English – ページ 17

NIVA – E-mail interview with Tony Niva (Vo) (2013) (English)

投稿日: 2013-10-012018-03-18 投稿者: s-rock

*NIVA’s new album MAGNITUDE*

NIVA’s awaited new album called MAGNITUDE was released in Europe in August 2013, and in Japan in September with another title called GRAVITATION. S-ROCK had an e-mail interview with Tony Niva (vo) about the album which is full of amazing and beautiful melodies of AOR.

(Taken from the official website)

S-ROCK: New and awaited album of NIVA called “MAGNITUDE” was released on the 30th of August from AOR HEAVEN in Europe, and you guys changed the title of the album for Japanese market to “GRAVITATION”, which was released on the 18th of September. You told it’s because of the huge earthquake in Tohoku, Japan, why else for “GRAVITATION” to choose?

Tony: Actually, we had nothing to do with the name change in the first place. This was a wish from our Japanese label Marque Avalon and I can perfectly understand why they wanted a titelname change. My suggestion was to make a name change of the Japanese release to GRAVITATION which in my opinion was a suitable name considering the artwork with mother earth that are protecting our planet. MARQUEE/Avalon and I come to an agreement about the new album name which now is released under the name NIVA – GRAVITATION.

S-ROCK: Would you let us know each track from the album, which song(s) do you like?

Tony: I have to be perfectly honest about this and tell you that I like each and every track on this album. Every song has its own story, kind of living its own life. Every song idea for this album is composed for a specific occation, special event or a special happening. I bring up some examples below:

“Never Too Late” is about that it’s never too late to have a brand new start even though you might think it’s over. The song is all about encourage yourself to make wonders with what you have inside yourself. It’s never too late for releasing your inner dreams or talent, if you just dare to do so.

“Perfect Life” is a song about that we’re struggling for getting more and more materialistic things even though we have enough. We’re trying to reach for a perfect life style, instead of just being satisfied and happy with what you already have and what you’ve accomplished in your life. It’s hard to live up to the high standard our society are putting up being a perfect human being. Is there a perfect life? You decide, you live your life.

“In A Misty Light” came up when my friend and neighbour past away. I wanted to dedicate this song to his widow who now lives alone. This song is about her meeting with him again somewhere in a misty light. This is my way of processing everything that has happened and also giving my respect to both of them.

S-ROCK: What is the biggest difference between GOLD FROM THE FUTURE/FINAL WARNING and MAGNITUDE/GRAVITATION?

Tony: It’s hard to say but GRAVITATION is production-wise much heavier but on the other hand there are more melodies, melodic feel and emotions involved in the composing-stage. This time we can hear the cooperation between major and minor in the songs just like the intergration between the heavier and the softer parts on the album.

S-ROCK: The album jacket shows a girl having fire and she sees the earth – what will she do next?

Tony: As I mentioned before, she reaches out her hand and protects us from everything bad in the world, by watching over us so that we’re not taking wrong decision and that we’re not exploits our planet.

S-ROCK: You guys once changed the band name to OXYGEN and released “GOLD FROM THE FUTURE” in Europe from ESCAPE MUSIC as “FINAL WARNING”. Why did you changed both the band name and album title? It would get fans confused…..

Tony: Yes I know it’s a bit confusing. My goal was to release the GOLD FROM THE FUTURE for the European market for fans, friends and families. So there I was, trying to search for a label prepared to fullfill my wishes. The label showing the most interest was ESCAPE MUSIC. They suggested a name change for the European release and I agreed to that in order to have an album release for Europe. Now that we’re having our new label AOR HEAVEN, we changed back to our original name. Our fans do not have to be troubled anymore. We’re not planning of any changes for NIVA in the future. From now on I’m going to use the original name NIVA for Japan and for the rest of the world. The fact is also that the current release is our third NIVA release in Japan.

S-ROCK: Any plan like gigs after the release of new album?

Tony: We would of course like to play in front of a live audience. I would be more then happy to be able of meeting our fans in Japan. There are still a lot of issues to consider before making any decisions on having live gigs.

S-ROCK: You’ve already started composing for next album?

