RoR - Extension of the Wish is a damn good album for
a debut, and the level of musicianship is superb. There is an age difference
between yourself and the rest of the guys, but you all appear to have similar
influences. Is this the case? Would you actually prefer to have everyone in
the band have similar tastes, or would you prefer a band of guys with individual
tastes?
JR - Thank you! Well, there are bands that we all have in common, but we
also have our individual preferences. I think it's cool that we listen to
different stuff; it will make the music we create original because it becomes
influenced from many different styles. But it's also important to strive for
the same direction and share the same musical vision.
RoR - This may tie in with the last question, but
there are some pretty strong immediate reference points on Extension of the
Wish, but the album as a whole appears to draw from various types of music.
As you are the principle songwriter, to what degree do the other guys in the
band play a role in making the songs? Are you strict as to what you want to
hear from certain instruments, or do you allow creative freedom from the others?
I ask because if a complete song is in your head and other musicians have
a different idea, you either have to compromise your vision or have them adapt
to yours... What tends to happen in Andromeda?
JR - When I wrote the music and the lyrics for this album I had no members
for the band. I had a contract with WAR music and then I wrote the album,
then Wez at WAR music contacted Thomas Lejon our drummer and we started rehearsing
the songs. Then Thomas got Martin (keyboards) and Gert (bass) whom he'd played
with before in various projects. We only had a couple of months to rehearse
before the recording of the album so we just did the songs basically like
I'd demoed them. Now we're are a real band in that we all write stuff and
it's not just my project anymore. Still a big part of the music is created
at home by me or Martin, but some of the news songs are written at rehearsal.
If I or Martin have written a song on our own and we bring it in and the other
guys like it, we basically stick to the way the song is. Of course we might
change some things, like some things in the drum playing, bass lines, arrangments
etc.
RoR - This could have been a "guitar album", but
you do give room to the other instruments, and while there is perhaps more
of an emphasis on that than the vocals, they are also strong in the mix. Vocals
can be the weakest link in progressive music, but it seems that Andromeda
wants to be a band with a strong vocal presence. I say this because I do notice
the difference between Chameleon Carneval and the other tracks. You have a
new vocalist in David Fremberg, what do you see his role as the vocalist to
be. In other words, how strong a presence would you like him to be?
JR - Yeah, eventhough we love crazy instrumental parts and stuff like that
we really want to have strong vocals that make you remember the songs. We'd
like David to have a strong presence in the band, especially live, and I think
itīs working out great now.
RoR - Hopefully this didn't get answered in the
last question, but you could have been taking a big chance with the last minute
vocalist change before entering the studio! What led up to the previous vocalists
departure,and were you completely comfortable with Lawrence stepping in?
JR - Bassel Elharbiti of the Swedish progmetal band Mayadome was supposed
to do the vocals for this album. We contacted him and he seemed really
inspired to do the recording. I sent the demos of the songs I'd recorded at
home and the lyrics and he was going to do the vocal arrangments, record them
and send 
them
back to us a while before the recording dates. But all of a sudden he got
really difficult to get in touch with, and when we did get a hold of him he
didn't seem very interested anymore. We finally got the vocal demos ONE day
before he was going to record the vocals. They were not good and by then it
was too late to change them, so we had to fire him. We had heard Lawrence
before on the first Darkane album and also in Forcefeed and F.K.U and we really
liked what we heard so it felt comfortable. We knew that he could sing in
almost any style he wanted.
RoR - How was the studio experience overall for
you? What would you change the next time around now that you have infinite
studio experience? I have to comment that I really like the drum sound that
you got. There is a tendency to use triggers on all the drums now, but you
have a real crisp sound on Extension. Did you follow Darkane's lead and use
54 mikes on the kit for the album?
JR - It was really stressful. We had two weeks to record the whole album
and there was no time to rest, just decide what sound we wanted for each instrument
and record all the time. Some days I cut guitar tracks for like 16 hours.
Yes, you are right. The drums were not trigged, only acoustic drum sounds
were used. However we didn't use 54 mikes like Darkane did, we "only" used
24 or something like that, haha.
RoR - In that direction, people are I'm sure already
flinging labels on the band, and I'd agree that progmetal is an accurate one,
but I hear a lot more in there, especially the guitar tone, which is darker
and thicker than most of the progmetal I remember off hand. Any secret (or
not so secret) love of death metal that you want to disclose here?
JR - Yeah, I like death/thrashmetal! I grew up listening to Iron Maiden,
Megadeth, AC/DC, Metallica and so forth but also bands like Sepultura, Entombed,
Slayer and Morbid Angel. By the way, I have a thrash/death/heavymetal band
together with ex-Arch Enemy singer Johan Liiva called Non-Exist. Itīs brutal,
but still quite melodic metal done in a modern way. Our debut album is called
"Deus Deceptor" and will be released by WAR sometime next year, it's not recorded
yet so I donīt know exactly when. I agree that especially the guitar-tone
is a bit different comapring to other progmetal bands, it's a bit more brutal.
