October 23, 2026 is a big day because then Slan's new split LP will be released. In honor of the day, there will be an interview with the group on SkruttMagazine as well.  Pictures by Mango.

Let's start with the boring question, when and why did Slan start playing together?

-Andreas: I threw out some hooks in the fall of 2021 (I think), when my other band Strul wasn't so active, and I wanted to play fast 80's hardcore. I got 3 bites and it worked out even though we had never played together before.

Joel: Andreas asked if I wanted to drum in a band with him and at that moment my old band was a bit on hold, I had just started to feel that I had found my way back to the drums after a long break so I was happy.

Tell us a little about each member, age, instrument, band next to or before and something really fun about each member that we didn't know?

-Andreas: 47 years old, shouts as loud as I can. I also play in Strul and Shaking Heads sometimes. Started my first band when I was 34 years old I think, so late bloomer. I'm really good at popping popcorn!

Cretan: 44 years, plays bass. Also plays with Bränd and Gbg Punx. Has previously played with bands like Din Skevf, One Two Fuck You, Extinguish and a lot of other things. Vegan most of my life and would rather play saxophone than guitar when I as a 9 year old was forced to play guitar.

Joel: I'm 51 years old, plays drums. Previous bands are bla. Kolsvart, K.r.i.g, Non fortes sed crudeles, Defect Gbg, Räserbajs (unfortunately), Gbg punx, E-471, Seitan, Atomvinter, Lodis, Black nation (a few months), Leda, Potheads, Mandragora and Fylgja. I don't have much left for trall, old man punk, neocrust or local patriotism, no patriotism at all actually. I don ́t appreciate punk disco, Oi or old man punk.

Mattias: 37 bast. The one who pulls strings on the guitar. Has a 2-man project called Artär. New will come soon. Works as a teacher in Biskopsgården.

You have done Ägd, skiter i allt and the split with Earth Crust Displacement or how is it?

-Andreas: We made a recording before Ägd which we throw away, but 2 of the songs ended up on the compilation album Greetings from Sweden vol 2. Which Quarantined Fanzine & Records released in 2024.

Joel: We've been around for almost 5 years so I still think we've done pretty well, we're not 20 and hanging out in the rehearsal all day.

Your lyrics may not shine with joy and faith in the future, is it so bad with the world?

-Andreas: It was never gold and green forests but now it's probably the most miserable period that at least I've experienced in my lifetime. It's important to bring it up, so that you don't become homesick to the present.

Joel: Hard to feel optimism in a world where neofascists rule, selfish and narrow-minded ass praise the bastards who rape everyone's earth and are also so fucking stupid in their heads that they think it's good for them.

Mattias: It is important to remember that even though the world is dark, you must not stop fighting for a better world. We all share that drive and do it in different ways. Among other things, by working to support vulnerable social groups, veganism and so on.

I write in my review that you make Discharge seem like a dance band, how about that?

-Andreas: Thanks for the nice review, but then you must have listened to the wrong Discharge-record?!

 Joel: Thank you but gee, have you heard Why 12an?

Who writes your lyrics?

-Andreas: We all write lyrics. I think it's quite hard to write lyrics, you have to get into the right flow, so it's very nice that we all contribute. Everyone has a little bit of their own style too so that's also fun. It's usually mostly depictions of society when I write.

Joel: We all contribute with lyrics and then Andreas usually rewrites to make it fit.

In this world, it is not hard to get inspiration for lyrics?

-Andreas: No, not really. The theme is usually not difficult to come up with, it is worse with getting the lines down on paper.

Joel: Well not really, just staring at the phone for about 5 seconds.

Mattias: Personally, the lyrics come by themselves when inspiration has arrived. It usually takes a visit to the toilet after morning coffee. When we are not writing about it, it is often personal portraits of people we have met. Usually real careless types or as a self-reflection.

Are texts important?

-Andreas: Yes I think so. Music with bad lyrics I usually lose interest in after a while. The lyrics don ́t have to be great, but they can not be too bad. It goes away!

Joel: Yes, a band with good lyrics means so much more. It doesn't have to be a short story, a few lines are enough I think. If you're a punk band today and don't vomit shit on this rotten world, you should play in a dance band instead!

Important also to get a lyric sheet in your records so you know what you are singing?

-Andreas: Yes, text sheets are important! I, as an old fanzine editor, think it's extra fun because I can get an outlet for the old zine creativity. Can you see that it's fanzine layout!?

Joel: Yes I think so. Hard to hear what we sing when it goes fast and is aggressive, if you sit with the lyrics at the same time I think most people follow.

It's easy to get political in hardcore, is there any band that plays hardcore that isn't political?

