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Liberator
All the band compressed in one small studio of Radio Popolare, we had a nice interview with Liberator while Vito War at the radio console was playing their album "Worldwide Delivery" songs. The interview took place just before our photo set for the Articles-Images page. Having seen the gig in the night, having seen them playing live, we all hope they’ll to come back soon for a new pulsating Italian delivery.
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So Robert, can you introduce us Liberator?
Well, I am Robert, I sing. On my left is Andreas, who’s the saxophone player; and then we have Erik, who plays the organ, Johan is the drummer…Peter plays the trombone, Daniel plays the guitar and Rodrigo plays the bass.
By the way, is not just you who sings, isn’t it?
Yeah, Daniel in our latest album [Worldwide Delivery] sings in one song: Thunder & Lightening.
Is it your fist time to come in Italy, or have you already been here before?
We have been already in a tour called Sued(e)Palooza, we were four Swedish bands touring in Europe and than we done one Ska festival in Bologna last September [2° Moonstomp Ska Festival].
So about your music, all your compositions are a mix of strong Jamaican rhythm with something of Punk-Two Tone approach…Where do you take your inspiration?
We are music lovers, and we started as a Ska cover band…so obviously our roots are there; we all listen to Reggae, Soul and all style of music and we played with Punk bands, and you get an input from that…we are not just Ska lovers, we are music lovers.
What you think about the main differences within European Ska and American one, which nowadays is getting stronger and stronger?
I guess that Ska in America is strongly linked to Hardcore and Punk, stronger than what Liberator are. We have a stronger link with Two-Tone…if you look to all that bands, we are not as Punky as the American scene.
What about your lyrics?
If you look at Liberator alltogheter, we are very much a band, so some songs are written by a person but many many songs are sort of co-written, and we are all part of the song anyway. And even if songs are very different lyric-wise and music-wise, there’s a strong element of Liberator in each one of them.
The sound of Liberator, from the first production to the latest one, is far from simple. Is that just an impression or did you really work at it carefully?
What we did on our first album was just to record what we done live, and in the second album we tried to produce every song very differently.
In Worldwide Delivery, some lyrics – most of all – are for sure not so happy, "Angel of Death" for example…
I think there’s an interesting contrast between happy music with toughs…because world is not just sunshine…and make it all much interesting when you do a merry song with lyrics that are not happy.
Liberator play mainly own compositions…when you done cover songs, which kind of cover did you play? Have you played classic Jamaican songs?
We played mostly Two-Tone era songs, and we done some Bob Marley cover also…at the beginning…
Which one?
"Stand Alone", than also some Desmond Dekker songs.
Just a question to the saxophonist…what do you think about the sad departure of Roland Alphonso?
Is he dead? [Roland died November the 20th 1998, one week before, while Liberator were touring] I didn’t know that! I liked him very much! He was the John Coltraine of Ska…I liked very much…Much respect to Roland Alphonso.
Who made "Christine"? Do you refer to Christine Keeler from the Skatalites and Mr. Review songs?
[Andreas] Well, if you think it’s about her for me is ok, but I use to say it’s about all my girlfriend rolled into one…
Maybe not such good girls…
Exactly!
[Lele gives Robert an original caricature displaying him as a Viking with a chequered helmet…Robert the Two-Tone viking!]
Is there any artist you really would like to collaborate with?
There would be many, Lee Perry…
Yeah! And for Liberator…Ska is a kind of faith?
Good music is a kind of faith, and so good Ska music is it, but bad Ska music is nothing!
Did you take a look at the music awards?
No, we didn’t know where they took place.
Right. What about future projects for the band?
The most important project is when we go home on December for holidays…because we are on tour from a month, and it’s a tough job, you catch cold…you sleep to little…or too much…so we are gonna to have an holiday, a long holiday, and then we star over whit new material...
So we wish you happy holiday…but now you should give us a jingle, otherwise you’ll not get out from this room!
We’ll better do it then :-)
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Web Site: www.liberator.se
29 November 1998
by The SkabadiP Crew and Reggae Radio Station
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