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file under heavy / power metal
Two talented Swedish friends must have thought: lets get together, write some fine songs and have them released on CD. The result is a nice sounding, heavy rock album that is worth listening to. House Of Heavy is the name of the duo consisting of Henrik Lundberg and Mattias Wellhag. They have been friends for years and both are active in other bands. Now they finally had the opportunity to work together. That was not a bad idea at all. Time to get in contact with the two Swedish men in order to learn more about the ins and outs of House Of Heavy.
Text: Wim
How are you guys and what are you doing at the moment? Are you busy with the band or doing other things?
Henrik: Hello and thanks for having us! We’re doing great and are currently writing new songs for our second cd. We hope to have the next one out sometime next year. I’m also writing songs for a new Masquerade album. That process is a bit slow (as you know) but we’re getting there.
The first sentence of my review of your album was: “You do not need an entire band to make some noise”. Is that the philosophy behind this band or is there another reason why there is only the two of you? What is the difference between playing in a band and playing with only one other member?
Henrik: Me and Mattias are old friends and we have always talked about making a record. Doing it just the two of us made it possible, to many chefs you know! The process is totally different. With a band you try stuff out, make demos, play around with the material and so on. With us we wrote and recorded at the same time.
Henrik, you also play bass in Masquerade, a quite successful band especially in Japan. But that band is also know for not being that productive. Four albums in twelve years means you have quite some time off. Is that one of the reasons you started House of Heavy? Is it a real band or just a project?
Henrik: HoH is a real band. We plan on making records as long as it’s fun. Masquerade was very hard to keep together, lots of egos and inner turmoil. As of right now Masquerade is me and Tony. We’re writing and if it sounds like Masquerade we will call it Masquerade. If not, we’ll call it something else. I’m still friends with Thomas and we’re writing together sometimes but he’s not into heavy music anymore. Marko the drummer, I haven’t seen him in a long long time. He moved up north and started his family there.
Mattias, you also play in a band, Preserved In Grace. Can you maybe tell something more about that band because I have never heard of them ( sorry!) ?
Mattias: Well, P.I.G. is also a collaboration between old friends. Unsigned, by the way. Now there’s only two of us left so we’ll see how much of Preserved In Grace you’ll hear of in the future… Musically it’s more kind of rock oriented than HoH. In P.I.G. I’m the only creative force and because of that it’s both easier and harder. Easier because no one tells you what to do or how things should sound and harder because I’m alone in the sometimes heavy process of writing it all.
I really like your album. Especially the vocals, both solo and harmony, sound very good. The melodic element of the vocals make your music very easy to listen to, even when it sometimes gets pretty heavy! Did you pay extra attention or effort to the vocals?
Henrik: Not really… The melodies just happens as you pick up the guitar and starts riffing, and when laying down the tracks it’s almost always the first or second take that you hear!
The album sometimes sounds bombastic, which is striking since there is only two of you making the music! Heavy music, melodic vocals and a modern sound: is that in a nutshell what you were trying to do?
Henrik: Yep. Got that right. Personally I have always loved that big “wall of sound” and try to mimic or copy it as often as I can. Heavy guitars, synths, big orchestras, drum loops, pour it all in an’ give it a good stir. Last but not the least: compress the hell out of everything!
My favourite song is ´God vs God´ because it breathes a special atmosphere and it is also one of the few somewhat slower tracks. A comment you recognise? Is it a coincidence that most of the songs are up-tempo or is that where your heart and love for music lies?
Henrik: It’s one of my absolute favourites too! Maybe it’s the odd time signature, maybe it’s the riff that’s actually the same in the entire song, just some minor changes here and there. A very simple piece of music that tells a whole lot. Up or down tempo it’s all the same. Pure coincidence.
’Ride Shotgun’ really sounds almost like a song from Queens Of The Stoneage, do you agree?
Henrik: I read that in a review too and it was actually the first time I got to think about that! But you’re right, It sounds a bit like ‘No One Knows’ in the intro and verse… Damn cool song by the way!
I think there is only one song on the album that is not really that great: the Def Leppard cover ‘Billy’s Got A Gun’. First of all I think that the original version is better than yours and I also think that it does not fit very well to your own song material. You obliviously think different but can you see my point of view?
Henrik: We had good fun recording it and decided to put it on the album. It was a meant as a tribute to some of our (old) rock n’ roll heroes and of course the original sounds better than our version. It’s Leppard, man!
Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the album with the lyrics or your songs. Is there something special you can tell our readers about your lyrics or do you primarily focus on the music?
Henrik: Both get the same attention.
Are you planning to perform live with House On Heavy? And if so, are you going to do that with a real live band, so with a real drummer etc. or just the two of you? Any people you already asked to join you on stage? What are the other plans for the future for Masquerade, Preserved In Grace and House Of Heavy?
Henrik: We’ve tried out some guitar players and some drummers for HoH. If there’s going to be live activities, there’ll be a full live band, be sure of that! Preserved In Grace are recording what is hopefully going to be a full album: twelve-fourteen songs. If everything follows the plan it will be finished in the beginning of next year. Only God knows what happens with that…
To conclude this interview, a choice of two each time: choose one and please tell us why you choose for that one?
Henrik Larsson or Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
Henrik: Henrik Larsson
Mattias: I’m not that into guys…
Ice hockey or ice skating?
Henrik: Hockey
Mattias: Both suck.
Joe Elliott or Kip Winger?
Henrik & Mattias: Both.
Knäckebröd or köttbullar?
Henrik: Knäckebröd
Mattias: Köttbullar (my own… I’m the self declared king of Swedish köttbullar)
Supporting Def Leppard or Van Halen?
Henrik & Mattias: Def Leppard!!!
http://www.houseofheavy.com
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