Warhammer, Reindeer, and Rock: Sabaton’s Pär Sundström Opens Up with Pipeman

0:04 Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio. And I'm here with. Hi, from Sabaton. Nice. Here at Louder Than Life. I'm starting to... I think they should change the name to Hotter Than Life. Yeah, it's very hot. Right? And it was extremely warm when we were on stage. Yeah, I don't know how you do it, man. Well. We cannot not do it.

0:45 Yeah, exactly. The thing is, so we are polar bears from Sweden. Exactly. So we are not really used to this heat. We just come from the summer over in Europe, where it was also hot. It was a heat wave in Europe for a lot of places. I saw you there too. You were at VÃ¥ken, right? Yeah, yeah. I was there. But usually there we played at nighttime. Yeah. So here we play in the middle of the day. And during those hot shows in the summer, we were like, ah... We remember those days when we played in the afternoon, but now we're playing in the night, and then we come here, and now we're playing in the afternoon. I know, right? It's wild. So I got to tell you a story, funny. The last time I interviewed you guys, it was at a show in West Palm Beach. I can't remember if it was a festival or a show.

1:29 That's a long time ago. Yes. Yeah. Joe Akim is who I was talking to. We were sitting just like this. We were behind the stage and like my back was facing the stage and he's there and in the middle of the interview, he's telling me, he's doing this, he's motioning me to move. I didn't know why. He's like, get out of the way. I moved. They were breaking down the stage and the whole back wall fell right where my seat was. Right? He saved my life, basically. Because that thing was falling right on me. In the middle of the air view. Wow. That's the trip. So, luckily, we don't have any stage. It was on the festival. I think it was Warped.

2:11 Was it Warped or what was it? No, no, no. It was with Judas Priest, right? Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, so it was just.... Yeah, I remember where it was. Where there was a crocodile backstage as well. Yes, yes. It's wild, right? Especially where you're from. Yeah, we are not used to that. So I'll tell you, since you're from Sweden, I'll tell you a funny story, because since you and I have never talked. So I went to a wedding in Sweden, up in Uppsala. Okay. And so... At the time, I was a vegetarian. I was married. My wife was a big meat eater. We did a reception and she's eating this meat and I'm like, is that good?

2:56 She's like, yeah. I'm like, you're eating Rudolph. Because Americans have this weird thing about reindeer and the North Pole and thinking it's all just for a cartoon and not real. And so I'm like, she's like, what are you talking about? I'm like, That's reindeer meat. You're eating Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer just to bust their chops. She's like, get the fuck out of here. There's no such thing as reindeer. Oh, wow. Because that's what a lot of Americans think. They think it's a fictional thing for Santa. Oh, no. And I'm like, no, Ng's parents are reindeer farmers. That's reindeer meat. We got two guys from the north of Sweden in the band.

3:38 So, both Chris and Tobbe are guitar players. They are from the very far north, above the polar circle where the reindeers are roaming freely all the time. Right. So, they are very accustomed to see them, you know, everywhere. And, of course, that's what it is up there. Exactly. It's wildlife. Yeah. It's so funny, though. Like, I'm sure you experience it going around the world. It's We live in these bubbles wherever we live and we don't realize what's really out there, you know, everywhere else. I mean, playing heavy metal, we get to see quite a lot. Exactly. And I'm very happy for that. We get to experience a lot of the parts of the world and sometimes the local culture. I mean, yes, we do get to, I mean, we travel around and there's a lot of times when we only see airport and the venue and that's it. But we actually also get to do a lot of stuff. I like also venture out by myself, check out stuff. I take my time when we are touring to investigate and see what the world has to offer.

4:43 So since you've been doing that, like before you went into music and did that, has your attitude changed of what really is happening in other parts of the world that you're not from or the cultures. Or. Like learn things that you probably would have never learned if you just stayed in your own town. Of course. You pick up a lot of stuff. And a lot of this like, you know, you have a distinct like idea. Like over there it's going to be like that. There it's going to be like that. And it's very easy to shatter that, you know. Yes. So there is like, it's no smoke without fire, so to say. So there might, you can find the rumors that sometimes the rumors are true. But very often you find also this contract, you know, it's something different. And it's really nice. And I do believe in a lot of things. So traveling around the world as well. I mean, I think it's very hard to, let's say, become a racist when you are traveling around the world and you meet a lot of people. So I think that is one thing that like sort of tunes down.

5:50 You also see, like I know I've seen, and you probably have too, that Talking about racism, it's like you go to different parts and they view it very differently. Where you go, certain parts are different, you know? Yeah, sure. I mean, but. Yeah, and I do understand also why some people... That's part of what we're singing about. I mean, we sing about military history. In every story in military history, there's always at least two sides. They're both usually right from their own perspective. Exactly. So that's important to know that it's not always black and white when it comes to telling history because it's two sides and they don't like each other. And knowing history, that's why people ask me sometimes, do you think it's important that people know history?

