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Therion - Christofer Johnsson

21/01/05 || Global Domination

Old staff-member Aztec B interviewed Christofer from Therion for the old GD-site and had this to say at the time:

“Therion is unquestionably one of the most famous and popular metal bands around; so I decided to interview their main man, Christofer Johnsson. I’d like to thank him for taking the time to do this, and Megatherion webmaster Ivo for arranging this. I hope you find this interesting and informative. Enjoy!”

Global Domination: I’m a bit retarded, and I don’t quite know how to start this interview. And since your band is so well-known, no introduction is really needed. So I’ll just get it going by saying that your show in Guadalajara ruled big time, and that you should return again really soon. The band played “Crowning of Atlantis” and “Into Remembrance”, and if you weren’t playing with our little hearts, and if I heard right; that was the first time you’ve done them live in this part of the world. Why did you wait until now to do it?

Chris: We want to vary the set over the years, so that every new Therion show on each new tour will be a different experience. So therefore we decided to play some songs that we never played before on this tour.

The last time you played in Guadalajara, you played in a “cold concrete box”, and I couldn’t agree more. That place sucks koala balls. Besides the venue, did you feel any difference in the crowd or the environment of the show, compared to your more recent visit of 2001?

The place we played this time was much nicer even if it was smaller. The only bad thing is that we heard the ticket price was higher as we easily would sell it out anyway. Next time I hope we play the same place, but play there two shows in a row so that ticket price will be normal and so that everyone can get a ticket.

Before playing “Cults of the Shadow”, you mentioned: “If I remember right, people in Mexico love the ‘Theli’ album”, and that’s about fucking right. Why do you think that particular record is so popular in here, and have you seen a similar phenomenon elsewhere?

It’s popular among the die-hard fans everywhere because it was our breakthrough album, the record that most of our current fans got to know the band through. Like Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” will be forever the ultimate record for most people of my generation. It is also an album that is a bridge between the opera based vocals that is dominating later and is based on my brutal vocals, so both the people that like death metal and those who like the more recent symphonic sound can like it.

Why were the 2 new albums released at the same time? And what’s the story behind the names? They are odd, even for a band with album titles like yours.

Because we wanted to promote and tour them simultaniously. We wrote songs for 3 albums and therefore it was most convenient to make two now and save songs for a third one to be recorded later (release 2006 seems likely).

The two titles are simply two song titles that we thought would suit well as album titles. Briefly describing the meaning; Lemuria is a supposed sunken continent (also known as Land of Mu) like Atlantis. Sirius B is a twin star to the “ordinary Sirius” (Sirius A). The title is referring to the fact that this star was firstly discovered by western society in quite modern times, while an African tribe called the Dogons (living in Mali) had knowledge about it since ancient times and claim to have been visited by “people” (entities) from that stellar system.

Speaking of albums, the band has shown an important evolution since the beginning up to this point. But I know some people that really love all albums from “Theli” until now, but think the first ones are a pile of horse shit, and vice versa. I know you have comments in the officialsite about each release; but please do share with us briefly what was going on during their elaboration or some funky anecdote from the recording or touring process, so we get a better and more accurate idea of each one.

Well, I wrote my main thoughts about these albums on the web page so going into details would be rather lengthy, so I’ll pass on this question.

It’s well known that quality bands come from your country. Since you are Swedish and you are into metal, please share your opinions or feelings concerning the following Swedish metal bands:

- Bathory

I like all their albums up til “Twilight of the Gods”, then the albums turned crap and I lost interest in the band.

- Dark Tranquillity

Don’t know them too well.

- In Flames

Not really my cup of tea. Neither the new nor the old style. But they’re really cool people in the band!

- Candlemass

Rules!!! Especially “Nightfall” and “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” are awesome!

- Dark Funeral

One of the earlier Swedish black metal bands that got properly established. I only heard some songs from the first album, so I can’t say too much about the band lately. Met some of the guys many years ago and they’re cool people.

- Hypocrisy

Not really my cup of tea either, but it’s cool with a death metal band that have established their own style and that continue over the years releasing so many albums, that I must say have kept the quality.

- Entombed

One of the pioneers in death metal that made Swedish death metal world known. Didn’t really follow them the last 10 years though.

- Tiamat

Really cool band that (like Therion) have taken different musical turns over the years. Some albums I like a lot, others less, but it’s always a band that makes me curious when they have a new release.

- Falconer

Never heard of them, sorry.

- Grave

Also one of the very first death metal bands. I remember being extremely impressed with their third demo and I listened a lot to that one. The band lost a bit of its original character on their first record though, so I lost interest in the band.

- Pain

Not my type of music at all. It’s fun in a way with a death metal guy getting commercial success with his (from the beginning) side project though. Kind of rare scenario.

When you write songs, what do you think about first: the “traditional” instruments part, or all the classical and choir stuff? How’s the process of elaborating a Therion song?

