METAL-ZEN

Prior to Glenn Harveston booking the Grammy-winning Swedish power metal band, the only mustache I was familiar with was the one I couldn’t grow on my upper lip if my life depended on it.

However, the videos (”Double Nature” and “Dog Wash“) Glenn posted in his April 9th, 2008, ProgPower Forum introduction to Mustasch — the final addition to the PPUSA IX lineup — were quirky, kick ass, and strangely hypnotic.

Clearly I, like many ProgPower USA IX attendees, had some boning up to do.

Bone I did. And I found my jaw often needed picking up off the floor.

Songs like “The End” from The Latest Version of the Truth [Swedish Grammy winner, 2007] rendered me speechless. The song is a tour-de-force homage to Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and “Kashmir”-era Zeppelin — with a groove so deep and infectious (eerily reminiscent of the score to the movie T2 as the robots marched over the laid-waste landscape, crushing skulls without remorse) that it gets into one’s bloodstream like a drug. It’s the closest thing to mainlining heroin — or dropping acid — I’ll ever get. To me, “The End” is like a spiritual experience.

Then there’s “6:36″ from Ratsafari, another song with a hypnotic groove that smacks one upside the head and commands attention, refusing to relinquish its hold until the last ear-blistering note fades away.

And so on through all six albums (and one compilation) that serve as Mustasch’s career to date. The riffs! The melodies! The balls-to-the-wall ‘tude! Where has this band been all my life?

Armed with a new-found enthusiasm, I couldn’t wait to talk to guitarist/vocalist/principle songwriter/co-founding member Ralf Gyllenhammar. Ralf and I connected via telephone on May 18, 2008. Almost a month to the day later, guitarist and co-founding member Hannes Hansson announced he was leaving the band after 10 years.

So I requested a brief follow-up interview to see what was going on.

On July 14, 2008, I called Ralf again and we chatted/laughed/yelled over a raucous pre-band meeting set to take place in Gothenburg — while a soccer game (and countless fans) raged in the background. First, my follow-up interview with Ralf, with input from drummer Mats Johansson, regarding Hannes’ departure. Then, immediately following, the original interview. Both rank among my all-time favorites. There’s something about Ralf Gyllenhammar that’s incredibly endearing. I hope the rapport we had comes through in print.

Ready? Here we go…

RG: Hello, my name is Ralf. What’s yours?

BM: A-ha. My name is Bill Murphy, Ralf.

RG: Ahh, Bill Murphy. Please, could anyone get me a beer?

BM: [laughs] Surely, there’s a beer person over there.

RG: Ah. How are you, Bill?

BM: I’m doing fine. The question is, how are you doing?

RG: We’ve been touring and playing and now we’re having a business meeting, actually.

BM: Are you?

RG: We’re having a business meeting here in a hotel in Gothenburg. And, yeah. We’re pretty drunk.

BM: [laughs] Our interview was on May 18th. Almost a month to the day your guitarist [Hannes Hansson] announced he wanted to leave the band.

RG: Yeah. That’s one of the reasons we’re having a meeting.

BM: Would you like me to call you back at a different time?

RG: No, no, no. I’m pleased. What time is in the United States?

BM: It’s mid-day. Noon. Twelve o’clock.

RG: It’s evening here.

BM: I read a short interview in a Swedish newspaper. He said the band was getting too big and he wanted to spend time with his family. Is that’s what’s going on there?

RG: While we were touring in Sweden, he was fine. But going to the United States, going to Germany, he felt like…I specifically asked him, “Do you want to do this?” He said, “No.” So, there you are.

BM: So was it a surprise to you at the time? Or had you seen this coming?

RG: It was kind of a surprise. Because I thought when I faced him with my problem, I thought, “I think you’re not devoted enough. You’re not ready to go now? We’re playing the United States. We want to get big from being a hobby.” When I pushed him he said, “I’m not interested.” So, yes, I was disappointed. And I was shocked. I thought if you put 10 years effort in something and when you have a lift-off you say, “No, I’d rather be home with my family, and attending the Gothenburg opera.” What?!?!?!

