Blindside
Questions Answered By Simon Grenehed (Guitar).
10/10/99
Interviewed by wookubus
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Related Links:
Official Website
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PRP: Let's start with the basic's, how did Blindside form?
Simon: Blindside was formed from me, Simon/guitar,
Christian/vocals & Marcus/drums.. we've known eachother since way back and when we started playing instruments we thought it would be cool to set a band together, so that's what we did. We rehearsed in a suburb outside of Stockholm (the capitol of Sweden) a couple of times before Tomas/Bass joined the band. Already from the start we had a great time and made like one song every rehearsal and was happy with how it turned out. This was back in '94.. we got some gigs together and things started happening for us.
PRP: Your guys latest album "A Thought Crushed My Mind" was recorded quite some time ago and due to delays has just now reached stores stateside, It also represents a departure from the more rapcore stylings that were prevalent in your self titled album and features a more hardcore jagged sound. How do you feel about it as representing the bands current sound?
Simon: Well, we're really happy with how the record turned out and we're proud of it no matter what. But of course it's unfortunate that it hasn't been released until now.. truly sucks. It was supposed to be released in May of '99 from the beginning but it didn't happen so we had to do a full U.S. tour on the old album again. So we
haven't barely played the songs from "A Thought Crushed My Mind" at all. It's cool though to finally receive
some feedback on the material. About hardcore, rapcore, numetal or whatever we just don't really care.. we've never intended to be rapcore from the start.. we don't really think the first album was rapcore either cause Christian barely rapped at all during those songs but because he has rhymes in the lyrics and didn't really have that megadistorded screaming voice at the moment people thought of it as rap. As for hardcore on this new record, yes.. it has more of a hardcore sound partly cause we recorded in the "Swedish hardcore studio no.1" up in Umeå where a bunch of hardcore and extreme acts like Refused, Meshuggah, fireside & others has recorded before. That's with the actual sound. Another reason is that our first U.S. tour back in the summer of '98 was mainly with and around hardcore acts.. we got to know the scene a lot better, and got influenced by that sound. None of us grew up with hardcore though, so it came out in our kind of style. Anyone who heard the first record will recognize us on the new record, that's for sure. At the moment our material is a lot different from the songs on "A Thought Crushed My Mind".. we've been rehearsing quite a lot and are quite surprised with how the new songs turns out cause it's a new style again. If people heard this they'd probably say that it sounds like a mixup between the 2 CD's we released so far but I'd say it's a new direction for us. We never follow any pattern and don't really care what people tell us to do with our music, we just have to follow our hearts. We'll continue to do this.
PRP: Did you guys abandon the rapcore sound because of it's current almost saturated state or was it a natural progression?
Simon: It was definitely natural progression. After that first tour we developed a lot as musicians and really wanted to push our limits to see how aggressive we could get without losing the groove and singing parts. We had no idea what it would sound like, and when we listen to it afterwards and people go saying it's hardcore.. alright.. if you say so. Worth mentioning is that Christians voice is a lot heavier and crazy than on the first record.
PRP: Although, it's not too relatively known you guys are a band that shares strong Christian beliefs, just how strict are your morals? Would you turn down the chance to tour with a large international band that had questionable lyric content or low ideals? Or do the beliefs extend more or less from a spirituality point?
Simon: Nah, of course we'd do that.. we didn't know any good Christian music when we grew up so we listen to all these acts like Rage Against The Machine, Korn, Metallica, Machine Head & Quicksand. There are a lot of prejudice from both parts, Christians who are living radically for Christ don't know what's going on with people who aren't Christians a lot of times, as much as guys who doesn't have a belief don't know what's going on with Christians. This is sad to see of course and people judge a lot back and forth. We are serious about our faith and it means everything to us, we believe in a personal relation with Jesus Christ and since it's a big part of our life we'll write about it. The thing is that all our lyrics are on a personal level, stuff we experience in life, how we reflect on our surroundings and basic life situations that we all go through. That's why I think everyone, no matter if you're Christian or not, can relate to our lyrics. We just want to show people what we've seen, what kind of beauty this is to us and how we live our lives. It would be a great opportunity for us to go with a band like that cause I think we'd have make a good impression on those guys.. show them that we're just regular guys playing music with the same passion as them although we happen to have a faith in God.
PRP: Could my Snakefist Kung Fu Stylings beat your Shaolin Tigerfist Technique?
Simon: Dude.. our Blindsided lionfist Capoeira Angolacrew teachings kills all stylees
PRP: How's the scene for this type of music over in Sweden? generally receptive?
Simon: It's alright. There was a huge hardcore scene a couple of years ago and also of course metal has always been big up here. It's underground though. The newmetal style is very small here still, although it's growing underground. I saw a Slipknot show just before Christmas in Stockholm and it was sold-out so I think things are happening finally. That's our kind of audience I'd say, cause both the traditional metal and hardcore scenes is really picky with new bands.. if you're not fully in the scene you're not welcome.. we ended up in between and people who liked newmetal came to our shows so that's who backs us up now.
PRP: Have you guys ever considered relocating to the U.S. or England to try and get a better foothold?
Simon: Yes, we're hoping to move to the states within a year but nothing is for sure... it's hard to get greencards and stuff like that.
PRP: You guys are perhaps one of the few bands to actually have to take some downtime due to a band member being in the military, do you guys support his decision to serve the country?