6:32 I think it is. Because the more. If you know a lot about history... There's a chance you understand why some people don't like each other. It's normal that not everybody get along. Maybe the history goes back thousands of years. You guys don't like each other. And I understand now that you guys don't like each other. So, all right, I'm not here to say who's right and who's wrong. I understand you guys. And that's maybe easier. And what I learned is... At least from my side, I don't want to be the, let's say, the observer who judges. We sing about history, but we are not here to tell people who's wrong or right. I mean, that's up to everybody to find out. It's like, here you go, history book. You read it. Afterwards, you can tell.

7:13 You make up your mind who you think was right or wrong in this case. That's what I kind of. I love your attitude because it really is perception sometimes. It's kind of like I look at even with parenting. Your kids grow up. I've grown adults. They have a very different perception of their childhood than I did. And that's so normal in families. So that holds true with everything you're talking about. So I really love the way you think as far as that goes. And I think that does too partially come from studying history and traveling, the combination of the two of them.

7:53 So I'm very happy about getting the opportunity to do this. I mean, we're traveling around and we sing about this and we meet a lot of people, we hear a lot of stories. And in the end, I feel that this gave me a lot. Of course, knowing all these stories, I also kind of figured out how evil the human beings are, which is, of course, the negative. But it doesn't change that I know it. I mean, I don't know if I would be so much happier if I didn't know about it. I mean, stick the head in the sand and pretend that there's no evil in the world is also maybe not the solution here. So, at least I know. And. I can respect some people. You think like that. You think like that. I know that you guys are not going to agree. I'm not going to tell you who's right or wrong. I'm just going to be over here.

8:40 Respect the key word. Respect somebody else's opinions instead of trying to. Just change them. Maybe if you listen to them, you'll learn why they believe what they do. I have a brother. He has this philosophy. If people don't agree with his opinion, they're uneducated and uninformed. And I sit there and I say, or. I give a bunch of ors. I'm like, or they grew up in a different place than you. They had a different upbringing, different education, different job, or 10,000 other ors. And he'll still go, no, they're just uneducated. And to me, what you just said is absolutely perfect. Those are the people that are uneducated and uninformed. Because you have to understand other people in order to be able to really be informed. And so that's what's great about your music, too.

9:35 Because you're telling the story in a good way. So that maybe you're touching on these people that... They wouldn't read a book and get it, but they listen to your songs and maybe they form their own belief system, their own perception through music. Yeah, I mean, we're not here to tell people how to think, vote, dress, say, whatever. But we talk about history, or we sing about history, and then people make up their own mind what they do with it. So, in our songs, we scrape the surface, we tell a short, brief thing about the story.

10:15 If people want to know more, everything. to know about it is out there to study more and we just can create a little bit of a starting interest. So interestingly enough, talking about songs, today's a special day, right? You dropped a new song with Pop Evil. Yeah, that's true. So that's kind of cool. Tell us about that song. Tell us how the collab with Pop Evil came about. It's Templars, and the song Templars is the leading song from our latest album Legends. So it was the first song that we felt that we had the topic for when we were working on the music. It felt like, ah, we know the topic immediately when the music was being written.

11:04 And then it was like, okay, so if we are doing Knights Templars, then it works that we do the entire album titled Legends. And so it was kind of the leading song leading into that. And then at some point we're talking about, we're going to the US doing a tour, and who are we touring with? The idea of Pop Evil came up, and we're like, yeah, but we need then to create a stronger band between the two bands, and Well, maybe we do a song together. And we looked what was the most popular song on the album. It's Templars. So, all right, maybe we do that one. And there's a little small joke to it. If you add an E, then it becomes Pope Evil. And the Templars were kind of betrayed by the Pope, you know.

11:53 Wow, I didn't even think about that. That is cool. Tiny little thing. See, I love those little things like that. Uh, well, I, I gotta tell you, again, mad respect that you performed here at Larry and Life under these conditions, and, man, I look forward to seeing a lot more of you, and I can't wait till we have more music from you, cause, There will be more coming, don't worry. And I, I always, I find it interesting that bands from your part of the world, they always do talk about history, not always, but a lot of them do talk about history, and I find that fascinating. Like, What a way to tell the story of history.

12:34 Yeah. Well, music is one medium to tell stories. Exactly. I think that's what it's good for. And it's great therapy, too. It also, it's great for all us people that may not like each other to have a common friend in the band. And maybe then we could work out our differences through the commonality of your songs. Let's see. Let's see. I hope we can be a little part of making something better in this world. Well, I think you are. And that's what I appreciate about you most. And the last thing is, we were talking before about you do art.

13:16 And especially, like, while you're... Not music art, because that's art. But. you do art while you're on tour? I would call it. Well, maybe it's art in a certain way, but yeah, it's the rock and roll of 2026. So instead of all the party things that we used to do back in the days, nowadays I bring some little Warhammer creatures and painting them sometimes before I go to bed. Just to clear my mind. Usually my mind is a little bit messy. So I need a little time to wind down and then painting a little bit before I go to bed is usually the perfect rounding off of a day.

13:58 I love it because I love hearing what music artists, what they do when they're not doing music. Because you're just human beings, normal people that this is what you do, but it doesn't mean you don't do anything else. No. So I can't wait to see some of that art if you put it out there because I'd like to see that. Let's see. Thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. Thank you. Thanks for having me. You got it. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY radio.