Askvader's Martin Gut On Their Evolving Rock Sound: 'Find The Fun In Your Music'

The Swedish Rock band Askvader love their Blues traditions and classic Rock ‘n Roll sounds combined with a heavier metal edge, and Martin Gut, harmony vocalist and lead guitarist for the band, joined our Tower Instagram Livestream hosted by Whitney Moore to talk about their self-titled album debut that arrived in March 2020.

Asked about his time in quarantine in Sweden, Gut said that they “always take the middle way” in regards to everything in Sweden. They have had “loose” restrictions and things haven’t been “that horrible”, at least not as much as the media might lead people to believe. The band has even been able to rehearse “quite a lot”, actually.

The new album, Askvader, came out in March and the reception has been “crazy”. Maybe it’s because of them, or their record label, or their promoter, Gut said, but the album has done very well, with a lot of “mostly nice” reviews and interviews. Though this is their first live one, with Tower. There have been a lot of “friendly people” reaching out and that makes him “super happy”.

How many years did it take them to create this album, having released EPs and singles previously? Gut said that he started to write the songs on the album as early as 2017. Then recording was “ongoing”, and the last songs were written in “mid 2018”. In the beginning of 2019, they started to record as a band. Their drummer started by recording alone, and just played his parts for the complete album. He had nothing but a metronome to accompany him.

In January, that part of the album was done, but they started running out of time otherwise. They went on tour, then when they came back, they recorded bass, vocals, and guitars over the course of a few months, all by themselves. They recorded at home, aside from using a studio for the vocals. Their drummer actually left the band, subsequently.

Has touring for Askvader been impacted? Yes, their release party was cancelled, since that was the first weekend of lockdown, and there have been no gigs at all for them, unfortunately.

They are practicing new music, Gut said, since he’s written most of a new album already, but they are also practicing for future touring. There could be a tour with two albums! Though they need some more sales of the first album first.

And yes, Gut has quarantine hair! He’s been working from home since mid-March and hasn’t been to the office at all. He has a “man bun” of some sort, though it’s a little short yet, he observed.

The cover art for their self-titled album is really “fun” and chaotic. It’s by Johan Leion, and he was discovered by their drummer and hired to do the art. He has done the art for several bands they like, and his style was really appealing to Askvader. The cover idea came about based on some “quick notes” in an e-mail that Gut sent, and Leion came up with the idea immediately.

How does Gut describe the sound of the band and of the album? Askvader doesn’t want to “set any boundaries for what type of music we create”, he said. It is some kind of Rock, for sure, and he likes ballads, too, so they added one on the album. Their music could evolve in a lot of ways, with different musical styles, Gut said. They like their current sound, but want the ability to be both slow, which is harder, and hard, which is, actually, easier. It’s harder to have “emptiness” in a song and go easier on the speed, Gut says.

Their band name was a difficult one to settle on. At first, they didn’t have a name, and it didn’t go well trying to come up with one. Gut consulted his brother, who suggested that it should be one word, and a word in Swedish. Gut likes the band Hellacopters, and several bands that contained thematic lightning elements in their iconography. Then he thought of the word Askvader, which means, “thunderstorm” and looked it up to see if anyone was using it. It’s a simple name, like a 70s “prog era” name, and Gut was surprised that no one had used it before.

Have they toured yet? Yes, but they’d really like to go to Spain, that’s their “main thing” that they are aiming for. He thinks next Spring is most likely, since Autumn will be too difficult. They’ve been to Germany and “Berlin was a blast.” But Spain is the next big goal.

What’s Gut been listening to lately? He’d like to tell everyone about the band, The Hawkins, from Sweden, who are on the same label with them. Gut says he’s not that good about following the international scene, but he listens to a lot of Swedish or Norwegian bands. However, bands from the past hold a big appeal, like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and The Beatles, of course. 60’s and 70’s rock, and then some newer local bands, are the ones he listens to.

 

 

Are there any particular decades of interest to him, Moore asked? He originally listened a lot to 60’s music, in general, and then later on, more of the 70’s. Even later than that, some 80’s music slipped in there as well. He used to study Jazz, listening to it a lot at the time. Now he likes John Scofield, and some specific guitar players.

What are the metal and rock scenes like in Sweden? It’s smaller than in the USA. Some really good festivals are held there, Gut said, but there are fewer smaller gigs. There’s a “nice vibe” there, he said, and the bands really “help each other out”. If Askvader want to go to Spain, they can ask other bands, and they will share contact information and help each other out.

