Metal
Rules Interview With Simon Johansson of Memory Garden
Interviewed By DethHead
How did Memory garden wind up on Metal Blade and
what is your current relationship with Heathendoom Records?
The reason why we ended up on Metal Blade is that they
called us to see if we were interested in signing with them. We
are very happy that we got the chance to work with them since they are a
much bigger label then Heathendoom which gives us the chance to reach
out to a wider audience. We are still friends with Per Karlsson who has
Heathendoom and there were no hard feelings between us when we
signed to Metal Blade.
Since you are from Sweden, what are your thoughts
on Swedish bands like In Flames, Lefay, and Lion's Share?
Concerning these Swedish bands you mentioned, I am very
much into In Flames, they are surely one of the best bands in the world
in their kind of music. I know that Stefan really likes Lefay.
Can you tell me about your new CD and will it soon
be out? This is your second on Metal Blade correct?
Yeah, we have actually been working on the new album all
year and that is one of the reasons why it took me so long to get back
to you guy's. The new album will be released in Europe the 3rd of July
and in the states sometime on October I think. Mirage as the new
album is called is a step backwards in our music compared to Verdict
Of Posterity. We all wanted to make the new album more straight and
doom oriented than what VOP was, a little more like our earlier
releases. The music on VOP was more of a mixture between power
and doom metal but as we see it our strong side is the straighter,
heavier stuff so that is what we have focused on this time. You will
still find the powermetal influences here and there but not as
strong as on "VOP." This is our second release for Metal
Blade as you say, the first one Verdict Of Posterity was released
in 1998.
Can
you tell us the album title, and song titles?
Sure, the album is called Mirage as I said
earlier and the song titles are: Prologue, A Long Grey Day,
Hallowed Soil, Shade, Navigate, Revelation, Yearning, River Of Sludge,
My Pain and The Search.
What sort of topics are covered in the songs and
how long they take to write?
Our songs often deal with the darker side of things, for
an example what happens when someone dies or what goes on in the mind of
a lunatic. The lyric "A Long Grey Day" is about how grey and
boring everything is and that things goes on and on and nothing happens.
"The Search" is about someone who is about to die, the search
for something else, something better than the ordinary meaningless life
around him. The search to find the other side. We spent the fall of 1999
and the beginning of 2000 writing new material and we began to record in
February.
Do you think that Metal Rules, do you agree?
I do think that METAL RULES!! I'm actually into all kind
of music as long as it's quality but metal is what's closest to me. I
like the energy you find in metal and the total blast youll get
from playing in front of a crowd.
There
were reports of a second Abstrakt Algebra album that may or not have
completed? Can you tell us about that?
I know that Leif wrote music for a second AA album but
that he decided to use that material for the new Candlemass album
instead, I don't know why but that's the way it was. He probably felt
that he could reach more people under the name Candlemass, but I'm not
sure. I wasn't in the band when he decided to go on with Candlemass
instead of Abstrakt Algebra.
What was the label Megarock like at the time?
I didn't have that much contact with them, Leif took
care of all contact with them as a label. But I know Dave and Lena that
are running Megarock and they are cool. They did what they should with
AA as I see it.
What was it like working with Leif Edling of
Candlemass?
It was great, old Candlemass are one of my favorite
band's and I have listened to them since I was 11 or 12 years old and
they released "Epicus...". To get the chance to work together
with Leif was just awesome. I'm also a very close friend of Mike Wead so
it was really fun to do something serious together with him as well.
Abstrakt Algebra is not a doom band, but instead
displays a technical power metal sound not too distant from, say,
Sanctuary? Is this a accurate description?
I don't know if I would describe it as sounding as
Sanctuary but I do
agree that Abstrakt Algebra was not a doom band in the same way as
Candlemass. I think that Leif wanted to do a industrial version of
Candlemass with a lot of progressive elements in the music. That is the
way I look at Abstrakt Algebra anyway.
How much involvement did you have in the writing
of AA?
Nothing, Leif wrote all of the music and all lyric on
the album. He brought the songs to rehearsal and we played them there,
sometimes we could jam something together but it was always Leifs stuff.
