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CHAPTERS FROM A FALCONER
When Swedish band Mithotyn were called to Valhalla, Falconer rose from the ashes. Eschewing the modern pap other bands have been spoonfeeding us whilst embracing all things ancient and medieval, Falconer?s debut release took the unsuspecting power metal world by storm. No further evidence of this accomplishment necessary than a quick glance at our ?POWERPLAY WRITERS? TOP 25 of 2001? (as witnessed in our February 2002 issue), in which this brand spankin? new trio placed eleventh, solidly beating out hip media-darling bands like Tool, Incubus, Static-X, and our beloved Lacuna Coil.
As the band?s sophomore release, ?Chapters From a Vale Forlorn?, enters the German charts at #69 and begins its ascent, we asked our own ?Stateside Cuts? writer and member of metal band ASKA, George Call, to talk with his good friend, Stefan Weinerhall, Falconer?s founder and principal songwriter.
Interview with STEFAN WEINERHALL
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FALCONER
Q: Let?s start with the history of the band. Falconer rose from the ashes of Mithotyn. How long after Mithotyn?s demise before the pieces came together for Falconer?
A: I don?t really know because I write music all the time. I quit the band Mithotyn but I kept on writing songs in pretty much the same style. After a while I decided to call the new songs Falconer and recorded a new demo.
Q: Mithotyn?s former drummer, Karsten Larsson, joined you in this project. Was he the only one from your former band that you were interested in working with or is it that great double bass drummers are hard to come by in Sweden? I?ve heard of drummers playing in two and even three bands throughout Scandinavia on a pretty consistent basis.
A: Karsten is pretty much the only drummer I?ve ever played with. I felt like it was pretty natural to use him. I wasn?t so interested in using the other guys from Mithotyn because I thought they were incompetent as musicians or lacking, if I shall be honest. I had the chance to start up a new band and I didn?t want to fill Falconer with people just to be their friend, I wanted something good. I don?t think this was their kind of music anyway.
Q: Falconer has yet to fill the bass player position. In fact, you played bass on both discs. Did you at any point consider your ex-bass player in Mithotyn, Richard Martinsson, for the slot?
A: He would not be able to play the bass like I do, so, no. Plus he doesn?t have interest in the music either. He doesn?t put down the necessary time to learn something. He?d rather be at home watching TV and drinking a couple of beers.
Q: One of the reasons you quit Mithotyn was because you were tired of Martinsson growling through your songs and basically, in your words, ruining your music. Where did you find Mathias Blad and are you happy with the way your music is now being interpreted vocally?
A: Yeah. I couldn?t be happier. I live in a very, very little town and I knew that there were no heavy metal singers available. I asked a local guy who owns a music store in my town if he knew of any proper vocalists and he mentioned a couple of pop singers, stuff like that. Then as an aside he said ?My son knows how to sing. He goes to musical college and got the lead part in the opera?. I said, ?Uh huh! Let?s try him out.? So we gave him a call and it was very interesting for him to do a metal demo because it?s so far from his natural music, but the band got such a good response from record reviews and everything that he got very inspired. In the beginning I thought this was going to be a solo project for myself but finding Mathias changed that.
Q: So is Mathias now a heavy metal fan?
A: No. I let him borrow a couple of my CD?s, like your ASKA ?Avenger?, to let him know what other metal singers sound like but he still has his kind of voice. He knows more about the metal scene now than, say, two years ago but he listens to, well, I don?t really know what he listens to. I just rode with him and there was a cassette, ?Everything But The Girl?... I didn?t like that but I can?t say if that was his favorite band.
Q: But he is enjoying being a metal singer?
A: (Laughs) Yeah, of course he?s enjoying it. I?m getting regular emails from him saying, ?Hey! Check out this interview ?or ?Look at this interview!? He?s very happy about the successes but I don?t think he really takes it that serious because he enjoys the bad reviews as much as the good reviews. The reviews that say that his kind of singing doesn?t belong in this music, it just amuses him. He loves the reviews. He loves to read them.
Q: Century Media had the opportunity to sign you but they made some requests that led you to pass. What were they asking of your music that you couldn?t or wouldn?t give?
A: They wanted Mathias to sound more like an ordinary metal singer. They said Mathias voice was too original and I thought Mathias? voice was best as it was. Any changes would have been for the worse.
