Interview with Massgrav (Fastcore / Powerviolence From Sweden)

Interview with MASSGRAV

“Sitting on a beach in Brazil, drinking ice cold beer, knowing our music brought us there.”

“Entering the stage in Mansfield, UK, in front of five drunk skinheads, knowing our music brought us there.”

First, can you provide us your fav’ playlist at the moment? What people should listen to while reading this interview?

Norse: (As always) people should listen to The Accidents !
If you got some more time you should also give Gefyr a listening – pretty new, awesome, swedish d-beat band that put out a great album earlier this summer !

Ola: If you want new stuff from Sweden, try Rawheads.

If you want old stuff from Sweden. you should always listen to Kronofogden. If you want old stuff from the U.S. you should always listen to Limp Wrist.

Can you please introduce your band : how did you start, what is/was the line-up, your discography, your past tours, highlights ?

Norse: Me and Ola started Massgrav back in 1996. We did a few demos and then decided to get more serious. In 2003 we got our first proper line-up with Indy on drums and after a while we did our first EP Hatfylld och Nerpissad. Ken at Sound Pollution Records got hold of it and offered us to release a full-length and we did Napalm over Stureplan. After that one we have released a lot of stuff, such as : four albums of our own, one split-LP with Diskonto and another one with Blood I Bleed etc etc.
Fenok joined us in 2010 and we added Jesper on second guitar in 2018.
We have played pretty much all around the globe, except Africa and Asia. Brazil was a blast but for me our gig in Brooklyn, NYC, back in 2013 was an absolute highlight.
The lowest point so far was a mini tour we did in the UK, man that sucked !!

Ola:Yeah, that sums it up pretty well. If you haven’t heard the band, we play fast paced scandi HC with a lot of rock n roll influences and a tiny sprinkle of d-beat. Dual vocals, songs about hating work and asshole politicians.

How was the recording of the album ?

Norse: Man, it was all blood, sweat and tears! As we strived to get a more rockish sound to this new album we decided to try out a pretty new swedish studio- Studio Humbucker, run by Robert Pehrsson (he plays guitar in Death Breath and lots of other great bands).

We did the recording in two days and then some mixing. Robert is a great guy and I really think he was able to add a more « fullish » flavor to our sound.

Ola: It was great in the sense that Robert is a fantastic guy to work with, super skilled and serious but still a nice guy to hang out with. Can’t recommend him enough.

Mastering was made at mammoth sound. Like Magrudergrind, Coke Bust, Cannabis Corpse, Toxic Holocaust, Infanticide and many more, how was the experience ?

Norse: Great ! We used Dan Randall for our latest album « Stockholm rockers » as well and he sure knows how to bring out a great sound. On the new album « Slowly we rock » I really think he nailed it.

Recently a new member joined the band, can you tell us more about it ?

Norse: Yeah, we had actually talked about it for a couple of years, how we wanted to get a fuller sound at our live gigs, so adding another guitar seemed like a good idea.

We knew Jesper as a good friend since forever. And since he’s been in bands such as Nasum and Burst he also knows how to handle himself which is always a good thing. He’s been with us for three years now.

Ola: Actually it’s four.

What are your plans after the release of this new album ? Any tour plans ?

Norse: Nothing is settled yet but of course we wanna bring the music to the people out there. So count on us doin at least some european dates during this upcoming winter and spring. And hopefully some summer festivals as well.
And if you want us to play at your venue, festival etc – please drop us a line at : massgrav@gmail.com

How does it feel to be the swedish kings ? What Charles XVI Gustave thinks about it ?

Norse: Hell, everyone knows that Rock’n’roll is king !! There’s nothing our so called regent can do about it.

Would you rather burn the royal palace or Ostermalm ? Why so much hate about it in the first song ?

Norse: First we take Östermalm then we take the rest…
Have no doubt, they deserve to die and we hope they burn in hell.

What are the other songs about ? Or maybe your favorite ones ?

Norse: Corrupt politicians, corrupt police and random corrupt assholes.

Ola: Corrupt punk bands, corrupt bosses and corrupt souls.

What is the most remarkable moment you had with Massgrav you still have in mind ?

Norse: Sitting on a beach in Brazil, drinking ice cold beer, knowing our music brought us there. We were pretty pleased at that moment.

What’s the worst ?

Norse: Entering the stage in Mansfield, UK, in front of five drunk skinheads, knowing our music brought us there.

Ola: If you make a top 10 list of the worst moments, chances are that 8 of them are in the UK. There’s some lovely people there, but conditions for gigging bands are not like in the rest of the world. And now you have to sneak into the country too after they started demanding work permits. Fuck Boris!

Do you have side projects ? Old bands of yours we must know about?

Norse: No, not really. Let the past stay in the past, I think it’s best for everyone. 😉

Ola: Fenok has a Danzig cover band

Do you have any swedish underground bands in mind that we should listen to ?

Norse: Kronofogden, Gefyr, Brainwasher, God Mother and Strul.

Ola: Slan

Massgrave (from Canada) seems to release their first stuff in 2003, same as you, who was there first ? Did you plan a common birthday party ? Will the Swedish wrath fall on them ?

Ola: We did our first vinyl release in 2003, granted, but we started out – and released our first demo – in 1996. So…. maybe they don’t have Google in Canada, I don’t know.