We are very honored to present you the interview that Björn “Speed” Strid, Soilwork’s singer, gave to Rock Overdose and Zisis Petkanas. “Speed” Strid talked about their ex-drummer’s departure, who is now Megadeth’s drummer, their new collection of rarities and their upcoming album, which seems to be released on 2017! Enjoy!
Rock Overdose: Welcome to Rock Overdose. How are you?
Strid: I’m very good, thank you.
Rock Overdose: So, how do you feel that your ex drummer, Dirk, is playing with Megadeth now?
Strid: It’s pretty crazy actually. It was a great opportunity for him and we are very happy that he is a member of Megadeth. We wish Dirk good luck on this new venture and thank him for 12 great years together.
Rock Overdose: Is Batsian the new drummer or just a touring member?
Strid: He is not permanent yet and we haven’t decided yet what we will do, but we don’t have any other drummers in our minds, so we have him for now and we’ll see in the future. Bastian is our friend and he knew the songs really well and as you can see he is really a beast. But I don’t find any reason not to have him as our drummer.
Rock Overdose: This line up was difficult for the band?
Strid: Not so much because as I said Bastian is a very good drummer and he knew the songs so we could keep going with the festivals.
Rock Overdose: You are going to release a special collection of rarities in about a week. How do you feel and would you like to tell us more about this?
Strid: It’s basically a compilation of tracks. There are some rare songs that people really enjoy to listen and we decided to gather together these songs, to gather them into an album. Some of the songs are unreleased and some other were available only in Asia. Also, there are two new songs. It was a really interesting procedure.
Rock Overdose: Do you have any songs for a new album and when is it going to be released?
Strid: Not so far, because we had so much tours and we still have. But, we have a few ideas. It’s going to take some time but I think that the new album will hopefully come out at the end of next year. But we don’t have any ready songs. Just some ideas recorded. It might take some time because I also need to focus on my other band, the Night Flight Orchestra, which is a rock band that I play with David Andersson and Sharlee D’Angelo from Arch Enemy.
Rock Overdose: What about your next touring plans? Do you have Greece in your plans?
Strid: It should be, we visited Greece in 2001 and it was a great time and the crowd was really good. We want to come to Greece but there aren’t any promoters to approach us so far.
Rock Overdose: Is there anything that you would like to reveal through this interview?
Strid: We want to come to Greece, we hope we will be there soon. Thank you very much for your loyalty all these years. Thank you.
For Rock Overdose,
Interview: Zisis Petkanas
Questions and transcription: Konstantinos Sotirelis
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