Interview with Oxidize: ‘Our drummer didn’t have a drum kit, so we used washing powder buckets and the bottom of a tin can for a cymbal, it was a lot of fun!’

Swedish metal band Oxidize have released their latest single ‘Rockstar’, their guitar-driven homage to teenagers who want to be rockstars.

The band comprises Per Stålfors (lead guitar, producer), new vocalist Johannes Nyberg (lead vocals and keys), Kaj Leissner (bass), John Nyberg (lead guitar and Johannes’ brother)) and Anders Ström (drums). ‘I’ve been playing with Anders on and off since seventh grade in 1984 and I met Kai when a friend of mine had a bachelor party,’ Stålfors said. ‘We were at an amusement park in Gothenburg with airguns and stuff (laughs), we clicked, he was a really nice guy.’ Of their band name, he says: ‘It had to be a short name and a name that reminded me of metal, like ‘corrosion’. ‘Oxidize’ is pretty easy to remember. My old band was called Arctic Void, but we weren’t the only thing called that, a movie had the same name, so it was not easy to market ourselves!’

‘Rockstar’ hooks you from the rolling drum beat in the intro and the melodic, punchy riffs, and it would be brilliant live: ‘It’s like an energy kick, it has the melody and heavy riffing of the guitar,’ Stålfors said. ‘It’s about a young guy, a teenager, who grows up with metal and adapts the lifestyle and t-shirts, jeans and shades (laughs). In the first verse, he’s satisfied, he has his couch, car and guitar. He’s miming in front of the mirror to the song he loves.’ I ask him if the teenager in the song is based on him: ‘Yes, of course, it’s based on my experiences but a different guy in mind! When I was seven or eight, I got my first guitar, a plastic red guitar like B.B. King’s. My father noticed that I loved it and he bought me a Strat copy and we started a punk band – we played The Sex Pistols, The Clash etc… our drummer Rune didn’t have a drum kit, so we used washing powder buckets and the bottom of a tin can for cymbals, and had a pair of headphones as a mic, one in the back and one in front of the mouth, it was a lot of fun!’

They all grew up with metal from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s; some band members released albums during the nineties, some of them a bit later in life, playing in other bands before Oxidize. However, Stålfors’ first music lessons weren’t exactly what he was hoping for: ‘My guitar teacher Karin wanted to teach me folk but I didn’t like that (laughs), so I asked her to teach me barre chords.’ I ask him what his dream guitar would be: ‘There are a lot of nice brands in the market but if I had to choose one of them, a Paul Reed Smith PRS Private Stock 35th Anniversary Dragon is a real nice one.’

‘I have a dog and when we’re out walking, I get a tempo or melody in my head’

He describes their music as ‘melodic metal’: ‘Some of the songs can be harder and some softer. The combinations of our material becomes a nice mix of songs. Every song has its own story to be told and that’s how we work. There’s not a straight red thread right through. People ask where we get our inspiration from… it’s from a lifetime of inspirations. We think Oxidize has got its own ID, and doesn’t sound like another specific band to our knowledge. We write from our hearts and the mood in the moment influences the outcome of a song. I have a dog and when we’re out walking, I get a tempo or melody in my head. I can whistle it into my phone, that’s how ‘Rockstar’ started. You pick up the pace and get beats in your body and think: “How can I use that?”‘

Typically, he writes the music, arranges it and produces it: ‘In this case, my old guitar player before John quit, so I had to come up with the guitar solo for ‘Rockstar’, I think it lifts the melody in the song.’ Other songs like ‘To My Daughter’ have a more tragic provenance. Opening with a melancholic, emotive piano line which explodes into a crashing wall of guitars, it is Stålfors’ heartfelt tribute to his daughter: ‘I wrote it about my daughter who I lost in a car crash in 2011,’ he said. ‘I love to cook, she went to school to learn to cook but she also loved to sing and we made some songs together. She was in a band, they entered a contest. I have really good memories of her. It’s a tribute to her, to say “I remember you”. Johannes wrote the piano part, he’s a concert pianist, it’s awesome. He can play anything, he could do a Christmas song! I wrote ‘To My Daughter’ on my 12-string guitar but Johannes had the idea for the piano intro, he understood the feeling in the song.’

