The Swedish Hard Rock group THE QUILL will soon release their ninth album "Earthrise". During a very nice and relaxed conversation with the guitarist Christian Carlsson, I got to know how the pandemic has affected the band and their upcoming record. Also how the songwriting and choice of songs can be done, together with interesting information about the new albumcover artwork and the dude or creature we see on it. We get an insight into what the lyrics are about, as well as Carlsson's path to becoming a guitarist and which one is his favorite guitar. You can also read about what the members do when they are not working with music, which their favorite places for concerts are and what songs they always play in front of an audience, plus much more.
Anna: Your recording studio is located in Oskarshamn, in the southeast of Sweden. Not so far away is Mönsterås. Are all four bandmembers originally from there?
Christian: Yes, everyone except the bassist Roger Nilsson, who is an Oskarshamn-guy from the beginning. He also lives there now, but he lived in Mönsterås in his youth. It was during that time we met and formed the band.
Anna: Do the rest of you still live there?
Christian: Yes.
Anna: How did you get to know each other?
Christian: We are about the same age. At that time, everyone hung out at the youth center. There was a small stage and there were rooms where you could rehearse with your band. The youth center had lots of space, so there were rather many bands rehearsing there. You could play pool, eat a snack and hang out. Then we rehearsed, or listened a bit to someone else rehearsing. There was a great sense of community in the seventies and eighties. All Mönsterås-musicians in my generation have spent a lot of time on that youth center. So, yes, that is where we met.
Anna: I guess you have not met each other much in the last year. How has it affected the album-recording?
Christian: We started recording this album already in December 2019, before the pandemic. We had a schedule for the whole recording. At this time last year we had done three quarters of the work. Until then we went on as usual and had recorded most of the things. There was a bit here and there that was missing, plus the actual mixing process and the other things that would be done later. We tried to get it ready, but everything took an extremely long time, when we could not meet much. Others, such as our German partners, had a lockdown and there were different conditions everywhere. It took until August 2020 before we delivered the finished material to the record company. The visuals, such as album cover and promo pictures, were not completed until November. We tried to meet as much as we dared. When it became tougher restrictions, especially from the end of the autumn, then we paused. Much like putting the lid on for a while. Since then, the four of us have hardly met at all. It must have been sometime before Christmas, so we have not seen each other for several months now. As in many other workplaces, we now instead have meetings via the computer (laughter).
Anna: You have written all the songs together. Have this group always been so full of ideas, that you had so incredibly many songs to choose from before each album?
Christian: Well…we probably did unusually many this time. It is a long, democratic process with writing songs. We meet regularly, usually in the rehearsal room. One of us comes up with an idea, some riffs for example. Then we try things out and bit by bit we create the songs. It can take quite a long time. Everyone shall feel for and be passionate about the song. We keep going until everyone is pleased. That is nice, but sometimes a little bit frustrating (laughter). However, you want everyone to feel satisfied with the result. It is after all an artistic work we are doing. When you listen to the album, from the first to the last song, we want you to feel a kind of flow and a dynamic. There should also be some things happening along the way. We try to make an exciting mix of everything that THE QUILL stands for, on each record.
Anna: About twenty became nine. How did you choose which songs to include on "Earthrise"? Did everyone decide together or did you vote? (Laughter)
Christian: Yes, we actually did that (laughter). We had rehearsed on twenty songs, but asked ourselves if everyone of them would really last in the long run. We reached a decision about which songs we could remove for now and did not put any time on them in the studio. We boiled it down to thirteen songs and recorded them. Then we sat in the studio and wrote down each song title on separate post-it-notes. One by one was held up, with the question of who wanted that song to be on the record (laughs). Those who received most votes were simply allowed to be on this album (more laughter). We wanted about 45 minutes of music and could not possibly take everything. It shall be able to fit on one side of a 90 minutes cassette tape (lots of laughter from both).
Anna: How did you experience the entire production this time, compared to previous ones?
