This year’s edition of the Sweden Rock Festival takes place on June 5–8, 2024, and we’re gearing up with interviews with the bands performing. Next up is Svarta Sanningar, where Rocknytt’s Effie Trikili asked some questions to the band’s guitarist, Jonas Persson.

Welcome to Sweden Rock Festival! How does it feel to play at Sweden’s biggest rock festival?
It’s going to be incredibly fun to kick off the summer together with lots of people who love hard rock and the occasional beer.

What can the audience expect from your performance at Sweden Rock?
Svarta Sanningar, demons, and devilry, of course. 🙂

How hard is it to put together a great setlist for a festival performance?
It’s challenging when you have a fixed playtime. Some of our songs are pretty long, so we have to puzzle things together to make it work—and make sure all the favorites are included. Dramaturgically, we usually play the songs in the order they were released, as we package everything into chapters.

Are there one or more songs that you always play live, songs you can’t skip?
There are a few, like “Pentagrammet,” which is on our first EP. It was the first song we wrote and paved the way for us. We’ve also done an acoustic version of it, which was fun—maybe there will be more of that in the future?

Which of your songs do you enjoy performing live the most?
It’s almost always a new song. For instance, it’s going to be really exciting to play our new song “Materian & Antimaterian” at SRF.

Are there any artists you plan to see while you’re there?
We’ll be around for the entire festival—Alice Cooper, The Hives, Bruce Dickinson, Riverside, and, of course, all the amazing bands on the NEMIS stage.

How does playing festivals compare to playing clubs or arenas?
Festivals are a rare place where souls meet in unity. It’s a broader opportunity for us to reach people who haven’t discovered us and our music yet.

What makes for a great live show/performance, in your opinion?
When the band and the audience are on the same wavelength, it becomes magical. It needs to have great sound and tight playing. Of course, a massive production like Rammstein’s show at Ullevi in 2022 helps, but that’s a different kind of experience.

What band or artist would people be surprised to learn you listen to?
I listen to a lot of music that surprises people. Most recently, it was probably The Wannadies that caught people off guard.

What was the last album you listened to in its entirety?
Tiger Lou – Acts. I got my hands on it on vinyl. It’s an amazing project band, and I was lucky enough to see them live once.

Name a concert you’ve attended that made a big impression on you and why.
In 2001, I saw TOOL at the Hultsfred Festival. I hadn’t listened to them much before, but I remember it was something entirely new to me, and I was completely captivated by the music.

What’s the greatest guitar solo of all time?
David Gilmour’s slide in “High Hopes” is enchanting, as is the emotional solo in Anathema’s “One Last Goodbye.”

Do you have any special or “creative” requests in your rider that you can share?
Our rituals are simple: beer, water (non-carbonated), and towels. We might need to add coffee and buns to strengthen ourselves before the ceremonies.

After you leave the stage at Sweden Rock, what do you hope the audience takes away?
We hope they leave with a new favorite band. Maybe we’ll have surprised them and sparked their curiosity to learn more.

Finally, what does the fall look like for Svarta Sanningar?
On May 23, we’re releasing a new song, “Materian & Antimaterian.” The plan is to continue releasing more material throughout the fall—and, of course, to play more live!

Svarta Sanningar performs on Thursday, June 6.