MM
- The band has gone through a few
changes since we last talked to you. Firstly you have added the
wonderful Linda Gustafsson on drums to your
fold. At first it was suggested this might just be a temporary arrangement
but she's still here. Does this mean she's agreed to stay on permanently
with the band?
It was a temporary solution in the beginning. Linda was just supposed to
play on a couple of tracks on Utopia, but her drumming turned out so good
that we asked her to record the entire album with us.
There was no reason for us to keep on looking for another drummer since
she had everything we could possibly want. At the time Linda had other
obligations as the drummer of Norwegian all-girl band The Tuesdays.
For many reasons they decided to "put it on ice" for a while, and for the
moment they're not sure when or if they'll start up the Tuesdays engines
again.
We're so happy that she wanted to become a permanent member of the band!
MM - More recently we've seen the arrival of Tobbe Andersson on guitar. Give us a bit of background on Tobbe and is he
related in some way to Pelle?
Tobbe… Actually, we've been discussing this a lot in the band, whether we
wanted to add one more guitar player in the band or not.
It's a little bit easier with just four members in the band, (you know
decisions and stuff), but we thought that we had so much to gain if the
band with another guitar player, since that would give us a bigger sound
on stage.
Tobbe is a great dude! Very kind and has a lot of humour. We've known him
for ages since he is living in the same town as us.
Tobbe used to play in some local acts, so we knew for sure that he could
handle the guitar.
Related to Pelle? Not at all. You see, it seems like almost every single
person in Sweden has got the surname Andersson… ;-) I think you can
compare it to your own "Smith" or something like that.
MM - You've all just returned home after
appearing at the Z Rocks Festival in Germany. How do you feel it went
and did you enjoy it?
Gosh … We had so much fun!!! Everything went great. The sound, lights,
food, hotels were perfect.
This was our first time on German soil and we really want to go back as
soon as possible!
MM - How do you feel the band is progressing
musically? We've heard a lot of very positive feedback from your fans
about the way in which you've all grown together as a group and matured.
Yes, you can say that we've become much more mature. Today we are
satisfied with each member and we are all heading for the same goal.
On the next album we will try to make even catchier melodies but still in
the same vein as Utopia. Perhaps some different guitar arrangements and
add some "depth" into the production.
The future will tell. To those who like Utopia, - you'll certainly
recognize the Seven Wishes "attitude" in the future... Watch out! :-)
MM - Which Seven Wishes songs did you feel
went down particularly well with your fans?
Quite hard to say… From the Utopia album people in general are talking
about "Out Of Sight" "Take My Heart" "Justify" "Face That Evil" and "Too
Late For Tears"
- Which songs do you like Linda?
Oh! That's so unfair! That's like asking a small child to choose their
favourite chocolate bar!
OK, if pushed then I would have to say 'Take My Heart', 'Don't Fade Away'
and 'Too Late For Tears' from Utopia, and 'Caught By Surprise', 'Open Your
Eyes' and 'Bring Me To Heaven' from Seven Wishes.
MM - What did you think of the other bands on
the bill? You played earlier this year with some of them at the Z Rocks
Festival Part 1. Was there any band(s) in particular that caught your eye?
We're all huge Von Groove fans and Linda is also a serious hardcore Enuff
Z'nuff fan! So of course those bands caught our eyes a little bit more.
It's a big thrill for us to be able to share stage with heroes like that.
We've met them twice now, and they're not only good bands. They're also
VERY nice people!
Dreamhunter and us are almost living in the same city in Sweden. They're
very cool guys and they always sounds great on stage!
Contagious is a great band as well. Some of them are really serious crazy
;-) Funny people! We like them a lot.
MM - Was this the bands first performance in
Germany or had you visited there before?
No, this was our first trip to Germany! (Hopefully we'll be back soon!)
MM - The year 2001 has in fact seen the band
feature in a number of festivals. Which do you prefer playing, regular
gigs or large festivals?
Hmm… It depends on… Festivals are great because there are always a lot of
people watching.
Even if they're not there especially to see you play, they'll probably
watch you anyway.
Regular gigs are good because you've got plenty of time for sound check and
the audience Acting more wild and crazy. Playing festivals in Sweden is
also great since you always Stumblin' into other musicians you know. It's
like a huge party every time!
MM - How do the English festivals differ from
those in other parts of Europe?
We haven't been to so many festivals in Europe, so we have nothing to
Compare with…
MM - Tony, earlier this year you finally got the chance to meet your hero
Don Dokken. Where did you two meet and have you calmed down yet?
Yeah!!! Unbelievable! Isn't it? I went to the Sweden Rock Festival
together with my friend Pontus Norgren.
Pontus band Talisman was supposed to play, and as he also is one of the
finest sound engineers you can find he was also hired to take care of the
sound for Dokken at the festival.
After the Dokken gig I went backstage because I REALLY wanted to have a
chat with Mr. Dokken. It was like now or never… I still can't believe that
I actually had a conversation with my all time hero!
He was very, very nice. Later that night I had the opportunity to meet him
again over a beer since he and the rest of the band were staying at the
same hotel as us.
MM - Had he heard the bands version
of 'Unchain The Night' and if so what was his reaction?
Don knew that we had recorded a cover of "Unchain The Night" and he was
very flattered, but he'd not been able to listen to it.
Of course I gave him a copy of Utopia and he immediately started to show
it to the rest of the band!
MM - What sort of feedback did you get from
the fans in general about your latest release 'Utopia'? Were you pleased
with the finished result when it came out?
There's always things "you could have done better". Despite having said
that we're pretty pleased with the finished result. Utopia is a much
better album compared to our debut.
Better songs, better production. The feedback from our fans have been
great and we've got raving reviews everywhere!!!
MM - Any plans on when you'll be going into
the studio and starting work on the next album?
The wheels are already in motion! For the moment we're writing a lot of
material and I think the recordings will kick off in March / April 2002
MM - What songs/albums (other than you own)
are you listening to at present?
Nothing special actually. Except for some cd's I've got from our label,
I'm just Listening to my "old" favourite albums with Dokken, Shotgun
Messiah, Ratt, etc, etc…
MM - So what do the band have planned next,
where to now?
For the moment we are writing songs for the next album. So far it has
turned out great. We will keep on doing so for the rest of this year. But
if there's time we'll probably do some club gigs as well. We have planned
to start recording the album early next spring.
MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like
to say to all your fans out there?
THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!
Keep on sending us e-mails! Keep on bugging your local promoters to book
us! ;-) Without you, we wouldn't be anything at all! We love you a LOT!
