Etwas, was ich sehr vermisse, seit ich BOARDSTEIN nicht mehr machen darf, ist vor allem auch Bands und Musiker zu interviewen, die mir teilweise schon länger am Herzen liegen, als ich Skateboard fahre. Das war immer ein sehr schöner Aspekt meiner Arbeit, solche Leute wirklich mal  backstage kennenzulernen und mir einen Eindruck ihrer Persönlichkeit zu machen und sie Fragen über Dinge zu stellen, die mich interessieren. Raised Fist aus Schweden ist eine der wenigen dieser Bands, die es leider nie mit einem Interview ins BOARDSTEIN geschafft haben, obwohl sie, seit ich sie zum ersten Mal gehört habe, zu meinen absoluten Lieblingsbands gehören. Aber dadurch, daß sie äußerst selten auf Tour gehen, hatte sich bis dato nie eine Gelegenheit ergeben, die Jungs mal live zu sehen oder persönlich zu treffen. So war für mich klar, daß ich das unbedingt nachholen wollte, als die Band im Oktober hierzulande mal wieder auf Tour war, um ihr neues Album ‘Veil Of Ignorance’, wie immer auf Burning Heart Records, vorzustellen.

Das Album ist mal wieder der Burner und im Gegensatz zu den meisten anderen Bands schaffen es Raised Fist es, mich auch mit ihrem neuen Longplayer komplett zu überzeugen. Wie schon beim Vorgänger ‘Sound Of The Republic’ hat man die musikalische Weiterentwicklung fortgeführt und den markant explosiven Hochgeschwindigkeits-Hardcore, für den ich diese Band einst so lieben gelernt habe, mit langsameren, leicht experimentellen Elementen verfeinert und so einen ganz eigenen Sound erschaffen. Ich sage einfach mal, Raised Fist ist auch nach dem fünften Album eine Klasse für sich und in der unüberschaubaren Welt des Hardcore ein wahres Juwel, was eindeutig der genialen Musik zuzuschreiben ist. Auf diese will ich dann auch gar nicht näher eingehen und kann euch nur raten, wenn die Band bis jetzt ein unbeschriebenes Blatt für euch war, Raised Fist mal auszuchecken. Wenn ihr Hardcore mögt, könnt ihr diese Band eigentlich nur gut finden, alles andere wäre Blasphemie, nicht zuletzt wegen der intelligenten und zum Nachdenken anregenden Texte von Sänger Alexander, die er auf den letzten beiden Alben teilweise auch mal singen und nicht nur frustriert und energisch rausschreien darf.

Am 16. Oktober war es dann soweit und ich begab mich in die Hamburger Markthalle, wo mir dann als Interviewpartner Basser Andreas ‘Josse’ Johansson zugeteilt wurde, mit dem ich dann ein bißchen plaudern durfte, was uns, glaube ich, ganz gut gelungen ist. Natürlich hätte ich lieber mit dem Sänger gesprochen, um ihm auch die Bedeutung seiner Lyrics für mich zu verdeutlichen, aber ich kann auch so sehr gut damit leben. Was mir dann abends auf dem Konzert mal wieder auffiel war, daß die Hardcore-Szene heutzutage doch schon ganz schön abgestumpft ist, zumindest beim Publikum. Irgendwie fehlt dem modernen Hardcore einfach der nötige Punk, deswegen sehen auch alle gleich aus mit ihren kurzen Haaren, Kapuzenpullovern und guten Manieren. Ich wette, mindestens die Hälfte der anwesenden Leute sind im wahren Leben einfache Spießer, deren einziger Unterschied zum Normalbürger ist, daß sie gerne aggressive Musik hören und auch mal auf Konzerte gehen. Aber mir war das egal, ich ignorierte die beiden unspektakulären Vorbands mehr oder weniger und gab mir dann bei Raised Fist den vollen Moshpit, der es natürlich entsprechend in sich hatte, und fühlte mich danach komplett durchgeschwitzt und am Ende meiner Kräfte besser als nach mancher Skatesession. Livemusik ist einfach eine geile Erfahrung, vor allem wenn die Band es dermaßen drauf hat wie eben Raised Fist.

Schlimm fand ich allerdings, daß es auf dem Konzert keinen einzigen Tonträger zu kaufen gab, aber dafür Anzieh-Merchandise bis zum Abwinken, das war früher auch mal anders und besser, aber egal. Ich hatte einen super Abend und habe eine weitere Band, die ich mit ruhigem Gewissen in der Schublade meiner Top Ten Alltime Favourites belassen kann. Und damit ich das Interview auch nicht nur zu meinem Privatvergnügen gemacht habe, will ich es euch hier auch nicht vorenthalten, und glaubt mir, hätte ich das Ganze für unser Magazin gemacht, hätte ich mir nicht erst nach einem Monat ein Herz gefaßt und es abgetippt. Ganz besonderen Gruß zum Schluß an Thorsten aus Kappeln, einen BOARDSTEIN Fan, den ich vor Ort kennenlernen durfte und der offensichtlich verstanden hat, worum es im Leben geht. In diesem Sinne: They tell me to be less pessimistic, and I tell them to be more realistic.

