1 ) Janne Hello, first thank you for this interview
-Thank you!
2 ) How are you right now, what plans do you have?
-I’m great! Right now I’m working a lot on the new album by Mountain of Power, which is my solo project, where I record covers of 70s bands I love and grew up with such as Cain, Triumph, The Hunt, Captain Beyond, Kansas, Rush, Diamond REO etc. It features a lot of guests such as Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch), Kee Marcello, Michael Denner (Mercyful Fate), Hank Shermann (Mercyful Fate etc), Ken Hammer (Pretty Maids), Jonas Hansson (Silver Mountain) etc. I’m also working on an album with Italian singer Chris Catena and I’m doing guest guitars for Assassin Blade and Il Rovescio Della Medaglia’s new albums.
3 ) Did you just make a record with the band Constancia, you can tell me about this?
-Yes, we just recently released the second album entitled “Final Curtain” on MelodicRock Records. We call our style “melogressive” – it’s melodic and a bit progressive. It’s quite a long time drummer Peter Svensson in Faith and keyboardist Mikael Rosengren has recorded an, as yet unreleased, album with the band Skarr, and I of course I’ve been writing and playing with all sorts of projects. since the first album, “Lost And Gone”, was released on Frontiers, but we have all been a bit busy with other projects. Singer David Frember and bassist Linus Abrahamson are also in Andromeda,
4 ) We we were watching in 2014 with Grand Design How's the band right now?
-Grand Design is great! We have just recorded a new video for “Get Up ‘N Luv Someone” from our latest album “Thrill Of The Night”. It was recorded by Thomas Tjäder (Pretty Maids, Jorn, In Flames etc). We have also just started working with a new booking agency.
Constancia Band :
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Constancia Video " Hang Tough "
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6SprS5boq0
5 ) Have you got plans to release something soon, with Grang Design I say?
-Right now it’s just the video, but we will re-release “Time Elevation” ourselves, with bonus material, plus we are planning to record a couple of new songs later this year.
6 ) Like I said in the previous question you lived in Barcelona playing with Dynazty And Kee Marcello How was the experience that you think the Spanish audience?
-It was our first time playing in Spain, and it was fantastic! Great crowd, well organized and a great place! We would love to play there again, and in other places in Spain of course! I’m also a big fan of many Spanish bands and there are a lot of records I need to find ;-)
Grand Design Band :
7 ) You are a Swedish band Hard-Rock, birthplace of great bands today Grand Design, Dynazty, Heat, The Poodless … , What is the secret?
-I’m actually writing a book about the history of Swedish hard rock and this is one question I have been asked a lot. I am actually trying to find out why the Swedish bands sound the way we do. I think there are several factors and would take a lot of space to get into, but I will try to explain it all in my next book!
8 ) Currently both Sweden and Finland so that you can see are the cradle of Heavy, Death, Hard-Rock today Do you think this will continue in the future the trend of heavy metal in general?
-Oh yes, there are popping up new bands every day here. I’ve also seen young kids get inspired by older siblings and their parents, what they hear them play etc. So, yes, I think it will continue!
Grand Design video " Get Up N Love Someone "
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7qbggEg3M
9 ) In the album there is a theme idolizer Rock Back to the 80s, certainly awesome theme What do you remember of that time?
-Since I don’t do drugs I actually DO remember all of the 80s! It was a great time, when Swedish hard rock actually started to become internationally recognized through bands like Europe and of course Yngwie Malmsteen. The bands started popping out of the ground like mushrooms! There were lots of music clubs and the labels started to become interested in hard rock. I remember the 80s with great warmth.
10 ) I have also learned that you have a big role as writer What can you tell about this?
-I started writing and reviewing in the late 80s and have written for various music magazines such as FUZZ, Sweden Rock, Metal Zone, Hard Roxx etc. In 1996 I released my first encyclopedia of Swedish hard rock and heavy metal, and last year my third book “The Heaviest Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal” was released. It’s 912 pages about 3600 Swedish recording bands. I’m currently, as I mentioned earlier, writing the history of Swedish hard rock, right now.
11 ) Grand Design discs especially in choirs have some similarity to Def Leppard Is this a big influence on the band in general?
-Yes, definitely! Especially in the beginning. On “Thrill Of The Night” we have broadened our style a bit and taken in other influences as well, but there are still strong influences from Def Leppard.
