ISOLE – The Seven not so Deadly Sins
- Posted on 04-12-2014
"The seven «not so» deadly sins" is our new live on the road feature where we ask bands about their habits while on tour. We already ran a few of these and next up is ISOLE, a Swedish doom metal band established in 1991 as Forlorn. They changed their name to Isole in 2004 and have released six full length, all under the name Isole. Their last album entitled "The Calm Hunter" is still smoking hot and here is bass player Jimmy Mattsson talking about Isole’s touring habits.
Do you think a lot about what you eat and drink when on the road or do you just enjoy what’s offered?
We’ll eat and drink what’s served. Can’t be too picky while on tour. We do have some specifications though. Crister is a vegetarian and me and Daniel don’t eat fish or sea food. When it comes to drinks we usually end up going for a beer or two. Or three. Coffee is also really important to most of us.
What’s your favorite food while on tour?
I’m a big meat lover. A good steak is always nice!
If you had the opportunity to put together a dinner gathering of companions, who would you like to have there? What would the meal and conversation consist of?
The band + families and a bunch of our closest friends having a big BBQ in the middle of the summer! Conversations should just happen and not be planned ahead. Wouldn’t it be kinda strange to have like a chairman and an agenda at a friendly gathering?
What are your favorite genre(s) as far as reading books, movies, and video games?
Fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Also, when it comes to movies I do enjoy stupid comedies for when the mood is right.
Could you name a particular favorite from each that helps you get by on the road?
On the road I tend to go old school when it comes to video games. I have a bunch of NES games on my phone which keeps me occupied on the long drives. Too bad I can’t bring along the entire console. The movies we watch on the road are the ones we stumble upon at gas stations. Usually some classic, like The Big Lebowski. Easy going, funny stuff that you don’t need to pay too much attention to. Books tend to not get read so I’ve stopped bringing those.
SOCIAL PLATFORM
What social media platform do you like to use for communication, and what one do you think needs to be eliminated?
Although I don’t like it I feel like Facebook is a necessary evil these days. We’re also on instagram, which is not that good when it comes to communicating with people. Is MySpace still around? If so it needs to go. Talk about screwing up a good community.
INTERVIEWS
Do you prefer to answer interviews while on the road or do you wait till the tour is done?
I’ll answer whenever there’s time. If it’s on the night of a show I prefer to have it done before soundcheck so that I can focus on the show.
What do you prefer to use when answering interviews on the road; e-mail, chat, phone, skype or face to face?
Usually face to face. Some venues don’t provide internet so all other options are sometimes a bit of a hassle to get done. Also, it’s always nicer to see the face of the person you’re talking to and it becomes more of a conversation than an interview.
Do you ever get the chance to do some sightseeing and checking out the places you visit while on the road?
Sometimes. We try to check out the town as much as we can. Unfortunally venues are often quite far from the city centre and some days you just feel exhausted. But as far as free time goes we only have a couple of hours a day if we get to the venue on time.
What about working out and keeping in shape? Is this something you use a lot of time to do?
We’re not exactly the healthiest guys in the world. At most maybe someone will do some push-ups or stuff like that.
FANS
Can you tell us about your weirdest fan encounter?
We don’t get those weird fan encounters every other bands seem to have. Everyone I’ve met so far has been really cool people. Once somebody attached a replica of the Eiffel Tower to my distortion pedal while we were playing on stage in Paris. That was more odd than weird though. And I know of a guy in South America who has our logo tattooed on his stomach. But that’s cool!
Do you often get the chance to chat with your fans while on tour?
We try to go out in the crowd as much as we can before and after shows. Check out the other bands, talk to people, hang out by the merch stand or the bar and so on.
I guess you bring your own merch when you are on the road. Do you sell the stuff yourself and do you often have to sign stuff for the fans?
If it’s a full tour we’ll bring someone with us. But it happens that we run the merch stand by ourselves. Crister is usually the man in charge. He does a hell of a job!
It’s always nice to sign stuff and talk with people. Although I’ve always felt weird signing albums I don’t play on. Luckily this will change now when the new one comes out.
Do you find inspiration and time to write new music and lyrics when you are on the road?
I think we all find inspiration here and there. But we don’t sit down and write stuff while we’re on tour. There’s never time for it. We’ve played a lot of shows supporting the last album and the reason "The Calm Hunter" took a while for us to get out there is because we didn’t really talk about making a new album until one day when we suddenly had a bunch of song ideas and went into pre-production straight away. The fact that we have our own studio is both a blessing and a curse in that sense.
Do you listen to music when you are on the road? If so, what is your favorite band or album to listen to?
I always fill my iPod with my favourite bands and some newly bought stuff that I haven’t had the time to listen to yet. I really tried to go through this interview without mentioning Manowar, but you asked for it. Manowar’s my "go to" band for when I’m alone getting psyched for the show. Other than that there’s different bands/albums for different moments. For instance, Bathory’s "Twilight of the Gods" is really nice to sleep to.
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