COWBOY COFFEE AND OTHER MUSINGS: An Interview with Peter Wichers of Soilwork
March 23rd, 2009 by Marisa Connelly
There are certain truths about upstate New York in the winter. First, it is an icy cold tundra reminiscent of the Siberian steppes during the last ice age. Second, you don’t need corpse paint due to a constant lack of sunshine. Third, the wind blowing off Lake Ontario is a constant -35 degrees from September to March.
Fully aware of the aforementioned perils, I drove all the way to The Penny Arcade in Rochester anyways. Despite the shitty weather, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see Soilwork perform along with Darkane and Daylight Dies. I met up with Peter Wichers who recently re-joined Soilwork to ask him about, well, re-joining Soilwork. And being Swedish. And bad American coffee.
OK, TELL ME YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOU DO.
Hi I’m Peter Wichers from Soilwork and I play guitar.
HI! SO WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW?
Um, thinking that I should have brought a warmer jacket. That’s what I’m thinking about. Well, we’re kind of uh, we have a lot of songs that we went through and we’re excited about this. It’s going to be a cool tour. Even though it took a lot for us to get here. Some of the guys got snowed in, flights were delayed. But we all made it! We lost a day in pre-production because of all the crazy weather, but here we are!
SO, TONIGHT IS THE FIRST NIGHT ON THE TOUR?
Well, what can I say? It’s the first U.S. Tour for me in three years. So it’s going to be fun. It’s the first time since I came back to the band that I get to play in the US again. I’m looking forward to it.
OK. SO, IS THIS THE FIRST AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR FOR SOILWORK?
No, not the first. I think there’s been, um, we did one when I was with the band and I believe they did two after that. So this will be the fourth. The third or fourth.
REALLY? OK, COOL. AND HOW DID IT HAPPEN THAT THE FANS COULD VOTE FOR THE SET LIST FOR THIS TOUR?
Well, we figured that since a lot of things have changed in Soilwork, and this is the last tour for this record, there’s not going to be any more touring until after the next album comes out. We figured that, ya know, we got sick of everybody bugging us like ‘Why aren’t you playing this song?’ or ‘Why aren’t you playing that song?’ It was like alright, we’ll hook you guys up. Choose any song from any album, regardless of which one it is, even bonus tracks and we’ll play it. We thought it would be a cool thing, kind of like a dream set for a band, or for the fans to kind of choose their own set list that way.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE VOTING RESULTS OF THE SET LIST?
Well, I think it was kind of strange because we did expect the older songs to be voted for, but it seemed like we were pretty much spot on. It’s not a lot different than we would do before, just a couple of tracks that we wouldn’t normally do. So the reaction was not as crazy as we thought it would be.
AND NOW WHEN PEOPLE BUG YOU TO PLAY A CERTAIN SONG, YOU CAN BE LIKE ‘HEY, YOU DIDN’T VOTE!’
Yeah, exactly. We gave you a shot and you didn’t vote for it, so whatever.
SO WERE YOU INSPIRED BY THE RECORD NUMBER OF VOTERS THAT VOTED IN THIS LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?
I was stoked about it, I thought it was great. I was surprised to hear from my mother in Sweden that this was the first U.S. Presidential election that was all over the news in Europe, too. I don’t know, I would hate to comment on the political aspect of it, but I thought it was very interesting.
SWORN TO A GREAT DIVIDE IS THE BAND’S SEVENTH FULL LENGTH ALBUM, AND BESIDES LINE-UP CHANGES, HOW HAS THE BAND EVOLVED SINCE STEELBATH SUICIDE?
Wow. Yeah, like you said there’s been a lot of line up changes. Musically, I think that Soilwork tries to do something new every time, but not entirely reinvent themselves. God, um, that’s a tough one! I think maturity-wise, song writing, performance and stuff it’s all kind of come together over the years. And I feel that Soilwork now is a tighter band and everyone plays well together. Not that we didn’t do it before, but it has a lot to do with routine, I think. The more shows you do, the more records you do the better you get. It’s what you do, ya know?
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
Exactly! But I wouldn’t say we’re perfect, but it’s probably the best it’s been.
OK, SO YOU’RE SAYING THIS ALBUM IS THE BEST?
Well, I actually did not participate on Sworn To A Great Divide. That’s the one record that I did not play on. I came back after that record was recorded.
