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What better way to kick start 2007 than with a band who's debut album has
already been hailed as what will quite possibly be the best melodic hard
rock album of the year! Yes it's early days but this release is so
impressive it's going to be pretty damn hard for anyone to beat.
Here we catch up with Anders, Sherwood and Ola to find out more about the
band and it's breathtaking music.
MM - Firstly thanks for agreeing
to do this interview.
Code - Our pleasure.
MM - Ola and
Anders, after the split of Grand Illusion how long did it take to make the decision to form a
new band together?
Anders -
Actually we started
to work with Sherwood in the end of November 2004 and Grand Illusion split
up in May 2005. I would more say that Grand Illusion split up since I
decided to invest my time in this band instead of carrying on with Grand
Illusion.
MM - The new album both captures
the essence of the classic AOR sound but also brings with it a more modern
approach, was this intentional or did it come about naturally?
Sherwood - I'll let the "Maestro" (Anders) answer that.
Anders - It always hard to
say what will come when you write songs. You are both affected by the old
roots from the music you have grown up with, but also with of all the new
influences you hear all the time. Working with Sherwood has been one major
difference in writing the songs. In Grand Illusion I wrote all the music,
did all the arrangements and then brought in the rest of the guys. Here
it's been more of a giving and taking. Sherwood has had a lot of influence
over the songs structure. If there has been a part of the songs he hasn't
thought are up to the standard to the rest of the song he has simply asked
me to write a new part or take it away. That never happened in Grand
Illusion and I think it has contributed to that the songs have a simpler
but also better structure. That’s also way it many ways sound different
from the Grand Illusion albums.
MM - I read that you had some 40
plus songs for the new album, how did you decide on the final track
listing for the album?
Anders
- When Ola and myself
first visited Sherwood in LA we brought along 25 songs to listen to. After
the three of us had been carefully choosing our favorites we were down to
11. Then we went home and we continued to write songs. Maybe 16 - 17 more
and we continuously updated our list. Some of the new songs substituted
others and we felt that the album got better and better and that the songs
worked well together. When we got to the stage for bringing Gregg in, we
brought along 15 to the drum session but ended up recording 13.
Sherwood - We just knew when
the goose bumps would raise up on our arms or we'd get a chill. There's
something about when a song kicks you in the ass. You keep playing it over
and over. Also, when you finally get the right lyrics it just sings
easier. With lyrics, for me, if it feels uncomfortable singing it, then it
isn't right. So much of the time, the lyrics work great on the page but
not coming out of the mouth. I guess the answer
also is that some songs have great sections but let you down in other
areas of the song. Many of the songs on this CD needed reworking different
sections. Like "How Do We Stay in Love?" originally had a different
chorus. The old chorus wasn't as good as verse and bridge, so Anders
re-wrote the chorus.
I am really glad he did. The song is always the priority, not our egos. It's an evolution. Anders is brilliant at creating melodies and tracks
that hypnotize me. On the rare occasion
that he doesn't, I just tell him, "Anders, practice real hard writing
songs for about 6 more months ... and then after that, you should quit!" Ha!
MM - Will any of the songs left
over be appearing on future albums?
Sherwood - There are a few lyrics that I'd like to see with the right
tracks, but we'll see. The original
lyric for "The Enemy Within" was a great lyric but wasn't a good marriage
or match with the music. I felt that the music for "The Enemy Within" had
intrigue but the lyric I wrote didn't. The funny thing is, Gregg Bissonette kept singing that original lyric much later, so I know it's a
worth using again on the right track.
Sometimes you get an idea for a lyric and then just write it. When it's
all finished, you realize that it doesn't quite match the vibe of the
music. What works for me is first, letting the music tell me the feeling
and then create from there. In this case, I needed to re-write the whole
lyric from scratch. I'm glad I did.
Back to answering this question, Anders still has some music tracks that
resonate with me. We'll see if they hold up by the time we start writing
the next CD.
Anders - I am rewriting a
couple of those that will be used for some new productions and artists. A
lot of them are very good songs but they just didn't fit on Code's first
album for different reasons. I don't think they will be used for Code in
the future either but I can not say that for certain. We have talked about
writing new music instead. It's important that all in the band like the
songs and it’s also more fun to write new stuff than to go back and use
old stuff.
