Interview with JB in Bullymag
Ken Wohlrob
The Mountain of Power That is Grand Magus
Interview by Ken Wohlrob
To call Sweden´s Grand Magus´ music an "instant listen" is almost selling them short. Their songs hook you, draw you in, and tattoo themselves on your brain.
While most bands struggle to find a "sound" that makes them unique, let alone write 2 or 3 decent songs, Grand Magus has A sound that is all their own - what lead singer/guitar player Janne calls Black Magic Rock. It is part classic metal, part heavy blues, part doom, and immersed in the spirit of bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Uriah Heep. Lyrically, the songs center around the environment they were raised in - Norse legend and the sprawling nature of the Swedish landscape.
From the powerful vocal delivery to the grooves laid down by the rhythm section to the thick guitar riffs to the overall production, it is a complete package that sets the band apart from a pack of Stoner, Doom, and Retro-rock bands. The songs have an incredible bluesiness and groove, while still packing a wallop.
After hearing their new self-titled debut, and being impressed as all living hell, we got in contact with Janne to talk about the band´s sound, their influences, and some of the meaning behind their songs.
Bully: Tell me a bit about the history of the band, especially considering most folks outside of Sweden really haven´t been exposed to your music?
JB: Fox and me started the band together with our first drummer Iggy sometime in 1996. Then Iggy left the band and we found Trisse through an ad outside an anniversary showing of Deep Purple´s California Jam. He was there and saw our ad that said we were looking for a drummer who was a cross between John Bonham and Bill Ward! He called us the next day and the rest is as they say, history. This was in early 1998 I think. We proceeded to record the "Firepower 99´" demo as it was subsequently called. We had a lot of fun recording it and we got great response. We did the recording and mixing during a weekend in 1999. The Music For Nations label really liked it and wanted to hear more, so we did another one. This one was called "Demo Two Thousand" and all the songs ended up being published in one form or another.
B: Who are the biggest influences on your sound? There´s an incredible bluesy sound to your music and I´m curious where it originates from.
JB: Well, there´s obviously a strong influence from seventies blues based hard rock. Bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Mountain, Uriah Heep, Rainbow, Nazareth and stuff like that. I grew up on music like that. I got heavily into more brutal stuff pretty early on as well, Venom, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost just to mention a few. This might be difficult to hear in the GM stuff, but it has more to do with attitude rather than the sound though. Judas Priest is another favourite band for all of us in GM, their seventies stuff as well as albums like "Screaming for Vengeance", "Defenders of the Faith" and "Painkiller". I guess listening a lot to ZZ Top has rubbed off as well. The bottom line is that classic hard rock and metal is our foundation. I don´t really listen to new music, unless it is something really special.
B: Obviously with this black magic blues sound you guys are intent on carving a unique place for yourselves. The album sounds completely different from just about any band people would try to lump you together with. Is the sound due to environment, influences, or just natural progression?
JB: Thank you very much! I´m very pleased that you noticed. We made a conscious effort to avoid the standard production and instead tried to get a pumped up version of the classic hard rock sound. There are no "scooped" out guitars on the Magus album…. We basically just recorded everything live in a very "no frills" way and we didn´t really compare it to other albums. Hopefully this shows. To answer your question more precisely I would say that it has to do with natural progression as you call it. There is a message in everything we do and I´m not prepared to compromise. If you have the chance to get heard, say something that means something to you and do it the way you want.
B: You have a lot of different lyrical themes swirling through your music - mans relationship to nature, mythology especially Norse legend, and even straight up blues. What inspires what you write about lyrically and what are some of your lyrical influences?
JB: Once again you´ve hit the nail on the head. It´s very satisfying to find out that some people actually listen to what you do. The inspiration comes mainly from books and nature. I feel that history has a lot to tell us about how to live your life and what is important. The importance of being an individual rather than a conformist and at the same time being able to interact with other people. I feel that too many people try so hard to fit in and end up accepting things and behaviour that conflict with their true feelings and standards. You´re not going to get a medal for being a sheep. You´re always responsible for the decisions you make, so you´d better follow your heart. People don´t realise the power within and how destructive it is to deny your true spirit. Being Swedish means that nature is always close and there is enormous power to be found there.
B: Talk about "Black Hound of Vengeance" a bit, which is I think is a tune that really defines your style. It has that bluesy as hell guitar riff, Trisse pounding away, Fox riding out that bass line during the verses, and the powerful vocals. At the same time it takes that doomy sound and wraps it around what is essentially a basic blues theme - revenge - spun into a more mythological setting.
