September 06, 2004
Interview with House of Shakira : Per Schelander
The music world is constantly changing. In fact, change may be the most constant factor in rock and roll! Technology has changed, fashions have changed (thank goodness!) and bands have changed. Over the last few years we have seen some new breeds of bands emerging; with rock operas, collaborations and of course the one man band/producer/engineer … ☺
The interview today is with a more traditional band, at least in the fact that there are five members and more often than not they play in the same room, at the same time. House of Shakira is not traditional if you recognize the tradition to play one style and never falter from that path. House of Shakira is open to all music styles and is tearing down the boundaries of an ever-changing world.
Enjoy the interview and be sure to stop by and show your support at: http://www.house-of-shakira.nu !
1. For over a decade House of Shakira has been rocking the fans with wicked guitar leads, intense rhythm and bass, and powerful melodic vocals. Tell us how the band originally came together…
The band started when Anders and Mats moved from Luleå in north Sweden to Stockholm in –91. They got together with Mikael Eriksson(vox), Henrik Andreasson(drums) and Bernt Ek(bass). They played a lot in the Stockholm area and got a rumour of having the best backing vocals in Sweden. I heard those rumours myself but I never catch the band back then. When I got home from USA in 93 a friend told me that House of Shakira where looking for a new bass player and I called Anders and said I was interested. He asked if I did sing and I said, “YES”, which was a big lie cause I hadn’t sung until I started with H of S! I had to practice a lot in the beginning…Anyway, Henrik left the band in –94 and we started to look for a drummer. I had met Tony in USA and called him and asked if he was interested in moving to Stockholm and start to play with us. He said yes and this line-up started to play a lot around Sweden until late –96 when Mikael sadly had to leave the band when he was offered a solo deal. The story behind this is that we had a deal for one single with a pretty big company, and after the single was recorded they’d offered us a deal which we had to refuse. They wanted us to play African pop music! When we turned it down they wanted Mikael to do it as a solo artist and since this music is his roots we said, “go for it”. At the same time we had been contacted by Bluestone music and we signed with them. Everything is ready, the studio is booked…At this time Mikael gets the message that he is prohibited to sing on our album!!! We had to find another singer in two months! But for the first and only time in our career we were lucky to find Andreas Eklund who joined the band practically in the studio in early –97.
2. To some people it would seem like House of Shakira has had more than your share of challenges and bad luck, what do you do to stay positive and motivated when life throws you another punch?
Don’t know actually…We should have quit when we had the chance! Now it’s much to late…I think it’s like this; if you’ve been close to your goal for a long time, it’s not that hard to continue cause you’re so close. Ever since I joined in –93 we had been on the verge of getting everything together. You’re first goal as a band is to have a record deal. We have had deals through all the years but a lot of them didn’t result in a released record. We have signed at least twice as many record deals as we had released records. If you have to continue, you will continue, if your music is important, you will survive all the struggling.
3. Through all the years the line up of House of Shakira has not changed, whih is rare in today’s music world; what is it that keeps you guys together?
We’re very honest with each other. We don’t try to be better friends than we are. That doesn’t mean that we’re not friends but I think we have found a good balance between friendship partnership. We play music together and every member knows which role in the band they play. And of course – we do have a lot of fun when we’re out playing!!! We have some wonderful memories together from all the years.
4. Your new album “First Class” was recently released with great reviews from many melodic rock critics. From the classic sound of “Uncontrolled” to the melodic strains of “Chicago Blue.” Do you have a particular song that stands out in your minds as having a special meaning to the band?
My favourites are Chicago blue, You Are and Sunshine song. I think that those are the best ones we’ve ever written. Uncontrolled is funny cause that song started out as a joke with that standard riff – but hey, it sounded good and was fun to play so let’s write a song around it.
5. Now that the new album has been released what are your plans for touring and promoting it?
It seems like we will go to Spain and England to play this autumn. Then there are some other plans for the spring that isn’t set yet. We are negotiating right now about getting a slot as an opening act for a European tour in 2005.