BM: Just when you guys were ready to get really big. You guys were on the verge of playing in the U.S. Now he jumps off. Were you mad at him at the time? Or did you just say, “Okay, Hannes…?”

RG: Come again? I didn’t hear. There’s a big soccer competition here in Gothenburg and we’re at the hotel and there are, like, two thousand people outside…

BM: Were you really mad at him at the time? Or did you understand what he had to say?

RG: I understood him. But I didn’t realize that he would tell me like he was leaving the thing. I wanted a straight answer from him. I was, like, “You’re not focused on the band. We’re growing really big.” And he says, “No.” I was shocked. And the other guys were shocked. We haven’t…we have a date…how do you say…?

BM: You have a gig?

RG: Yeah! I’ll try to speak English here.

[Suddenly, the phone connection is broken. A second later, Ralf calls back.]

BM: Hi.

RG: Hi. Sorry. The line was broken.

BM: Have you had a chance to pick a different guitarist?

[Lots of yelling and cheering in the background.]

RG: We don’t know what to do. At the moment we have the guitar tech because he knows the songs. We are left in shock. I’m shocked.

BM: Well, how bad is this situation? Are you in panic-type bad. Are you worried about it? Or can you find another guitarist before you get over here?

RG: There are guitar players in this land, Sweden.

BM: Oh yeah.

RG: That will sacrifice livers and kidneys to play with us.

[Band mates laughing and talking in the background.]

BM: [laughs]

RG: [talking to the people in the room] You guys. I hate you. This is Bill Murphy from the States. [Now talking to me] Would you like to talk to our drummer?

BM: Sure.

MT: Yes, hello. Yeah?

BM: Hi.

MT: How are you doing?

BM: Great. Who am I speaking with?

MT: This is the drummer.

BM: Ah, the drummer. How are you?

MT: I’m a bit drunk, too. But we’re having a very important meeting here, drunk.

BM: Well, I’m sure the outcome of a drunk meeting will be really good, then, won’t it?

MT: We have decided to go on medication for drinking so much.

BM: [laughs] Well, yeah. It’s not working, then, is it?

MT: I’m not kidding. I’m not kidding. It’s the truth.

BM: [laughs] Is it really? Well, gee whiz.

MT: Because I behave like a bastard when we are out with the band. Everybody’s tired of me now.

[Band members laughing and yelling at him in the background.]

BM: Mats, what are you guys going to do now? I was talking to Ralf. He seems kind of worried about the situation. Can you find another guitarist in time to play the upcoming gigs, especially in the U.S.?

MT: I think so. I’m not so worried. There are plenty of guitarists out there.

BM: Okay.

MT: We have a couple in mind. It’s going to be fine.

BM: It’s gonna be fine. That’s a good way to –

[Ralf yells in the background]

RG: Hello, hello, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill!

[Ralf gets back on the phone]

BM: [laughs] Yeah?

RG: Do you know. two days ago, we rehearsed with one of the Hellacopters guys.

BM: Oh really?

RG: Yup. They are quitting. This is the last record. The last tour. We tried him. We have met them, like, hundreds of times on tour. The most important is that the new guitarist fit in the group. I mean, everyone is better to play guitar than me.

BM: I don’t know about that.

RG: [laughs] I’m a great songwriter. I’m a great singer. But –

[laughing in the background]

RG: [to someone in the room] There’s a drunk guy! You’re going to shave now? [laughs]

BM: [laughs] So you guys aren’t worried about finding a replacement?

RG: No, no, no. Of course not. But we’re still in shock.

[laughter in the background]

RG: [To someone in the room] Yeah, that’s real funny. [To me] If you say chaked, you’re chaked, in Swedish that’s fat. And I’m shocked. I’m fat.

BM: [LMAO]

[loud laughter in the room]

RG: After the Jack Daniel’s endorsement I gained, like, 10 kilos. I don’t know what that is in pounds.

[answer from the room: “Twenty pounds.”]