JB: A lot of the lyrics deal with ceremonial magick which is entirely internal (mainly in the Norse tradition) and "Black Hound of Vengeance" is a prime example of this. The song is basically about exacting revenge through magickal means and how deceit and treachery always backfires. If you betray someone, deal with the consequences. To call it mythological is fine, but it is very real, believe me…. Some people have asked me if we´re into fantasy and stuff like that and while I´m a fantasy buff, our lyrics have nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with that. We´re not Hammerfall. The magick I´m talking about is about connecting with your inner feelings and the power of the mind and has nothing to do with tricks and escapism into fairytales.
B: What´s the translation of "Lodbrok"? The song is obviously about the oppression of religion, and also one of the more crushing songs on the disc.
JB: This is a long story. OK, this is a Norse allegory. In Norse legend there was a wealthy man who had a beautiful daughter. The man was concerned for his daughter´s safety, since many tried to abduct her and take her as consort. The man called upon the gods for guidance and got a gift from Odin, a small serpent in a chest with gold. Odin told the man that the serpent would grow fast and would be a trustworthy guardian for his daughter. As the serpent grew, the treasure increased. A year later the serpent completely encircled the house where his daughter resided and there was an enormous mountain of gold. Any man who came close was instantly killed by the serpent´s poison and the father could not come close to his daughter. The wealthy man could no longer stand being separated from her and again called on Odin for advice. Odin suggested a challenge: Any man who could kill the serpent would win the girls hand and the treasure. Many feared warriors tried, but all were swiftly dealt with by the serpent. A man called Ragnar watched all the failed attempts and realised that in order to protect oneself from the burning poison, you had to have some kind of protection. He killed a bear, took its skin and dipped it in tar. He then clad himself in the tar-dipped skin and rolled around in dirt and gravel and at midnight, when the serpent slept, he approached. The serpent woke up and as Ragnar thrust his spear into the soft skin of the serpent´s belly, it unleashed its deadly poison. Ragnar´s bearskin suit worked and he killed the serpent. From that day he was called Ragnar Lodbrok, Lodbrok meaning roughly "the one clad in skin/leather/fur". Simply put: "leather trousers". This story has a lot to say about many things, but its significance to our song lies in the fact that you have to use your head to win the battle against oppression, simple aggression and physical strength will not suffice.
B: "Lodbrok" is not the only song where you kind of lash out at organized religion. You also have lines like "Sure enough, all that´s good is sin, Why people choose to grovel at the feet of some dreamed up king" on "Mountain of Power." Do you believe in God and not organized religion, or are you a full-on atheist?
JB: I do not believe in the christian god. I believe in man. I believe in nature. The so called "world religions" have caused so much misery for such a long time, that I feel you must fight them. I do not believe in conformity. I believe in respect for the individual. Organised religion is oppression and stupidity at its peak and it´s dangerous as well. I feel that everything you do, you have to take full responsibility for. You cannot hide behind a system which is meant to keep people in restraint.
B: How much of a role did Fred Estby play in the overall sound? I thought he did a great job of giving you guys a thick sound without making you sound like every stoner or doom band on the planet.
JB: Fred was crystal clear from the start about what he wanted to do. He´d done live sound for us at a gig and told us that if we ever recorded an album, he´d love to do it. We got many compliments for the sound that night, so we thought that he´d be perfect for the job. I´ve been a fan of Dismember since the start, so obviously I had great respect for him. It was a pleasure working with him and we had a great time. He engineered it, produced it and he mixed the album as well. Hopefully, we can use him for the next album as well. He´s a great guy.
B: What instruments are you guys using to get the "Grand Magus" sound? What do you like about the ones you do use?
JB: Trisse plays Ludwig drums (28" kick drum, you´ve got to have that!), Fox wields a Rickenbacker bass through an old Acoustic amp and I use a Gibson Flying V through a seventies Marshall head. Same as live. I used to play Fender Strats, but the V is awesome so I gave the Strat up. I might use it for some stuff on the next album though. As long as an instrument has the feeling of wood, it´s the thing. I can´t stand the plastic feel of "high tech guitars." A bass should have four strings and a guitar should have six. Why is that so hard to understand?????
B: I´m sure you hear the Chris Cornell vocal comparisons a lot, but based on everything I´ve ever read about you guys, you´re probably more influenced by Ian Gillan and Purple than Soundgarden?
JB: Damn straight! The Cornell thing is very flattering though; I would never consider myself to be in his league, he´s a monster. You can´t beat Gillan in his heyday though…. He even did his most brutal vocals in his mid forties: Born Again…. Fucking awesome!!!!!!!
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