I seem to be the blog that Danish Sludge/Stoner Metallers – SLOWJOINT – always use when they want to announce something or to update their fans with what’s been going on with the band.
So it was cool that Dennis from SLOWJOINT contacted me recently to do this great interview on the HOLIEST OF DAYS for Weedian/Stoner Metal fans. 4/20.
So let me say HAPPY 4/20. Here’s my small contribution to the celebrations. It may not be on the grand scale of what SLEEP achieved last year when they released their album – THE SCIENCES.
It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to SLOWJOINT and I was intrigued to see what Dennis had to say and I was kinda pleased that I did. As the guys have a major announcement. Well it’s major to me as I’m a huge fan of the band.
So let’s see what’s going on….
Hi Dennis. How’s it going. Happy 4/20. Hope you’re getting high on this special day?
Hey Steve. Sure, everyday is a special day, when it comes down to that.
We’ve been spending a little more time writing songs than playing live lately. We’ve had some shows here and there, but mainly we’ve been writing new stuff.
Do Slowjoint have a new record coming out? If so can you give us the juicy details?
We most certainly do. It’s called Jutlandian, and we actually just revealed the cover. It’s hand painted on plywood and you can see the material through the painting, which looks really cool. We’re very happy with it, both the songs and the way the artwork turned out. It’s an ode to Jutland. For what it’s worth…
Is it a Full Length Album or EP?
It’s a full album. 8 songs in just about 40 minutes.
We actually don’t know yet. We recorded it in December but things take time with us. Definitely before summer ends. Definitely maybe.
Is this a different sound from SLOWJOINT. Or is it still the same demented Weedian riffs you guys are known for.
It’s a hundred percent Slowjoint, for sure. But it still has something new to it. Tor joined in on the drums right before we recorded The Spliff Split with Gaia. So I guess you can tell that we’re more played together now in some way. There’s that, and also this time we approached the songwriting a little different. Usually I come up with one or two riffs for each song, we meet a few times and jam and then we hit the studio.
This time we met, jammed the two riffs and recorded it on a zoom recorder. That way we could listen to it at home and come up with ideas like we usually do but this time before final recordings. We’re so innovative, ha ha. And it’s not solos and fly-fucking we’re talking about. It’s just different breaks and an alternate riff and small improvements. So the main idea with nonthinking song structure is pretty intact, there’s just a little more effort put into it. I still wrote at least three lyrics on the spot in the studio.
Yes it will. Vinyls and cassettes. 300 vinyls with some limited colour thrown in there and a small amount of cassettes. I can’t fucking wait to see the artwork on vinyl! We’re releasing it ourselves in a collaboration with a Danish record store called Vinyltrolden and a label called Virkelighedsfjern which is basically Morten and Kriller from Gaia who are very good friends of ours. Even though they’re from Copenhagen.
Was it a hard record to write and record for compared to your other releases.
Before this record we used to throw away riffs that needed too much effort and work put into it. There is a song on Jutlandian, which caused us some late hours half drunk and grumpy at rehearsal because I thought Tor played the drums in reverse with the kick and snare, until something finally came together and it ended up as one of my favourites. It sounds totally different from what I intended but I’m glad we didn’t just throw it away. So I wouldn’t say it was hard but we definitely took our time getting here, ha ha. As I said we approached it a little differently this time but that was mainly a good thing. At some point I felt like a real musician. Just for a second. And then it was gone…
Did you do anything differently with the recordings compared to your previous releases.
We recorded it in three days with Jacob Bredahl at Dead Rat Studio. Same place as we recorded the split and Weed Wrestling 7”. We always record live except for vocals and guitar dubs and it was the same deal this time. We just want to sound like the three of us together in a room and Jacob seems to know what the fuck to do with us. Plus he’s a fun and relaxing guy to be around so it was all good times. He fucking mixes while brewing beer in the kitchen in the back. He don’t need further presentation from here, ha ha.
We have plans. We’re going Pinky and the Brain on this one. But yeah, usually we just do shows on the weekends because Denmark is really not that big.
Are there any plans for you to tour Europe in the near future.
We’re starting off in Denmark and see how far we can get from here. Right now we’re planning on some smaller tours with different bands. We’ve been to Germany a few times and we’re definitely going back there next year! We’re trying to do everything ourselves so it’s a jungle. But for sure, we wanna play Europe!
Thanks for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say to your fans. Best of luck with the new record.
Yeah stash up and get ready for the new release. We’re very happy about it and hope you dig it too.
Thanks Steve! Happy 420
Thanks to Dennis for doing this interview. Lets hope the band have more news soon in the future when the album will be released.
Words by Steve Howe and Dennis Petersen
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