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Sonic Barrels is a really good band which is wish all luck in the future with their tough rock n roll. The interview was done in the beginning of may 2006.
History? We started in the autumn 2001. It was Trucker and Rick which was the ones who began the whole thing. And then came M.J. and Sonny. M.J. quit playing with us after a year and we played as a trio in almost 2 years before Johnny came. We have during these years recorded 5 ep records and a lot of gigs. The latest in Germany together S.O.S.E.
Please tell me a little about every member, age, family, work and something bad about every one? Rick Torpedo: 28 Have played with “the Lazy southern dogs” A southernrockproject, which released an ep in 1998. Have worked a s constructor of mechanique things, he works nowadays with commercials and layout for a company in Färila….? TRUCKER: 37 Katastrof,DIB,Svea rikes hjältar,Sniffin glue and so on. Girlfriend, 3 children,,,,,,,,,,,snore as a big fat PIG, and that is horrible. Sonny Barrel: 38 No bands before and no ones on the side. Married since 12 years, three children and he´s a principal and for some people that´s horrible. Johnny Doll: 24. He plays in the Hudiksvallband ”Texas Bloodmoney” , nowadays with a new lineup and a new name: ”Deadhouse Gospel”. He´s a lorrydriver, student in Uppsala, he plays folkmusic on violin. He´s pretty unmusical.
Why artistnames? RICK: I think that the whole rockphenomenonia is really mystical and it´s much stretching the borders, so if you start a rockband, so is artisnames something which goes hand in hand with throwing yourself on the floor and play a guitarsolo. I mean when you start a band so shall you always start to believe that you can come really far and take the whole thing with you
Sonny: We come from Färila and Ljusdal. It´s small communities in the inner of Hälsingland so the amount of rock bands isn’t so high. The folk music is big here and the most band here is folk music or dance music or be a cover band. Hion Martell, Sniffing Glue which are coming from here which do their whole thing and do their own thing in rock music. Johnny: We don’t come from any city. I’m from Ljusdal and the other ones from Färila. Both are small places in Hälsingsland. Good bands? I don’t believe that, but some really good musicians.
Good bands in Sweden? RICK: I think that among the best bands you hear in Sweden is the bands you come in contact with when you’re on all those demo/unsigned websites on the net. Sweden have a really strong “demo” scene. For example bands like Movements, Exploding Fist, Cellophane flower, and so on. Trucker:the Bones is my favourites Johnny: very many of the heavy bands I listens to come from Sweden, Entombed, and it’s a really strong rock scene. But as in many other countries there’s a lot of shit too. Per Gessle, ABBA, ”Petter”, just to mention some of the shit. Sonny: Now he’s so fucking squeaking again. Of course there’s a lot of good bands in Sweden. Both established bands like Soundtrack of our lives, Hives and to small good bands which you hear on My Space or where it is.
You have been on a tribute to Union Carbide and one to UK Subs? Please tell me about both? Sonny: I ahd a really good contact with Paul who does UK subs website, so when he began to talk about his tribute-project ”Brand new rage” so jumped we on it at once. ”Ice age” was fun to do because our version was so different from the version that UK subs did. It is on the with punkmeasures different record b-side(and then I talk about LP:s) on Endangered Species. In the original it´s an atmosphere moll song and in our version it´s a punsch rock hit. The Union Carbide tribute is two of Ricks old mates from Östersund which have done. And also the other band, Celophane flower, is old mates to Rick. The choice of song was hard tio decide because Erik had difficulties to decide himself. It´s he who is the biggest UCP fan. But in the end it ended up with Ring My Bell. And right now w have said yes to be on a tribute to” New Riders of the purple sage”.
UK Subs is a punkband, do you have your roots there? Which is your relationship to punk? Sonny: Trucker is an old punk and he have played in a lot of old punkbands.; DI, SRH, Sniffing Glue and so on. I have listened to punk since I was 7 years and will always do that. UK Subs as a group is really special for me. My absolute favourites from 10 years age. And that they still are doing their thing even if Charlie Harper is over 60 years now. RICK: I think that the strength in TSB is that we´re going over so many generations, I will say Sonny have a lot of the old school 77 punk, Trucker have much the 70-80´s heavy metal and 77punk he too. Johnny have a lot of 80-90´s metal and the trashstyle and then I fill in with my interest for Detroitrock, bluesboogierock and some psychedelia. Trucker:Absolutely,played with a lot of punkbands in the 80´s and the 90´s, but it´s more punk in my head today!!!
