Interview: Skraeckoedlan

Recently, DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen interviewed Skraeckoedlan.

Hey, how are you?

I’m well thank you. Excited about the new-ish release and tired of not playing shows. I guess that’s the same for most bands right now.

Can you tell us something about the history of Skraeckoedlan?

Well, the band has been going since 2009 so over 10 years now. It started when a few of us met, while playing in different bands, at a “battle of the bands” type thing called Rockkarusellen. It feels like pretty much all bands here in Sweden have at one point done Rockkarusellen or somethings similar. Our first album, Äppelträdet came out two years later in 2011 which we are now re-releasing.

For people not knowing Skraeckoedlan (yet), how would you describe your music yourself?

This is always a difficult question but the way we describe ourselves is “Fuzzience fiction rock”. There is a lot of heavy fuzz riffing, escapist stories, sci-fi concepts, sci-fi imagery as well a twinge of melancholy and introspectiveness in our music.

When someone doesn’t know Skraeckoedlan yet and you can choose one of your songs to present yourself, which song would that be?

I think El Monstro would be a good candidate. It has all the elements mentioned above.

What makes Skraeckoedlan unique?

I think singing in Swedish definitely helps you stand out. The way we approach albums maybe helps us stand out. It is never just a collection of songs but usually a fleshed out concept with a story to go along with it. The songs and arrangements have to fit into this story arc. It can make for some interesting choices as far as arranging, melodies and structure go.

Any future plans you can already tell us something about?

All in good time. I don’t want to jinx anything given how up and down things have been during the pandemic.

Any upcoming gigs for Skraeckoedlan? Maybe coming to The Netherlands?

If everything goes the way we hope we could be stopping by real soon.

How do you think your life would be without music?

Boring and frustrating. It’s such a relief to have music as a creative outlet. I don’t know what we would do if we didn’t.

What advice would you give to young and starting bands?

The most important thing is to genuinely enjoy what you are doing. That will keep you going through all the ups and downs of being in a band. Also, don’t wait for someone else to make things happen for you. If you want a gig organise one, invite other bands to play, build networks and so on.

Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to DutchMetalManiac’s readers?

Hopefully we’ll get to see you in person real soon and we hope you enjoy Äppelträdet.

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