Heres an interview with Steffe Pettersson the vokillist.
Well, we started in May 2010 because my previous band had almost folded and I wanted to try something new. The idea was to combine crust and death metal with strange guitar figures and I asked Påhl (guitar) and Calle (drums) if they were interested. I kinda hand picked these guys because I wanted a technical/progressive guitarist and a brutal d-beat drummer. That's what I got. In the beginning Lawrence from FKÜ played bass but rather soon we brought in Danne instead. We're still great friends with Law though, he has recorded all our stuff.
Yeah... To be honest that's more of a "slogan" but it gives people a hint of how we sound. If they want to call us something else, we don't mind. We're mainly influenced by death metal-bands who are influenced by punk and we also incorporate elements from real punk and also some prog stuff. Our songs are quite "verse-chorus"-based and we don't use metal drumming. Some influences are bands like Celtic Frost, Anti-Cimex, Autopsy, Voivod, early Paradise Lost and so on.
You have a couple of releases out, a split and a 7", please tell the readers abit about these releases and where they can get hold of them?
We don't have these releases out yet. I don't know what's going on at the moment, and it's a bit frustrating. Anyway, I hope they will be out soon. The split-LP is with Galerna from Spain and the EP is our (sold out) demo on vinyl. They will be released by Throne Records from Spain.
We also just recently recorded new songs for split-7" with Pyramido and Bent Sea. The Pyramido one will be released by Plauge Island and the Bent Sea one we don't know yet. In March 2012 we will record our first LP for AgiPunk/Iconoclast. So, in conclusion, can't get hold of anything at the moment.
The east coast of Sweden including your home city of Uppsala has been producing so much great music recently, what are your own thoughts on your local scene, what local bands would you recommend to the readers out there?
As far as Uppsala bands goes, I would really like to recommend Undergång (not to be confused with Undergang from Denmark), the are a truly great band. Häxhammaren is an interesting new band as well.
Tell us what you have in the pipeline for 2011/2012, much planned release or gig wise? What can people expect from a Usurpress live show?
To get all the records that I mentioned earlier out and hopefully be able to do some cool shows, Danne lives in Norway at the moment so we don't really search for shows that desperate because it's not fair on him, I think. We will do a short (15-17 gigs) European tour in June 2012 when the LP is out. I think people can expect a good time when going to a Usurpress show, we are quite alive on stage so at least they should expect some sweat. We are also not that kind of band that locks ourselves backstage and get the fuck out as soon as we finished playing, we like to hang out with the crowd and watch the other bands.
Do any of you guys play in other bands you would like to tell us about?
Danne plays in the tough punkrock band Iron Lamb. Påhl plays in Klotet which is a heavy instrumental prog band, really great. Calle has a straight crust band called Stäket 1517. We have played in tons of bands before, some of which you probably have heard of.
Why the name Usurpress?
I saw the word by accident and checked it up a bit and according to some linguists the word was so rarely used that it was not to be considered a “proper” word and that the masculine term “usurper” should be used on both males and females who usurps something. That made me wonder a bit; was that behavior so unfeminine that there was really no need for a certain word for it? I found that trail of thought rather interesting. Is it possible to alter our perception of what men/women/mankind “should” be like by adding or take away words in our language? Anyway, we kinda liked the name so we used it and I think we’re the only band with that name. At least I hope so.
Whats your current opinion on the current crust scene? Any bands caught your attention that you would like to share with the readers?
I seldom listen to new crust so I have no idea really. Generally I think there is too much musicianship and too little unfocused aggression going on, hahaha! I heard some some songs by Striktlickers, Nödvärd, Valjakkala etc that I liked. I have even less clue about foreign bands.
Describe Usurpress in 5 words
Hmm... I'd better use the "d-beat death crust" tag I suppose, but that's only three words. I go for "Total D-beat death crust inferno". ...Or something like that.
Hmm... I'd better use the "d-beat death crust" tag I suppose, but that's only three words. I go for "Total D-beat death crust inferno". ...Or something like that.
What do your lyrics deal with?
All our individual lyrics deal with a specific, real life topic. However, I am not at all interested in explaining what they are about. But, like I said, it's facts rather than fiction.
The last words are yours, plug merch, websites, plans .... thanks for answering my questions!
Thanks alot for this interview, Kat! If anyone wants us anything, don't hesitate to write us at:usurpress666@yahoo.com. We don't have anything for sale right now except some cool shirts, but follow us on Facebook or our site, http://usurpress.com/, and you will know when all our records will be out and how to get them.
http://usurpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
http://usurpress.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2010
Usurpress are also my band of the week on the Terrorizer Magazine website this week:-
http://truecultheavymetal.com/blog1.php/2011/08/10/kat-s-band-of-the-week-usurpress
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