-Andreas: Yes there are a lot of bands, especially USHC-bands from USA, which have to play hardcore as work.

Joel: Way too many! Then you don't need pointer's band either for that matter.

Cretan: Adults who play apolitical hardcore/punk is something that I hate. Privileged white middle-aged men who hate punks or take fat gage can go to hell. You know who you are...

Is there any really good bands in Sweden that you want to highlight? -Cretan: Zvacka, Synapse, Gefyr, Scrap, Warför, Contorture, Thieving, Swordwielder among others. Joel: There are a lot of good bands in Sweden, most of them I don ́t need to mention here they are already so established. I like Synapse, I think you should check them out. Mattias: The scene here in Gothenburg is full of good bands. Dispose from Luleå is very good right now and hope to see Infernöh again in the near future.

I'm over 60 and love your music but how does your audience look like otherwise?

-Andreas: It's really mixed, but a common denominator is probably that they are speed freaks the whole bunch. And then we probably appeal to the record collector clientele a lot too.

Joel: Pretty mixed, between 13 to 65 that I know of. My dad usually says that we are good too, he is 77.

You are at Flyktsoda among other labels, what do you like Johan's job for the stage?

-Andreas: I have appreciated his efforts since the Pie Mag days. A real enthusiast who knows nothing else! I appreciate that.

Cretan: Johan is my neighbor, a great friend and a driving force in the scene. He directs awesome benefit gigs and releases good stuff!

Joel: Johan is a fiery soul who does and has done a lot of good things over the years, respect!

Mattias: I totally agree with the others. Johan is a very good person and does so much for the scene. Wonder how many extra night shifts he has taken to be able to release all the local bands? Must be hundreds! He should be praised much more.

Is there a lot of interviews, is it boring?

-Andreas: No, it's sparse between the interviews. I think this might be the fifth interview or similar. This was the longest so far, I like that!

Joel: No, not that many and no, it can be really fun but of course it depends on the questions.

Which is the strangest question you have received?

-Andreas: That's probably the fifth question in this interview then! (The one about Discharge)

 Joel: (no interview question, but questions we received)

1. Do you want a booking company?

2.Can I get your autograph?

Is there any question you are missing and want to have, if so, ask it and answer it?

-Andreas: Q: Is it really allowed to play d-beat on the riding cymbal? Isn't it a rock band then?

A: If Pyri from Avskum / Dissekerad plays on the ride it's ok, not otherwise!

 Joel: Q: Which is the world's best band? A: Easy, it's Disorder!

And the answer to Andreas' question is NO! Ride cymbal it shouldn't be, it should be a crash!

Slan, what does it mean and what were your thoughts when you took the name, were there any other names that were discussed?

-Andreas: I'm scissoring on Nissepedia " Slan can mean a lot of different things, but is roughly synonymous with bad or sloppy. As an adjective or adverb (slanigt) it can characterize a thing or phenomenon that is not so fucking sloppy. Example: "It was pretty sloppy not to clean for three years". Or: "This Danish light beer tastes so fucking sloppy". It can also be a noun, but must denote a living being: "Andersson's boy has gone and become a real slan". Slan can also be a verb: "Now I've been lounging on the couch all day. Shitty life!". Geographically, the use of the word is centered on Närke and Bergslagen, but spreads with the diaspora. A cultural reference to the word is Krigshot - Slanig snut, and before they played the song at Augustibuller 2006, Jallo said: "Anders got a speeding ticket on the way here, two tunkas, so now we're driving Slanig snut"."

Cretan: Suggested the name after staring blindly at the cover of Slant. Then the thought struck me that Slan is a suitable name.

I love football, music and beer, do you have any favorites in football and beer? Or is it nothing that interests you?

-Andreas: I don't like sports but half-lager beers I have a lifelong love relationship with, so yes please! A Tuborg Green in Denmark is probably among the best things you can drink!

Joel: Not the least bit interested in ball (read opium for the people) but beer is good.

Ten favorite records all time?

Cretan:

1. Slayer - Show no mercy

2. Totalitär - Sin egen motståndare

3. Orchid - Dance tonight, revolution tomorrow

4.Destripados - Lenguas venenosas 

5. Flux of pink indians - Not so brave

7. Dirt-Never Mind Dirt, Here’s The Bollocks

8. Penetration - Demo

9.Judas Priest - Screaming for vengeance

10. Infernöh - 7 spår 10. The Epileptics - 1970s ep  (wonder where number 6 is?)

 Joel:

1. Doom-Peel sessions

2. Disclose-No more pain

3. Napalm Death- From enslavement to obliteration

4. G-anx - Flashbacks

5. Raw Noise/Chaos u.k-Making a killing

6. Skitslickers- Gbg 1982

7. Rupture-Cunt of god

8. Extreme noise terror- Peel sessions

9. Warsore- Discography 1

10. Discharge-Why.

10 was too few...

