Where exactly do you come from and how would you define your band's chemisty as far as the personalities of the members are concerned.

Linus Marron de Martin: We all are born and raised in Linköping, Sweden. We've been friends for a long time, all four of us. Me and Marcus (who plays bass) are brothers and have been playing together before we even thought of starting a band. I met Daniel through a friend which he played in some crappy cover band with. I asked him to come and play with me and on our first rehearsal he broke a crash cymbal in half. After that I asked him to join my band and he hasn't left since. Me and Gus both studied art in high school and I knew he sang in a band. We needed a singer, he sent me some demos of his previous band and I went to see them. This guy were fucking nuts on stage, so I instinctively asked him to join us. For several years we've been playing together under different names. So we are very close, like a family.

You released an EP called "Aether" when you were still called SHRINE. Recently you changed your name but people who liked the EP will enjoy the full length as well ... yet, there are plenty of bands around called SIBERIAN as well ... don't you think you'll get into (legal) trouble again?

Linus Marron de Martin: No, we don't think this will cause any problems. We did some research together with our label (Gaphals Records) before we changed our name.

What's your concept lyrically with the new album?

Gus Ring: All the songs on this album circle around the concept of not having control of your own life. Moments when feeling helpless, like you're losing it or that the present and the future isn't shaping up to be what you'd want it to be. Though this might sound like a dystopian view, most of the songs conclude a positive messages and suggest a solution for the problem.

In "Paragon" you evoke apocalyptic visions and describe the longing for a new world order. Can you go more into detail what the song is actually about?

Gus Ring: Paragon is a song about religious cults. It's about seeing people force their beliefs unto others. The manipulation if children, led to believe that life is about what happens after death. Hearing children saying that they're just longing for the day they get to die, to go to heaven and escape the suffering that is life. It's sad to see so many people losing grip on what we really have here in the present moment.

Any details about your label Gaphals ... who runs it and for how long have they been around? How come you signed with that very label?

Linus Marron de Martin: Gaphals Records is mainly run by Kaj Sivervik. I don't exactly know for how many years they we've been going at it, but I think they started around 2009-2010 or something like that. When we recorded the demo version of this album we contacted lots of labels and asked them to release it. Gaphals was first in showing interest. Gaphals and us both live in the same city so we can work natural together on a daily basis.

Mattias Frisk did the artwork for "Modern Age Mausoleum" and he also did GHOSTs "Year Zero" single. How did you get in touch with him?

Gus Ring: Actually, a lot of his artwork was lying around at our previous rehearsal-spot. He used to play there with his old doomband Jam Session. So already back then we really admired his work.Then when we came up with the idea for the artwork, he was the given choice. Mattias was really happy when we asked him, cause he felt like the idea was something very fitting for this style of painting and love for dystopian art. When he was done, the artwork was the exact same picture we had in our minds when we thought it out.

The album's production is rad and as far as I can see you're all pretty young guns ... any piece of advice to young musicians as to what to avoid when recording? Joona is an acclaimed producer did you spend a lot of money to have him and his abilities at disposal?

Linus Marron de Martin: Hehe. Well I turn 25 in some weeks, so I guess you can consider us young. My advice would probably be that you should be very open minded when recording. Don't be afraid of trying out new things. Spend some time getting to know the studio engineer or producer before you record! Me and Joona worked very well together. I spent some months on my guitar sound before we went to the studio. I told him my idea and he embraced my idea and made it better. But Joona is a studio engineer and not a producer. I think that worked out very well for us.

You obviously have many hardcore influences but also severe black metal affinity. Do you consciously mix these genres or is your approach rather to create individual songs that focus on one genre instead of blending it all?

Linus Marron de Martin: We never talk about genres in particular. Very early on we decided to just write songs that sounds good and focus more on the feeling. We want our music to be very wide and not paint ourselves into corners.

Does SIBERIAN have a political agenda, do you support any ideologies, be it vegetarianism, or anarchism? "Heirdom" seems like you have sort of a message.

Gus Ring: We have no political agenda, as we don't want to belong to any ideology. Of course we respect different ideologies, cultures, movement and opinions, but our lyrics and music come from a place of emotions, and we believe in our own personal observations and views. "Heirdom" is a song which describes the metaphor of feeling helplessness when abandoned by society and compares it with feeling abandoned by a parent. You're standing there at their feet, screaming for just the slightest bit of attention, but no one listens.

Which bands from your area would you recommend and were exactly are you going to stop on your Eurotour?

Linus Marron de Martin: I would recommend Ocean Chief, Dead Soul and Grizzly Man.

2014.08.29 Linköping, Sweden - L'Orient
2014.09.03 Aarhus, Denmark - Backstage
2014.09.04 Leipzig, Germany - LiWi
2014.09.05 Bischofswerda, Germany - Morbid Festival
2014.09.06 Wroclaw, Poland - Disorder Club
2014.09.07 Ostrava, Czech Republic - PlanB Hardcore Café
2014.09.08 Bibione Pineda, Italy - Beach Invaders Music Bar
2014.09.10 Lucerne, Switzerland - Sedel
2014.09.11 Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
2014.09.12 Antwerp, Belgium - Kavka JC


Thank you very much for the interview.
ThEb

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