When we were setting the rhythm guitar sound our reference wasn't "Images
and Words" but "Obsolete" by Fear Factory so it got really heavy.
RoR - Taking a step away from the band, how would
you describe the band energy to someone who hasn't seen you live before. Are
you a "stand in one place and stare at your instruments" band or a "bang your
head thrash, about the stage" type of band? You're playing some complicated
stuff there, but I do hear the opportunity on some of the heavier numbers
to really go off...
JR - If I have to choose between the two types you mentioned I think "stand
in one place and stare at your instruments" is the most true, haha. We've
only done one gig so far, so aren't that good live yet. But the music we play
isn't really mosh music if you know what I mean. OK, it's pretty heavy and
intense but not like Slayer or Metallica. Plus it's hard to mosh around and
bang your head when the music has some really intricate passages that require
all your attention. And that is a bit of a shame really, we'll have to work
on that. But, in any case all of us are pretty calm on stage, we don't jump
around and put on a big show. David seems to be pretty extroverted live though.
RoR - To get back to the sound of the album, if
we haven't touched on it yet,what goes into making an album like this influence
wise? Is it strictly musical, or a combination of a bunch of things in your
life that transform into music? If you ever have any free time, what do you
find yourself doing?
JR - Like I said before we all listen to different stuff so there are tons
of bands that influence us. Personally I listen to all kind of music, everything
from metal, progressive-rock or death to rap, jazz, classical, pop, ambient,
goth, blues, funk or whatever so itīs hard to pinpoint what influenced this
album. You had an interesting point there when you mentioned that other things
than music might influence your songwriting and playing, and I think it's
true. I don't think the best way to become a great guitar player or songwriter
is just stay indoors everyday and practice for 8-10 hours. Of course you have
to practice a lot but it's just as important to do other things in order to
collect experiences that will make you grow as a person and musician. For
example I think it's really important to listen to all lot of music of all
kinds and go to gigs regularly. Besides playing guitar and writing music I
like swiming or running a couple times a week, playing chess and poker, partying
and hanging out with my friends and in some periods I read quite a bit. I
also study philosophy at the university and give guitar lessons twice a week.
RoR - You have a good opportunity (in my opinion)
being signed to WAR, for instead of being one of a number of similar bands
on a roster, you're kind of the black sheep. What do you think about this?
Do you think Andromeda will get special attention for being on the WAR roster
rather than say, Inside Out? If a touring situation came up, who do you think
would complement you in a live show? Would you prefer to tour with similar
bands or again have a situation where you may offer the audience something
beyond expectations, but also maybe alienate the "traditionalists" who want
to hear three similar bands in one evening...?
JR - Yeah, I think it's good for us that we differ quite a bit from the other
WAR bands, it gives us more attention. Hopefully it will bring us some fans
outside the prog genre. I think it would be cool if we could play with other
bands than just progressive bands because it would give us oppurtunity to
gain other fans than prog fans. The progmetal scene seems to be really underground
and it's hard to get gigs and so forth.
RoR - When you sit down to write a song, are the
lyrics also thought of at that time, or are they written and put to music
later? I ask because you weara lot of hats, and I wondered if you also felt
equally as comfortable wearing the one of lyricist.
JR - The music and the lyrics are not written at the same time. I don't think
I've ever done that 'cause I don't sing myself. Nowadays I don't write as
many lyrics as I used to do. David or Martin write the lyrics now because
they are the ones who do the vocal arrangments and melodies. But it's not
impossible that I will write some lyrics for the next album. I still write
lyrics every now and then.
RoR - I'll jump subjects a little bit, but how did
you get involved with Niklas Sundin and what made you decide to use him as
an artist?
JR - I had seen some of his work, like the artwork for Dark Tranquillity's
"Projector", and thought that he was really good and original. Wez knows Niklas
and suggested that we'd ask him to do the artwork and I agreed right away.
RoR - In the end, where do you see the band now,
and almost more importantly,where would you like the band to go? What goals
so far do you feel that you've accomplished, and what ones have you set for
yourself in the future?
JR - I think we got a steady line-up now and the chemistry in the band is
really good. Musically it's getting better and better, especially concerning
the vocals, which of course are a lot more thought out now, and there is a
lot more room for them in the songs. The new songs are also more varied, both
softer and heavier at the same time. More than anything we'd like to play
live as much as possible. It would be really cool to do a tour as opening
act. But that will not happen with this album because we are a really new
band. Right now we have some gigs booked in Sweden in April and we'll play
at the Progpower festival in Holland in October. Other than that we will continue
to try to write the best songs we can and try to develop an original style
and hopefully gain some fans.
Andromeda - Extension of the Wish, 2001WAR Records
Johan Reinholdz- guitar
David Fremberg- vocals
Thomas Lejon - drums
Gert Daun - bass
Martin Hedin - keyboards
Session vocals by Lawrence Mackrory
Andromeda's Official Home Page can be found at: www.metal-serve.net/andromeda
