interview with Mental Issues
How was the band formed? The band was formed way back in early 2008 when Max, Jack and Tomas wanted to start playing music together
Can you tell about your band? YES!
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? All of us are from the area in and around Stockholm, Sweden.Max Björkman: Screams/growlsTomas Månsson: SingingJack Bergström: Guitar/Back-up vocalsAdrian Lindell: BassOscar Törnqvist: GuitarMattias Nielsen: Drums
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? We started out just wanting to make music together and of course we wanted EVERYONE in the world to hear that
music and we still do.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? We have have a lot of variations in our song (everything from really heavy "Core" song to ballads en even som pop punk here and there), we try to not fall into to playing just one genre .We have our foundation in Metalcore and we always keep a melodic theme through out allof our songs.
Where was your first gig? Our first gig was at the Bagarmossen Youthculture festival in the summer of 2008.
Where was the latest gig? Our latest gig was at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? We try to collaborate as much as possible, everyone pitches their ideas in and we work together as much as possibleto then make it perfect.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? Max
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? the good thing is that we are perfectionists, the bad thing is that we are perfectionistsOur genre is mainly Metalcore but we like to keep it varried with some pop rock, acoustic among others.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? Basically because we like that genre.Our lyrics are often about our observations of society or just life in general.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own material.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Yes we have to full lengths albums"Through The Eyes Of Pandora"and most recently"Cycles"we also have an EP called "Hope Dies Last: Expansion Pack"
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes we do, a whole bunch of them. her is the most recent onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCJhPMXIJw4
How old are you?/What got you started in music? I'm 24(Max), I've alway loved music and I've always loved creatingthings in general so when Tomas and Jack came up with the idea to starta band I was onboard right away.
At what age did you start playing? I (Max) was 18 when I started playing seriously
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? 18 for that too, Jack was around 15
What year was the band started? 2008
Best/worst gig you've played?
Best Gig was a recent one called "Black Carpet Showcase" at Göta källare in Stockholm.We got it through our label 666 songs and it was freaking awesome.
Worst gig was probably at wayback in the early days at Björkhagen youthcenter,the stage was small, and there were no people at all there.
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? World wide through Youtube, Spotify and iTunes.but in terms of live gigs I we have none booked at the moment.
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? if we are speaking strictly about live perfomance here, for me (Max) Personally it has to beA Day To remember, August Burns Red or Slipknot
Is it always the same songs live? No, we switch it up a bit depending on how "heavy or soft"the other bands at the shows are.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Black Carpet Showcase
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No
How big crowds do you usually play for? It varies from time to time.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? A lot of Music Videos and some new songs
Where do you usually play? Bars, Club, Youthcenters and stuff like that.Some minor festivals
How do you get psyched up for a gig? By trying to WIN the night! hahaNo but seriously, it comes kind of naturally when you arrive at the venue and se the stage.
What are your goals with your music? For as many people around the world to hear our musicand to be able to travel around the world and meet allthe people who support us to tell them "thank you"Who really wants to live their whole life working at an office or something.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? After we wrote the first song
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern?
We get inspiration from all over the place, old bands, new bands, different genres, moviesbook, games, anywhere you can find it basically.
What are your sources of inspiration? Life, I guess
What's the first step when making a new song? Guitar, or at least that's how it usually starts someone makesI nice riff or melody on guitar and we build from there.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I have nothing against downloading, I mean of course if you want to support artists you like,buy their music so they can afford to make more.But I wouldn't call people who download theives, like major labels like to do, the more peoplewho hears the music the better
What would be your dreams for the band? Touring world wide with the big bands!
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I (Max) listen to everything, Lately it's been a lot of The Devil Wears Prada,A Day To Remember, Protest The Hero Talib Kweli, Dan Bull and some sweet mellow loung music.
What do you hold most dear? Family and freinds
What would be your greatest fears for the future? To be stuck at some 9 to 5 office job forever.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? messing up the performance, forget lyrics or notes,(Most people listening would never notice, but it still on our minds everytime)
What songs and what years were they released? Through the Eyes of Pandora - 2011Hope Dies Last - 2012Cycles -2013
Have you been part of any other projects? No
Have you been in any other bands? No
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Janitor, Café employe, Lifeguard, stuff like that you know.
What would you do if there was no music? Be a professional gameror working with movies.
How important are your fans? The real fans out there in the world.where ever they may be.They mean everything to us!We love you guys
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? A fan who got extremely excited after we added him as a friend on facebook.or a guy way back in 2009 who did the very first "unofficial" upload of a mental issues song on youtube
How often do you rehearse? About once or twice a week, sometimes more sometimes less, it all depends on if we are recordingor having a show coming up.
Where do you rehearse? In our secret underground lair Mowahahahah!
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Cycles and In Time.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? I can't speak for other band but for us, it's our love of music, to actaully do what YOU want to do in life and not just take the safe route andend up regreting letting go.
Do you have any webpages?
https://www.youtube.com/user/mentalsweden
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Mistakes left unmade are lessons never learned!
Would you like to add anything else? Don't let the bastards bring you down,
Describe your show, visually and musically Much Energy, Such Wow.heavy breakdowns!
How do you view the musicindurty of today? Shitty, To much focus on business and not enough focuson creativity.
What advice would you like to give other bands? Being in a band is a lifestyle, if you want to reach your goals you really need to work for it,it will strain on you mentally but it's all worth when you see the reactions of your fans.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Labels not giving you a chance. or basically gettinga foot in the door of an extremely crowded industry.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs?
Best: You can really hang out with the fans and have a good time.
Worst: Small stages.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? We have none announced at the moment but stay tuned on facebook for all news about that.Why you should be there? To support the underground scene, and be we would love to meetanyone who enjoys what we do.
How would you describe your sound in one sentenceBrutal but with melodies!
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Vuvuzela.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? We have been pretty lucky when it comes to that since we haven't really had any major quarrels at all.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? "Ooooooh MENTAL!!"
Do you have anything to add? "We blame the many for the deeds of a few,ban entertainment for the evil that men do,abolish anything that is different, all out of fear because we're losing our grip" = Humanity in a nutshell