Stonegard

Posted on Jul 6, 2006

by AvNatten

There is a band on the rise in Oslo, and they might not be what you would expect from such a place. Combining melodic metal, stoner rock and a taste of the extreme, Stonegard are gearing up to take over the world. They call their style of music "multi-metal" a label which fits due to the broad scope of their sound. I caught up with Ronny, the man controlling the lead guitar and he gave me the answers to my barrage of questions.

Hello, please introduce yourself and tell us what your role in Stonegard is?

Hey! I'm Ronny, and I do the lead guitars and backing vocals.
 
Will you please introduce the rest of your bandmates to us and tell us what role they play in the band and a little about them?

Grrim – singer and guitarist, Håvard – bass and backing vocals, Erlend – drums (and sometimes backing vocals too). They're all great at what they do, be it playing their instruments, creating music or just being friends.
 
Where does the name Stonegard come from and what significance does it have to the band?

Grrim came up with the name back in 2000, when he founded the band. It doesn't really mean anything in particular. It's more a cool sounding word and combination of letters. A name for the baby. And it fits us and our music. It can be translated into something like an old Norwegian stone-fence, but not necessarily.
 
How and when was Stonegard formed and how has the band evolved from where you were then to where you are now?

As mentioned above, Grrim founded the band back in 2000 with three different sidekicks. At first he played bass along with the singing, and he wrote all the music, which back then was more of a pure stoner thing. Not long after, Erlend (who Grrim had played in a former band with) and Erlend's little brother Håvard joined on drums and bass, and Grrim wiped the dust off his guitar (skills). They also hired a second guitarist, and the four-piece stoner-band was ready and set for the Oslo scene, quickly building up a reputation in the underground as a band to look out for. Different lead guitarists filled the fourth role in the band in the coming years, filled with live gigs around the country, and several demo recordings, and the band slowly evolved towards a more metal sounding approach. In 2003, I joined the band as lead guitarist, and the line-up has remained stable ever since. Most remains of stoner rock has been wiped off, and left is the melodic metal of Stonegard, as you can hear it on "Arrows". 
 
How would you describe Stonegard's sound to someone who has never heard the band before?

That's my least favourite question, hehe. But I'll try once more. We play metal. Our own kind. With influences in all directions, from 60's pop music to black metal. (from Beatles to Immortal, is what Håvard usually says here...). We have melodic vocals and harmonies on top of hard metal riffing and fast thrashy grooves, but it varies a lot and we never rest on any patterns repeating too much. So it has a lot of progressive elements in it as well, maybe influenced by likes of King Crimson and Tool. When attempting to label it in a short term, I usually give up, or just call it "Multi-Metal"..!
 
You have some tour dates lined up in the coming months for Norway and Sweden, are you excited about doing this shows and what do you expect from them?

Oh yes, indeed. Especially Metal Town in Sweden in two weeks. That I'm so looking forward too. But I really don't know what to expect, other than it's gonna be lots of people and lots of fun. And we get to see (and play with) Tool, The Haunted and more. We also did Hultsfred in Sweden last week, which was awesome. And we're doing another, smaller Swedish festival soon, plus a bunch of medium Norwegian festivals in July/august. We're not considering any gig as less important than the other, but try to see every gig with the same importance, and give it all, every time. 
 
Is there a main songwriter in the band? Do you work better when you compose songs together or separately?

Actually, we're the most democratic band in the world, when it comes to song writing. Not a tiny detail passes unless everyone approves it. Sometimes that can be really frustrating, but then again it's a guarantee of quality (hopefully), internal satisfaction, and it gets everyone very conscious on every detail with every instrument in the songs. Many of the basic ideas/riffs/melodies come from separate minds outside the rehearsal room, but then we get together and arrange and compose the rest in unison.
 
Who writes the lyrics?

On "Arrows", all lyrics are written by Grrim. But on the new album it's both me and Grrim.
 
What themes and ideas are contained within Stonegard's lyrics? Is there a message you are trying to get across to the listener?

Not any specific messages in general, no, but a lot of the songs has emotional and personal lyrics, often written in metaphors, but also more cut the crap lyrics, like in 'Barricades' and 'Triggerfinger'. The lyrics vary a lot, really.
 
When writing your songs are there any special elements that must be present before you feel that it is a good song for Stonegard?

As mentioned earlier, everyone must approve a hundred percent of all the details, riffs, breaks, vocals, chords etc. before we move on with the songs. Every song is a long process. It's very important that we all feel it's good music, music we'd listen to ourselves. Genre or recipes aren't important.
 
Are you overall happy with "Arrows"? Is there anything you would go back and change about that album if you could?

