SOILWORK guitarist Peter Wichers is featured in a new interview with Greg Pratt for Exclaim.ca. An excerpt from the discussion is available below.

Pratt: So why did you return to the band?

Wichers: "Me and [vocalist] Bjorn ["Speed" Strid] have kept in touch ever since I left Soilwork and wanted to work together at some point, which we did on the Nuclear Blast record I did [Nuclear Blast Allstars, a Nuclear Blast 20th-anniversary all-star CD Wichers put together]. After that we were talking about maybe doing something a little bit different than Soilwork, something that was metal mixed with Southern rock and almost a little bluegrass twist to it, with Bjorn singing a little more melodic. Then Soilwork had a line-up change; he approached me and asked me and we started toying with the thought of me coming back to Soilwork. My wife kicked me in the ass and told me that's what I should do and since I had been cooped up in the studio for two or three years here, I accepted it and the rest is history."

Pratt: That's a nice twist: not to stereotype, but the wife generally wants the guy to not be in the touring rock band.

Wichers: "Yeah, obviously it's a tough life to be married and be on the road, it's not a lot of fun, but I have a very supportive wife. Most people in Soilwork are married now too. They're hard to come by but you definitely want to hold on to those that can deal with us doing something like this."

Pratt: What did you think of the one Soilwork album you weren't on?

Wichers: "That seems to be a popular question [laughs]."

Pratt: I'm just curious; you're in the band, then you sit back and listen to a CD you're not on - it must have been kind of weird.

Wichers: "Yeah, yeah. It still to me sounds like Soilwork. I'm not saying this because I'm not part of it, but I think that record is a little bit safe. I think they have some great moments on it, but I think for the future we're going to take a different direction for Soilwork. Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] is going to get a bit more space to play more drums, there are going to be more guitar solos, we'll maybe be a little bit more technical and getting back to how Soilwork used to be, say, maybe back in the Natural Born Chaos and Predator's Portrait days."

Go to this location for the complete interview.