RG: Twenty pounds.

BM: Wow. So the purpose of the meeting today is, what, then?

RG: The purpose of the meeting is our drummer shifts personalities. We don’t need that shit in this organization. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] It’s a pleasure to talk to you again, Ralf. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys play ProgPower.

RG: I’m looking forward to getting over there. We’re going to kick some ass. For sure. Okay. It sounds like [American accent] “We’re going to kick some ass.” But, I tell you, we do. That’s our job.

After bit more back-and-forth banter between me, Mats, and Ralf, I thanked them for their time and hung up.

Now, on with the first interview, conducted May 18, 2008.

Enjoy!

RG: Hello.

BM: Is this Ralf?

RG: This is Ralf.

BM: Hi, this is Bill Murphy calling from the States.

RG: Oh, hello.

BM: How are you?

RG: I’m fine. This is my first call from the United States.

BM: Is it really?

RG: Yeah, I’m a little nervous.

BM: [laughs]

RG: I haven’t been talking to anyone from the States in the phone.

BM: Oh really? That’s cool. Very cool.

RG: You took my virginity.

BM: [laughs] Hey, how’s the weather there in Sweden today?

RG: The weather, it’s rainy. It’s like Seattle, Seattle-type.

BM: Is it really?

RG: Yeah.

BM: Well, at least, is it warm, though? Or is it a cold rain?

RG: No, it’s like, I don’t know what it is in Fahrenheit, but in Celsius, it’s like 12.

BM: Oh, that’s not too bad.

RG: Where are you calling from?

BM: Michigan.

RG: Michigan, ah, in the north.

BM: Yeah, the Midwest.

RG: Midwest, ok. I’m little bit confused. I’m like the ordinary American, doesn’t know anything about Europe. “Sweden, ah, that’s near Australia.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well thankfully, I talk to a lot of bands from Sweden. That’s one of the hottest countries in the world for music right now.

RG: Ah, you’re embarrassing me. Now I’m getting embarrassed. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

RG: My English is not so well, but I try to do my best.

BM: No, it’s good. Thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate it. We tend to do really good interviews for the ProgPower USA forum, the program and all that. And I tend to ask a lot of questions about a band’s history, not just the latest album, so that people really get a chance to see who the musician is behind the music.

RG: Ok. Cool.

BM: So, that said, I gotta tell you, the song, “The End” [from The Latest Version of the Truth] is just absolutely mind-blowing.

RG: Ok.

BM: [laughs] I’m totally amazed. Nine and a half minutes of all different kinds of like, I hear like “Kashmir” in there, I hear some Pink Floyd in there, I hear some Supertramp-ish stuff in there. Unbelievable.

RG: Oh, thank you very much. I think you’re right, there. You’ve got all our influences in one song.

BM: Yeah. Well how did you guys do that? The lyrics, are the lyrics actually summing up, when you say, “So here it is, our pride and glory, the finest piece of art we’ve ever done.”

RG: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this album is the first one we did with no interfering of any record company motherfuckers.

BM: Oh yeah.

RG: So, our label, Regain Records, we ask, “Hey guys, we’re in the middle of the recording and you guys haven’t shown up yet.” And he said, “I’m not the musician. You’re the musicians. Do your thing in the studio, and then we see.” But when we were contracted to EMI, they were running constantly in and out of the studio, “Where is the fucking single, where is the hit, where is the single?”

BM: [laughs] Yep. So “The End.” This is actually what Mustasch would sound like totally free of any sort of record label bozos bothering you.

RG: Yeah, bozos. [laughs] That’s the word.

BM: [laughs]

RG: Yes, and actually, the, what do you say, it was bad feelings in the band. We thought, “We’re never gonna make it, this is our last record in the band.” I can’t catch the word, but it was a bad, we had a bad feeling about doing this album, because we thought it was the last one. Of course, we couldn’t know, while recording the album, we couldn’t know that it would be such a huge success as it actually became.

BM: Oh yeah.

