THE HIGHWIRE DAZE INTERVIEWS

Updated: 08/08/01

Formed by guitar whiz Johan Reinholdz. Andromeda is a metal band from Sweden whose complex sound ranges from quiet, introspective moments to an all-out metallic war. The recording featured ex-Darkane singer Lawrence Mackrory on vocals and an array of outstanding musicians, all assisting to make the vision of Andromeda an ultra vivid reality. We spoke with founder Johan Reinholdz about his astounding musical creation.

Highwire Daze: Give me a little general information on Andromeda.

Johan Reinholdz: The band started as a solo project of mine. I played in a previous local band here - nothing famous. At that time, around 97-98, I started doing some solo stuff at home - some progressive stuff with programmed drums. I did two demos and then Wes at War Music - I knew him a bit. I sent him the second demo and he asked me if I wanted to write a progressive album and release it on his label. I wrote the songs in the Summer of 99. I looked for musicians, and then we recorded the album in March and April of last year. It was a solo project but it's more of a real band now.

HD: Have you ever had any guitar training?

Johan: Yes, I started taking guitar lessons when I was nine, but quit taking them when I was 17, because I never made the homework anyway. I learned a lot of theory and stuff, but like everyone does, I learned a lot of my own.

HD: Are you influenced by classical music at all when you write?

Johan: Yeah, I guess so. I like a lot of classical music like Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert, Chopin and people like that. In some ways, it might influence me when I write certain guitar passages in some unconscious way.

HD: What made you decide to use ex-Darkane singer Lawrence Mackory as your vocalist on the album?

Johan: It was not planned actually. The vocals were supposed to be done by someone else, but he kind of lost interest. He got the demos one day before recording and they sucked. So there we stood one day before we were going to record wondering what the f*ck we were going to do. And Wes at War Music knew Lawrence from the Darkane album, so he contacted him. Luckily he had free time so he did the vocals. It was never really planned. He was just the session singer. He was never intended to be the permanent singer in the band. He just did the record.

HD: Had you heard of Darkane prior to Lawrence coming into the studio?

Johan: Yeah, I had actually met the drummer. When we were looking for drummer, we tried him out. I rehearsed sometimes with Peter, but he had other projects at the time to do.

HD: Did you ever have any worries that Lawrence may not work out since Darkane was much different in sound than your project?

Johan: I didn't really feel very weird, because I had heard his other band Forcefeed. They had released a mini-CD as well. I listened to that album, and it was kind of in the Korn and Deftones style. And then I heard in Forcefeed he could sing some passages soft and emotional and the other passages are the more aggressive stuff. We knew that his vocal range was wide and he could do it.

HD: So is Lawrence still in the band?

Johan: No, he was never intended to be. But we have a permanent singer this autumn; a guy named David Fremberg. He's not known for many other bands that you've heard of probably. But he's really good and he fits in well with the band. He has metal roots but he also sings in different bands - he sings in a soul band and does some other projects. He has a lot of the same heroes we do, so we fit well together.

HD: Is there any significance behind the album title Extension Of The Wish?

Johan: It's one of the songs on the album. It means to make reality of your ideas and ambitions. Extend your wish and make it into reality.

HD: What was the concept of the album cover and how much input did you have on it?

Johan: The only input I had really - I talked to Niklas Sundin - I had the title and he asked me if I had any ideas. I only said that it would be cool if a guy could stretch out his arm or finger as kind of a symbol for an Extension Of The Wish. Then he made this guy and put the other stuff on by himself. He sent me a copy and I told him which things he might build and which things he might change. But for the most part, he came up with the concept himself.

HD: It seems like every time I turn around, Niklas Sundin has done yet another album cover.

Johan: Yeah, he's really hot right now. Real popular. He's really good, very original.

HD: What are some of the ideas for some of the other song lyrics?

Johan: In The Deepest of Waters is about schizophrenia. You can't really tell that from the title, but if you read the lyrics you might understand. Chameleon Carneval - it's always hard to get a name for an instrumental song but I thought like Carneval - there's some groovy stuff going on with some of the riffs so maybe Carneval would be cool. And with the nature of the song, it's constantly changing like a Chameleon. So I thought that Chameleon Carneval would sound good. Star Shooter is not as serious as the other lyrics. It's more kind of fun, about floating around in space. There's not really any depth to those lyrics.

HD: Has Andromeda played live yet?

Johan: We've played five times. One time in Copenhagen, a few times in Stockholm, and a few other times in Sweden, but that's about it.

HD: How have the live shows been going?

Johan: Better and better. The first couple of shows were not so good. You have to practice a lot to become a good live band. You have to play a lot. You cannot hide and look good onstage. I think the first three were not so good, but then it got better.

HD: Has there been talk of Andromeda coming here to the States to play?

Johan: No, we haven't heard anything about that yet. It's hard to be a new band, to do one album and then go over. You have to build it up more and get your name out more. And then maybe on the next album we can go over to the US.

HD: What do you think of the current Swedish metal scene right now?

Johan: I think it's pretty good. They've been coming out a lot of good band in the last 8 or 10 years. There's a lot of good bands now like The Haunted and Opeth and In Flames and Meshuggah. I don't really understand why Sweden has so many good bands - it's kind of a mystery. It must be the weather. I noticed now in the summer when it's really good weather, I tend to play a lot less guitar. I'm always outside. But the rest of the year is really hellish weather.

HD: What are the future plans for Andromeda? What's coming up next?

Johan: We'll write new songs and rehearse them. We're also going to do a minor tour in France maybe this autumn or early next year, because we have a label that likes the album there as well. And try to get some more shows in Sweden - try to get some more shows in general because we'd like to play a lot more live. It's more fun than recording albums I think.

HD: Do you have any messages for metal fans here in the States who might be interested in checking out your music?

Johan: If you like heavy adventurous music then you should check out Andromeda.

Extension Of The Wish by Andromeda is now available through Century Media Records.