What's Cooking with Terrible Feelings

(picture taken by Hugo Nabo)

Sometimes bands form because of proximity, musical tastes or politics. Other times, like in the case of Terrible Feelings, it is typography and Holy Mountains. Recently I had the chance to catch up with Terrible Feelings and find out what's cooking with them.

Terrible Feelings is an unsigned Swedish band (first mentioned here) that features Manuela's vocals, Andy's drums, Anton's guitar and Willy's bass. Terrible Feeling's myspace page mentions that the band "gestated in the summer of '09 whilst bonding over the common vices of typography, chorus and Sleep's Holy Mountain." I inquired about what this meant in layman's terms:

Andy is the oldest in the band, and he knows every font there is. Anton and Manuela both claim to have a great interest in graphic design and like collecting flyers. Andy used to listen to Sleep 12 years ago, now it's only Anton and Willy who are actually into that kind of stoner-metal. Anton and Manuela used to have a band together, and had been talking to Andy about starting up something new. The three had a drunken chat about getting together for a rehearsal, and then Willy jumped through the room yelling "I wanna play bass! I wanna play bass!", and there it was.

The best chorus song in the world is "Jag är så ensam i natt" by Lädernunnan (later known as The Leather Nun). Another great band that used a lot of chorus is No Hope For The Kids. Chorus is awesome!

I guess Sleep, chorus and typography mildly outline the severe mental damage we all share. We all talk all the time. Seriously, we talk ALL the time. Bla bla bla!

Terrible Feelings recently finished a self-titled demo, which I haven't heard in its entirety yet. If the demo is anything like "Hollow" and "Blank Heads" the listener can be sure it will be guitar driven, distorted and fast-paced but not enough to drown out Manuela's gritty vocals or the group sing-along choruses. You can buy a copy of the demo in Malmo or Rundgang. Those who live elsewhere can email the band (terriblefeelings@gmail.com) or myspace message them and Terrible Feelings will "sort you out." Aside from the demo, what is the band cooking up for us musically?

We're gonna try and define our music and find our style. Now it's like we're so excited about anything (the best part about new bands!) so anything goes. I guess after a while you become self-aware and cynical and bitter and boring.

Most of us play in other bands that take time away from Terrible Feelings, and vacation and work has kept us from doing much so far this summer. But we're gonna play two small festivals in Sweden at the end of July, and then hopefully some more around Scandinavia in August. We're gonna record again in the not too distant future. The last recording was done really fast, like over six hours, so we'll put some more detail into the next stuff. We've got lots of ideas for new songs.

If you are in Stockholm on the 30th of July you can catch Terrible Feelings at the WWDIS Summer Weekend 2010. The next night they will be in Sandviken. To wrap up our brief conversation I asked the band to tell me what they have been cooking in the more literal use of the word. After some confusion, criminal behavior and vegan burger talk it came to light that Willy has been cooking up some roasted vegetables:

I don't think we've ever cooked together. Anton's kitchen is pathetic, it's so small that he avoids cooking in every way. Manuela never cooks, but she likes eating out a lot. It's uncertain whether Willy cooks or not. We have no idea. Andy is a great cook and has a great kitchen. Lately he's been cooking vegan burgers every day. Normally he eats pretty well and cares about nutrition, but now he's really low. The only food related thing about this band that comes to mind is that Willy loves to steal moccachino coffee from some kind of vending machine at Anton's work, where we rehearse.

And here's a recipe from Willy, who apparently does cook (???).

Willy: I can make mean roasted vegetables in the oven. The trick is: the bigger chunks the more authentic rural feeling you get. Chop up some potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and red onions. You really should just split the onions in half because it looks better. Throw in a bunch of garlic, or really whichever vegetable you like. Soak it all in olive oil and salt and thyme (important for the rural feeling) and put into the oven at 175 degrees (celsius, 350 fahrenheit).

You will know it's done when the carrots are easily impaled with a fork or other pointed thing, since they are the last to become soft and nice. Some form of sour cream-based sauce is nice with it, preferably with fresh chives in it. Chives, oh chives.

Here is "Hollow" and "Blank Heads" courtesy of the Swedesplease Blog:
Terrible Feelings-Hollow
Terrible Feelings-Blank Heads