So Mats Leven went on to Yngwie Malmsteen, Mike
Wead went on to Mercyful Fate, Hexenhaus, Memento Mori, Hemisfear, and
what about Leif Edling (bass) and Jejo Perkovic (drummer)?
Well, Leif went on with Candlemass and have released 2
albums since AA, Jejo plays drums on those albums as well and I think he
has his own band Brick as well.
Was it hard getting into Memory Garden after the
Abstrak Algebra break up?
If you mean getting the job in Memory Garden than it was
not hard at all, I met the guy's at a Heathendoom party and we talked a
little about them wanting a new guitarist because Rick was leaving the
band. They knew me from AA and they were really into the idea of getting
me into the band. I was then invited to the release party of
"Tides" to check them out (Ricks last show with them), I
really like what I saw and that was pretty much it.
If you mean getting into the Memory Garden music than I
have to say that it was not that hard, I got the CD's from the guy's and
sat at home and learned the songs from them. It was a little bit strange
to get into their way of thinking when they do music but after a couple
of rehearsals it all felt great.
Are Ken Johansson (bass) and Tom Johansson of
Memory Garden related too you?
No, we are not related, Ken and Tom are brothers but that's
all. You see, Johansson is a really common name in Sweden. By the way
Tom has changed his last name to Björn after his mother.
Will Abstrakt Algebra ever exist again?
No I don't think so, but it's up to Leif. If he wants to
do another album he has to talk to us but I don't think that the chance
to get us all together again is so big.
Wasn't Stefan Berglund vocals in Memento Mori?
Could you tell us about that?
No, they had a guy called Stefan Karlsson on their Europe
tour ´95 when Messiah had left the band. He was also supposed to sing
on "La Danse Macabre" but it didn't work out so they brought
Kristian Andrén (Fifth Reason, Hemisfear, ex-Tad Morose) into the band
instead.
Why was Fifth Reason put on hold with the release
of the Abstrakt Algebra album?
I felt that I wanted to put all my attention on AA and
thought that I could do like this and deal with Fifth Reason when I felt
that I had the time.
So Fifth Reason is your band, that you originated?
Yes, I formed FR in 1992 together with a friend called
Niclas Oreland. We work a lot with writing material and in 1993 we
recorded a demo called "Stranded" with Thomas Lundin
(Hexenhaus) on vocals, we only sent the demo to record companies
and received some good response but at the same time everything with AA
started happening and I felt that it would be better for me to
concentrate on that so I put FR on ice. When I left AA I was offered to
record an album for Heathendoom Music, so I called my good friend
Kristian Andrén to see if he was into the idea of us doing something
together which he was. We got together to rehearse both old FR material
and new stuff I had been working on and it all felt great with the new
guy's in the band. I also talked to Marco A. Nicosia (Hexenhaus) if he
was interested in joining which he did during the recording of
"Psychotic". The latest news is that Marty Marteen from
Memento Mori also have joined the band, we have recorded a new album
called "Within Or Without" and are currently searching for a
new label.
About Leif Edling...how is he doing, and what?
It's been awhile since I meet Leif but when I last met
him everything was OK I think. He is working with Candlemass now and I
think he is happy with that.
Will you ever work with him again?
I don't know, there are no such plans for the moment and
I'm really satisfied with what I have going myself. But of course
it would be fun to do something with him again since he is one of the
greatest song & lyric writers in this country. But I don't think
that will happen.
What was AA all about as a band, lyrics wise,
music wise? What did it represent too you and are you proud of that
album?
I'm really proud of that album, I think it's great. To
get the chance to work with all those awesome guys was a thrill.
It was the first album I recorded and to get the chance to play in AA
was great.
Any final comments for the people here at Metal
Rules?
I hope you all will check out the new Memory Garden
album "Mirage", it's great. I also hope that we will get our
well deserved tour to promote the album and to get the chance to show
our fans what Memory Garden is really about. Please visit our Garden on
the World Wide Web as well, you'll find it on www.memorygarden.net.
Doomly regards // Simon Johansson
©2000 Metal Rules!!