Baptism In August

"Baptism In August" is a relatively new band. What´s the background history?

Well, the band consists of "T" and "L" from bands like "The Reclaimed", "Crazymen Band", "Panda In Trouble", "Midnightday" etc.The band is basically another sideproject to the already existing bands we play in. About two years back we started to jam mostly only bass and drums. The name reflects on John the Baptist and the coming of Jesus Christ. We are originally from Motala, yet now we have our base in both Stockholm and Motala.


How would you describe the sound of "Baptism In August"?

Basically instrumental songs and pieces performed mostly with bass and drums. So far we have about 7 songs connected to the project. One of the first pieces we jammed on and which we have recorded in various alternative takes is the song called "Holy Smokeland". One can ofcourse make up your own story about the meaning of the song, yet it´s a tribute to the everlasting fire of God, our Lord, and ofcourse if you also know your "Space and Stoner-Rock"-history a twist with words that perhaps can make you associate to bands like "Sleep", "Kyuss" and early post-rock-bands like "Bark Psychosis" and "Directions" from the early 90´s.

What separates "Baptism In August" from the other bands and musicals projects you are involved in?

Perhaps that we never had any intentions to make "Baptism In August" a "real band", just jam and see what kind of music that would appear. A bit like "Free-Jazz-bands" perhaps. It´s also good to have the band because we have many ideas and instrumental pieces that doesn´t fit in with our other bands. "The Reclaimed" is working on new stuff but that has more vocals and normal rock-structure. With "Panda In Trouble" there is a more "crazy and insane" kind of vibe to the music which doesn´t fit with
the mostly instrumental parts that we incoperate in "Baptism In August". Also "T" and "L" has already made songs with vocals and lyrics that would easily fit as instrumental parts, so in "Baptism In August" we can go back and take riff´s from our other bands and make a new song out of it. You can see it as an "alternative take" or a remix if you would like.



Being a low-key-project do you still have any plans to play concerts in the future?

Yeah, sure. As we have jammed some pieces during the summer, we now have at least a small core of let´s say 4-5 tracks that we know how to play. As there is only two of us it´s quite easy to jam new ideas. We doesn´t have to practice too much as the songs are in a "Free-Jazz" kind-of-form, which means that each time we play a song it will differ a bit from the previous jam. That makes it a bit more interesting than the "more organized" music we usually play. Let´s put it this way, in "Baptism In August" we can skip the obvious rock-structure of "Intro - Chorus - Refrain - Bridge - Chorus" etc. Most songs have a floating pulse to it. We let the music do the talking. Sometimes a song is 5 minutes long, sometimes 8 minutes. It depends on the mood that we are in.

You have released some underground music-videos for some of your first songs. Will there be a proper CD or LP release in the future?

As we take it as it comes, we will see. We also live far away from eachother and everyone has their families and other bands, so we take it as it comes. We don´t have a "10-Year-Plan" or obligations other than to jam and play when time allows. We have already recorded about 7 pieces of music, and perhaps 3-4 of these are good enough to put on a "official release" at some point. At the moment we think that perhaps a LP-Vinyl and a maybe a Audio-Cassette release would be more interesting than a CD. We will see. With "Baptism In August" we have more time and less obligations than with our other projects and bands. So we will take it as it comes.

Finally is there any links that people can check out if they want to hear "Baptism In August"?

Sure. A brand new instrumental piece called "Piece Of Mind" here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x694wzv


Check out an alternative version of "Holy Smokeland" here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4nl398


Also check out the track "Million Light Years Ahead" here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x46nlfu


And finally the track "Planet Desert Smoke":

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3soaq2



See you on the road in 2018!


For more info:

http://www.dailymotion.com/baptistinaugust