RG: You can’t know it. But our producer was going, “Oh, Jesus Christ, this songs rocks, you’re gonna be rock stars now for sure.” And we were like, “Oh, we’ve heard that 10 times before.” But he was right. We were wrong.

BM: [laughs] Well it is, what made you guys have a bad feeling about this album?

RG: Because we just broke up with EMI.

BM: Oh yeah.

RG: And we didn’t, we had a, what do you say, we had a downhill, and we felt like five years earlier we had an uphill and we were upcoming and it was huge. And we tour with Motorhead in Europe and blah, blah, blah. And EMI people said, “You’re gonna break, you’re gonna do big.” And thhbbbt, I mean.

BM: Yeah.

RG: And at that stage, we were doing, in the bad mood that we were, we will be this last chance. And then, I wrote the song “The End.” Like, my intention was, if this is the last album, it’s kinda cool to have the last song in our career was titled, “The End.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: But I was wrong. Many times before. [laughs]

BM: Well yeah. Not only, this is a huge album, but you won a Grammy for this album.

RG: Yep.

BM: Congratulations.

RG: Thank you very much. We’ve been nominated, two, this was the third time. And finally, ah, it was such a relief.

BM: I read an article about after you won the Grammy award, you’re quoted as saying, “It felt a lot more emotional and fantastic than we initially thought.”

RG: Yeah. I almost burst into tears.

BM: Oh really?

RG: It was such a relief.

BM: Was it, did you think in your mind something like, “Yeah, it’s about time we won”? Or were you thinking something like, “Hey, take that, all you people who didn’t think we’d make it”?

RG: No the thought was, “Oh my Jesus Motherfucking Christ, we really won all at last.”

BM: Yeah, yeah.

RG: We Swedes, we tend to be sometimes a little too much humble. But it was the first feeling that came into my mind was, “Oh thank you, all musical gods and everything that made this possible.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: I mean, especially the Grammy award, what do you say, Grammy award feast? Is that what you say?

BM: Yeah.

RG: We felt like, and all our sponsors, endorsements, Jack Daniels and Schecter, they were there. And I felt, if we don’t win this now, everything will fall apart. But it was nice to have all our endorsement in the front row of the gala, or what do you say, and they could feel like, “We bet on the right, what do you say, the right horse.”

BM: Yeah, they bet on the winning horse. [laughs] Yeah.

RG: The winning horse, yes.

BM: Well are you recognized now in Sweden? Can you walk around and people kind of point and say, “There’s the guy that won the Grammy? We know who you are.”

RG: Yeah, at least I can do that.

BM: Really?

RG: I got such a fucking ugly face, everybody remember that.

BM: You have a unique hairstyle. And the lambchops. That stands out.

RG: It stands out, yeah. And people all of the time nowadays. And one reason is that I’ve been hosting a kind of silly Candid Camera show on TV as well.

BM: Oh really?

RG: Yeah.

BM: Wow, that sounds like fun.

RG: No, I thought it would be fun, but it was just plain, rough, hard work.

BM: Oh was it?

RG: Like 13 hours to do one show. And I was fucking tired and bored of it. I will never do it again.

BM: [laughs] So now, when you watch TV, do you feel more sympathy for those people?

RG: Yeah, I know what they are going through. Jesus.

BM: [laughs]

RG: You do funny stuff, and the producer, “Yeah, that’s cool. Do it one more time, but more funny, or more humble.” “Hey, that wasn’t in the script!” “Just do it. Just do what we pay you.” Ugh.

BM: [laughs] Well, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. When Glenn Harveston announced that you were playing, almost everybody, at least 50% of the people, said, “Who? What?”

RG: Yeah.

BM: But you know what? I did too. I had never heard you guys. But now, I have to admit, I think I’m looking forward to seeing you more than any other band playing there. Your music has absolutely blown me away.

RG: Ok. Thank you. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

RG: That’s the Swedish humbleness again.

BM: [laughs] Well, tell me about the origin of the band. I understand you guys came together, recorded a demo in ’98, on the Mustasch farm, on an island.

