THE QUILL

THE QUILL  have been treading the boards and releasing records for over three decades now.  Their brand of stoner hard rock has appealed to both older fans like myself and new fans who are discovering them through a resurgence of the genre.  Formed in the mid-80s (although they didn’t release a record until 1992) , they managed to capture all the magic of the 70s era bands like BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN but proceeded to add their own spin on the heavy riffs and soaring vocals.  Over the years they have released over eleven full length albums with their newest, “Wheel of Illusion” being released in March of this year.   Although they have managed to stay consistent with a formula that works (think of AC/DC and MOTÖRHEAD), this newest release is rooted in their past but somehow still sounds fresh.  I was lucky to snag a chat with bassist Roger Nilsson to discuss “Wheel of Illusion”, their songwriting process, album artwork, and a number of other topics. 

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Thanks very much for taking the time to chat with us! The title of your new record has a not so subtle nod to BLACK SABBATH.  Was this a conscious decision or did it just turn out that way?

ROGER NILSSON: Not really, Magnus had the song-title and when it came time to find an album-title it really gelled with the idea we had of using the Buddhists wheel of life as a template for the artwork. But of course there’s SABBATH-influences here and there...after all, they were one of the greatest bands ever!

WC: The new record “Wheel of Illusion” has that signature QUILL sound yet still sounds fresh.  What is the approach you take whenever you decide to start a new record?

RN: We tend to not overanalyze anything when it comes to writing. We’ve always just written whatever came to us. But every album is a reaction to the previous album, but more in a subconscious way than planned out. When we did the last album “Earthrise” we went into the studio with bare sketches of songs and finished them all in the studio. This time we wanted to be a bit more effective so we worked really hard during pre-production so once we entered the studio we knew exactly what to record. Thus it went really smoothly and took a fraction of the time compared to the last album. 

WC: Your songs range from just over three minutes to well over seven minutes.  How do you know when a song is done and you can’t take it any further?

RN: We all grew up and love the 70’s style of music where songs really could stretch out so we’ve always fancied that style of song-writing. Making a seven minute song isn’t difficult at all, the difficult thing is making it interesting for seven minutes.

WC: Some of my favorite tracks on the new record are “Hawks & Hounds”, “The Last Thing You Remember”, and the epic “Wild Mustang”.  Can you tell me a little bit about the writing process for those tunes?

RN: “Hawks & Hounds” was an idea I came in with. I wrote the music and recorded a short demo at home and sent it to Magnus. He then wrote the melody and lyrics rather quickly and sent it back to me. A rather short and quick affair compared to “The Last Thing You Remember”. That one we had laying around for quite some time, we worked on it on and off for maybe a year but had problems getting the arrangement right. Right before we were scheduled to start recording we gave it a final shoot and then we managed to find the last pieces of the puzzle. As for “Wild Mustang” I’m not quite sure where it came from - I believe Christian came in with the music and Magnus wrote the melody and lyrics. 

WC: Do you have songs that did not make this release?  Why didn’t they make it onto “Wheel of Illusion”?

RN: Yes, there’s one fully finished song called “Deliverance” that didn’t make it due to time constraints. It’ll probably see the light of day sooner or later. 

WC: I really enjoy the flow of “Wheel of Illusion”.  How do you go about picking the song order for the disk and does pressing it onto vinyl factor in?

RN: Yes. And we’re really fond of the fact that it’s important again. During the cd-age in the 90-00’s you were encouraged to fill a disc with as much music as possible, often in the 70 minute range. What you ended up with was a lot of filler material that really didn’t add anything to the album. So working with the vinyl format you have 45 minutes and it takes quite a lot of work to get a nice flow. You have to take into consideration tempo, style, key and so forth to get a nice mix of everything.

WC: THE QUILL has really changed their game with cover artwork starting with Born From Fire.  What prompted the change and how do you go about choosing artwork?

RN: Once again it goes back to the fact that vinyl became important again. When we released the earlier albums you had the cd-format to work with and the norm was to make the logo as big as possible which made it really difficult to find space for any interesting artwork.

WC: How difficult is it to find time to write and record when all of you are busy with other bands and day jobs?

RN: Since we all write we’re never out of ideas. This is something we’ve been doing for over 30 years so it’s a really big part of our lives. Being creative, I believe, is not something you chose, it chooses you. It’s an outlet we all need to cope with everyday life with day jobs, families et al. Also, growing older you really start to appreciate it a lot more, when you were younger you took it for granted but nowadays we value our friendship and the fact that we’re still together making music we all love.

WC: Your band has a great 70s organic rock sound and while I can hear the SABBATH  influences, (quite frankly, who hasn’t SABBATH influences), what are your other major influences and not so obvious minor influences?

RN: We all bring different influences to the mix. Magnus is into a lot of obscure 60-70’s prog, Christian is the bluesman, Jolle’s into a mix of everything from hairbands to grunge and I bring a love for jambands and singer-songwriters. So all that is being thrown into the mix and out comes our own interpretation of all that.