BOARDSTEIN (BS): So what do you like mostly about being in the band, the tours, the rehearsels…?
Josse (J): We never reherase.
BS: You never rehearse!?
J: No, never. Only if like now when we`re having a new CD and we have new songs we`re gonna play live and we`ve never played that before. Then we rehearse the songs that we never played. So we just did like three times rehearsel for this tour. And then when we tour and we play every night, you know, then we don`t need to rehearse since we`re playing. So the drummer is down south in Sweden and the others of us are up north.
BS: So how does the actual songwriting evolve?
J: Each person has a lot of ideas hopefully when we decide to do a record. And then we just meet up and show what we have and try to mix it together and make good songs.
BS: But that`s kind of a rehearsel, isn`t it!?
J: No, since we`re only having like one guitar and then okay, we`ll do it, and the drummer usually isn`t with us.
BS: It works quite well actually…
J: And then we make the drums on computers and then record guitars when we feel like we`re gonna do an album.
BS: And the drummer is always down with it?
J: He`s kinda new in the band so he puts his elements in there, and we know what he can do and what he`s capable of. So when we`re writing the songs we always have a thought about how he`s gonna play. And then we go down to his city and record with Daniel Bergstrand. Since they`re in the same city and know each other well and stuff, so it`s never a problem. It`s just like go there, show him what we have and then make a real preproduction with better drums and then we`re going to the studio and record the drums, guitar, bass…
BS: So there`s a big part missing of being in a band, I guess.
J: Maybe, but maybe, I think, that`s why we`re still here. We`re not doing it all the time. So we kinda get long breaks without playing…
BS: And it`s not like you tour your asses of, I mean, you`ve been going for 15 years or something…
J: Almost 17.
BS: Almost 17, and I`ve never seen you live, because it`s not that easy to get ahold of you.
J: Yeah, I know, it`s not.
BS: So you`re really looking forward to go on tour?
J: Yeah, yeah. We try to keep it that way, so that we`re always gonna be pumped up to go on tour. We don`t overtour. Like three times a year it gets work sort of. So we feel it`s gonna be on a level where it`s always gonna be fun, something we are really into doing. Then it`s gonna be good as well.
BS: So you probably do something else besides the band or do you live of the band?
J: No, I don`t. Since we don`t tour too much, I don`t. But, you know, I have a rock club at home I do once a month just to do something and then I put up shows at it as well, just booking shows. Sometimes a little bit bigger depending on what it is. I just book shows and stuff like that. I mean, there`s something to do. I don`t wanna, you know, have to play to get money. It`s gonna be fun work anyway even more. And then you might be desperate when you have to do shows you don`t even wanna do just to bring in the money.
BS: I mean, you got quite some fans out there because of going for 17 years and putting out great albums, so what about the shows, are they always sold out? Like for me it`s a good sign that there was no more place on the guestlist for me today, it seems people really want to see you.
J: It`s not always sold out. I guess, this is better than we expected on this tour.
BS: Did you just start?
J: We already played three shows, we played Bochum in Germany and then Brussels and then Scheweningen(?) or what it`s called in Holland, that was fucking awesome, it was very good.
BS: Where did you get the best experiences so far? Like I know from several bands the eastern part of Europe is always awesome because not too many bands go there and stuff.
J: Ah, we haven`t toured there yet so it`s gonna be something new to us when we do.
BS: Are you planning to go there?
J: We haven`t planned that in a certain time, but we wanna go there, of course. But you have to do something all the time People want us here and they want us in Canada and they want us in Australia, Sweden, Finland, everything, and we don`t wanna tour too much, so we try to fit in everything. And it`s still gonna be perfect for us, a perfect match with doing something else in between. It`s kinda hard to get to all the places. The venues have to be available and everything.  It`s about timing, you know, trying to get it to work out.
BS: So people know you in Canada?
J: I don`t know really, not too much. We haven`t been there yet, we`re thinking of going and maybe  doing three more shows, maybe New York, L.A., and some more shows just to show ourselves and then go home. Maybe trying to get something going there and just see what happens.
BS: What a lot of bands told me in further interviews was that a lot of really succesful bands here in Europe don`t really get it going in America because they have so much stuff on their own.
J: Yeah, yeah, they do that, and the thing is when you`re not there you`re nothing, you don`t exist. You have to go there and be there and show yourself, you know, if you don`t then you don`t exist in their opinion.
BS: I mean, it`s not the most important part of the world to go.
J: No, it`s not. I met an American in Australia and he said like ‘Don`t even think about fucking going to the States because people there don`t even listen to music. They care about your hairstyle and what colour your hair is and if you paint your fingernails or have make-up’. I don`t know, it`s his opinion, but I think, a lot of people maybe are like that all over the world, maybe more there, I don`t know.
BS: Yeah, maybe, they`ve got not the best reputation over here. So for me you`re still like a real hardcore band, no frills, no nothing, just playing good music and playing straight music and doing your thing. And what I mostly like about Raised Fist is when you listen to a song even if you don`t know it you exactly know that it`s Raised Fist. You got a very special sound.
