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Fredrik
Interview
by Monster Of Metal
The same usual ritual was involved with me again. Harassing the bands for interviews so early in the morning. Can you picture their faces early in the morning checkin their emails and seeing Monster Of Metal? HAHAH, that is a scary thought eh. Well no matter cause that didn't bother Fredrik at all. He was so nice that he took his time and supplied a great thought out answer for every question I asked. And you know what, we also find out that he has a sense of humor as well, which is always a bonus in writing this interview and reading the answers. And don't worry folks, I had some pity on Fredrik, I didn't bomb him with a long interview. I'm getting too soft I think.. HAHA. Well anyhow folks, here is Fredrik in the raw.
Hello Fredrik, thanks for taking the time to answer this interview (I've been known for never ending interviews). I promise not to make you suffer too much HA! HA!
Alright so you told me that the new cd "Waiting For The Tide" is done with. Is it out yet?
It's out in some countries. We're trying to sign distribution deals right now. Just a few days ago it became clear that MNW will distribute it in the Nordic area. Their main act is Drain, who used to tour with Black Sabbath so that's clearly positive.
When will there be distribution for it in the U.S and Canada?
Tell the people I have no really good answer. The only distribution in that are at the moment are through Full Concept.com and through resellers like Laser's Edge.
Is the new cd similar to " Into The Unknown". Did you go about it with the same philosophy? Did you change your attitude going into it? What should fans, new and old , expect to hear?
The difference is that the material is more mature and a lot more song focused. We focused on that rather than adding more technical skills. We have also changed our singer. From the response that we have received this seems to be highly appreciated.
So the new release was recorded at Sheep Valley studios and SMK studios. How long did the recording sessions take for it? And also , Mind's Eye produced it and mixed it? How did that come about? (Told ya my interviews are long , ha ha ha)
Not that long actually, but what took time was the change of singers. First we recorded everything with the old singer, but when we found Andreas Novak we had to do it all over again. The reason for us recording, producing and mixing the album is simply the lack of producers, engineers and so on in Sweden that actually know and understand progressive music. We had this one guy though, Ernie Ernlund, who helped us through the mixing. He also helped engineer the guitars.
I just saw the the art for the cover. Wow!!! I must saw that is some great artwork. Is there a story pertaining to the songs of the cd? It looks like it can be a concept story. Congratulate the artist for a great job.
Not really. It's more like different stories for every song and we tried to capture that in the booklet.
Your website shows that the music was written by you, Daniel Flores and Johan Niemann. Was the collaboration done equally or did one do more than the other?
It was basically done by me and Daniel. Most of the ideas come from one of us and then we work it out from there.
Now why did you guys go with your own label? And who's idea was it.?
It was just a way for us to get the album recorded. We needed somebody to help us finance it. This was one way to get done.
Before the first cd came out, Mind's Eye had done 2 demos, is there a way for people to still get it today?
They're around on the Internet. They can also be bought from the Afterglow homepage.
Mind's Eye was previously called Afterglow. Wow, I personally think that was a bad name. I'm glad you guys changed it.
Hahaha, me too!!
Ok, I just saw that the guy who founded Mind's Eye recently quit the band to pursue Therion? Damn , will that be a blow to the band you think?
Well, Johan is a fantastic bass player but he didn't contribute to the songwriting that much. Also, the songs for the 3rd album are finished so we basically just need someone who can record them. Feel free to contact us if you're interested by the way!!
Ok. Before Andreas Novak became the vocalist, Jonas Persson was the vocalist right? I think he did a good job singing but why did he leave the band, I mean I did read that the first cd got some good reviews?
Actually we had to let him go. His voice was not right for us. He also had problems with staying in tune and a bad accent. His also received terrible reviews. Andreas is fantastic though!
Do you guys still keep in touch? I ask cause I know he is in Scudiero right now. He was glad enough to do an interview with me as well but I got so confused with the dates and what I read on their web site. Can you clear that up for me?
Not really.
You know on the Scudiero website, some guy wrote in and complained that he was disappointed that Johan was in Scudiero. What do u think of that?