We are all very happy about "Arrows", and think it is a good album. But the album suffers from the fact it's a debut album, meaning the songs are written over a period of 4-5 years. That makes it very schizophrenic in its expression, maybe a little to varied. Weird that different songs like the grungy sentimental 'Resistance' is on the same album as the rawk n' roller 'Triggerfinger' and the thrashy metal anthem 'The Whiteshaded Lie'… But in some weird way, it still works as a whole. There are also several production matters we weren't 100% happy with in the aftermath, so we've changed a bit on the sound for the next album.
 
You just finished up recording the follow up to "Arrows", how did the recording go? Any interesting stories you would like to share?

We're extremely happy with the recording of the new album. Danne Bergstrand, the producer, thinks it might be the best thing he has ever done. We spent 9 weeks in the studio recording, living there, sleeping, rehearsing, playing star wars flipper, poker and drinking rum. Lots of fun and very productive.
 
It was recorded in Uppsala, Sweden, why did you choose to go there instead of recording in Norway?

Mainly, because of the producer, Daniel Bergstrand, who is a legend in Swedish metal production. He's the best, plain and simple. The best ears, the best ideas and the best studio I've ever been to. It also felt good to travel somewhere else than Oslo (where we all live) for a change of environment, and total focus on the mission.
 
How was working with Daniel Bergstrand? Was it an experience that you would like to do again?

Well, this was our second time now, since we have recorded and produced both our albums there. And chances for there will be a third Bergstrand-album is definitely there.
 
Has a title and release date been set for the new album yet?

We have been pending a bit between two or three titles, and are still not completely there… But it seems like we'll call it either "Land Of Debris" or "From Dusk Till Doom"…

The Release date for Norway is set for august 28th, and the rest of Scandinavia plus Finland around the same date.

Can you reveal some of the new track titles to us? If you have a favorite song on the new album will you tell us a bit about it?

I can reveal some of them. The first single and video is called 'From Dusk Till Doom', and is the hardest thrashiest song we ever made. It's so packed with energy and attitude. I love it. Other favourites are 'The Last Good Page', a hard feelgood shuffle-metal thingy and 'Crooked Feathers', a down tempo anthem.
 
A little about the atmosphere in the studio: did you follow strict procedures to achieve the sound you wanted or do you work better as a band when you have more laid back surroundings?

We had very strict procedures on most of the stuff, yeah. Everything had to be played perfect, with just the right groove and feeling to it. Everything took its time, and we played till fingers and throats bled, to get it right on schedule. But then again, we were living in the studio complex, so we were working late hours every night, after Daniel had called it the day. And the studio is separated in two different recording studios, so we often worked parallel shifts, then making the time for more laidback experiments etc.
 
Overall are you pleased with the way the new album has turned out?

Oooh, yeah! I can't wait to get it released!
 
Will the songs continue along the same path as on "Arrows"? Have any new elements or changes been added to the bands sound?

Well, it's a natural evolution in the music… The new album starts where "Arrows" stopped, or where the newest songs on "Arrows" did. The newest were 'Arrows', 'The Whiteshaded Lie' and 'Darkest Hour'. More progressive, more thrash and more varied. And the whole sound is a lot harder too, louder guitars, more vocal harmonies and some growling as well. But it's still Stonegard though.
 
When you look back at "Arrows" does the new album feel more complete as you have grown together as a band or do you believe both albums stand well on their own?

It does. Much because all the tracks on the new album were written in one era, between summer '05 and spring '06. The "Arrows" songs were written by different band line-ups (I joined the band in 2003, when 4 of the "Arrows" songs were already written) and over a much longer period. So I suppose the new album has a much more homogenate sound and feeling.
 
What are the crowd like at a Stonegard show? Do they receive the band well?

The crowd is our fifth band member, when playing live. They feed us, we feed them. A bad crowd often feels uninspiring, and sometimes that affects us as well, although we try to do as good a show despite a bad crowd. But on most nights, the crowd is good, and it's nothing better than performing a good show in front of an engaged crowd.
 
Can you pick out one gig in particular you have done that you think eclipses the rest? What makes this show important?

One of my favourite must have been when playing for a sold out Rockefeller in Oslo in January. It's the biggest and best rock club venue in Norway, I think, and I have been to so many gigs with other bands there over the years. And when we finally got to headline there ourselves, the place was packed and cooking! The feeling was indescribable. 
 
What bands/musicians have influenced your style of playing personally and what are Stonegard's influences as a whole?

