Coldworker
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Swedish drummer Anders Jakobson has - after spending a decade in well-respected grindcore titans Nasum - put together a new extreme metal band by the name of Coldworker. This new group breaks from Jakobson's past in a way that its more death metal oriented than his previous band. Coldworker's debut "The Contaminated Void" was released November 6th through the prestigious Relapse Records. Being quite fond of his work in Nasum, I decided to contact drummer/band leader Anders Jakobson for a number of questions about this new band and record. Mere days before heading on a Scandinavian tour with melodic death metal veterans Arch Enemy, the main Coldworker talked to us about his new formation.Hi! Thanks for taking time out to talk to us. I guess you're preparing for the upcoming Scandinavian tour with Arch Enemy right now?
Yes.
Let's go back in time a bit. In January 2006 - one year after the dissolving of Nasum - you decided to put an extreme metal band together again. I understand you looked for people through your blog. Tell me something about that.
Yeah, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to start a new band and since I knew a lot of people were reading the blog, I decided to look for local people that way. So I did it and got a few replies, enough to start the band. And that's it.
The band's name is based out of "coldwork" which is a type of industry where you shape and form glass, metal and plastic objects without using heat. Are any of you involved in this type of industry or this a prominent industry in Scandinavia?
Haha! No, we are not working with "coldworking" and I don't think the industry exist in Sweden, at least not to any larger degree.
Coldworker also seems more death metal oriented. Was this a challenge for you in regards to drumming, as far as composing and performing goes?
Not only seems, it IS death metal. Yes, actually it's been a challenge for me in every aspect. My previous style of drumming has more or less come from punk as well as my song writing, so it's been a lot of new stuff to learn and that's been really fun.
In Nasum all members wrote their part of the song material, in Coldworker the songwriting is more a collective process. Is this more stimulating in one way or another in comparison to your Nasum days?
It's different and it works better for this band. In Nasum that way of writing worker better as we were so geographically divided and didn't rehearse on a regular basis. In Coldworker we are more of a unit and that is noticeable in the song writing.
How long did the writing take for the album?
Four months.
What were some of the intentions the band strived for when crafting the new record?
The only thing we had in mind was to an album that was as good as possible. There weren't really time to think about directions or do any plans of what to achieved. We were so high on our own creativity so we just did the songs without think much about them.
Coldworker also tackles socio-political issues in its lyrics - but on a more psychological level. Where you tired of all the direct political lyrics that you did with Nasum?
Well, in a way. The thing was that I wanted to something new and not continue with Nasum under another name, so the sound, the music and the lyrics developed in new directions.
The album was written mere months after forming the band. Has working under a certain pressure and deadline delivered better results than working without a set schedule?
It's hard to tell since we haven't got any experience of working in any other way right now. But we are happy with what we got out of the songs. Although they were written very fast they all got enough time to grow on us and in some cases undergo both minor and major changes. But now, when we can play them with more confidence we have found things that could have been changed or played in another way, so I think that the next album will be even more dissected and worked on during pre-production. We have already started to work on the songs.
"The Contaminated Void" has been released November 6th through Relapse Records. You spent many years under contract with them in your Nasum years. Have other labels shown interest in signing the band?
Yes, there were a few other labels interested in the band, but we wanted to work with Relapse, so there were never any negotiations done with the other labels.
The album was recorded in three weeks in the band's home studio/rehearsal space. Do you feel that making this record on your own terms ended up in a better overall result?
Again, we haven't got much to compare with at this point, but working in a safe environment, where you feel comfortable and without the stress you often feel in a studio where every minute costs something, was very good for the band and this records. But if it would have been another result in a real studio, I can't tell.
Dan Swäno was brought in to mix the album. Why was he the most obvious choice for the job at hand?
Dan has been a friend of mine for 15 years and he helped me setting up my recording equipment, and part of his profession these days are mixing albums and we thought it would be a good idea to do it with him, especially since he lives in the same town as us.
Is there a particular song that you prefer that you feel really stands out on the new album?
I think almost all of the songs a really good songs and it's hard to pick out a favorite. When people ask about favorites I usually answer that different songs on the album appeal to me in different ways - from a song writers point of view, from a performers point of view etc - but if I have to say something I'd say ‘They Crawl Inside Me Uninvited'.
Almost every single Coldworker member has another band on the side. Now with Coldworker being signed to Relapse, I guess all other bands have become not that important?
I don't think that the other guys who are in other band feels that way. But I guess there's some focus on Coldworker now.
How do you envision the band in a few years time; where do you hope it will get you?
It's hard to speculate about the future, but hopefully we'll be an active band on a much larger level than what we are on today.
What are you doing outside of the band? Any interesting jobs, studies, hobbies?
The usual stuff; not that interesting to speak about.
Thanks a lot for talking to us. If there's anything you want to say to your Polish fans, here's the space!
Thanks for the support and check out www.coldworker.com for info, news and merchandise.
Site: www.coldworker.com
Info/booking: coldworker@gmail.com
