Patrik Arvidsson - Guitar
Name: Patrik Arvidsson Band name: Swedish Whistler Genre or style:
Pop/rock Question 1 - Describe what it was/is like starting out in a band (shows, pay, travelling, other band members, management or lack there of...): Well, it was very fun to starting out in a band. We started as a cover band, played at clubs. It was not wellpayed but these first days it was so damm fun only to be able to play the music we loved to hear at home. But as we get better and better we began to write our own material and soon we found out that we wanted more than be a coverband. These early days we did´nt had any management and still today, even that we now have management, we do lot on our own. Question 2 - How did you end up in the music business? Did you know you wanted to be in a band when you were young? In my early teenage my cousin had a band called "Black Cat". I often was at my cousin where they trained and one day he gave my a guitar and I should play along with them. Never had touched a guitar before and I don´t think I managed to play so much and absolute not any right notes. To learn to hit the right notes, I borrowed an acoustic guitar from my cousin. For me, it started from here. Question 3 - Give me your impression of what it's like to play in front of a live audience: It feels cool but when you stand up there on a stage you often don´t really see the people so well. Of course you know they are there. But I don´t think so much on them; only to play as well as possible and hope they enjoy what they hear and see. Question 4 - What is the process behind writing or composing music? How does the band come up with the lyrics? How many songs that are written actually get recorded? Sussi, our singer, comes up with the lyrics and often already with a finished melody to it. Togheter we find the chords, modes and make arrangments. Almost every song end up recorded as we want hear them also recorded, not only when we play them. But not everything be released! Question 5 - What are some of the best or worst stories from your life in a band? For me, the worst story is when I became locked up in a toilet just before a festival-gig . The toilet was near the stage where we should play and i heard my bandmates at the stage but they couldn´t hear me because of the sound they maked by themselfes and the music from a disco, also in the area. Just before we should play some guards finally heard me kicking the toiletdoor and managed to break up the door so I could run up to others and begin to play. Question 6 - What is the dark side of the rock n'roll business? Are the stereotypes of sex and drugs true? Would you let your children follow in your footsteps? I don´t see the stereotypes of sex and drugs in the rock´n roll business realized. Not at least on our indie-level of the business. Maybe it is worser "higher up". So I, so far, gladly would let my children follow my footsteep. Question 7 - Which songs and albums of yours are your favorites? Why? What other bands do you respect/admire the most? What is in your opinion the greatest album of all time? Notorius Liar on our upcoming album "Great Lizard Cuckoo" because of it´s simple direct melody. Chains from our CD "Dazzling Days" as it is little bit odd-sounding. Well, I respect and enjoy some of the 70ths obscure bands in the jazzyfreaky style of Softmachine and like Gong, being doing their thing for around 30-35 years without thinking "We must make a hit!". I assume they never have been thinking like that because of the music you hear on the records they maked! But in fact, Softmachine had one hit. Pink Floyds "The Wall" is still a killer and a album that I never seems to be tired of listen to. So, I vote for that one as the greatest album of all time. Question 8 - What is it truly like being in a band? Being in the spotlight? Wanting to be famous? (This is the underlying theme of the book - dig deep on this one!): It is very fun and creative to be in a band. You making something together with other people. Can not really be compared to be sitting alone and playing, even if that also is nice. You communicate with your bandmates, souls to souls, and making an so abstract thing as music. The only art you really not can touch with your hands. Therefore maybe somehow more "magical" than other arts. Being in the spotlight is nice. Becuase of the girls who hopefully is watching you. Our main goal is to be as succesfull (and therefore famous) as possible with the music we love to play. I would not play music that I dislike only to get famous. But I not either want our band to be staying in the basement and playing for our own ears. Question 9 - Describe your relationship with your band mates? With management? With groupies? With venues and hotels? With my bandmates - as the band takes much of our time are we in contact nearly every day and meet each other often. Not only to play, also to discuss different matters. We also do things time to time together that don´t have anything with the band to do. With managements - more or less strict business relationship. With groupies - Only one so far but I said "No"! With hotels - we don´t doing the rock´n roll thing and smash them. I think it is only stupid and not a bit cool. Question 10 (last one) - Describe a typical week in your life - including preparation for shows, publicity, interviews, your other jobs if applicable, your family, what you sacrifice - A
typical week for me is regular work daytime, combinated with Swedish
Whistler-work (I am rather good on combinating these two things when
my chief don´t see me). Almost every night I practise the guitar.
If I need to talk to people I phone them before I begin to play as
if they try to reach me by phone I can not hear them phone because
of the high volume! My preparation for shows is only to check the
strings and dress me up a little . I not sacrifice anything today
as I am my own. E-mail to Patrik |
"Born
To Make Noise" Book Project Michael Thomas Yahn (Author of 'What
I Did On My Rock n' Roll Vacation' - 2001 Writers Club)