GRACE.WILL.FALL released their third album “No Rush” in late March 2014 and refreshed it by putting it out on vinyl in early June. Available via Midsummer Records and Hoborec, the record brings back GRACE.WILL.FALL with freshened approach and energized vigour, celebrating the band’s 12 years of existence this year! Formed in Jönköping, Sweden and having released a couple of albums, a handful of EPs, splits and singles, the band did 15 tours through Sweden, Europe and the UK. Influenced by the reality of their everyday lives, their hopes and expectations are very high for what’s to come with the release of the third, most worked through album ever. The result of their work is available and can be finally enjoyed.
I caught up with the band to dig a little deeper and find out what really makes these buys tick. The following interview was conducted right before the summer of 2014, but it still seems to be valid. Bon Appétit!
Hey buddies! Did I already tell you that I love Sweden and one of my hobbies is interviewing Swedish punk bands? Haha! What’s up? How are you?
Hey! No, didn’t know that. There’s lots of swedish bands so I guess you have plenty of material for that hobby hehe. We have a new album out and recently did a small european tour to promote it, so we’re pretty much great!
Oh yeah, I remember the premiere of your “DIY” video. How do you feel about the album after almost 4 months after its official street date? Has it grown strong?
I would say it’s more like three month hehe. And besides, the vinyl was heavily delayed and was not out until june 2nd which made it feel like we didn’t fully release it at all until then. At least in our minds. The critics and fans have been real kind to us and some even said that it’s our best peice of work so far. That sort of stuff means a lot since we always try to take the music a little bit further and not get stuck in one place. We’re really happy with the album so it’s great when more people than us seem to appreciate what we’re doing.
Oh damn! I remembered the March date, haha! Did you reach a new audience in the last couple of months? Do you get some feedback from overseas?
Haha, it’s alright! We played a couple of new european cities during the last couple of month so hopefully we reached out to a few new people. Regarding overseas we actually never had much focus on that. As old guys in the scene we have a lot of other life resposabilities aside from music which makes it hard to find the time, so we try to focus that time on the driving distance scene. But you never know, if the the right opportunity comes around. We had some request from festivals in south east Asia after the release.
Ok, so what shows do you have booked for the upcoming months?
Not much really. I guess we have some sort of summer break. Plus John is having a kid in July so we’ll probably be back for business in fall. Rehearsing and songwriting will keep going though.
Who’s responsible for the distribution process? What labels are you working with? Did you try to have some impact on how this process is designed?
In scandinavia we release the record on our own label HoboRec and have distribution through Sound Pollution and in Europe we work with Midsummer Records who has their distribution through Cargo Records. On earlier realeases we worked with a couple more labels but this time we chose to keep it a bit more simple.
How relevant are DIY music labels today? What do you need them for?
I think it’s highly relevant, at least for bands like us. We don’t have the ambition or possibilities to do what we do on full scale commercial basis but we still want to reach a wider audience than we can on our own. Thats where the DIY network come in with labels, bookers and zines, like yours, that do this just for the passion of it. We love it and are really greatfull that it exists.
It’s been 12 years since you formed! What would you say has been the highlight of this adventure to date?
I think, at least for the guys that was in the band at the time, that the release of our first album and the first European tour was a pretty big deal. Non of hade any experience of that so it was really cool. We felt really big then haha. After that you kind of realize that none of it is that big of a deal… it’s more just great to get out and meet all the awesome people we got to know trough the years. And every time we get a new song together it’s still as satisfying as always.
Photo by Simon Blomberg.
How do you guys keep pushing yourselves, album to album? What are some of the motivation factors that lead you to bring more and more with this band?
I think the biggest motivation is that we try to make music that we love playing rather than to fit a genre. Another thing that contributed for sure is that we changed some members every now and then. Not that I think that it’s positive to lose members, but the new blood that came with it always brought in new energy and a wider spectrum of influences.
By the way, who in the band is there from day one?
It’s me, Ulf and our guitarist Björn. Our drummer John has been in the band since the first album so he’s pretty much original member too.
Where do you see your work going from here?
We’re already on to writing new songs, but we don’t have much of a plan for that yet. I hope we get out to play more shows this year with the release and all. We’ve been really bad at getting out there these last couple of years, so I don’t think it’s going to be hard to advance from that.
What are some of the inspiration behind this new writing?
Hard to say, didn’t have that much time to write new stuff yet. And to be honest it’s a bit hard to point out the inspiration over all. The musical inspiration must be just the love for it and the creativity that pops up when we get togeather. The lyrics are wide, from every day life issues to politics and just pure emotions.
Apart from other bands and musicians, are there any particular influences or mentors that inspire your path as an artist?
Not really I guess. The music it self has always been the first priority when we write songs. Then all the other stuff around comes along, like personal experience and politics that needs to be put to words and get out some where. A lot of people we’ve met along our travels through europe has been extremely inspiring though.
How do you guys feel about this specific moment in the history of music? Digital revolution, consolidation of radio, downloading piracy, etc.? Do you have any thoughts on it? Considering both alternative/underground artists and mainstream music, where are we heading in the music industry?
This is a pretty complex question. I don’t think that piracy had any specific impact on how many records we sell. On the other hand i think legal online streaming made a much bigger difference. People seem to think that since it’s legal it’s a ligit alternative to buying records. On one hand it’s allright as long as people listen to our music, no matter the medium. On the other hand i love to buy records with bands i like, so of course it feels much better when people buy our actual records and don’t just listen online. I’m not sure what my values in this are. Maybe it’s a problem for the comercial scene but comercial fame is not equal to good music.
Let’s say you rule the world. How would you change the industry if you could do literally anything you want?
The ideal would be just to let the people who really loves do do their thing come forward and for the money focused part of the industry to step back. But on the other hand the platforms available now are truly great for all kind of musicians. No one needs the business people to distribute their music world wide with just the help of a computer and an internet connection. Now the problem is that we’re flooded with music so only artists and bands with massive promotion in their back (or occasionally a social media hype here and there) get out to huge audiences. And another part of me thinks that maybe the commercial music industry is good for our scene in a way. The spirit behind DIY and contra culture really gets people together and also feeds us with a meaning to continue doing what we do. And that spirit feeds from the urge to be the opposit of what the commercial industry want bands/artists to be like.
Photo by David Szubotics.
Thanks a lot guys! Thanks for this quick update. Would you like to add anything else to this interview?
Thank you too! I hope we get back to Poland soon, and maybe see you there. Cheers!
Band photo by David Szubotics.
