VOJD's Joseph Tholl: "It's up to the listener in the end. I hear one thing writing a song and the audience hears a completely different thing. That's the thing with music. It changes from ear to ear."
February 16, 2018
Swedish Heavy Metal bandVOJD are a new band in the industry, having recently released their debut album"The Outer Ocean." Metal Temple EditorJean-Francois Poulinrecently had the change to chat with singerJoseph Tholl.
You guys are releasing your first full-length album, how does it feel?
It feels great that the album finally is going to be released after a year in the making. We choose to do all of the recording ourselves. It took time, but was definitely worth it in the end.
How was the recording process after the DEADHEADS Split you guys did in 2016?
We had already started recording drums and some guitars for the album. We did all of our recording ourselves in the house of voodoo studio, that is in our drummer Bentan's basement.
I was wondering what brought upon the changing of the name of the band in 2016? You guys were known as BLACK TRIP but I haven't had the chance to see why you guys did the name change.
To make a long story short. There is a band with the same name from Mexico that own the rights to the name Black trip in the USA. That was one of the reasons. Then both Johan and Sebastian left the band. That made even more obvious for a change of name.
How would you guys describe your sound?
Classic heavy rock maybe. I guess it's up to the listener in the end. I hear one thing writing a song and the audience hears a completely different thing. That's the thing with music. It changes from ear to ear.
A question for Peter, how was the transition of being the drummer for almost a decade for ENTOMBED to being the lead guitarist of this outfit? And how was your experience in ENTOMBED? So highly regarded throughout the Metal World for a number of decades!
I was kind of bored doing the exact same thing playing the drums. I needed the challenge that came with learning to play guitar the right way. I've always been written music on guitar, but to play it properly needed some work. My time in Entombed gave me so much when it comes to the experience of touring and playing big shows. But for now I'm happy playing the guitar.
Where did you guys get the band name? Is it something related to Sweden?
I wrote down hundreds of ideas for names. Googled around and found out they were taken. It's not easy to pick a name for a rock band anymore. When I got the idea for the name Vojd I added a J instead for an I. For several reasons. One is that is more likely no other band spelled the same way. Second it ads a Swedish touch with that spelling.
Where did you guys find your highly talented Joseph Tholl? Such a distinctive voice, something that definitely stands out in your band!
On the 22'nd of July 2011 we did a festival together in Germany. I played with Nifelheim at the time and Joseph was there with Enforcer. I saw that he did backing vocals with them and asked if he wanted to try a demo as a lead vocalist. That was the song Voodoo queen. The rest is history as they say.
What were the bands that influenced you guys and got your thinking about making music?
We all have different influences in the band. And influences change over time. I'm usually more influenced by sounds and feeling in a recording. But bands that have influenced me recently is Roky Erikson, Rory gallagher, ZZ top, Blue öyster cult, Motörhead, Alice Cooper , The hand of doom, Robin Trower and Hurriganes to name a few.
Any plans on touring Europe for the new release?
We would love to come down to Europe and play. Hopefully some booking agents will read this and hook us up.
Any bands or musicians you would like to collaborate with in the future?
I haven't thought about collaborations that much. But you will never know what the future holds.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to interview you guys and I wish you guys all the best!
Thank you for the interview. See you on stage in Europe soon.
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