Earlier this year I was confronted with a new swedish band by the name The Ring, and I thought it was really good, and the debut album keeps growing. With clear references to Black Sabbath and an epic touch to the music, they bring forth yet another interpretation of the so famous Lord Of The Rings saga. When I got the chance to confront lead/rhythm guitarist Marcus Jidell with our nosy questions about the past, present and future, we were not late to come to action. The following is what he tells about the situation about the band at the moment, and what the nearest future might might bring..........
Tommy: Let us start with a classic opening: could you tell us a bit about how it came to be that you decided to start this band? What made you initially choose this theme for the music? A burning interest, or were there ever another concept for the music in question? What inspired you the most - the movies or the books?
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Marcus: Well, me and Jakob had a few songs that didn't fit in with the things we were doing at that time and one day Jakob came up with the idea of doing them on a concept album. One of the songs was "in the beginning" which has a melody that sounds a little bit Nordic and since we always loved the books by Tolkien , the Swedish folklore and that kind of things the choice was kind of natural. At the time Pontus had just returned from some months touring and explained the need for a new great metal band that really knew what they were doing as far as composing and performing and we had the attempt to do some music together for a long time so we finished the songs and wrote some new stuff together with him.
Tommy:
Are your musical influences exclusively the obvious ones, that you clearly
hear when hearing your music (Black Sabbath, Dio, classic 80's metal),
or are there any other, less apperant, bands/artists that you collect
inspiration from?
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Marcus: All of us are listening to a lot of different music so of course there's a lot of different inspiration sources, I have always loved the Swedish folk music and Scandinavian composers, like Edvard Grieg for example, and this was an opportunity to add these influences in our music. Also what's funny with this kind of music is that you can get inspired by an emotion or a certain episode in a story, and thanks to that it's a quite free forum to work within.
Tommy: How have you been received in the
press and among metalfans so far? Does the result meet your initial expectations/hopes?
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Marcus: We have got a lot of good press (you can look on the homepage and find a bunch www.thering.se ) the Swedish reviewers gave us the worst reviews though, there is nothing new under the sun... (Still they were pretty good though) I just got some new information that two of the biggest English metal magazines gave us great reviews and that's always nice to hear. It's always hard to get things rolling when you're a new band amongst others but in time people will discover us and see that what we are doing is for real. The live gig we did at O-baren in Stockholm was great and the audience was fantastic and this coming Sweden Rock Festival we will prove that we are top of the league!
Tommy: Were you ever, or are you, afraid that people might be "fed up" with everything around the ring saga the past years, and dismiss you before even having heard the music? I must admit, that was what struck me when confronted with your album, and for a split second I had the urge to put it aside for a while, but that would have been a vast mistake, if you ask me.....
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Marcus: Well thanks, of course there's always a risk dealing with a theme that has had such an impact on so many people but we never worried about that kind of things, we just wanted to do a top of our ability hardrock/metal album that we ourselves would like to hear. The most important is not if it's about Lord of the rings or another ring myth, as you might know there is a lot of them, (Favners bane and Wagner's Rheingold Z. Topelius work with The Swedish King Carl XII and the myth of his Ring of power for example ) what matters to us and hopefully the listener is that the music moves you and puts you in a mood that a lot of the music of today can not. We wanted to put some magic in to music again, that's what "THE RING" is all about.
Tommy: What can you reveal about the upcoming second album, due
to release sometime around....well - what are the actual timelines for
the release of the sequal? Furthermore, what can we expect musically on
this one, as well as in the future? More focus on speed, or grooves, or....something
else, some other direction? You mentioned to me earlier that some really
"bad boys" have started to take shape for the new album. Develop
that statement for the curious reader, please....
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Marcus: We are planning to release album nr two next summer. The new material feels great, yesterday we wrote a song that sounds like Candlemass meats Sibelius ,it's going to be thunderous, majestic and powerful, man! I think that the next album is going to be a little bit heavier then the first one but also have more of the soft mystical parts that we added to the first one. We will to try to do what we did on "Tales from midgard" and take it to the next level.
Tommy: Do the lyrical content follow the story of the original saga, or are there personal angles and sidestories weaved into it? Will the albums deal with the books in chronological order?
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Marcus: It's really a mix of a lot as I mention before but if you listen to TFM you will find it's not so hard to follow the story if you know the books and we will take it from were we finished last, I think it's important to leave some things unsaid for the listeners imagination.
Tommy: Which character from the books is representing the music
of The Ring most accurate, you think?
