MP3: We Live In Trenches - Autonomy clinic
If it's Saturday you know that means we're due for another entry in our ongoing Göteborg Spotlight Series. This week's guest: Robert Samsonowitz, esteemed web developer, graphic designer and musician. Chances are high you've seen his work before as he's done artwork and/or websites for a number of high profile Swedish artists -- just check out his portfolio at rbrt.org for examples. As for his own music, he did time with Satanic Surfers back in the day and has just recently resurfaced with We Live in Trenches, a band that takes the sound of "Damaged"-era Black Flag and runs with it. In other words, old-man hardcore. You know I'm all about it. Anyhow, Robert was kind enough to answer a few questions for us and here's what he had to say:
First off, the standard: How long have you lived in Gbg, what brought you there and what keeps you there?
I've lived in Gothenburg for nine years and five months (since January 1999). I moved here to study web design. I got a job and a new band, so that pretty much kept me here. Nowadays I have a new job and a new band and that pretty much still keeps me here. And also Gothenburg is a pretty rad city to be in at the moment with a lot of nice people and some great things happening, music and otherwise.
You're involved in a lot of different artistic endeavors - which one currently takes precedence? like if someone asks "what do you do?", how do you respond?
Right now I'd probably say "play music", because that's where my heart is at the moment. I think I'm currently in some kind of work-denial state. Like acting really busy on work hours while making plans and stuff for the band, which probably isn't that good in the long run as I'm self employed.
I know there's a lot of other Swedish musicians who double as visual artists, but are there any in particular that you admire? Or what about visual artists who dabble in music?
One of the artists I admire is my old friend Johannes Heldén (www.johanneshelden.com). He's a visual artist (MFA, Valand Academy of Fine Arts, Gothenburg) a writer and a musician. His work is truly awesome. I give him credit for bringing Sci-Fi and mysticism into art and music. Well done, my friend!
How does the city of Gbg influence you and your art? Could you ever see yourself living somewhere else? What benefits does Gbg offer and on the flipside of that, what are the city's detriments?
Hard to tell how this city influences me. I don't even know if influences me at all. Or maybe it does more than I'll ever know. I can't really see myself living in another Swedish city. I've spent a lot of time in Malmö, I have a lot of friends there. There is one specific area there ("Möllan") which consists of... I don't know... maybe 8 blocks of houses and a square, and that area is fantastic. But the rest of Malmö is a terrible, aggressive, cold, cold place to be. They can keep it. If I'd move I'd probably go abroad, maybe Berlin or Barcelona (all my friends reading this are going "yeah, that'll probably happen..." haha), or Montreal, one of my favorite cities. One of the benefits with Gbg I guess is the size, both in people and area. It's not too big and it's not too small either. It's big enough for great things to happen, and it's small enough to actually notice them.
Tell me about the new band - how did you guys get together and what are your plans? Did you form with any particular goals in mind?
My new band is We Live in Trenches and here are all the boring details. Me and David Augustsson (drums, ex-C.Aarmé) formed the band in February 2007 after having played together in the brief punk adventure Haveri, which had broken up due to too hot weather and the fact that the other guys needed more time with their other endeavors (Cut City and Alarma Man). I was also on drum duties in Satanic Surfers, but we had a break at the moment (a break from which we never recovered, we broke up in March 2007). We initially formed as Trenches and I guess it sort of was the second coming of Haveri at first, only I'd switched from bass to guitar. As only two wrongs don't make a right, we needed some more humans to help sink the ship. I met my old friend Ulf Stöckel on a tram and convinced him to jump aboard as I knew of his screaming skills from previous bands (Comatose, Blå Ångest, The Virgins). We later got Oskar Karlsson on bass in May (also in Icos, ex-Last Security) and the Trenches line-up was finally complete. We recorded one song for a hardcore comp on Deleted Art (still not released) during the summer. Oskar turned out to be too busy with Icos as well as being a busy live sound tech for bands on tour (Burst, Red Sparrowes etc.) and he decided to quit the band a couple of months later. During the time without a bass player we started to record all of our songs in our rehearsal space. Anna Knutsson joined our merry bunch in November, halfway through the recording session, and we changed our name to We Live in Trenches shortly after. Now we finally have a booking agent and some upcoming shows, and we will promote ourselves in search for a record label to work with. Our plan is to rock as hard and often as possible, and our goal is to avoid a normal way of life as much as possible.
Lastly, got a song you'd like to share? Either from one of your own band(s) or otherwise? Something that's reflective of Gbg perhaps?
Yes. "Autonomy clinic" by We Live In Trenches. Because self promotion rocks!
We Live In Trenches - Autonomy clinic