Q: Century Media?s lack of judgement on this was certainly to Metal Blade?s favor. Do you attribute your deal with Metal Blade to the success you?d had with Mithotyn up to that point or to the phenomenal songs that became Falconer?s debut album?
A: Both I think. Metal Blade wanted to sign Mithotyn and I just told them the band was dead basically but that I?d moved on and used the same music, with a different vocalist. They were interested from day one. When Metal Blade received the demo, we signed a contract right away. It was a lucky thing for us. Everything happened so fast.
Q: Cool. So how supportive is Metal Blade being then?
A: Very supportive. They?re very much into the idea of a complete folk-metal album. We?re signed for another three albums. I don?t think Metal Blade is trying to get rid of us anytime soon. They are putting more and more money into Falconer and the promotions and so on. And the interviews! They?re a bit too much I think.
Q: What do you mean?
A: I?ve had interviews every night for the past month. And the next month, America awaits. Whew. I hope I get some royalties! (We laugh)
Q: Do you know what the reaction has been from the half of Mithotyn that missed the boat regarding the success you and Karsten are currently experiencing with Falconer, I mean, are they being supportive?
A: They?re very supportive. Karl (Beckmann), the other guitar player in Mithotyn, he really loves Falconer very much. Richard Martinsson told me after he heard the first album, ?Okay. So you?re doing pop nowadays.? He?s more into Black Metal and Richard is just not the right guy for this band, but he?s not jealous or anything.
Q: Your debut CD was, for me, the absolute top release of 2001. No other release even came close and this seems to be the general consensus in metal land. Did you feel any pressure while recording your new disc, ?Chapters From A Vale Forlorn??
A: We didn?t feel any pressure but of course I polled up the fans to see what songs they had liked, but it didn?t affect me when I wrote the songs. First of all I wanted to satisfy myself and then see how other people would like it. Otherwise, I could have done ten ?Mind Travellers?.
Q: Descriptions of Falconer?s sound have typically been folk meets metal. Is that a fair assessment?
A: Yeah, I think so. But I think there is more too. More rock, hard rock, than folk music. What you would call our music I don?t know. Melodic metal.
Q: You have a very distinctive guitar sound. How are you getting that in the studio?
A: You should really ask Andy LaRoque (producer) because I?m not setting the guitar sound. He combines the Marshall and a pre-amp. We record everything from the bottom to the top in one sound.
Q: ?Chapters From A Vale Forlorn? is an interesting title. Does each song on the disc represent a ?chapter?, so to speak, or is there something else that brought the name about?
A: All the songs are chapters on the CD but you can interpret that title in two ways: That would be chapters from the history or chapters from the future. Depending on how you interpret the ?vale?, it could say something about man?s greed and what that can lead to. And I think that leads to and deals with our future. I tried to bring most of the songs under one title and that was the most fitting title.
Q: Jethro Tull is one of your favorite bands and I hear much of their influence in your songwriting. Is it coincidence that Mathias sings very much in that Ian Anderson mid-range or is this what attracted you to him in the first place?
A: I don?t hear the Tull influence myself but I?m aware that there?s something there. They have some similarities but I think Mathias does not know of Jethro Tull. It?s not like I prod Mathias to sing like Ian Anderson. It?s just a lucky coincidence.
Q: Your songs are all set in the middle ages but unlike so many of your contemporaries, you don?t include fantasy elements like dwarves, elves, dragons, or that kind of thing. Your lyrics and songs are more reality-based and truly a representation of what life was like back then. Was it a conscious decision on your part to stay away from fantasy or do the fantasy elements just not appeal to you?
A: Yeah, I mean, I looked at ?He-Man? when I was 9 years old and at that time dragons were common and rather childish. I tend to write lyrics that are more appealing to a certain audience. I?m very interested in history in general. Fantasy lyrics, I leave that to Rhapsody and other heavy metal bands. In Mithotyn, lyrics were more geared toward the mythological. Magic and hammers and stuff like that. Falconer is more real, geared towards history.
Q: Falconer will be playing Wacken this year. Do you have other appearances on the horizon, maybe a tour?
A: Yeah. We have two booked shows. The Wacken and Bang Your Head festivals. We?ll have a couple of warm-up shows before the festivals though. We have an opening to tour in April. We told Metal Blade ?Okay we can do a tour in April? and they said they?d check up on it, but we haven?t heard anything from them. I think Mathias will be pretty booked up in the fall, so I can?t answer. When Mathias has the time, we have the time. I think I?d be glad if somebody forced us to do the tour so it?d be out of my hands.