MM - Gregg Bissonette appears as a
guest drummer on the album, how did this union come about?
Anders - Sherwood has played
with Gregg in the past so he sent Gregg one song and asked if he would be
interested in helping out with the drums for this album. He was and after
that it was more a matter of setting everything up. So Sherwood asked
around where to record Gregg's drums and who's to engineer the session to
get a real killer sound. Jay Graydon recommended that we should use Steve
Sykes to record the drums and Steve suggested to record in Castle Oaks
Studios, Calabasas, California since it has a very good live room and lots
good old gear.
MM - Will you be recruiting a
full time drummer in the future or will Gregg be taking up the position
full time?
Anders
- That's a hard
question to answer. Gregg is a very busy guy with lots of high profiled
work. We all wouldn't mind having Gregg on the next album as well but that
depends on this albums success. If a lot of people like it so much so here
will be a demand for a tour we would of course ask Gregg and see if he's
interested in being apart of that. I don't feel any immediate rush to hire
a new drummer or bring in another drummer as a permanent band member. We
all really like Gregg’s groovy song oriented drumming.
Sherwood - Hopefully, the
timing will work out for Gregg to tour with us. He's a busy guy and much sought
after, as you well know. There are some other amazing drummers out there. I've
been fortunate enough to work with these guys in and out of the studios
for years.
MM - Anders, what
do you enjoy most the production side or the song writing and performing
side of the business?
Anders - Personally I like the song
writing the most. It's the most creative part of the process to create new
ideas and turn them into full-blown songs. I also like arranging but I
don't think it's fun to mix. That takes very long time for me. I'd rather
write five more songs instead of mixing one song.
MM - Anders, do you
think you have more control over the final product when you can see things
from both in front of the mixing desk and behind it?
Anders -
Of course I want control. I
am a control freak. Everybody that knows me will sign to that. I often
have a very clear idea right from the start of how the songs should sound
when there finished and much of the struggle is to reach that goal. An
important factor in this that my songs ALWAYS are based around melody
right from the start even if they are riff rock songs and then it’s
important to keep that original feel and idea. Sometimes it's a smooth
process but many times it's a lot of hard work to get a result that you
think is good enough. I am very seldom satisfied. Always looking for some
way to improve the result. To put it another way; A pain in the ass cause
I am never satisfied.
MM - Sherwood, did you know anything about Anders or Ola, or even Grand Illusion before
you were approached to front the band?
Sherwood - Since their Grand Illusion's
CDs have not been released in the U.S., I had not.
A great band. Unfortunately,
U.S. corporate radio doesn't play music for the largest surveyed listening
audience in N. America recurrent ROCK (basically Melodic Rock).
MM - For the whole band now -
What tracks from the new album are you particularly proud of and why?
Anders - I like all the songs
but if I would have to pick some favorites I would say: 1. "The Enemy
Within", Good
melody and I am proud over the arrangement. 2. "In The Shadows", A simple
song but it sticks in your head. 3. "Alive", I like the mood in
this song.
Sherwood - My fave's are "My
Time", "Uninvited Guest", "How Can I Change the World", "In The Shadows",
"How
Do We Stay in Love?" ... I guess I love all of them.
For me, there's not one
stinker in the bunch. Oh yeah, there's a bonus secret track that we will
release as a free download, later in the year, where Ola plays like a
fiend. Don't tell anyone! It's called, "***". Ha! Sorry, you'll have to
wait.
Ola - “In The Shadows”, I think it´s a
great song with good attitude. “Sign Up For Love”, There is
nothing that can capture me as a good and punchy guitar riff. A lot of
energy thru the whole song. “Uninvited Guest”, More rock to
the people.
MM - Ola, your
guitar playing has a mature quality, this from such a young guy, who are
biggest influences and why?
Ola - I grew up with Guns N’ Roses and Slash. Great songs and tasty guitar playing. He did it with a
unique feeling and really treated the guitar in a right way. He´s probably
the last guitar hero. I learned all the songs and guitar solos and I believe that it was G N´R that started it all for me. They are still one
of the biggest bands for me.
