luke mcgarry

Download: Graveyard “Thin Line”

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(from Graveyard out now on Tee Pee)

Sweden’s Graveyard had to leave their custom amp-slash-cigarette-lighter-slash-self-portrait device at home but they are roaring through America as best they can without it. Drummer Axel Sjoberg (who deserves two little dots we aren’t sure how to typographically reproduce) speaks now hours before the band rolls into Nashville and dispenses some Pentagram-Sabbath guitar damage. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

SEE ALSO: Our interview with opener Imaad Wasif.

SEE ALSO: Our interview with Graveyard’s tourmates Witchcraft.

Have you received your first American speeding ticket yet?
Axel Sjoberg (drums): No, but the Witchcraft guys got pulled over. But he played the foreign card. ‘Back in Sweden we can drive like this! I didn’t know!’ ‘Ok, boys, I’ll let you off with a warnin’.’
What’s your most quintessentially rock ‘n’ roll experience in America so far?
There’s moments every now and then—I don’t know. I kind of felt like being in Easy Rider when we played North Carolina. It was by a Marine Corps base with all these tough muscled guys with short hair. A guy came up to us like, ‘I never heard your kind of music before but I sure liked it! I bought all the CDs! Can you sign it for me?’ It was just fun. And weird at the same time. And we went into the Waffle House in the same town and the people who worked there wanted to take photos of us. And the people who had just sat there with their food wanted to take a picture too even though they hadn’t heard us. ‘Oh, y’all from Sweden? Y’all in a band? Lemme take your picture!’
What was your very first show in the U.S.?
At South By Southwest in March.
And Rolling Stone covered it.
We’d been awake for 24 hours, and then we went out to a bar and the next day—it went well, I think! We felt it was very shaky, but good enough, I guess!
What’s the longest you ever stayed up?
I don’t know—enough to make it not good for your mind. Sleep deprivation is dangerous.
Are you shopping for souvenirs?
We haven’t had time. We tried picking up stuff in Mexico—a bunch of Navajo stuff—but the store was closed.
Should people bring you something at the show?
Mix CDs—we’re lacking music in our van. And whatever they feel like.
Fireworks and rugs?
Maybe not fireworks. We could get one in the eye.
What do you hope to smuggle back to Sweden?
Uh…
Pearl-handled revolver?
Rikard the bass player really likes Civil War stuff, so if he could get a hold of an old revolver, he’d wanna take that back. He’s really into history and shit. I’d like a pair of moccasins. Like Navajo shoes.
So guns and shoes.
And I heard there’s a really good flea market by the Rose Bowl. But I was hoping. But our plane leaves the next day.
This is kind of the ‘look but don’t touch’ tour, huh?
Drive play get drunk—drive play get drunk—drive play get drunk!
Do you agree with the international survey that says Sweden is the most democratic country on earth?
Maybe that’s because we have health care—it’s socialized. When we come here, people just ask us about our high taxes. But when you compare—in the end, I think we win. Because you don’t have to pay—I mean, we’re not un-insured. Everybody’s in the health care system. And we get a lot of other good benefits, too. Like welfare and unemployment. I think you guys are losing out not paying the same taxes. I won’t say it’s the most democratic country on Earth, but it has its points.
What were the three severe injuries that happened before you made the album?
Typical Saturday night behavior.
Broken glass and broken ankles?
I busted a tooth and my forehead, and Joakim had a lung collapse, and I don’t remember what else.
Was this all the same night?
Over the course of two months.
Who escaped?
It was a guy on the album only—he quit. He’s a bit more timid so he didn’t get injured.
What new songs do you have that aren’t on the record?
In L.A., we’ll have time to play a longer set. We have three we have recorded already but we don’t know in what form they’ll come out. We’ve played all three twice. One is kind of slow—a slow burn. But very dynamic. And one we call ‘Funk Blues.’ Because that’s what is—blues-funk. And one is a bit darker—hard to describe.
Which is the one about the dream where Roky Erickson chases you around?
I just had a really weird nightmare with Roky Erickson and my girlfriend woke me up because I was screaming in my sleep.
‘No, Roky! No!’
No, just some primal scream. ‘AUROOOOGH!’ I was terrified when I woke up so I wrote it down. But we all like Roky Erickson.
What is your favorite creature from the Cthulhu mythos?
Rikard is most into the H.P. Lovecraft books—but the one I read is with a new species that comes to Earth and infiltrates and takes over. But we also love the American band H.P. Lovecraft. They made one of the best live albums in rock history—Live May 11 1968. It’s awesome. You can’t believe it’s a live record. The playing is amazing. It’s the best live recording I ever heard. I like a lot of the Neil Young live stuff—unplugged. And Earthless—we just got a new copy of Live From Roadburn. That’s insane, too. You can’t believe they can keep it interesting for so long.
You guys have talked about them in every interview.
Yeah—they’re awesome musicians. It’s very rare that instrumental bands can keep it interesting for so long. They’re really a live band. We were at that concert where their album was recorded. They got bumped to the main stage and people had never heard of them—you could see everyone like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ Everyone being mind-blown. We talked about that for a long time afterward.

TERRITORY PRESENTS GRAVEYARD WITH NIGHT HORSE AND IMAAD WASIF ON FRI., OCT. 10, AT SPACELAND, 1717 SILVERLAKE BLVD., SILVERLAKE. 9 PM / $10-$12 / 21+. CLUBSPACELAND.COM. GRAVEYARD’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM IS OUT NOW ON TEE PEE. VISIT GRAVEYARD AT TEEPEERECORDS.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/GRAVEYARDSONGS.