WHAT’S IT LIKE HAVING YOU BACK IN THE BAND?
[Laughs] Well, I don’t know, you’d probably have to ask the guys that. But the personal chemistry is really great, and I think that we now have this kind of core foundation with all the members where we’re completely open and honest about everything. A lot of us are married and some of us have kids and stuff like that, so we look at the band in a total different way than we did before. We make more mature decisions when it comes to things like doing tours and how they’re structured, and what we want to do. So it feels like everyone matured a lot since the past. Everyone’s on the same path now.
SO HAVING KIDS AND GETTING MARRIED MATURES YOU, OR IT’S JUST THAT MORE MATURE BANDS DO THOSE THINGS?
Kind of. It gives you different priorities in life. Your not just caring for yourself anymore, you’re caring for your family. You can’t make the same decisions that you did before, and not thinking about the outcome of it. I like that, we think twice about doing things, and the way that the touring is planned and everything else is a lot more thought through than before.
SO YOU ARE MARRIED, ANY KIDS?
One on the way, actually.
REALLY? CONGRATULATIONS!
Thank you! It’s our first one, she’s due the end of May. Sylvain [Coudret], the other guitar player, he’s got a four year old. But yeah, it’s cool! We’re stoked about it!
SO IS IT TOO EARLY TO TELL, DO YOU KNOW IF IT’S A BOY OR GIRL?
We do, we know it’s going to be a little boy. So, we’re going to see if he shows an interest in guitars, but I’m not going to force it like my parents did with me. That was a big no-no. I didn’t want to play guitar for a while. Eh, it’s a long story.
KEEP GOING. IT’S COOL.
I think you should encourage your kid, but not force it. Plus, I didn’t want to play acoustic guitar, I wanted to play electric guitar. That wasn’t cool enough for me when I was 11 or 12.
WERE YOU CLASSICALLY TRAINED?
No. Well, that’s what it started with, but I hated it so I didn’t play guitar for three years. Then I picked up an electric guitar when I was about 15 or 16.
WHICH IS A LOT COOLER THAN AN ACOUSTIC.
Well, of course! It’s got to be with a pick and steel strings. But now I appreciate acoustic.
WELL, WHEN YOU’RE 15, AND YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT DATING, YOU KNOW IT’S JUST NOT GOING TO HAPPEN WITH AN ACOUSTIC.
Exactly!
NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY A GRAMPA’S GUITAR AT THAT AGE.
[Laughs] Right! Who wants to play that? You need to have the lightning!
LITTLE THUNDER, LITTLE LIGHTNING?
Exactly! Nice!
OK, SO I SAW THAT THE BAND WORKED WITH DEVIN TOWNSEND A COUPLE TIMES, WRITING AND GUEST VOCALS ON A COUPLE SONGS?
Yeah, he produced Natural Born Chaos and he sung two tracks on it. It was cool! He was one of our biggest influences, he’s a genius. Not only is he a great musician and producer, he’s also a great person. We bonded very well, and we still keep in touch with him. Although we actually don’t know where he is right now, he disappeared off to Vancouver Island and he’s nowhere to be heard from. So, we don’t know what happened to him.
HE’S PROBABLY GOT A BEARD DOWN TO HIS WAIST, JUST CHILLEN!
[Laughing] Yeah, probably! He did track and produced the vocals for Sworn To A Great Divide with Bjorn ["Speed" Strid], so he flew to Vancouver to do that with him.
THE BAND HAS ALSO WORKED WITH JENS BROMAN OF DARKANE?
Yeah, that is true. He was Bjorn’s childhood friend, and now sings with Darkane. It was one of those things where Bjorn was like, “Wow, I have this song I’d like to trade off with Jens.” And I was like, Alright! Let’s give it a shot. Jens is a great vocalist. I think he pulled it off. He sang on “Figure Number Five.”
YOU TOUCHED UPON IT A LITTLE BIT BEFORE, BUT MORE SPECIFICALLY, WHAT DO YOU HAVE GOING ON AS FAR AS THE NEW ALBUM?
We’re going to do this tour, and then after that we are taking a break and focusing entirely on making a new record. I’m not entirely when we’re going to hit the studio, but it might be later this year or beginning of next year. We’re not really sure yet because we haven’t really started writing anything. It will be interesting. Ya know, with 15 guys on the bus, there’s no where to even really sit much less track a couple ideas. Sorry for being so vague, but we really don’t know when we are going to go in the studio, but we are writing after this tour.
