|
Viktor who sings and plays guitar in Tear Them
Down is the one who answered the questions from
me to Tear Them Down. A really good
punk/hardcore group or how to describe them now.
June-2019
A little story about the group?
-We have been around since 2010, released four
EPs and a full-length CD and been around and
played the most in Europe. The highlights were a
crazy turn to Russia 2012 and last year we went
to Japan which was sickly powerful.
Tell us a little about every member, age, job,
family, band before and band next door?
-We are four guys in their 30s from Hisingen,
Mölndal and Ljungskile. Works with everything
from turning paper to serving beer.
I can hear very old American hardcore but also
but part of USHC on this record, I hear right?
Was it better before?
-I want to believe that the best thing is in
front of us in terms of music. It is easy to
become nostalgic and we try to find inspiration
from both what you listened to when you were
young but also newer stuff. On this EP there is
the definitive element of hardcore that we did
not have on previous records.
Tear them Down, are you happy with the name? Was
there any particular thought behind the name? If
not the best band name had been busy, which name
had you chosen then? I mean which is the best
band name?
- An alternative that lasted a long time when we
chose the band name was Worst Holiday. I will
therefore always be satisfied with Tear Them
Down. Do not know if I have any favorite band
name, Sick of it all is well stable.
Is the discography complete on Discogs
https://www.discogs.com/artist/3702697-Tear-Them-Down
-It´s
correct.
What is the best thing about playing live?
- Shortly it´s to play live as we are doing
this.
Where is best to play, where is the worst?
-Japan was powerful, no matter how many people
it was in the audience, so everyone was always
at the front and tried to sing along even if
they not could the lyricst. The worst thing I
say is Enköping, where we played for zero paying
once, but with another band. Step up Enköping!
How is it to play this kind of punk in Sweden
today?
- It has definitely seen its better days, but
that kind of thing goes in waves. Do you
continue to play and write better songs
people will listen.
How would you describe your music in three words?
What do people usually compare you with?
- Shirt right out. Slightly depends on who you
are asking but one of the most common names that
people usually is said is well Bombshell Rocks.
Voice of a generation is quite common as well.
What does punk mean to you, is it just a word or
is it a lifestyle?
-Punk is for me an affiliation. Feel a lot more
community with people you meet at gigs wherever
you are in the world than in any Swedish lunch
room.
How do you see on downloading, mp3 and the like?
- Had never come in contact with some bands when
you were younger if downloading did not exist.
Not even in Gothenburg it was possible to get
hold of records from mainly the USA and ordering
could be complicated. Remember that a mate to me
would go to New York in 2004 and I asked him to
bring a bunch of CDs to me that I could not find.
Really sick. However, one should remember that
if you want the smaller stage to live then it is
good to support the band by buying music but it
is up to each one. If you want to listen to good
music then you have to pay for it in the long
run I would think.
How do you think it is to live in Sweden today,
politically?
-You get a short answer, it's about to go in the
wrong direction.
Are there any good bands in Sweden today? In
your hometown?
- There are so many. Like Trubbel, Stilett,
Perkele - then it's good that No fun at all have
started again, they are old favorites!
Do you play anything outside Sweden?
- Almost only, we just got back from a tour now
in Germany and Switzerland to support the record.
Other good bands from abroad?
- Yeah, well, there's no end. Played with a cool
German band now called Affenmesserkampf. Find
them, please. Fucking good live.
Your lyrics, what are you influenced by?
Sometimes Swedish, sometimes English? Can't you
decide yourself?
-We had always made songs in English but over
the years our bassist who writes most of the
lyrics had a small bundle of Swedish texts that
we thought were too good to skip. So it resulted
in our Swedish EP. But it was probably the first
and only time, but you should never say never.
Is there anything you will never write about?
Have you ever written a tribute to any football
team, political organization or the like? Can
you think of doing something like this or do you
not want to be placed to a special compartment?
-The time may tell it, we will probably not
start writing music jingles anyway. Indirectly,
we have done homage both to one and the other,
it is enough to listen to it to understand.
Politics and music, does it always belong
together?
-No that I do not think but it belongs well
together.
Best political band / artist?
-Leftover Crack is good at provoking and
awakening thoughts for example.
Do you think music can change someone's life,
then I mean lyrics etc?
-Definitely. Then there are well different
degrees but for my own part there are how many
choices in life that I had not taken if it had
not been for the music I have listened to.
Your cover is really cool on your records, who
has done it. Is it important to have a cover so
that you understand what type of music you play?
No sleep to Aröd, where did that name come from?
-The guy who painted the actual cover for this
record is called Mario Velazquez. The other
records are the other ones that have been more
or less involved. If the cover is an art form in
itself, you do not think that you need to set up
any of your own regulations for how it should be
linked to the music or something else. We've
have done what we felt good. Of course the name
flirts with the Beastie boys classic No Sleep
'to Brooklyn, Aröd is the industrial area where
we have our rehearsalroom on Hisingen in
Gothenburg.
Is it important to get out physical records?
Vinyl or CD or both? Is there any good record
store in your hometown?
-It feels extremely odd just to release a disc
digitally. I actually order most records
directly from record labels or distros, it is
nice to look around in a record store but the
impression in recent years is that it is most
expensive presses of old albums is the one they
signs with the most.
Please tell me something really fun that
happened during your career on stage or behind
stage etc?
-A guy in Russia pulled down this pants and
began to put fire on his pubic hair. Then he
made a completely epic stagedive from a speaker
right down to the floor.
How does your audience look? Which type of
people? Are you missing some types of people?
-It's pretty mixed. Everything from a bunch of
crustpunks in some squat in East Germany to
skatepunkers in the Czech Republic. The common
is that for all contemporary punk is well that
it is bad with refill from below but what I was
into earlier is that this surely comes in waves.
Please rank five your favorite records, five
favorite concerts?
- There are too many records but you can get
five pieces that come this year instead: This
Means War! - Heartstrings The Old Firm Casuals -
Holger Danske Anger You $ t - Pretty Buff Be
Like Max - Save us all Bouncing Souls - Crucial
Moments (EP) Regardless, I almost always think
concerts are best on the move than goingon them
at home. Then you remember them for more reasons
than just the gig, so never forget to check if
there are some gigantic gigs in town if you´re
out and traveling!
Is it boring with interviews?
-If people are genuinely interested in what you
do, it is never boring.
If you could choose five bands from the past,
dead and alive to have a concert together with
your band, which are the dreambands then?
-I think about this way instead. Five dead
people are allowed to play in a band that plays
with us. Then it would have been fun to let a
bunch of classical composers do modern stuff and
see what had come out. Let them listen to some
Dead Kennedys and Black Flag before or something
like that. Bach, Vivaldi and Brahms are doing
well.
Is music a great way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person? Are you angrier today
than you were young punks?
-Says as our bass player. We are not angry, we
are pissed off.
What is the weirdest question you got in an
interview?
- There are only strange answers
What is the question you never get, ask it and
answer it?
-What is your favorite store at Autobahn's
picnic areas? Segafredo! Mostly for the name.
Future plans for the band?
-Right into the tile to quote a cozy stockholm
guy.
For yourself?
- Survive the tile.
Words of wisdom?
-Do not ask what punk can do for you, ask what
you can do for punk.
Anything to add?
- Thanks for the questions! Thanks for your
interest!
Youtubelink to "The Nihilist Tone":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_xtei4lJ-o
The single "The Nihilist Tone" on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3JPYGT55CFlctIOFNdYhiT?si=fFfChSEdQUKb_wIzbcq07g |