By Aim Interview
Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD. What type of artist are you?
BA: The rockin’ kind! Currently we’re a trio, 2 guitar players & a lead singer. We have friends come in for drums & bass when we play live or go into the studio. Our dayjobs are in boooooring IT consultancy and customer service so we need the music to let the creativity out!
PD. Tell us the brief history of yourself.
BA: The band formed from the ashes of The Borderline Saints in 2014. Since then we’ve released 
the album Voodoo Vendetta and made a video for the single S:t Peter’s antagonist. The video was nearly cancelled after the shoot was raided by police when we were shooting on a rooftop, and questions were asked when filming night time at the gates of an unnamed German church. We’ve also played at the Scifi-World, opening for actor Billy Boyd’s band Beecake, when the convention was held in our home town Malmö. Last milestone was a mini-tour in Portugal May 2017.
PD. Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
MG: The musical output is inspired by bands like Green Day, Metallica, In Flames, My Chemical Romance and Mustasch, which might be a weird mix, but I guess that’s what characterises By Aim.
MB: The creative inspiration comes generally from strong storytelling, whether it might be a movie, books, computer games etc. it’s the intriguing stories that inspire most.
DP: The song melodies get their shape from flirting with Volbeat & Van Halen amongst others. Some songs might have a more raw approach like Metallica & Danko Jones.
PD. What are your dreams and goals?
BA. Well, we’re wise enough not to quit our dayjobs, so it would probably seem like we don’t dare to dream big. We’d love to play at the legendary venue KB in our home town, opening for a cool band like Mustasch or Millencollin. Playing at Sweden Rock or Copenhell would certainly tick a box on the bucket list. One goal we are working on is to keep going abroad to play now and again, those trips are always special.
PD. Who writes your songs, what are they about?
DP: Usually the guitarists will write some riffs then work out a rough shape surrounding that. Then I complain that there’s no room for the vocals and we work it out from there 🙂 . The lyrics are often inspired by feelings and life events, usually sprinkled with a generous amount of attitude and defiance.
PD. How do you promote your band and shows?
MG: Social platforms like Facebook have grown more important, but we find the best way to get 
people to care and to sell tickets etc. is by word of mouth and trying to ”hype up” events.
PD. What do you think about downloading music online?
DP: ”This is the world we live in, these are the hands we’re given”. What’s great about it is the availability, it makes it so easy to promote a song or album. On the other hand, bands like us must get creative when it comes to finding ways to make a profit or at least cover the expenses.
PD. What song do you wish you’d written and why?
MB: Salt n’ Pepa’s ”Push it”. Everyone knows that melody, it’s so catchy.
MG: Smoke on the water. Damn I would be rich…
DP: There are lots of songs I feel that way about, ”Bright Lights” by Matchbox Twenty comes to mind, but there are many more!
PD. What are some of your pet peeves?
BA: The ”perfected” sounds coming out in music today, super compressed, auto-tuned productions really irks us. It’s a bit like rock music lost it’s soul a bit. We like it raw and not over-produced.
PD. What is your proudest moment in music?
BA: S:t Peter’s Antagonist is a highlight, we put a lot of time and effort into this single. The song was mixed by legend producer Beau Hill, and we think we succeeded in making a cool video for it.
PD. So what are you working on at the moment?
BA: We are busy on two fronts: writing songs for a new album. Our work was delayed due to a 
flood in our rehearsal room, but we are looking to start recording this spring. At the same time we are arranging Rockfest By Aim, together with the organisation Bands of Sweden, at the club Inkonst in Malmö.
PD. Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
BA: Rockfest By Aim, May 26th 2018. Doors open at 18:00! We’ve invited 4 other local bands, OVI Raptor Club, Thungur, Gormogons and Nilles, for an epic night of diverse rock music. If you’re near Malmö, and even remotely into rock music you cannot miss this! For merely 140 Swedish crowns you will get an unforgettable night. You will not find any event like this in the region!
By Aim links:
Band location – Lund/Malmö, Sweden
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Find out more about By Aim at Last Fm