DO YOU EVEN HAVE A DIRECTION YET?
Yeah, well, we have an idea what we want to do differently from the previous record. I personally think that Sworn To A Great Divide was- and maybe I’m just saying this because I wasn’t participating on the record- but I thought it was a little safe. And I think we’re going to try and focus on going back to the way Soilwork sounded before, like Natural Born Chaos and A Predator’s Portrait. More technical and go back to having more guitar solos and stuff like that.
OK, WE ALSO TALKED A LITTLE ABOUT THIS BEFORE, BUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON AMERICAN POLITICS? SINCE YOU’RE FROM SWEDEN?
Well, I actually live here. I live in Nashville. I’m familiar with the politics, but it’s tough for me to comment on. I can’t say I’m a patriotist, I wasn’t born here. Coming from Sweden, the call for old changes are pretty massive. So when it comes to politics, I might have a little bit of how the politics works over there with me over here, like when it comes to health care and stuff. Sweden has completely free health care, but you pay for it tax-wise. But certain things [here] I don’t really like, it sucks being middle class. It’s not really fair all the time. You either have to have a really low income or have a lot of money to qualify for something like that [health care]. That is the issue that irritates me with the US. It should be for everyone, it shouldn’t be an option. It should just be something that everyone is provided with, regardless.
I AGREE, I THINK IT SHOULD BE UNIVERSAL.
Yeah, well, having a kid, we have to suck it up and get it. It’s tough, ya know?
OH, I KNOW! ONE THING THAT’S ON THE NEWS ALL THE TIME IS HOW THE WORLD’S OPINION OF AMERICA IS BETTER JUST BECAUSE BARACK OBAMA IS NOW IN OFFICE.
That’s absolutely true. I did the European tour with Soilwork, and I flew over there the day of the election. It seemed like even when I was out on the road, having Obama in office was changing the European’s view on the US. But I have to defend the US a lot when I’m in Europe, sometimes that really pisses me off. Just because someone makes a bad decision, or does something that the rest of the world doesn’t agree with, it doesn’t mean that every single person in that country stands up for it or thinks their government is fantastic. So, I do a lot of that. I do a lot of protecting the US when I’m over there. People are like, “Why are you living there?” Well, I like it there. There’s a lot of good people in the US as well.
YEAH, A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE BITCH ABOUT THE CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION.
Yeah, you can’t really get worse than it is now. I think that it might be a good thing to give someone else a try and see what’s going to happen with that.
CARE TO INTRODUCE THE PEOPLE THAT JUST ENTERED THE ROOM?
Oh, this is [Ola] Flink, the bass player. That over there is Chris [Malmstrom] from Darkane, he plays guitar, or chatting with his wife, I guess
I’D RATHER YOU INTRODUCE THEM THAN ME MURDERING THEIR NAMES. SO, ANDERS FROM UNLEASHED, DO YOU KNOW HIM?
Um, nope.
WELL, HE’S MY SWEDISH BFF.
[Laughs] Is he really?
I LOVE THAT GUY! BUT, HE ONCE TOLD ME THAT HE’S NOT A FAN OF AMERICAN COFFEE.
Oh yeah! I agree! I love the food and other drinks here, but the coffee is a joke.
SPECIFICALLY AMERICAN COFFEE?
Specifically American coffee! Absolutely! When I make coffee, it needs to be like mud or I can’t drink it. That’s the way I like it. Starbucks is alright, it’s ok. It’s getting there, but still not quite where it needs to be. A lot of times, the worst places is like at an IHOP. The food is good, but when you get the coffee you can pretty much drop a quarter into it and see it on the bottom of the cup. We call that ‘Cowboy Coffee.’ It’s like shooting a coffee bean through a swimming pool.
[LAUGHING] OH MAN! ‘COWBOY COFFEE!’ THAT’S AWESOME! OK, TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAND. PREFERRABLY SOMETHING AWKWARD AND/OR GEEKY.
Ohhh, what would that be? Um…
I KNOW THERE MIGHT BE A LONG LIST TO CHOOSE FROM.
Yeah, there’s probably a lot of things!
JUST PICK ONE OR TWO GOOD ONES.