Simon: It wasn't a problem cause it was just for about 4 months and he still came back a lot so we could rehearse and even play a few shows during the fall. Well, it's the law here.. every man has to do some kind of military service, he did a non-weapon training though, he was a firefighter.
PRP: Do you constantly avoid using public bathrooms for mere hygienic purposes such as I do?
Simon: No, I like to crap everywhere.. mark my territory you know.
PRP: It's not really well publicized but you guys, P.O.D. and Project 86 are somewhat loosely referred to as "The Warriors" for your guys same beliefs and general unity, it's also less known this term refers to an early 80's movie about gangs, have you ever seen the movie?
Simon: Actually I haven't... I know.. I suck but what the.. me and Marcus were going to rent it before we left and check it out but never got the time to.. I will though.. maybe tomorrow.
PRP: Are you guys really Vampires and afraid the light will set you on fire?
Simon: Sometimes.. I think we all are.. hide away in the dark when things go wrong and try to forget about your problems instead of dealing with it.
PRP: Any worries that people will misinterpret the title to "King Of The Closet" to think it suggests homosexuality?
Simon: Actually Christian told me that the other day.. "they'll probably think I'm gay now.." we had a laugh about it. If it happens I mean.. hey.. people see what they want to see.. the other day I read a review on the new record and it said that our lyrics were dealing with stuff like alcoholism, intellectualism & being ashamed of God. We were like... erh... what..? But I mean... things like that happens.. it's the same things with rumors.. I put this headline up at our homepage news section that said "Blindside & Korn".. it was about us being on the same sampler for some magazine, and it clearly said so. Shortly after I get letters from people who writes: Hey, I heard you guys are touring with korn.. and: is it true that you're doing a split with korn... There's not much one can do about it than telling people what the real story is.
PRP: How do you feel about the recent success of P.O.D. as of late with their video being in constant rotation? And does this provide any incentive to try and get your guys music out there more?
Simon: Actually yes, P.O.D. supports us all the time by wearing our t-shirt on shows, in their video.. even on one of their CD's.. it's all crazy and we're really thankful.. those guys are so cool. And the fact that they're touring like crazy with all these huge bands.. it's awesome, we couldn't be happier for them.. and still they want us to come over for a tour later on.. (don't know when or if it will happen for sure) it sure opens doors for us. We have a new video that just got over to the states and our record label (Tooth & Nail/Solidstate Records) are working on getting it out to all the TV-stations at the moment so hopefully something will work out there. The video was already released over here and it's going great, we're on steady rotation on this MTV show here in Europe called Super Rock that plays once a week so that'll help us a lot. Also we keep getting on those huge teenage musicTVshows here in Sweden which is pretty cool as well.
PRP: Is the backbone really connected to the neckbone, or have we been lied to?
Simon: Well.. I'll have to answer that in Swedish.. har ingen aning... fast de borde de ju göra.
PRP: How do you feel about the current resurgence in "heavy music" aka Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Or is the scene in Sweden greatly different?
Simon: The scene is different but I try to follow the U.S. scene as much as I can. I dig most of those bands although I thought everyone was Korn-ripoffs at first... it's cool though, they've taken a new direction in heavy music and change is truly welcome (this is my opinion, can't speak for the rest of the band). People may call these bands sellouts.. that's just stupid.. after the first record you sell you're a sellout.. the whole sellout thing is just about jealousy.. if a band does good music and they become successful, I think there's nothing to complain about.. even if your little sister gets the new Korn cd before you do.
PRP: Is a masseuse a popular career choice in Sweden? Because it seems like they are in great demand over here, and if you weren't in the band would you ever consider being one?
Simon: That is very popular indeed.. of course I would.. the best one in the country gets to go on the annual "Swedish bikini-team world tour".
PRP: Any plans for a U.S. Tour this year to support the new album?
Simon: Yes, we hope to tour the states as soon as possible, but things are really happening over here at the moment so it probably won't be until the summer.
PRP: Is the Swedish Chef from the Muppets a national hero over there?
Simon: Yes, actually he's a member of the royal family.
PRP: Do you feel that web promotion has gained you guys a bigger presence in other countries or has it been more based on touring?
Simon: The web has been elementary for our "career", without our homepage we wouldn't have been to the states at all I think. I handle basically all our contacts with the states over the internet, and try to answer all mail we receive and through this we've been able to build a great relationship with the people who dig our stuff. We've only toured twice, but I'm sure that's helped some as well. We'd like to tour a lot more though.
PRP: Crunchy or smooth peanutbutter?
Simon: None..
PRP: What's next for the band, any plans for a new album looming?
Simon: Actually no... we just finished our contract with Day-Glo Records here in Sweden so now I guess we're back to making demos again.
PRP: That's about it, any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Simon: Um.. yeah.. thanks to all the people who's supporting us.. especially in the states where most of you guys are. We'd love to spend more time there with you and we're doing our best to work out a tour A.S.A.P. Everyone who haven't heard us yet.. please check out our new record "A Thought Crushed My Mind" or for that matter, the old selftitled one.. both released through Tooth & Nail/Solid State records in the states. If anyone have a question please feel free to e-mail me: blndside@algonet.se and do check out our webpage featuring sound and videoclips, lyrics, touring, pics and loads of stuff.. new design on the way very soon. http://www.algonet.se/~blndside Thanks!
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