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By: Andy Little
It is busy times for Swedish stoner rockers Greenleaf. They supported Clutch on their European tour at the end of 2015 and will begin 2016 by touring Europe with My Sleeping Karma and Mammoth Mammoth as part of the Up in Smoke volume VI road festival. This coincides with the release of their new album Rise Above The Meadows to be released on Napalm Records on February 26th. So Andy Little caught up with Arvid Jonsson and Tommi Holappa to get the lowdown on their past and forthcoming events.
(((o))): I read Greenleaf originally formed as a side project back 1999/2000. Is Greenleaf now a full time project?
Arvid: Ever since we released the latest album Trails & Passes back in 2014 and started touring more frequently, Greenleaf have been a full time band and everyone’s main musical focus. So yes a full time project indeed.
(((o))): Has the purpose of the band changed over the years?
Arvid: Yes from the beginning, as you said, Greenleaf was a side-project. You know something just to have fun with and nowadays it’s more of a “real deal – make a living” kind of band. So in that way the purpose of the band have changed. But the main purpose of the band has always been to make good rock n roll music in our own way, so that haven’t changed.
(((o))): What are your main musical influences?
Arvid: The main musical influences are probably 70s rock stuff, heavier stoner things like Kyuss and then the blues. It’s important for us to make a good combination between the groove, the heaviness and in some ways original melody. These three need to stand in line for us to be really happy with a song…
(((o))): Can you tell us more info about the forthcoming album Rise Above The Meadows?
Arvid: It’s always hard to talk about and describe a new record… But if I’m gonna try. It’s a very dynamic one. It’s probably the heaviest one yet, but in some aspects also the softest one. And I think that’s the strength of the album. It has a little bit of everything. And the drums sound amazing.
(((o))): Are there any major differences compared to previous album Trails & Passes? Who produced it?
Arvid: We used the same guy (Karl Daniel Lidén) and the same studio (Gröndal Studion) as last time. So no when it comes to how to record and produce, but the songs are different and the production is overall a bit dryer. There is a little bit less room in the mix. Maybe it’s a bit more honest.
(((o))): Can you tell me a bit about how you guys approach the song writing process? Do you all chip in with ideas?
Arvid: Yeah sort of, we have ideas and then we jam. If it feels good we use it and if not we leave it for another day. Sometimes the process is really fast and sometimes a song needs rest, effort and time.
(((o))): The artwork to the new album is extremely striking? Can you tell me about the design?
Tommi: The artwork is by Sebastian Jerke who has done quite a few covers for bands on our label (Napalm Records). We liked his previous work so we contacted him and asked if he wanted to work with us and he said yes. We talked a little bit about what ideas we had and gave him the title of the album and the lyrics. He took our ideas and put his own touch to it, made it more “trippy” and “psychedelic”, and he came up with this amazing artwork!
It’s a bear with his own planet! What more could a bear want!?
(((o))): Was the Clutch tour good fun?
Tommi: The Clutch tour was a blast! To get the opportunity to play these bigger venues and bigger audiences meant a lot to us. We played first out of 3 bands, but it felt like it didn’t matter, a lot of people showed up early and we did our thing and the response was great! And we got to see Clutch kill it every night!
(((o))): You are due to tour with label mates My Sleeping Karma and Mammoth Mammoth. Will you focus more on promoting material from the forthcoming album?
Tommi: It depends a bit on how long sets we get, but I think we will squeeze in at least 4-5 new songs on that tour.
(((o))): How do you pass the time when travelling? Are you book readers or iPhone/gadget people?
Tommi: Well I think we are mostly iPhone/gadget people. Some guys have their iPads/laptops or whatever with them on tour and watch movies and stuff, but for me it’s mostly headphones and music, it’s a great way to “disconnect”, put on some good music, close your eyes and float away… get away from all the other smelly guys on the bus… hahaha!
