Interview — Skull Valley Scavengers

Skratch Magazine

Skull Valley Scavengers come from a good place from thrash metal bands to come from. Sweden. Helsingborg, Sweden to be exact. Since 2006 Thomas (vocals), Oscar (guitars), Evil (bass) and tommyknocker (drums) have been mixing the best parts of old school thrash and death metal with some newer elements. “We also try to add a few melodic and progressive elements to our music,” the boys say. Here’s what else they had to share:

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?
Oscar: When I was six years old and listened to The Black Album with Metallica and Appetite For Destruction with Guns n' Roses for the first time.
tommyknocker: Already when I was a baby I was keeping the beat with my feet to different songs but I guess I got really into music when I heard Keeper Of The Seven Keys by Helloween a few years later.
Thomas: When I was a kid my sister tricked me to buy her music cassettes of 80:s music. But I didn’t want to be a rockstar until I heard Kiss for the first when I was ten.
Evil: It all started when I for the first time heard Kiss, when I was six years old, Gene Simmons was the coolest and most awesome man alive! Watching Kiss videos on tv made me wanna become a bassplayer myself, and 1998 I started to play for real.
Skratch: What is your song writing process like?
Oscar: I write all the riffs and the lyrics and play them to the rest of the guys in the rehearsal room. Then I and tommyknocker arrange all the different parts of each song and try to make a complete song out of it. Of course we all have inputs and we always try to listen to each other, more or less, haha.
Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?
Oscar: Since I'm the main songwriter it mostly depends on me. My main influences are Death, Testament, Bloodbath, old Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Deicide, Dismember, Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, Nile and a whole lot of other bands. Of course I'm also influenced by the classic metal bands; Iron Maiden and stuff like that.
Thomas: Devildriver, Kataklysm and Testament are some bands that really inspire me as a vocalist. tommyknocker: The drummer who has inspired me the most is Bobby Jarzombek, the best drummer in the world. I'm also highly influenced by Ingo Schwichtenberg.
Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.
Oscar: Most out of our music in Skull Valley Scavengers I write out of anger actually. When I'm pissed off I write the best riffs. The topics could be everything from social criticism, religion to more personal stuff.
Skratch: What is your musical background?
tommyknocker: I started playing drums at the age of 14 but I bought my first own drumkit when I was 17. I'm self-taught and I practiced hour after hour for many years when I was younger. I guess I got lazier over the years, haha. Of course I've also been playing in a lot of bands over the years.
Oscar: I started playing the guitar when I was 13 years old, I took a few lessons in the beginning, but I'm mostly self-taught. I also played in a bunch of bands ever since.
Thomas: I started to sing when I was 15 years old in the punk/metal band F.U.B.A.R but then went on to several metalbands before we started this band together.
Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.
Oscar, tommyknocker, Evil & Thomas: Well, we started out as a bunch of pals who were interested in music and all of a sudden we decided to start a band. It's as simple as that. For more details check our biography at: www.myspace.com/skullvalleyscavengers
Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?
Oscar: Getting shit out of my system.
tommyknocker: Well, I gotta agree with Oscar but it's always important to me that, at least, some people appreciate what you do and show up at our concerts.
Thomas: The adrenaline kick from screaming people right in their face.
Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians? Oscar, tommyknocker, Evil &
Thomas: Too many guitarists have bailed on us and we've been forced to go through this too many times, already... Right now we're actually looking for a second guitarist. Feel free to apply!
Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?
Oscar: "Forcefeed the Feeble", cause it has all the elements we represent and a good agressive feeling. I'm also very satisfied with the lyrics.
tommyknocker: I can't decide one song only but I gotta say "Forcefeed the Feeble" and "Life Is Not" (mostly because of the epic outro).
Evil: I agree with Tommy.
Thomas: Life Is Not is my favorite song right now.
Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?
Oscar & tommyknocker: Sorry, can't remember.
Thomas: Meat Loaf – Bat Out of hell II, I bought on my own.
Evil: Kiss – Creatures of the night.
Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?
Oscar & tommyknocker. With a good record deal, touring all over the world.
Thomas: Madison Square Garden ;).
Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.
Oscar, tommyknocker, Evil & Thomas: Short term goals are finding a new guitarist, long term goals are a good record deal, touring and make a living out of the music for as long as we can stand on our feet.
Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?
Everyone: A lot, musically and lyrically. In the beginning we played old school bay area thrash, way more simply composed than nowadays.
Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?
Everyone: Two to three times a week, two-three hours each time.
Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain.
Everyone: KILL!!!
Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.
Everyone: Pressing the EP "Forcefeed the Feeble" on cd but we're also planning, perhaps, to press the release on vinyl! No shows are planned at the moment due to lack of a guitarist.
Skratch: Where have your performed? Tell us about the experience.
Everyone: Unfortunately only in Sweden so far. Mostly festivals and clubs in different parts of Sweden. We've done some real kick-ass shows with crazy people in the audience, showing their appreciation with raised fists, banging heads, moshpits and screaming frenzy.
Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?
Everyone: We think we can offer people excellent songs combined with an ass-kicking live show, running around like maniacs on stage. Pure aggression in it’s finest form!
Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?
Everyone: Help us spread our music to everyone so we can come to your city and wreak havoc!
To get more of the Skull Valley Scavengers you can go to www.myspace.com/skullvalleyscavengers.

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