EMQ’s With CREEPING FLESH
EMQ’s With CREEPING FLESH
Hi everyone. Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Swedish Death Metal band, Creeping Flesh. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Sofus, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hi! I’m Sofus and I’m one of the axemen. The band started because William had a dream about making Death Metal and he asked me to join him and our former bass player Conny to start this band. Soon afterwards we were a full band, all with a will to create old school Death. We started to write music together right away. This was back in 2013 and we released our first EP “Unravelled by War” the year after. Now, around 8 years later, we have 3 EPs and a full length album in our back catalogue. And soon we will release the next one!
How did you come up with your band name?
Me and William have had a lot of discussions about band names and I especially remember one very drunken night out when we could have settled with a completely different name. After sobering up and thinking about our alternatives, Creeping Flesh did stand tall as the lone survivor. For me the words just lined up well together. William might have been influenced by the movie with the same name and also a song by Facebreaker. Who knows how and why, but here we are!
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
We are from Sweden. All of the members have come from different cities and regions, but we all met in Gothenburg. There is a thriving metal scene here; who hasn’t heard of the Gothenburg sound for example? Compared to the other cities we came from, it was a breath of fresh air to see so much live music with great quality bands. A lot of the musicians we know here have bands of their own, and it is not only metal and rock that is big here. All in all, it is a good place for music!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
If we don’t count our first full length “Into the Meat Grinder”, it’s the music video for our single “Finest Hour”, from our upcoming album “…And Then the Bombs Came”. Look up to the sky! The bombs are falling 11th of February! The video is available on our Facebook page and on Youtube.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Everyone in the band has different backgrounds, influences and ways into heavy music. If I just speak for myself, The Beatles have been the foundation that made me fall in love with rock and then further down the line Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and similar bands lured me into Metal. When it comes to Death Metal, the bands In Flames and Arch Enemy were the gateway for me. Old school bands like Dismember and Bolt Thrower sealed the deal. As a guitarist, I have always looked up to the Amott brothers, Dave Mustaine and Gus G. As just a musician and songwriter, I admire Steven Wilson and he influences me a lot. And maybe even more down the rabbit hole, but actually quite relevant, game music has had a great impact on my music ears. The band as a whole, I think, is mostly inspired by Bolt Thrower, Hail of Bullets, Obituary, Jungle rot, Amon Amarth and Swedish HM-2 bands in general.
Other than this, movies and documentaries about war have had tremendous influence on lyrics and song writing. Watching tanks roll over fields of corpses get the creative juices flowing.
What first got you into music?
Just listening to my parents’ vinyl of The Beatles and classical stuff like Vivaldi. Then I listened to mixed tapes filled with NWOBHM that my brothers had. To be honest, when a classmate taught me how to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ I was hooked! I played drums first, but later transitioned to guitar as I learned more riffs, and my brother showed me how to play some old Nintendo tunes.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?
Easy question. Micke Rickfors. Give us a call! A lot of the others in the band would maybe also say Peter Tägtgren? We are open for collabs!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
For me personally, I would probably choose Wacken Open Air. One of my greatest festival memories is from Wacken and to perform there would be a dream come true! In Sweden, it would be cool to play at Sweden Rock Festival.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I’ve been given alcoholic beverages and the occasional hug and praise, but nothing weird so far that I remember. We’ll see what the future brings.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
When the pandemic wears off, please support your local bands and bars! Be sure to go out and attend gigs!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Tough one. Kiddie or Freddie Mercury? So many great ones that have left us just in the recent years. When I think about it though, I have to choose Håkan Florå.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The best thing is to be creative while hanging out with friends and drinking beer. Don’t think there is anything I hate about it.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Promoting actual music instead of soulless garbage.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Hmm, so many to choose from! I got to say “Mana” by Unto Others (former Idle Hands). Incredible Goth Heavy Metal record. There are so many things I love about this album. If you guys have any love for the likes of Sisters of Mercy, Woods of Ypres, Anathema, Agalloch, Misfits and Heavy Metal in general, give this a spin or two!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?
You get the greatest vibe from vinyl, and it’s also a physical piece of art! Cassette is really cool and old school too. I think every format has its place though. Each to their own.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Gefle Metal Festival has to be my pick and probably most of the band would agree. A pure joy for us as everything was handled extremely professionally and the crowd was amazing! The tour in England must be a close second. The one in Bristol was very memorable – the best and worst at the same time. The peak was when our singer destroyed a cabbage with his skull. All of our gigs are treasured memories, even the less good ones! We’ve been lucky and have been treated very nicely by our fans and all these cheerful crowds of head banging drunks!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Well, I don’t make a living as a musician unfortunately, so I currently cook to pay the rent, ha ha! If I weren’t playing music, I would maybe start to write books or perhaps learn to paint.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Carl Jan Granqvist, Edward Blom, Bengt Frithiofsson, Guga from Guga foods and whatever the actor’s name was that died of too much mashed potatoes in La Grande Bouffe. Sorry for all the Swedes, but look them up and you’ll understand why.
What’s next for the band?
11th of February we release our next album “…And Then the Bombs Came”! Whenever the pandemic lets us out on the road, we will bring these killer songs to the stage! Feels great to have a bunch of old and new songs to choose from for upcoming gigs. Be sure to be on the lookout for new music and merch.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We mainly use Facebook as social media and Spotify as a streaming service. Follow for regular updates of anything related to the band. We post a lot of stupid and/or relevant stuff. Please check out our Instagram, Youtube and Bandcamp as well!
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Aren’t they cookies?
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for having me! I had a fun time with these questions. I hope I’ll share a drink with you and all the readers someday at a gig!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.