Christian: Once we are in the studio to work, then we are very fast and efficient. The problem was that it took so long, to get to do those days in the studio. It was frustrating. Jolle (Atlagic) said last year: “What the hell, I was finished with my drums in November and now it is April. We are still not done. What is going on…” (laughs) It drove us crazy, so to speak. Once your mind is set on the studio, with the recording steps, then you want to keep going intensively until you are finished.
Anna: I wonder a bit about "Angel of Death", which can be seen on the album cover and inside is the whole costume described in detail. Tell me, what kind of dude or creature is that?
Christian: A German guy, Sebastian Jerke, is an artist who also did the cover artwork on the previous album "Born From Fire". He has done some album artworks for bands in our genre, so we thought that he was a very cool guy. He is damn good, so we wanted to work with him. He paints this by hand, so it is an acrylic painting. There has been nothing done in a computer. It is a real brush painting. Anyway, he wanted all the lyrics, so he could get an idea of what they were about and see what inner images he got when he read them. We also sent some music, so that he could get an idea of how this record sounds like, in terms of atmosphere. Then he wanted to know if we had a suggestion for an album title and we thought that the song "Earthrise" was a pretty cool name to have. We wanted a picture where you see the Earth from space, in some way. Then he started to improvise on that and came up with some sketches, much like it looks now. It is some kind of alien with a special costume. Then we borrowed a little from an idea by BLACK SABBATH (laughter). On the front cover of one of their records they have a special character, which is described on the inner cover. We now wanted to do something similar and gave Sebastian a suggestion to make a sketch of this creature from space and his equipment. He became enthusiastic and came up with what everything is called. I have no idea about all the features (laughter). It is probably only his imagination. There is a lot of space perspective in many of the lyrics. We philosophize about life and we reflect on society, but with a space theme.
Anna: In the first verse of “Dwarf Planet” we can hear something that sounds like birds, made of slide guitar. Is it keyboard or mellotron?
Christian: It is actually exactly a slide guitar, with a strong echo. I got the idea from a LYNYRD SKYNYRD song, where they do that. It is a pretty cool thing.
(Wow, says Anna impressed.)
Anna: You have not used mellotron at all this time?
Christian: No, but I have a kind of mellotron-sound on my guitar. Fredrik (Karlén, who played mellotron on the previous record) plays a bit on the keyboard, like the outro on "Hallucinate" and some melody loops inside a few of the songs.
Anna: Tell us about the acoustic creation "Dead River" that ends the album.
Christian: It is based on an acoustic guitar that is quite monotonous and goes through the whole song. It was Roger who sat at home, playfully trying some things with an acoustic guitar and came up with it. His idea was to do something acoustic, a little flower power or in LED ZEPPELIN style. Magnus (Ekwall, the singer) then tried to find some melodies. We felt we had to decorate it a bit with diffuse effect guitars and congas, to build up the psychedelic. I think we found good stuff to support the acoustic guitar. It is exciting to build songs. We often have a song that is more stripped down, without drums you could say. This one does not have real drums either, but it is congas and rhythm instruments. Not on all records, but sometimes we find the form for such a song and then we think it is cool to include it.
Anna: What else do you do when you are not working with music?
Christian: We work in the world of school, all except Jolle, who is a carpenter. We have been doing that all the time. I have worked as a music teacher, assistant teacher, and at youth centers or leisure centers. Magnus works at a high school, as a special educator. Roger has been a regular teacher once, but is now something like an assistant principal. Beside the music, most of us have usually worked full time.
Anna: In how many different countries have you played live concerts?
Christian: Oh...I don't know exactly. At least the whole of Western Europe and parts of Eastern Europe. We have also done a US tour. It has become many hours on the roads.
Anna: Do you have any favorites among all places you have performed at?
Christian: Sweden Rock is always special. We have played there four times. It feels like a good receipt. When you get to play there, then it is good. Then we have played at similar festivals of the same caliber, down in Europe, on a number of occasions. Quite a few big Hard Rock festivals, such as Wacken Open Air. In the Netherlands they have several big festivals and we have performed on all of them. We have also played at the Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival in Belgium. We did that a few years ago and it was very fun.
Anna: Do you prefer large arenas or can it be cozy with gigs at small clubs as well?
