I met Arnold Lindberg, lead growler for the Swedish band Supraload when he was the tour manager / roadie / sound guy for Evergrey during their US stint in 2004. I was privy to information regarding him being a musician in is own right. ‘What else do you do?’ I asked. ‘I’m a drummer…’ he told me. ‘Sure you are…’ I thought to myself while nodding complacently but then he expertly explained the sound setup ‘…the acoustic of the drums in the Metro…’ something and I wondered, okay this guy isn’t in this business for nothing. He truly believed in what he was doing which in turn, made me believe it too. That doesn’t happen very often for me!!! I found out about Supraload by accident on MySpace some year or so after our meeting. It’s still a bit baffling that the guy finds time to have a band, he’s always on tour or in a dank studio somewhere. This surly yet sure individual has a bizarre sense of humor that was a bit refreshing and showcased throughout this interview. Read on…
 

Supraload Intervju...

Erika Kristen: List the current Supraload lineup? Who plays what instrument and brands of choice used?

Arnold Lindberg: Arnold Lindberg: Vocals - Wireless Shure Beta 58; Pål Callmer - Lead guitarist with a Gibson Nighthawk and a Gibson Les Paul Studio; Marco Nikolaidis – Bassist using a homemade device of some sort; Niklas Fridh – Lead guitarist playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard –80; Thomas Antonsson (our new drummer) plays an old classic Slingerland-kit in white pearl finish which is a really nice drum kit (I’m jealous...)

EK: When and where did you find the member’s of Supraload? Mini history of association of band.

AL: Well it started back in ‘95 or maybe ‘96 when I went to the University in my hometown Piteå to study sound engineering at the School of Music. There I met Pål, who I got to know over a couple of hundreds of beers, and some school projects in the studio that we turned into metal recording sessions (instead of jazz/fusion recordings with music students). It was totally uncompromising death metal, which I hadn't been much into up till then. I didn’t do the lead vocals then, just the drums. We've made quite a lot of metal recordings in death/thrash/whatever-styles over the years since then. Actually, we're in the middle of the process of making a metal album with singer Fredrik Sandberg (ex Deranged, Moonstruck). Anyway, Pål lives in Malmö 200 miles south of Gothenburg where I live, and it was he that started Supraload, from the beginning named Daggers Drawn, down there without me. It was Pål and bassist Marco (ex Pure, Crystal eyes, Rentokiller) and drummer Per Telg (ex Moonstruck). In 2003 he told me to play the drums on their demo because the drummer quit or got fired or something, I don’t know. After that, there was problems with the vocals.

Singers were tested, hired, fired and no one was good enough. One day Pål called and said: “OK, I'm coming up to Gothenburg and you will do the vocals. Now.” And that's what happened. The vocals for the 6-track “Demo –03” were recorded in my bedroom in two days and it was a good result too. What can I say? I'm a natural. Then we did a couple of shows with a line-up that didn't really measure up to how good we knew we could be. And then some new material started to take form, so we decided to put some real effort into the band and booked Division One to record a full length debut. Now it is mixed and mastered. That's where we are now, looking for a deal while rehearsing and doing shows continuously. On stage, we now also have Niklas Fridh on the guitar and Tomas Antonsson (KamaSutra) on the drums.

EK: What have you learned about yourself and your bandmates during the process of your current album?

AL: I think we all have learned that it can slow things down if you are a band with two perfectionist sound engineers, but if you have patience, the result will be astonishing. I have really learned to listen to my band members opinions when it comes to the developing of different ideas and also that I can be wrong (not very often though....).

EK: How old were you when you started playing? What kind of musical upbringing have you had? Formal education?

AL: I started to play the drums when I got my first drum kit on my 10th birthday (an old Gretch kit...!!!). I saw a live concert with Ozzy on TV when I was 7, and from that point, I started to ask (and cry...) my parents to buy a drum kit. I have two older brothers who both have listened to heavy metal since I was a little kid (DIO, Ozzy, KISS, AC/DC, Accept....), so it became natural that I listened to the same music and I still do! I went to music school, and after that I studied two years at the Music University in Pitea (in the north of Sweden...) to be a sound engineer. I graduated in ‘97.

EK: What inspirations do you pull from to formulate your lyrical content?

AL: The lyrics are mainly Pål's work and I know he gets a lot of inspiration from the state of the world as he sees it. Some songs are just love songs actually, but for the most part the lyrics contain some sort of aversion towards things that are f*cked up, such as the injustice of us profiting on the third world, war over oil or brand bullies corporate bullshit. Have you ever thought about how much freedom you have over making your own choices? Not very much, you soon realize if you think about it. And suddenly, you are surrounded by crap commercials and lying politicians selling you their deals. Frustration is one of the best inspirations. Hype Divine is what we've called all this. We also have other themes such as addiction, for whatever it may be; leading to self-destruction and loss of respect towards one self and the ones you love.

