"All About The Album - 15 Questions" - a brand new section at the RockUnited site where a recording artist with an recently released CD is confronted with 'album'  questions (15 of them, duh!). If you'd like to have your material up here, email: urban "at" rockunited.com (simply replace "at" with your standard @ )

SOLITY: "Booze, Blues and Broken Bones"

SOLITY and their debut album, "Booze, Blues and Broken Bones". It's a totally solid, but at the same time unreliable and unpredictiable metal act from Sweden. One crazy thrash-loving singer, the 80's arena rocker to play the bass, a super technical progressive guitarist, and last (and probably least?) the mad drummer with a passion for choir/orchestral music. Thrash Metal and Radio friendly U.S. Rock? Groove Metal? Find out more about the band and their album, here's SOLITY...

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

The reactions have been really good from both press and fans.

How long did this CD take to make from start to finish, recording-wise?

We started to write material for the album mid-summer 2011. In December we entered Titan Studio and in late February we mastered the album at Cuttingroom in Stockholm. 

What kind of 'sound', production wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio?

Our previous releases has been recorded and produced by well known Berno Paulsson in Berno Studio. This time we all agreed that we needed something brand new. We wanted to see how far we could go with a new producer and a new studio and therefore also a brand new sound. We had no idea where we would land but looking back, this is by far the best sound we've ever had.

What kind of input did the producer have during the process?

Jens Lundgren who produced the album is also a very good friend to us all and during the recordings he where like a fifth member of the band.

And are you pleased with the final outcome? (sound - production wise)

As I’ve said, it couldn’t have been any better.

Did the producer (you) use any (weird) experimental miking and/or recording techniques?

We spent a lot of our time getting a great sound from the start in the recording process so that we could save time in the mix. “A bad sound in, is a bad sound out!” One thing we worked hard on was getting a good guitar sound. A clear and raw sound yet not too thin. We wanted the sound to feel like you where run over by the train and I think it does. We also worked a lot with the drums and had a superb drum technician. We did some really cool drum sampling sessions in grand storage halls to get a good natural reverb. If you listen to the song “Shit Rolls Downhill” you can hear that one part of the song is quite different from the rest with a lot of drums. The drums in that part where recorded with microphones spread out in the hallway in the studio and it sounds awesome.

How did you go on about capturing your 'live sound' in the studio, or perhaps you didn't

We did not record “live” since we wanted a very clear and detailed sound but we still wanted to capture the energy from our live show, which I think we did. The music is very complex with a lot of things going on and that was something we struggled to bring forth in the mix. If you listen carefully you can hear a lot of vocal arrangements and percussion instruments.

Please inform us about your favourite songs and lyrical highlights and why?

We are really pleased with all the songs and lyrics of the album. One of the goodies is the refrain in “Mind The Gap”
“I’m the last man standing on the dancefloor, I’m the last man shouting in the bar, I’m the last man howling from the cab home and I ain’t gonna change no I ain’t gonna change because of you!”. This song really drives any live audience to its edge.

Any overall theme of mood that you're trying to capture while writing songs?

It’s often very diverse but an overall theme for the lyrics of this album is the “We are the next great thing to come” attitude. Such as the line “Hey big star, move cause I’m going where you are”.

Does your vision for coming up with music get affected at all by time?

We are always trying to develop our sound and we’re always trying to do something new. We will never let our music get affected by trends or such. SOLITY is, and will always be SOLITY!

Did the record company interfere with anything on your "sound" and songs?

We released our album ourselves so this has never been a problem for us. We think that our debut album should contain 100% of our sound and we wish to not interfere with anyone. We believe in our music and our product and we are certain that others do so as well.

Are there any 'crazy' behind the scenes anecdotes from these sessions that you can share with us?

The title of the album says it all...

How would you describe the sound of your new CD to any potential new fan? 

We like to use the term “Heavy Groove Metal”. Our music leaves possibilities to bang your head, dance, drink or shake your ass. SOLITY is for everyone!

Who are your influences and heroes? (music-wise)

Our whole sound is built upon our diverse taste for music. One crazy thrash-loving singer, one 80´s arena rocker to play the bass, one super technical progressive guitarist and one tiny drummer with a passion for choir/orchestral music.

If there's anything you'd like to add, say, please do:

We just want to say a big “Thank You” to everyone helping us do what we love to do.
/ SOLITY

Interview by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
Photos from the band's Myspace  http://www.myspace.com/solity
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