Christian: I like both, but big festivals are something special. To step out on a big stage and see thousands of people in front of you…that is an awesome experience.
(Photos: Goran Markov and Jacky Moutaillier.)
Anna: Is there one or more songs that you always play at concerts, songs you cannot skip?
Christian: Yes, some are songs that we ourselves enjoy and like to perform. We have a favorite, which we really want to have and always play. The song is from our least known album "Silver Haze" (1999) and is called "Freedom Mountain". We love to play it live and even if people have not heard it, you notice that they get excited about it. Then we have had a few, maybe not hits in that way, but ever since we wrote "Stone Believer" (to "Born From Fire", 2017)…we felt that it was right on target, so to speak. We always play it. Then there are a few more, from the older records. We have a song called "American Powder", from "Hooray! It's A Deathtrip ”(2003), which always works live. We play it almost every gig, just like the title track from "Voodoo Caravan" (2002). Sometimes we have the same setlist during an entire tour and sometimes we have not. The last tour we did, just before we started recording this new album, was together with the American band NEBULA. We did a few weeks in Europe. Then we had rehearsed on so many songs that we thought: "Now we make new setlists every night". We had sixty minutes, so we did eleven - twelve songs. We had at least twice as many, so it was different every night (laughter). There were maybe four or five songs that were always included, but the rest we changed every single day. It was a challenge in another way. Sometimes you thought: “Ok, shall we start with this song? We have never done that before, so it can be exciting”. Otherwise, you have certain songs, which you feel are perfect opening numbers. But then we just took a chance and it could be anything (laughter). Sometimes it was even a slow tune, but it was a lot of fun. Then we have some hardcore fans as well, who follow the tour and see several concerts in a row. Then it was a little extra fun for them to hear many different songs, so that it did not become the same, night after night.
Anna: Is there anything else, regarding the upcoming album "Earthrise", that you would like to add?
Christian: It feels a little strange when you cannot do concerts. Otherwise you always have a plan. First release party, then it is time for gigs, tours and festivals. You usually have plans for six months - one year ahead. Now there is nothing. We have made some videos and then comes the album, but after that we do not know much more. There are some tour suggestions for next year, which we are considering. Although you take it "with a pinch of salt", because you do not know if it will happen at all. We will try to promote the album in every way we can, except to play live.
Anna: Maybe another livestream further ahead?
Christian: Well, we probably will do at least something to introduce the album, when it is released.
Anna: Is there anything else you want to mention?
Christian: Not much has happened in the last year, but we have received a culture award.
Anna: Congratulations!
(Mönsterås municipality's Culture Prize 2020, with the motivation: “For their long successful career and for their contributions to music, which put Mönsterås on the map through their tours around the world”.)
Christian: It was fun. Somehow, that prize will be awarded this summer, on Swedens National Day. Besides that, there have been some interviews and the reviews have started to come. Considering the many positive comments about “Earthrise”, it actually feels fantastic.
Anna: How many different guitars have you had over the years?
Christian: I do not know. About thirty maybe, but in THE QUILL I have pretty much always used the same two - three all the time. You find your favorites.
Anna: Which ones are your favorites?
Christian: When I bought a Gibson guitar, I felt that I had come home. That was what I had always been looking for. Right now I have two Gibson Les Paul and it is for the most part these two I always play on. They both have slightly different sounds. For me, it is Gibson guitars that count. They sound and respond the way I want.
Anna: How old were you when you got your first guitar, or when did you start to play this instrument?
Christian: I cannot have been that old. My grandfather had a guitar and I always wanted to play with it when we were there. Then I got my first guitar from him. Later I got a drum set, because I most preferably wanted to play drums. I learned that pretty well, but I never really let go of the guitar. We had a small band (some laughter), when we were about eleven - twelve years old, when there was someone else who could play a little too. Then I wrote songs for that band, on guitar, even though I played drums later. Especially songwriting I thought was so much fun and then in the end I felt I wanted to play guitar instead. Writing songs has always been my thing and then the guitar felt natural to write songs on. Then you became better and better at playing as well.
Anna: You were probably born to be a guitarist.
Christian: (Laughter) Maybe that was it.
