Hey, the new album called „Stockholm Rockers“ is totally great again. Thank you for this great piece of music ! And I must say, the title fits perfectly, because I have read an interview in which you point out that MASSGRAV sounds more like The Ramones than Discharge. I totally agree, although, the MASSGRAV-Style itself is more extreme of course. According to this, when will there be MASSGRAV-Shirts to buy at H&M ? - this company is from Stockholm as well and they sell millions of Ramones-Shirts, too…
Johan: Thank you for the kind words!
We cross our fingers that H&M will reach out to us as soon as they’ve heard
the new album. We are full of ideas for a new Massgrav clothing line.
In general, I have the impression that you always want to distance yourself from the whole crust/d-beat/grindcore-thing…What’s the main reason for this? Do this labels and / or scenes become too boring and too narrow for you, what I can totally understand ?
Some words about Germany ? Did you like it when you played some shows here ? What’s your impression of German people in general compared to Swedish people ? Do big differences exist ? And will you play some gigs in the nearer future in Germany ?
In general, I have the impression that you always want to distance yourself from the whole crust/d-beat/grindcore-thing…What’s the main reason for this? Do this labels and / or scenes become too boring and too narrow for you, what I can totally understand ?
Johan: Yeah, you’re absolutely
right. Massgrav has never had anything to do with crust punk, not the music and
not the “lifestyle”. But for some reason a lot of people always keeps labeling
us crust - and thats why we feel a
strong urge to underline this and keeps on distancing ourselves from that
“label” - its just not us!
We have always felt that Massgrav has “fallen” between the genres. We’re not a grindcore band and we’re not a crusty d-beat band and since this seems to complicate things for a lot of people we feel that we need to make some kind of statement - we are something else. We play fast hardcore and we like to do it with a touch of rock’n’roll.
We have always felt that Massgrav has “fallen” between the genres. We’re not a grindcore band and we’re not a crusty d-beat band and since this seems to complicate things for a lot of people we feel that we need to make some kind of statement - we are something else. We play fast hardcore and we like to do it with a touch of rock’n’roll.
Ola: We like distancing ourselves
a bit from large parts of the grindcore community as well, I would say - the
people that focus on gore and porn seem very very far from what we are. So yeah,
people sometimes have problems labeling us, but I’d much have that than have
people say “yeah, they’re a typical scandi crust band” and sound like 25 other
bands.
Can you tell us more about the lyrics ? They often deal with human stupidity in general, I think. Can you give us some examples ?
Can you tell us more about the lyrics ? They often deal with human stupidity in general, I think. Can you give us some examples ?
Johan: That’s an everlasting
theme so of course the new album is filled with lyrics about it. On “Stockholm
Rockers” we have a lot of songs about the stupid people we meet at our jobs.
Morons that irritates the shit out of you just by being in the same room. There
is also a few songs that deals with this
“I-wanna-become-something-big-in-my-life”-hysteria that everyone seems to be
obsessed with nowadays - stupid, stupid idiots.
Ola: With a bit of politics mixed
in now and then. But yeah - co-workers and bosses is a very reoccurring theme
for us, to the point where we’re proud when we manage to find other gripes to
write about.
What will be the next „stolen“ shirt design you will use ?For example, I think of the „Skitsystem“-design and other (unrealized) ideas for cover
artworks and shirt designs which the spectator can see on your homepage. I
like these ideas a lot…
Ola: Glad you like them. Most our
shirt prints are stolen in one way or another, the only thing that varies is
how much we try to cover it up, but if you’re into straight parody shirts like
the Skitsystem example, I don’t think we’ll make any like that. We made a
special shirt for the last Nasum show ever, with an M instead of the Nasum M, I
think that will be the end of it. Then again, you never know….
Your musical influences besides Mob 47 and The Ramones ? I have read that you like Limp Wrist a lot, what nobody would except. And you did once a Final Exit-Cover…So is there maybe some kind of loyalty to the Straight Edge-scene, although, you like partying and drinking beer a lot ?
Johan: I’ve said it before, we like fast hardcore and we like rock’n’roll and that’s where you find our influences. Status Quo, Yacopsae, Stupid Babies Go Mad… I can go on forever. Well, we love beer and meat (well, not Fenok since he’s a vegan) so we’re not loyal to the sXe scene in any way. But there are a bunch of great sXe bands that has made lots of great songs and since no one “expects” us to do a sXe song its always fun to do one. So cross your fingers and there might be an Earth Crisis cover or a Chain of Strength song coming up on a Massgrav record in the near future. Or maybe we’ll give “Empty Tankard” a shot…
Your musical influences besides Mob 47 and The Ramones ? I have read that you like Limp Wrist a lot, what nobody would except. And you did once a Final Exit-Cover…So is there maybe some kind of loyalty to the Straight Edge-scene, although, you like partying and drinking beer a lot ?
Johan: I’ve said it before, we like fast hardcore and we like rock’n’roll and that’s where you find our influences. Status Quo, Yacopsae, Stupid Babies Go Mad… I can go on forever. Well, we love beer and meat (well, not Fenok since he’s a vegan) so we’re not loyal to the sXe scene in any way. But there are a bunch of great sXe bands that has made lots of great songs and since no one “expects” us to do a sXe song its always fun to do one. So cross your fingers and there might be an Earth Crisis cover or a Chain of Strength song coming up on a Massgrav record in the near future. Or maybe we’ll give “Empty Tankard” a shot…
Ola: I think it’s more of a love
for great songs than a sympathy for sXe. That said, I don’t mind people trying
to stay healthy and focused, just don’t push your religion in my face. Karl
Buechner was a dick back in the day and that kind of aggressive “when the vegan revolution comes…” attitude can fuck right off.
Some words about Germany ? Did you like it when you played some shows here ? What’s your impression of German people in general compared to Swedish people ? Do big differences exist ? And will you play some gigs in the nearer future in Germany ?
Ola: We love Germany. It’s
definitely one of the countries to play in, always a lot of fun and a lot
of beer, and we’ll be happy to return whenever anyone wants to set up a show or
two but no plans at the moment. As for differences… I think some German people
think it’s hard to understand when we’re joking and when we’re not, but that
might just be the language barrier. Apart from that, I think the Germans we’ve
dealt with have been very friendly and likeable people. I wish we could tour
the Hochalpenstrasse or something.
The last words are yours…
Hail, hail rock’n’roll! Fuck d-beat play fast!