Hmmm, something awkward and geeky. Well, ok, my wife dresses up our chihuahua in like pink little clothes. And I have to walk the dog around the neighborhood and that’s pretty awkward. I don’t really like to do that, but that’s on thing that might be considered a little geeky and awkward.
WHAT’S THE DOG’S NAME?
Mimi.
SO SHE’S OBVIOUSLY A GIRL.
Yeah, we have two of them. But only one of them lets you dress her, the other is not doing that. So, I don’t know, I hate the chihuahua clothes, but my wife loves it.
WHAT TYPE OF OUTFITS DOES MIMI HAVE?
Like, my wife bought her this black coat with pink stitches and this big furry thing that goes out on the neck. And I’m just like, Oh God! She thinks it’s so cute, and I’m like yeah, right!
AND YOU HAVE TO WALK THIS DOG, AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD?
I have to walk this dog, exactly.
AND HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ABOUT YOURSELF?
Well, I know I’m comfortable with my masculinity, so I’m alright with it. I love my dogs, they’re awesome. But that part of it is not that awesome. She just laughs, she thinks it’s hilarious.
WELL, I THINK IT’S HILARIOUS. SHE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE LAUGHING.
Thanks. [laughs]
OK, WHEN I WAS DRIVING HERE, “WEAPON OF VANITY” CAME ON THE RADIO. CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT SONG?
I don’t think we’ve ever played that one live, honestly. It’s a good song, I remember tracking it. But I’ve listened to it only once or twice after recording it. I’m the kind of person that when we finish a record, I listen to it a week straight. But then I never ever want to hear it again. That’s cool that it was on the radio.
YEAH, I HAVE SIRIUS RADIO, AND USUALLY “SWORN TO A GREAT DIVIDE” IS THE SONG THAT THEY PLAY. BUT YEAH, IT WAS ON THE RADIO TODAY, SO I THOUGHT THAT WAS KIND OF COOL.
It’s always nice to get airplay. Absolutely.
ANY LAST WORDS, THOUGHTS?
I would say just look out for the next record. I think we’re going to attempt to write the best record so far.
THE BEST RECORD IN THE HISTORY OF ALL RECORDS EVER?
Best metal record of all time! [Laughs] Yeah, it will destroy everything else! Regardless of genre.
EVERY OTHER METAL BAND, UPON HEARING IT, WILL TURN EMO AND SLIT THEIR WRISTS?
Exactly! Emo, or black metal, or whatever.
WHAT ABOUT ROCK BANDS?
Oh, they’re going to pale in comparison, absolutely!
COUNTRY? HIP-HOP?
Everything!
SO YOU’RE GOING TO BE LIKE THE NEW DETHKLOK? BUT IN REAL LIFE?
Exactly! There you go!
NICE! THAT’S A PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION! THAT’S WHAT’S NEXT! I LIKE IT! OK, SIR, I THINK THAT’S ALL I NEED FROM YOU, UNLESS YOU WANT TO ASK ME SOMETHING?
[laughing at me]
MAN! NOBODY EVER ASKS ME ANYTHING!
You don’t have anybody interviewing you?
NO! WHAT DO I DO? I DO NOTHING. I INTERVIEW PEOPLE.
What is this for? No one told me who this is for.
OH, WELL, I FREELANCE FOR A COUPLE DIFFERENT PUBLICATIONS AND WEBSITES, BUT THIS INTERVIEW IS FOR UNDERGROUND VIDEO TELEVISION. IT’LL BE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE. IT’S UVTV.INFO.
OK, cool!
YOU CAN FIND IT ON MYSPACE OR THE VAST INTERWEBS. AND ALSO JOE, OUR DEAD SEXY CAMERA MAN, IS FILMING PART OF YOUR PERFORMANCE TONIGHT.
Yeah, that’ll be fun! I wish it was a week from now, not the first night of the tour. [laughs]
EXACTLY! EVERY FUCK UP WILL BE IMMORTALIZED ON FILM.
Plus there’s a song that we’ve never played live, ever! It’ll be like, ok, lead is coming up, I don’t know what I’m doing, so video tape this here!
MAKE A SIGNAL, SO I CAN MAKE SURE JOE GETS IT.
Cool! Exactly!
OK, SIR. THAT’S IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Cool! Thank you!
Info:
www.soilwork.org
www.myspace.com/soilwork
www.royalartistclub.com/soilwork