6. Speaking of touring, you have had the chance to play numerous festivals such as The Gods and even to headline the famous Nemelrock festival in Madrid, what would you say has been your favorite live performance?
Last time in Madrid was very good, and Nemelrock is another favourite. It awesome to play festivals when you get a chance to hand out with the other bands and also see a lot of other bands. One very special gig was in Madrid 2002. I had promised to jam a bit with the sound technician and Oscar from Nexx. That jam was endless! I think we played for two and a half hours and that was after the H of S show that lasted for one and a half hour! Talking about bleeding fingers…
7. If you were asked to choose what would you pick between recording and creating in the studio or playing live in front of the fans?
It’s got to be both creating and playing live. What I like about creating is when something just suddenly happens in the room and a song just “come together”. That can happen when you are writing all by yourself or together with others. One of the biggest questions in life is that why something exist instead of the opposite? You know, it would be easier if things didn’t exist, but as they do we have to ask ourselves “where does it come from?” Same thing with music; where did it come from? It would be more logical that music didn’t exist but it still does and it comes pouring out of…you!?
8. You have such an interesting name, can you describe to us how you came to call the band House of Shakira?
That comes from a guy in England called Geoff Noddings. He had read an article about a good Swedish band that had called them selves “The Station” until a record company called “the record station” thought that the names were to similar and asked the band to change their name. Now…The article ends with a suggestion to the readers that they should send some suggestions to the band. Geoff’s suggestion is “house of Shakira”. That summer there had been a big razzia in London. The police had found out that clothing called “the house of Shakira” actually had been a whorehouse…So our name comes from that! We thought it was a cool metaphor for something that’s not what it seems to be. We’re actually a country band, but we play hard rock…
9. Although members of House of Shakira have their own individual style and background, one thing that seems to tie you together, besides the music, is your sense of fun. Do you incorporate this into your music and performance?
Not so much in our music as in our performances. The music is pretty serious, with not the “ordinary” party lyrics. But when you play live you tend be a little more relaxed and naturally you respond to the happy faces in the crowd. I think the humour is most obvious on our website!
10. Unlike many bands, each member of House of Shakira contributes to the creation of a song. Is there any pattern to your writing or does each song have its own path of development?
Usually it’s Mats or me who comes with a song and present it for the others. Then everyone has to make it “their own song” by finding a natural way to play it. Anders has just parts and riffs that we sometimes incorporate into some other song or sometimes we build the song around his part or riff. Tony and Andreas sometimes makes the songs so much “their own” so they got to have credit for it.
11. Everyone has their own method of dealing with the stresses of life; what do you guys do to keep up the high pace that is required being a musician and performer?
I don’t know if we do anything special…We try to not put to much pressure on each other. When we’re out playing it’s cool if you could get an hour for yourself and don’t feel that you have to be together all the time.
12. What can we hope to see from House of Shakira over the years to come?
I think we all dream about doing a country record! That wouldn’t be for the fans, just to please us. It will be a killer album! But maybe the fans would like it too? Other than that…We have been playing for over ten years so we have existed for a long time. From now on we’ll have to really feel motivated to record a new album. But right now I do feel motivated, and I had already started to write some songs that would suit H of S. So I’ll think we’ll stick around for some more time…
13. Many of our visitors to the site are aspiring musicians who look to these interviews as a source of motivation and inspiration; what message do you have for those bands or individuals looking to make a career in music?
It’s the oldest suggestion in show business but it’s like that: You have to stick to want you want to do and don’t give shit about trends and time. If you get married with time you’ll soon become a widow. So find out in what situations you want your music to be used and figure out what you like and how you want to present it – then you just have to go and if you are lucky, time is on your side.
14. And do you have a closing message for the rest of the fans out there?
Thanx for all the support!!! Spain is a special country for us now since we have been so heartily welcomed!
Posted by Kathy at September 6, 2004 01:17 PM