Mattias: Ooh hard to choose only 10!

The first record you got, the last record you bought and the most expensive one you bought?

-Andreas: The first record was probably one with the Pinks (the one with Helena och jag, on!). When I was at Avart Records a few weeks ago I bought the split between Alarm and Hard Pass (which Flyktsoda has been involved in and released). Usually I don ́t buy very expensive records but could not help but buy Harmony Corruption by Napalm Death, for 400 SEK at Avart Records last year. I think it is the most expensive one I have bought.

Mattias: The first record was Metallica - Black Album which I got from my dad when I was a small child. It opened the door for thrash, death and black metal and from there on to punk. The most expensive are clearly my Breach records which I paid close to a thousand swedish krona each for.

Do you buy a lot of records yourself?

-Andreas: I buy 20-30 a year. It was a lot more before, but still can't help it. I have to start selling off things I don't listen to, but it's hard to get started, it's fun with stuff!

Joel: I go a bit in periods but it's probably between 10-30 a year, rarely buy any I haven't found first online or a band I've seen and like.

Mattias: Yes, I've recently taken up record collecting again with a salary instead of a study grant hehe.

Is it important to release records physically as you do?

-Andreas: Absolutely it's important. I never wanted it to just come out on streaming. A cassette is a must anyway. I have a hard time absorbing streamed music, so I've logged out of Spotify for good. Bought a new mp3 player last year, so listen to digitally, but it's stuff I've actively chosen to download or bought.

Joel: Important I don't know if I should say. Personally I like to have the vinyl, it's something else to put on an LP and check lyrics/pictures. I never liked CDs, it was a boring format I thought. I like that everyone can get access to music regardless of their wallet, so digital releases are probably more important.

What do you think about living in Sweden today, politically?

- Joel: Disaster! Hate the right and do you have pure flour in the bag ass. Not much left for the middle voters, socialists, left party members and other turncoats for that matter.

Mattias: We may not be able to crush the system, but we can all think about what can be done today to make society a better place. The election result? -Joel: Not so surprised, hope we don't have to get the Tidö nassarna but I'm worried that we get Tidö light now.

Is it a depressing world that we live in today?

- Joel: I myself have children aged 16-25 and think it's damn hard not to give them a very dark worldview. I grew up boycotting everything from Shell to Coca Cola and knew early on how multinational companies committed both murder and predatory exploitation. In the past, it at least felt like it was a bit ugly to be a greedy egoist, today they are praised to the skies and don't even sneak away with it.

If you got a chance to govern Sweden for a few weeks, what was the first thing you would change?

-Joel: Integrate the rich, let them move to the town I know. Away with all surveillance. 100% tax on all wealth over hmm, let's say 10 million maybe? Or should it be less? Spend the money on welfare instead! Away with the royal family, the Wallenbergs (Nils, Linda and Fredrik with family can stay) and the rest of the parasites, let them work with uranium mining without protective clothing I know. Tear up the Dca agreement and immediately stop all trade with the USA and Israel. Away with all borders, no person is illegal! Last but not least guillotines in all squares as a little reminder of how it can go, think 1789...

Mattias: If I had the chance to rule after Joel, I would abolish his Jacobin reign of terror (too Stalinist for me). Haha!

What does punk mean to you. Is it just a word, a style of music or is it a way of life?

-Andreas: Punk for me is an approach. I have never really flaunted my affiliation, but my way of being and how I think is absolutely shaped by 30 years in the service of punk.

Joel: Punk means a lot to me as among other things. DIY, anarchism, protest, anti fascism and anti capitalism. But above all an incredible community, friends for life and a different way of looking at society and the world, dreams of a world where everyone can be free without oppression and hierarchies.

Futureplans for the band?

-Andreas: We're going on tour now when the split LP is released. 8 days in Belgium, France, Holland, Germany together with Tense Reaction from Holland. Check them out, they're a bunch of fucking fast guys!

Joel: Do we have that? (Still no future..)

For yourself?

-Joel: Experience more of the world before everything falls apart. Be a good dad, friend, life partner, take care of 100 dogs, not have to work so that I have time for what I like instead of spending a lot of time and energy on something that I don't think is so important, like a job for example.

Words of wisdom?

-Joel: They're lying!

Something to add?

-Andreas: Thanks for a long and good interview! It should be a bit hard to answer, that's when it gets good, haha

Joel: Thanks for the interview and good questions, it's not all crap but it's easy to feel that way.