RG: Yeah.

BM: So you took your band name from the island’s name, where you were, right?

RG: No, we took, we were discussing names of the band. And at the time, me and the other guitarist, we were living together. And we were listening to Black Sabbath, on vinyl, and we had a party, of course.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

RG: [laughs] And we listened to Black Sabbath, and we had listened lots of records. And when we were getting out, we put back the vinyl in the, what do you say, the case.

BM: In the sleeves, in the cases, yeah.

RG: Yeah, and we noticed that everybody, every single guy in every of our favorite bands, they had mustaches.

BM: [laughs] Oh really?

RG: Like, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath.

BM: Yep.

RG: It was Deep Purple, it was Freddie Mercury. “Hey, there is mustaches all over. Why don’t we call the band Mustasch.” And I said, “Yeah, right. Very clever.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: “Could we call ourselves like bathtub or something?”

BM: [laughs] Bathtub.

RG: But then we were getting out on a rock club, and we, “Yeah, that’s kind of cool.” But of course, people, most of the people, they don’t know the history, the background of the name, how it came up. So lots of people in Sweden, they say, “What a silly name, you motherfuckers.” And I say, “ What’s Screaming Trees?”

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

RG: Smashing Pumpkins?

BM: Yeah, that’s true. [laughs]

RG: What’s that?

BM: That’s true. You know, and I’d never heard this story of where that band name came from. Everybody over here is thinking you named it after the Mustasch farm on the island.

RG: No, no, no. We called it the Mustasch farm, but the name, it’s actually, the name came from a lot of vinyl sleeves.

BM: Oh, I see.

RG: Lying all around the apartment. You know how it was back in the days when you were drunk. “Oh we’ll listen to this one, we have to listen to this one, oh listen to this one.” And you’ve got like 20 or 30 sleeves all over the room.

BM: [laughs]

RG: And we picked them up together, and went, “He’s got a mustache. And he’s, and oh, look at this mustache.”

BM: That’s really cool. I had no idea. That’s a cool story. I think people are going to appreciate the band name even more now.

RG: Oh, ok. [laughs] I, for us it was so, what do you say, it was so natural. But I understand now, if you just hear it out of the blue, it’s, “Those guys, they must be gay or something.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: That’s what Lemmy said.

BM: That’s the Freddie Mercury mustache thing. [laughs]

RG: Yeah. [laughs] That’s what, when we toured with Motorhead, the first, Lenny said, “I thought you guys were fucking homosexuals, but you rock.”

BM: [laughs] That is great. Really cool. Do you guys regret the name now? Like when I talk to some other bands, like Symphony X or Edguy, they say, “Jesus, I can’t believe we called the band this.” Are you still happy with the band name?

RG: Sometimes we felt like, “Couldn’t we just pick something more sensible?” But I mean, it’s too late for being sorry now.

BM: [laughs]

RG: I mean, [laughs] for us it was so, it was clear. “Oh yeah, all our influences, all our guitar influences, they had huge mustaches in the 70s. Of course the name must be Mustasch, because we play music that’s based in the 70s.”

BM: Yeah.

RG: But unfortunately, no one understands it.

BM: Wow.

RG: I thought it was, what do you say, I thought it was totally clear for everyone to see.

BM: [laughs] Well that’s great news. It’s, the music is incredible, and the riffs, I do hear a lot of Sabbath-type sounds, especially.

RG: Oh yes.

BM: Especially on Ratafari. Man, that’s a Sabbath album if I’ve ever heard one.

RG: [laughs] It was a German journalist who said, “This is more Sabbath than Sabbath themselves.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s true. That’s true. You know, congratulations on landing the spot at ProgPower USA. It’s gonna be great to get you guys over here.

RG: It’s gonna be so, I have to say, I’ve been swearing all the time, it’s going to be so fucking great to finally reach the promised land to play rock and roll. Oh, you don’t know, I’ve been longing like, for years. Most people in the business say, “If you go to the United States, they will really appreciate you over there.”

BM: Yeah.

