Grand Magus Interview   with   JB Christoffersson By Merlin Alderslade

With a brand spanking new label in Roadrunner and an offensively metal new album on the immediate horizon, Grand Magus have plenty to be excited about. This mean that Soundshock have plenty to be excited about too, so we were all too pleased to jog down to Roadrunner HQ to have a natter with Janne ‘JB’ Christoffersson ahead of the release of ‘Hammer of the North’. Warning: this interview contains ice hockey.

Hello there Sir! You’ve had a lot going on recently, how did writing and recording ‘Hammer of the North’ compare to the process for ‘Iron Will’?

Well, the writing process started in the fall of last year, and the last two albums have been completely newly written stuff. On the albums before that we’d usually have a couple of songs from old stuff. So we started writing in maybe August, and we went into the studio on new year’s eve and recorded the basic tracks and everything. The whole recording thing was definitely our toughest, because we really wanted to excel both musically and performance-wise. The guy we brought in to produce, Nico [Elgstrand], who plays bass in Entombed, has also done a lot of mixing, and he was really tough on us. We’re friends, and he was brutally honest and told us “If you can’t play this song, go home and rehearse, don’t waste my time.” So it was pretty brutal, but it was certainly worth it in the end.

How far does Norse mythology actually stretch through your music?

The Northern Scandinavian tradition is something I was brought up with, so it’s a very integral part of who I am. The lyrics and the songs aren’t really about any old stories that might run out, but a commentary on life and death now, so maybe when you don’t have anything to say about that any more then you’re obviously in trouble. That’s not something I’m particularly worried about.

Tell us about the title track from the new album, it has some very striking lyrics…

Well I never really go into specific lyrics, but ‘Hammer of the North’ is more like a statement or a symbol than an actual thing. It’s a statement about the emotions that I have for Scandinavia and the nature there, and also about what I feel is important in life. It’s many things, but it’s more like a symbol than the meaning of the words. What is the Hammer of the North? Grand Magus is the Hammer of the North!

Do you feel that it’s important that people appreciate the mood and the vibe of your music more than what you’re actually addressing within the songs?

It’s all there, we’ve always printed the lyrics, and they are there to be read and listened to. If you wanna go in and understand what’s in my mind when I wrote it or what we’re trying to project, then you can find it, but I don’t wanna be the one [to explain it]. It’s like reading the end of a crime novel. All of the bands I got into as a kid didn’t get asked in interviews what their songs were actually about, you had to find out for yourself. With a song like ‘Angel Of Death’ for instance, after a couple of read-throughs you realise what it’s about, but you don’t need to tell anyone.

So you think it’s better that way…

Personally, definitely because it makes a much stronger impact when you yourself find out or realise, rather than having someone telling you.

Do you think there is a bigger emphasis on people wanting to know more and more about bands and artists these days?

Yeah absolutely, and I think it gets really boring, because I’m very happy that I didn’t find out what an everyday day was like for Abaddon in Venom for instance, that would have totally ruined my image of the band.

How did you get involved with Roadrunner?

Well our last album ‘Iron Will’ was the last that we had on that deal, so we were in essence free agents. It was kind of like our breakthrough album, certainly our biggest, so there were many labels wanting to work with us. We had a great experience with Rise Above [records], and they really were the perfect label for us, but we know what we’re doing, and we wanted a platform to get it out on, so we needed the most powerful label we could get!

Do you think people are still surprised when they hear Grand Magus for the first time given your Swedish roots?

Yeah I know what you mean. Sweden’s mostly renown for death metal and maybe some black metal as well, but we share a common emotional thing with some of those bands anyway. Musically it’s different, but there is a connection anyway, but maybe people will be surprised because this is the first time many will be exposed to our music.

The artwork for the new album is a Necrolord piece, that’s a bit metal innit?

When we got the chance to work with him, it was just like, “Why haven’t we done this before?” So we had a brief conversation on the telephone and two days later…

The Wolf!

