The Great Discord pour l'album "The Rabbit Hole"

#1 Hello Rasmus and thank you for according me some of your time to answer my questions. The second album of The Great Discord will be released September 8th on the Swedish label The Sign Records. At first, how are you and how was these last weeks for you?

Bonjour!

I'm good! It has been a nice summer here in Sweden. Had some nice and relaxing times with friends and family!

#2 Before talking about the new record, I wanted to go back a few years ago. I read that The Great Discord was born in 2013. How did you meet the other guys and what was your plans in the beginning?

I first heard about The Great Discord when I got a text message on my phone from someone called Fia Kempe that basically said that she knows that I’m a bass player, and was wondering if I would like to come and play progressive metal with a band from Linköping. I replied that it sounded interesting. I was shortly after invited to a meeting with the others, we obviously got drunk and had a great time and we rehearsed a few days after. I still get to rehearse, so I think i did something good that Friday evening 2014, hehe, not 100% sure though, my memory of the evening is as they say, a little foggy.

#3 How did you choose this band name and what does it represent for you? Or maybe it's just because all members always disagree about it? ;)

The band name already existed when I joined the band, but the overall idea of the name is an attempt to describe life in general. It’s never simple, never straight forward, full of twists and turns, for better or worse.

#4 A little word about the band logo that I found very well designed. Who made it?

A man named Linton Rubino. He and Aksel made the prototype on a napkin in a tour bus when playing in their previous band Ghost and developed it from there. I agree, it turned out great!

#5 Your first album "Duende" was a big surprise for me. I didn't expect such an unique sound and a so mature songwriting for a first shot. Who wrote the music and the lyrics and how many time did it take to finish it? Did you try different things before getting this result?

The lyrics are usually a collaboration between Fia and Aksel. The music for Duende was mostly written by Fia and Aksel, and later when André and Gustav joined they reinvented some parts and together made the sound of TGD. The songs of the Duende album were all done when i joined, I did however squeeze in a fair share of my tasty bass licks. We have been collaborating more and more ever since and now we feel like a “normal band” in the sense that everyone contributes.

#6 Was there a concept behind this first album? Any link with Fia's strange and creepy character?

To put it pretty simple, the first album contains ten different stories about the human mind and how some of the darker thoughts and feelings can be expressed in different ways, for an example depression, drug addiction and some more extreme manifestations like malignant narcissism or cannibalism and so on.

#7 Also about Fia's looking, the 5 video teasers caught my attention before listing to the whole album. Who thought about recording these videos and imagined their short stories? Does Fia often eat fresh meat when singing?

The visual aspect of our music has always been important to us. We wanted to present our music in a somewhat different form, more theatrical. We’ve always been inspired by bands that do this kind of thing, everything from Slipknot to Genesis. Regarding the meat eating, no, not really, hehe. It was used as a device to portray cannibalism.

#8 Your signature with the famous label Metal Blade was also a surprise for me because you’re not really the kind of band you usually find in their roster. How did you get in touch with them?

We baited our hooks with some progressive death pop and threw it out there for someone to bite on to. Metal Blade did, and we started to work with them. It was all great fun to be a part of their family for a while, venerable label, and great people!

#9 You define yourself as a Progressive Death Pop band. I guess it's a provocation to those (me included) who try to put a label on your style, right? Very funny. Very. Anyway, what are the bands who inspire your music?

Started out as a little joke out of people making forty thousand sub genres in metal, we just got stuck with ours. We tend to view our music as these three things, we mix the sometimes odd melodies and meters of prog, the angry tritonal aspects of death metal, and the catchiness of pop. I can only speak for myself here when talking about inspiration but I guess that we got inspired by anything from early Genesis to Meshuggah. And Max Martin of course.

#10 I suppose a lot of people discovered your music on stage. How was the public welcome regarding your songs? Did you sometimes steal the star spotlights? And what band did you tour with?

We did gain a lot of new fans on our recent tours, and this feels amazing. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking to perform to new audiences since you don’t know how they’ll react. But I feel that we won over the majority every night. I think when you go balls out with the theatrics and our type of music which is supposed to be larger than life, you have to present yourself in a certain on stage, otherwise you’ll look even more ridiculous. We did a short tour in april with Ghost in Scandinavia. That was a fantastic experience to be a part of. A few weeks after that we did a tour with Katatonia in the UK, also super fun!