Tony: Yes, we have. But there is no one forcing us to write songs. This is an continuing process that is ongoing within us. Speaking for myself this is a process that never will come to an end. It’s just my way of living.

S-ROCK: Any change for music scene in Sweden since our last interview?

Tony: I haven’t reflected on that at all since I’ve been quite busy lately, composing new material for hopefully our nextcoming album. I’ve also been occupied with my profession within the IT-sector and family activities. There’s a lot of things going on right now.

S-ROCK: Would you give a message to your Japanese fans and S-ROCK site visitors, tack så mycket!

Tony: We in NIVA would like to thank all our fans in Japan for their great support and kind words for the previous and the current album. Hopefully we can be able of meeting our fans during live performances in a near future.

(Discography)

GRAVITATION (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2013)
MAGNITUDE (AOR HEAVEN, 2013)
GOLD FROM THE FUTURE (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2011)
NO CAPITULATION (ZERO CORPORATION, 1994)

Official Website
https://www.niva.se/

LOVER UNDER COVER – E-mail Interview with Mikael Carlsson (B) (English)

投稿日: 2012-10-012018-03-17 投稿者: s-rock

*New AOR act from Sweden beyond 30 years*

In 1982 Mikael Carlsson and Mikael Erlandsson (LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM) played together in the band called RAIN, and they’re now together again for LOVER UNDER COVER.
This time S-ROCK proudly presents this e-mail interview with Mikael Carlsson who is the founder of the band and bass player.

Mikael Carlsson (B)
(Taken from the official website)

S-ROCK: First of all would you introduce yourself as this is the 1st time for us to have an interview with you.

Mikael: Greetings JAPAN !!!!!! It’s so great to do this interview. My name is Mikael Carlsson (Mr C) and I’m the founder of LOVER UNDER COVER. I started my first band when I was 13 and been playing in a lot of different bands since then. Bass is my main instrument but I also play guitar, keyboard and a little harmonica too. I’m also a great chef 😉

S-ROCK: You started LOVER UNDER COVER in 1989 with another singer, any track from the team is on this brilliant album SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE? And any difference in music style or songwriting between now and 80’s?

Mikael: There is actually 2 songs on the album from that time “Crazy For You” and “Through The Storm” I wrote those songs together with Daniel Boscovic who was the lead singer at that point. I wrote the music and he did the lyrics. Back then we had more keyboard in the sound and sounded more “pop” music. The new version of LUC is much harder and perhaps a little darker too. The songwriting is of course more mature You get a lot of more life experience in 25 years. I could never write a song like for example “Hero” back then.

Mikael Erlandsson (Vo)
(Taken from the official web site)

S-ROCK: And you and Mikael Erlandsson have known each other for 30 years. How do you describe him as a musician and as a person? How about other guys in the band?

Mikael: First of all he is a amazing vocalist. We had our first band together back in 1982. It was called “RAIN”and we were about 17-18 years old then. Mikael played drums back in those days and he had not discovered his singing talent yet. He can sing everything from smooth pop ballads to barbwire metal. I have always thought that his voice is more suitable for harder rock music and that’s why he was my first choice when I started to put the new LUC together. He is also a really nice guy and the total opposite of a rock diva. A really humble guy. Great with the keyboards too. Martin is humble guy No.2. He is one of the top producers in the business and he made the album sounds absolutely phenomenal. A great guitarist too, so we are so blessed that he wanted to join us in LUC. He has worked with some of the biggest rock stars in his studio. Brian Robertson, David Reece, Joe Lynn Turner, Rob Morati, Paul Young, Steve Overland, and that list goes on forever. Impressive guy. Perra is our amazing drummer and the key to the groove in the band. Just listen to his work in the song “Too Good To Be True” That beat so cool. And of course…He’s a humble guy too… Damn… We’re such nice guys, ha ha. We also got some great special guests on the album. Tor Erik Myhre from JORN. Michael Larsson from COLDSPELL and Ged Rylands from TEN. And a special appearance by Katarina Hager on the song “Hero”. Can you believe that ? That is a freakin awesome lineup.

