Interview with Lions ShareHow would you classify your music. ? Lars - Traditional Heavy Metal with Heavy/doomy riffs, catchy melodies and progressive elements. Do you all have day jobs and if so what do you do ? Lars - No, I try to avoid day jobs so I can concentrate my time and effort on Lion's Share. Pontus - Sound enginering in a studio. Andy - I work as an electrician ,with fire alarms, burglery alarms and such things. Kay - Working in a paper-factory. Johan - Studying Why did you start playing your instruments ? Lars - I heard Ace Frehley and Kiss. I think it was Destroyer and the first Alive album. Pontus - Such a long time ago I can't remember Andy - I started in my first band becouse of a friend of mine . He knew some guys who needed a singer and I thought watta heck , why not. Kay - I was a bass-player from the beginning but I have allways been intrested in technology too and wish instrument gives you moore possibilities to create sounds and atmospheres. Johan - I have been playing drums since I was 8 . My father is a drummer too. How did the band get together ? Lars - I wanted to form a band and I met Kay around the same time. We started writing songs and the chemestry was there. Pontus - I came into the band - 94 after former bassplayer Andy Loos left. Andy - When Lion's share reformed in 93 , Lars and johan and me started to playing and writing new material , and soon Kay and Loos came along. Kay - Lars and I started the first line-up in 87 but we split the band in 91. 93 Lars and Andy reformed the band and here we are. What are your musical backgrounds ? Lars - I played acoustic guitar in elementary school. Pontus - Playing in a lot of different bands mostly original hardrock . One year of studies at musicians institute in L.A. Andy - I have my roots in many different music styles, but hardrock and heavy metal bands like Black sabbath , Queensryche and Rainbow influenced me strongly . Kay - I started to play acoustic guitar in a evening class when I was 10. Then I went to bass. What do you like to do in your spare time ? Lars - I am a music freak so my life pretty much evolves around listen or playing music. Pontus - Spend time with my family . Andy - My sparetime I spend with my family and friends. I also like to ride my bicycle. Kay - I spend it with my family. What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing ? Lars - Songs with good catchy melodies, hardrock from the 70's and 80's. My favourite composer is Benny Andersson of ABBA fame. He's been writing two musicals aswell that are killer. I guess Black Sabbath with Ronnie Dio and Tony Martin plus early Rainbow, is very close to what really rocks my world. I'm also still a very big Kiss fan. Pontus - Anything from classical to jazz to metal. Andy - Hardrock(all kinds) , soul , pop-rock , everything exept rap , hip-hop and Oasis-style rock. Kay - I don't lissen very much but it can be any kind of music. I often lissen carefully at movie-music and movie sounds so I lost the story instead. Who thought of the name Lions Share and how did you choose it ? Lars - We had this guy in the early years who did write all our lyrics. He came up with a list of names but strongly suggested Lion's Share, and we liked it so... Which are your personal favourite songs and why ? Lars - From Lion's Share it's: Sins Of a Father (a true classic), Scarecrow (got all the elements LS stands for), Arabia (in the same vain as Scarecrow), Judgment Day (great live-show opener & a great song), Shadows (one of the better ones for sure, Black Sabbath style), Wild At Heart (once again a good mixture of what LS is all about), Baptism Of Fire (a hard one to write, but turned out great at last). I'm very happy and proud of both our records so I could keep going on like this with all the songs. Pontus - Shadows and Baptism of Fire. I don't know why , my kind of songs I suppose. Andy - Sins of a father and Baptism of fire. Sins.. becouse it has a good drive. Baptism.. because it's a great peace of progressive music. Kay - I think Baptism of fire became very successful. I also will put Shadows as on of the best. Do you play many gigs and if so where ? Lars - We have so far done four tours. Two with Saxon in Europe and Scandinavia, one European tour from Italy to Sweden and one tour with U.D.O. (Accept singer) in Scandinavia. What is your view of the music scene in Sweden ? Lars - The club scene is not very good, especially if you compare to for example England. Many good bands though. Pontus - Narrow . Not much room for anything but the mainstream , what's played on the radio stuff. Andy - If you sing in Swedish chances is bigger that you sell , and of course , hardrock isn't that big. With your second album I would say that you changed direction slightly and went from a metal band to a progressive metal band. Did you want to change direction or was it a natural progression ? Lars - I think it was a natural progression that we all felt comfortable with, at the same time we didn't want to repeat ourselves. Pontus - I came into the band just before the second album , so I don't know. Andy - It was a natural progression. Kay - It felt natural but Sins of a father and Scarecrow is much moore progressive than many of the songs on Two. When you were younger, what did you want to be ? Lars - Rock musician of course. Pontus - A musician. Andy - I had no dreams about being a rockstar. I dreamt of being a fire-man , tennis pro or a hockey-player. Kay - I don't remember. What bands would you say have had most influence on you ? Lars - Kiss and Black Sabbath. Pontus - On me personally , probably Led zeppelin , Rush and AC/DC , early favorites. Andy - Black sabbath , Queensryche and Rainbow . Kay - Black sabbath , many of the symphonyrock bands in 70's and early 80's. What kind of responce have you had to your two release's how well are they selling ? Lars - They are doing very well in Europe and Japan. The first one seems to be a little more popular because of the more "catchy" melody lines. Unfortunatly "Two" got a little bit to complicated to some people. It takes a little more effort from the listener to understand that album. What are your plans for the future ? Lars - We will start recording our third album "Fall From Grace" in June. It will be released by Century Media Records on August 24. We will do a couple of summer festivals in Scandinavia as well. Pontus - Recording the third album . Maybe a tour in the fall. Have you written any more songs since releasing 'Lions Share Two'. ? Lars - We have the basic ideas for the new album, but only three or four finished songs right now. Any last words or remarks ? Lars - We have always followed our hearts when it comes to our song writing and music-style. We feel very fortunate to have people out there that feel the same way we do. We can't thank you enough for your love and support. Check out the new album. See you on tour. Andy - See you on tour in the fall. Kay - Thank you very much for this interview.
|