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Crash The System is a new project / band, how they got started and more tells Søren Kronqvist!
Please tell us a bit about Crash The System got started!
I asked Daniel Flores to produce a song for me, it was the song All Because Of You. The original plan was to try to get it out to a band or an artist somewhere. Just for fun I sent the song to a few labels. We got instant reply the same day and they said they like the song and they wanted to hear more. The following week we went back into the studio and recorded three new tracks and sent away those. After a couple of days I got an offer for a worldwide contract. Not bad for someone who barely knew anything at all about song-writing, recording, etc 5 years ago and does music only as a hobby at the moment.
Why did you choose the name? And what does it mean to you?
Daniel Flores had a few suggestions and out of those I thought that 'Crash The System' sounded best. Daniel also liked that one. It does not have a deeper meaning behind it, but we wanted to do a non-traditional project. Daniel has an extensive background in the music business, but I am fairly new. I gradually started to learn more about music in my spare time from an old friend of mine who is a guitar player in Finland, Gustav Käld. I also went to different studios and talked to different producers and tried to learn more about the business. I guess we wanted to 'Crash' the traditional 'system' of doing things with a project founded by someone with a music background and someone with an athletic background, an 'odd' combination in a way.
When you were writing the songs, did you have different singers in mind? Or did you later think about who would fit best?
Most of the songs we picked singers after the songs were done, but with a few we thought: "This one could work for Göran, this for Thomas", etc.
How did you get the singers involved? And was there someone you wanted to have, but who couldn't make it for whatever reason?
We wrote a list of potential singers that we thought could sound good together. Then we looked at who wanted to sing on the album and had time to do it in January, February and a few other practical issues. We decided that this time we will go for vocalists who lived close by (in Stockholm). And, we got the four we wanted on this album. For the next album there might be some singers from other countries as well. But we have not made final plans yet regarding the singers for the next record.
For me your music is somehow a mix of hard rock and due to the keyboards it has a touch of 80's pop rock... How would you describe your music?
In a way it is a tribute to the style of music I grew up on as a teenager in the 80's. I listened to a lot of hair-metal bands, AOR, 80's style hard rock, etc back in the days and I guess all those bands have influenced me one way or another. But I also like some of the modern metal bands, so our music has a base of 80's hard rock, AOR, Scandi-rock (or whatever those styles are called) with an added touch of modern metal here and there (Nightwish, Within Temptation, and that kind of bands...).
How had the idea for the artwork? And who did it?
Me and Daniel had a few things that we thought could be included in the artwork, but everything was put together and done by André Beckston at Monowasp. We are really happy with both the artwork on the CD and in the booklet. We have received tons of positive feedback on the artwork. Great job André! (I agree - editor)
What inspired you when you wrote the songs? Which bands influenced you?
Basically most hard rock bands from the 80's in one way or another. I started to listen to Rainbow, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen, Sabbath, Treat, Europe, Pretty Maids, Fate, and bands in those styles. I don't feel that specific bands have influenced me directly, it is more the 80's era of music that has had a big impact on me. I did occasionally listen to softer stuff like Chicago, some pop, etc.
Have you collected the songs over a longer period of time?
About half of the songs are old demos from 2-3 years ago and about half of the songs are new. The 'old' songs we just re-recorded and few did not have lyrics so I did lyrics for those. I played 25-30 demos to Daniel and he picked out 14 songs. I suggested a few of those, but he had the final word in choosing the songs on the album.
Is Crash The System a studio band? Or do you want to play live?
At the moment Crash The System is a recording project. However, it is not impossible that we try to get part of the project together for some gigs sometime. But nothing is decided yet.
Are you looking for a singer? Or will you keep working with different ones?
For the next album we will have a few different singers. In case there will be some gigs live, one or two I would guess, four singers live might be over-kill ;-)
Anything you want to add?
I am just happy to be able to write the type of music I like and be able to work with some of the best people in Sweden. That is the greatest blessing. Recently I have received a few requests to write songs for other bands as well, and that was my original dream all along. After a rough start in the music business with people screwing me for money etc, it seems like things are slowly but surely heading the right way with the right people...
Sounds like this isn't the last time we heard from Crash The System... And who knows which singers they will present us next time... Anyway, an interesting project of 80's influenced hard rock. Check them out!
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