Their next release will be a single called ‘Never Surrender’, which he describes as being about ‘an oppressed soul in a relationship that breaks loose, a woman who stands her ground’. Other upcoming singles will include: ‘Domestic Violence’, ‘Liar’, ‘Social Media’ and ‘Puppeteer’.

Nyberg replaced Anton Darusso on vocals in 2022 and I ask Stålfors how it has changed their sound: ‘They are both very theatrical and nice vocalists in how they express themselves but it was hard to work with Anton ‘cos he lives in Costa Rica and was engaged by his other side projects, whereas Johannes lives a few miles from where I live. Personally, I think Johannes is a better match for us. He’s easy to work with, he has strong ideas, and has perfect pitch.’ Back when Darusso was on lead vocals, they even covered Madonna’s ‘Frozen’: ‘I saw that video with Madonna and she has some crows and stuff and that’s why I chose to put a crow on the cover,’ he said. ‘With the ice, i thought it was like Sweden. It’s -11 today and when the wind blows it feels very cold. Apparently, it was -43 in Sweden last night in the north! I haven’t sent our version to Madonna (laughs).’

‘It’s such amazing southern-style rock’

Growing up, Stålfors was a big fan of James Gang, a rock band from Cleveland in the 60’s: ‘They had a song called ‘Funk #49′, I loved the intro,’ he said. ‘I saw a documentary where the Foo Fighters invited the James Gang guitarist (Joe Walsh) to do that intro for the song with them. It’s such amazing southern-style rock.’ It is, the intro alone is a brilliant example of string bending, while the main riff is a great example of the use of triads (three-note chords that consist of a root note, a third, and a fifth) in a power rock setting. ‘I grew up on Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Slade, Kiss and some Cream.’ He is also a fab of Gothenburg’s Evergrey: ‘They’re really good prog rock band. My little brother Peter also plays in a band, Dream Evil. ‘The Book of Heavy Metal’, ‘The Chosen One’, they have great songs, check them out if you have not heard them!’

If he could write a song with anyone, he picks American singer and guitarist, Myles Kennedy: ‘He would be nice to meet in person, I love his voice and the music of Alter Bridge (the rock band that Kennedy formed in Florida in 2004). After chatting for a little bit, if I had the courage to ask: ‘Would you be kind and do a song together just for fun as Oxidize ft. Myles Kennedy?!”‘

Musically, there are several people he’d like to hang out with: ‘That’s a hard one, I’ve met a few and photographed a few – I also work as a photographer for a Swedish rock magazine. Joacim Cans, the singer in HammerFall (a Swedish power metal band), it is a long time since we did something together, it would be nice to se him again and catch up. We grew up together, we love cooking together, barbecuing. He loves to make sauces and stuff. We had a double date with my wife before she was my wife. We made smoked ham marinated in red wine with potatoes with deep cuts and lots of butter! It was the first dinner we had together, my wife and me.’ I say that maybe his cooking skills are what made her marry him and he laughs: ‘I’m the one who cooks at home. She can cook but she doesn’t like it, I love it, cooking brings people together, so does music. I love it outside in the summer, you can put on some good music, talk and laugh, I really love that.’

The right rock photo can beautifully capture a moment on stage and I ask him what he thinks makes a great photo: ‘I think when the light paints the object in the right way and the right mood, expressions and happenings appear, and you capture that in a picture, the personality, the style,’ he said. ‘To portray that person as well as you can in a nice environment that, for me, is a really good photo. Sometimes you can get lucky.’

(Photo from left to right: Anders, John, Johannes, Kaj and Per. Photo credit: Per Stålfors.)