Stefan Blomqvist (Black Paisley)

Interview by Woody

Black Paisley are a new band I think many fans of melodic rock and classic rock will really enjoy. So, I talked to main man Stefan Blomqvist about the emergence of this intriguing new act.

Hi Stefan, you were part of a successful covers band what inspired the move to form Black Paisley? What’s the story behind the birth of the band?

It was more of an evolution. We (the cover band StephMetal) had been playing together for many years and when I played some of the new stuff I had written, during the breaks in the rehearsals, the rest of the guys said: Listen – we should really do something with these songs, they’re great. The formation of Black Paisley was 3/5 of Stephmetal; Myself, the bass player Janne and our drummer Robert. We than added 2 former studio musicians (Ulf and Robert) we knew from friends, and who had recorded several albums before, to upgrade and to get some more experience into the project too.

Who writes the songs for Black Paisley and what was the song writing process like for your new album?

Most of the stuff is written by me. It usually works out that I present an idea of a song that is 80% ready, as a simple demo on guitar and song.  Then we jam, arrange, and finalise the song together as band. It’s an interesting process because a song that started out as a slow ballad could turn into an up-tempo riff rocker during the jam process.

There is a mix of styles in your sound which really does give Black Paisley a broad appeal. What and who were your influences during the song writing?

It’s an interesting comment – because from the beginning the album was meant as an AOR, Classic Rock record – but I realise listening to it myself now that it’s broader than that, touching towards both bluesier heavier rock as on Ordinary day and also towards some modern country rock in tunes like Easy and It Ain’t Over.

I grew up listening to bands like Whitesnake, AC/DC, Zeppelin, Scorpions and Triumph, but more recently I listen a lot to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Dire Straits – so I think that is the base of influencers for myself.

Can you talk about a few of the songs on the album, any stories or meanings behind the songs you think would intrigue listeners?

I like to think that every listener could create their own story when listening to a song, even if that’s a bit of a cliché

Some of the songs are based on live happenings like Kickin’ which I wrote about the time I lived in the UK (good old Maidenhead) during the London riots.

The riff to Run Run Run was written trying out a small Orange Micro Terror amplifier in a small shop, which I evidently had to purchase then!

Will Black Paisley be a live act and is there any plans to play in the UK?

Absolutely a live act – and hope fully in the UK too. We have some smaller gigs planned now in Stockholm and at some local festivals.  It would be great to play in the UK at some point – we played with StephMetal there once and it was great fun.

Given the mix of styles in your brand of melodic rock will future music diversify and throw even more styles into the song writing process?

Could be. My band colleagues have a lot of experiences from other genres too. My personal hope is to make the next record perhaps a little rougher and heavier than this one but still keep the sound and style.

Is there anything else you’d like to add or say to readers?

Being a debuting band like we are it is always great to get feedback both on the songs and on their listener’s favourites to also help Black Paisley in our future direction a bit.

Our humble ambition with this album is to raise enough on sales on Streams, CD’s and merch to fund the next record.