Örebro, Sweden’s ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER have recently launched a full stream of their debut album called “Always On The Losing Side” and it was the perfect ocassion to sit down with them and ask about a bunch of stuff. We discussed this big special moment in their history, DIY ethics, Swedish punk rock and hardcore, and a lot more.
Make sure to launch their new baby using the player below. Mixing many different old school, modern and melodic hardcore influences, the album brings a lot of surprises. Play it loud, but not too loud – there’s a lot more to focus on below :)
Hey guys! It’s good to have you here. What’s up? How’s one of my favorite countries in the world doing?
Hey! Oteof crew in da houze!! it is great to be featured in IDIOTEQ. You guys have always been supporting us through the years and we are honored to have the opportunity to do something like this!
Being a part of the Swedish hardcore scene is great! Lots of cool bands doing awesome stuff at the moment. We have just released our debut full-length album ‘Always On The Losing Side’ digitally and it will be available on 12″ vinyl soon via the Swedish labels Monument and The Underground Fraction. So we’re pretty stoked about that!
Ha! It’s only me at this end bro! One-man army, haha.
Yup, you’ve finally managed to wrap your debut album up. What did it mean to connect the whole process to DIY ethos. Besides some money, obviously, what did it cost to have it done?
Time! We started out with getting a new rehearsal witch would also serve as the studio. We really think it’s great with the DIY approach and felt it was appropriate since Philip works partially as sound-engineer. Since we all have had so different jobs and work-times it was quite manageable to head off to the studio as soon we got a match in our schedules. So this record had to cost a lot of time, which have stressed us out to the max at occasions.
Did you have a lot of ideas for the record planted in your heads?
Yeah, we did have some ideas that we had worked on for a while. Changing the tuning on the guitars, dennis buying shit loads of pedals and Anton becoming a more mature drummer. Also, 2 of the songs off the album is from the same demo we released 2012, for starters. Those songs separated quite a bit from our earlier work, and we wanted to continue working in that direction. That was pretty much everything we knew when we first started writing. Expanding sound wise and discover new ground in songwriting.
I also think we leaned back more on our roots in this album. Everybody participated more in the song writing which broaded the songs and kept us curious what we could come up with next time. With this album I think we feel more secure in our sound than ever before! We also knew we wanted a lot of guest vocals.. haha
Haha, nice! So what type of guest appearances do you have on the album?
We have som guest vocals on 3 of the tracks. We have Julius, who play in 2 other bands (HÅRDA BUD, LOWEST CREATURE) with Tobbe, our bassist & Philip, our guitarist. He sings on the break in “Crossed Out“. We also have our very good friend Per from MEDEA, a band we did a weekend tour with last year. We became close friends after that tour and it just felt right to have per sing on “Spitting Hate“, cause of his slaughtering vocals.
And last but not least we have one of our best friends Love, from ELAPSE singing in the break of our title track. He has one of the rawest voices in all of Swedish hardcore and has supported us through the most of our years as a band, so we are very proud to have him singing on our record. Big ups to all of them, and all their great bands!
Yeah, but you followed more melodic “movement” in hardcore. How come?
Hmm, that’s a hard question to answer, and even a harder question do define I would say. I don’t know really. Musically I think we have a kind of melodic approach to our songs coming from that we all like different styles of hardcore. We all listen to everything from TOUCHÉ AMORE, to GUNS UP and all the way to bands like LEEWAY and other 90’s stuff you know? So in the way of how our songs turn out, I really have no good answer. We just make riffs we like and everyone comes with their input on it and it turns out the way we feel is right. Simple as that!
And like scene-wise, I don’t think there is such thing as movements in hardcore or, different scenes in the scene. I mean, yes, there’s different styles and ideas, but it’s still one scene (except nazifucks and other shitheads). If you understand how I mean? I think hardcore is hardcore, and the way to define a hardcore band is by looking at there attitude towards the music and the scene, not what they are playing. You get hardcore for hardcore I think. Of course there is like, “lines to follow”, you know? I mean, you can’t play R’nB or radio pop and define it as hardcore, but it can still be DIY and it can still be good. As I said, hard question, haha. But I hope you get something out from it!
Sure thing. Furthermore, you can name yourself a hardcore band and have little to do with DIY attitude or trying to make the world a better place to live, huh?
Considering putting it out in DIY manner, what did it mean for you? What exactly did you have to do to make it happen?
Wow, I guess you can. Because isn’t that what happens when hardcore is used in a commercial purpose? And it is easy to look at hardcore as something that is, only, progressive you know. It’s important to remember that all the influence that society puts into you also reflects in the scene. And because of this legacy that the hardcore carries, you know about being forward thinking and such, people maybe tend to forget to ask the question why the scene consists of a majority of middle class, white, males. And why bands within the scene releases music videos where they visit stripclubs. If you follow me on this one haha. And still hardcore, for us at least, is a lot more than just the politics. Hardcore doesn’t need to save the world.
I think the answer to the other question is quite easy; we wanted to be in full control of everything. And, doing everything by ourselves is also a huge challenge that we wanted to overcome! haha. I think we spent most time on researching for what gear we should get for the studio (except for writing). We talked so much about doing a studio diary but no one simply had the energy to take the initiative to do it, because we were so caught up with everything else haha! We did the video for Burial in the studio though, so I guess we still got something. But looking back, it would’ve been fun to have documented the process better than how we did it.
