NEWSLETTER 036
12/3/25 - FEELS LIKE HEAVEN INTERVIEW / VOLVO (ON THE ROAD) OUT NOW
Hath hell frozen over? TWO newsletters within a two week period? That’s right….we’re the sons of the KID DYNAMITE DVDs you didn’t burn1 , and were here with a purpose.. to tell you about our newest legionaires.. FEELS LIKE HEAVEN from Stockholm. This is the begining of the SchEMO renaissance…..the Schemevolution Winter, if you will.
On January 1st, 2026, we will be releasing their debut LP, Within Dreams. This is going to be the first proper LP that we are releasing, and we think we should let the music speak for itself…..check out the first song from the record Volvo (On The Road), wherever you stream music.
The band being the ever thoughtfull guys they are put together this playlist to showcase / highlight / give due credit to some songs that influence them to do what they do… so give it a whirl and elevate your taste a little bit.
We’ll elaborate on the full LP when its out on January 1st, that being said we both think its got SOMETHING. For now you can listen to Volvo in your shitty car with the windows down on a cold winter night with the heat blasting, and take life in. Then remember that it’s time to cut the emo bullshit and put on the ENUF demo.
You’re still not sold on this shit???? OK OK fine…..here is an interview with Emmanuel from FEELS LIKE HEAVEN givin u some more perspective and da low down on the band:
Where do we find you right now? What were you doing before we rudely interrupted you with this interview?
Me and my girlfriend are sitting on the couch watching a game show on TV called ”På Spåret”. We just had tacos for dinner.
You live in Sweden and to our knowledge you grew up there..what was your experience with finding hardcore or punk in Sweden? Is it something you would consider accessible to your average youth?
I’ve spent the majority of my life in Stockholm, Sweden, but I’m actually Swedish-American and lived in Boston for a while as a kid. Punk and metal culture has always been pretty big in Sweden but it’s cooled down in recent years. My dad was a big metalhead and we used to listen to black metal at home when I was a kid. He showed me THE MISFITS and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and it blew my mind. I started doing research on my own and found out about hardcore, specifically US hardcore. I didn’t really realize hardcore existed in Sweden until later on. I feel like every single guy my age listened to guitar music growing up but I think it’s seen as a bit freakier for a kid today to listen to hard music. I feel like it’s coming back tho, we have an emo kid epidemic in Sweden and they are finding out about hardcore shows. It’s so sick.
How did FEELS LIKE HEAVEN get together and start making music? Was there an intention or a specific mission in mind when you guys got the band going?
It started out with me writing a couple songs by myself and asking a couple of the guys if they wanted to practice the songs with me and it kind of just went from there. I’ve always been drawn to the melodic sides of hard music. Every time I pick up a guitar I naturally play melodic stuff and I guess I just had to get some of it out of my system. I think it’s easy to confuse melodic with easy listening tho, like melodic music can go from MARIAH CAREY, to NEIL YOUNG, all the way to SHATTERED REALM. Even though we have more melodies and open chords than bands we play shows with FEELS LIKE HEAVEN are 100% hardcore.
If you could boil the band down to three musical influences that you strive to remain true to...
I feel like I personally have a bunch of bands that have influenced me a lot but how they actually show up in the music is hard for me to say. But if I have to say three bands today I’d say THE HATED, SUPERTOUCH, and YOUTH OF TODAY.
The reason for us being here..FLH has a full length record coming from Scheme records on January 1st, 2026, and it’s called Within Dreams..Obviously we really like it but now that we’re in the final run up..what do you think of the sum of your work? How long has this idea of an LP been in the works / was this collection of songs always intended for a release of this nature? Are we doing a good job so far? Are you mad at me?
We had so many different ideas for what to do with these songs. For a while we were even thinking about doing like three connected EPs. Some of the songs on the LP are pretty old and we have even played two of them live for a few years by now lol. We have just been a pretty slow working band up until this past year where we’ve been working much harder. With all of my bands I have always had the ambition of writing music that I want to listen to and I feel like we did that with this record. I guess now we’ll see if other people like it too or if we have bad taste.. Either way I’m very greatful someone even wanted to do something with this record. I would only hate you if you killed my family.
Did writing these songs feel like it came naturally or was it a major difficulty in any way..you know musically..lyrically..even just getting it to sound how you wanted?
Writing the songs for the record was a pretty natural but slow process, most songs start with me writing music in my living room. Usually when I write I get manic and can’t stop writing, it’s like I need to finish the song or my night is ruined. It’s just that I don’t have manic periods that often now. I love writing lyrics, and I read a lot. I’ve been slowly writing a novel for a while but it sucks ass so it’ll never be released. I think the hardest part of making the record was titles and artwork. Thats always where I get stuck and it can also make me pretty unmotivated sometimes.. I think it came really good, especially when we started bouncing ideas with you guys.
I watched a video of you guys covering the intro of Take Me Away by JUDGE and my brain parasites had me sitting here for a solid five minutes trying to figure out if it was JUDGE, the CRO-MAGS or ONE LIFE CREW...what’s the best song by all three bands?
JUDGE - Like You (It still gives me goosebumps)
CRO-MAGS - The Paths of Perfection (Haribol)
ONE LIFE CREW - Emo Faggarios (I think they wrote this song about Feels Like Heaven but idk)
I think it probably doesn’t need to be said by us but Sweden has always had impactful hardcore music from the dawn of the scene but in the modern time how would you describe what you’ve got going as a scene / scenes? Do things feel like they’ve been going particularly well as of lately for the various hardcore scenes in the country?
Definitely, the scene in Sweden has had a big boom these past couple of years. Like when I started going to shows a hundred people at a gig was a really good turnout. Now almost every show in the bigger cities has a million kids moshing and singing along. I’m still not used to it. Nowadays the new kids first bands are even good. It pisses me off cause ur first band is supposed to be bad.
Do you think Sweden being a fairly small island country shades how hardcore operates there in any exceedingly positive or negative way?
I think it goes both ways. Because of our history in hardcore with legendary bands I think people from other countries are more inclined to check Swedish bands out. But because of where the country is located geographically it’s hard for touring bands to come and play here. It also makes touring harder and more expensive for us. Every time we book international bands in Stockholm they end up loving it here tho and want to come back and play again.
What record do you think best represents Swedish hardcore? Or do you think it’s yet to be made...it can be something historical or something current or both.
I don’t think it there is one to be honest. But I’ll give you this, if there is one hardcore album that really makes me think of Sweden, like something that truly encapsulates the beauty you can find in Sweden its ”Build me up… Melt me down…” by the band SHIELD. I wouldn’t say it represents Swedish hardcore as a whole tho. If Life is Extreme by BLOOD SERMON ever comes out it will probably tell you everything about Swedish Hardcore ever.
When are you at your best?
When I’m drinking loose leaf Chinese tea, reading a book and switching between old school hardcore records and SUN RA.
When are you at your worst?
When I’m being pretentious. ^ Also at work. And in crowds of people.
Is anyone in FEELS LIKE HEAVEN good at Halo?
I think sadly no. If anyone is it’s probably Jens. He’s the best gamer in FLH. I just play slow single player games these days. Right now I’m grinding building every single highway in Death Stranding 2.
If this record or the band could convey one unified feeling to everyone who hears it…..what would you hope that is?
Probably heaven tbh.
Also available in a limited capacity.. your very own commeritive Feels Like Heaven promo shirt..
Available from Scheme Hardcore Dot Com as always.
Stay frosty, Schemers. Shout outs to those who always remain true, and stay tuned for more info.
I have never in my life seen the Kid Dynamite DVD - Kyle
Mariah Carey the GOAT