SEPTEMBER 2005 - Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand's rumbling basslines and dark, muscular vocals fanned the flames of some truly great records in the past few years. He added that sinister motorheadache vibe to the first four SPIRITUAL BEGGARS albums. Both releases from his short-lived MUSHROOM RIVER BAND project made our essential albums list. Then, just when we were set to declare him the groove rock MVP of the new millennium, he vanished from sight. Even the little "Have you seen me?" flyers we posted in the grocery store brought no success in finding him.

2005 promises to be an exciting year for Spice, as he has put together a band that is more interested in taking your head off than expanding it with bong smoke. The sound of the new band KAYSER actually harkens back to Spice's early 90s thrash/doom project AEON. Spice was happy to discuss the rocky road he's recently faced, and explain how his new band created "Kaiserhof", an album that's tighter than your recent gas budget.

Marchman : Thanks for taking some time to talk with us, Spice. To start, I don't think I've ever heard your side of the whole leaving-the-BEGGARS saga. Can you briefly take us back to 2001 or so?

Spice: Let me put it this way. After years of building up my anger against Mike [Amott] and his ways of handle things with BEGGARS, I finally came to the conclusion that it was best to leave so he could have what he always wanted: the control of the band. He had spent so much effort to make sure that it was him and not anyone else that got all the focus. The lyrics were never to be printed on the records. The one that had actually written the song, was never printed on the cover or anywhere. It was all music written by SPIRITUAL BEGGARS just so he could take all the credit for the riffs. After all, he was the guitarist, once a member of CARCASS. Who would believe it was the bass player that contributed with at least 50% of the riffs? I found it very amusing to see that with on “On Fire” that wasn’t the case.

Marchman : So working with Amott was just no longer feasible for you?

Spice : I have known Mike since 1992, and I found out a couple of years after that, that he probably hasn’t got one single friend that doesn’t benefit his ambitions in some way. What I mean is, he will be your friend if you can help him with his career. I have never met a bigger ass-kisser than Mike. Although he claims to hate people in general, he is one of a kind when it comes to selling him self in the music industry.

Marchman: How did JB originally come into the picture? Did Mike initiate it?

Spice: Well, the final nail in the coffin was when he got Ludwig [Witt, dr.] to go behind my back. They recorded a couple of songs without my knowledge, with JB on vocals and sent it to Music For Nations. MFN said no way. So Mike called me up to see if I had written some new songs. But what he didn’t know was that I had found out about the whole thing. So I basically said fuck you if you call me again! Then our manager called me a couple of times, to see if he could change my mind. And when he realized he couldn’t, he wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to start a war. I accepted not to speak about it for at least a year. I didn’t have the strength to fight a war at that time that I probably would have lost anyway.

Marchman: Was the MUSHROOM RIVER BAND always meant to be a short-term project?

Spice: For me it was from the beginning more that they couldn’t find a proper singer, so I helped them out on first a demo then the “Rocketcrash” EP. After that I just got more and more involved. When I left BEGGARS it was natural to continue with them. But I knew it was just a matter of time until I would leave them too. I really had to find my own band.

Marchman: Why did the band fold after just two records? Did the albums receive a poor response?

Spice: I left, Bob Ruben left and then Meteor City screwed the remains of the band. I know that they recorded a demo a year or so ago, and that Chris laid [down] the drums. Actually, it is Chris that is responsible for the photos of “Kaiserhof”.

Marchman: In your opinion, when did the signs of fatigue first start to show in the "stoner rock" scene?

Spice : It was on tour with FU MANCHU in early 1998 I first got in touch with the retarded name (“stoner rock”). I thought we played old school heavy metal or at least they could have called it retro rock. That was the beginning of the end. The retarded name killed, with a bad breath, bands that could have made it. After ‘98, clown- bands popped up like acne on a teenager. And almost all of them wanted to sound like KYUSS.

Marchman: The BEGGARS seems to be kind of a side project for everybody these days instead of a full-time band, with Amott in ARCH ENEMY, JB in GRAND MAGUS, etc. Any thoughts?

Spice: Well, that´s not my problem anymore. I don’t care. If they want to use SPIRITUAL BEGGARS as a back up to get some extra money, it is their decision.

Marchman: How are your new band KAYSER’s lyrics different from past lyrics you’ve penned?

Spice: I write all the lyrics and most of the music. On this album I think it’s less first-hand personal doubts and hopes. In a way the lyrics are more cynical. I have found myself turning into this grumpy old fuck. (laughs).

Marchman : Did you have a hand in the album artwork for “Kaiserhof” as well?

Spice : Stefano Longhi of Scarlet records is responsible for the artwork. I came up with the scroll, the time glass and that the man shouldn’t have a head. There are some, maybe abstract parallels to my lyrics.

Marchman: With KAYSER, you seem to have totally switched gears again, almost back to the style of your early AEON days.

Spice : I had this secret urge to form a metal/thrash band again when I still was in BEGGARS, and when I finally left them, I started looking for musicians. I knew I wasn’t going to stay with THE MUSHROOM RIVER BAND. I never felt that I was a full member of the band. The reason I was with them, was because of Anders [Linusson, gtr.] whom I consider to be one of my closest friends. Then when we were going on tour in 2002, the drummer left and Bob [Ruben] joined the band. In Bob I found a really good drummer who was on the same musical level as me.

Marchman: Do you feel that thrash is a better suited style of music for your dark lyrics and vocal style?

Spice: I can for sure say that I have more freedom with my voice playing this kind of music. Lyric wise, maybe it was a bit easier to write poetically back when I was in BEGGARS. Not much, but I had more freedom to bend and rest on the words.

Marchman: Where have you been hiding these last few years? Have you been playing music the entire time?

Spice : Bob and I started talking and jamming together [back in '02]. We both quit MRB in the summer of 2003. Fredrik Finnander, an old friend and a member of my old band AEON joined and a local guy also joined. We did 2 demos but nothing really happened. Then early 2004 I got ill. Something called Bells Pares struck me. The right side of my face was paralyzed. I couldn’t talk properly, and I definitely wasn’t able to sing. The doctors told me that it could take up to a year before I could sing again. The band split and I was going down the drain. Got deeply depressed, started to drink heavily again with pills on the side plate. Then in early June I got a little bit better. Bob started to talk about trying to start up the band again, so I gave it a shot. But this time it was going to get more professional or I wouldn’t do it. I had met Swaney [Mattias Svenson] a couple of years earlier on a drunken night and I knew he was a good guitarist and he didn’t live far away from me. So I gave him a call and we started jamming together. Almost from the start, it felt just right. Finnander joined again 2-3 weeks after we had started jamming, Swaney sent down one of the demos to Scarlet Records. They immediately wanted to sign us.

Marchman: So is the Bells Pares still bothering you?

Spice : I’m 80% recovered. I’m probably never gonna be fully recovered. It doesn’t bother me that much anymore, I’ve become used to it. If I can’t blew up a balloon, so what!

Marchman: Is any of your unreleased material from the last 2-3 years going to see the light of day? Or are you just focused on new stuff these days?

Spice : Maybe, maybe not. Not anything beside KAYSER. As it looks now, we are probably gonna enter the studio early next year. We have talked about of doing an old AEON song, but with a new touch to it. Or maybe we gonna do it on our third album. Haven’t make up our minds yet. But we definitely gonna do it sooner or later.

Marchman: Glad to see you're back. We'll scarf up anything you send us with frightening enthusiasm. Thanks for the time.

Spice: Thanks, take care, and cheers!

OFFICIAL SITE: www.kayser1.com