Interview with thrash death metal band PERRACIDE from Sweden.
Answered Perra Karlsson, thank you!
Recenze/review - PERRACIDE - Underdog (2023):
1. Avel PERRACIDE! Greetings to the Swedish catacombs, Master Perra Karlsson! I must begin by thanking you very much. Your album "Underdog" has been a great backdrop for me in the last few months, not only at work, in the pub, in the car, but also at home, with concentrated listening. You are a famous and experienced drummer, why did you decide to start PERRACIDE in the first place? Please take us through the history.
Perra: That's awesome to hear you appreciate it that much man. I'd not say that I am much of a famous drummer, but perhaps a little bit known in the underground perhaps. The reason I started this whole project was because I got tired of waiting around for the members of my other bands Nominon and Dreadful Fate to prioritize music instead of other things. I get it however, it's not the same thing when you are around 40-50 years old, you have responsibilities, families, work etc etc. However, I got frustrated and I decided to start my own thing, I had already five drum tracks arranged, recorded and ready to go. At first it was meant for an English guitar player to write some riffs for the songs, but he took forever to make it happen, and didn't present much to me at all. So yeah, that also led to further frustration. I had enough and started my own thing by using those five tracks, as well as decided to record some songs of previous bands that I have been involved with.
2. You are a member of great bands like NOMINON, DARKENED, DREADFUL FATE, IN AETERNUM, NIFELHEIM, BENEDICTION, DESTROYER 666 and many more. You played drums everywhere. But with PERRACIDE you're also a singer, a songwriter. Does that mean you play other instruments as well? I'd be interested to know how the new songs were created. How does Perra Karlsson write and compose?
Perra: Nah, I am not much of a guitar player at all. I can barely play. I wrote a song on guitar for Dreadful Fate a few years ago that we haven't recorded yet, and I am not sure we will ever record it? So who knows, it might end up on the next Perracide album?
I am not really a member of all those bands you mentioned, I used to be in most of 'em. I am with Darkened today, and Nominon (even though we haven't been that active for years now, but that's about to change now, hopefully.) The other bands are put on ice, and or I have left them over time.
The Perracide songs came together like this, I had five songs written/arranged/recorded on drums ONLY, and then some good friends/musicians put riffs and leads and stuff over the drums, and we shared the song writing credits 50/50. I have never heard any drummer doing that in the past, so it was a bit of an experiment that really turned out brutal, yet cool.
And yes, I sing lead vocals on the track "Silence the world", especially since I was forced to do so by Simon Wizén, who I co-wrote the track with, and he pushed me to do the vocals as well, since the lyrics I wrote for it are very personal. To my surprise it turned out pretty fucking good, if I may say so myself.
3. "Underdog" is a combination of your own original songs and cover versions. How did you choose the songs you covered? I see them as your tribute to the bands you like and have been in. Am I getting this right?
Perra: First of all, I don't really like to call them cover songs, especially since I got most of the original guys playing and recording the songs with me, straight from the original bands. So in a way they are just updated re-recordings, updated versions with me on drums. But I understand if people consider them being cover-songs, and I'm fine with that, really.
I ended up choosing the particular tracks that I enjoyed the most while I was a member of the band, when we rehearsed them back in the day, or performed them live or whatever. But yeah, in a way you're correct, I guess one could say it's a tribute to the bands themselves as well. It's just so cool that I could get that many original, or long time band members involved you know, like Daz, Rewy & Dave Hunt from Benediction, KK and Bez from D666, Anders, Rickard & Urban from Nasum, Hellbutcher, Batte, Johan and John Zwetsloot from Nifelheim for example. Feels really good when I think about it.
4. Personally, I really like the sound. I was a little worried about whether the new and "old" songs would fit together, but they do. The album was mixed and mastered by God Olson from DARKENED. Why him? And what studio did you record in? The sound is old, dusty, just the way I like it!
Perra: Yeah man, I like the sound & production too. Gord did such a kick ass job with putting everything together. I got to know Gord from the Angelblast project that we did together a few years ago, that turned out killer too. He was in charge of that production, and it turned out so damn brutal. So he was obviously my first choice when I started looking for people to be involved in the Perracide production. And again, he just put everything together and it turned out simply brilliant. You have to remember that there are close to 30 different musicians involved/performing on the Perracide album "Underdog". Just thinking of it makes my head spin, you know. Ha ha. Gord is a master at work, and I just can't thank him enough for all the blood, sweat and tears that he put into this album and production.
5. You've got a lot of guests on your record. How did you choose them? Are they old friends or did you just ask someone? They all did a great job, but I have to mention at least a few whose performances literally kicked my ass. Marc Grewe (his voice literally kills), Johan Jansson and Jörgen Sandström (both the same!). How did the collaboration go?