Well there's always gonna be different opinions about everything. I think it's a good job for Johan and that their music fits his voice better.
Was Johan really fun to work with as a musician and as a person?
Johan is a really nice person, so it didn't feel good to tell him that he had to leave.
So now Andreas is the vocalist? How is he coming out so far?
Fantastic!!. Everybody who's heard him are pretty overwhelmed.
It seems to me that many more musicians today have an actual education in music and vocalists are trained singing as opposed to in the 80s where many bands with not much talent made it to the music scene? Do you think that is a bonus as far as writing music?
I'm not sure that I agree. Obviously there are some musicians that are extremely talented today but the majority of the music being sold isn't that exciting in my opinion. That is of course if you look wider than the progressive scene.
Where else have you played besides Mind's Eye?
I joined Mind's Eye in 1993 and that was actually my first real band.
Tell us about the weirdest way you ever came up with a riff, or melody etc?
It was probably when I was like 18 and was composing solos by combining licks from instructional videos haha. I learned a lot but it wasn't exactly creative.
Can you play guitar while being drunk?
HA Ha! I know I cant . I cant even hold a pick ( How did Jimmy Hendrix ever do it?) HA HA Not even after a single beer.
Ok so Mind's Eye has been compared to bands such as Queensryche. That's a big honor , don't you think? (Well as long as its before Q2Krap… Ha ha ha, Queensryche will never answer me for an interview now..))
I think that Operation Mindcrime and Empire are two of the greatest albums of all times so clearly that's a great honor! I'm not really sure if we're worth it though.
So how is this for a superstar band line-up? Let me know what you think? Vocals: Dc Cooper Guitars: Fredrik Grünberger (HA HA!!) & Timo Tolkki Bass: Geddy Lee Drummer: Niko Mcbrain
Hahaha, maybe not huh?
Ok just a few more bud and ill let you get back to sleep. I'm sure you'll need one after this. HA HA HA
What kind of music do you listen to today.
Everything that's good! With that I mean composing, arrangement, production, performance and so on. That can be everything from Phil Collins to Sting to Kip Winger.
What band do you think has a bright future ahead of them?
I don't buy that many new records today so I'm not really the right person to answer that.
Is anyone from Mind's Eye doing anything on the side. Seems like everyone is doing that today. But hey that's cool more meta l for me , heheheh!!
Not on a daily basis. It might happen from time to time but is usually just smaller things.
What are your guitar influences ?
There are so many but just to name a few; Steve Vai, Steve Lukather and Dann Huff.
Ok so this is a hot topic of late as you must have have heard. What is your opinion about all this Napster thing? What's your opinion
It might be good in certain ways but I definitely think that there's a danger in it as well. Musicians have a hard way protecting their music as it is and I read that Metallica had some 300.000 downloads. That's a lot of downloads!
And as a finale Fredrik, what advice do you have for all those musicians trying to make it in music? I'm trying to make it myself so
I need advice hahaha!!!! But seriously it's like Steve Vai said, 5 good reasons for not practicing - There Are No Good Reasons! Always keep an open mind and use your ears - if it sounds good it can't be wrong!
WOOOHOOOO>>> now you can sleep. Thanks a lot Fredrik, it was a little long but well worth it for me, I've had fun, hope I didn't bore you too much.. HA! HA!!! Good luck with the new cd and future tour. Let us know about tour dates
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And………… Voila!!! Ladies and gentlemen. Another successful result to a hard day's work… well night in my case. At least I wasn't doped up on Caffeine as always. Nevertheless thanks to guys like Fredrik, this is getting easier and easier as they come along. Fredrik did a great job folks , give this man a hand (clap! Clap!). And don't forget, visit your dealer folks cause the new cd promises to be a winner.. If you don't know where, then ill lead you to the way, if not visit http://www.roundrec.com I'm sure they have a few copies on the side for ya…
Disclaimer: This interview cannot be used in whole or in part without the expressed written permission of Monster Of Metal; www.monstersworldofmetal.com and the interviewed partie(s). Any unauthorized use or rebroadcast of any material found on this website will be subjected to legal proceedings. © 2000 Monster Of Metal.
