A DYSTOPIAN WORLD WITH ANDRĂ ANDERSEN OF ROYAL HUNT
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by  Allen Ross ThomasÂ
Royal Hunt has returned with their 15th studio masterwork entitled Dystopia, and itâs guaranteed to intrigue progressive power metal fans all over the planet. From the imagination of founding member AndrĂ© Andersen and featuring the mesmerizing lead vocals of long time collaborator D.C. Cooper, Dystopiaâs rock opera style presentation also contains guest performances from the likes of Mark Boals (Yngwie Malmsteem, Ring Of Fire) and Mats Leven (Candlemass, Therion).  Highwire Daze recently interviewed AndrĂ© Andersen to discuss the world of Dystopia, working with former Royal Hunt vocalist Mark Boals on the new album, opening for the legendary Uriah Heep right before the beginning of the pandemic, a solo album he did for Frontiers Music Srl with Paul Laine (Danger Danger) and David Readman (Pink Cream 69), and others topics from a vast and epic career.  Read onâŠ
Is there any overall story or concept behind the new studio album Dystopia?
The album name is inspired by a Ray Bradbury famous novel Fahrenheit 451. So, I was looking for a name for it, and in every article, I would dig up, they would describe it as a Dystopia â the world-famous novel. So, I just settled on Dystopia.
Mats Leven of Candlemass, Therion, and Treat appear on the single The Art Of Dying. How did he become involved with that song and the album?
I knew Mats for a bunch of years and when I was thinking about creating this kind of dialog in the song â a duet if you wish â I was looking for a specific kind of voice which was different from D.C.âs our original singer. Mats was just right there, so I just gave him a call and we worked a little bit on the song â and it turned out great!
Mark Boals is also on this new album in a guest appearance. What has it been like to work with Mark again?
It was fun! It was fun, because we made like two albums together, so I knew exactly what he likes â what kind of melodies and stuff like that. So, it was very easy working with him again. I just gave him a call and we talked a little bit â I explained to him that every singer will have a specific character in the story â and he got involved right away â he was into it. And it was pretty painless â it was pretty quick â we just exchanged some files here and there because for obvious reasons we couldnât do it in Copenhagen, Denmark. So yeah, we exchanged files a couple of times and did some little corrections and adjustments â and that was it basically.
When you look back on those albums you did with Mark Boals as the lead vocalist, what do you think of them now in retrospect?
Excellent albums â especially the second one â because Mark is very well known for his high-pitched voice â I mean working with Yngwie Malmsteen and Ring Of Fire â so on purpose we shifted every single song down almost like half an octave to put him down a little bit â and realized he has excellent low range â very colorful â and we really exploited it on that particular album. So thatâs my favorite of him.
What do you think has made you and D.C. Cooper work so well together on many of these Royal Hunt albums, including the new one Dystopia?
Thatâs hard to tell. I donât know. We started way back in the 90âs on the first run. Yeah, we just clicked â maybe we think the same with this kind of music â itâs hard to tell. And on a social level as well â weâre getting along really, really well. So that probably some of the main reasons.
You have two members of Narnia in your band. One current â Andreas âHaboâ Johansson (drums) and one former â Andreas Passmark (bass). How did they become involved and are you a fan of Narnia?
To be completely honest, I have never heard of them back in the day. Andreas the bass player â I think he joined in 2009 â a great player and a great guy. And then I kind of realized that he was playing in Narnia and this and that, so I had heard them for the first time. Heâs been in the band for a few years. So, by the time Allan Sorensen our original drummer left, I started talking about drummers and Andreas suggested Habo â they were playing in Narnia together which was a great thing â because both of them living in Stockholm and they know each other â and itâs pretty important for a rhythm section. So, I said, âLetâs try itâ and it worked out. Great guy!
Has Royal Hunt ever played here in the States?
Way back! We went and played there â I guess it was â95 or â96 or something like that. It was way back. We played support for a lot of bands. It was a weird time in the States â very weird. I think we played like 45-50 shows â in small clubs of course. And that was basically it. And since then, the only place we went back to twice is the Prog Power Festival in Atlanta. The last time I think was in 2015-16 or something like that. A great festival â a lot of great bands and nice people. We also played in I think 2010 with Mark Boals and the second time I believe was 2015 with D.C.
