| The Sluggers March 2003 THE SLUGGERS from Ume� has taken up the Oi! space that Guttersnipe left when they called it a day. However they came trough fast and hard with two tracks on Brewed In Sweden #2 and they are now planning their first album. Here is an interview with the guitarist/vocalist Mattias �berg. Enjoy! Hello The Sluggers, for those who not know, when and were you created and why? In 2000 I (�berg) and Thomas talked about getting our old band Bullshit back together again as it was some sort of 10 years celebration. We asked Nisse to play with us and after a while we asked Anton too. It didn�t work out to play as Bullshit so we made new songs and formed a new band, we became The Sluggers. Your lineup is right now? �berg - guitar, vocals Nisse - bass, vocals Anton - guitar Thomas - drums Which bands have the members played in before? I played in Bullshit, Guttersnipe and some not so famous noisy bands Thomas played in Bullshit and lots of other alternative bands Nisse played punkcovers in high school Anton played in Frantic and still do (but members and bandnames have changed thru the years) Any members that plays in bands now except Sluggers? Yes, Anton plays in Frantic, they�re a great rock�n�roll punk band with a EP on it�s way. You became noticed for real with your tracks on Brewed In Sweden #2. When are a debut Ep or album coming out? Any discussions with labels? We have been recording 12 new songs in 2 weekends now, but still there�s plenty of mixing to do. We�ll send demos to all different recordlabels and simply take the best offer, it�s a extra plus if the label also can get us gigs. So far there�s about 6 labels that has asked for demos so it looks good. Hopefully we can do a fullength album within a half year or so. You have a private demo out, any plans to release it for the public? NO! 2 of the songs from that demo is mastered and out on Brewed in Sweden comp and the rest didn�t turn out to be as good as we wanted it to be. Now we have re recorded one of the songs from that demo (Never say die) and it sounds alot better now. There�s only 2 songs left and those future lays in the trashcan. Are you happy with the feedback from Brewed In Sweden #2? Yes we�re really happy. We�ve received lots of good critics and no one has wrote anything bad about us. We�re one of the best bands they think:) How many gigs have you done so far? Actually there�s only 9 gigs, not much. But we try our best to get gigs all the time. Any favourite ones so far? I think the first gig at festival f�r alle was the best. It was a big crowd and everyone could drink beer. Some people were dancing along and we did a brilliant set. For the people not knowing the history of it, what�s the story of the dressing up at Punkfest 5,5? The main reason was because some scumbag from the local newspaper only commented our way of look and not our music. It was quite fun too. Any upcoming gigs coming up? Any discussions to play outside Ume�? Well, we play everytime we get a oppurtunity. It doesn�t matter if it�s a youthplace or a pub. Every gig is a experience and I think livegigs are the most important thing for the band to keep on going. We have been talking to some people at T�lje Underground and Punk STHLM but nothing happened so far. I think it�ll be easier to get gigs when we�ve released a ep or album. Any bands you would like to play with? It would be nice to play with a band from another country. How�s the scene in Ume� nowadays? It�s mostly about hardcore, but there�s some young blood that seems to organize more punkrelated gigs, that�s good. There�s a bunch of great bands, punks and skins here but the moments we can have our own gigs are too rare. You have a very modern streetpunk influenced sound, with aggro from the old Oi! bands , what bands would you say have inspired the band most? Yes we�re abit old school Oi!, a bit punk-rock�n�roll and a bit hardcore. Simply bands like Condemned 84, Blitz, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Agnostic Front and Sick Of It All Any favourite songs to play live? The majority in the band likes to play our own song "Warriors of the night" Any new material written? Yes 11 new hits What�s the music taste inside the band? I like mostly Punk/Oi! stuff, after that it�s reggae, ska, hard core and when I�m in the mood norhern soul, psychobilly, rockabilly, rock�n�roll, hard rock etc.. Nisse listens to that stuff too Anton is more punk/Oi!, ska, ac/dc and rocker stuff Thomas is into some punk, classics like Misfits etc. Alot of hard alternative music too. Who writes the lyrics in Sluggers, and what�s in mind when creating them? I and Nisse writes all lyrics. It�s mostly about the workingclass way of life we actually are living. About things we love and hate. What about politics? I rather not speak about politics. We like to play music and sometimes we like to have something to say, but we aren�t politicians. Leave out politics sometimes and have fun! What�s your opinions on the Swedish Oi!/Punk scene? What is alredy good and what could be done better? We got too many good bands to mention and there�s lots of supporters everywhere in our country. The bad thing is that there�s too few gigs and too few people getting involved in trying to organize gigs. I also miss recordslabels, there�s so many good bands from Sweden that releases records on foreign labels, why doesn�t anyone have the guts to release it here? If I wasn�t fylly booked with the band and Umezine I would try and do something. As many know Guttersnipe was one of the first non-nazi Skinhead bands in Sweden, how would you say the scene have changed since then? Well there was some skinhead outfits before Guttersnipe but I don�t know if Guttersnipe has something to do with that lots of new skin/punk/oi bands formed?! I think the whole international scene is responsibilly for that. I think the scene is better now. Comparing to Bullshit and Guttersnipe, do you feel that Sluggers may even be bigger some years from now? Yes I think we have lots of potential to be alot better. We�re more experienced now and our sound is much more worked on. We play better and have more ideas than ever before. We have a good mix with young and old in the band. Do you believe that subcultures still today matters in same sense as back in the 80�s? Subcultures is always important when it comes to underground music. I don�t think it�s like in the 80�s but it�s still this us against them feeling and to be different from the mainstreem. What should a good zine contain, and what�s the favourite, besides Umezine? Zines need a good layout, interviews with interesting questions AND answers! I like news too. Paper or Online zines? Online zines are great for news, gigs and record releases. I prefer to have a paper version that I can collect and read when I�m shitting. What are you guys up to nowadays besides the band? Anton has a temporary job at the hospital driving around dead, sick and injuried people. Thomas is unemployed Nisse works as a chef I�m taking care of old/handicapped people What about Bj�rkl�ven�s performance this year and what about Randy Edmonds leaving the team? There�s lots of changes and shocking news this season so I think the team has made it really well to reach so far. Probably we�ll meet Skellefte� AIK (monkeytown) soon, if we beat them we reach the final league that can take us to the highest league. We never give up! Any opinions on Pissed And Proud? I like the front where you can click to some good links and to newsupdates of interview/revies etc. Really nice with the new tattoosection too. Don�t like not updated links. Any last words to say to the people out there? See you soon, we will we will knock you! Thanx Stellan den slitne ;) Remember to check out our website http://listen.to/oi_sluggers |
| Interview made by Pissed and Proud |
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