| ragazzi: |
"At first: what does Gösta Berlings Saga mean? How did you begin in the music? Why in Sweden?" |
| Alex: |
 "Gösta Berlings Saga is a novel written by the famous Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. It was also made into a silent film in 1924, directed by Mauritz Stiller. Gösta Berling is the name of the main character, a vicar on the loose, and the word saga means the same in English as in Swedish and the book itself is pretty good (saying this in public could result in some kind of conflict as it is in fact considered a classic, loved by many). All of us (Alex, David, Einar & Gabriel) have played in various bands before, spanning from hardcore punk to jazz, and apart from Einar's extensive guitar and music studies we are all self taught - for good and for bad. The decision to work in Sweden was made on our strong worship of the Aesir." |
| ragazzi: |
"Why Rock'n'Roll music and not impressionistic paintings?" |
| Alex: |
"Even though Monet's work is really inspiring (especially after his paintings got the famous red tone, all thanks to the cataract he developed in the early 1920s), we still find King Crimson's nuances of Red more compelling." |
| ragazzi: |
"Where do the ideas of your album come from? From the Rock'n'Roll air in your hometown? How do you have developed the music into the form we hear it on the CD?" |
| Alex: |
 "True, air is important. But despite these times of global warming, music is even more important and that is why we want to do our best in the field of prog. Usually one of us brings a melody or theme and if we all agree that it is a good one worth developing, we jam around it for a while to come up with more ideas. This usually takes about a couple of hours or so. Lately we have also been recording our rehearsals and we try to listen to it on our own at home. This is probably the most important part of the song making process as independent and unexpected ideas emerge, which are assembled the next time we rehearse. Before recording a song, this last procedure is repeated again to get rid of the not so very good things and to reach satisfaction. If possible, we also try to get some kind of a visual inner picture of the song at an early stage so that we all work in the same direction in terms of concept and expression. To us it is also very important that all members are credited for all songs as we work as a collective and not as a group of individuals." |
| ragazzi: |
"Do you all like the music on the CD?" |
| Alex: |
"We were really excited when we picked out the tracks and shaped the whole concept idea and we still like all the songs more or less - they fit pretty well even though some of the songs on Tid är Ljud were actually written more than two years ago. We have also started writing material for the next album and we are absolutely psyched about this as it will be way better than the last one." |
| ragazzi: |
"Do you know that Swedish rock music is a boom today? What do you feel about?" |
| Alex: |
"We are indeed aware of the fact that many Swedish acts are respected worldwide and we are happy for them. However, not many of these bands spread the word of the Aesir (except for our associate Martin "E-Type" Eriksson). We do. And that is why we will prevail." |
| ragazzi: |
"What is the name of the highest mountain in Sweden? Do you have a space rock ministry?" |
| Alex: |
"Sweden's highest mountain is the 2097 metres high Kebnekaise (also a great band and an equally great inspiration by the way). It is said that 9% of Sweden's surface area can be seen from the summit, which approximates to more than 40,000 km2 - almost the size of The Netherlands. Our Space Rock Ministry goes by the name of Øresund Space Collective and they will rock you." |
| ragazzi: |
"How old are you? What do you do beside Rock'n'Roll? What is your daily job? Do you've have long hair? Who got the longest hair?" |
| Alex: |
"We are about 29 years old all of us except for Einar who is like 33 or so. Until very recently he had the longest hair in the band but we decided to cut it off. Contrary to the way we make music, this was not a collective decision. We work with very different things; teaching, banking (oops), gambling (ooops) and one works as a guitar teacher (guess who)." |
| ragazzi: |
"In Uppsala Sweden is born. Maybe the people live there today because of this reason? Are you the emotional children of the Samla Mammas Manna? Do your mothers like the guitar playing in Gösta Berlings Saga? And your girl friends?" |
| Alex: |
"Actually Einar moved to Uppsala on the 1st of February, mainly for that reason and since that day we do consider ourselves the emo children of Samla. Most of our family, friends and girlfriends like our music when we ask them about it but the positive response might be related to the fear of Man." |
| ragazzi: |
"Which of you is the best musician at his own instrument?" |
| Alex: |
"We all worship Einar's flair of shredding the axe but since he is a modest mouse he would probably say he isn't that good if you ask him personally." |
| ragazzi: |
"When you work on stage, do you drink before or after the show? Do you in quarrel/dispute about the construct of the songs? What do you like more: improvising/soloing/composed ultracomplex passages or soft vocal lines? Do you have had a fight in the band because of the sound of the drums?" |
| Alex: |
 "We have had a strict policy of not drinking more than perhaps one beer before our shows as it is crucial that we keep focused while playing. On the other hand, our best show to date was when we recently played in Gothenburg where we drank pretty heavily before playing as a small experiment. It all turned out great and we had an incredible time and a feeling that also seemed to transmit to the audience. When on stage, we are a little like chameleons; if we notice that people like certain songs we try to hold on to those parts longer and if people seem bored we usually play a slightly shorter song/set. What's the point of playing live if you can't even manage to entertain the audience at least a little? Luckily we have not been at the point yet when people leave the room in despair but hopefully that has to do with that our music is quite accessible to everyone.
We go along well with each other both personally and in terms of music so there have been no fist fights to this date, something I'm pretty glad about since David is pretty well ripped, almost like Thor. Personally I feel more like Sæhrímnir." |
| ragazzi: |
"Do you have children? Do they play instruments? Do they have long hair? Do they like classical American cars? Do you like classical American cars? (the Russian ones don't work that funny, I think, or?)" |
| Alex: |
 "I am the only one with children and my four year old son, who has pretty long hair by the way, is in fact a big fan of Magma or at least of some of their songs and especially the mythology of Kobaïa, which he knows flawlessly. But he hasn't made it to the real instruments yet, even though he said the other day that he wanted to start playing the violin. A future Didier Lockwood perhaps. Regarding the American cars I'm still clueless why the manufacturers haven't come up with the idea of making a new and environmentally friendly car with an old classical chassis - everybody would buy one if these monsters existed." |
| ragazzi: |
"Is there any chance to see you playing live in north Germany - here in my hometown Stralsund? (When not, why not?) Do you play long guitar solos live on stage? Do you have a politician in Sweden with a Rock'n'Roll past?" |
| Alex: |
 "Call our management and we will gladly play anywhere at any time as long as you are able to provide somewhere to sleep and something to eat (and a few bucks). Lately we have also discussed the possibility of adding a clause in our contract saying that the organizers should buy CO2 emissions to cover our travels. We will also play extremely long guitar solos for no extra charge (excluding extra CO2 emissions, of course) if requested. Regarding your politically related question, our new Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt does in fact go by the stage name of Galder when he performs with his Classic Rock cover band. Check him out at:gostaberlingssaga.se/galder.jpg." |
| ragazzi: |
"What do you like the most in general? And in special?" |
| Alex: |
"What we all have in common except for our taste in tasty music and the Aesir is good food and Trappist beer. That is also one of the reasons for why we dream of a doing a tour covering Belgium." |
| ragazzi: |
"At last: what do think about ragazzi-music.de, come with your abuses!" |
| Alex: |
"Even though none of us knows German that well, you seem to be doing a marvellous and passionate job with covering the world of progressive music! And thanks to your great review of "Tid är ljud" we are getting quite a few Ragazzi referred visits to our website! Thanks a lot x2, Volkmar!" |
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...and now I'm red...
VM
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