Translation - Interview with Smash Into Pieces / 4 April 2014 Berlin - Part two - Interview with Smash Into Pieces

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Sandra: Ok, today you guys are in Berlin, tomorrow in England, then Germany again. Is this tour life stressful? Or are you still enjoying it? 

Chris: Hmmm, that’s a tough question. It’s from day to day. 

Per: There is a lot of stress. You don’t get a lot of sleep. And since we are the supporting act we are always loading the bus and we are carrying stuff and it’s not a very glamorous life. But it is a lot of fun and you know it’s nice to have a day off where you can just relax a bit. But when you come home it’s like “Man I want to go back on tour!” *Group Laughter* 

Chris: That’s the thing. You always want to go back. Even if it’s stressful and takes all your energy. It’s kind of a schizophrenia thing going on here. Haha 

Per: It’s the best adrenaline kick. 

Chris: It’s the best thing in the world to tour. You see a lot of stuff and countries. Meet many people. 

Sandra: Well not in Berlin! You miss out on the best city. *group Laughter* 

Chris: Yea of course! Haha You meet so many nice people and find new friends. It’s a big ass family in the end. Haha 

Sandra: Do you actually go partying after a gig? Or do you guys have to unload because you guys are busy-bees. 

Per: Well we usually can do both. We do have a driver so…  *group laughter* 

Per: Usually it’s kind of stressful to get the stuff out of here and then you have until like 2 or 3 o’clock until we leave. Alot of partying on the big tour bus. Or have a quick look around the city.

Chris: Usually, last year like after every show I drank a lot and I was always partying. I gained like 14 kilos during one year! Haha So this year I have been more kind of like the guy that doesn’t want to drink or party. I’ve had like 2 glasses of wine this tour. You know. 

Per: He has actually become a vegetarian as well. 

Chris: ALSO! 

Sandra: Really?! Wow. 

Chris: Don’t question me why. 

Per: The last year we have really been into fitness. Everyone is working out and we usually do it backstage. We do a couple of exercises every day, you know? 

Chris: You get energy by moving. 

Per: Instead of just waiting for sound check, it gives you more energy if you work out to wake up. 

Sandra: I’m actually surprised Chris that you say that you have been drinking so much because with your vocals. 

Chris: Yea I actually had 1 occasion where I sang one concert and we had many gigs this summer and the last gig we did, something happened with my left vocal cord. I couldn’t sing for like 3 months. That was scary actually. I thought that this is over. So that’s one of the reasons why I’m not drinking so much anymore. I think I’d rather take care of my voice more than I have done. I’m glad that I’m the singer, but I hate that I’m the singer as well. I always need to be on top. 

Per: It’s easy to change strings on the guitar and change drum sticks. 

Sandra: Are you guys collecting new ideas for upcoming songs while you are on tour? Or is this process taking place back at home? 

Per: You mean if we are writing songs while on tour? 

Sandra: Yea right now on tour. 

Per: Yea sure! We brought everything that we need to have to record vocals and guitars so…When we have time and energy we usually just sit and you know…We have most ideas ready for the next album which we will start recording soon after we come home from the tour. So now it’s a lot of details and lyrics. That’s the thing that gets finished last. We are kind of putting it together piece by piece. 

Sandra: So you would say the majority of songs are being written on tour or at home? 

Per: It’s not like I sit down, “Ok I’m going to take the guitar and write a song”. It’s mostly like if I am walking to work and then all of a sudden I’m like “Ah! Nice!” So I try to remember whatever pops up. It’s hard to order inspiration. It just comes. Now it’s been like 1 year since we released the first album. We have good ideas and now it’s time to record. 

Chris” I feel bad for these guys. Sometimes I see Per and he is like falling asleep and out of it, and I ask him “What is it with you?” He says, “I came up with some lyrics in the middle of the night last night. I had to write them up.” You know, his brain is working all the time with the melodies and the lyrics. 

Per: Yea that’s annoying actually. Sometimes I am just about to fall asleep and I am like “Huh! Fuck! Fuck! Ok let’s bring the computer”. 

Sandra: That’s cool though. This might be a sensitive subject, but I couldn’t find anything on German websites or English websites about this. You guys actually reached the semifinals on the TV show “Sweden’s Got Talent”… 

Per: My first show actually… 

Sandra: in 2009, but you guys dropped out of the competition to sign a record deal. Why did you guys just drop the show? How did you decide to take that step? 

Per: From the start, it is a talent show and it didn’t feel like this is the right forum for us to, you know…It’s like the same with the Idols series. You kind of go up and then you disappear. We wanted to go the right way and get a good rock label and start, you know… 

Chris: When you begin as a band at that level, kind of low down under the shoes. Kind of need to work things up. We thought it was a good thing to do. 

Per: And actually we had to choose. If we were to continue, we would have had to sign a deal with Sony which was really bad. Ok this is the standard deal and you belong to us forever. So we felt like ok! It would have been nice to have more TV air time, you know. We chose the other way. It also did not turn out well either. That was the label that in the end had a lot of arguments with. So we left them after 1 year while recording. We almost finished the album. 

Chris: Yea when I was going to go up and put the singing on the record, the label was like, “BB the way, here is a new contract that you need to sign.” Okaaaaay. 

Per: And that was that. We separated. To summarize, we wanted to be cool, so we left. 

Chris: SO NOW WE’RE METAL! 

Sandra: Haha ok so our favorite question! What are you guys currently listening to? 

Chris: Do I need to tell you that??! Haha 

Per: To me it’s like repeat on our own new songs. After you have listened to it for like the 15^th time maybe, you are like “Ahh! I’m going to change that detail”. So our songs on repeat. Chris I think you will be the Alter Bridge guy.  *group Laughter* 

Chris: No I like more stuff other than Alter Bridge. Actually I’ve been listening to Savage Garden a lot. The first album. 

Per: The silence! 

Chris: The silence! Haha that was my first favorite band of all time. When I was like 8 years old. I couldn’t get away from it either. It was stuck in my head. It’s a good album. A really good album. 

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Interview & Fotos: Sandra Frei