The album "Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk)" was released in 1994 on the legendary record label Telegram and got fantastic reviews. Souls was founded in 1991 by Cecilia Nordlund (vocals and guitar), Andreas Catjar (formerly Danielsson - guitar) and Johan Karlsson (bass). At a time when the Swedish indie pop was well-groomed and Anglophile came Souls raw, tough and fresh music "like a giant dick up the ass of indie pop music," as Cecilia put it in an interview.
The debut album "Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk)" was produced by the mythical Steve Albini and released in 1994 on the legendary record label Telegram. The album was mixed and mastered for vinyl by Mr Albini but unfortunately the vinyl death occurred at the same period so there were only crappy cd released of the masterpiece.
Souls split up in september 1997 after a long arena tour in the US, Canada and England, supporting BUSH, Jesus Lizards and Veruca Salt.
The band re-united in 2016 and went back to Chicago and remixed the album with Steve Albini and finally released it as vinyl in december 2016 through Rundgång Records.
Memories from the recording of Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk) at Starec Studio in Växjö 1994.
Andreas: One day before the recording my ribs were kicked broken by a door man
so I made the whole recording lying down with a lot of pain. I hope you can hear
some of that pain on the recording but, in a good way.
Steve: There were a lot of flies in the dormitory but the Studio was well equipped and the
sound was really good. Lennart Schander, that owner the Starec Studio, had a huge
collection of polka albums from 70´s - 90´s that he had produced. On the back of every one there was a picture of him by the mixer, always Lennart sitting at the same spot. Only the hairstyle and clothing changed during the years.Lennart had built the studio to suit himself, and one of his innovations was a single giant electric switch, like Dr Frankenstein, that turned the whole studio. It just needed lightning.
Johan: We ate extremely lousy food so we were all very gassy, sleeping in the same room shaped like a submarine without windows. What I recall the most is how good, intense, and hard we sounded without overdubs. I was standing there with my bass in the metal workshop with Bo Peter, while my amp and the rest of the band were in other rooms. The experience of recording with Steve truly made me understand how a recording should be done. Very memorable the drumskins on the floor with microphones pointing to them, to make that big sound. We were free, young, pretty wild, and pissed off; Steve captured that.
Cecilia: I remember a stray dog that used to run around the building. We started to
call it Tjitchtshcjiy for fun and that´s how we end up naming the album. I also remember when Steve made me sing through at least 20 different microphones before we found the ultimate one.
Bo Peter: You can hear the sound of my Ludwig Kit, reflected from forklifts, welding units and and sheet metal walls. At that moment, as the metal workshop turned into a drum room, I was also steel.
CREDITS
Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk) - Redux
CECILIA NORDLUND – VOCALS, GUITARS, METALS
ANDREAS CATJAR – GUITAR, VIBES OF DOOM, KORG MS20, METALS
JOHAN KARLSSON – BASS, METALS
BO PETER – DRUMS, SNAREDRUM
FREDRIK NORBERG – VOCALS AND METALS ON FISHBOWL AND LADYBIRD
ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY SOULS EXCEPT
LADYBIRD; LEE HAZELWOOD (GAZELL MUSIC/SCAN.FRIED MUSIC)
since the master tapes with Danskin and Ö is lost the songs could not appear on the album
PRODUCED AND MIXED BY SOULS AND STEVE ALBINI
RECORDED AT STAREC STUDIO VÄXJÖ 6/8-14/8 – 1994
SOUND ENGINEER: STEVE ALBINI
SOULS were a Swedish indie-rock band that existed 1991-1997.
Singer Cecilia Nordlund and guitarist Andreas Catjar met in high school and started playing together. Bassist Johan Karlsson saw them perform and asked them if they wanted to start a band. After a period of experimentation they found their own rough style or as Cecilia described it in an interview," (it’s ) like a giant dick far up in the indie pop music Ass"
The band were at that time based in Helsingborg, and on their first live performance at the venue Röda Kvarn they were discovered by music agent Anders Jönsson. He had them record a demo at Popfabriken, Klippan and the plan was to find a big name producer to record an album and lock a record deal.
Coming up empty at home in Sweden, Jönsson finally decided to send the demo tape to Chicago, USA.
Two weeks later on a gut feeling, Jönsson picked up the phone and called Steve Albini, the legendary producer who’d worked with Nirvana, The Pixies and PJ Harvey at the height of their powers. After hearing the tape, Albini jumped at the prospect, and traveled to Sweden to master their first album.
The result was the 1994 debut "Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk)". It got good reviews in the Swedish media, but the record didn’t sell.
Jump forward one year, Telegram records decided to record the follow up album. But the new recordings, done at Albini’s home studio in Chicago, were a disapointment. Coming home, SOULS discarded most of the songs and hired producer Nille Perned to finish the album.
"Bird, Fish or Inbetween" was released in 1996, and got even more stellar reviews than Tjitchischtsiy. SOULS got an American record and launched a massive US tour, playing to huge audiences, giving their all.
But the pressure and the pace had taken their toll. Coming home, Cecilia decided she’d had enough, and dropped out of the band september 1997. Without her, the band ceased to exist.
In 2016 the band re-united
credits
released December 22, 2016
Tjitchischtsiy (Sudêk) - Redux
CECILIA NORDLUND – VOCALS, GUITARS, METALS
ANDREAS CATJAR – GUITAR, VIBES OF DOOM, KORG MS20, METALS
JOHAN KARLSSON – BASS, METALS
BO PETER – DRUMS, SNAREDRUM
FREDRIK NORBERG – VOCALS AND METALS ON FISHBOWL AND LADYBIRD
ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY SOULS EXCEPT
LADYBIRD; LEE HAZELWOOD (GAZELL MUSIC/SCAN.FRIED MUSIC)
SOULS through - Johan Karlsson, Cecilia Nordlund and Andreas Catjar formed as a band in 1991, in Helsingborg, Southern
Sweden.
They released several ep’s and two studio albums, ”Tjichischtsiy (Sudêk)” in 1994, ”Bird, Fish or inbetween” in 1996), on Telegram Records/Warner Music/Trauma/Interscope, and toured extensively in their native Sweden as well as in the UK and USA....more
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