Groupe:

Grand Magus

Date:

04 Mai 2016

Interviewer:

Blaster & Evanessa

Interview JB (by email)

Hi! Thank you for taking some time to answer a few questions for auxportesdumetal.com Let’s start right away with your new album. Tell us, what can Grand Magus fans expect from “Sword Songs”?

It’s a battle hammer of a heavy metal album!

Four years ago, “The Hunt” had more of a hard rock touch whereas “Triumph and Power” released in 2014 was more in the traditional heavy metal influenced by Manowar vein… Where does “Sword Songs” stand?

I think it falls somewhere in between “Iron Will” and “Hammer Of The North”.

Where did the inspiration come from for this new record? Was the writing process different?

The inspiration comes mainly from nature actually. It’s where I find ideas and can focus away from everyday things you have to do. The writing process was very much like “Triumph And Power”. I started writing in May 2015 and we entered the studio in October. I usually write alone these days and then send the stuff to the other guys and they say “Yeah!” or “change this”, ha ha.

This new record is exceptionally short as it lasts about 34 minutes (you’ve never released very long albums anyway). Is it due to time constraints or is is just because you purposely favour quality over quantity? When do you decide you have enough material for an album?

It’s definitely a conscious decision. Most of my favourite albums that I grew up with are never longer than 40 minutes; most of them are 35 or even shorter. I just think that is the perfect length for a heavy metal album. Enough material is when you feel that you have an album that tells a story musically, you know, when there’s a feeling that it’s something that is cohesive and dynamic.

I believe there will a special edition with a couple of bonus tracks, right?

Yep, “In For The Kill”, which is a Grand Magus song, written and recorded at the same time as the rest of the album. We just felt that it didn’t quite belong on the album “Sword Songs”, so we decided that it should be a bonus track only. And then we have a cover version of Deep Purple’s “Stormbringer”, one of my favourite songs ever.

Are there any messages you’re trying to convey through your lyrics with this album?

I’m not sure if messages is the right word… Of course all the songs tell a story and have many meanings on different levels, but I think this is mostly up to the listener to decide on their own, you know?

Do you know what the next single for this new album may be?

Yeah, it’s out now and it’s called “Forged In Iron – Crowned In Steel”.

Once again, you collaborated with producer Nico Elgstrand. He has been with the band for a long time now… is he like a fourth member?

Ha ha. Well I think that would be an exaggeration, but we’ve had a great working relation with him over the years and I think we have done some great music together. He understands the band and what we are after and he’s a super musical guy that never lets you do something half-assed. He’s also one of the scariest guitar players I know. He’s also a very close friend.

You don’t have many videos, would you like to shoot one for a new song or is it an exercise you don’t really appreciate?

I love cool videos and would like us to have had many more over the years, but it’s such a shitload of work to do them! The planning, the filming, having a script that is more than just standing around doing playback… I think one of the reasons we haven’t done more of them is also that when I’m done recording an album, I’m usually completely fucked in the head for a few months, ha ha. It’s also very expensive to do videos if you want to do something that really stands out. In short: I wish we had done more, but at least we’ve done eight albums in fifteen years, ha ha.

That’s the second time in a row you let Anthony Roberts in charge of the artwork. What made you decide he was the best artist to capture the spirit of “Sword Songs”?

When we saw the finished artwork for “Triumph And Power”. To me it was a no-brainer to use Anthony again. I love his style.

When can we expect a European tour for “Sword Songs”? Do you know have any dates planned in France after your appearance at the HellFest?

Yes. Later in the year… We will come to beautiful France!

Have you decided what songs would represent the new album on stage for the festival season?

I think so… we’re actually going to start rehearsing tonight. It’s hard to decide which ones to pick, but I think we have chosen two that will really work with the crowd. We’ll see, ha ha.

Twenty years of existence, eight albums… Isn’t it time for Grand Magus to finally offer his fans a live recording?

Do you think they want one? I guess I’m in part to blame for us not having done any live releases… I think that live records have kind of lost their attraction after the 1980’s really. I mean the 1970’s and early 80’s live stuff is amazing, with bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, UFO, Rainbow etc. But it seems that live albums today are really cheap and fake. Maybe that’s just me, ha ha. To do a really good live album, you have to put almost as much work in as for a studio album and I think we have just preferred to write new songs and record albums than to put money and effort into live recordings. Maybe we will rethink this in the future!

Grand Magus was formed in 1996. Are you going to do something special to celebrate the twenty years anniversary of the band?

Ha ha… I have also read that we formed in 1996 somewhere… I don’t know who said this (or if even we said this), but in actual fact, we started in 1999. That was the year we changed the name to Grand Magus and recorded the two first Grand Magus demos. So it’s only 17 years! Quite a long time anyway.

I was wondering: a lot of bands you love from the NWOBHM (like Judas Priest or Saxon) have this distinctive twin guitars thing going on… Have you ever thought about having two guitar players in Grand Magus?

Many people have suggested this to us… I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment, ha ha ;-)
To be honest, we have never thought about this ourselves. It would change the band completely to bring in a fourth member. I think we all feel that we wouldn’t want to risk the chemistry that we have always had as a three piece. I think we’ve done a pretty good job as a three piece for a looong time, ha ha.

Ludwig is currently touring with Spiritual Beggars, any other projects for you besides Grand Magus?

Nope.

We just mentioned Spiritual Beggars, what memories do you have from your time in the band?

Many, many fond memories! I love the Beggars and we did some great music together, some great shows and tours and had some fantastic times together.

Have you listened to their last records?

Yeah, absolutely. I think the last two albums are fantastic. I really love the latest one.

The last word is yours:

I hope you enjoy “Sword Songs”, our hearts and souls are in that record and we made it for you!