ZS: Current Line up?
Mr. V: It's me on guitars, vocals, keyboards, FX and other various stuff like organs and melloron. Mattias Marklund is the other guy and he's doing guitars. For this new album we hired a guy called Johan Lindgren for the bass, but he was just a session member. We like to keep it as a two piece band as we get what we need within that limitation, and if we need something that we can't produce ourselves we hire someone in.
ZS: Why the change from a two piece to a full band?
Mr. V: We're not a full band we just hired Johan in for the bass on this recording. We're friends since childhood and our friendship goes beyond just the music so our philosophy of the band is "why fix something that's not broken".
ZS: Since you changed your sound from a progressive based metal sound to a folkish metal sound, did you change your use of scales or did you just change things tonally?
Mr. V: I think we developed in a very natural way from album to album and this new one is filled with lots of progressive part as well, but we made them more fluent and less fragmented than for example "The Focusing Blur". I just follow my heart and mind while composing and try not to think too much, instead just feel my visions "out" and from that try to form the songs. So I haven't really changed anything it's more about what drives my inspiration at the moment.
ZS: Why did you change the sound musically and lyrically (unless I have things wrong lyrically)? Are you trying to return to your roots a la "Till Fjalls"?
Mr. V: No, we're not returning; this is a leap forward with lots of fresh ideas. But as the lyrics is in Swedish again people may think that we're going back to our past to get inspiration, but that's wrong. We are constantly evolving as a band and it's very important to us to proceed in that progress on, still keeping the core of the band intact. The lyrics is what I always write about : the relation between man and nature and that relation comes in a multitude of ways.
ZS: Any upcoming tours?
Mr. V: We're not a live act at this moment due to several reasons like family, studying, work etc.
ZS: Do you consider yourself a big/famous musician?
Mr. V: Not at all. I'm not interested in becoming one either, I like to be anonymous and let the music be in focus. We do this for the art itself and not for to glorify ourselves as we see it very serious. Passion is the main factor behind this band and nothing else really matters for us.
ZS: Who are some of your influences musically and lyrically? What about philosophy wise?
Mr. V: I listen nearly only to progressive and symphonic rock from the 70s, so if I have any musical influence it's from those genres and era. When it comes to philosophy I'm into various segments but still I return to Aristotle while trouble shooting my mind.
ZS: " Cosmic Genesis" had a very astronomic look to it, does the subject interest you? Does science interest you in general?
Mr. V: I'm a nature freak so of course science is a huge interest. When you start to understand some of the beautiful processes of nature itself you can't go back, it's an addiction to learn more and science hold many keys to that kind of secrets. I've been into astronomy since I was a kid and got my first telescope, it's nature in a really grand form.
ZS: How does the recording process go for you? Do you record some basic tracks and then hand them over to the other musicians so they can play that themselves or is it something else?
Mr. V: We recorded the whole album ourselves at our own studios and that was a wise decision as we could take our time to really record when the spirit was there. Then we got to another studio to mix it and the whole thing was a very smooth process. Johan worked out bass part in collaboration with us but mostly on his own.
ZS: Which do you prefer: growling or singing? I know that they go along with the music but do you prefer to go with a more aggressive sound in your songs or a more mellow sound
Mr. V: I like both as they both bears a certain atmosphere and having them both is good for dynamics and it gives the music more dimensions.
ZS: With the growing debate of equipment I have to ask this question. Which do you prefer: digital or analog equipment?
Mr V: Both, hehehe... I use both and are very happy with it.
ZS: Any last words for this interview?
Mr. V: Check out the album, it's adventurous.
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