S-ROCK: Would you introduce each track of the album, and let us know which track(s) is your favorite. What do you want people to pay attention carefully when they listen to the album?

Mikael: First of all I would like to talk about the album cover cos it got its own story. When me and Mikael Erlandsson have done our first demos I put them up on our MySpace page. My graphic skills is very limited and that page looked like shit. One day I received a mail from a guy in Chile that also thought that our page looked like shit but that the music was great, and he asked me if he could remake it. And I thought that…what the hell…it can’t get any worse I supposed so I gave him the login to the page…What have I done …but…It turned out to be AWESOME !!! This guy was a AMAZING graphic designer. His name is Andres Orena and now he is to us what Derek Riggs is to IRON MAIDEN. He have actually made one artwork for each and every song for the whole album. And every artwork is made with so much love and feeling to catch the essence of the song. If you remember the booklet that comes with the first “PHENOMENA” album in the mid 80’s you get the idea. So I must say that even if you think that our music SUCKS it’s still worth buying just for the amazing artwork in the booklet.

“My Best Friend” opens the album and is a melodic fist in your face. It is about the gun control program in the US. It seems like there are a lot of people that think that weapons is the solution to all their problems but I have to disagree on that point. I really like the lyrics on this one.

“Angels Will Cry” is a heavy one. The intro with the piano is so beautiful and then it just explodes!! I guess that all of us has their own experiences of love and when relations have turned bad and you just want to scream out your agony.

“Too Good To Be True” I think the title says it all. Everyone wants something from you, so you better beware, cos a lot of things out there is to good to be true strong lyrics on this one too.

“Hero” is one of my favorites. Both the music and the lyrics grab you right away. The song is sung from a father’s point of view when his lovely teen daughter turns into a rebel teen and he’s not strong enough to stop the downhill race to disaster. Here we go two special guests. On guitar we got Tor Erik Myhre from JORN and a superb performance from Katarina Hager as the rebel teen daughter.

“Flash In The Night” is a cover from a Swedish pop band called SECRET SERVICE. They had a big hit with this song back in the early 80’s. I always loved that song and thought that it would be so fun to make it more powerful. Love the piano in this one and when the lead guitar “answears” in the chorus.

“Set The Night On Fire” is the title track. Heavy, suggestive, seductive, Just like a good rock song is all about. It sounded a little different on the demo stage. When we recorded it I had to leave the studio for a few hours and when I got back Martin and Mikael E had changed the bridge and the chorus to something totally different. First I was very surprised but the new version was so cool that we decided to keep it.

“Who Needs Love” is also a cover, but not just a cover. This is the song that started the whole thing with the new LUC. I made a demo recording of this song that Mikael Erlandsson wrote for LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM album “DREAMCATCHER”. But I recorded it in a much heavier version. And when I played it for Mikael he was completely blown away and wanted to record more songs. So that was the start. You have to listen to the original and compare it with this version.

“Crazy For You” is one of the oldies from the 80’s. It is a love song about when you fall madly in love and your friends just don’t understand. They simply don’t have a clue … Cuz I’m crazy for you!!!

“Standing In Line” is all about desire. Desire for the love that you just can’t reach…yet, and you’re hoping that you one day will get the chance to fill the emptiness inside with the answer of your hopes and dreams.

“Through The Storm” is about never giving up. This story takes place in Ireland back in the old days but it could really be anywhere in the world. I think that a lot of people will recognize them in the lyrics.

“A Nice Day” is the only ballad on the album. A feel good song for everyone. A typical “Erlandsson” at his best.

“Rain Of Tears” is the bonus track for Japan, Also a kind of love song but a sad one. About the feelings in a situation of unrequited love. This one includes Michael Larsson from COLDSPELL on guitar as a special guest.

Martin Kronlund (G)
(Taken from the official website)

S-ROCK: How do you have an idea to compose and to write lyrics? Music first or lyrics first?