Q: What are the chances of America seeing Falconer on tour here?
A: This year? Not too good for an actual tour, unless there was some great festival but there aren?t that many festivals there. I think from an economical view we can?t just go and do festival shows in the U.S. But a tour, of course it would be great. I think we?ll have to wait for at least our third album for that.
Q: If you were to describe the personalities of the members of Falconer, including yourself, how would you do so?
A: Okay, let?s start with me. I?m a-social. I have no problem being alone for two weeks, not going out during the week, just watching TV and playing the guitar. I?m an ?alone? guy (laughs). I don?t like to be booked up. I have no problem with loneliness and I get a bit irritated if have no ?alone? time. And I don?t think I?m that metal (laughs again). I?m very settled down and calm. I don?t know why.
Okay, Mathias: Very professional I would say, as a musician. I don?t know him that well. We don?t spend our free time together. It?s more like a professional cooperation.
Karsten: Car junkie. He likes everything with motors. It?s taking over his father?s crop farm. He?s a farmer, welder part time, and rocker by night!
Q: The band is three years old now. Have you guys had any major disagreements over the band?s direction or anything else?
A: No, nothing. No problems whatsoever. Of course we don?t think exactly the same all the time but it hasn?t led to arguments or things like that. Maybe Karsten is not that much into playing slow songs, he likes to play fast all the time and I just try to hold him back.
Q: The cover art for your first album was to me an integral part of what defined Falconer. Who selected the art?
A: That cover was in my own head. I just told the cover artist what I wanted. It was completely original. On the second cover, the original idea was mine but I gave the artist a bit more of a free hand with it. He put the oaken table inside a castle which made it too ?ordinary metal?. Reminds me a bit of ?Keeper of the Seven Keys?. I myself pictured an oaken table in a field, but he thought that it was too funny. I like the second cover but it was not as original as the first one was. The first cover made ?Cover of the Year? on a couple of web pages.
Q: How do you feel ?Chapters?? holds up in comparison to your debut album?
A: I think it?s more varied, which is a strong point for it. Maybe a bit less power metal and that?s only good I think. It speaks more to my own personal style so I like it more. I think the debut got stuck in one place for too long, sounding a bit too similar.
Q: Can we expect any more Swedish language tracks like ?Per Tyrsson?s Dottar I Vange? which appeared as a bonus track on a special edition of the first album?
A: Yes. You can find the English translation of that song on our website by the way. The new bonus track is on the Japanese version of ?Chapters?? only. Of course there will be more Swedish songs in the future. It?s made for us to do it.
Q: You recently sent me an early MIDI version of ?Decadence of Dignity? which is the opening track on the new disc. Do you typically translate your songs in this fashion?
A: Yeah, I do all the songs in MIDI versions first but I usually don?t spend that much time on everything. This time I really had the time to do a real decent version of it. I actually did a demo that way and put Mathias? vocals on it and it turned out really funny. I?m thinking of getting a proper? thing for the computer, I don?t really know what it?s called, to upgrade the sounds.
Q: What do you think of other Swedish bands, like Thyrfing for example, who sound nothing like you, yet often get compared to your band by the press?
A: These bands probably sound more like Mithotyn. I haven?t heard Thyrfing for myself but I can imagine how they would sound. Not my kind of music anyway.
Q: The metal community has embraced Falconer with open arms. Was this a surprise to you?
A: Oh yeah. Very much. We didn?t expect that kind of a response. Since I was pretty new at this power metal thing I didn?t really know what was happening when I wrote those songs. I just wrote something melodic and put distorted guitars on it. I don?t think ?metal? when I write these songs, I just do music and then add electric guitars and drums. If our original music was played on piano or acoustic guitar it would become like, Cat Stevens, or something.
Q: What are your feelings on the current American/British infatuation with white boy rap/grunge/hardcore bands? Does it appeal to you?
A: What, like Linkin Park and all that? It?s among the worst things in the world right now. I can?t hear it on the radio. I have to turn it off. Linkin Park and groups like that, it?s all crap. It?s amazingly bad. I don?t understand how so many people are so stupid. It?s a shame.
Q: One from each disc, what are the two definitive Falconer tracks?
