June 2008 - We were pretty damn impressed with the debut release from Swedish guitar hero Sven Cirnski's TRUTH, but we wanted to know more. Where did he get his flashy blues style from? How does he get such a classic sound? And is TRUTH really as unified as a band as they seem? We were lucky enough to have Sven take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of these questions and more. Prepare to be surprised!

Russ Cardona: Let's start at the very beginning. What was the one album that made you first want to pick up a guitar?

Sven Cirnski: My dad liked Chet Atkins and had one of his albums. I remember as a small kid, looking at the picture of him on the cover and being totally mesmerised by the sound of the instrument. I can't remember the name of the album. I never learned how to play like him either, but it was the first inspiration.

Cardona: How long have you been playing, and what went into developing your style?

Sven: I started when I was about twelve (I'm 41 now). I didn't have any teachers, so I had to figure it out for myself. I mainly learned by playing melodies. It turned out that I was pretty good at hearing a melody and figuring out by ear how to play it. I listened to Mike Oldfield a lot back then, and he had a lot of melodies, so that was a good training ground. Then I got to know this guy called Mikael who lived in my home town. He became a fellow guitar player and my best friend, and he showed me the whole BLACK SABBATH, LED ZEPPELIN world. Up until meeting him, I'd never listened to any harder music. It was all DIRE STRAITS, MANFRED MANN, PINK FLOYD, JOURNEY, SUPERTRAMP and so on (still some of my favorites). But now a whole new dimension appeared. It was great being a kid back then. And one day, you heard this "thing" called "Eruption"…well…it was another planet for us guitar players anyway! And then one day this Swedish guy Yngwie came along. Now we're talking "X-Files" stuff!

Cardona: How did the TRUTH project come together?

Sven: A Swedish guitar player named Janne Stark called me in late 2006 and asked if I wanted to contribute to his then-latest project, MOUNTAIN OF POWER, doing some solos. I said yes, and asked him who was going to release it. He said Grooveyard Records. I knew that Joe from the Grooveyard had featured me on his website some 6-7 years ago when he had heard an album I played on. Janne said that Joe sometimes asked where I had gone. It took maybe an hour after talking to Janne that I had an e-mail from Joe asking if I was interested in recording something. I said, "Sure… need to write some songs I suppose, ha-ha!" Then it was a matter of bringing my favorite musicians on board. They happily joined the project and played their hearts out.

Cardona: You're also in another band called BAD HABIT. What sets TRUTH apart from it?

Sven: Basically, in BH I'm the solo guitarist and a part of the band in that sense. I have written some material but not much. TRUTH is all my stuff. Lyrics, melodies, everything is all me. My producer, Jonas Reingold of FLOWER KINGS fame, and bass player extraordinaire, was a big help as far as the production goes. I couldn't have done it without him.

Cardona: How long did it take to write and record "Machine"?

Sven: It took me about three months to write the material. We recorded and finished the whole project in 15 days! Mixing, mastering and all. So, one song a day on average. Pretty wild, actually.

Cardona: What I really dug about the album was that, although you've got plenty of opportunity to show off your technical ability, the songs still have plenty of emphasis on riffs and hooks. Is that something you'd like to see more of in guitar-based rock?

Sven: Yes. I love rhythm more than anything. I love melodies, but if I have to choose... Now if you can combine a cool rhythm with a cool melody or even better, a really groovy riff, then I'm hooked. The challenge is of course not to make it sound too busy. I love Jeff Beck's stuff. His latest releases are full of this.

Cardona: What's your favorite cut from "Machine" and why?

Sven: Tough one. Difficult to choose only one, but if I must then I would say "Over and Over", reason being that I'm very interested in the craft of songwriting. More than anything else, I love the package of a great song. I actually listen to a lot of stuff like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Seal, and those types of artists. Some of their songs are extremely heavy actually. There's just no guitar which is fine with me in fact. Some bands that have come out the last 10-15 years in the extreme heavy style have been hailed as incredible, and all the kids are impressed. I have a son that is soon 18 years so I hear the talk that goes around. I don't want to appear arrogant or cocky, but I can honestly say that I could write riffs like that - complicated stuff, odd time signatures and whatnot - like nobody's business. It comes very easy to me. I'm just not interested. It's boring. The challenge is to do something like RUSH, who could be intricate but it still feels like a nice quick slalom run down a great slope. Some other bands sound more like they go down the slope, take their skis of, run back up, do a back flip (and everybody goes "Aaahhhhh"), put the skis back on, make some small turns, a big wide one, stop, rest, and then go full tilt for the rest of the hill!! Totally junk to me. An album like "Degüello" by ZZ TOP is so much more difficult to make even though it might sound simpler. "Over and Over" is to me a great package for that type of music and I'm quite proud of it. It took me only a couple of hours to write it. "Generation Stupid" is another favorite.

Cardona: Let's talk a bit about your gear. "Machine" has an impressive classic rock sound, so does the equipment you use reflect that?

Sven: OK, this is a tough one for me. Basically, I'm extremely uninterested in gear and stuff and know almost nothing about it. My guitars are pretty inexpensive. My main one is in fact a Korean Squire Strat that I bought for nothing. Had it repainted with red car paint by my brother-in-law, put DiMarzio HS-3s on it (basically to make it shut up when it's supposed to) and got it re-fretted with jumbo frets as I do with all my guitars. As far as amps go, I have an old Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube that I've had for some 15 years, stereo-connected to my other amp, which is a new VOX Valvetronix. I have some pedals in-between, a Boss Dimension, Boss Flanger, Ibanez Delay and of course my Wah-Wah that I'm addicted to. I have also recently added a Boss Octaver that has inspired me to write some cool new stuff. So my sound is a mix of these two amps' distortions. I have no extra distortion pedal. To answer your question more clearly, I would say that one of the best pieces of advice I've heard, and one I've tried to remember as much as possible, comes from Yngwie Malmsteen. The first time I heard it was from his former drummer Anders Johansson, who I played with on some projects. He said that Yngwie says to play with your ears instead of with your fingers, and if it sounds good it probably is. I agree. I try to do this and in that spirit we recorded this album. We didn't tinker around that much at all. Many times I have people looking at my setup and go, "Man, this is Neanderthal stuff… an old Peavey Bandit?? They never sound good." Then I play and they usually say, "Don't know how you do it, but it sounds good, man!"

Cardona: Like a lot of other musicians, you have a day job and a family. How much time is left over for rocking out?

Sven: Too little, unfortunately. But I have some plans for the future looking into getting more involved with music.

Cardona: Out of curiosity, what are some of the albums you've been listening to lately?

Sven: Seal's last album "System" I'm totally addicted to. Plus a lot of Jeff Beck. And I can't seem to stop listening to Eric Gales. He inspires me probably more than anyone right now as far as guitar playing goes. I take inspiration from a lot of players, but I never learn their stuff that much these days. I used to do that but don't anymore. I get inspired and want to play myself when I listen to them, but it's the fire I want to emulate more than the precise chops. Hopefully that gives me something of my own style a bit. Neal Schon I listen to a lot as well. Stevie Ray is always on my MP3 player.

Cardona: Finally, what's next for you when it comes to music?

Sven: Well I am writing new material in the style of "Machine," so hopefully another album with TRUTH.

Cardona: Thanks for taking time out to chat with us. Keep rockin'!

Sven: Thanks for showing interest!

The latest release from TRUTH, "Machine," is available from Grooveyard Records. Find out more about Sven Cirnski and TRUTH at svencirnski.com.