Page 12 - ROCKNATION ISSUE 25

PAGE 12 ROCKNATION ISSUE 25

Interview with

Victor Olsson

Hello Victor from Saffire and welcome to Rocknation. Congrats on your new album titled “Where The
Monsters Dwell” on Perris Records. Please name some of the tracks and what they are about.
Thank you very much! To name a couple: “Dark Horizon” was a song I wrote when one of the guys in the
band was going through a really tough patch. I started thinking and realized I also had some issues of my own
and the song was a way to concrete my thoughts on both our situations which was a bit therapeutic in a way.
It’s also one of the heaviest tracks we’ve ever done. “The Rainmaker” is basically a story about a girl I dated a
year ago. Lets just say I haven’t been lucky in the relationship department for some time and this girl really took
the cake. She was like one big schizofrenic mystery, and of course it all ended with her putting my heart in a
blender, run it at full speed and then throwing it in the sink. All in all, I’m almost glad it happened though ‘cause
it ended up being one of my favourite songs on the album!

What would you say is different in writing and recording “Where The Monsters Dwell” compared to
your last CD “For the Greater Good”?
There was not much difference really, I write the music at my home studio, we then get together and rehearse
the songs to make sure everyone get a feel for it and get to put their own touch to it. Then me and Tobbe get
together to write the lyrics and put the vocals into the arrangements. The big difference is perhaps that this time
we didn’t book a studio for the vocal recordings, Tobbe did it all in his own home studio. Which was great, there
was no deadline, time constrictions or pressure from anyone.

Please tell us about working with Thomas ”Plec” Johansson at The Panic Room studio.
I first met Plec when we were recording a side project I’m involved in, called Gathering Of Kings. I was
impressed by his enthusiasm, knowledge and of course, the results he provided, making sure everything
sounded great. So for me it was a no-brainer to hire Plec for the Saffire mix and mastering. And just like with
Gathering Of Kings, he provided so much enthusiasm and skill and made sure the album was, to our ears, our
best sounding album yet, by far.

The CD has got
rave reviews
including Sweden
Rock magazine
9/10 rating and
saying “It’s the
best album I’ve
heard in years”.
How proud are you
and the band
seeing the great CD
reviews?

We really felt good
and confident about
how the album would
turn out, really though
the whole process.
(Cont. page 13 )