What’s it like releasing an album in quarantine, and how should fans listen to the music? “With a cold beer, and maybe some good weather outside.”, Gut recommended. They’ve created a fun album so you need to kick back. Or maybe driving down the highway in a cool car!

Askvader released a music video for “God’s Grace”. Would they like to do another video? Gut said they’ll probably be doing a livestream with a four song performance in a couple weeks on Instagram.

The video for “God’s Grace”, is really interesting, Moore observed, and the song is about “hypocrisy”, Gut explained. Just because you’re praying to God doesn’t mean you’ll automatically go to Heaven, Gut said, and they wanted to “capture that” idea in the video. In it, there’s a “nasty guy” who’s a preacher, but ends up in Hell.

They had a script and a general idea for the video, and they explained the concept to the filmmaker, who expanded on the script. Even though their music has a “fun” sound, the themes can be dark, Moore said, and Gut agreed.

Gut explained that when he writes lyrics, he has “problems” writing lighter lyrics, but he writes about things that “matter” to him, from “everyday life” to “views on things”, while trying not to get too political.

It’s a common misconception that Metal and Rock are “angry”. But, in fact, fans are often very happy people, it seems. Gut said that’s correct, though maybe not for the “Black Metal guys” or at least not on the surface. Music is an “outlet” for writing about all the “horrible stuff in the world”, he said. It’s very “therapeutic” for him to write songs and lyrics.

Usually, song writing is kind of “quick” for Gut, though it can be hard to refine the lyrics. The “melodies” are almost “instant” for him. At first he adds a “bit of mumbo jumbo” to lyrics, like making up words to get sounds, and then tries to find words that “suit the sound”. There’s a lot of “gibberish” involved in his process, he revealed.

Is there anyone they’d love to open for or tour with as a band? They’d love to open for some cool Swedish guys like Hellacopters, Drifters, Imperial State Electric, and a Finnish band called The Empire Strikes. The two bands have actually been talking about doing something together. They had a plan to get together, even to do a gig, but it got cancelled by COVID, sadly.

Martin Gut used the word “Action Rock” as a genre title, and he said that it’s definitely genre, like MC5 and Hellacopters on their first two albums. It’s a fairly common term in Sweden to use. Askvader is more “power pulp rock”, and they don’t do “tough” music like “Action Rock”. They are a little more “geeky”, as a band, he feels.

Genre seem to be constantly changing, and Gut agreed its “super hard” to label one’s own music, and he can’t really do it. He throws a number of styles out there. “I’m sure it’s Rock, but others will have to decide. Germans are really good at deciding what kind of music they play.”, Gut laughed.

Asked if there are instruments and styles he wants to experiment with, Gut said maybe some harmonica tunes would make it onto the next album. He plays the harmonica but also the accordion, however, he thinks he’s really bad at the accordion.

Moore recommended putting some “distortion” on that accordion and Gut agreed that would be great.

How does the band work together on songs, Moore asked? Gut said that they didn’t have a lot of material for this album, so they just stuck with the tracks they liked the most, which was three or four that they all preferred and agreed on. The A side is more “hitty” and the B side is more “experimental”, and their bass player said that’s the way things used to be done “back in the day”.

Asked if he collects vinyl, Gut says that he does. He’s just moved house, along with his wife, and they are setting up a hi-fi system, so they’ll be collecting some more vinyl now. He doesn’t have a lot of rarities but he has Imperial State Electric, since both he and his wife are “huge fans”.

Gut hopes that people are happy when they hold the band’s physical album in their hands. There’s something “magical about it because it’s a physical product”, and getting to see the “amount of work that someone has put into it.”

What sort of rig or equipment does Gut use? He plays on an SG style guitar, but not a Gibson. He has a Telecaster, too. He has an old Epiphone from the 70’s, which is used on the new album. He has a “small combo” that he plays on as well. He has “really small pedals” which people laugh about, but there are 6 pedals that only weigh 2 kilos. He sees all the bands coming with their big pedals, but he thinks his have a good sound and are lighter to carry.

What about our Tower saying, No Music, No Life? Gut had a break from playing music for several years, and he “didn’t really know what was wrong”, but it was a tough period and he now realizes that he “needs to play”. It’s like “therapy” for him.

Does he have any advice for musicians trying to find a unique sound or the motivation to work on music? “Find the fun in it, and don’t practice because you have to.”, he recommended.

 You might get “nimble fingers” practicing a lot, but that’s not enough. You have to “play what you love to play” and “never give up”. “It’s worth it.”, he added.