What has it been like to write and release new music in the middle of a pandemic and so much social unrest in the world?
We were actually a bit lucky in that respect because when we started writing and working on the album, it was actually before the pandemic started. We actually had a new plan, so I feel a little bit sorry for some of the bands I know â they were kind of planning tours and stuff like that, so it was chaos literally. But we started working on the album at the time, so when the pandemic hit, it didnât change our plans that much. Of course, some things became a little more complicated, because you canât travel and stuff like that. Generally, it didnât affect us that much Iâll say.
And with the worldwide Internet you could do just about anything. You donât even have to ever meet your band membersâŠ
Yeah, well we prefer to work in the studio all together â and we were actually fortunate enough to do most of the work even before the pandemic hit. But of course, some overdubs and the special guest singers has been done on Internet. Of course, weâre supposed to be on tour now â we were planning to tour in October / November 2020 but of course it never happened. We knew about that in March and April that it was not going to happen, so we didnât suffer as much as so many other bands.
I havenât seen a live show since March (2020). Live concerts, what are those?
Everythingâs dead! Itâs unbelievable.
What was the last live show that you saw?
Actually, it was the last show that I played. It was last year (2019), we played in October I believe â we played support for Uriah Heep here in Copenhagen.
What was Uriah Heep like? Did you get to hang out with them at all? Theyâre wonderful live!
Of course, yes â very nice guys. Very nice guys! I met them before. But it was fun â it was one of those bands that I listened to when I started out in the 70âs. It was unbelievable. I saw them a few times â such a jolly bunch!
Definitely a jolly bunch. Phil Lanzon their keyboard player has released two amazing solo albums. Letâs talk about your solo work now. When you look back on that Andersen / Laine / Readman album you did entitled III, what do you think of it now in retrospect?
Oh, I didnât listen to it at all â Iâd rather do my own albums. It was a fun project. It was very strange in the beginning because the idea was completely different when it started. Iâd been in touch with Frontiers Records and they suggested I write a few songs for the at the time unknown and unnamed project. So, I did a few songs and then all of a sudden, they said âOkay, weâll have different singers on it.â So, I said âOkay, whatever.â For some reason, like a month later they called me back and said, âCan you write the rest of the songs as well?â That was something completely different â not what I expected, so I ended up writing ten songs â and they actually came up with those two singers â Paul Laine and David Readman. So, it was a strange project but somehow it worked, and it came out fine.
It just seemed so unusual to have AndrĂ© Andersen from Royal Hunt working on an album with Paul Laine from Danger Danger â but it works like you saidâŠ
It was a strange combination, but it was one of those ideas that Frontiers has. They kind of became famous for doing these kind of projects â they have a few musicians â brought them together and see whatâs gonna happen â and the album comes out. This particular one was probably one of these.
Do you have any other solo albums or projects on the horizon?
Not on the horizon â not at the moment because this Dystopia thing â itâs only the first part. Actually, itâs called Dystopia Part 1 â so Iâll continue working on Part 2 with different guest singers. So, itâs basically what Iâm doing right now â because we canât tour, so I might as well write. And weâre planning to release it â if everything goes well â in winter of next year (2021). And hopefully by that time weâll be able to tour. So, letâs see whatâs going to happen.
Do you have any messages for Royal Hunt fans here in the States?
I know we havenât played in the States that much and not everybody was able to see us in Atlanta at those Prog Power Festivals â and by the way I hope weâll play that Festival again. But anyway, we have a new album out â and itâs a very interesting one with different singers â itâs kind of like a rock opera in a way. So, give it a listen â give it a chance. Iâm pretty sure youâll like it.
That would be pretty amazing if you performed the entire album live with all of the guest vocalistsâŠ
Actually, that was the original idea. And thatâs why it was very sad when October November didnât happen, because we had already talked to Mark Boals and Mats Leven about participating â and we couldnât at all. But now we have another person who is able to do Part 2 by next year (2021) when we start touring. So now weâll have the entire concert built on those two albums (Dystopia Part 1 & 2) with all the singers. And that will be excellent.
(Interview by Ken Morton)
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