Interview With Pressure

Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement, the editorial head, how are you doing today?

Hey, I am Simon from the band Pressure! I am doing great! Sun is shining here in Sweden, a bit windy but overall a great summer day! Nice to meet you!

July 2^nd you have planned to release “ Fem I Tre” Single, can you tell me about the songwriting and the process behind the single?

As we are playing in a Story Metal band the song writing process is quite complex. All our songs are based upon true stories and events. So we started with collecting all our experiences and talked to a lot of people. Then when I had a complete lyric I started to write the song. The melody and the riff for this song was actually quite easy to come up with. It kind of wrote itself. I recorded a draft for the song in under 3 hours, did all the drums, bass, guitars and vocals before giving it to our lead singer Olof. He perfected the pick-up lines and added a very personal touch to it! The song started out with a much harder beat than the end result. Now we feel that there is almost a rock n roll vibe to it.

What is the concept set behind this song?

Yeah, haha. The song “Fem I Tre” is a bit different from our other releases! It’s a satirical song about the last people at the bar, you know, the ones that are always a bit to drunk and a bit to desperate.This is their anthem. Because when the drinks go in, the wisdom goes out! So there is a lot of bad pick-up lines and over-used phrases in this song. The fun part is that our singer Olof researched the worst pick-up lines he could ever find. If any of these would work in any way….well I am not sure but then I feel a bit sorry for mankind! So the concept Is a satirical story at closing time of the bar!

On 7^th May 2021, you released your debut album “Path Of A Shadow” Being the first there must have been a lot of pressure for Pressure 😀 Can you tell me a bit about the song writing and production behind this album?

Its always a pleasure to handle the Pressure! The song writing for the album has been going on for a very long time. I mean we started to write for the album back in 2018 and it has slowly progressed during all this time. Collecting stories and finding the right mood for them is something that takes time and you have to allow it to take that time. Its not just to sit down and produce. As a songwriter I feel that its important to work with people around me that understands the concept and I am very fortunate to have found such a strong band and crew around me. Each song starts with the experience, story or situation that tells the story for me. As I put it in writing I work with the lyric and when I feel I have got the lyric to reflect the story I usually also have the base for the mood of the song! When I feel that the inspiration comes I need to get it out and most of the drafts of the music and song are done in a couple of hours. I record everything, drums, bass, guitars, vocals and backing vocals and then I am totally exhausted and have to rest for a while. Then I show the songs to the band, and our lead singer Olof takes over and works with the song to fit his voice and style. Sometimes he changes a lot and sometimes he changes almost nothing. Then we go back and forth a couple of times even before starting to rehearse the song or recording it. When we are satisfied with the arrangement, we record the song and start to rehearse it for live shows. In this time we also produce a story based video to include in the story telling on stage.

The album is focused mainly on life, Like Fear of the dark, the shadow follows wherever you may go, what exactly is the concept and idea set behind this?

The story behind Path of a shadow is, as you said, a life story. But told from your shadows perspective. Imagine that your shadow, who has followed you throughout your life, one day came to life and wanted to tell you about his experiences from your life. The shadow is something that no one can escape. Always around, he sees and experiences all that you do. Never judging, always supporting. Your shadow will tell you about your life and reveal what is true and whats not. Some things you already knew, some things you did know but did not want anyone to know about and some things you didn’t even know yourself. So the story shows everything that happens, both the good and the bad. One thing you can be sure of, your shadow is Always around!

The Comic art of Fem I Tre, is quite amazing, how was the idea to make such a cool art, whose idea was this and who made the comic art?

The idea of the cover art came from our singer Olof. He thought it would represent the song and we all agreed that it would. Please check out @thekittz on Instagram for amazing work.

I believe your lyrics are mostly surrounded by Life and there was this statement “How Can you tell a story about life if you haven’t dared to live life to its fullest” What is the thought behind this, Well will we live to tell the story or can we say any man have lived his life to fullest to tell his story, Can you tell me what was your thought process in your mind?