RG: And we never get, EMI, they wanted to, we had one chance, but they took another band, because they sold gold record in Sweden. But it was like pop music. And when they played at the South by Southwest festival, most of the American industry, they asked, “What is this fucking shit?” Because we have a tradition here in Sweden, it’s just in Sweden, this is very peculiar. Because, if you play pop in Sweden, you have to sing out of tune. [sings]

BM: [laughs]

RG: And all the people that, what do you say, the reviewers in Sweden, they just love it. But of course, if you go to England or Germany or United States, of course, no one appreciates a singer that sings out of tune all of the time.

BM: [laughs] You have a great sense of humor.

RG: Thank you.

BM: Are you familiar with the band Freak Kitchen?

RG: Yes, I know it a little. I met him when, I live in Stockholm right now, I moved here two years ago, but when I was living in Gothenberg, I mean, Gothenberg is not so big, it’s like 600,000 citizens. And you tend to run into other musicians all of the time when you’re, I mean, if you’re like, at this time in Gothenberg, there was like two or three different rock clubs to go and have a party at, so you met all the other guys.

BM: Well, you have a sense of humor. I’ve talked to Mattius Ecklund from Freak Kitchen twice now. He’s a lot of fun. [laughs] Great guy.

RG: [laughs] He’s crazy.

BM: [laughs] He’d be the first to admit it, too.

RG: Yeah. But I have to say, I’m crazy as well. I know. I’ve been like this since school. And there was a teacher that told me when I was in junior high, I suppose you call it in the United States, when you are like 13 or 14.

BM: Yeah.

RG: In junior high, he said like, “Ralf, there are two ways for you. Either you become a bank robber, or a rock star.”

BM: [laughs] Well, I’m glad you chose the rock star then.

RG: Yeah. Me too.

BM: Well, what can fans expect? Are you the kind of guy who likes to hang out with fans before or after your set? Will you like to mill around and meet and greet the fans at ProgPower?

RG: Yeah. I have this strange, what do you say, I have to ask my girlfriend here. [talks to girlfriend] I have this strange, what do you say, picture of myself, that I’m not a rock star. I just can’t believe it.

BM: Yeah.

RG: And so, when I’m drunk, I go out on the festival area, “Blah blah blah.” I do it here in Sweden, but nowadays, my tour manager and sometimes I have security, because I tend to do a lot of funny stuff. They found me once in the Swedish rock festival, in a caravan with four other guys, drinking hell of a lot of booze. The tour manager goes, “What are you doing? You motherfucker, wow, you could have been killed. We could lose our jobs, you can’t drink on the camping area. You moron!” I was, “Blah blah blah, fuck you, blah.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: So yes, yes, sometimes I, I like to meet people and I like to drink. Sometimes, a little too much.

BM: Well, you’ve got a lot of albums out. I’m counting one, two, three, four, five, six, seven albums, and the EPs and full lengths. With a career that’s already almost 10 years old, how will you choose the songs to play?

RG: That’s very tricky nowadays. You have to satisfy the audience, and you have to satisfy yourself as well. So it’s, well, it’s tricky sometimes because they audience, they just want to hear “Black City” and “Double Nature,” and we sometimes like to play the older songs that are not so familiar, but we like to play them. But I know, hey, we’re in the showbiz.

BM: [laughs]

RG: What can you do? [laughs]

BM: Yeah.

RG: I mean, people actually, they pay money to see you. And if we go out there with some snotty attitude, I mean, do something else. Work in a car wash or do whatever you want, but if you have that attitude, you have nothing to do in the showbiz.

BM: Wow.

RG: That’s my opinion.

BM: Well, one of the things I like to ask the bands that I talk to for ProgPower, is when I mention the album title, to have the person tell me what they remember most about recording it. What was the hardest song, what was it like in the studio, what was going on in your life at the time? So if I ask you, what do you remember about The True Sound of the Old West [2002], what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

RG: The first thing that comes to my mind is that no one in the band wanted to rehearse for this album. They were like, they had like already given up everything. So I had really to, what is it, kick their butts.

