....... .... ... .. ...

Has there been any ground bolts that you have gathered round in terms of musical visions? 
     "No, we all listen to different music so we have a broad base of influences. It's not like we only like one style of music and that is what we have to do. Basically it's me and Michelle that writes the music and sometime it's either she or I that comes up with the melodies. Then we all arrange them in the rehearsal room. I can't really say that we have anything like "This is the style we're gonna play". It ends up the way it ends up."

When you pick members instead of the band growing out of a group of friends, is it easier or harder to a band that way? 
     "We wanted to work with people who felt right and who had the same goals as us, we want to be able to live off our music and to have fun doing so. You have to try your way and it'll take time before you find the right people but we've done it now and it feels good. 
     It's not like we've been friends since childhood. It's through friends that we've met. Both Moa) and I went to the same school, Rockmusiklinjen at Fryshuset, Stockholm. We found Moa through me hearing through a classmate who knew about this girl who was a good vocalist."

I imagine that it must be hard to pick titles for the songs. When you pick titles do you have special way of doing so? 
     "I don't write any lyrics. It's Michelle who does that. But it can be things we've talked about in rehearsal, things that inspire us at that moment in time. It can be about false people ("Aspartame"). It is what we feel the song is about that decides the title. Michelle has written about each track on our web site."

How do you get a record deal when you're so new as a band as you are? 
     "We sent tapes to some labels and then we met Record Heaven and they liked our music and the band. They are themselves old musicians so it's not this thing of making us into products. It's all about the music."

With so much new hardrock/metal sees the light of the day and the bands are being more and more controlled by their labels do you think it's become harder to find your niche? 
     "It might be harder with the music we play. It's more independent. The labels will rather put their money on a product where they know that they'll make back the money invested even if it only lasts one record. But by then they've made their millions. It's all about the money. That is why this label feels like the one for us. They don't have that much money but at least you know that it feels real. It's really important to feel that you have a label that supports you."

When Michelle was a member of Phantom Blue she was seen as another guitarist to follow in the school of Mike Varney's guitar heroes. Today we hear less and less of guitar heroes. Have guitar solos in today's hardrock/metal become something dirty? 
     "Absolutely not. It's not in every song but we do have solos so it's not that we're afraid of using them. Michelle is a great guitarist but it's a different style. The first Phantom Blue album was released on a label where there were only guitar heroes so that puts its stamp on the sound. It doesn't feel like we need to have a guitar solo in every song but if it fits we'll use it."

What is your relationship to Phantom Blue? 
     "When I was in the 8th grade I listened to Phantom Blue and thought that they were great. When I got in touch with Michelle the first time I was really nervous, so nervous that I spoke Swedish. When we started to play together everything clicked. So, yes I listened to Phantom Blue and thought that they were good. I like this kind of grungy sound. I'm really influenced by Soundgarden and Alice In Chains and stuff like that."

There so much talk about the Swedish music wonder and what part the communal music schools have played. How big a part do you think that they have had on making Swedish music so big world-wide? 
     "A giant influence. That was something I noticed when we where in Germany doing PR. Sweden impressed people. That we get grants to pay the rehearsal room rent with and the Swedish music school. It means so much and I think it's a good thing. 
      Everybody gets a chance to play if they want to. It's the same thing with sports and why we've had such success."

Do you think it would have been different had you not been a band in Stockholm and instead been in Los Angeles? 
     "There's so many more contacts to be made in L A. It's a whole different world out there. We played there in April and it was like coming to a completely different world. There the money rules. We want to have the album released in the States so that we can get over there and play. It's a whole different market. If you compare Germany to Sweden you realise that the Swedish hardrock market is very small. 
     We have Michelle to thank for a lot since she's been through it before. She still has some connections left. 

If you're going to break in USA, where do you start? Is college radio the first priority? 
     "We have had the album played on College radio. It would be cool if it turned into an underground thing. College radio can play pretty much whatever they like. But I do believe that that is where you should start." 

In a band it's the vocalist that is the natural focus point. The guitar player is a close runner-up but what makes one choose the bass instead of the guitar? 
     "I think it was more by accident. When I went to elementary school there was a subject called "The Rock Band" that you could chose. When I went to Rock music-school I played guitar because it's good to know." 

When you were about to record the album, how come you ended up in Upplands Väsby, a suburb to Stockholm? 
     "A friend of ours have a studio there and he believed in us so he let us record for free. "

So it had nothing to do with that Europe started their career in Upplands Väsby? 
    " No, it was nothing like that. John (Norum) has recorded some of his stuff there so we knew that the guy was a good guy to record with. It was not because it was a cool place to be because the Europe connection." 

Now that the album is out how will you continue to build a growing following? 
     "We will film a video and release a single. This will happen in January 2002. It's gonna be Feeding The Hope. After that we will play out as much as possible both in Sweden and Germany to begin with. That is what we want to do, to come out and play as much as possible."

How do you build a fan base if you start from scratch? Is Internet a good start? 
     "I believe that you have to play live as much as possible. We have been out playing a lot during the 2 years we've existed. I also think that Internet can be good but you have to get out and play. People who've seen the band live and liked it will talk about it and it spreads."