Mikael: Oh…Ha ha…That is so different from time to time. For example is the intro piano on “Hero” I made it on my iPhone when I was indowntown. That melody popped up in my head and I had to record it at once so I did ot forget it, So the music went pretty fast. The lyrics took much longer. I worked on that one for about 2 months but I’m very pleased with the final result. But it can be a guitar riff, a bass line, a drum groove, or just a phrase or a word. You never knows when inspiration hits you.

S-ROCK: What do you think of music business in Sweden these days?

Mikael: It is extremely strong. There is a fantastic range of bands from all genres in Sweden. From pop acts to extreme metal. Sweden is a great place to be if you’re in a band. And with social medias you can spread your music all over the globe with just a click on your computer. But it’s difficult to live on your music. If you release an album it will be all over the net the same day it’s released or even before that so most of the musicians have to have another job on the side.

S-ROCK: What do you image from a word “Japan”?

Mikael: Akira Takasaki!! Haha I love the LOUDNESS album “DISSOLUTION”, But I have never been to Japan. I only know what you see on films and TV. And some books of course. But I must say that it would be so cool to go there. And maybe, just maybe there might be a chance to go if the people of Japan loves the album as much as we do.

Perra Johansson (Ds)
(Taken from the official website)

S-ROCK: What is your goal as a musician? How about as yourself?

Mikael: Before we released the album it was to…release an album. The other guys in the band have released a impressive collection of albums through the years but for me it’s my first one. So I guess I have to push the borders further this time. I would love to do some festival gigs and of course … why not go to Japan.

S-ROCK: Let us know your taste of music, your favorite musicians/bands.

Mikael: All guys in the band love THIN LIZZY. I’m also a big fan of WHITESNAKE, Glenn Hughes, I love the first PHENOMENA album and QUEENRYCHE’S OPERATION: MINDCRIME. The Norwegian band JORN is another favourite. You might check out a new Swiss band called CHAOS. Great guys and a fantastic band. And of course our friends COLDSPELL and the Chilean band TIMELESS.

S-ROCK: A message to your Japanese fans who visit S-ROCK site, please.

Mikael: Thank you so much for all support that we got. Please help us to spread the word around about LOVER UNDER COVER, because we need all help that we can get. Write to your web stations and web sites and tell them about us and hopefully we will see you guys on a stage in Japan in a not to far away future.

Visit us online at: www.loverundercovertheband.com

(Discography)

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE (RUBICON MUSIC/ESCAPE MUSIC, 2012)

Official Website

https://www.loverundercovertheband.com/

NIVA / OXYGEN – E-mail interview with Roger Ljunggren (G) & Marcus Persson (Key) (2011) (English)

投稿日: 2011-11-012018-03-18 投稿者: s-rock

*More promotion for NIVA!*

This time we had an e-mail interview with Roger Ljunggren (G) and Marcus Persson (Key) for NIVA. Japan exclusive actually.

(added in May 2012)
NIVA has changed their band name to OXYGEN and will release FINAL WARNING album from ESCAPE MUSIC in U.K. on the 22nd of June, 2012. The album includes “Bring Back The Joy” as the bonus track for GOLD FROM THE FUTURE which was released in Japan in 2011and taking “Final Warning” away. The album jacket is changed as well.

S-ROCK: Roger, it’s been a long time since T’BELL released REPLAY album, after that you played for GRAND ILLUSION and other bands and projects. And this time you play in NIVA, what do you feel when you’re back as a member of a band?

Roger: To be a member of the NIVA band is really great – all of the involved are very professional and easy going – I do not think I’ve been in a better constellation ever. The fact that we live really close and also hang out on a personal level makes this project an ideal situation for the creativity.

(Taken from the booklet of GOLD FROM THE FUTURE)

S-ROCK: Marcus, this is the 1st time to have an interview with you, would you introduce yourself to people in Japan? I heard you wrote a song “Lady Luck” for a Japanese singer called Yuka Masaki, would you let us know about it? And which band/artist is your favorite? How about your favorite album and song?

