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portrait2014 02 by stefan johanssonInterview with

Christian Lindell (guitar) from Portrait

PORTRAIT is a classic metal band formed in 2006. Sometimes bordering on the occult considering the atmosphere they create with their infernal music this band is somewhat unique at the Moment. The band had just released a new record, ‘Crossroads’, in April 2014. That said it was quite clear there would be questions I had to ask them and luckily I did get the chance to do so…

Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: Hello. At first how are you and where on this planet are you right now?
Christian Lindell [Christian]: Hello. I am just fine, thanks. We are setting up tour plans for autumn at the moment, which are hopefully to be announced soon. I am in Kviinge in the southern part of Sweden right now.

portrait2014 05 by stefan johanssonRoD: What do you believe in?
Christian: Magic.

RoD: What brought you guys into music?
Christian: In my case one of my older sisters used to play METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, TWISTED SISTER and stuff when I grew up. I “borrowed” some of her LP’s and started to walk further and further away from the oppression of controlled society.

RoD: What was the idea behind your band name?
Christian: Picture was already taken, so we had no choice… No seriously, a friend of mine came up with the band name and wanted to start a STORMWITCH / RUNNING WILD type of band around it, but that never happened, so I stole that too. Just like a portrait/ painting can say more than a thousand words, so can our music, so it is a most fitting Name.

RoD: What are your favourite bands and musicians aside from your influences?
Christian: Hard to say, because I think everything I like has an influence on me in one way or another when writing music. It is never the case of us trying to copy what our favourite bands/ musicians does. It comes from inside and from beyond.

RoD: What is the worst job you ever had?
Christian: I have had some customer service telephone jobs which really were a pain in the ass every day. Can’t understand how I got through that… (yeah I can relate to that I work in technical support and I don`t know how I will survive tomorrow…)

portrait2014 03 by stefan johanssonRoD: What is your favourite song from your new Album ‘Crossroads’ and why?
Christian: If I can only choose one it would be ‘Lily’. It has a very deep and personal meaning to me and it turned out better than I could even imagine. It is also somewhat different from what we have done earlier and I am glad that we proved to ourselves that there are many areas still to explore.

RoD: What`s it like on tour for you? Any rituals before you enter the stage?
Christian: I like it a lot. We don’t have any specific rituals before we hit the stage. Everyone does their thing and respects the others. Apart from that there are of course a lot of drinking and fighting going on. Beating up disco dudes etc… (I really like this comment).

RoD: Where do you get the inspiration for your songwriting?
Christian: It derives from occult practice, both musically and lyrically.

RoD: What do you and the guys listen to on tour?
Christian: We listen to a lot of stuff, like THE RODS, BOSTON, ROOT, JUDAS PRIEST… everything we like basically.

RoD: How do you kill time between venues?
Christian: We sail on, sing a song and carry on, ‘cause we rock.

portrait2014 06 by stefan johanssonRoD: Is there a main songwriter?
Christian: Most stuff is written by me and Anders (drums) and then everyone is involved in the arrangements of things.

RoD: Who did the artwork for ‘Crossroads’?
Christian: A guy named Juanjo Castellano , and we are very satisfied with his work.

RoD: Why did you call the new record ‘Crossroads’? What kind of crossroad do you mean?
Christian: The title has to do with the lyrics of the album and refer mostly to liminal places in nature. This could also give a clue to the concept of the cover artwork… (no shit Sherlock…)

RoD: Are there do`s and don`ts in the tour bus aside the obvious no-big-business rule?
Christian: The only rule is “No sleep at all”.

RoD: What day-jobs do you work in?
Christian: Who said we have day-jobs?

RoD: What song do you want played on your funeral?
Christian: ‘Coming Home’ by IRON MAIDEN.

RoD: Thanks for the time and patience, anything to say to the readers?
Christian: Buy or steal our new album and thanks for the support. Hope to see you on tour soon!

Photos by Stefan Johnasson

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