Interview with G.A.I.N

'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'

I met up with G.A.I.N who have recorded the second part of the H.A.T.E saga, ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’. Here’s their thoughts about the project.

Hi G.A.I.N! You guys are doing “A – part two of H.A.T.E” how is the EP coming along?

It’s coming along very well. It’s all done and waiting to be released. Niklas Stålvind of Wolf produced and mixed. Mike Wead of King Diamond and bibelblack mastered. From the final result we can definitely say that it sounds kick-ass! We’re very proud of what we’ve done and we can’t wait until we can share the result with the world!



Great! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

We’re just a couple of metalheads doing what we love. We all come from different places but our love for Metal brought us together. We all live in Stockholm and we like to go out and have a good old dirty time. It happens a little too often but that’s Metal for you!  We live by the motto, Sex, Booze and Tattoos! 



What did you think of the original songs when you first heard them and did you think it was hard to interpret them into your own style or did you get ideas straight away?

When we first heard the songs we wondered what the hell we’d gotten or self’s in to. It was a little hard to “connect” with the songs at first but after a few listening’s they grew on us and now we like them. 
We decided early not to listen to the originals that much too ensure that our versions came more from us, so that they would sound like G.A.I.N. 
Some songs we had ideas for right after the first listen but some came harder. The song that came easiest was probably “King of the Willow Tree” and one that we had to work a bit on was “Glow”.  



Which of the songs are you most pleased with and why?

Our favorites are probably King of the Willow Tree and The War. We really like the raw drive of the riffs in both songs. They are really in our own style and don’t sound like covers at all. Your way of writing really fitted well into our kind of music. They came out just like our own songs.



What’s your favorite gig memory?

Three of us remember on gig in particular. Mr Bandiit was a little too excited and played a bit fast. This resulted in that Gus had to prioritize ether singing or breathing in the last song. He chose to sing… 
He gave his last bit of energy in that song and as a result of that he ended up taking an ambulance ride to the hospital. 



Can you tell us a little bit about the recording sessions and what was most fun with being a part of this project?

We recorded everything in Viper Studios. From this experience we learned that we will never record four songs in two days again. It’s borderline impossible and we don’t recommend it. We finished all the rhythm guitars and the drums in one day and thought we were doing very well. Only lead guitar, bass and vocals left right? The lead guitar and the bass were done at about 8 o’clock the next night. The vocals took another 7-8 hours and would have taken longer if it weren’t for the excellent vocal coaching Niklas Stålvind of Wolf provided. We’re forever grateful for that.
 But on the whole it has been a lot of fun to be part of this project. We’ve learned a lot and would like to thank you for this opurtunity.



What’s next on the agenda for G.A.I.N this fall?

Get out and play. The big damn show! This fall we will focus on getting out and bring our music to the masses. We haven’t played all summer so we’re really excited about getting out there again! We’ll just have to make sure that Gus gets to breath. Do you know where we can get a portable oxygen tank?



Thanks for hanging out! We look forward to hearing the songs.

Listen and pre-order ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’ here!

V – Update #2

Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
recording part three of L.O.V.E

Guys! I just spent the entire afternoon editing this video from when we were in the studio recording the other day. It’s got some previews of how the new 3P is going to sound. In the end of the video the a part of one of the new songs are inserted so this is like a pre-listen as well! My producer Janne Manninen has been taking it in an electronic version which I hope you all will enjoy. That’s the fun thing with these EPs, not only do you get to know the guys in my band a little bit better but we can also experiment with the sound of the songs. You don’t have to worry that I’ll totally change my style though, each 3P will sound different, that’s just part of the experience! If you haven’t pledged already, go ahead and pre-order this awesome EP here!

Video from the studio

Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
Hello from the studio!

 

Pledge for ‘V – Part Three of L.O.V.E’

V - Cover

It’s been amazing that I have received so much help, support and interest from my fans during the production of my two latest EPs. Thanks to YOU I have been able to record and release them, and for that I am eternally grateful!

Now it’s time for me to start making part three of the L.O.V.E saga and I need your help again. This time it will be a little bit different. For one I’m using Bandcamp instead of Pledgemusic and this time I have affixed packages to make it easier for you to choose your level of involvement. Like before, you’re very welcome to send me an email or comment below if you feel that something is missing amongst the items available to pledge for and I’ll be happy to include it. You will still receive updates from the project such as blogs, pics and videos.

The interesting thing about this project is that I have four different producers, the four guys that also happen to be in my backing band. They are all very talanted but they all have very different taste in music and I thought it would be interesting to see how they interpreted my songs if I gave them the chance.  ‘L’ was produced by my cello player Christian Hörgren and ‘O’ by my drummer Joakim Lundgren. We’re now down to ‘V’ and this time it’s my bass player Janne Manninen who produces the EP. His roots are more dance and electronica than the others and this EP will be very different from all my other stuff. But it’s still me doing the vocals and guitar and it’s all my songs, just in a new exciting suit.

So, go and check out the new design on the tees and posters and start choosing your pledge package. Go to the pledge site for more information about the different items and how to pledge. Thanks again for helping me out!

V - Cover
V - Cover

Florida – Playlist #8

My ‘Florida’ playlist today is packed with great Swedish singstresses! (Me included of course 😉 

Florida – Playlist #8
Sofia Talvik – The light
Stina Nordenstam – From Cayman Islands with love
Pernilla Andersson – Walk another road
Lykke Li – A little bit
Oh Laura – It ain’t enough
Theresa Andersson – Na na na
Doris – Did you give the world some love today, baby?

Emergency update!!!

So I’ve spent my first night here in LA. Me and Warren met up with his lovely friend Kristin and she took us to the Hotel Café where a bunch of people played live. It was awsome but I was a partypooper and wanted to get some sleep. Anyway, when we were about to leave I spotted Aqualung in the audience. I managed to work up some nerves to speak to him, and he seemed to think I was some annoying fan (which I am). But there were like a couple of showcases at SXSW that I didn’t want to miss and one of them was Aqualung’s. I only managed to stay for a few songs but he was really good. I joked to my cellist Christian that Aqualung could be his gay little brother (I don’t even know if he’s gay, and if he would read this he would probably hate me) they do look a little bit alike.. just check this out:

aqualung
Aqualung
chris
Chris