"This is our first time in Bulgaria and we want all of you metal fans to show up."

A conversation with Tomas Englund, Henrik Danhage and Rikard Zander - respectively vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player in Sweden's progressive metal band Evergrey - just a week before their concerts in Sofia and Plovdiv...

Rikard Zander – keyboard

V. V.: Hey, Rikard, how are you doing?

R. Z.: I’m very good, thank you.

V. V.: First thing – happy new year!

R. Z.: Yeah, the same to you!

V. V.: Well, actually, the year 2007 comes with the first show of Evergrey in Bulgaria ever. What are your feelings about it?

R. Z.: We’re really excited about it. We’ll have two shows – in Plovdiv on the 15-th and in Sofia on the 17-th. Of course, we’re really excited because we’ve never been in Bulgaria before.

V. V.: At the same time, it;s part of your East European tour, right?

R. Z.: Yes, that’s right – we will do a two week tour in Eastern Europe – we’ll do shows in Turkey and in Greece and some other places.

V. V.: Why did you choose the first weeks of the new year, when it’s difficult for touring because people are still tired of the long holidays but at the same time would like to go to a rock and roll show?

R. Z.: Well, I’m not sure, really. It’s just fitted with the promoters. We played this show in Hungary last summer at a festival and we met a guy and started planning an East European tour. It’s just a coincidence that it is in this time of year. But I hope people will not be too tired and haven’t eaten so much food, so that they can come and headbang at our show.

V. V.: Or this is the remedy to get rid ofВ  too much food.В В В 

R. Z.: Yeah, lose a few extra pounds.

V. V.: Last year saw the sixth album of Evergrey, “Monday Morning Apocalypse” and we’ve been playing the title track almost every day, but are you already thinking of releasing the next one?

R. Z.: We have some new stuff, but we’re just in the beginning and we haven’t decided yet when to release anything. We’ll see how things go and hopefully will present our next album sometime this year.  

V. V.: So far you’ve been working with Inside Out Records, which is mostly known for being a progressive music label, do you consider yourselves to be a progressive metal band?

R. Z.: Well, we don’t consider ourselves to be just a progressive metal band. We have influences from prog music, but we also have influences from a lot of different styles, especially in metal. It’s really hard... I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s hard to label your own music. If people think we are progressive, then it’s their choice.

V. V.: Obviously, your label thinks you are progressive.

R. Z.: Yeah, yeah, maybe, but I don’t know and don’t really care.

V. V.: Sweden has always been famous for its musical exports – late 70’s it was mainly ABBA, then in the early 90’s from one side – Ace of Base and Roxette, on the other hand it was the Swedish death metal scene, so what is the big thing in Sweden today?

R. Z.: That’s a though question. Metal is really big – In Flames is really big in Sweden in all categories right now. Otherwise, I don’t know – there is a lot of bands.

V. V.: OK, so what is your message to the fans?

R. Z.: You’d better come to Plovdiv and Sofia and check us out, because this is our first time in Bulgaria and we want all of you metal fans to show up.

Henrik Danhage – guitar

V. V.: Hey, Henrik, how are you doing?

H. D.: I’m in my apartment and I’m getting ready to go to a rehearsal, it’s our first one in two months now, so it’s gonna be really good.

V. V.: Obviously, the reason for this interview is that you’re going to have your first shows ever in Bulgaria. What are your feelings about this one?

H. D.: I’m really excited because over the years we had a lot of Bulgarian fans visiting our web page and finally we have the chance to come over and make it up for all the years that we haven’t been there. We’re really excited to come to Bulgaria.

V. V.: Just a minute ago we talked to your keyboard player Rikard about being on a progressive label, so do you consider yourselves being a progressive band?В 

H. D.: It would be more fair to say that we are a metal band that progresses all the time. From what I read in the newspapers it seems that what people think is progressive metal is not what I consider it to be. Because I think that Opeth and Meshuggah are as progressive as Dream Theater are, you know, so I think that there’s a lot of progressive music, but not in the way most fans call progressive metal.

V. V.: What is going to be the big thing for your band in 2007?

H. D.: We’re gonna start recording a new album and hopefully do some touring after the summer, because this is when the album will probably come out and play a lot of shows. But the main thing for 2007 would be to make a good album that all the fans – new and old would like.

V. V.: I have the album in my hands, so what song do you want me to play?

H. D.: I think you should go for “At Loss for Words” and dedicate it to all the beautiful girls in Bulgaria. 

Tomas Englund – vocals

V. V.: You’re going to have your first shows ever in Bulgaria. What would you say about this one?

T. E.: It’s about fucking time. We have six albums and never played in Bulgaria – it’s about time that we got there. So we’re looking forward to it very much.

V. V.: We’ve just had on the telephone your guitarist and your keyboard player but we all know that you are the only founding member member of Evergrey. So did you have any moments in your life when you regret for having these guys in your band?

T. E.: Every day in this bus that I travel in with them, ha-ha. No, we’ve grown to be great friends and we’ve learned to respect each other’s space so I don’t regret anything so far. 

V. V.: Being the only original member left in the band, please tell me, looking back when your were forming the band, was your vision of Evergrey adequate to what is happening today?

T. E.: I expected it to be much bigger, so far we’ve been a disappointment, according to me. But we’re getting there, we’re getting bigger and bigger with each album. We’re travelling to see new places each year. It’s a long and hard struggle, but we’re enjoying every second of it.

V. V.: Do you consider Evergrey to be a progressive metal band?

T. E.: No. I’ve never been considered us to be. We’re not that talented at playing our instruments and I don’t think that fit that genre at all.