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Interviews

This time I have to thank Jonas Engdegård who answered my questions. So now Jutze proudly presents.... The Interview!!! ;-)
(October 2002)



When and why did you start playing guitar? Did you play any other instrument previously?
My family had an old piano in our house. That's probably the first instrument I touched as a child. At the age of 9 I started to take guitar lessons at school. And of course I had one of these horrible "home-keyboards" that I used for playing my favourite Jean Michel Jarre melodies on(!). But I guess, as for many musicians, the inspiration really appears when as a teenager you start to work with a band.

Can you still remember how you met the other members for the first time?
Yep! I, Thomas and Mattias went to the same school for...uh.. 10 years, I think! Somewhere around the age of 13 we started to play together. Thomas and Mattias played together even earlier, I think. Johan and Tord put an ad at a record store to get in contact with musicians interested in progressive rock. That was In 1991. I called Tord, and later Thomas and I visited him and Johan. I brought my flute because they asked me to do some tracks on a production they were working with in their studio.
First I was kind of nervous - I didn't expect any fancy studio and I was (still am) a lousy flute player (also they where much older than us). Of course when I got there their 4-channel "studio" at Tord's place wasn't that fancy and Tord was only pulling my leg.
Anna was a working colleague of Johan. When she joined us first she didn't say much but she could read music better than the rest of us so in the beginning we basically gave her a pile of sheet music with her parts transcripted.

Jonas EngdegårdHalf the band wasn't even 20 when you recorded "Hybris". Did your families ever complain that you played such confusing and complex music instead of straight Swedish pop music like normal teenage bands?
No. Would someone's parents prefer their son to enter a loud, evil, mortal, gasoline-smelling heavy metal carrier rather than a nice, peaceful, good, harmonic, structured, intelligent, experimental rock music carrier? ;-)

Who made the sound on "Rösten"?
We got that sound from a sound engineer that did some work for us. I can't remember his name though...

At what point did you decide to call your second album "Epilog"? Was it only after the recordings were finished?
It was when we realised that this would probably be our last album ever. I think the name came up sometime during that production period.

Did you write any new material after the recordings of "Epilog"?
Just after we disbanded I, Mattias and Thomas worked with new material (mostly Thomas' at that time). We thought we would go on playing but unfortunately it didn't last very long. Since then I've come up with some new material from time to time which has been added to a growing collection of new stuff. But it tends to stay in an unpolished not very "refined" state when you don't engage yourself enough.

Which would be your favourite concert-memory with Änglagård?
Oh, that's hard for me to answer. When we did our shows I was usually so focused on the actual task that I was almost completely unable to reflect if I really liked it or not. Besides, it doesn't matter - you just have to do it. However, the progfest show in Los Angeles 1994 was one of the few where we were quite relaxed before and after the show. I can relate to that in a positive way.

Jonas EngdegårdDid you play with any other band after Änglagård disbanded?
Except from Thomas, Mattias and my attempts short after the break-up, no serious projects. I've done a few gigs and recordings since then, but just for fun - nothing big, nothing glorious.

Could you describe what a regular Änglagård-rehearsal is like nowadays? Were the rehearsals 10 years ago any different?
It's not that different from 10 years ago... In fact, it is no different at all. We still write music in a similar way. Perhaps we fight a bit less now... Well, that's probably just temporary!

Tord Lindman isn't playing with the band these days. Do you or another member handle the vocals now or do you just renounce them?
I think we have to do without the vocals now. The totally instrumental approach worked out for Epilog, so I'm pretty confident that it also holds true this time.

What are Änglagård more likely to do next: record a new album or play concerts?
Hopefully, we'll record a new album in a near future. How many concerts that are to come isn't quite decided yet, but we'll reveal any concert plans eventually.

Jonas EngdegårdI already asked Mattias about the imagery of the four seasons in your music. Which is your favourite season?
The vacation season...? No, it takes all four seasons to complete a year, so in my opinion favouring a specific one wouldn't be fair to the other seasons.

Maybe you can help me. What's the story behind the Bagman in the "Buried Alive"-inlay?
As far as I can remember we where all gathered in a hotel room in Los Angeles really exhausted after being awake for 24 hours or so (including a gig), and at that time we where lying on the floor laughing for hours when somebody made a show of putting a paper bag on his head. I promise, no drugs where involved! That was just Änglagård in one of their very progressive moments!

Which medium do you prefer: vinyl, cd or mp3?
I believe they all have their function. If I buy a phonogram today it's usually on cd. But of course it's hard to compare with having some tea, lighting some candles and putting on a nice vinyl.

Which three items would you take with you if you were banished to a deserted island?
A palm-tree, some medium-sized stones to through into the water and a couple of coconuts. I'm afraid I can't come up with a better answer until I'm actually in that situation.

Any final words?
Of course - thank you, Jutze for your fine interest of a humble prog-guitarist's life and thoughts!