BM: Kick some ass. [laughs]

RG: Kick some ass, yeah. And that’s the first, you have to excuse me, my English is not good.

BM: It’s fine.

RG: I know what to say in Swedish. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

RG: But I must translate it to English before I am telling you.

BM: I think you’re doing a great job.

RG: Thank you. So it was, most of the songs, they weren’t ready, because we hadn’t rehearsed. We and the drummer, we had rehearsed some, but the other guitarist, he was with his family on his boat out on the ocean and had a vacation. So he came in occasionally and said, “Oh, that’s great. Well, I’m going out, bye bye.” So most of the songs, the “Falling Down” song, we say the song “Falling Down” we made in the night in the studio. The studio is very good, you can sleep, you can sleep over. It’s located a bit out of town, in the outskirts of the town, so it’s, if you don’t have a car, it’s tricky to get back to Gothenburg. So I slept over. And I had the entire studio for myself. So I wrote that during the night on the grand piano.

BM: Oh wow.

RG: So I had to, “Hey” I called the drummer, “Hey you lazy slacker, you have to get here, get your ass here to the studio. I made a song we have to record it now.” So it was like, kind of hippie style, we recorded it. We didn’t know the outcome. Normally, you rehearse like hell, and you do a demo. But this is, I used to say this record, it’s a very expensive advance demo.

BM: [laughs] Yeah. Well it sounds great.

RG: If you see what I mean?

BM: Yeah, yeah. Definitely. What about the next one then, a year later, Above All? What do you remember about putting that one together?

RG: It was tricky then too. [laughs] Then we had EMI over our shoulder, hanging over our shoulders all of the time.

BM: Yeah.

RG: So I got a mental breakdown there. I was, what do you say, panicked?

BM: Under a lot of stress? Yeah.

RG: Yeah, under a lot of stress. And I had some kind of panic attack.

BM: Panic attack? Yeah.

RG: And I lie on the floor, and I had a terrible pain in my stomach. But it disappeared like, it took half an hour, and then I was ready to go again. But it was my body told me to slow down.

BM: Well, yeah. It’s a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.

RG: Yes, actually. I don’t want to brag, because we don’t do that in Sweden. But I’m writing the music, I’m singing the lyrics, and I play solo guitar. So I have a burden on my shoulders, yes.

BM: Yeah. What was the hardest song on that album to lay down in the studio?

RG: Above All?

BM: Yeah. That was the, yeah, what was the hardest one from Above All?

RG: It was “Into the Arena.”

BM: Really, how come?

RG: Because we weren’t, what do you say, we had different ideas about the drums.

BM: Yeah.

RG: So we had like three or four versions. And finally, our drummer, “Oh fuck, I want to play it like this.” And we were, “Oh yeah, there you are. Great!”

BM: [laughs]

RG: So it was, everybody liked the song, but it was like, “No, we’re not going to be able to finish this.” The producers said, “Give it one or two more chances or shots, but if you haven’t.” I think he was like, no, he was like, “I’m going to the shop to buy something to eat, and if it’s not finished when I get back, thhhbt, we just, what you say, fry it, or it goes away.”

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

RG: I don’t have the phrases in English. [laughs]

BM: Well, your descriptions are perfect. I know what you’re saying.

RG: Ok.

BM: Well, what about the next album, the heavy, Black Sabbath riff album, Ratsafari [2003]?

RG: This one was, it was actually the easiest album, because we decided we had the first, the latest, no, The True Sound of the Old West, and above all, we had a producer that was a friend of ours. And you know, we didn’t show him respect and he didn’t show us the proper respect, you know. So we said we will take in an outsider, a well-known name. And it was Jacob Hellner, the Rammstein producer. And we told him, “You have free hands to do whatever you like.” We told him, “We want to try to do like things should be done.” And so that was very, except for the vocals, I was, he was, blah blah blah — sorry.

BM: No, you’re fine.

RG: I was locked up with him in the studio for two months.