J: Yeah, it feels good to have that `cause we never try doing something other people did before. I don`t know where the influeneces come from, but we`re kinda different in what kinda music we listen to. I know for instance our singer Alexander almost never listens to music like in the listening way like I do. I put on some music and listen to it, I`m not having it playing in the background. I put it on and listen to it, but he doesn`t and still he does fucking amazing things when we write songs, he`s really really great.
BS: Especially with the last record and the new one, what tracked me to the band back in the day was always that fast aggressive sound, but from the last two albums I like the slow songs the most sort of…
J: Yeah, yeah, I kinda grew into the same…
BS: How did you get that new influence?
J: I don`t know, it just came on like ‘This is fucking aggressive’. It`s a lot slower, but it still has the aggressive touch. I don`t know, that`s how we do it, we just try to do good music and we never think about ‘Oh, this is too slow’. We try to listen, trying to get something out of this and, you know, if I can feel it, then it`s a good song.
BS: That is awesome, because a lot of bands sort of stagnate at a certain point especially in hardcore nowadays, it`s just boring. And I`m more into punk because it`s just more diverse which is not always the case, but hardcore just gets boring…
J: Yeah, sometimes it is, and it is like nobody is gonna be interested if we make a ‘Dedication’ album over and over again. And I wouldn`t wanna do that either. It wouldn`t be fun for me doing the same thing over and over.
BS: Especially not after 17 years!
J: No, exactly. Being there playing and don`t even know which CD it comes from or whatever the song is called, it feels like the same the same the same all the time, so that is not satisfying.
BS: How old were you when the band started?
J: Hmm, maybe 15, I think.
BS: That`s quite early.
J: We had other bands before, I mean, that we didn`t call Raised Fist, but with other members and songs.
BS: What I wanted to say is that when you start under the age of twenty you`re still developing as a human…
J: Exactly.
BS: But sticking to your friends and doing it for such a long time is awesome, man.
J: Yeah, it feels good, when we tour it`s like fucking family. We know each other since we were kids, you know, so it`s just easy.
BS: What about the other bands today? I actually don`t even know their names, is it friends of you?
J: No, we met for the first time three days ago, but it`s really good guys.
BS: Since we were  a skateboard magazine I`ve always been really interested in the skateboard history meeting all these great musicians, because everybody seems to have one. What about you?
J: Not me personally, but two of the band members have been skating a lot.
BS: Have been, still do?
J: Maybe sometimes, maybe picking it up again now a little bit, the singer and Matte, one of the guitar players. It`s good exercise, you know, it`s good.
BS: Yeah, you keep in shape, but in other directions you don`t keep in shape with like spraining your ankles and stuff, that`s why a lot of musicians stopped doing it at a certain point.
J: Yeah, yeah, but shit happens whatever you do. When we go on stage we`re doing fucking fucked up things so you never know if you`re going to be able to play the next show. So it`s never gonna be like ‘No, I can`t jump, I can`t do what I do, because I might injure myself’. That`s not the case, you know, I have to…
BS: You can`t just stand there and play!?
J: No.
BS: Especially with music like that…
J: No, it`s not an option.
BS: And it wouldn`t be a problem if you hurt yourself as long as you can still play, but the others would probably understand.
J: Of course.
BS: So how did you get into hardcore music.
J: Just liking the music, that kinda music. We were a lot into punk rock when we were really young, swedish punk rock at first and then we had some bands. You know when you`re young you could have like five bands going.
BS: And now you`re touring the world. Do you have some time to look around towns when you are on tour?
J: A little bit, I woke up like ten o`clock this morning so I went for a couple of hours just looking around, not too much, though, just a little bit.
BS: I mean, you sort of like see the world and stuff, what do your parents think about it especially when they hear the music?
J: Ah, my mother is kind of, you now, she just gets stressed when she hears the music. But they think it`s good, they think it`s fun that we`re doing good and stuff. And they see me and the singer have been friends since we were like this, so I know his parents and he knows mine, and they think it`s good that we`re still doing this.
BS: They should, I mean, there`s nothing wrong about it besides the music maybe which might not be their taste… Last thing would be what`s your take on straight edge?
J: Ah, never even thought about it. For me it`s like a lifestyle, if you wanna live that life, of course fine by me, I don`t care. But it`s not for me, it wouldn`t work out for me.
BS: What about the rest of the band?
J: None of our band is straight edge, but if you wanna live that life, then that is your own choice. You choose this life for a reason and whatever you choose doing it for that`s a good enough reason for me. If you wanna be straight edge, then fine, I mean…
BS: But it`s not like you party your asses of after the shows!?
J: Well, sometimes for sure, but not every show. I mean, you have to perform the next day. But on the european tour with the nightliner you always get a lot of sleep. You can sleep during drives and you can sleep the next day till five or six o`clock in the evening. But when you`re flying between shows you always have to wake up early to catch the flight and then be up in the air, you can`t even…
BS: Then it becomes work, so I can really understand why you don`t tour two or three times a year, it gets really exhausting probably.
J: Yeah, yeah, I mean, our performance is pretty exhausting as well.
BS: Yeah, I`m really looking forward to it.
J: I hope you`ll like it.
BS: Yeah, I guess, I will…