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Taken from Issue #3 of The Skammunicator Fanzine

I have a chat to Andreas from Liberator, thanks to Ned Skatella for organising it

What single key element influenced Liberator to start playing 2-tone?
Was it the beat of The Beat, the madness of Madness, The Selecter´s suits or the attack of The Specials? Probably a combination of the four of them, even though people seeing us in the beginning went on about Bad Manners, just because we played a cover of "Lorraine" and because our singer weighed over a 100 kilos.

Can the members of Liberator rely on the band to make their living or do they have other jobs? If so what are they?
The members of Liberator also have other jobs. On a Liberator-free day they can be Teacher, Session musician and Seasonal worker.

How have you found the response in the different continents to the latest album, "Too Much of Everything"?
Difficult to answer. I don't know.

What one band would you give your right arm to play with?
If I gave my right arm then I couldn't play. But we all like Bob Hund a lot.

Describe how you got signed to Burning Heart Records.
Our manager Tobbe, working at Swedish concert-booking company Motor, saw us at an early gig (think it was late ´94) and decided he was going to make us famous, because he thought we deserved it. He had some connections within Burning Heart through working with Millencolin, and BHR only had one ska-influenced band at this time (Chickenpox) and needed more, so everything worked out very good. I guess the only other Swedish record company we could
have persuaded into signing us at that time was Dolores.

Many punters think life on tour is glamorous and yet many bands think it becomes a chore, what's Liberator's view on touring?
It's a chore 23 hours of the typical touring day, and 1 hour of total glamour explosion.

Are any of the members into the scooter scene?
Nope. But if I moved to Lappland (in the north of Sweden) maybe I´d get into the snow-scooter scene.

Does Liberator attract more of the traditional ska fan or people who know little of ska and its origins?
We attract anyone.

With bands such as The Skalatones, Duck Soup, Chickenpox and yourselves ska seems to be strong in Sweden, but what are some bands we may not have heard of that you would recommend?
You might not have heard Monster (made two Clash/Motown-tinged albums and a couple of EPs, some of them on BHR, then sadly split up), Red Stripe Skankers (new unsigned band from Mörarp) and The Cigarres (EP and full-length debut on BHR).

Favourite ska web site?
Eh, I don´t know that many, maybe Ska Wars?

You've mentioned a possible trip down under, is it a realistic option in the near future?
I really hope so, but I don´t know anything yet. We´ve decided to take a touring break to write new songs together with our new members, but if an Australian or Canadian tour was to come up we´d jump on the plane to take us there.

In your opinion is there room for politics in the world of music or do you feel music should just be enjoyed and opinions should be kept to oneself?
These days, playing honest and non-profit hungry music is a political action.

Favourite type/brand of shoe?
I prefer clogs, but I like Camper and Dr Martens as well.

Favourite Swedish City?
For the best soccer go to Gothenburg (ÖIS, GAIS and IFK), for one of the most beautiful capitals in the world go to Stockholm, for walking round in a live medieval museum go to Visby and for the best concerts go to the Öresund region with cities like Malmö (our hometown), Lund(university town) and Copenhagen.

Place you wouldn't go back to?
Can't think of any, as we have never done a bad concert performance. People love us everywhere if they just get out of their houses to see us when we drive by.

Football team you follow?
See Q16, my favourite team is called ÖIS, short for Örgryte IdrottsSällskap, Sweden´s oldest football (soccer) club, founded 1887, colours red and blue, white socks. Known for playing a positive game, dribbling and dribbling and dribbling, and scoring the most wonderful goals.
Have you ever heard of Sven Rydell, Agne Simonsson, Sören Börjesson or Marcus Allbäck? No, I didn´t think so. Our singer likes rugby a lot though, I´m sure he could name a couple of Australian rugby players.

Preferred CDs or LPs?
Idaho "Alas", Low "Christmas", 3Ds "The Venus Trail", Sebadoh "Bakesale", Guided By Voices "Bee Thousand", Thurston Moore "Psychic Hearts", The Beat "I Just Can´t Stop It", Madness "7", Luxuria "Unanswerable Lust", Prefab Sprout "Swoon", Suicide "Suicide", OMD "Crush", John Coltrane "Crescent", Keith Jarrett "Personal Mountains", Joakim Milder "Still In Motion", Miroslav Vitous "Journey´s End", The Specials "In the Studio", Gang Of Four "Entertainment", Built To Spill "Keep It Like A Secret", Shriekback "Jam Science", Soundtrack of Our Lives "Infant Freebase", Lisa Germano "Slide", Pablo Moses "A Song", Bob Hund "Omslag:Martin Kann", The Sea And Cake "The Fawn", Ashtray Boy "The King´s Buccaneer", The Chills "Brave Words", Swans "Soundtracks For The Blind", Liz Phair "Exile In Guyville", The Magnetic Fields "69 Love Songs", The Mopeds "The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of...", The Nooners "The Dator Years", XTC "Black Sea".

These were my answers. I am saxophone player of Liberator, Swedish rock´n´roll band.

www.liberator.se