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Marcus: I always had a feeling that Gemli wasn't a member of Pet Shop Boys fan club, but what do I know…
Tommy: Do you already have ready plans for the rest of the albums, or do you take it as it comes along the way?
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Marcus: A lot of plans but we take it as it comes along the way.
Tommy: What are you 3 main members involved in apart from The Ring nowadays, if anything? You are all renowned and respected musicians in the scene, and have in the past played with acts like Talisman, Treasure Land, Jekyll & Hyde to name a few. Is The Ring to be considered your main band now, which gets your most focus and energy?
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Marcus: Me and Jakob also plays in a band called Kreegha, http://punchline.on.to (we recently changed name on the band). But at this moment "THE RING" takes most of the time.
Tommy: Who are the 2 new members that we
can read about on your website? Are they permanent, or just live appearances?
What made the choice fall on them? Will they have any impact on the material
on the upcoming album, or were everything already written when they came
into the picture?
- Marcus: The new members are Johan Dereborn on bass and Federico De Costa on drums. ( soon there will be some really cool live shots on them on the webpage)They are two of the best musicians we know of and fantastic friends that we always liked and now we had an opportunity and fortune to play with them. Jakob loves to play the drums and me and Pontus really enjoys the bass playing and we had a great time doing the TFM album, it's our playground, it was one of the ideas to do this but we haven't yet decided if they are going to play on the album or not but hopefully they will stay in the live setup for a long time. Considering the new album most of the songs are already finished by me Pontus and Jake.
Tommy: Doogie White appeared on the song Voices Of The Fallen
Kings on the debut. Will there be other guests on the next album, and
if so - which ones, and how big of a role will they play?
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Marcus: Jake will always sing at least 90% of the lead vocals but we are discussing with one singer that maybe will do a guest appearance on the next album, he is one of the great ones but nothing is decided yet…
Tommy: Describe a typical live show with The Ring. What can an attender to a show expect to hear and see? Any visual and/or audible surprises? Covers? Will you be arranging something special for the upcoming summers' festival gigs, you think?
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Marcus: I can tell you that the band is one of the best bands on the live scene at this moment and we will blow every other band of the stage. The concerts will be both visual and great played. We have already booked the Sweden Rock Festival and there will be a lot more.
Tommy: All of you in the band have been in the business for some time, and know your way around. How is really the situation for a band of your size in the scene today? Is it possible to get anywhere today as a new, small band working your way up? How are you so far being backed up and treated by the people in the scene, the fans and the record label?
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Marcus: The fans are always great, we got a lot of mails and stuff from them and they really make this journey a lot more easy, and with Scarlet records it's working fine so far it's a bit early to say it always takes time to break new things but some of the press in Sweden for example is terrible the daily press is only interested in what goes on in the reality shows and the metal press isn't exactly knocking on the door each day either… You know what, I think that a lot of journalists are afraid not being hip and down with the trend shit so they haven't got the nerve to promote something new and fresh until a shit load of other journalists has written about it. You miss a lot of great quality work from great musicians if you're only looking at the latest trend!
Tommy: Any plans for what will happen after the 3rd and closing album of the ring trilogy? Perhaps the beginning of a new trilogy? A complete change of direction? How about Star Wars, and a possible change of name to The Force?
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Marcus: Ha ha, future will tell. I think that we will continue with this band for a very long time and maybe we shall consider your idea.(laughs)
Tommy: If you stare into the crystal ball, let's say 2-3 years from now, and with yet another album in the back - how do you realistically see the situation to be for The Ring? How would an ideal situation, according to you, look?
- Marcus: I hope that we have the both next albums out in the stores at that time and are touring around the world playing our music. We like to work hard and be out on the roads so I'm quite sure that no matter what's going to happen, we will continue to do what we do best, rocking your brains out!
Tommy: I thank you very much for participating in this interview and sharing this information and your thoughts with us - these last lines are entirely for you. Any final words you would like to round off with - a tip, a recommendation or a thought for the future?
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Marcus: We would like to thank the fans all over the world that has been supporting us and helped us trough, you are the best! For those of you that haven't heard the "Tales from midgard" album go out and bay it now, you're not gonna be disappointed. STAY METAL!!
Best regards,
THE RING
That was all I had for now, Marcus - the staff at metalcovenant.com wish you all the very best for the future, and we sincerely want to thank you for keeping the spirit of Metal alive!
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Jacob Samuelsson - Vocals, Drums, Keyboard
Marcus Jidell - Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Bass,
Keyboard
Pontus Norgren - Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Bass,
Keyboard
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