To me as a songwriter its very important that every story, every song and every experience is based upon truth and I know what I want out of a song. To convey the message you have to had personal connection, experiences or really close encounters with the same thing that you write about. When I said that how could your tell a story about life if you haven’t dared to live iife to its fullest I meant that I cannot put the correct feelings into my music, lyrics and guitar playing if I don’t have the experience. Then I cannot write the song until I have experienced it myself. This kind of thinking has put me in many strange, and sometimes bad situations but it always gives me more experience and a base to write. I would like to say that every person have a story to tell. But that story will be better if you dare to be true to your desires and your self and not to try so much to be as everyone else. Dare to live, dare to be yourself. As one of our tracks states. What you see, is what you get!

Will Pressure be focussed only on Life, or you planning to bring more ideas and concepts in the future albums?

Pressures songs are based on life and different pressures in life. We want our music to be used as tools to help everyone handle the pressures that surrounds us. Everybody handles pressures, and sometimes it can feel good, it can feel bad, but its always nice to know that you are never alone, and that we are here to help you handle the Pressure! Upcoming releases will tell true stories from our experiences and will focus on different themes and different kinds of pressures, like relations, achievements, sports etc. There are many things coming so you better watch out!

Can you tell me how it all started for you guys?

Before Pressure me and our ex guitarist, Emil Salling were playing in a cover/party band and played all over Sweden. But after like 10 years we found ourselves rewriting most of the songs to heavy metal versions. So we took the chart songs, and did metal versions of them. And then we started to translate them, and then rearrange them some more. At this time I also sang in the band and we thought we needed reinforcement. We started to look for an awesome frontman and we soon found Olof after some auditioning work. We were a match right away and soon began the process to write our own material as we didn’t want to do covers anymore.

Although the band evolved in 2018, how has the journey of music been for you so far?

The journey has had its up and downs as for all bands. We have tried to push through the pandemic with much song writing and live show rehearsals. We build our sound and really worked on our concept. But its been hard not to be able to go out and play for a live audience. I mean we have done some live streams but even if its nice, its not the same as playing in a full club for a really live audience. That’s how music should be experienced. We also replaced Emil with Patrik in our line up. Emil got a great job that he needed to take and the time wasn’t enough, so no conflict and we hope to see Emil doing some guest appearances again! We are also translating a lot of our music to be able to tell the stories so everyone will have the chance to experience the lyric first hand and not only the music.

What would be some of the next touring and other plans for the band?

Sweden has just opened up and we are in the process of booking right now. We are also releasing a lot of new material, something new will come from Pressure each month. Up ahead is the official video release of Fem I Tre. It’s a really cool and different animated video that will make you smile. And it will have English subtitles so everyone can enjoy!

What would you call your type of genre, although its termed Melodic Rock, I feel it has the blend of all rock essence mixed in it, Would you be experimenting more in the future?

We are calling our genre Story Metal. We are actually pioneering it. As we don’t want to feel locked in a specific sound. We are experimenting more for each song we release. As we start with the lyric and see what kind of music will best tell the story. Each song has its own influences, and that’s what Story Metal is all about.

What would you like to say to the readers and fans around the world?

Now its time to get back out there. But remember to stay safe! Support you local bands, and stay strong. And if you ever want to have your story told in a Story Metal manner, please reach out and we will make something happen.

Also remember that life will beat you, mistreat you and try to defeat you, but as long as you stay true to yourself, and believe in what and who you are, you will be victorious. I leave you with a quote from the song Beaten But Not Dead

“Can I pull it off now?
Do I know how to do it?
Don’t think I understand how
I just, want to run fast
You won’t be able to catch me
I’ll fly and be the fastest
Just leave me alone now
I’m gonna show you who I am now

I was beaten, but I’m not dead.
Knocked down but I’ll rise again
Under pressure, but I’m still alive
Lost but I will find my way
Beaten but I’m not dead”