I was recently asked to write a small chronicle on As I lay Dying for a swedish newspaper to coincide with the release of their 3-DVD package “This Is Who We Are” (2009) and it was only fitting to think back to that one show in Stockholm. While the sound is very big the big band is very sound, and incredibly down-to-ground.

“Walking against the ways of the World takes guts, to focus on what is real and important in life. Not what we’ve been told is important like making more money and buying happiness. With this album where trying to make a statement, stand our ground and say ‘no’. We want to be separated from all that stuff. Preferably with an ocean in between.”
(Tim Lambesis, 2007)

Moments after that Tim Lambesis and his As I Lay Dying went on stage to help the kids smash Stockholm to smithereens.

Since, I’ve published a few more As I Lay Dying related interviews such as a talk with Tim Lambesis on the Austrian Death Machine – his one-man Arnold Schwarzenegger project that is out on Metal Blade Records. It’s been pure pleasure every time and if ever there was a band that would handle “rock star status” without corruption it would be As I Lay Dying.

While in Chicago, IL in 2009 to attend a wedding my old buddy Dick Lövgren was passing through town with math metal legends Meshuggah. Dick and I grew up together playing music, listening to heavy metal and rioting in school. These days he plays the bass in one of the coolest bands there are and I am still a schmuck (but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends, right?).

I decided to document our bumping into each other on the other side of the planet for our home town newspaper on the west coast of Sweden and they jumped at the idea straight on.

I think the article was an honest and personal one and the photos all came out great. The wide-angle lens warped Dick’s allready warped bass in a cool way. I think Warwick Basses ended up using one the pictures for the NAMM promotion or something like that and just now I saw one of my pictures on the Warwick site and one the official Meshuggah site.

Published in Hallandsposten and Hallands Nyheter, march 2009.
Daily printed newspapper (Sweden).
Circulation: 62.000/day.

“If you enjoy watching Jason in Friday the 13th chop a person’s head of with a weedwack and someone else tells you that you need help then I’m hard pressed to suggest that it is that person who needs to see the doctor”, says Canfield.

He’s a full time film critic who specializes in horror. He shares an office with ghosts and goblins. And oh, he also happens to be a born again christian.

Yes, and growing up a christian he was always put down because of his interest in the bizarre and grotesque, but as years passed he learned how great a perspective horror gave him on life and the world around. So these days he travels the country lecturing kids and teenagers about the power of art and culture. And gore.

This particular interview was published in a national christian newspaper in Sweden and needless to say it stirred quite a few emotions. A lot of readers made their voices heard but I enjoyed one e-mail in particular:

“WHY give a loony such as this guy attention and publicity? Ain’t that beyond all stupidity? It was so tasteless that we almost didn’t read it. We are REALLY disappointed that you would publish something of it’s kind.”

Thank you dear readers. If only you knew what tasty quotes the editor cut out!

Published in Dagen, march 2009.
Daily printed newspapper (Sweden).
Circulation: 19.000/day (average 60.000 readers/day).

It started with printing t-shirts for the bands they were involved with. Then the bands of friends. And festivals. Pretty soon they had a sign out on the street that said: “We’ll print for food”. And in a way that is still what they do. They print for food, but not just for themselves but for their neighbors.

Uptown is still a rough neighborhood and much like the rest of the american megacities Chicago has it’s fair share of homelessness. Belly Acres is a part of an commune called JPUSA who run a handful of night shelters for single women/mothers and whole families. They’ve earned a reputation over the years as a hardworking bunch who will deliver on time.

I’ve been working with Belly Acres a few times and written articles about them. To me, their enterprise is a very good example of the results that can come out of combining art and attitude with professionalism and an open heart.

Published in Dagen, june 2009.
Daily printed newspapper (Sweden).
Circulation: 19.000/day (average 60.000 readers/day).