Interview with:

JC: Joacim Carlsson, guitar
G: Grant McWilliams, vocals
AE: Andreas Eriksson, bass

UN: What brought around the reforming of the band? Have you always had the idea in mind over the years, or did something happen to replant the idea of having General Surgery going in your brain.

JC: We decided to give it a go again after Grant found the old unofficial GS webpage that Pierre/Braindead webzine used to host. We figured if somebody was interested enough in the band to do a website about us, then the world surely would not mind hearing some new music. So, after Grant returned to Stockholm in 1999, we tried to reform the band. We managed to record a track for the Carcass tribute, but it wasn't until last year that we finally found a stable line-up.

G: We needed the cash and considering we're all getting older and considerably more pathetic in every sense, we reasoned that we needed the recognition as well. No real reason that I can think of that the moment, in other words despite my ludicrous answer.

UN: Did the Birdflesh drummer joining the band inject new life into the band? I'm a huge fan of the drumming in Birdflesh and his style fits the General Surgery style perfectly.

JC: Adde is a great drummer, and has a lot of experience playing this kind of music. He's got a great feel for what works in this particular genre, and he's not overplaying as so many other drummers tend to do. I'm really happy that we can have him in the band, he adds a lot of cool stuff to our new songs that woudn't be there if it wasn't for him. We write the songs using a drum-machine so we can get a guideline for tempos and stuff like that, but then he adds a lot of his own stuff as soon as he gets here to practice with us. Also, he's got that thing for olive oil which I won't get into right now.

G: It certainly helped. His youthful navety has certainly brought a certain zest to the band as a whole. That, and his predilection for musty olive oil, has brought many a moment of joy to the band. And the fact that he's a great drummer. He takes his abuse like a man.

AE: As far as I see it, the reunion wouldn´t have happened if Adde hadn´t joined the band. So yes, you can say he injected new life into the band.

UN: Do you guys have anything planned for a full length yet? The new material is amazing and I'd love to hear more! Any titles, or labels in mind?

JC: Eventually, there will be a full album from GS, hopefully during 2004. We have a bunch of interesting split 7" releases coming up for the remainder of 2003 and another split LP/CD in early 2004 with the Japanese band Butcher ABC. After that we hope to get some show/tour offers to keep us busy during next spring/summer, and after that we'll start to think about making a full album. No specific labels in mind for a full album yet.

G: I think we've got plenty to do this year, what with the little time we have. I'm tempted to say something about the title "Sex-God-Pathology", out soon on Relapse records, but that joke's starting to wear a bit thin. Actually, it isn't. It's equally hilarious each time. And anyone who says otherwise is a heretic and must be burnt at the stake. Seriously, there are a few tentative titles for some new songs, but I can't remember them at the moment. As for labels, we haven't done much looking around. I gather we'll take care of that when we start planning a full-length.

UN: Since bringing out the split cd have any labels other then Razorback been in touch? Would Razorback be an ideal place to realase more material for you guys? I love everything the label has brought out so far! Not one bad cd yet, which is pretty amazing these days.

JC: Some smaller labels have shown interest in releasing GS stuff, but as we have enough upcoming releases to last us for the next 8-9 months, we haven't really started thinking about any offers yet. Razorback is always a possibility as we're really into their spirit and most of the stuff they have released so far is so much better than what comes out on other labels today. They have a great vibe to their label that we're definitely supporting, they're the best!

G: Razorback is indeed one of the best, if not THE best, when it comes to this style of music. I can't speak for the whole band, but I think we'd all be happy to do more work with them.

UN: Did you guys stay in touch with the scene when the band disbanded? You guys definitely have a lot of fans, and I'm sure many bands would list you guys as an influence. Do you find it weird that people would conisder you guys an influence? It has to be a bit humbling.