You seems to be really good in advertising for yourself as a band? No company who wants you? Sonny: We´re definitely not bad on advertising ourselves but if we will have full attention so must it be almost a fulltimework and that have already … Trucker:Now, it´s time now
I write in the end of my review ”The only problem is to put them in the right musicstyle”, comment? Sonny:In the beginning it was punkrock but now we have broaded our material and it comes in a lot of different styles from other musistyles but still it is most rock n roll. The music is to say that is a mix of punk, heavy metal, garage, southstaterock and pubrock. We call it "Punch Rock" -slow punk rock and knock outs. TRUCKER:onehellofamessrock,,,,we can call it
The Rolling Stones-riff? Are they coming only or do you think they´re cool? RICK: Deliberately or undeliberatley…?I think they are rock riff and then someone hear that is Rolling Stones or Kiss or Hellacopters or Carbide, I mean that haven´t Stones been around so hadn´t Kiss sounded the way they do and so on. I think you can hear all of these bands in us and also in many other bands. Of course you take from these groups but it´s often undeliberately. It´s often so that you´re in the rehearsal room and say -Shit this is THAT song with THAT band -hahaha fuck it, we do it anyway.
What drives a band which isn´t so known and lives on the music conitinuing to play? Sonny: To rehearse, do your own music, record records and do gigs. It’s the whole thing, that is surely the thing we like so much and therefore we only doing it again and again.. RICK: I think if you strive after to be known you can be on Big Brother or some other forum. It’s really fun when you meet someone who have seen a gig or someone have heard us on the radio. But the force is to have fun and play a lot. TRUCKER: The parties after the gigs we have. Johnny: The best thing is to stand on the stage and rock as hell. All boring car travels, boring rehearsals or studiosessions and to carry stuff to gigs or what the fuck, to be on stage compensate all the boring stuff. Only the thing that is people who listening. And then if someone like it it's a bonus.
What was the goal when you started, have you reached that goal? Sonny: The goal have always been to do music, record records and get good gigs. All these happens sometimes. Now it´s more about getting someone to pay for a recording.
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Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five most important things in life? Sonny: not in any particular order 1. When we won division 7 Hälsingland without losing any points 1998 2. My family 3. Motorhead-No sleep til Hammersmith 4. The journey to India 2003 5. Vibrators-Live on jang & Jin in Gävle 1985
RICK without any particular order 1. the Soundtrack of our lives –LIVE on kåren GBG 96-97? 2. My upbringing from my plasticdad Anders from Ånge 3. The collaboration in Germany with the band S.O.S.E 4. Neil Young - Harvest 5. When my PUCH Florida went on in 60 km/h in Färila
Trucker,, without any particular order 1.Neurotic Outsiders 2.The Bones,,Straight flush ghetto 3.Turbonegro,,,,,Apocalypse dudes 4.Family and friends 5.The band
Johnny, among the best records: Alice Cooper – Trash; Steve Earle – The Mountain; Pantera – Far Beyond Driven; Kiss – Destroyer; Entombed – To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth. The best concert ever was: Pantera – Solnahallen 2000; another ridiculous good was Slayer – Hultsfred 2005. The most important thing ? I don’t know , some beer and a big shitting now and then.
First, last and most expensive record ever bought? Sonny: The first was ”Country and western hits vol2”, the most expnesive was surely a really bad bootleg with Johnny Thunders, The last one was surely some punksingle in a flea market. RICK: The first one I bought myself must have been Uprising with Bob Marley I have never been so much for rare records but it must have been a Guns & roses I changed against a skateboard and the skateboard I bought for 300 swedish krona. TRUCKER:The first one was a Slade-record if I don´t remember wrong, the most expensive I have no idea about, Rock n ´roll is dead was surely the latest. Johnny: The first record I bought for my own money was Sepulturas ”Arise”. The latest is Zeke – Death Alley. I never buy expensive records, the beer in Sweden is too expensive so I can afford to be among the culturebeards in the record stores.
The most embarrassing record in your collection? Sonny: No records are embarrasing. RICK: Haven no embarrassing, but ”Cry:s 7”- Sandra’s having a baby”, or ”Baby woodrose - Blows your mind” i8s not records I want to have in the front much depending of the covers, Trucker:I have surely a Kurt Olsson which I go from my little brother once. Johnny: Must have been Meatloaf's ”Bat out of Hell 2”. It was a christmaspresent from my mother when I was around 10-12 years. I have it in a box and I can never give away a record. *Hehe* Sonny is always political correct as always....
