the week in our rehearsal place playing around with riffs and melodies….. It’s a very true writing style, somehow. Someone often brings riffs from home or we jam ‘til something interesting comes up. When we have enough material for a song we immediately start to record demos on it, trying out different arrangements and such…… I have loads of tapes with basic ideas…. Then the songs develop until we are 100% satisfied..!
Do you do anything special in the studio to get your sound, or are you quite a ‘traditional’ band?
Dave: I think we are quite a traditional type of band during recordings, yes! We try to set up a really good sound from the beginning and not mess with it too much. In my belief, that is the best way to get a great sound, not messing too much with the natural sounds of the guitars, drums and bass. We only wanna really record stuff that we can actually perform live, and I think that keeps us fairly ‘real’ in the studio!
Do you enjoy the whole studio/creative experience, or do you prefer playing on stage?
Dave: Both are, of course fun, but we are a live band first of all. Primarily, that’s where our true energy and spirit comes alive, so I have to say, playing on stage comes first. For myself, I’m a perfectionist so I’m so picky during recordings that sometimes it takes away some of the fun from the situation. But, playing live is just amazing; you have the contact with the audience and the adrenaline is full on!
You play a lot of live shows and have a good few lined up over the coming months. Any you are particularly looking forward to?
Dave: Yes, you’re right, we have a run that will take us right to Christmas I think, and it’s really exciting!! The shows in September with Black Label Society are going to be so dynamic. I’m really looking forward to those! The first one is in Las Vegas so that’s gonna be a real blast!
What is one of your live shows like? What should fans expect from one of your performances?
Dave: High voltage energy and a lot of headbanging! Ha! Ha! No one should leave a Sister Sin show without his or her neck hurting!! This band always gives 110 percent on stage and you can tell that!
Any chance we may see you playing in the UK?
Dave: I’d love to, for sure!! In fact, I truly, really hope so!! We are planning on having a full European tour later this year, which is currently in the works, so that might be a possibility! It’s been too long since the last time!
What’s the story behind you needing a new bass player for touring? Has Benton left or is this just a temporary thing?
Dave: No, unfortunately he has left the band! It’s sad but true. He had family and a job at home and wasn’t able to tour as much as needed right now. We are looking to tour the whole year through as I mentioned, and that was too much for him, sadly…..
So, yes we are looking for a new bass player; one, that has the same dreams and guts that we have; but until we’ve found that guy, we have borrowed bass player Ricky from the Swedish band Babylon Bombs, and so far, it’s going really well!
Now, singer Liv clearly isn’t the worst looking vocalist ever... Do you find people often focus more on the aesthetic appeal of Sister Sin than the music, or is that not a problem?
Dave: Well, actually, I have never felt that it’s a problem!! People seem to really enjoy the music that we do, but of course, it’s not a bad thing if they think Liv is hot too; that is just a plus!
Presumably being a band with a strong image is good for getting seen in magazines and for publicity in general?
Dave: Yes, absolutely. We are more focused on our music than our image though!! It’s far more important to sound good, and to show your musical talent than to look extreme or whatever. What you see is what you get with us!! This is the “image” we have in everyday life, and there’s no reason to change it!
What’s next for Sister Sin? Is it all about playing shows and promoting the new album at present?
Dave: Yes, it’s all about the shows right now, and, hopefully, as I said earlier, we are gonna tour for the rest of the year and continue well into the next as well. We want to build a fan base all over the world, and for that, you definitely need to continue to tour, tour and tour…..!!
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Dave: No, not really; all questions are interesting in one way or another. You haven’t missed anything!! Cheers!!
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Dave: Well, it’s touring mode all the way and right now, we’re heading for a show at the Irving Plaza, Manhattan, New York, so that should be a good one!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Dave: Check us out when we come through there!! Keep up with the dates at http://www.sistersin.com/ and if you haven’t picked up the new album yet, its time! Thanks for your support and a big thanks to all our fans out there!!!
Cheers!
Thanks again to Dave for his time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of Sister Sin's latest album True Sound Of The underground by clicking here.
http://www.myspace.com/sisterssin