Another inspiration would be
Jimi Hendrix. He makes it sound so easy and when he plays you really don’t
care about anything else. Sound, technique and feeling just feel so clear. Truly one of the biggest ever.
Then we have Steve Vai, Joe
Satriani, Steve Lukather, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Morse, Albert Lee,
Brent Mason, Eric Johnsson, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Robben Ford,
John Petrucci, Pat Metheney, Yngwie Malmsteen, Angus Young, Mike Stern and
Zakk Wylde that opened up an other kind of world. I mean they are so good. Each one has such a great tonality and sound. Riffmakers and icons, they
really make it interesting when it comes to guitar playing.
MM - With the band split
between two continents how often do the three of you get together? This
has not been a problem for creating and recording the CD.
Anders - In person we haven't
meet so many times. I have visited Sherwood two times in LA. Both times I
stayed for 10 days. But we talk a lot over the phone (we'll have to start
to use Skype to save some money) and we have nearly daily E-mail contact. The world is not so big as it used to be due to the internet, Email, Skype
and ftp.
Sherwood - Since we can't
wait to tour, once we get the "green light" then I will fly to Sweden and
rehearse with Anders and Ola before any scheduled tour. I'm not worried
about playing the music at all, it's really about logistics of making sure
we have great equipment there in Europe or in Japan and coordinating with
Gregg's schedule. Since Gregg is one of the greatest, he will only need a
few days. I will play rhythm guitar and sing. Anders will play bass and Ola obviously lead guitar, so we'll probably need to find a competent
keyboard player who can also sing. Per Svensson, who sang a ton of the
doubled background vocals on the album is also an accomplished keyboard
player. The man is a super talent. Sings his ass off. I would love it, if
Per could do the gigs. Hey, I can't wait to hear Ola tear it up! What
about you?
MM - Definitely!
MM - Does the band have any
plans to tour to promote the new album or are these early days?
Sherwood - We can't wait to
get out there and bring the music to the people, plus playing the songs live will
take them to a whole new level. I always wish the process was reversed
because you work out the kinks in the songs and find new arrangement ideas
just by playing them. That is our plan for the next CD, is to write and
rehearse the songs first, then record.
Anders - We hope that we
could be playing on some AOR festivals during the spring. Actually that's
one of our goals. We will probably not do any tour of our own since we are
a new band and have to establish a fan base first, but we really hope that
we could be a part of some festivals. Too early to say anything more. But
the goal is to play live cause we all would love to do these songs live.
MM - If you had to hard sell
the album to the layman (not that you will have too) how would you
describe the whole Code sound?
Sherwood - Toto meets Journey meets Giant.
MM - What does the future
hold for Code as a band?
Sherwood - Hopefully enough people will buy the CD and want to hear us. We
don't want to go do gigs to empty clubs/arenas and have promoters lose
money. The success of the CD will actually dictate whether we can fill the
houses (clubs/arenas) or do any gigs at all.
Anders - I hope that many people like this CD so there will be a demand for
a second album. It’s my belief that a second album will be even easier to
do and will also be better. We now know each other much better now and
have established a good working method. I also think that first writing
the songs, rehearse them, rearrange them and then finally record them
would improve the songs further.
MM - And finally thanks for
taking the time out to complete this interview and I hope the album does well for you. Do you
have anything else to say to our readers?
Sherwood
- We've worked very
hard for a while now to create something that we envisioned could revitalize
our favorite genre of music, Melodic Rock. It requires a lot of soul
searching, blood (heart), sweat and tears (sacrifices) to create a CD like
this. I feel, for once, we have given the fans a CD where EVERY song is
great (although you can't please everyone) and where you get more than you
paid for. For too many years we've gotten a few good cuts on a CD. For me,
I've felt ripped off too many times. In my heart, I feel we achieved our
lofty goal. I know that I can look back on this CD ten years from now and
still have a big smile.
Anders - I just hope that
people will check us out and give us a chance. Go to our web site:
www.codeband.net . There, you will find samples of all our songs to build
an own opinion. Let the music speak!
MM - Thanks again guys for taking the time out to talk to us. We look forward to seeing you on the road some time and would like
to wish you the very best of luck with not only this release, but all the ones to follow! |
