Evergrey (VO) Interview / Spirit of Metal Webzine (fr)

Evergrey (VO)

(Questions to Henrik Danhage) So we will talk about your new record. What can you say about it ? What do you think about it ?
Henrik Danhage : I think it's great. I think this is the best album we have done so far. We put all our souls in it and we spent a lot of money for it and I think this was definitely worth it when we got the final result. We are completely happy.

Why did you choose Monday Morning Apocalypse for the title of that album ?
H.D : I think it's a good name, it sounds great when you say it « Monday Morning Apocalypse ». It's quite different at all, people say like « what is this ? ». I think it's a good title, it really suits the all thing.

The artwork is really special for you comparing to « Recreation Day » for example. So why did you choose this kind of artwork ?
H.D : Hum, you said it yourself, because it's different. And this cover is going to look great in a music store. Eminem is on the rightt, or another metal band is on the lef, with a pop album next to it and this is the first record you will pay attention to. And this is the whole thing with a cover you know.

And why did you choose American pictures and not swedish pictures for the prisons ?
H.D : You know we don't have it in Sweden. This is something that every people who has a television at home can know. They can understand what this is. In Sweden, we don't even have this. I don't know what is happening when you get arrested in France, but you know what this is.
I hope the American population will like it a lot and so they buy it. But I hope the French people will like it as well. But you know, on the other hand, when you think about it, how many albums have you bought in your life based on the cover ? None probably. It is just a cover, this is not the end of the world. It's a cover and the purpose that we wanted was something different that people will like to find out more about the record. Think you are in the subway and you see an advertising I guess that will be like this : « What is this ? ». And we succeeded in that because every journalist have asked us about the cover so far.

And what about the lyrics ? What is the main theme of this record ?
H.D : For this one, we don't have like a conceputal thing that we used to have. But there are still the dark subjects that always interested Evergrey. Loneliness, emptiness, losing people who are close to you, the suicide thing and Death. It's still there you know. And for this one I really think that Tom really went down and wrote some really dark lyrics, really really dark and disturbing.

So now some more personnal questions.
The last time you comme to France, you opened for James LaBrie. How can it be possible you opened for one people ? What happened ?
H.D : This was a good thing. We needed to get out, James needed to get out of this stuff and this

was a good idea to do it together. We also needed a security as well because if we spend a lot of money for the rooms and people don't show up, it's a waste of money and we don't have that much money to afford it. But of course we would love to come here and play because this is France, we love Paris. And we will come again and play because it was great and we love playing in France.

I think you will come this year to play in a festival in Beauvais...
H.D : Well, I heard a thing about that but this is not a thing that we have confirmed yet. We don't know because this is in may I think and we will be on tour in the USA with In Flames so it's gonna be hard playing these two shows.

So will you come for the « Monday Morning Apocalypse tour » ?
H.D : We will play in Sweden, then in the USA and we will come back for the festivals in summer. And after summer we will do shows in Europe and that will of course include France.

And will you play for the Wacken Festival ?
H.D : No but we will play Graspop.

What are your musical influences ? What do you love listening to ?
H.D : It's very diverse. I enjoy good music. I think Sting is very good music, and Pantera is great but I also think about Jeff Buckley or regular pop band have really nice quality that I like as well. A good song is a good song and I like when I get touched by music. A beautiful love song, a stupid love song on the radio can really move me as well.

What is your best memory on tour ?
H.D : I have to say that the best memory always comes up every time we play the last song of a show. It really doesn't matter what happened on stage, if everything was great or if it was a desaster because people come spending their money sharing with us. You knon when people are happy, this is just an amazing thing. This is the best tour memory and that happens night we play.

(Questions to Tom S. Englund) So we have already talked about this record. So now...
Tom S. Englund : Alright so bye bye (laughs)

Throughout the years you have gained a certain popularity. How far would you like to go with Evergrey ?
T.E : How far do you think ? To the moon ! Yeah if I can sell albums on the moon I will have succeeded very well. Of course we want to push it as far as we can and I haven't seen the end yet. We want to do as good as we can everywhere, in every country. There is a lot of new country to conquer, new listeners to conquer. We just want to develop ourselves and evolve and sell more albums. That's why we are here.

And back in the early years, did you think you would have this success ?
T.E : I thought I will have this popularity quicker. That's why I'm not still satisfied. I want more, more more.

I made a bet with a friend. I said him that you do have progressive stuff in your music. So

do you have progressive stuff in your music ?
T.E : No. It's acually up to the listener, it's not up to me to decide what to you think we have in our stuff. We don't think we have progressive stuff. We have somewhere something technical but no to the point Dream Theater play technical. Progressive is just a definition. We don't call ourselves progressive, we call ourselves Metal. So I guess you have lost your bet. Merde ! (laughs)

Is music your only hobby ?
T.E : It's not a hobby, this is my job.

So do you have any hobby ?
T.E : No. Family is my second biggest love, next to myself.

What is for you the spirit of metal ?
T.E : Believing in something that on paper looks difficult.

This is the best answer !
T.E : It's because I'm the best person (laughs). And this is the best album (laughs again).

What is your best memory with the band ?
T.E : The best...Oh my god ! I think the greatest memory I have is the recording of the DVD. I think that night was really really special. And this was also a good opportunity to sum up all the dreams, all the memories, all the songs into one DVD. We get all the backstage, it's like an interactive photo album I guess. And I'm very proud of the DVD. That's probably the greatest accomplishment we have made so far except for playing music at home.

You have so beautiful Caparison guitars that we can not import in France...
T.E : It's very cool, I've got five and hendrik got 6.

Why did you choose this kind of guitars ?
T.E : I had a friend of mine playing on Caparison guitars and I tried one of his guitars. I was more on Ibanez stuff, but the didn't give us the support we needed I said that I want to try something else. And we contacted the guitar maker and they were interested and they have been giving us everthing we want. We are just waiting for 7 strings guitars now because we have some 7 strings on the new album.

And what is your opinion about this record ? Do you think it is the best ?
T.E : Oh by far. But that's the thing, every record you release you think it is the best and it is the best that you could have done at that time. And the new album is going to be something really special. A lot of people are going to appreciate it I think. It's a great Metal album.

Did you write all the songs ?
T.E : I think I wrote 70% and Henrik 25%.

And all the lyrics for you ?
T.E : All except In Remembrance which is by me and Rikard.

So what do you want to say to your French fans ?
T.E : Thanks for your support throughout the years. It has always been a great pleasure to play in France even we haven't play in France as much as we want to but we will come back after summer and play like 6 gigs. And buy the album or die !

interview réalisée par Julien & Obskur

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