Even when Siena Root first pressed her sound ideas onto records at the beginning of the new millennium, they were hopelessly romantic neohippies. Publications such as the debut "A New Day Dawning" (2004) or "Different Realities" (2009) marked the search for alternative sounds and social solutions. Now they're adding to it: In sound more solid than ever - guitar-organ duels à la Deep Purple and Uriah Heep - the group takes their listeners on "A Dream Of Lasting Peace" on an analog dream journey into a world of peace. Bassist Sam Riffer, drummer Love Forsberg and organist Erik "Erkka" Petersson provide information.
eclipsed: For the new album you loaded a bus with your equipment and drove deep into the Swedish woods to record in the Silence Studios.
Sam Riffer: Yes, "Pioneers" cost us a lot of time back then because we produced it in our own studio. This time we wanted to be quick and precise. "Get to the point," to quote Ritchie Blackmore. (laughs) That's why you're so isolated.
eclipsed: What do you want to express with the album title "A Dream Of Lasting Peace"?
Erik Petersson: Actually, we want people to interpret it themselves. The title came to us when we wrote all the songs, so it reflects the content of those songs. Maybe he's a little hippie, but we like the idea of peace and community. That's the message, too.
eclipsed: Also your new record offers classic hardrock with blues feeling and psychedelic color edges.
Love Forsberg: Yes, we call it the Swedish Root Rock Experience!
eclipsed: How do you see yourselves in the current retro rock boom?
Forsberg: Well, we play a classic style and sometimes we're on the same stage as Deep Purple or Ten Years After, but we never saw ourselves as retro. Listen to our records, on them everything stands for development and experiment.
