Markus Sigfridsson, a very talented musician from Sweden is the lead guitarist in Darkwater, 7days and Harmony. His band Harmony recently released a new album “Theater of Redemption”. In the following interview, Markus talks about the new line-up, hobbies, key principles, biggest fear. and of course the new album and much more.
TMR: Hey Markus this is ‘The Metal Resource’ from Holland, how are things going there in Sweden?
Markus:: Things are going well thank you. We are enjoying the great response for the new album.
TMR: Could you Introduce yourself and the new line-up please.
Markus:: Me (guitars) and Tobias (drums) are the song writers and founders of the band. The current line up consist of John Svensson (keyboards), Raphael Dafras (bass) and Daniel Heiman on guest vocals.
TMR: Please tell us the brief history of ‘Harmony’.
Markus:: Me and Tobias have been friends since we were kids and we´ve shared the interest for the same kind of music for a long time. And we´ve played together since we were teens. But it wasn’t until I got my own computer based home studio around 2000 that we decided to do something more “serious” with our interest. I started to noodle around with some song ideas and he heard them and suggested that he could improve the drums on the songs. And that´s how it started, we started to write songs and arrange them together. Our vision has always kind of “let see what happens”, we have never had any great visions, we are more happy that people seem to enjoy our music. We were kind of surprised that our first demo with like the first songs we ever wrote gave us a record deal with Massacre Records. Tobias came up with the name Harmony, we thought it was a good name that suited our view of music and life. We started out as a project, but when the proposals after the first release for playing live started to come we formed a band.
Henrik, Magnus and Andreas joined the band and we made some gigs and another album.
In 2011 Henrik and Magnus decided to leave the band. It was a mutual decision on all parts. We sat down an discussed the situation around the release of the second Darkwater album. Henrik and Magnus wanted to focus on Darkwater and we also felt that this would end all confusion why there were to band (Harmony and Darkwater) with basically the same members. Harmony has from the beginning been mine and Tobias band/project. We are still great friends and we all still play in Darkwater.
Daniel Heiman was a guest vocalist on one track on our previous album. We came to know Daniel through a friend who knows him really well, so we are just lucky to know him this way since he gets a lot of proposal and he usually does´t do much guest vocals.
TMR: And why the name ‘Harmony’? Is there a story behind it?
Markus:: Tobias came up with the name Harmony when we started then band, we thought it was a good name that suited our view of music and life. It´s a nice and simple name.
TMR: What is your musical background?
Markus:: I´m a mostly self taught guitar player and song writer. Tobias has played in various band and constellations since a young age, when it comes to playing metal he is mostly self taught. John is a educated piano player and works in music store. Raphael lives in Brazil and also plays in band called Almah. Daniel Heiman, if he needs an introduction, sang in Lost Horiozon and Heed among others.
TMR: Who writes the music and lyrics? How do you get in the mood for writing music? And which bands or situations have inspired you to write music and lyrics?
Markus:: Me and Tobias write the music. We could get inspired by basically anything, it could be personal experiences, other music, movies, books etc. We both grew up listening to bands like Europe, Yngwie, Helloween and Candlemass actually. So that´s the foundation I guess, but as the years pass we have grown to listen to a lot of different bands and other genres as well. We are more drawn towards the 70´s so I so there are some influences from that on Theatre of Redemption, but also more modern sounding bands like Mustasch, hard to say if that shines through though.
TMR: Is there a highlight you will always remember, since the beginning of ‘Harmony’?
Markus::I guess the first gig we ever made, in Linköping Sweden. It was a great feeling seeing so many peole singing along to your own music.
TMR: And the worst thing were (if there is one)?
Markus:: Probably when were playing a gig in Holland and we had to sleep on very cold garret (in november) cause the other bands had occupied the rest of the house. This was the night before the gig and we were afraid that we would catch a cold. It´s funny in retrospect though…
TMR: Speaking of recording, your new album “Theater Of Redemption” is released on November 28th. (Europe). What can you tell us about the album (such as the recording process, the songs, record label etc).