JC: I pretty much got out of the extreme music scene in 1993 when I got fed up with all the black metal stupidity that started to grow back then. I had not realized that GS was considered an influence to other bands until we found that webpage that Pierre did about us. To me, GS was just a fun thing to do and it still should be based on the fun of making good music. It's quite a weird feeling when people tells you that they have been influenced by something we did mainly for fun and to have a good time. It's very flattering indeed.

G: In all honesty, I can't say I kept especially up to date with extreme metal during the 90's. It's hard to say. My music taste has always been slightly ecclectic and not restricted to one kind of music, so I've constantly listened to extreme metal/grindcore the whole time. I think I just missed a whole lot of new bands that showed up during that time. Rest assured, I've gotten back up to date now. To which I might add, I am thoroughly overjoyed at considering the amount of awesome stuff there is out there in the extreme genre.

UN: Sweden seems to be all about the melody these days, do you miss the dirty days of death metal and grindcore? I don't mind some of the new bands, but if I want to listen to great death metal it doesn't get much better then Carnage, old Entombed, or Dismember. Are there any Swedish bands still playing the old style besides you guys? Any newer bands people need to check out?

JC: Not really familiar with the current state of the metal scene in Sweden nowadays, as I have no interest in that kind of music at all. I'm not very into the melodic thing. The Swedish grind scene seems healthier than ever with lots of cool bands like Nasum, Sayyadina, Birdflesh and RGTE for example. A band that is definitely flying the flag for old Swedish Death Metal is Repugnant from Stockholm, you should check 'em out. Kaamos is another band that are pure old school DM, they are awesome. Overdeth is a must.

G: Kaamos do spring to mind when it comes to brilliant no-nonsense old-skewl death metal. There's a shitload of bands, not necessarily in the death metal genre. Sayyadina (naturally, hehe), Bruce Banner, Overdeth. Good stuff I'd definately recommend. None of this melodic heavy metal nonsense. Can't stand that shit, never have.

AE: Andy's choices for 2003: Overdeth, Kaamos, Sewn Shut and Bullet.

UN: Are you guys happy with how the split cd with The County Medical Examiners came out? They are defintely another awesome Carcass influenced band, and I definitely can't get enough of them. Their debut cd is amazing, are you guys fans? How did the idea for the split cd come about?

JC: All things considered I think it turned out great. The recording sessions were really fun, but the mixing turned out being a nightmare.. but at the end of the day all our hard work paid off. The CD doesn't sound perfect, but that wasn't our intention. I think we ended up with something that was pretty close to what we had in mind when we started recording it. It's 100% self-produced, so it was a learning experience for our chief engineer/bassist Andy. I'm still happy with most of the material, there's a couple of small things I'd like to change, but nothing major.

TCME is indeed an amazing band, and I'm really glad we got the chance to do something with them as they are a busy bunch of people. Dr Fairbanks contacted us and suggested a split CD release on Razorback, and how could we say no?

G: I'm sorely tempted to be an asshole and state that I hate their guts, but that would be predictable. It'd also be a total lie. Then again, that certainly hasn't stopped me before. And yes, I'm personally very happy for the way the CD turned out. That's our problem basically; we keep doing splits with bands that are way better than us and end up being outshined .. TCME, Machetazo, etc. I think the good folks at Razorback thought of the idea, but I'm probably wrong. As usual. Next question.

AE: The whole project with this split w/ TCME, from start to finish, was all fun all the way. We had some troubles mixing and mastering the recording but that´s in the past now.

UN: Are you guys up to date with the interntational grind and gore/grind scene? There are lots of great bands, with new ones popping up all of the time. Are you guys involved with any other bands, other then the obvious one being Birdflesh. I thought I read that one of the members was in Bruce Banner, who are an amazing band.

JC: I'm not following what every band on the planet does, but I try to check out a lot of websites for bands and underground zines and get my share of todays scene that way. I'm really into the Spanish scene with bands like Machetazo, Haemorrhage and Gruesome Stuff Relish. Trying to get my hands on cool Japanese stuff as well. Thrilled to see that Dead Infection got back toghether again. Overall my impression is that the scene is really healthy nowadays, and it feels like that bands are supporting eachother almost like it was in the late 80's/early 90's.

