EMQ’s With OXIDIZE
EMQ’s With OXIDIZE
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Swedish Melodic Metallers, Oxidize. Huge thanks to their Guitarist and Founder Member, Per, 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?
My name is Per, and I play the guitar. Founded Oxidize 2017. The band have had some changes during the years of the line up but now we feel that it will take a while before we change any members again. Our line up today is two guitars, drums, bass and vocals. Mostly it is me and Johannes (the vocalist) that write songs together, but the others help out sometimes also. We recently changed drummer to Andreas ”Adde” Larsson (Red wolf, How we end) he will join up on our next album, and has been involved from the start. We play melodic metal/hardrock, sometimes a little bit softer and sometimes a little bit harder but we think we got a red thread though everything and pretty much an own ID in the sound.
How did you come up with your band name?
You can’t start up a band called Iron … something, but wanted a pretty short name so, metal oxidizes and gets corrosive, so, oxidized metal = rust, you get the picture…
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We come from Sweden, outside of Gothenburg, the metal town in the north. Our style is melodic metal. We like to mix harmonies with heavy down tuned guitars , sometimes piano. The rock scene in our part of Sweden is loaded with bands. We got Inflames, Evergrey, Dark tranquility, At The Gates, Haunted, Amararanthe, Hammerfall, Dream Evil, etc. Lot of bands, not that many venues though.
What is your latest release?
Our latest release is Never Surrender, six songs, all singles, strong tunes with a lot of melody and heavy guitars, some Piano parts. We think it’s a strong collection of songs that will get you in a good mood. We bring up things that we experienced and been influenced by, like a murder, being treated, stuff from our everyday circus. Our latest video is a half/half lyric and video, to my daughter.
Who have been your greatest influences?
We began listening to music in the mid- 1970s. We grew up with Kiss, Sweet, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath. Like to listen to everything from Slayer to Journey, It depends on the mood and what you are doing. But if I listen to the material myself maybe I can hear some Judas Priest, Maiden, Queensrüche, Helloween, In Flames, Zonata, etc.
What first got you into music?
My father bought me a red plastic electric Guitar Ala BB-king. It envolved into a Strat copy, a Les Paul… I Met some guys and began to play covers of a Swedish guy called Eddie Meduza. We played everywhere like class parties, small Venues. And that involved today.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I don’t really know, it would be nice to do something with a female singer like Noora Louhimo. A duett with our vocalist Johannes. I think that would be a good combo. 🙂
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
That wasn’t a hard one, Sweden Rock, best festival in the world. 🙂
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Japanese cookies, tasted just like flowers, but in awesome shapes and colors, looked like the best cookie in the world, but not…. And it was also the best wrapping I’ve ever seen.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Guys! We are grateful for your support, that you listen on Spotify and all other streaming platforms, even more by buying merch. That means a lot for us and keeps us going. We are already working on the next album and we hope it will be released even on vinyl. Keep on following the news all the time.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Gary Moore, think he wasn’t finished, he had so much Moore to give.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I enjoy be with friends and family, eating good food and a nice wine. Make things like carpentry. Photographing. I hate ABBA’s fish balls, and people who can’t behave themselves, war.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Alex in Kamelot is doing one thing for instance, he is making a new streaming platform more for metal music with better payouts called ROKK. I don’t know why Spotify itself has that big earnings and the musicians nearly none. Everyone should get paid and a lot more today we get $ 0,005, it would be more fair to get at least €0,05. Today day the record companies takes half of what we earn on the streaming, it mean if we need 200 000 streams on Spotify to earn $500. And on that we pay taxes and leave us with, maybe half…. That is something I want to change.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Operation Mindcrime with Queensrüche.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?
I think vinyl, it’s less compressed and more dynamic, cassettes only get tangled after a while, no good, but I got a digital cassette called DCC, not that common but that is real fine quality also, don’t have that many artists it didn’t become any hit….
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
The best gig I ever made was when my brother had a birthday and we rigged our gear on the backside of his house. We were three band’s that played that evening. People before Hammerfall, and the guys that came to be Lost Horizon, Dream Evil, Oxidize. After a while the Police forced us to break, we didn’t have any permit and the whole village shortly had enough, ha ha ha….
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I’m also a photographer, free lance for Sweden Rock Magazine and have my own photo studio.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
My band, the best guys!
What’s next for the band?
We are working on our next full length album, a lot of the songs are written and recorded already, most of the vocals and guitars are done, bass and drums and some solo’s, it’s not long gone, we hope beginning of this autumn.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We work with X (twitter) @Oxidize.sweden, Instagram/Threads @OxidizeSweden, FB @Oxidize band, TikTok @Oxidize.Sweden, Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/oxidize8,
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
I should guess Tea Cake, that is what we say in Sweden, round sandwich.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for having us here! Horns up to our fans out there !
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.