Markus:: We did, as usual, record the drums in a “real” studio. Everything else was recorded in our own home studios which is really smooth since you don´t need to keep an eye on the clock. We had all songs written before we had a full line up actually. But when everyone was onboard it went really smooth. I think I made about 12 songs that we chose from for this album, six of them ended up on the album and Tobias came up with five songs and we chose four of them. We recorded twelve songs and ten ended up on Theatre of Redemption. We obviously chose songs that would make a very diverse album. We mixed the album at Studio Fredman where we also reamped the rhythm guitars. We then mastered at Criteria Mastering (Thomas “PLEC” Johansson). I also have to mentioned Ulrik Arturén who did an amazing job recording back up vocals on the album.
TMR: The previous album “Chapter II: Aftermath” came out in 2008, so there is almost six years between these 2 albums, why did it take so long ?
Markus:: It´s a long time, but we´ve been busy doing other things. The main reason is that we are involved in another band called Darkwater, which Henrik and Magnus decided to focus on. We have released two albums with Darkwater during these twelve years and I have also released two albums under the name of 7days. We also have full time jobs, and some of us also have families and other things that happens or keep you bussy. So it´s just not that easy to release albums, but it won´t be five years to the next album.
TMR: About the cover artwork. Do you think it is as important as your music? Does it visualize the lyrics of your songs or what’s the actual story behind its concept?
Markus: :It´s not as important, but it´s still important. Theatre of Redemption is not a concept album but the cover still visualise some of the songs on the album. The two figures could visualise some of the characters in some of the songs, not only the title track.
TMR: What was the last album you bought?
Markus:: Avatarium – Avatarium.
TMR: Are you visiting many gigs and what do you listen to these days?
Markus:: I visit a couple of gigs every year, there are some good shows nearby every now and then. I visited Sweden Rock Festival last summer i. e.
TMR: How do you promote your band and shows?
Markus:: Mostly through social media, but also through some magazine advertising. Our label handles most of this for us.
TMR: How do you prepare for a show?
Markus:: We usually rehearse a lot one or two week before a gig, since we don´t gig that frequently.
TMR: What are the biggest obstacles for a band?
Markus:: Not being able to get enough paid for your albums, due to downloading and poor services like Spotify etc.
TMR: What advice would you give to fellow bands?
Markus:: Do your now thing, don´t be a sellout!
TMR: So, what makes you laugh?
Markus: :I have a pretty dark sense of humour, I think you could joke about practically anything as long as you do it with heart. We have some funny swedish comedians, but I also like South Park, Simpsons and Futurama.
TMR: What is your favorite drink and food ?
Markus::I don´t drink any sodas, so I say a tasty ale or just water. Food, I really like a good hamburger, but I´m cutting down on meat, sometimes I even think of going vegetarian.
TMR: And what is your biggest fear?
Markus:: Becoming an old bitter man with regrets…not gonna happen.
TMR: Are there some key principles or phylosophies that you hold onto as foundational stones as who you are as a person?
Markus:: Yes, question everything. I have no or very little trust in mainstream media, government and politics. I think we are basically slaves to corrupt financial systems and politics. This is something I have come to understand the last couple of years and I would encourage people to start to think of them selves and find alternative sources for information, this is a really good thing about the internet.
TMR: What is the dumbest question you have ever been asked?
Markus:: This one? Couldn´t resist…
TMR: What are some of the things you like to do away from the band?
Markus:: I like to go to the gym, watch some sports. I also like to some cd cover design and layouts for other bands, although I work at an advertising bureau full time.
TMR: What are your plans for the near future? European tour maybe?
Markus:: That would be great, but we can´t make any promises, we just have to wait and see what happens. We don´t know if Daniel will sing with us live since he is a guest vocalist in the band.
TMR: Markus, thank you for your time and the interview. We wish ‘Harmony’ all the best… Is there anything you wanna add?
Markus:: We hope the readers will like the album, we will have some more surprises in 2015. Please visit and like us on Facebook for news of shows etc, we have presented some special releases of the cd for the fans to check out.
Thanks!
Band members:
Daniel Heiman – Guest lead vocals
Markus Sigfridsson – Guitars, voices, additional keyboards and programming
Tobias Enbert – Drums
John Svensson – Keyboards
Raphael Dafras – Bass
Albums:
“Dreaming Awake” [2003]
“End of My Road” (EP) [2008]
“Chapter II: Aftermath” [2008]
“The Window Of My Soul” (Single) [2014]
“Theater Of Redemption” [2014] [Review]
Video below ‘Inhale’ (Taken from the album (Taken from the album “Theater Of Redemption”)
Video below ‘Prevail’ (Taken from the album “Chapter II: Aftermath”)