Marcus: I’m Marcus, 32 years old, songwriter and producer, since the early teens. I’m very glad to be able to do an album for the Japanese market!
This is the very first time I’m doing a rock album like this, with the touch of the 80’s and I really love it!
I write everything between traditional Swedish dance music, pop, R&B to melodic rock!
Just before this NIVA Album Yuka Masaki released her single “Lady Luck” which I wrote and produced, the song is also the first track on her Album!
So this may give you a hint of the big variety of music I write and produce.
My favourite music is very hard to answer, because I’m just in love with the music, but if i have to decide, it will be CHICAGO 17 and TNT – INTUITION.

S-ROCK: GOLD FROM THE FUTURE album has been released in Japan. Very melodic, full of 80’s taste. Which song(s) is your favorite? How you guys have an idea to compose/write lyrics? I hope the album will be released in Europe soon as well.

Roger: For us the favorite songs for me are hard to say, it changes over time, but I can say we’re quite satisfied with all the songs on the album.
Usually when we write the music comes first. Roger records a guitar arrangement with the melody to just a click-track, then Marcus takes over and starts with the arrangements.
When the song has a “frame” we both meet up and we’re starting to do an advanced demo. This will be sent to Tony, so that he can make his input in the song . Lyricwise we try to vary the themes a lot, both love songs and songs with a deeper end.
We really hope the album will be out in Europe too, as we have a lot of people that are into melodic rock here as well.

S-ROCK: And we’d appreciate if you guys describe each track as both of you guys composed/wrote lyrics all the tracks. And Patrik Tibell joined you guys for the track “I Remember”, you 2 won’t work together as T’BELL any more, Roger?

Roger: Janitor of Love: The song that actually started the NIVA project – I played the riffs for Marcus and asked if he could consider writing some melodic rock with me, and he was totally with me there. We called up one of my favourite singers of all time – Tony Niva, and here we are today!

Anything For You: A song flirting a bit with the old Ozzy sound that we all love!

When Tomorrow Never Comes: Sometime each month when the paycheck arrives, Some people getting out to party and feel like a king for a day, or a night maybe.

I Remember: A lovesong that was never finished when I worked with Patrik, so we took it up and finished it in a very nice way I hope.

Gold From The Future: A very nice melody in the neo-classical style. Tony came up with the idea to the song, and we liked it so much it became the tittle track!

We Must Fight: Another great song idea from Tony, arranged by me and Marcus and despite the important message in the song it is very positive and uplifting.

I Wanna Know For Sure: A classic rock song with a love theme, the solo somehow sounded like early Lukather – don’t know how that happened!

Final Warning: Can you put an ABBA-like melody in a speed metal song – You bet!

Best Days Of Our Lives: It is a classic theme here – Carpe Diem – Seize The day, and the song is also here best described as classic rock I guess.

You: A classical love song with a hint of CHICAGO in the arrangement – Here we used a Telecaster for the solo, to get the right vibe and feeling – a nice ending of the album we hope.

The Bonus Track: Bring Back TheJoy: Where Have All The Good Times Gone? Life today is a lot different from the life many of us lived in the 80:s – but we think the main difference is inside ourselves, and if we try we can get back to the positive, easy going life we once lived.

I do not know if there will be any more T’BELL songs recorded – If Patrik wants to I will of course provide the guitars!

S-ROCK: Tony Niva told that he would like to do some gigs of this album, how about you guys?

Roger: To be able to play live and tour, we must have a little more than 1 album out to fill a full show, besides we will see if there are enough people that actually will be interested in seeing a NIVA show – but if that is so, we would love to play live of course!

S-ROCK: Marcus, What is your goal as a musician? How about as yourself? And what do you image from a word “Japan”?

Marcus: Today I’m very satisfied with all the music and productions I’m involved in. I think the “thing” is to have good musicians around me, without them i wouldn’t be anything at all.
Treat your friends as you wanna be treated by them!
Sometimes I wish the days would be longer than just 24 hours!
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to visit Japan but I wish I’ll some day!
Japan seems to be a very interesting country with a great history and culture to explore. One thing that has been recently discovered is your fantastic single malt Whisky, especially the Hakushu Single Malt ! 🙂

(Taken from the booklet of GOLD FROM THE FUTURE)

S-ROCK: Btw what do you think about Pirate Party which is originally from Sweden as musicians who have rights to your own materials?