#11 How spent these 2 last years? Lots of gigs? More song writing? Or maybe lots of daily life?

A healthy mix of everything. We've been writing a lot of new material, some that made it in to the new album (THE RABBIT HOLE) and some for future releases. We’re constantly writing, exploring new things for the band and scheming for the future.

#12 Let's talk about "The Rabbit Hole". For this one you signed with The Sign Records. Were you unsatisfied with Metal Blade services? How spent the collaboration with The Sign?

Not at all. We just felt that with this album we were moving in somewhat different directions. So we got in touch with The Sign records that took us on with open arms. We are very grateful for our time at Metal Blade and only wish them the best.

#13 I must say listening to this second album was also a surprise. I wasn't expecting your music evolving like this. I found it less metal and less progressive, more rock and alternative with more catchy hits ("Darkest Day", "Omen", "Noire"...) but keeping the same TGD sound. Do you feel the same? Is there any track(s) you like much?

I actually feel the same as well. More of a straight forward feel but with the spark of TGD. I don’t believe in making the same album twice, if you know what i mean. Much more fun to develop the sound and the songwriting for every new album. Personal favourites right now are probably "The Red Rabbit", "Noire" and "Cadence".

#14 I read that the "The Rabbit Hole" was a concept album revisiting the Lewis Carroll's Alice adventures in the Wonderland. Can you tell us more about that?

Yes. Its our darker twist of the saga. Fia is following the Red Rabbit down the rabbit hole which turns out to be her darker sibling called IRE. In this hole they develop a destructive relationship that ebb and flow during the album. It’s mostly a psychological journey clad in metaphors, which I guess you could say is true for the original as well.

#15 I also read that this album has been totally self-produced, with your drummer Aksel taking care of the sound. How spent the recording process? Did you feel more free to write in these conditions?

Yes, that's correct. I think this process works well for us. We recorded the album in our own studio with ourselves in charge of sculpting the sound. Really no time limit and big expenses (other than out time which we gladly invest of course) that can come when recording an album at someone else's studio. This creative freedom is a dangerous thing though, without discipline you end up whittling away at the tiniest details. Which we tend to do, but we get better at focusing on the important parts more and more for each new song we make. We will always be band that has tons of hidden treasures in the music, but we will also be a band that constantly tries to improve on what we do. Art needs change or it gets stale!

#16 Who created the artwork for "The Rabbit Hole" and did you give him a working direction? Was it the same artist who designed Duende's?

Mattias Frisk did artwork for both our albums. We gave him the story and concept behind the album, and some general directions for what we wanted in terms of presentation and color. He sent us some sketches and we fell in love with them instantly. He made them into real pieces of art. Mattias is such a talented artist and easy to work with.

#17 Is there a tour already planned to promote this new album? With which bands?

*No comments*

Plans, plans and more plans are being made. As we say, stay vigilant!

#18 To conclude, I had some questions about you if you don't mind. At first, how long have you been playing bass and is there any artist who made you want to be a bass player yourself? Do you play other instruments?

I started to play bass when I was about 10 years old. I guess my first bass hero would be Mike Rutherford from Genesis. It really depends on what style of music we're talking about but a few inspirational bass players that affected me would be Rutger Gunnarsson, Adam “Nolly” Getgood and Henrik Linder.

#19 Are you involved in other projects? Is there any other kind of music you would like to play or experiment?

I have some ideas of bringing my old band Pegasûs back to life. Would be really fun to start playing again. We where some kind of a instrumental prog-rock band. That time when we played together really inspired me to keep it up with bass playing.

#20 What do you make of your life when you don't torture your four (or five) strings?

I work as a music teacher at a Waldorf school in my home town. I really enjoy woking with kids. I also like to be outdoors and go fishing or just relax with a little campfire in the woods. Thats really my cup of tea.

#21 What are you listening to these days? Anything else to recommend to our readers in addition to the new TGD album?

It differs from day to day. One day its Johnny Cash and the next it is Björk. But if you wanna hear something a bit different go listen to the "Gormenghast" album by Pegasûs, hehe.

#22 Thank you for your time and I'll be waiting for the next one! Anything to add?

Thank you so much for having me for this interview! We are very happy that people are into our new album and we can’t wait to see you all on the road down the line!