A Chat with Blindside's Christian Lindskog

Blindside’s back after an extended break with their new album With Shivering Hearts We Wait, released Summer 2011.  I got a chance at a recent Blindside concert to talk a little with lead vocal Christian Lindskog.

First of all I have to say the show was amazing. If you haven’t had a chance to go to one then do your best to get there, you won’t regret it. I love the fact that they are starting to add more electronic into their music and to hear it live was awesome.

IchthusPunk : Your new album seems to be about triumph, what was your inspiration behind it?

Christian:The thing about us, we don’t really know what we’re doing. When we write it’s almost like we throw bricks in a big pile and step back to see what we built. We go with a feeling and we’re like this song should be first and this should be last. Like bloodhounds we try to get a trace of where is this album leading us.

Christian Lindskog – lead vocals

But I do think there is a connection between the first and the last song.

This album is a lot about dying to yourself.

IP: Do you have a favorite song off the album?

C: I think the last song (There Must Be Something In The Wind) is my favorite.

IP: How has it been touring in the states again?

C: Good.

IP: Favorite part of the tour so far?

C: Dayton.

When we first came to the states (talking about their first tour in the USA), there was a family that took us in, we had a tour we thought, but once we were here we didn’t have a tour, the guy who was booking us never returned our call. So we were sitting here in Dayton, OH at this family’s house and we were like I guess we’ll go home and then all of a sudden all these calls started coming in of people wanting to book us so we ended up playing forty shows that summer. So it turned out to be a real good tour. (At the show in Dayton, the family that helped Blindside during their first tour was there. Christian told the story on stage of how they helped him and then he dedicated a song to them. It meant a lot to him to be playing in a town that held special memories for the band.)

Tomas Naslund – bass

IP: Where do you think God is leading you with your music?

C: We never know.  I think He leads us with peace and I think there’s peace with where we’re going right now, we’ll see.

IP: So you guys were gone for a very long time, what are the changes you’ve noticed when you came back in yourself, band, etc.

C: We’ve definitely changed as people, some of us have kids now, we’re older. But apart from that we’re still good friends. I love all the guys from the band, same guys.

IP: Your music seems to be a little more upbeat.

C: Yeah, I don’t know if that was a conscious decision, uh maybe.

After talking about his music, Christian and I started talking about being a Christian and what it means to him. He mentioned how it seems people trivialize the relationship.  “I’m not saying that we should make it more difficult but it’s just like oh Jesus, happy clappy. Sometimes I think a lot of people have a hard time relating to that,” he said.

Our relationship with God is The Great Romance. It’s why a lot of Christian songs can double as love songs. Christian said in his songs he tries to portray that Romance, that true undefiled love.

My Alibi

He talked about My Alibi and how the song is about that Romance. He told me they were at a studio, laying down the track and the lyrics weren’t done. Christian said he was stressing about, but then they started to listen to the track. He said, “we just started laughing and dancing and all of a sudden it was like

Marcus Dahlstrom – Drums

everything just fell off of me and I was like oh my gosh, that’s what the song is about. We make it more complicated than it is.” Our relationship with Christ is as simple as dancing with Him. (If you haven’t heard this song, check it out. It’s beautiful. My personal favorite)

Faith

Christian grew up in a Christian home, which is unusual in Sweden. Only 4% of people in Sweden are Christian. He doesn’t remember when he got saved because he grew up in it, but he does remember certain times were he really felt God. He talked about how when he was a kid he was constantly losing things and he would say a prayer. “So many answers to my prayers, I’m so thankful,” Christian said.

Simon Grenehed – guitar

The friends he had were not Christian, so he felt alone at church. His parents didn’t force him to go. He said they always told him he had to make his own decisions. They invited him to go, but it was never a forced decision. Even though he felt alone at church, Christian said he went because he always felt the presence of God.

“We’re a band that believes in God and that is so weird in Sweden so they asked How Does that Work. People have an image of what a Christian is, you don’t swear, you don’t drink, you don’t do that, you don’t do this.The Christ that I fell in love with growing up gets lost in all those I can’t do this, I can’t do that. People talk more about that than they talk about the Christ who died for us. It’s a tragedy.”

Christian Lindskog is a Social Hazard. He’s breaking norms in Sweden and he’s letting God lead his life and his music. It was really awesome getting to talk to him. If you haven’t heard his stuff, check him out. He’s real about his music and he’s real about his faith.

Related articles

• Blindside Create a Mini Movie With ‘Our Love Saves Us’ — Video Premiere (noisecreep.com)