Roger: As long as internet is a part of our life, we will have to accept the way people use it, both for the bad and good, some steal the songs, some pay for it, but as long as we can get the project going, I am happy to spread my music to as many people as possible!

S-ROCK: What is “gold from the future” for you?

Roger: If we can make music today that will be liked and appreciated for many years to come, I would be very happy – If this will happen, then our album will be gold from the future in a way.

S-ROCK: Would you give a message to your fans in Japan?

Roger: We really hope that you will like the album “GOLD FROM THE FUTURE” – We tried our best to do an album that will bring joy and energy to the listener – We really think that it is important that the melodic rock genre will live on for many years to come!

(Discography)

GRAVITATION (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2013)
MAGNITUDE (AOR HEAVEN, 2013)
GOLD FROM THE FUTURE (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2011)
NO CAPITULATION (ZERO CORPORATION, 1994)

Official Website

http://www.niva.se/

NIVA / OXYGEN – E-mail interview with Tony Niva (Vo) (2011) (English)

投稿日: 2011-09-012018-03-18 投稿者: s-rock

*NIVA is back!*

Tony Niva released NO CAPITULATION album from ZERO CORPORATION in 1994, then joined LION’S SHARE – he has started new NIVA with Roger Ljunggren (T’BELL) and guys. Here’s an e-mail interview with Tony, just before the release of their album on the 21st of September, 2011.

(Taken from the booklet of GOLD FROM THE FUTURE”)

S-ROCK: You sang for SWEDISH EROTICA, and released an album NO CAPITULATION as NIVA from ZERO CORPORATION in 1994. And you joined LION’S SHARE in 2000. Since then what did you do in music business?

Tony: I haven’t had any album projects since 2001, instead I’ve been singing on different occasions like birthdays and even some concerts at church – I’ve also composed a lot of own materials the last 10 years.Time has been spent educating myself and building a family. Now my employment is within the IT sector.

S-ROCK: You and Roger Ljunggren have known each other for a long time, how did you get to know him? What do you describe about him? How about other guys of the band?

Tony: Back in the 80’s I heard about a guitarist that really had something special. I met Roger in his hometown Skara, which is a town nearby Skövde, where I live. We started to write some materials, but when not being able to find the right musicians for a band, I decided to move on and join an established band in Gothenburg but that is a different story. Roger is still a brilliant guitarist and has developed a lot as a songwriter. He is now also one of my best friends.

Marcus is the keyboard player, background vocalist, songwriter and also the producer that I met while making our first demo. There are a lot of great things to say about him, and when we recorded the vocals for this album I felt very comfortable in how we made our approach to make the recordings just right. Primary it’s all about a great cooperation, which is a key for success and the fact that Marcus professional craftsmanship and personality are something I highly value.

Bengan is a well known session drummer , and Peter Andersson is making a guest appearance on bass – We go back a lot of years since AXIA and the – 94 NIVA album.

Plec, the technician also contributed with his high skills and experience in a very good way.

S-ROCK: On the 21st of September the album “GOLD FROM THE FUTURE” will be released in Japan. Music from this album sounds really 80’s, very melodic, really AOR. Which song(s) is your favorite?

Tony: We’ve had different favorite songs while we were recording this album. I only can say that we are very satisfied with all our tracks on this album. This time there was no compromises for making a really good recording. Another thing is that we have much more materials in stock that we are eager to release in near future. Materials that we earlier never had the opportunity to record in studio, and we also constantly writing new songs for the band.

S-ROCK: What is “gold from the future” for you?

Tony: GOLD FROM THE FUTURE is an album title that is taken from the album track with the same name.

Our intention, from the begining, was to make an album with lyrics and melodies that we already to day will be listening to, taken from the future so to speak. So therefore the line “gold from the future” sounded just right.

There is of course a lot of good bands out there but our goal is to reach out to our listeners with current topics that concerns us everyone from the real life.

We’d like to represent with this album, hopefully, great melodies and harmonies that really will get in to you and also give perspective to what’s important in life.

S-ROCK: How do you have an idea to compose and to write lyrics?