Is it many gigs? Sonny: Maybe 8-10 every years. And there´s too little gigplaces to0 play in I Hälsingland for bands who don´t play dancemusic or covers. The guys around Cluib Fonzie in Bollnäs must be praised when we talk about that and Mari Blom on Stadt in Ljusdal. TRUCKER:WE HOPE TO GET MORE
Which type of audience comes to your gigs? RICK: If you play in small cities like we do you can be really surprised about the mix of people which you see in the audience. So we can say that we haven´t been discovered by any special audience. TRUCKER:Mixed, by most small girls,,,hahahahahhahaa
You really look some as you’re four different styles if we see how you look like, what I mean is that a band often look the same way and have the same style Sonny: No, we’re really different persons. First of all so is Mathias and I 10 years older, wiser and more beautiful than the small boys in the band. And then we ARE really different, I and John sports a lot and that doesn’t Erik and Mathis do. John is a vegetarian and that isn´t we other members in the band. We have different works, habits and friends. The thing that brings us together is the band and that have been more than enough for us. Johnny: I agree. We haven´t even the same musictaste but it´s not any problem for us. TRUCKER:What a fucking happiness that I am not like John and his fucking Peps face……hahahaha sorrry John!!
The picrue on the cover with the old men where does it come from? RICK: It was my granddad which took the picture in the late 70´s , early 80´s. It’s taken outside the taxi station in Färila which he had. It was the place that “the old men” was coming to and changed histories and drinks.
Is it important to have a cover on the record which sticks out? Sonny: In the end it’s the music that speaks but our records have nice covers which sticks out a little. Johnny: We have a luck with Rick Torpedo as a designer, he’s really good at everything in the graphics and those things. I couldn’t see a poster if it was jumping up in my ass and was released through the prostatastimulation. *Hahaha*
Which band/record company makes the coolest/nicest covers? RICK: I like much the experimental covers from the 60-80´s when they worked with 12 covers in different materials and those things. I have no favourite label but I like Beatles, Grand funk, Sparks, many jazzcovers from the 50-60´s. I think it have been very boring covers during the 90´s but in the latest years it have became nicer covers again. A favourite is Runaways – Live in Japan. Sonny: Maidens covers is incredibly good and they have have the same structure the whole time.
How do you think it is to live in Sweden today? Sonny: Sweden for me is Färila and that’s good and/but it’s small. It takes a lot of time to take yourself to an airport if you want to go further. Otherwise IS Sweden a good country and the ones who says it’s bad must be spoiled or stupid. Johnny: Sweden is a really good country. But some socialism wouldn’t be bad. And then if I could live in Hälsingsland for the rest of my life I would have everything. TRUCKER:Expensive
Is it any chance/risk that we change government after the elction? Do you you vote? Trucker:Don´t understand the question???????? Sonny: Yes, I vote but if it´s gonna be a governmentchange I don´t know . The question is how much change we would notice..
The lyrics, who does them and what are they about? RICK:The lyrics I do is often country-lyrics and then I mean that it is a history which is telled, a little serial. I have never tried to do any U”-change-the-world-lyric. It´s much about the rock n roll myth with booze, girls and fast cars. Sonny: Mine aren’t so often a story. Often it’s my feelings I go from. Sex, telemarkskiing, rock n roll or some panicattack. Then it´s much about word building and it must be a lot of candy words which is good in your mouth. I don’t think that so many of us puts his whole soul in the lyrics making.
Futureplans for the band? RICK:To play much and to do the last record in the second trilogy. And to be on the” New Riders of the purple sage” tribute. And to do a rockopera Johnny: Rockopera!? Whatthehell, have we become Queen now or?? TRUCKER:Play as much as possible, tour in Germany again. Sonny: Record as much as possible and do a tour in Germany.
Wisdomword? Johnny: ”The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don’t we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?” /Frank Zappa. Damn straight!
Something to add? Johnny: We have been really low with the rock n roll and take it a lot of easier with the songs. It will be a change on that now. It´s more fun to play if the fingers bleeding and the audience is moving. Sonny: Good interviewquestions. You have though over them a little, it´s not everybody who does that. It’s fantastic with all web-zines , you really makes the musiclife rich in Muisksweden.
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