Interviews

MR: How are the sales of the Now and Forever album and what kind of feedback are you getting? What countries seem to have embraced the band more than others?

I won't know any figures until January, so I can't tell you any sales figures. The feedback has been good so far. The countries I have noticed is France and Spain but I've done most interviews in Germany.

MR: Why did you choose Andy LaRoque's studio (King Diamond) and what role, if any, did he play in the making of this album?

Well, there's a lot of reasons but two of them was of course that it's a great studio with a really relaxed atmosphere. Andy is a great guy and he assisted us technically so he didn't work so much with the sound that was Mike’s area. But we used him as feedback just to make sure we wouldn't get lost. Because Mike and me worked so hard we couldn't see straight at times. A big "thank you" to Andy!

MR: How did the deal with Massacre records come about?

We had some offers from smaller labels but we wanted to try with the bigger labels. So we told Claus at Intromental to take care of that. He express mailed them the rough mix and they answered two days later!

MR: There seems to be a lot of classical music influences in your sound. Any particular favorite classical composers? Does anyone in the band have any formal classical music training?

If I'm forced to choose I'd go for J.S Bach, Albinoni, Viuxtemp. Not really! I'm 90% selftaught. And the others are "just" rock musicians. Well, maybe Jan has some classical training that I don't know of!

MR: There's some obvious Yngwie Malmsteen and Ritchie Blackmore influences to your playing style and sound. What does each one of them mean to you as far as their influence on your guitar playing?

I've never actually learned any of Ritchie’s solos I've just picked the vibe of them where as the actual phrases is mainly influenced by Yngwie.

MR: Why did you decide to use Apollo, from Majestic, as lead vocalist for the new album?

At first Kristian Andrén who had done some great work with bands as Memento Mori, Fifth Reason, Wuthering Heights, Tad Morose was going to do the vocals. But unfortunately he was out of shape and we had to replace him. Me and Claus at Intromental Management talked about it and agreed that we had to get a powerhouse vocalist who had somewhat of a name in the genre. I had recently bought the Trinity Overture album by Majestic and loved the way Apollo sang. So we sent him a rough mix of the album and he loved it. A few weeks later we started to record the vocals.

MR: There's lots of background and harmony vocals on your new album as well as some great vocal melodies. Some bands don't put as much effort into creating richly melodic vocals. How important are quality vocals to this band and in the song writing/recording process? How much time is spent on the vocals as compared to the rest of the music?

That is hard to tell because sometimes the melodies just pop into your head and then they’re done in a matter of minutes. But sometimes you’re banging your head against the wall not getting close to the quality you’re looking for. Then it can take months. When we record the vocals they have to be so close to perfection as we can do them at the time. So I’d guess one fourth of the time.

MR: Another question about song writing. Are the melodies composed first or are the guitar riffs used as a starting point in the creative process?

Usually the guitar riff comes first but that seems to have evened out with time. Nowadays I would say it’s 60/40 compared to a five years ago when it was more like 75/25.

MR: You seem to be a more song-oriented band and keep the technical flash to a minimum. Are you conscious of overdoing solos etc. (like one aforementioned artist!!)? What do you think of some of the other neo-classical/symphonic metal bands that seem to be more interested in creating technically difficult music than about quality song writing?

There are few bands who can combine technicality with quality song writing. I hate it when they’ve done something difficult just for the sake of it. When they’ve put something into a song that have nothing to do with the song just because it’s difficult and impressive. It lacks substance and is just an acrobatic display like: Hey look at me! Look what I can do!

MR: What are some of your favorite Metal/Hard Rock artists and why?

Symphony X, Yngwie, Rainbow, Jens Johansson - The way they incorporate classical music it’s so beautiful. They are great songwriters and musicians. Opeth – Death metal with a 70's feel. Dimmu Borgir – Great string arrangements.

MR: Any other influences from any walks of life and what do they mean to you?

Things that get me angry, like religious extremists, political extremists. And when people try to tell you what to think and do!

MR: Are any of the other band members involved in other projects besides Apollo? If so, what are they?

Yes! I am. It’s called Maestoso and we’ve just started writing some material that will be neoclassical but really bombastic.

MR: Sweden seems to be the breeding ground of some great Metal bands such as Hammerfall and In Flames as well as some other great Melodic Metal bands. What is it about the musical climate there that seems to produce great, innovative and influential bands?

My guess would be that the Swedish welfare system which allows the bands to pursue a style regardless of the current trends. Along with a long tradition of melodic music staring with the folksongs going through ABBA and up till the bands we have today.

MR: There's many different styles on the new album from classic hard rock influences such as Deep Purple and Rainbow to a more neo-classical Yngwie style and even some straight ahead Power Metal. What musical direction do you see this band taking in the future?

We’ll probably sound more neoclassical on the next one. It will be more aggressive and slightly more progressive. But just as melodic as Now and Forever.

MR: What's up for the future? Are there any touring/performance plans and what about a second album?

There’s no tour planned but we will play a few concerts around Scandinavia. Regarding the second album. I’m in pre-production with Mike Wead right now. But there’s no date set for the recording of the album!

MR: A last word for our readers and your fans?

If you can dream it you can do it!

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