interview with Sorcery
Have any of you played in other bands?
Yes we have played and still play in a lot of other bands. In aeternum, Outremer, Patronymicon, Planet rain, Devourer are some to name a few.
How is it that you started playing music
I have to say its because off Accept and flying V Gibson guitars, to make a long story short.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Paul Johansson Guitar birth 1970
Johan Vikholm Guitar birth 1982
Ola Malmström Vocals birth 1971
John Falk birth Bassguitar birth 1980
Tommy Holmer Drums birth 1979
Have you had other previous members? Haha yeah a lot. But most members did quit due to family situation and lack of interest
Did you make music even when you were young? I started to play guitar at 1984 so it started from there.
Where are you from? Sweden
What year did the band form? The summer at 1986
What's your style of genre? Death metal
What inspires you? Its the feeling to create a song that makes people humming our song, then turn it on loud volume, then raise a fist in the air, headbang and drink beer.
How often and where do you reherse? We all work and some of us works shifts so its a little tricky but a couple of times per month
How have you developed since you started with the music? Ive never been a technical guitarplayer, at the start i tried to practice a lot but over the years i gave that up and just play with passion and joy
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We have an eye open and it would be great to have help with that. We are hard working guys so its tricky to make time for that. But Ola is trying and he is the one that takes cares of that stuff usually.
What was your first gig like? If i remember right it was on the lawn on the backside of our rehersal. And our drummer didnt show up so we did get a new Drummer made a quick reherse and then played 3-4 songs. I may have mixed things up here
What was your latest gig? It was in St Petersburg in Russia
Have you had to cancel a gig? Yes once, when we only had one guitarist and I was playing bassguitar. The guitarist broke his hand or something like that
Where have you played live this year? In 2019 we havent played a show. Its full focus on our new record.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Its only one show booked so far and that is on Scandinavia deathfest in Stockholm. But dont worry there will be more
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?
We did sell our demos back at 1987. And our first T-Shirt we printed 2009.
I dont know whats in the stock but shirts, cds, lps, and some patch cassets
Where can people buy your merchandise?
Write to us on our Facebook page or send an E-mail to ([email protected])
www.facebook.com/sorcerydeathmetal
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Of course i want people to support us and people can do that in many ways. Buy stuff and attend to our shows. But dont forget to support Dave and buy a record too if its gonna work long term.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Its guys like you that helps us small bands to spread and i hope atleast that one or two discover Sorcery.
Do you have any role models or idols? I cant say that i have a role model really but my biggest idol is Ritchie Blackmore as a guitarplayer and Jon Nödtveidt as song composer
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Yes for me it is. Im often stuck in the old bands and some still exists
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Our last two records we have worked with Dave and Xtreem music. We are very happy with him and his company so we hope to continue working with him for the next record.
What made you decide to make this music? It came naturally when i got my guitar back in the days.
What are your songs about? Its about death and destruction of religion and so on
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?
Ola writes all the lyrics. But there is one song or two that a friend of us helped.
The most common way for us with music is that its start with me and John playing around in Johns studio and present a song. Then the band make changes if necessary
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? We start with the music but we sometimes adapt the song to the lyrics
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Often in Johns studio. But sometimes at home it even happens on a soundcheck
Have you done any covers live?
We did a lot of that in the 80-90s. Songs with Slayer Trouble Accept Bathory and so on.
There's a bootleg-cd out with bathory out and it says Bathory playing live but its actually Sorcery
What language do you sing in? English
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? I say 10-1000 with Sorcery
What ages are most of your concert attendants? I'd say between the age of 18 and 60. But i guess there's both older and younger attendants.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? In the last year of shows we often start with Holy ground and the New armageddon, end with Maculated life and Lucifer´s legion. And then we swap in between. We quickly learn what songs works best live with the crowd and select song with that in mind.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? Not regular but in our little hometown Sandviken our friend Daniel Ädel have club S.H.M.R that we like to play at. And 22/3 Tyranex is going to play there, Make sure to be there!!
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Do what you want with your music and have fun creating music then just enjoy the ride
How do you get psyched for a gig? Nothing special, but a couple of beers and a growl works for me
Do you have any new material?
Yes we're going too record a new album with Thomas Skogsberg in studio Sunlight in April.
And its going to be relesed in July with Xtreem Music
What are your web sites?
www.facebook.com/sorcerydeathmetal
How can people reach? You will find us at our FB page or at our web page. See above
What are your plans for the future? Relese our new record and do some shows
Do you have something to add? Thank you for your intrest and keep up your good work. See ya// Paul Johansson