Did you have any guests on the album? Besides yourselves, who else was involved in the development of the creation process?
Besides the guest vocalists and our friends who helped us out with the gang vocals, not really. Philip has done an amazing job with the recording and mixing. And he had some difficulties with the mixing of the album which he managed to overcome mostly by researching by himself i guess. Otherwise we’ve done pretty much everything behind closed doors in the studio haha.
Monument and The Underground Fraction has helped us a lot with the release though. And our friend Simon has helped us putting together the design for the 12″ and the artwork, which consists of photos we’ve taken ourselves. That has been really great!
Was it a long way before you reached this point? How would you sum up where you are as a band at this moment?
It has taken us some time to really letting ourselves really believe that we can work this band by ourselves, and getting us where we want without any outside managing. Of course you always need help, but the best thing is to give and take. We started putting on shows in our hometown around 2010 and since then everything has just gotten easier. More people to ask for guidance, more connections and so on. But it’s taken us some years for it. I mean, we have played music together forever. Anton, Dennis & Philip must have been playing together for about 7 years now, Filip almost as long. Tobbe is the latest jump on and he’s been playing in OTEOF since 2010.
And about where we are as a band today, I don’t really know. We spent a long time in the studio, a whole year, so maybe we are a little bit forgotten out in the touring world, but we hope to change that this year touring this album! Releasing this album is for us as a band a huge step, meaning the time it took, all the work and all the efforts. We are gonna try to hit the roads this summer to tour Europe and spread this album, so hopefully people will dig wit’ us to our songs and make sure that we can keep on doing this for a while, ’cause we love it. So to sum it up: I think we are at a big point as a band right now, but what is to come from it, and what we can make out of it totally up to us. It’s really exciting thinking about the future and what it will have to show.
How many gigs have you played so far?
With this current line-up we have played a total of 43 shows, but there are some shows before that and maybe a few that I missed out on in the counting. It’s crazy that we have a couple of friends thats been with us on more than 20 of these shows, haha. We always bring an extra car when we play in Sweden, and they always hang along and support us through everything. Big ups to the real Örebrothers n sisters.
How would you describe the Orebro nightlife and punk scene compared to the rest of the country?
Örebro used to be a really big ”hardcore-city”, booking many big names and local shows with a lot of people traveling here for the shows and always many locals attending every show. The usual number of attentings was 100 paying and more people counting in the bands and those who booked the show.
It was also some separate associations booking the shows, even though they always went to everyones gigs and helped each other out. Since then a lot have changed. Many of us that has been booking shows in this town for a longer time has joined forces and gotten ourselves an own house where we do what we want with our own rules and have rehearsal rooms, screen printing and studios as well, besides the shows.
The scene itself is alive and breathing and as good as it’s always has been, but it’s a little bit smaller with not so many ”regulars”, and the number of attendings vary on which band is playing. BUT, the shows are always crazy and we are very proud about being an ÖOHC band and being a part of our local scene. Örebro is the best, Närke is worldwide.
How influential would you say your local music scene has been to your music?
Oh, very much! Both me and Filip was (and still are) very in to the local geezers in DEAD REPRISE and LET ME OUT. Two of the best bands swedish hardcore has ever produced. They have inspired as a lot, both musically and also with our DIY attitude. Simpa (LET ME OUT, CHAIN REACTION) has helped us a lot as a band through the years. He’s a local hero, still booking shows and releasing records.
Also with Örebro having it’s history with bands such as MILLENCOLIN & NASUM I think the local music scene has been very important for us. Also all of our great friends that still plays or start bands, they inspire us every day.
Can’t wait to finally go there actually :) What upcoming gigs does the band have scheduled over the year?
The next shows we have are on the 11th & 12th of April. A little weekender with the great guys in HELIOSCOPE, GOD MOTHER and GRIEVED. We are really excited about that since we haven’t played so much the last couple of months.
After that we will play a sick festival in Jönköping with bands such as STICK TOGETHER,
EISBERG and HÅRDA TIDER. Also the two days before that we will play with our friends in HÅLL DET ÄKTA.
One being out of town and the other being our release show for ”Always On The Losing Side”.
We are also planning to tour this summer, but when and where are to be announced. Hopefully that will be as sick as these other shows!
Ok, what else man. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss here?
Yeah, everybody check out the work from Monument & The Underground Fraction. They are releasing some sick records this year and they have been so helping with us. We wouldn’t have done as well a job without them on this release. Also check out Acting Out bookings who are booking sick tours for european bands in sweden and swedish bands in europe. Also check out Filips other band SANS if you’re in to red wine and gazing at your shoes. And if you’re a headbanger and worshiper of the riff, check out Philip and Tobbes other band LOWEST CREATURE who are getting out there. Philips other band, ELAPSE, has a new EP coming out so keep your mosh open for that.
Last but not least, shout outs to: Örebro Hardcore/Örebro Straight Edge, all the bands, promotors and everyone who are keeping the swedish hardcore scene up. 2014 will be a great year for Swedish hardcore!
Go to shows, buy zines, buy records and t-shirts. Support hardcore and support the DIY.
Thanks so much for your time! Good luck!
Thank you so much for giving us this space. IDIOTEQ is great. All the best! //THE OTEOF CREW
