I did this interview with Sensefield after a show in L.K.P.G. I met the guys afterwards and they turned out to be real nice. They were talking all the time (everyone at the same time) and we had a really good time, so this is the interview with Johnny (bass), Scott (drums) and Rodney (guitar and vocals) of Sensefield.
Jonas: Members of the band, names and ages.
Scott: OK, but we leave the ages out.
Jonas: Why? Are you guys old or something?
Johnny: Yeah, we're old as shit. But I'll give you the names. Scott Mcpherson, 35. Rodney Sellers he's 18. Chris Evenson has been 24 for the last five years. Jonathan Bunch is 22 and I haven't decided how old I am.
Scott: He's about eight.
Rodney: Did you say I was 18?
Scott: Yeah, you're 18.
Rodney: I feel 18. (laughs)
Jonas: Please tell me a little about how you started the band.
Johnny: The band started out of... Well we all used to be in Reason to believe. Rodney played drums in that and then Rodney switched to guitar and he started to write songs.
Rodney: Yeah, you know the song "Thought of living". It pretty much killed Reason to believe. You know people would kill us if we played that song with Reason to believe.
Johnny: So we stopped and got Scott. It's been hell since then. (laughs)
Jonas: What are your influences?
Johnny: Everyone in the band has different influences.
Scott: Now I'm speaking for myself but I think that I'm influenced by everything that I hear or see that is musical and it's probably the same for everyone in the band. Any band we can find something good about, you know, and I'm sure that we're always listening for something.
Rodney: Sometimes life is a great inspiration.
Scott: Rodney gets inspired by life.
Rodney: Yeah, you know. Playing with the cat, go for long walks, thinking about life.
Jonas: OK. I was wondering if there is a goal with Sensefield?
Johnny: I think our goal is to get away with playing shows all the time and not do much else.
Rodney: Live life and play music.
Scott: Meeting people from all around the world.
Jonas: Your latest release on Revelation records is like your first two cds?
Johnny: Yeah, we put those out by our selves.
Jonas: Why?
Scott: No one else would (laughs). The beginning of Sensefiels was real slow and rocky but somehow we managed to record those songs. It was like a high point.
Rodney: Reason to believe actually fed Sensefields first release because we had some money left over.
Jonas: On your latest CD you wrote something like "Our only religion is music". Why did you write that?
Johnny: A lot of people unfortunately thought that we where a sXe or a Christian band.
Jonas: Why?
Johnny: Why people thought that? I don't know, maybe it's a misinterpretation of the lyrics or maybe it's a proper interpretation. I don't know. Either way, we are not a religious band, we never have been. Hope never to be.
Rodney: We worship guitars.
Scott: And drums!(laughs)
Jonas: Next question! I often see Revelation records as a "traditional" hardcore label, mainly because of their past releases.Do you see Revelation records as a hardcore label today?
Johnny: I think it depends on what you mean by hardcore. Do you mean bands like Germs or like Youth of today?
Jonas: Both, I guess.
Johnny: I think it is then, because Jordan who owns and runs it, he does bands that he likes, and that is what it was all about from the beginning you know.
Scott: The bands has changed and his (Jordan's) taste has changed and he has changed the label. It's like a new direction.
Rodney: It's like us going from Reason to believe to Sensefield and Jordan went from Gorilla Biscuits to Farside.
Jonas: How did you end up on Revelation?
Johnny: I think Jordan had a copy of our first release and he started to come to our shows and he started buying a bunch of albums, distributing them. And then he asked us to do a record with him. We actually originally said no. Mostly because we didn't know him thatwell, but once we got to know him we really liked him.
Jonas: What inspires you as persons in life?
Rodney: What was really inspiring the other day was when we were up in the north of Scandinavia, I don't know if it were in Norway or Sweden. Anyway I was sleeping and I woke up and there was like sharp mountains and snow everywhere. That was one of the most beautiful things I ever seen and that was inspiring.
Scott: It's probably the same things that inspires us to do music. Like music inspires us in our lives. What really inspires me and really keeps me going is meeting other people cos in the world today everyone is down on the human race and then you go out and meet all this people and that makes you think that life is a great thing.
Jonas: Is it the first time you are here in Europe as a band?
Scott: Yes, and we love it!
Jonas: What do you think about the scene in Europe.
John: It's like America it's very different everywhere, every city is totally different.
Rodney: It seems a little bit better as far as the amount of enthusiasm at the shows. It's almost the same but in Europe it's a little better. People here seems to be more into it when we play.
Scott: It's seems a little bit more open minded.
Jonas: Are there a lot of violence at the shows in America?
Scott: Not at our shows. Remember we are about love and kindness. Don't forget! (laughs)
Jonas: Do you like touring or is it just painful for you?
Rodney: I personally like it a lot.
Jonas: Sleeping in small cars.
Rodney: Yeah, It's great.
Scott: It's like when we play we can be tired. But when we start to play we begin to live. It's like a force that comes.
Johnny: Yeah, it's the force. (laughs)
Scott: If the audience is really still and dead then we are really still and dead too. But if the audience is into it, then it gives you so much power and it makes the music so much better.
Jonas: What is you future plans with Sensefield? New album? New tour? New members?
Rodney: No new members, just a couple of go-go girls. (laughs)
Scott: We have a record that we've just recorded and it will hopefully be released in the first week of august. We will return to America after this tour and just wait for the record to be released. After that we will do a short tour and next year we will probably do a big tour.
Johnny: When we have written some new songs.
Scott: We always play new songs that no one ever heard.
Rodney: Yeah, people love that when they go to shows and the band plays all the songs that they don't know. (laughs)
Scott: How do you feel about that?
Jonas: About....
Scott: About when a band plays songs that you haven't heard before.
Jonas: It's kinda strange because you can't sing along. But it's nice to hear some new songs because you can get tired of the ones you hear on the record.
Scott: You get tired of our songs?
Jonas: No.... (laughs). Do you have any comments? Things I should write about, things that you would like to tell other people?
Johnny: We got no message.
Scott: It's all summed up in the interview.
Johnny: If you read the interview then you probably know how to live. We are not much of a outgoing message band. We don't want to tell other people what to do and how to think. I don't think other people should either.
Scott: Is this going to be in Swedish?
Jonas: No.
Scott: Is it going to be distributed in Sweden or...
Jonas: Through Sweden and hopefully in some other countries in Europe and maybe in America.
Scott: Because Sweden has really stood out as really excellent shows. We have played in Vänersborg, very good show. Last night we played in Umeå and that was really good and tonight was good too. The crowd... even if they're not... If they just have an energy about them here in Sweden, I don't know. You guys are freaks or something.
Johnny: We don't care how big the crowd is. The important thing is that people that appreciate the music is there.
Jonas: Yeah, I think so too. The big thing isn't that as many people as possible should come. The important thing to me is that people that really gives a shit about the music should come. OK. I don't have anything more to ask, so thanx for the interview.
We had a great time sitting there talking and our conversation continued along time after that I turned off the tape recorder. Just when I was leaving Scott told me that they maybe would come back next year. "Great, maybe I will have a big magazine by that time"I said . "Yeah maybe we will have a big bus!" he respond. Then we said good bye. Where can you find nice guys like 'em?