Andy used to be in Bruce Banner, he recently left them to focus on his main band Sayyadina and GS. Me and Grant are only in GS because we're lazy bastards.

G: Hey, didn't I already answer this question? I'm confused. Stop playing mind games with me.

AE: I´m in a band called Sayyadina, kind of wanna-be-oldschool-grindcore mixed with a whole lot of d-beat crust. I was co-singer in Bruce Banner for a year and a half but I left after the tour BB did with What Happens Next? earlier this summer. Otherwise I like a german band called Cyness. Sayyadina are doing a European tour with them later this year.

UN: Do you think the internet is an important tool for promoting bands these days? Some of the newer kids getting into death metal and grind these days may have never even heard of General Surgery had they not have discovered the website. I'm not for the whole downloading thing, but websites for bands are definitely important.

JC: Definitely the most important tool for me nowadays, since I can't be bothered to look up info on other bands any other way. I don't buy any magazines, and I really don't buy too many records either.. So I get most of my new music off the 'net or through trading. I think downloading mp3s is a great way to discover new music. I always buy the record if I think the music is good, because I find the soundquality of mp3s are not comparable to the real thing yet. Having a website for your label/zine/band/whatever is as crucial as sending out 1000s of flyers through regular mail was back 10-15 years ago. It's all about promotion and staying visible.

G: Absolutely. And the ones that long for the days of tape trading through the postal service are talking out of their ass. Granted, the charm of low-key music like this is actually owning the physical stuff and getting goodies in the mail. A milder variant of the record collector mentality. I think it's great. As with everything, the net has made it amazingly easy to communicate, both within the band and outside the band. Not to forget the immense help technology has had on all aspects of our writing music. And if I sound a bit confused and this answer seems a little haphazardly constructed, it's because it's humid and hot as fuck at the moment and I can't concentrate for shit. Well, at least that's my excuse for this time. And now I can't even remember the question.

AE: I think the internet is a great alternative for spreading news about stuff related to music and other things. But I think you should be careful so that you don´t forget about the ones that don´t have access to the internet, and for those the good old snail mail with flyers and so on rules.

UN: Do you think you guys will be around for awhile yet? I'm sure half the battle is just finding a stable line-up. Do you think that you finally have one?

JC: We don't have any plans to go away just yet.. The members are all commited to the band, so I don't see a reason why we shouldn't be around for a while. It's still fun to play, it's still fun to record and hopefully we'll have fun performing live as well. When the fun stops, that's when we stop.

G: I certainly hope so. We get along great with each other, which is one of these things that cannot be underrated. Although I'm counting the days before I get kicked out of the band for being an immense pain in the neck.

AE: Time will tell...

UN: Are there any plans to release the old demos on cd? I definitely think there would be a lot of people interested in picking that up if it ever saw the light of day.

JC: They are all available for download at our website, so people can get them that way. Also, there's some plans releasing them on a double 7" later on, but right now I'm not sure what's happening with that. What most people don't realize is that all the three GS demos feature the same 3 songs in different recordings, and all those 3 songs are on Necrology in way better versions. Releasing them on CD seems redundant IMO.

G: Actually, there is. They might be out on vinyl soon. We'll see how things turn out. Keep an eye on our oh-so-nifty website for updates, pointless and otherwise.

AE: Yes, some italian guy is doing it sometime in someway. I´ve heard...

UN: Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this, feel free to let everyone get in touch with the band.

JC: Get in touch with us and book us for shows. We're cheap and nasty. http://generalsurgery.nu

G: Cheers for the interview. My answers suck. And if I come across as being an arrogant cunt, it's because I am. Don't let that itty bitty fact get in the way of enjoying our music. Oh, and if anyone has a bunny suit they want to sell cheaply, then get in touch.

AE: Yes, please get in touch with me. I need some new friends.