MÅNEGARM interview online!

I interviewed Erik from MÅNEGARM about the "Legions of the North" album, Spanish tour and future of band...

01. Hi Erik! So much MÅNEGARM news lately! New album, and your first Spanish tour that is over now… How did the tour happen ?

Yes, the stone is rolling!! : )

The Spain tour was really good. We had three good shows in Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona and the organization was great and the audience was awesome!

02. Musically speaking, do you have some opinions about the local bands that opened your gigs ?

I listened to Northland a couple of songs every night. I think they are really good; good riffs and really nice melodies. I didn’t listen to the other bands but we met them and they were really nice people!

03. How was the crowd there ?

Amazing crowd! They sang along to the songs and banged their heads, just like a Månegarm concert should be like :-)

04. How were perceived your old and new songs by the Spanish people ?

The new songs got good response I think. When people hear a new song they stand still more and just listen but that’s just natural I guess. On the older songs it was sing-along all the way!!! 

05. What is your best souvenir from that first tour in Spain ?

One bottle of Vodka and one bottle of cheap Spanish wine ; )

06. Do you have some other gigs or tour dates planned ?

We will play at Hörnerfest in Germany the 29th of June and then we’ll play at Rockstad:Falun (or Sabaton Open Air) the 17th of August. We’re also planning a tour for this autumn but nothing is booked yet.

07. The next MÅNEGARM album so called “Legions of the North” will be to the end of June 2013. What do you expect ?

Hopefully the response will be good. We’re very happy with our work and now we can just hope for the listeners to enjoy the album as well.

08. Can you explain us the artwork for “Legions of the North” designed by the talented Kris Verwimp ?

On the cover you see Hel, Fenriz and Jormungand and a horde of dead viking warriors; Ours and Kris’s interpretation of the “Legions of the North”! ;)

09. Are all the songs sung in English ?

All except for one; the last song Raadh is in Swedish

10. Were the English lyrics one idea from your new label, Napalm records, or was it your own idea? Can you explain us how this happened ?

Napalm Records had nothing to do with it, it was our own idea…or solution I have to say.

Pierre, our former bass player, was the one that wrote our lyrics before and he preferred to do it in Swedish just because he felt most comfortable with that. Pierre then left the band (or had to leave…) and then we suddenly had a problem to solve. Jonas and I started to write lyrics and those beauties came out in English. I know some people might have a problem with this but they should know all the problems we had to fight to get this album out…Pierre left the band, Janne later on left too, I had some severe voice problems, we had no record label for a while since we left our former shitty record label…(but then we hooked up with Napalm so that was a good thing in the end) As you see, there were some problems to dig into ;) The simple fact that we’re now releasing a new album is therefore pretty remarkable, that’s was really not obvious. We are definitely comfortable with singing in English and for us it’s no bigger deal if you look at the whole picture, but if people still think that it is a big problem…well, stop listening then…

11. Does it mean that you will abandon your mother tongue, and sing in English for your future records now ?

We will have Swedish lyrics too in the future. We have found out that Jakob is a great Swedish lyricist so we will have more of that on upcoming albums.

12. “Legions of the North” album is made of 12 tracks and 2 bonus tracks. What are they about ? 

I guess you could say that the lyrics in general deal with the same themes as usual, yet with our words instead of Pierre’s.

13. One of the two bonus tracks for the album will be sold digitally at Itunes only, Why ?

That was Napalms idea, just to draw some attention to ITunes and to make it a bit exclusive.

14. Could the people find the lyrics inside the booklet as for your previous works ?

Yes they can!

15. Who produced “Legions of the North” ?

Månegarm together with Pelle Saether 

16/ How did the recordings happen for the new album ?

We recorded the drums in Studio Underground with the help of Pelle Saether. Guitars, bass, vocals was recorded in our own studio and violin was recorded in a studio that belongs to my friend.

17. Lately, Napalm records launched online the first song entitled same as the new album, how is it perceived by your fans ?

I have just read a few comments. Most people think it’s a good song and some don’t…you can’t please ‘em all. I choose to listen to the ones that like the song, they seem to have good taste ;)

18. MÅNEGARM had to face some departures and the last with Janne Liljekvist... Can you explain us difficulties for the band to these situations and how came the solutions ?

Of course it’s very difficult when people choose to leave a band. In our case we had been playing together for many, many years and then you also become great friend, almost like a family. Instead of quit playing (I guess a lot of bands would have done that if they had to face all that we did) we decided to move on and find new solutions in all that mess…and we did!! We got back up on our feet and kept on playing! What doesn’t break you makes you stronger!! : )

19. Are some special guests on the new record ?

A friend of Jakob’s played the violin on the album. He’s name is Martin and is an amazing fiddler, he did a great job. We also had some guest female vocals recorded by the very great Swedish folk musician Stina Engelbrecht.

20. You play some instruments beside singing, what is your favorite one & why ?

In Månegarm I play the bass today. Earlier I played the drums for many years, I have recorded acoustic and electric guitar on many albums, some keyboards on earlier stuff and even a bit of trumpet ;) (you might hear some trumpet on the song Nattväsen if you listen carefully) I don’t play guitar in Månegarm but that would be my favorite instrument if I have to choose one. Guitar is the ultimate Rock n’ Roll instrument!! : )

21. Like I told earlier, the band is under the banner of Napalm Records now. The deal is for how many records?

One album at the time…I think…

22. Do you plan to release a DVD in a near future ?

No plans for now but it sure would be nice to do that some day.

23. What about official video(s) promoting “Legions of the North” ?

Yes, we will record a video. The idea was to have it out before the release of the album but due to things out of our control it will unfortunately be postponed until the end of July somewhere.

24. Will the bandmembers feat. as special guests in some other records from other bands like for "Goi, Rode, Goi!" album by the russian band ARKONA? Nothing is planned ? :-)

No, no plans for such things right now.

25. Talking about that ARKONA album… I suppose that is a bit far now but how things happen? Can you tell us your experience for that record ?

Masha from Arkona asked us if we wanted to be a part of that song. They wanted song and some violin so Janne and I went to Jannes studio and recorded some stuff and then we send it all to Masha. I think it was a cool idea to invite other bands and I think the result was really cool!

26. Do you think to release one Urminnes Hävd II, or something of that kind Acoustic or Live acoustic with guests like for example SKYFORGER or FEJD, later ?

We have talked about it. We really like the idea of doing a Urminnes Hävd part II so probably we will some day…and why not invite Fejd and Skyforger for example, that’s a great idea!!

27. So, what are the next plans for the band ?

Video recording, some upcoming shows and hopefully a tour this autumn/winter. 

28. Some words to say to the readers of Sword Chant ?

Listen to our new album and enjoy. We’re really pleased with the result and we hope all listeners appreciate the album as well! And hope to see you all on the road! : )

Thank you for your time, Erik!

Thank you!!