Mother Misery, originally known as Nosedive, is a Swedish band that has evolved from pop rock beginnings to a heavier, more progressive metal sound since 1998.
1. Mother Misery has a rich history, starting
from your days as Nosedive. How has the band's sound and identity evolved since
your formation in 1998?
JH: Well I think
that we have changed the sound quit a bit, not to fit what was curently popular
but only naturally with how we progressed as musicians. Also what we listened
to at the time had an impact on the writing, not by purpose but more unintentionally.
From the start me and Thomas almost wrote pop songs. It then got more like rock
n roll / stoner bu the time we released our first album ´grandiosity´in 2004. I
can hear a lot of Monster Magnet influences there ha ha. From then we have
evolved with a bit more heavy riffs and melodies, and now into more metal and
as we our selves think with the latest album ´From Shadow To Ghost´ we have
made it a bit more progressive.
2. Your latest
album, "From Shadow to Ghost," has received high praise. Can you tell
us about the creative process behind this album and how it differs from your
previous releases?
JH: As for the
three albums before this one we mostly wrote all the material from home and had
almost finished demos when it was time to show it to the rest of the band. For
´From Shadow To Ghost´ we started out with small riffs and ideas together in
the studio and wrote it all together as we did for the first albums. Except for
the vocals and lyrics. This was a really fun and for us good way of writing and
I’m glad we could come back to that.
3. Emil Ström
recently joined the band as a guitarist. How has his addition influenced the
band's dynamic and sound?
JH: Yeah, we are
very happy we found him. He is an awesome guitar player and a really quick
learner. He is also a good singer with is helpful for all the harmonies. The
most important thing though is that he is a great guy that fits perfectly in
the band, with the same sense of humor as the rest of us.
4. With a
history of touring extensively in Europe, what have been some of your most
memorable live performances or tours, and why?
JH: Well yeah, we
have done a lot of both awesome shows and tours but also shitty ones ha ha.
Some great memories have been for example the Zwarte Cross festival in The
Netherlands which that year had 152 000 people visiting. That was mind-blowing
and we almost didn’t make it to the backstage area since it was so big. We have
also made a lot of friends a long the way, life long friends. In 2006 we did a
small tour in Germany with another Swedish band called Stonewall Noise
Orchestra (where I later was a singer for a period), we quickly became friends
and that was probably the craziest and funniest tour we ever did. There was
never a dull moment with these guys. In 2008 we did a small tour with Swedens
Entombed in The Netherlands, a big moment for us. Both to play with Entombed
and to get to The Netherlands. There we also met a lot of new friends including
one of the other bands playing, The Lucifer Principle which we still her
contact with. They are also in the heavier genre like Entombed so we were a bit
scared to go out and get rotten eggs or something in our faces but it went
really well and we would come back to Holland several more times. One of those
times was when we got to open for Queensrÿche at Effenaar in Eindhoven (NL)
2013, me and Stiff are big QR fans since way back so that was special and we
got to meet them. That show was special in another way too, we had a borrowed
drum kit and as we started the show we had to stop after a few seconds. There
was a big problem with the kick drum pedal and we had to start over about five
times before it was fixed. It took some edge of the start but i think we
managed to get back up pretty quick. It’s on youtube he he.
5. You’ve
shared the stage with iconic bands like Entombed, Queensryche, and Sepultura.
How have these experiences shaped Mother Misery as a band?
JH: Well I would
say no, I don’t think it has shaped us more than staying humble and trying to
be as professional as we can when it comes to the live performance. They may
have shaped us unintentionally from out younger days since we listened to them
a lot then.
6. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many bands,
including Mother Misery. How did the band navigate this period, and what
changes, if any, did it bring to your music or band operations?
JH: We had some
good shows booked that we never got to do even after the Covid so that sucked a
bit. We were also in the midst of writing this album and was about to start the
recording of it. However I don’t know what we were thinking there because we had
to put the recording on hold for almost a year do to the pandemic restrictions
etc and as we got back together again we totally remade all the songs since we
didn’t think they were good enough. So with the result in hand i think that was
a good thing for us. The downside on the live side for us was that it seemed
harder to get shows booked than before, but that has lightened up a bit now. We
are also bit more picky on what shows we do.
7. Your music videos, such as the recent one for
"What Can I Say," have always been visually striking. How do you
approach the creation of your music videos, and what role do they play in your
overall artistic expression?
JH: Thanks. Well
it has been different, sometimes we have a basic idea that we build on with the
film maker and sometimes we have let it all into their hands. I think we have
been good a scouting locations for the videos. But as for the video on ’What Can
I Say’ we gave the guys free hands since we never met them and they filmed the
material on their own with their idea on it. Same goes for the video on ’State
Of Grace’ from the album ’Standing Alone’. They already had that material and
it fitted the song perfectly. As for this latest video on ’Next Generation’ we
had a much more complicated idea but we realized that it would be to much work
and more money than we have ha ha. I think Stiff came with he idea of shooting
our live concert in Stockholm and use that and i think it turned out great. We
just added some extra clips and the kids who we recorded in our home town
Enköping.
8. The album
"Standing Alone" was highly acclaimed upon its release. Looking back,
what do you think made that album resonate so well with listeners and critics?
JH: I really
don’t know, maybe the sound and the songs fitted 100% at the time. It’s a great
album with a good variety of songs that maybe stood well with the critics.
9. You’ve
worked with various labels over the years. How has your relationship with Doc
Gator Records been, especially with the release of "From Shadow to
Ghost" on exclusive vinyl?
JH: Yeah, we
started out with Daredevil Records (DE) and Jochen Böllath (Grand Massive)
there who has helped us tremendously though the years, we are still very good
friends but we moved on to Transubstans Records (SE) who released ’Standing
Alone’, ’Dedikation’ and ’Megalodon’. Great label who listened a lot to our
ideas and thoughts but finally we had to move on. We got in contact with Doc
Gator though Jochen Böllath I think since Grand Massive was on there. A really
great label and the guys who work there are very professional. We’ve had great
communication and feedback through the whole release of ’From Shadow To Ghost’
and we are really happy they released it on vinyl. It sounds and looks amazing.
They are also very active on social medias together with our PR-agent Markus /
Metal Message which is very important these days.
10. As a band with a strong presence on digital
platforms, how do you see the role of social media and streaming services in
connecting with your fans and promoting your music in today’s digital age?
JH: Well I have
mixed feelings about it. It’s a great tool and you can reach a lot of people in
seconds and grow a fanbase. But it is also hard to grow and get though the
algorithms, there are so many people and bands etc out there trying to reach
out. There are of course a lot of fake ways to grow likes and fanbases but we
don’t want to do that. It also takes a lot of energy end efforts to always come
up and post new interesting stuff. We are not that great at it but we try and
will keep at it.
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