Tony: I am a daydreamer and usually constantly putting words together for composing new songs.

When the lyrics have been created, it can be edited afterwards to suit the melody of the song. The melody can sometimes precede the lyrics. Usually, someone has a text and a melody idea, which is then processed into a finished song. Roger, Marcus and I, is always involved in this process.

S-ROCK: How do you guys start songwriting in this project?

Tony: We started the songwriting right after our first demo “Janitor of love” was delivered to MARQUEE/Avalon. They were immediately interested in hearing new materials , and so a second 4 track demo was made. This lead to the record deal and the “GOLD FROM THE FUTURE” album.

S-ROCK: Any other release plan of this album for example in Europe?

Tony: MARQUEE/Avalon have the world wide rights for the album , so it is very likely to be released outside the Asian region. No dates for this is set though.

S-ROCK: How about any plan of gigs?

Tony: We certainly are eager to play in front of a live audience, but it all depends on how our album will be received.

S-ROCK: Who is/which band is your favorite?

Tony: I really enjoy listening to music , and there are so many good acts in the vein of melodic rock, especially in Scandinavia , so I which not to mention any single band.

Of course, I listen a lot to old stuff, but it seems like you definite can hear echoes of the past in many new bands, which I personally think is great.

S-ROCK: How about your favorite album(s) and song(s)?

Tony: I am a musical omnivore. I can find peace of mind when I listen to classical, Jazz and blues as well as when I create songs for NIVA.

S-ROCK: What is your goal as a musician?

Tony: My goal is to make an album that fans will listen to and like for many years to come. It’s just like the title track says, that we may already recorded something that will be appreciated far into the future.

S-ROCK: What do you image from a word “Japan”?

Tony: A country with a long history and culture with an
exciting environment. One thing that also comes up in mind is Sushi, which is one of my favorite dishes.

S-ROCK: Would you give a message to your fans in Japan?

Tony: We have tried our hardest to put melody back in hard rock music – songs that you will have as a soundtrack to your lives, songs and melodies easy to remember and sing along to, songs that will bring joy and energy to the listener – So we really hope you will like “GOLD FROM THE FUTURE”, the way we do.

(Discography)

GRAVITATION (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2013)
MAGNITUDE (AOR HEAVEN, 2013)
GOLD FROM THE FUTURE (MARQUEE/Avalon, 2011)
NO CAPITULATION (ZERO CORPORATION, 1994)

NIVA Official Website
https://www.niva.se/

Carina Dahl – E-mail Interview (2011) (English)

投稿日: 2011-02-012018-03-11 投稿者: s-rock

*She’s more than an artist who has her father as a professional drummer*

Probably fans of Scandinavian metal, especially melodic HR from Norway would notice when they hear her family name? Carina Dahl, who is a daughter of Diesel Dahl who plays drums for TNT, released her debut album last year, participated in MELODI GRAND PRIX, Norwegian EUROVISION SONG CONTEST. She has re-released the album including “Guns & Boys” which she sang at MGP as “HOT CHILD 2.0”. On this album Torstein Flakne (Vo) and Morten Skogstad (Ds) for STAGE DOLLS play for her.

S-ROCK has an e-mail interview with Carina. We sent questions to her before MGP, and she replied after the contest.

S-ROCK: First of all, would you introduce yourself, I guess this is the 1st interview of yours for people in Japan, some people already know you though.
How did you start your music career, since you were born music has been always around you all the time and your father is a professional musician. Did he give you any advice?

Carina: Of course! I’m Carina Dahl, brought up in Norway with my hardrocking dad Diesel Dahl from TNT and my mami Inger Lise Dahl. I grew up on the road, and got introduced to music very early. Started recording at age 15 at Ronni Tekrø’s studio Nyhagen in Toten! I got signed by a swedish label, TMC Nordic, in 2009, released the 3 singles “Screw”, “Crash Test Dummy” and “Guns & Boys” from my first album Hot Child 2.0 that released in January this year!
I also entered the norewgian Eurovision Contest this year! (MGP)
My dad just tells me to work hard, prove my talent, have fun & be a star! Hahaha!