BM: Two months? Wow.

RG: Yeah, he’s so, what do you say, picky about, “Nah, I like it, but you can do a little more better.”

BM: [laughs]

RG: We were, I could, “Call off the dogs.” “Eh, one more time.” We could, that phrase, for three days.

BM: Yeah.

RG: He said, “This is very important. It’s the first phrase on the album, and this have to be right from the beginning.” I think, three days, “Call off the dogs.”

BM: But even with all that, this was the easiest album?

RG: Yes. Because we didn’t have any responsibility. We just played and he mixed it and dubbed it. So it was very easy.

BM: Wow. Well, you know, tell me—

RG: Excuse me. And of course, it contains the best song that I ever have written, “6:36.”

BM: I was just going to tell you that’s my favorite song out of every one you’ve recorded.

RG: Ah.

BM: That’s a brilliant song.

RG: Thank you very much.

BM: Wow. It’s so mesmerizing, so hypnotic, so powerful.

RG: Yep.

BM: Amazing.

RG: Thank you. That’s my best composition, do you say? Can you say that?

BM: Yeah, definitely. It’s quite a composition. What is it about? Those lyrics are interesting. What was the inspiration for it?

RG: It’s a friend of mine. He was, this is true, I’m not lying now. [laughs] This is really, really the truth. You know [word unknown] Festival?

BM: Uh-huh.

RG: It is a festival here in Denmark here in Europe. And he and there were two guys, they had taken LSD. And they were sitting, I don’t know what you call, they had built a stack of, oh, in Swedish, they are called [word unknown] you stuff things on it. You know, do you know forklift, do you know what a forklift is?

BM: Oh yeah, sure, definitely.

RG: Yeah, and the thing you transport, you’re sticking the forks into a construction of tree, made out of wood, and you can, ah, hard to explain.

BM: Those things are called pallets.

RG: Pallets, yeah.

BM: Yeah.

RG: Pallets. Yeah. And they had made a huge stair, so you could go, it was like four or five meters into the air, and then it was stairs down.

BM: [laughs]

RG: So on top of this, their LSD, would you say, their LSD stop to, they come to their senses on top of this pallets. And the sun was rising, and then my friend, he told me, “The sun was rising, and it all came white. We were blinded, it was blah blah blah. And the other guy said, ‘What time is it?’ ‘It’s 6:36. Don’t ever forget this.’”

BM: [laughs]

RG: I had that history in my head and I didn’t know what to write. I made the music, and then I didn’t know, “What the fuck should I sing about? Ah, yeah, I know. Those crackheads on the top of the pallets. Hehe.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] So were they actually saying things like, “I’m a wizard, I’ve got magic sticks, I’m drinking liquid gold”?

RG: Yes.

BM: [laughs]

RG: It’s just LSD all over.

BM: Wow. That is really cool. It’s a cool history to know what’s behind that song. It’s just a brilliant song.

RG: Yeah, thank you.

BM: When I do interviews, I buy all the CDs released by a band and I listen to them for a few weeks, nothing but them, one after another. I liked all of your albums. But two songs that stood out were “6:36” and “The End.” I left those two on repeat almost all day long. [laughs]

RG: Ah.

BM: So those songs are really important to me. I really appreciate knowing the story behind 6:36.” That’s cool.

RG: “6:36” is a song we will never stop to play live.

BM: Oh great. I can’t wait to see that. The, tell me about then, couple years go by between Ratsafari and Powerhouse. Tell me about Powerhouse. What do you remember about that one?

RG: It was, this was the last record on EMI, and it affected the recording.

BM: Good riddance, eh?

RG: I don’t think if I had to pick one record to be the record I like the least, would you say?

BM: Yeah.

RG: It’s Powerhouse, because of the, we know that our A&R guy on EMI, he liked us, but all of the other people that had brought us into EMI, they were ticked or they had left the building. So he was the only guy. And you

- end part one

NOTE: The entire interview can be found in the ProgPower USA IX program given to all attendees at this year’s metal fest.

Tags: Interview //