Perra: At first, you're mistaken about Johan, since he isn't performing on the actual album. Johan is like a brother to me, and it would simply have been too easy to have him on this first Perracide album (so maybe next time...) So instead I chose to record the Interment (Johan's band) track with two other Interment members; Simon Wizén (who plays guitar and sings on the song) & Allan Lundholm (who plays bass.) They are also close friends of mine, especially Simon, who helped me a lot with this album as well, both pre-production wise and more. For example, he was the one helping me and guiding me when I laid down the vocal tracks for the track "Silence the world". So the point with the Interment track was to celebrate and pay tribute to my brother Johan Jansson, and to his surprise we managed to keep it secret from him until we had a listening party when I turned 50 years old in February. Oh boy, he was surprised, it was awesome to see. Marc Grewe then, he has been one of my favorite vocalists since the dawn of time really. I saw and worked a bit with Morgoth back in the early days, 1991, when they were here playing in Fagersta. Then when I played a few festivals here and there in Europe between 2011-2013 when I was out playing with Benediction, I ran into Marc a few times, and we always ended up chatting. So when I needed a vocalist for the opening track "Inexorable", I contacted Marc, and he said "Yes!" pretty much straight away. He did such a marvelous job with the vocals and as you said, it turned out killer! The same with Jörgen Sandström. Jörgen is one of the first freaks I ever started writing letters with in 1990, when I had just started my fanzine Mould Mag, plus that I had joined the band Suffer. It was the glorious days of underground Metal for sure. Since then I have met Jörgen quite a bunch of times, and we always catch up a bit and talk, you know. He is a dear friend for sure. So I guess it's fair to say that I have picked some really good old friends for this first Perracide album. Then again, for the "cover" songs I just wanted to have as many members (old & new) of the bands that I could find, more or less. At least getting some members involved that were in the band at the same time as myself.
6. You're a drummer in body and soul, a master in your field with a lot of great work and recordings that are forever written in the old archives. I wonder when and how you got into this instrument? Are you self-taught or did you go to art school?
Perra: It came natural to me I guess one could say. I started to bash stuff around the house when I was 9-10 years of age, and my dad thought it would be a good idea to get a small drum kit for me, which he did, and the rest is history as they say. Haha. I took some lessons at an early stage, but I got bored pretty much straight away, since the teachers wanted me to play the same kind of rhythms and beats for such a long time, so I got bored and just went home, sat down in the basement of our house and bashed out my guts on the drums to the groups I was listening to at the time instead, like Mötley Crüe, Kiss, Black Sabbath and so forth. I did that for a few years really, and during that period I also tried to get some sort of Rock & Hardrock bands going, but it was very hard to find people my age that had the same burning passion for music as myself.
7. Did you have any role models? Is there anyone that you said, I want to be like that? I mean, I started out on Saxon, Motorhead, Sodom. What bands and drummers have influenced you the most?
Perra: In the early years I worshipped drummers like Tommy Lee, Cozy Powell, Vinnie Appice, Tommy Aldridge and Clive Burr. Later on I got hooked on Mikkey Dee in King Diamond, and a bit after that Mike Portnoy in Dream Theater, Sean Reinert in Cynic/Death, and of course Snowy Shaw, and since I love Annihilator I got hypnotized by Mike Mangini on his work on the album "Set the world on fire". All these drummers have meant a lot to me, and they have all inspired me over the years. Each and every one of them are drummers that I can go back to every now and then and just find new stuff with, even on the older stuff they recorded back in the days you know. They're all magicians in my book.
8. Is music also your job? Is it possible to make a living as a drummer these days? Music is downloaded from the internet and you don't exactly play in bands that sell out big stadiums. If you have a job that supports you, how do you juggle gigs, recording records, etc.?
Perra: I don't live much on music these days, no. Especially since I am not part of any touring bands and so on. When I was in Deströyer 666, all I did was to be out playing and touring, and we sold quite a bunch of merch every night, so we could somehow survive even though we didn't make a fortune or whatever. That was between 2015-2017, during the world tour for the album "Wildfire". But before that and after, I eventually get some merch sold here and there, and that's about all the money I can make. My day job since 2017 is bus driver, I have also worked previously with both in Stockholm and Jönköping so it's nothing new really. Music (especially Metal) will always be a massive part of my life, and I don't do it to become famous or whatever, I play the music I love, that's all.
9. You lived through the glory days of Swedish death metal. How do you remember it? Do you have any funny stories, experiences? What was it like in the 90s in Sweden? I guess there are many, but I'll ask for at least some. Your first gig? And your first performance on stage?
