SOILWORK Frontman Talks About OZZFEST, Upcoming DVD

Metal Convenant recently conducted an interview with SOILWORK frontman Björn "Speed" Strid. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Covenant: You spent the whole summer of 2005 on Ozzfest in America. Tell us about it!

Björn: "Ozzfest felt a bit like 'Groundhog Day' (the 1993 comedy starring Bill Murray) when you wake up to the same day all the time. All the concerts were held outside the cities, mostly. They had these big amphitheatres were BLACK SABBATH and IRON MAIDEN played, then the smaller stage where we played was found on the parking lot, sort of. All these amphitheatres had the same sponsor so it looked the same every time. We shared the stage with ARCH ENEMY, THE HAUNTED and almost all of the American bands, with a rotating schedule. Some days we played as early as 9:15 a.m. We were always done for the day at around 1:00 p.m., so there wasn't much to do afterwards. But it was also a very fun experience, I must add."

Metal Covenant: Before Ozzfest you did a tour in America this spring, and after this tour you are going back across the Atlantic, making it your third visit this year. At the same time there have been many disappointed European fans complaining about this tour being so tiny in comparison.

Björn: "I do understand that some fans might feel that we've let them down. But at the same time, you have to understand how the scene works. America is so much different than Europe. You have to tour much more in the States to build a hype. In Europe, there's always much more intense when the album's been released and you go out and present it to everyone. After that, the album doesn't sell that much more in Europe. In America, on the other hand, you can tour as much as maybe two years if you want, and still sell records. But sure, the fans are right to complain that this European tour is too short. It had a lot to do with timing, and also some misunderstandings between the band and the management. But hopefully we'll be able to repay the fans with a longer tour in the beginning of next year instead."

Metal Covenant: Some think that the big Swedish metal bands, like the four of you who went to Ozzfest, have been modifying your sound slightly, to suit the American market better. What's your comment to that?

Björn: "That's difficult to say for me, since I can't really listen to the music as a fan. Even though we've been touring a lot in the U.S., but we've never really sat down and said to ourselves, 'Hey, let's try to break the American market, let's make American music!' It's quite the opposite. There's been way to much with the trend in America lately, with all the metalcore bands. To me, 90% of them are pure garbage. KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are probably the only ones I really like. SOILWORK have, and will always have, many influences from everything we like in heavy metal. It doesn't really matter if it then sounds American or European."

Metal Covenant: Most well-known metal bands today have released at least one live-DVD. When will SOILWORK do the same?

Björn: "Our plan is to release something next year, which is definitely about time. We want to make it special too, not just taking a plain concert and putting it on the DVD, but also filling it with extras for the fans, like videos and other kinds of bonus material. That's what I like the most and I hope the fans feel the same."

Read the entire interview at MetalCovenant.com.