Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes we have. Knut has played in the famous gothenburg based metal act DESTINY between 1989 and 1998 and released the album “The Undiscovered Country” in ‘98 with them, and also recorded 4 songs on their anniversary album a few years back. He also used to play in Seventh Planet, another gothenburg band, in 1994 until the beginning of the 2000s and released an EP and a full album in the mid ‘90s with them. He is currently also playing in 3 other bands and projects, among others KARMANJAKA from Umeå who just released their 3rd album. Kenny has earlier been in HAT toghether with Dennis and Magnus. Dennis and Kenny also have yet unofficial side projects going on at the moment.

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Dennis - drums and keyboards

Magnus - bass

Kenny - vocals, guitar, bass

Knut - guitar, bass, harmony vocals

We also usually invite special guests to recordings and some of the gigs just for the hell of it. Among others we have had Micke Mojo Nilsson and Stefan Edfeldt (Ducks can Groove) both live and in the studio.

Have you had other previous members? We used to have Anders Nord on drums until we finished the album “Höj Era Glas”. We also had Tony Östman on bass for the first album. Today he is in the famous swedish band Aeon.

Where are you from? We are from Norrland, Västerbotten.

What year did the band form? Dec 2006

What's your genre? That’s a tricky one…. We started out as a quite bluesy swedish progg band. Over time we have evolved into heavy progressive doom, with alot of swedish folk, and old gameing music in the mix. But there are other things going on as well, we have alot to draw upon, everything from jazz, to metal, and to classical music really.

What inspires you? It can be anything, something we read, hear on the news, other music, things in life, history, human shortcomings…… We are actually a bit obsessed with the fact that we are destroying our own planet and future. That is a theme that always comes up when we’re writing. Tolkien’s Middle Earth is another theme that is present in a few of our songs.

How have you developed since you started with the music? We have developed alot technically, we’re better players than we used to be, and we are perhaps a bit more serious when it comes to lyric subjetcs too.

What made you decide to make this music? I think Kenny was inspired alot by the ‘70s swedish progg scene and the blues when he started the band back in 2006, and then things have evolved into something else along the way. We have done 6 albums so far and are writing on our seventh as we speak, and it would be very strange (and boring) if things hadn’t changed along the 13 years long road.

What are your songs about? Our bleak future, historical events, assorted bullshit going on in the world as we see it.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Kenny and me (Knut) write most of the music and lyrics. Alot of it is stemming from jamming around ideas at rehearsals. We typically NEVER rehearse old material, we always write stuff when we meet.

Have you done any covers live? Yes a few. We’ve done a few on record too. Among them are Starship Trooper by YES, Never in my Life by MOUNTAIN, and In the Court of the Crimson King by KING CRIMSON. We also did a cover on Cornelis Wreeswijk’s “Sluskblues” on Höj Era Glas.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? About 30 to a few hundred people.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? 20-60 yo.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We have 6 albums and always new material to draw on so we change alot all the time. Some songs get played more since they are proven live staples.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Not quite…. we’ve played Östersund alot, though.

What was your first gig like? I’m actually not quite sure which gig that was, but maby it was……... It might have been at Scharinska Villan, Umeå. The stage was VERY small and packed with three bands equipment, and the room was packed to the limit with people. IIRC we played before Abramis Brama, and Black Bonzo.

What was your latest gig?

In mid November last year at an old cinema in Strömsund, Jämtland. VERY cool venue. There are a few nice videos from that gig on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBL4mNH3YdE

Where have you played live this year? We haven’t done any shows this year so far. We’ve been busy writing the new album, which hopefully will get recorded this autumn.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We started selling t-shirts right from the start back in ‘06. We don’t sell anything else than the shirts and  the albums, CD and Vinyl.

Where can people buy your merchandise? They can contact us through our FB or buy merch at gigs.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? The musicians have been fucked by the industry since day one, and nothing has really changed there, except maybe now the industry gets fucked a little bit themselves too, hahaha!!!

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? The industry is getting fucked too, and artists have gotten alot more room to release music themselves without the involvement from the industry. So basicly someone else is scooping up the money now, ie Spotify and others like them. Still, it is the musician who always gets paid last, so no change in that department really, everyone else involved always get their share first before the artists.

What do you think of my work? I can’t really say that I’m very familiar with your body of work, but I personally look at interviews as a chance to communicate with readers or listeners that I maby wouldn’t reach through my ordinay channels.

How do you think this interview will help you in the music business? Interviews might let me reach new people, listeners and otherwise, and that is always positive.

Do you have any role models or idols? I (Knut) can only answer for myself. I don’t have any specific idols or role models that I look up to and take after. I mainly try to not fuck up other people’s lives too much as I go along, that’s it. I do not in any way believe that we have a specific purpose with our time here on earth, or that our lives have a specific meaning. We’re just here, PERIOD, hahahaha!

Why do you think that they exist? They don’t, it’s all just bullshit. They’re just there to make yourself look important.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? We have been looking back alot during the first records we did. We still do that a little bit, but nowadays we are looking alot more to contemporary music.

What have been your biggest obstacles? Time, schedules, money, volatile inspiration, LIFE! HAHAHA...

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Learn from, and try not to repeat, your mistakes. Don’t do things you don’t wanna do! 

Do you have any new material? We are nearly done writing our upcoming album, and hopefully we will record it before the year is over.

What are your web sites? 

Mainly our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gudarsskymning/ 

Our records - vinyl and CD - can be found at recordheaven.net

// Cheers, Knut Hassel - GUDARS SKYMNING