News

I've been busy with life recently and haven't had much time to write.  So here's a wee summary of what's been going on recently...

Apart from writing the new Victims album, which is beginning to shape up nicely, I've also been sorting my adult life out and getting on with the long, expensive process of obtaining a Swedish driving license.  Today I cleared the Halkbana stage, which is a practical course about driving on ice and snow, something quite improtant here in Sweden.  So hopefully I'll be driving about on the roads of Stockholm on my own, in the very near future.  At the moment I can only drive the car when Olle, the Santiago bass player, is beside me in the passenger seat.  All I need to do now is go on a course about the negative effects of alcohol and drugs when at the wheel, which costs a mere 800 kronors (around 70 quid), and then get on with the theory and practical tests.  Learning to drive in Sweden is very expensive...but I'm almost there.

So yeah, we're deep under ground in Victims HQ every week right now, writing the new record.  At present we're up to about twelve songs. We have dropped a couple along the way so I'm pretty confident that the shit filter is firmly in place and I'm happy with where we're at.  It's my first record with Victims and so far I've contributed a couple of songs.  I'm starting to find my way in the writing process the guys have and it's feeling good.  Anyway, the aim is to get up to around the twenty song mark and record in the autumn, around October time.

We're playing a couple of shows in the summer too.  First off, the wonderful Punk Illegal Festival in Göteborg, which is going to be amazing, mainly due to the fact that From Ashes Rise are playing a very one off European show!  I'm very excited about seeing them...  Then we're playing the Obscene Extreme Festival in the Czech Republic in July.  We're in the process of booking a week of shows in Poland and Germany to go along with the festival.  Got some fun news to announce on that soon...

Unfortunately, with the new album needing to be finished and recorded, we simply can't say yes to everything.  We had to turn down a very kind offer from our friend Tony from Municipal Waste, which was a slot on his Best Friends Day Festival in Richmond, Virginia this summer.  The initial thought was to go play a week of shows on the east coast around the festival, but we simply don't want to push the album back any later so we're gonna leave it for this year.  Tony has given us an open invitation for any other year though, so maybe we'll show up there in 2011...

At the end of April, we'll finally be mixing the Battle of Santiago album.  We're heading back in to the countryside in Värmland at the legendary Silence Studios with our good friend Zquaty.  Looking forward to getting it out and playing some shows later in the year!  We're already writing new songs, so album number two will probably be hot on the heels of the first one...

Otherwise,  I've been at home, enjoying working and earning money and enjoying spending it even more.  Karl from Regimes was here last weekend and we had a top night out on Saturday.  Was fun hanging out with him as always.  He came along to a birthday party I was attending and we all ended going to Peppar  afterwards.  Top, top night.

This weekend one of my best friends, Lee, and his girlfriend Kelly are coming over from Glasgow to stay for a few days.  Since Speedhorn split, we don't get to hang out anywhere near enough, so I'm stoked they're coming over!

And finally...I'll be writing the next blog in my Archives series very soon, so look out for that in the very near future!

Happy Easter!  Whatever the fuck that means...

Gareth x