interview with Magnolia
What´s the name of your band? Magnolia
Can you tell about your band? Magnolia is my projekt and we are playing mostly my songs but I let my musicians have their own input. The music is hard rock with swedish lyrics.
How was the band formed? I started to write and record my own music 1994 and called this project Magnolia. One demo was made called " Levitate". I played guitar, bass, keyboards and sang while my friend Anders Hedström played the drums. This was just a studio projekt and it was not until 2006 that the first Magnolia album was recorded and released on Transubstans Records.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? The current line up is Ronny Eriksson - bass, vocals, keyboards and some guitar. Niklas Bergsland - drums and Jonas Andersson - guitar. We all comes from Åmål / Sweden.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? Only to record albums and not perform live but that changed quickly and Magnolia started do do gigs.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Hard rock with swedish lyrics influenced by the sounds from the late sixties and the early seventies.
Where was your first gig? With Magnolia it was at Café XO in my hometown Åmål.
Where was the latest gig? At Galna Tuppen in Säffle.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? I, Ronny, writes 90 % of the music and 100 % of the lyrics.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they?
1. Magnolia
2. Falska vägar
3. Steg för steg
4. Tänk själv
At what age did you start playing? I was 14 years old when I started to play in a band.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Jonas and I were 14 years old and I thing Niklas was something like that too.
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? I think we will play at a music club in Gothenburg called Atomic Rooster.
Where have you played from then till now? We have played in Åmål, Säffle, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Sandviken, Karlstad etc.
Is it always the same songs live? No, we try to change the set list, but of course some songs are allways the same.
How big crowds do you usually play for? We use to play to small club audiences mostly, 50 - 150 persons. I really like to play at small clubs. To have a close contact with the audience is far more interesting than standing on a huge stage with to much space to fill.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? To finish our new album that we have started to record. I really looking forward to this album. Up until now it feels really promising.
What are your goals with your music? To get some satisfaction mentally and to hopefully make the listener feeling good.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? For me at least it´s easier to get inspiration from older bands. I don´t say that modern bands are bad but something is missing nowdays in music that you could find before.
What's the first step when making a new song? Inspiration! I must have inspiration to create something. Sometimes I do the lyrics first and sometimes the music, it all depends on the inspiration and inspiration comes and goes. You just have to catch it when it comes flying by.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I am old fashioned, I never download, I always listen to records but ofcourse downloading is good for the people that don´t want to have a heavy record collection at home. The bad side effect by downloading instead of buying real records is that the artist loose this chance to make money and this means that the money must be made in some other ways, higher price on conert tickets for example.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I listen a lot to jazz, blues, soul, funk, classical, progressive rock etc.
Have you been part of any other projects? I have been playing in many bands and projects for example My Brother The Wind, Malt, Sunroof, Marcus Bonfanti, Carl-Fredrik Eriksson Group, Blue Stuff to mention a few.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I am working at Optimera as a salesman selling material and products for building houses etc.
What would you do if there was no music? I have no idea. Maybe invent music ;)
How important are your fans? Of course they are important. It gives me inspiration and energy to write and perform when you know that somebody wants to listen to your music.
How often do you rehearse? Once a week.
Where do you rehearse? In Åmål.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Two new songs that will be on the upcoming album, "Kriget kallar" och "Svarta sagor".
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? Real love for music.
Do you have any webpages? Yes, www.magnoliarock.se
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Just play and write the music you love, everything else is a waste of energy and time.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? I think that music industry is one of the toughest of them all. I don´t even try to make a living on music, it would take to much energy and love from it.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence? True, organic, rough and honest!
Do you have anything to add? Let the good times roll!