| INTERVIEW
WITH ECLIPSE (italian version) by Jacopo Meille Let's start talking about your album, "Second To None"; how long did it take to write and record the songs? The songs were written quite quickly actually, in a period of 3-4 months but the recording was delayed over and over again due to several problems, feels like there has been a curse over this album! It took us about 2 years to complete it. Would you like to tell us about the new songs? We tried to come up with really heavy riffs and then combine them with good vocal-melodies and big catchy choruses. Not the basic AOR-formula, more like regular hardrock! A song like “Always standing” is not your average AOR song. We try to do it with a more modern approach, sound and arrangement-wise! The influences range from everything like Slayer to Rick Springfield. Your sound - at least to my ears - is clearly influenced by the American hard rock sound of the '80? Is this true, and if so, is there any particular band you loved from those days? We think it sounds more European but, what the hey!! We’ve all been raised on hardrock from the 80:s. We thought that AOR was quite wimpy and boring when we where young, but your musical taste gets broader as you grow up. The bands we listened to were AC/DC, Iron Maiden, WASP, Malmsteen, and Slayer. The list goes on… You have chosen Frontiers, an Italian distributor, why? They seem to be the best and most serious company for this kind of music in Europe. The have some of the very best acts in this genre. And they really believe and push hard for this music. It feels good to work with them! Was it difficult for a hard rock band like you to find a record deal nowadays? It wasn’t that difficult for us, it depends on where you look. You have to look for the right source. There seem to be a record company for every genre nowadays. Do you feel this record represent Eclipse at their best? Yes, so far so good! But like wine it will mature and get better with every year. Our next album will hopefully represent us even better then. Would you tell me something about the history of the band? Me, Erik and our former drummer Anders Berlin where schoolmates back in –99. We studied at the Stockholm music conservatory and were in to the same kind of music. Most people in music-conservatories are in to the jazz thing. But we wanted to play hard rock, nothing else. We had the same goals, so you could say we found each other. In the eighties your kind of music was very popular with huge audiences, but today melodic rock became quite underground, is this a strange situation for you? Do you like this? Well, we probably won’t get rich in the near future by doing this, but we see it as our job to bring this music to the big audience. Hopefully it will have a revival some day, and as long as you’re not fake and stay true to yourself it will pay off some day. A Swedish musician once said: “A clock that’s stopped, is still accurate 2 times a day!” I was really impressed by the vocal arrangements on each song; could you tell us more about it? Well, mostly when I write I do the riffs or the grooves first. After that Erik comes up with an idea for the melody immediately and it always turns out great. That is his big talent really! When Erik writes, he mostly hits the melody on the spot and goes from there. So we have to thank Erik for the vocal arrangements. THANKS ERIK!! Magnus Henriksson, your guitar work is really impressive; who are your main influences? Thank you! The guitarists I admire are many, but range from everything from Malcolm Young, John Frusciante and Bo Winberg to shredheads like Ritchie Kotzen, Malmsteen, Albert Lee and Allan Holdsworth. But really I’m a melody freak on guitar. I love to play single-string melodies, like silly child themes and melodies from TV-series. Like Simpson’s, Beverly Hills and Benny Hill. I’m a bit childish, I know. Is there any plan to release a single out of the CD? Probably not. Not many radio stations would have an Eclipse song on their play list. It’s not commercial enough. And most radio stations are corrupt in my opinion. How come that Northern Europe is both the land of black metal and the finest AoR. bands? I think the Black Metal thing has to do with Norway because the Christianity is very big there and the church has a lot of influence. And as a reaction against that, many B M bands and Satanists has spawned. In Sweden we have always been sucker for big melodies, especially with our folk music tradition. This summer there will be festivals all over Europe, will there be a chance to catch Eclipse live? Check out our website for upcoming info. www.eclipsesweden.com We can’t wait to go out on the road to kick your butts!! Which is your greatest future challenge? That is to wake people up and making them realise that Eclipse is the best rock band on the planet!!! Thank you, Jacopo No, thanks to you!!! JM Reviews (in italian): Second to None |