Yeah, the Wolf is a kind of kindred spirit with us. Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated with wolves, and as I became older I looked at the position of the wolf in human history, and I got even more interested. For instance, in Swedish, “wolf” is “varg”. “Varg” means “thief” or “murderer”, so it’s very interesting to see how humankind has projected ideas about and put emotions into an animal that is, in essence, just doing what it is supposed to be doing. And in essence a wolf can live alone or in a small society, and we realised that this is how we’ve been working as a band, as we’ve never been part of a group or a type of music, we’ve always kind of gone our own way. But, at the same time, we’re not completely weird. In Scandinavian tradition the wolf has a very prominent position, so it feels like we have a connection.

Have you always strived to carve your own identity?

What’s really been the guiding force for us is that we’ve just wanted to do what we want to do. It’s only recently that we’ve realised that not many bands function that way - they do what they think they should do or what others think they should do, or they get forced into doing something and they split up. We’ve been lucky in the sense that we’ve been able to expand and go in different directions, but at the same time, since we haven’t had this as our only way of surviving, we’ve been free to do what we want. No one can tell us that we have to stick to any type of music, and it’d be completely pointless for us to do any music that we didn’t want to do.

Will we see you touring more now that you have a bigger label behind you?

Yeah definitely, now is the time. We’ve done this album, it’s a Grand Magus album, it’s not something that has been diluted or tarnished in any way, and now we want to take this opportunity to make this happen.

Any festivals planned?

Yeah we’re doing six or seven festivals, and then we’re looking for a European tour in the fall. We’re aiming at a big support slot for a big band, but it makes sense with the package idea, as the audience usually get good value for their money. As long as you don’t end up with the wrong band!

Have Grand Magus become much of a ‘festival band’ yet?

We’ve really been touring more than playing festivals. Last summer was our first big festival summer, so we did all the big German festivals like Wacken, we did Sweden Rocks in Sweden, we did Rock Hard, Hellfest…when you’ve done that you usually have to wait, so because we did Wacken last summer we won’t do it this summer.

Have you been to many as a punter?

Yeah I love festivals! You go away to somewhere usually quite scenic, you’re with your mates in a tent and you can just think about heavy metal for three days and just drink.

What’s been the best festival experience you’ve had?

I must say that last year we played the Rock Hard festival in Germany and we got to stay there for two days. It’s like this big amphitheatre, and there’s a big river behind the stage. The weather was just fantastic, we had a great gig, and everyone was wearing a battle vest, or bullet belts - true metal all the way! You wouldn’t see an emo haircut anywhere, and the beer was fantastic.

What are your golden rules for surviving the festival experience?

Rule number one: Never hesitate to take the first beer. So you brush your teeth, and then straight on the beer. Rule number two would be to take a break in the afternoon, so depending on how early you get up, take a break around one or something. Stay off the booze, sleep a bit, take water, and when you get up from that, go get some food, and off to the beer again! That way you can stay alive at least until midnight, but the break is really important so you don’t run out of steam.

Very sensible. And now, onto the serious stuff. What question are you most sick of getting asked?

Erm…Probably “What’s happening with Spiritual Beggers?” But the reason I was sick of hearing that question is that the beans have only just been spilled that I’m not in the band any more, and I was waiting for Michael [Amott, guitar] to reveal that. I’m very proud of Beggars and everything I did with them.

What question do you wish you were asked more?

Guitar players! There’s so many, it’s fun to discuss various guitar players’ style, who has the best vibrato, stuff like that.

Vinyl or CD?

CD. It’s easy, I’ve got more CDs than vinyl, but I have a shitload of vinyl as well. I was very happy when CDs came out.

Fair enough. Finally, will you be watching the World Cup?

Probably some matches if it’s not in the middle of the morning, and obviously Sweden aren’t in the World Cup this year. I’m an ice hockey man, we’re the best in the world! It’s a really exciting game, and I like it more than football because it’s an efficient playing time, so the last three seconds can be decisive for a game.

‘Hammer Of The North’ is out June 21st on Roadrunner
Interviewed by Merlin Alderslade