S-ROCK: Let us know your favorite musicians and bands? Which is your favorite song and album?

Carina: I of course like rock, i mean, it’s in my blood. But because of my dancing background I’m into Pop too. I listen a lot to country aswell. I’m a true music lover. And I guess my favorite artist are Pink, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Keith Urban..To mention a few!

S-ROCK: What is your goal as a musician? how about as yourself?

Carina: I would really love to just play music 24/7, touring is my favorite thing to do. And I really dream about coming to Japan to promote my music! My dad tells me a lot about Japan and his experiences from your country. So my goal would be to do music full time, everywhere 🙂
A goal for me as a person is to remember to enjoy everything & say yes to the chanses I get. Experiences & adventures! You live once. And always treat people nice & with repect… That’s a small step in world peace.

S-ROCK: You participated in BIG BROTHER in Norway, what did you think during the program? Did that experience give you any influence?

Carina: I think I was 19 when I entered BB and I was there 107 out of 114 possible days. It was an experience for life. We got to do so much stuff that you never would in “normal life”, created our on world inside that house, and I really learned to handle different personalities. I’m happy I got to experience that adventure.

S-ROCK: And you started adding your music to iTunes, finally released your 1st album “HOT CHILD” on CD in December 2010. Pop & melodic tracks which make people want to sing along. You wrote some tracks, how do you start writing a song, what gives you inspiration and ideas for songwriting?

Carina: Hot Child first got released in December, but after entering Eurovision Song Contest I had to add that track (“Guns & Boys”) to the album too. So after the contest i released the part two of the album; Hot Child 2.0. I wrote half of the songs on the album, and actually the 3 songs that are single from the album I participated with writing. that’s cool 🙂 Everything I write are stories from my life. If I’m heartbroken I write about that, and if I feel really independent and just enjoying life I write about that. Also stories from others can give me inspiration to write lyrics. And if I hear a good line, it can turn out to an entire song 😉

S-ROCK: Would you talk about the producer, musicians and songwriters for this album? We know Torstein Flakne and Morten Skogstad for STAGE DOLLS.

Carina: I have a really good relationship with my main producers & song writers Hallgeir Rustan from Stargate Norway & Sigbjorn Holmslet. That’s why even the songs I did not participate in writing, actually are stories from my life anyways. Because I talk so much about everything happening in my life with the guys. We are good friends. Like the track on my album that i did not write; “Hot Child”, which my album got named after, is a real story from my life. And I got so suprised when I came to the studio one day and Hallgeir told me, “Hey we wrote a song about that thing we talked about last week” .. It was so weird hearing my own story through the guy’s lyrics. So I wanted to name my album after that, and also I think it’s a real good title that matches me well 😉 I love STAGE DOLLS, and grew up with their music and being in my life. The rockers from Trondheim are all good friends. So it’s so natural for me working with friends of my family. Both Torstein & Morten are really talented..

S-ROCK: You’ve participated in MELODI GRAND PRIX (MGP), we know you can’t talk about your track for MGP in detail, would you tell us anything on it? Really sorry we can’t watch the program from Japan (outside Norway it’s hard to watch live broadcasting online)

(S-ROCK: Questions for this interview were sent before MGP, she answered after the contest)

Carina: I did not win the MGP unfortunately. But it was great fun!!! “Guns & Boys” is about being independent and actually NOT searching for the man of your dreams at a point. There’s tons of songs about how sad you are, and to not have someone in your life, but why cry? It can be really fun to go wherever you want, whenever you want to, with whoever you wanna go with 🙂 I mean, love is great, but I can really enjoy being single and having fun in other ways at periods in life. Focus on that instead of being heartbroken 😉

S-ROCK: Would you give a message to your fans in Japan?

Carina: I just wanna say that I really hope you guys enjoy my music & invite me over soon!!! I really can’t wait!!!!

(Discography)

HOT CHILD 2.0 (TMC Nordic, 2011)
New version of the album including “Guns & Boys” which she
participated in MGP with.

HOT CHILD (TMC Nordic, 2010)

Carina Dahl official website:

http://www.carinadahl.no/