Gadget

Posted on Aug 3, 2006

by Anders

The Swedish grindcore sensation (as some tends to call them, and I am not sure that I disagree) is now ready with their second album "The Funeral March", yet a furious grindcore album. The new album is more nuanced than the debut "Remote" and offers quite a good deal of bleak and doomy atmospheres, on top of the all out grindcore attack. Gadget isn't a band that follows trends, if some, they create them! I got a good talk with mainman, guitarist, vocalist and drummer William Blackmon.

Hi there, how are things in Sweden as we speak?

Things are great! We have finally gotten some proper summer weather, with temperatures around 30 degrees. My vacation has also started so I'm generally happy.

You are now ready with your killer album "The Funeral March", how do you in the band feel about it?

We are really proud of this album. It's probably the first time we've entered the studio and then come out with a finished product that matches most of our expectations. We really feel that the record has those elements we've aimed for. There's always small bits and bobs you wish weere different, but I think that's just a part of the business. Always something to work on for the next record.

How has it so far been received both by the press and your fans?

Great! People seem to really dig it, and they also seem to pick up on a lot of the minor vibes on the album I never thought would come through.

You gained quite a fanbase and a lot of positive critique with your first album "Remote", so what do you expect of "The Funeral March"?

As you said, there were a lot of great feedback on "Remote", but we weere never really satisfied with the album in the band. Also, we never felt that things got kicking. Most of the response we got where from the underground-scene. For "The Funeral March" I think we are hoping to reach a bigger audience and that we will get an even bigger fan-base. Thus giving us the opportunity to do bigger shows, and above all; more shows.

"The Funeral March" what are you thoughts behind the album title, what does it symbolize and which lyrical themes have you touched?

The title came very early in the writing process and it really summed up most of the thoughts we had around the lyrics (which most of them we still hadn't written at that point). We wanted a dark and gloomy feeling to the album, and most of the lyrical inspiration I had for the record where thoughts about our civilisation and how things are slowly pushing towards the end. Perhaps our next album will be a post-apocalyptic theme-album. Hahaha… or maybe not.

Who has written the lyrics and where is the inspiration for them found?

Everyone in the bands has actually chipped in for lyrics, but it's usually me and Emil and Rikard who pull the big cart. Emil writes in general, and me + Rikard usually write lyrics for some of "our" songs. A lot of times I will write a song, and then when the music is ready I also feel a need to do the lyrics. As if the work isn't complete until I have lyrics that reflect some of the emotions that was put into the music. So some times it doesn't feel right to have someone else do the lyrics for my songs. I think Rikard feels the same. This only applies on some of the tracks though, so Emil writes quite a few as well to help fill out the others.

Do you have a message with the lyrics and how important are they compared to the music?

I wouldn't stretch as far as saying we have a message, but we do have a substance to the lyric-side. What matters most is that we write music and lyrics that are about something. Everything is however compiled from our own personal perspectives and emotions, and all we put into the lyrics are our own thoughts. This means that whoever reads them and identify with it, or interpret them, may have their own idea of what the songs are about. I usually prefer not to go in to much into details, since that might fuck up that whole process.

If you care, you are very welcome to pick out your 3 favorite tracks from the new album, and tell us about the lyrical content and how the idea for the track originated and so forth!

Ok here goes: 'Requiem' – this one sums up my ambitions lyrically and musically. It's probably the best lyrics I've written for the album. 'H5N1' – I love playing this one live! It always seems to go twice as fast as everything else… Haha. 'Day Of The Vulture' – I like this one cause it sticks out a bit from the rest, and because I am a total WWII freak, and the lyrics are about the battle of Britain.

Let's turn to the musical side of the release, when you first started out to write music for the new album, what were the initial ideas and do you feel you have accomplished that?

Our first ambition was to make the album feel more like an album than our last, in the sense that we wanted the tracks to stick together in a good way, and work together for those 30 minutes that it plays. The second ambition was to make the music capture more melancholy and gloominess. Thus having music and lyrics working together. To have music that sounds aggressive and intense, yet feels like a great sorrow.

What has inspired the music on the new album?

I think for all the tracks and for everyone in the band, it has been different. One week you might pick up something on a record you've been listening to, and that may influence you on one of the tracks, and the week after it's the same thing but with a totally different album. I also listen to loads of different styles of music, and so I can get influences from weird stuff, haha.

How do you work when you make music in the band?

Normally we write the material on our own, and then compile it in the rehearsal. Most often the person who has written the music has a quite clear picture of what the outcome is supposed to be, so that person has all the final say about things. Even though we have a band-censorship-process. I personally prefer to record my material on my own, to my portable, to be able to work more on the two guitars and production.

The music on "The Funeral March" is faster, heavier, doomier and more furious than on remote, how did it turn out like that?

We worked really hard, haha. And I guess we have developed a lot as musicians since we did "Remote". I also think we had a much clearer image of what we wanted for this album… on "Remote" we just wrote shit-loads of songs to make the 30 minutes for an album. For this one we really tried to find more of the highlights.

Was it an intentional goal to make a more varied album with the new one?

Both more varied, and more consistent at the same time, haha. We wanted the low parts to be lower, and the fast parts to be even faster. And still to have the record feel as a whole.

What is the overall mission with Gadget?

Sometimes I don't really know. I guess anyone who writes music has an ambition to communicate through the material… and to provoke people, emotionally. It's difficult to explain the feeling you get when you manage to express something through music, and then get it on print, and several months later you get an email from someone in Germany who picks up on that vibe. It just makes it worth all the money you spent on cymbals, and all the hours you spend practicing, writing and recording.

What can we expect of Gadget in the future and what about a limited vinyl split with some other killer grindcore band, is that something you have thought about doing soon?

I think you can expect us doing all we can to get our and tour! I don't know about the limited vinyl, but if we are lucky, there should be a vinyl release on "The Funeral March" out in the future on Cage Match Federation. Keep on the look out!

What is the idea with the cover artwork, who got the idea for it and what does it symbolize?

I think Orion Landau would have to answer for the brilliant artwork, since it was more or less all his ideas. I think he was aiming for the industrial and dark when he started out, and it really turned out amazing. It feels like it extends the title and the lyrics…

Do you have a little Scandinavian tour or anything bigger lined up as support for "The Funeral March"?

We have done a few festivals, and have a couple more to do this summer. Also, in the fall, we are probably going out for a tour down in Europe. We aren't totally sure how yet, because we are still discussing it with organizers. We have a couple of other options to explore as well, but right now we don’t have much that is 100% booked. If you want to stay updated, keep an eye on our website! www.gadgetgrindcore.com

Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!

Thank you man! Nothing to add!

Review of "The Funeral March"

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