Victor Olsson from Saffire: “The album I always wanted to make”
Interview with Victor Olsson from Saffire
Time for release of the new album “Where Monsters Dwell”, how does it feel?
Great, even though it also feels like a hundred years since we started working on it, I think we started something like 2 ½ years ago and by now I have both loved and hated each and every track of the album. But as of now we are really pleased with the whole album.
Have you written the songs together?
-No, they are all written by me just as with “For The Greater Good”. I usually sit in my sofa and just noodling with my guitar. All of a sudden there might be a riff or something else that I like. I just take it from there. Usually the bass and drums pop up in my mind simultaneously, together with some phrases. From that stage I bring it to my computer to draft the ideas to something that is understandable for the rest of the guys.
Do you write the lyrics as well?
– Nope, I just have a few phrases or some ideas. Me and Tobbe (Tobias Jansson) usually work on the lyrics together.
If you would compare Where Monsters Dwell with For The Greater Good?
– This one is a bit wilder than “For the Greater…” and also with a warmer sound to it. I think I wrote For the Greater Good with my head and this one more with my heart. I guess I trust my guts much more, I have done this a few times now.
Do you see an evolution here?
Certainly! It is almost like every album is a reaction on the prior one. Our debut album was the gathering from five years of song writing. It became what it became without any major thought to it. As a reaction of that I wanted For The Greater Good to have a red line through it. And now with Where The Monsters Dwell I guess we are a bit more back to our first album…but of course with more maturity into it.
Thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis?
Exactly! This is the album I always wanted to do.
Take us through your guitar sound. Did you use the Kemper on this album as well?
Nope. This time I wanted a real tube amp. We first started off using the Diesel VH-4 and in the studio it sounded great. But when I listened at home it wasn’t what I was looking for. It just wasn’t my sound, it was too modern and fresh sounding. So, we re-amped it one more time while mixing. This time using a Granger, which is a Marshall clone. That really worked out well.
What are the future plans for Saffire?
We are primarily looking abroad. We would love to find a new audience on the continent. I think that our music would work out well in Germany and Italy for example, so we are reaching out in that direction. We have a few good dialogues ongoing so let’s see where it leads us.
Finally, if you got to take one album with you to a deserted island, which one would that be?
Oh, that would be Rainbow’s Long Live Rock ‘n Roll!