Perra: Man, I hope you understand me when I say that this question alone could more or less be the whole interview. Hahaha. So many memories, so much fun, superb friendship, yet also sour and competitive shit going on every now and then. It was a very special time for sure, and shitloads of shows all the time. From smaller shows with just 20-25 people up to a thousand or so. It all depends on when and where it was. I mean, for example; One of the earliest Death Metal shows I went to in early 1990, in Motala, Sweden, there were around 35-40 people in the audience, on stage that night were Toxaemia, Cadaver,Therion & Entombed. I mean 35-40 people?! Ha. It's mental when you think about the line-up. The same night I also met Jon Kristiansen from Slayer Mag for the first time, what a legend. But if we travel back in time, the first Metal show I ever attended was when W.A.S.P. came to Sweden on their first European tour in 1984, and I was 11 years old, just a tiny little kid you know. It was crazy, but I am so proud that I went to the show and that the memories will live on forever. The first proper Death Metal show I played was with Suffer, us and Johan Jansson's band at the time Beyond played support to Merciless and Dismember in Avesta, Sweden, late 1990. Another show with probably 50 people in the audience. But as I said, when it comes to Death Metal, and the Swedish scene between the late 80's and early 90's, I could talk for all eternity, so I guess it's for the best that we take that some other day.
10. Times have changed a lot over the years. The internet has come in, the whole world is suddenly connected. There's also a lot of new technology in the studios, musicians are playing more technically, progressive. How has all this influenced you? Are you a person who follows new trends or do you prefer the old ways?
Perra: To sum it up, I'm a bit of both (not when it comes to following trends though.) BUT - If you do stuff as a musician on a studio recording that you're incapable of doing live, then you are a poser loser, period. Nowadays, when you're in a studio for a day to record a full album, well, you have one DAY, or lets say max eight HOURS. Personally I'd say that I have good days, and I have bad days. If I'm having a bad day in the studio, it's good that I am able to record a song in two or three pieces, and then put it all together you know, to save time and mental energy. If you call that cheating, well, that's cool with me, then I am a cheater. Haha. What I can remember from the Perracide drum recordings right now is that the Interment song "Torn from the grave" I did in one take, from start to finish.
11. You were 50 years old in February. You have a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge. You've played in a lot of legendary bands, you've made a record that's excellent. You could say you're very successful. Do you have any other dreams? And I don't mean just in music.
Perra: I am living the dream already, mate. I've done it all now, I can die a happy chap. Haha!! Seriously, I would love to take Perracide to the stage. When I was starting to plan for the video recording for the track "Silence the world" in late April this year, I needed to get some sort of a line-up together. Who should I call? Well, first of all, I got Simon Wizén onboard of course, since he is the co-writer of the song with me. I also called Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic, In Aphelion) and asked him if he was interested, and after a few minutes of chatting and thinking he said "Yes! I'm in!" So, I knew there and then that I wanted my brother Johan Jansson to play bass on the video, and he gladly accepted. So there it was, the first Perracide full line-up. Ha! We had a lot of fun recording that video, and Rafael Barros did such tremendous work with cutting and editing it. Turned out absolutely killer I must say, waaaaay better than I could ever have hoped for. My brain just now noticed that you said that it doesn't necessarily have to be music, and here I am babbling my mouth about nothing BUT music. Haha. Well, you know, my life is basically music, so why am I not surprised?! When I have some time off, to do things that aren't musically related, I usually hang out with my wife and our dogs at home, take my Harley out for a ride, go and visit friends that I rarely see due to work, music and other occupations. I used to travel a lot before, around the world, but in the last couple of years I haven't travelled outside of Sweden at all, so I'd like to do that. I still haven't been to Asia for example. But I have to be honest, when it comes to accomplishing and doing things, I am already pretty satisfied, I am not much of an adventurous person anyway, to be honest. I like to be around people I love when I have some time off, listen to music, talk shit and perhaps go out having a great time/meal or something, that's about it really.
12. I wish you all the best for the years to come. May you do well professionally, may you have full concerts, may your records sell. Thank you so much for the interview, and you know what? I'm gonna turn "Underdog" up real loud so the neighbors can be happy! Stay strong!
Perra: Any neighbour that doesn't appreciate Perracide by now, isn't a neighbour worth knowing. Haha. Thank you so much for the interview and support. You make me go on, to tell you the truth. To hear from people like you that appreciate what I do, my music, and want to explore more of who I am as a person and a musician, that makes me glad you know. I have struggled for so many years to try to stay positive, and yet here I am, feeling better than ever and I want to show people that no matter how many fights you have fought, never fucking surrender. Just make sure to be the best version of yourself, fuck what other people say about you, if they try to put you down. Never give in, sure, you can walk away. But the thing is that if you walk away, you probably do so for a reason, and that is because you have left that part of your life behind, it doesn't have to be a negative thing for an individual with a strong mind that knows thyself. If you want better - Be better! Victory doesn't have to be complicated all the time. Cheers my Metal brothers & sisters.
Recenze/review - PERRACIDE - Underdog (2023):
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