A: ?Mindtraveller? and ?The Clarion Call?. They are pretty similar songs, in the song structure. They?re my personal favorites and I think they?ve become the fan?s favorites too.
Q: You are quite the lyricist, painting vivid pictures of life in the Dark Ages with your prose. Is there something in particular that inspires you?
A: Yeah, I?ve read a couple of history novels and there are other books I?ve read through the years. Other lyrics like ?Decadence of Dignity? are my view on today?s society.
Q: Are you the kind of writer that works things out long in advance of recording or do you cram at the last minute?
A: I?m gonna do it in advance but it always happens that one song is missing and I have to do it in the last week. Somehow that always happens to be a very good song. This time it was ?The Clarion Call?. Last time it was ?Upon the Grave of Guilt?. I try to work all the songs in advance until I?m satisfied with the results and sometimes that takes a while.
Q: Many of your songs make references to God or religion, and Mathias was recently involved in a Christian play which opened in Stockholm. Would you consider the band particularly religious in its makeup?
A: No. I?m not a religious guy. If you think of the real medieval days, the voice of religion, those topics, religion was a very important thing, particularly in setting examples. It?s not like I?m trying to give people my views or anything it was just a part of the history. Some bands try to jam everything evil and bad into the lyrics and it comes out sounding very phony.
Q: ?Busted to the Floor? seems like a departure from the other stuff you?ve been doing. The chorus is very catchy.
A: Andy LaRoque played all the lead guitars on ?Busted to the Floor?. Yeah, it was my intention to do something different, something just for fun, and not trying to be as professional as possible all the time.
Q: ?We Sold Our Homesteads? is an interesting song in that it deals with Swedish immigrants who are forbidden from eating their native foods on their way to new lands, much to their consternation. Where have they gone and what foods were you referring to in the song?
A: The captain on the ship decided what foods they could carry on. Of course, bread in the 19th century didn?t last for a week. The food they brought was taken out of their hands pretty soon. You may not know but this is a folk, umm, traditional song. And of course they went to America. Most Swedish and Norwegian immigrants ended up in Minnesota. I think the journey took two months or something, a very long time.
Q: Is ?Portals Of Light? based on a personal experience?
A: I did this a bit over-dramatic in the lyrics. Let?s just say that the girl broke up. Most people would recognize the feeling. But I wanted to do something more than just a break-up story. I think most people have felt that feeling, so have I. Some of the inspiration probably came from my own life.
Q: Onto some frivolous questions then. Do the people close to you grasp the impact that your music has made on metal fans around the world or are they kind of oblivious to the whole thing?
A: Yeah they are oblivious. They?re not involved with the metal scene so I don?t think they know what?s happening with the band.
Q: So if somebody said to them ?Hey man, Stefan is a rock god!? How would they respond?
A: They would take it as a joke. They wouldn?t really believe it. When I get the royalties and buy them some new things, then they can believe it. (laughter)
Q: Name your Top 3 movies of all time.
A: ?The Name of the Rose? with Sean Connery. ?Heresy In Disguise? from the first album by the way is very influenced by that movie. The new ?Lord Of The Rings? and I?d have to say ?Braveheart?.
Q: If you could play with any band or musician in the world?
A: Jethro Tull. I would love to have Ian Anderson as a guest musician on a Falconer album but I realize that?s pretty impossible. I?ve never seen them live.
Q: If you could spend the night doing anything you wanted with a female celebrity of your choice, who would it be and what would you do?
A: Oh God! We have a couple of gals to select from! The girl from ?Friends? that?s married to Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Love Hewitt. I would start off with a romantic dinner and then hopefully that would lead to something else!
Q: Do you think Jennifer Aniston would leave Brad Pitt for you?
A: No, I don?t! I don?t think Jennifer Love Hewitt would leave her boyfriend either. I like Neve Campbell too!
TV Women!
Hey, you know, I?m a TV guy! (laughing)
Q: What do you see in Falconer?s future?
A: I?m thinking about making the next album a concept album. Historical. Something much like the MacBeth story, but it actually happened in Sweden. It?s about three princes all vying to become king. It?s about betrayal and would be like a combination of Shakespeare and history.
Q: Any final words you?d like to say to your fans and POWERPLAY?s readers?
A: This is always among the hardest questions for me. What do you say when talking about ASKA? Buy my CD?s dammit! And go to our web site, www.falconer-metal.com
George Call
PowerPlay Magazine
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