EK: Where do you begin when you lay down your arrangements for your songs?

AL: I always begin in the shower, of course! No, seriously, the foundation to all great heavy music is the guitar riff. A good metal riff is something you can’t be without. All songs have started out as a riff, and later the rest is added. In the end when all is melted together the riffs may not be the first thing you hear, but they are the main element from the start.

EK: How does the life of a sound engineer differ from being frontman/drummer for this band?

AL: Well, as a sound engineer, I tour a lot around the world with different bands. I have worked with most of the biggest bands in Sweden and others also (In Flames, Evergrey, HammerFall, Europe, Kamelot, Destruction, DimensionZero, Time Requiem, Epica, Kotipelto, Transport League, The Haunted....) and done very big stages and festivals. This is really fun, and I am very happy that I can work with this full time! Being on stage with Supraload is living the dream companioned by my friends. This is the first band I’m the frontman in and after the first gig I said to Pål: “I’m never gonna play the drums live again!” I loved it from the first second.

EK: Are you over critical of your vocals and sound because of your position as a sound engineer?

AL: Yes! Since I've recorded and produced a lot of albums with different bands over the years, I wanted to do my very best on my own first album just to see what I’m capable of myself. This is the first album I’m singing on, and with a completely different singing style that I’m used to. I think it went really good, and I’m satisfied with the result. Many of this world’s musicians should realize the value of more self-criticism, though.

EK: If you could commission another band to cover a Supraload song, who would do it and which song would it be?

AL: Dimmu Borgir - “Addiction” or Deep Purple - “Release Me” (because of the Hammond organ, and that they once was the greatest band on earth.)

EK: Would you entertain working Tom into Supraload for backing vocals...not many duets exist with men.

AL: No! I guess you mean Tom Englund from Evergrey, who is one of my favourite singers, but I don’t think he would be the right guy to do that if we would do some song that required that...

EK: What's the most ridiculous thing a groupie has ever said to you? You to them?

AL: I don’t remember any stupid comments actually, I was probably too drunk or something... ;-) I've say stupid things all the time, so I can’t specify...

EK: Do you get more male groupies than female groupies because of the heavy old-school sound of Supraload?

AL: Well, so far it has been most male fans, but I definitely hope that we can reach out to the girls also.

EK: As your worst enemy, describe yourself?

AL: Arnold is a guy that says everything on his mind to people, even if it's not so good all the time... :) He's always right, a little bit of a "besserwisser". He works hard and knows what he's doing and therefore get's easily irritated at people that doesn’t.

EK: Is there anyone in the music industry that you are in awe of?

AL: Not really... Of course, there’s a lot of good and talented people in the business that I look up to and respect, but I do my thing the best I can and try to reach my goals. So far, as a sound engineer, I’m beyond every expectation that I had a couple of years ago! Now I’m reaching new goals as a singer.... Or I could say: David Coverdale for the great voice, Sebastian Bach for the looks ; ), Bruce Dickinson for the stage performance and John Bonham for the drumming.

EK: Top 5 bands /musicians that you are listening to at the moment?

AL: Bon Jovi...!, Jorn, Queensryche, The Haunted, Yngwie Malmsteen... This is what I have in my CD-changer in my car at the moment, but I don’t listen that much to music anymore, since I work with it every day and hear enough music that way.

EK: What is your most embarrassing CD you own?

AL: I actually don’t own any embarrassing CD's that I can think of now...? I only buy what I really want, but of course I have a lot of bad demos and other things that I've been given over the years.

EK: Most embarrassing stage mishap?

AL: One of the first shows we did with Supraload, I was really nervous and had almost nothing to say between the songs. It was really bad and I can’t watch it on the video we have from that gig... :)

EK: Any near future plans to tour? If so, where?

AL: We are planning a Sweden tour this winter as a support band to another Swede band in the same genre. Since I don’t have any dates yet and nothing is confirmed, I can’t give you more info than that...

EK: Where can people hear and/or purchase your music?

AL: At www.supraload.com.

EK: Why should anyone listen to Supraload?

AL: Because we are genuine, hard working musicians who put a lot of passion into our music. It means a great deal for us to express ourselves through our music and stage performance. Reaching out to a crowd from stage is what makes life worth living for. All this should be experienced when you go to one of our shows. You will remember us if you are at a gig.

We'd like to thank Arnold for taking the time to fill out this interview! Tack så mycket för intervjun Arnold!