Artist:  Sister Sin 

Date:  25 September 2008 

On the eve of the release of their debut album 'Switchblade Serenade' we catch up with guitarist Jimmy to find out more about the band. 

MM - Hi Jimmy how are you today?
Jimmy - I’m doing good, I've got a day off from work today. 

MM - The bands new album has been described as Street Metal, did the band set out to produce a new genre when you first started working on the album?
Jimmy - I think the word street metal developed along the years with the band.  I think the bands sound has change since the beginning, but we have become more angry and I think the words Street Metal suits the band.

MM - I caught the band recently when you supported WASP here in the UK and thought Liv’s vocals were very much like a Swedish Doro Pesch.
Jimmy - Ah yes.

MM - It was a really great show that night.
Jimmy - Thank you.

MM - She seemed very comfortable on stage.
Jimmy - Yeh. She's just such a great character off stage as well.

MM - Do you think having a powerful female lead singer gives the band an edge over other bands?
Jimmy - Yes of course it draws more attention to the band, as there aren’t many bands around doing the same thing.  I don’t know what it is! (laughs).  It’s just how it is.  Actually we didn’t originally look for a female singer, we didn’t think about it that much.

MM - Back to the album itself, are the band happy with the final result?
Jimmy - Yeh we're really happy.  We recorded everything in the same studio and the producer was really good. 

MM - Tobias Lindell?
Jimmy - Yeh.

MM - What was it like working with him on the album?
Jimmy - It was great, he is quite new to the hard rock sound and that’s quite exciting to let him do what he wants with this type of music and to hear his views.  He brought a new dimension to things.

MM - Yes if they're not used to that sort of sound sometimes they can bring out a little something unexpected that you wouldn’t normally get.
Jimmy - Yes exactly.  We really liked his stuff, he’s already worked with the Swedish band Mustache.

MM - That night I saw you with WASP you did a cover of Motley Crue's 'Live Wire', did the band ever think of putting it on the album possibly as a bonus track?
Jimmy - No we didn't and we play it live very often.  It’s a good song and it’s also a song from one of our biggest influence.

MM - Actually that was going to be my next question, as well as Motley Crue what other bands have influenced you over the years?
Jimmy - There are so many bands but music wise Motley Crue, WASP, Motorhead, Accept and a lot of 80's stuff.  As a band we have many influences, me myself I’m also a fan of Thrash Metal.

MM - What plans do the band have for the rest of this year and into the New Year?
Jimmy - Touring.  Also we have plans in the New Year to tour both in and outside our own neighbourhood.  We have just been confirmed as support for Arch Enemy across Europe.

MM - How important do you think it is for a band to travel outside their own country to build a larger fan base?
Jimmy - That’s really important in Sweden.  A lot of bands build their fan bases here and we're not alone, so it's important to get out to other countries and further build up 

our fan base.  We have a good shot at getting out more and it's easier to travel through Europe now on a bus.

MM - Travelling is supposed to broaden the mind, do you get to see much of the places you visit?
Jimmy - Yes, sometimes we have some days off and you get to see a few things in England.  We got to see a few things in Scotland and we also got to see a lot of Glasgow.  All the scenery is Britain is quite beautiful.

MM - The whole Scandinavian rock scene is so vibrant with many genres coming out of there, why do you think this is?
Jimmy - It think especially in Sweden our culture is quite diverse and this is brought out in our music and we're introduced to music from an early age.

MM - The whole scene is quite vast.
Jimmy - Yeh, Yeh, Yeh. It’s totally different in Sweden to Norway.  Norway obviously has the Black Metal scene and Sweden is more Hard Rock.

MM - Getting back to the album is there one particular track you are really proud of?
Jimmy - Everyone in the band has their own favourite, 'One Out Of Ten’ I think is really good.

MM - I really love the opener 'Beat The Streets'.
Jimmy - It really hits you in the face. 

MM - I think it actually gives the listener a really good taste of what the band are about right from the off.
Jimmy - All the elements of that song are representative of the band as a whole, our attitude as well as our music.

MM - How long did it take to put the whole album together?
Jimmy - Well actually we recorded an EP with Tobias, so you could say that’s when it started.  Then we got our record deal and we thought the sound was so good we decided to carry on with Tobias for the album.  We released the EP ourselves then sent it out to the labels.

MM - The album came out about a year later after I’d seen you with WASP.
Jimmy - Yeh.

MM - What feedback have you had from the press around the album?
Jimmy - It's been pretty good we’ve had 4 out 5 and an 8 out of 10.  Kerrang gave us 3 out of 5, I think that is pretty low?

MM - Well three out of five from Kerrang is actually pretty good.
Jimmy - I think so, I don’t really read Kerrang.

MM - As well as touring with WASP you've also toured with Doro.  What was working with Doro like?
Jimmy - It was really good to perform with her in Germany and she’s a really good person, she’s been around for a long time.

MM - You've also toured with Cradle of Filth, that must have been different!
Jimmy - Yes it was. It’s a good experience for us.

MM - The album itself is so spread out among genres that you could also appeal to that type of crowd.
Jimmy - Yes I agree, I think that’s a good thing for us.

MM - Yes.  I think that what’s needed from a band today if they're going to survive.
Jimmy - Yeh.

MM - The thing I noticed about the live set was that you really got a big sound out of one guitar.
Jimmy - Yes that’s a good formula we have when we play live.  It's not always very easy when you open for another band and you get the house technician, sometimes it works.
MM - Well at the show I saw the sound was phenomenal. 

MM - As a new band starting out how are you finding the music business?
Jimmy - We're getting more and more into it.  We're learning.  We’ve had a few set backs along the way.  I think when you first start out you think it's going to be easy but it's not, there are still these people trying to hide things from you and trying to rip you off.

MM - Yes you hear about bands getting ripped off 30 years ago and it still happening now.  Sometimes the people who get into the music business are more interested in money other the music. It’s really sad but that's the way it is.

MM - Have the band set out a plan for the future say in five years we want to be here?
Jimmy - Yes of course.  I want to take this band as far as we can go.  This is a dream we have all had since we were children and now it’s started to happen.  In five years time we hope to have had two or three albums out and to have played everywhere.

MM - Finally any words for all the Sister Sin fans out there?
Jimmy - ROCK ON, buy the CD keep and eye on the web and MySpace and hope to see you soon!

MM - We'd like to thank Jimmy for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with us this evening and look forward to catching him and the rest of the band out on the road again.  If you haven't been lucky enough to catch the band while they've been out touring be sure to check out their new album 'Switchblade Serenade' which really kicks some serious ass.

 

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