Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? Leighton and Amanda have only played in Iron Kingdom, Kenny on the other hand has been in several bands before joining us. As for me, I have only ever played one show in another band, it was just for fun really and that's where I met Kenny and stole him for Iron Kingdom! Haha!

How is it that you started playing music? Amanda was playing classical piano and I had recently obtained Deep Purple - Machine Head, you see I put two and two together, I wanted to play a musical instrument but piano looked way too hard and I liked rock n roll so why not try guitar! That's how it started for me anyways!

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?

Chris Osterman - 23 years old Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals

Kenny Kroecher - 24 years old Lead Guitar

Amanda Osterman - 26 years old Drums

Leighton Holmes - 24 years old Bass Guitar

Have you had other previous members? We've been through about 14 different band members throughout the years (before we called ourselves Iron Kingdom) but as Iron Kingdom the only other member was Jordan Wright, who used to play rhythm guitar for us.  He recorded the ‘Curse of the Voodoo Queen’ album with us, but left right after to focus on his career.

Where are you from? Surrey, BC, Canada

What year did the band form? Iron Kingdom started in June of 2011, however some of the band had been playing together for a few years before that under a different name.

What's your style of genre? Traditional / Power Metal

What inspires you? Other heavy metal bands, epic stories, movies, books, legends, anything really!

How often and where do you rehearse? We practice at my parents place haha, they helped us build a wicked jam space in the garage.  We usually average 2 practices a week, however before tours or recording we usually do 3-4 practices a week.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Yea it would be nice to have a booking agency deal with our tours, however they would take a cut and it's hard to know if they will do a good job.  I've heard terrible stories where tours fall apart because the booking agent didn't follow up on gigs or whatnot it can be pretty rough, so for now I do all the bookings but if something comes along we'd be interested to see where it could go.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Similar to a booking agent, we see the value in their help however there's so much potential to lose as well, so we're just very careful with any contracts. We will sign when we feel the offer is fair enough to keep us going strong!

What made you decide to make this music? I couldn't find any current bands playing the style, and I felt like the world needed some classic heavy metal again!  I decided, who cares what other people think, I’m going to play music the way I like it.

What are your songs about? Each one is different, but some bigger topics in the past have been history, war, good and evil, heavy metal brotherhood, stuff like that.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?

I do most of the composing, but everyone is involved in his or her own instrument.

As for the lyrics, Leighton is our main guy, however Amanda and I have written a track from time to time.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Usually the music but we have written the odd track the other way around.

Do you compose in a certain environment? Not particularly, ideas pop up at any time, but I prefer being at home with my guitar.

Have you done any covers live? Yes we have, however not very often. Some include, Rock You Like A Hurricane by the Scorpions and Metal Health by Quiet Riot.

What language do you sing in? English

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?

The least was probably 2 haha it was a Monday night in Sacramento with Night Demon and us, sadly the promoter didn't do much and neither of the bands had played there before.

The most would be at Keep It True XVII in Germany, it was a sold out show, selling 2500 tickets.

What ages are most of your concert attendants?

It varies so much I couldn't say, we've had 3 year olds moshing at the front all the way up to 70 year olds maybe older.

Our average fans age is most likely around 20-35

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Each tour we bring in new songs (Keeping the most popular songs from previous tours) and we play a similar set throughout that new tour.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Funky Winkerbeans in Vancouver is a pretty common venue for us when we're at home. It's a small but wicked metal bar, with cool staff and a great promoter who always treats the bands fairly.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Sadly yes, we cancelled our show in Calgary, AB on our Ride For Glory North American Tour 2015. This was due to the fact that we rolled our tour buss down a hill off the highway in The Rocky Mountains. Luckily we all survived but our van and trailer we're damaged severely. We cancelled, as we had no access to our gear until the next morning and no vehicle to drive us there. The accident was due to a tire exploding and us losing control.

Where have you played live this year? So far Western Canada, and we will be heading through the USA very soon!

Where do you plan to gig in the coming year? Europe, Canada, and possibly the USA again! If we're lucky maybe some new places also!

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We've had merch since the beginning, we sell shirts, CDs, cassettes, vinyl, stickers, magnets, posters, patches, beer koozies, pins..,  lots of different things!

Where can people buy your merchandise? We sell merch at every gig!

But we also sell online at: ironkingdomsofficialmerchstore.bigcartel.com

Or you can just email us for a custom order: [email protected]

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Well here's the deal, we love lots of people listening to our tunes, and enjoying the music we created. However especially if your going to download the music, come out to our gigs, you know? Buy a t-shirt! Support us in a different way.  It's simple really, if you want us to keep making music then support us.

How do you think the music industry has changed because of this? I think it has turned a lot more into a Do It Yourself industry, labels still have a role, but bands can get a heck of a lot farther without a label than they ever could in the past.

Do you have any role models or idols? Steve Harris!  His work ethic alone has inspired how I operate on an everyday basis.  My parents are also a huge inspiration for me, when things got tough they just fought harder.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I think a combination of both is needed.  The music industry is different these days so you need to get ideas from other bands to stay current. At the same time older bands for us particularly are huge for musical influences as well as learning from their mistakes and successes as best we can from stories we’ve heard.  So yea id say inspiration from any and all bands is important! New or old!

What have been your biggest obstacles? The last three weeks!  We had an accident while on the road, and now are struggling through getting our Visa papers in time to perform our booked dates through the USA.  The vehicle situation is mostly under control however the visa is still up in the air… We’re supposed to play Seattle tomorrow.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Be true to yourself, you may not be rich and famous but you will respect yourself and others will too.

How do you get psyched for a gig? Well I generally like to just work and prepare, if I can remain busy then I feel more and more ready for the stage! Sometimes I'll watch a live DVD of a band I love to get my self really stoked also.

Do you have any new material? Yes we just released our 3rd full length album 'Ride For Glory' on CD and Cassette!

What are your web sites?

www.iron-kingdom.com

www.facebook.com/ironkingdom

Plus many others! But those two sites should link you anywhere Iron Kingdom related that you'd wanna go.

How can people reach you? By email at: [email protected] 

Do you have something to add?

Things have been tough lately but we will keep fighting for the metal we love!

If anyone would like to book us, (literally anywhere) just let us know what you can offer and we may book a tour around it!

Thanks for reading this interview!  We hope to see you on the road in the near future!!