Hmm… I could write you a book on the subject, hehe. We are four individual characters in the band, all of us with different taste and influences. Elements from 60's pop music to black metal (and everything in between) are being picked from all our sources of influence and stewed together into our music. But there are bands that we all are very fond of like Tool, Pantera, Immortal, Metallica, Isis, Motorpsycho, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Sepultura, Iron Maiden, Slayer, King Crimson, the Doors+++++

Can you tell us a bit about the equipment that you and the rest of the band used to record "Arrows"? Is it the same equipment that you use live?

The gear we used on "Arrows" is about the same as we used live around and after that recording period. But we have actually changed out the complete backline since. I actually don't have a full overview on all we used in the two recordings, but I can reveal the guitar set up: "Arrows": Gibson Explorer – into a noise gate, which splits the signal. The first signal into a Peavey 5150 amp and a Marshall cabinet. High gain and chunky angry feel. (We used Testament's "The Gathering" as sound reference...) The other signal was sent into a Big Muff pedal and a Mesa bassrig, created a more muffled, stoner-ish bottom to it. The result: Smashing! On the clean stuff we used a semi-acoustic De Armand guitar, through the clean channel.

The new album: Different guitars. A Hagstrøm, a Duesenberg Starplayer and A Gibson Les Paul. (+ a Martin acoustic on that kind of stuff). Same philosophy here as on "Arrows", except the 5150 was swapped out with another Peavey model, the Triple X, and through a peavey triple X cab as well. The second split signal went through the same Big Muff pedal, then into an Ampeg bass amp and a Marshall guitarcab. The result: Even more smashing. More metal and more attack in the bottom frequencies.
 
You recently signed a deal with Candlelight records, do you have a good relationship with the label and do you feel they can provide the support the band needs?

Yeah, it seems like they're a great label to stay at and they're nice people to work with, so it will hopefully develop into further good cooperation during our upcoming release period. Just one more week or so, and we'll finally have our album out in Europe!
 
You have the Skull Army, your fans that make up your street team, has this been a big help to the band and do you see positive results from the fans involved?

Oh, yes, indeed. We started this not at all long ago, and the follow-up from the fans has been overwhelming. We haven't been touring too much since the birth of the Skull Army (because of song writing, recording etc.), but the presence of the kids at the gigs, helping us out with everything, and promoting the local gigs has been beyond expectation. The army is still growing, and I know we can count on them when we'll start the serious touring this fall. They're priceless.  

Your logo with the skull in the O is eye catching, who came up with the idea for this logo? Was there a hard time trying to find the proper logo to fit the band?

The logo and skull and all the early artwork is Grrim's making. It was later modified by the guy who designed the "Arrows"-cover, Martin Kvamme. We're very happy about it, for its purpose. But the whole thing will change for the second album's design.

Can you share with us a few albums that have had a big impact on you?

Tool – Ænema
Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power
Immortal – Sons Of Northern Darkness
Black Debbath – Den Femte Statsmakt
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Refused – Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent
Mastodon – Leviathan
Iron Maiden – Piece Of Mind
… To mention a few that have had an impact on the whole band…

What would you like to see happen for Stonegard in the future?

Total world domination. Or was it world abomination? Hmm… I always mix up those 2… No, seriously, I would like to be able to create good music forever, tour a lot, see the world, and reach out to a broad audience. Hopefully we're on the right path…

Are you or any of the other band members participating in any other bands? Have you in the past?

Me, Grrim and Erlend met when we attended a folkehøyskole (you have those in Denmark as well…?) in '97/'98, and started a band called Endorphine, which was very Korn/Deftones inspired. It lasted maybe two years. I started a band in '98/'99 called KITE, more of a emo/core/indie/rock kinda thing, which still exists. KITE has released one full album and lots of EPs, but haven't been active since the release of "Arrows". It hasn't been any spare time for other projects. Oh, yeah, except for Grrim who is currently involved in a studio project called Dunderbeist. Really cool sounding. 

What is your opinion on the metal scene in Norway and Oslo in particular?

It has an okay scene. Not too many metal bands, but there are more and more on their way. Insense is one of the absolute best. And El Caco, of course. But metal has its renaissance these days, so I guess we'll be seeing a whole lot more of Norwegian, and Oslo-based (not only black) metal bands in the future.

What Norwegian bands have had the biggest impact on you?

Well. Like mentioned earlier, Black Debbath. Awesome band. And the breakfast-soundtrack to our "Arrows"-recordings in Uppsala. And there are lots of great black metal bands, like Immortal, Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir. Enslaved must also be mentioned. And I was personally a huge TNT fan in the late eighties, hehe. And of course, there is Åge. The one and only.

Thank you for your time, is there anything else you would like to add?

Mer metal til folket! We'll be seeing you again soon, Danish friends!

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