I usually get a vision of the entire song all at once, guitars and drums interacting with the orchestra and choir. And as it is a spontaneous thing I can never plan what to write in advance, what ever comes out of my brain is what I have to live with.

Why did you switch the bass for the guitar? Was it better for you in order to express your musical ideas and feelings, or was it just that guitars are cooler?

I started with the bass because it seemed simpler and because there was a local band (not a real band they just jammed a bit) that were beginners and needed a bass player. Then I formed my own band 3 months later and after a year I realized guitar would suit me better both for composing and for playing.

The choir Therion uses live is really impressive on stage, and enhances not only the sound but the look of the band. They really impose their presence, specially the females, with their elaborate dresses, huge breasts and beautiful & powerful voices. When did you start to use a choir on stage, and where did you find them? They rule.

We started using a full choir like this on the Deggial Tour 2000. Before that we had only 3-4 singers (since “Theli” tour with Amorphis in 1996). The singers have been varying over the years, but some of them have remained the same for longer periods. Only one singer has been changed since 2000.

I have good contacts for most types of musicians and singers.

You have toured for a long time now, and visited lots of places. What are the most fucked-up things you have seen/done on the road? Be as explicit as you wish, but profanity is highly appreciated. Also, which are the coolest and most fun experiences lived abroad, and some you’d like to forget, but will have to remember because I just asked you about them.

The worst experience was standing in absolute darkness for 40 minutes backstage in Ankara when the electricity went out. We had only played 6 songs and the only way out was through the crowd, which was still in the hall and waited. So trying to have the crew bringing the equipment (or the band) out would probably have caused a riot. We of course wanted to continue to play, but after 30 min our hopes were small that the electricity would come back on again (as it was the entire part of that city that was out of power, not just the building we were in). Our solo soprano, Karin, did some a capella versions of Shubert and Haydn in the dark on stage with the crew using some flash lights to light her up a bit. That was something pretty odd and kind of cool though. After power coming back and going a couple of times during 15 minutes it seemed stabilized and we did another 4 songs before it went of again, and after some more waiting in total darkness, the drummer did a drum solo in the dark and we called it a night.

Something of the most weird is every time we go to Bolivia. People there are so wild that we need to escort the members one by one out from the airport! That’s an unusal feeling for a band with death metal roots, where there has always been a very relaxed attitude towards people in bands and were simply looked upon as “just people making music” and not as some kind of big stars. It’s fun to have experienced it and playing live in those countries is really something very special, but I think if it was the same in Sweden for example, I’d probably quit doing music, it’s really essential that we can live “normal” lives when we’re back from the tours. In the end we’re “just people making music”.

When you are at home, do you surprise yourself hearing Therion albums? And if a fucking creepy bastard breaks into your house, which kind of music would he find in your stereo or in your CD rack?

When we make a new album I usually listen to it a lot, but after we have toured on it, I extremely seldom listen to my own records.

I’d say 50% of what I listen to is classical music and opera, the rest is a mixture of old 80’s heavy metal, 70’s hard rock and progressive/symphonic rock, some folk music from various countries etc.

Are there any particular bands that have influenced Therion? Because I must say that the 80’s covers you play as encores are really something else. Both times I’ve seen you live, those songs (Accept, Mercyful Fate & Motörhead) really make up an excellent concert closure. How long has the band been doing that?

The covers we play at the end of shows are not necessarily from bands that have influenced us, but rather bands we simply grew up with and still like a lot.

As for bands that have influenced us there are for sure some of the bands we have covered that also are to be regarded as influences, like Maiden and Accept. Apart from those I’ve had my inspiration from 70’s symphonic bands like Kansas (end of 70’s period only), Eloy, Klaatu (2nd album), Pavlov’s Dog etc. And of course classical music and opera, mainly Richard Wagner.

Do you read a lot these days? Which is your favorite genre: mystery, mythology, horror, novels, philosophy or porn?

This year I didn’t have too much time to read that much. When I find the time it is mainly reference literature; esoteric, historic and history of ideas.

Explain briefly the concept of “Dragon Rouge”, many people know you are involved with it, but have no idea of what it is. Is because of the organization, that there are red dragons in a couple of album covers?

Please refer to the Dragon Rouge homepage at www.dragonrouge.net

I see no point in writing the same information that is just one click away on the internet (especially not when making an interview for a webzine).

Both the choice of covers and the lyrics are a result of my studies within or related to the order Dragon Rouge.

This is a “yes” or “no” question, but if you want to elaborate on them, it’s your call. Have you ever:

- Touched a lemur?

Yes.

- Broke a string on stage?

Yes, once or twice, must have been some time in the mid 90’s last time…

- Got drunk on stage?

Yes in the old days. We stopped that completely 1998 though (drinking before shows).

- Been spat on by a llama?

No.

- Celebrated in the street a victory of the Swedish hockey team?

No, I’m not into sports at all.

- Thought your country has some of the world’s hottest girls?

Yes it definitely has. Though the competition is very tough.

- Got lost in a strange city in a strange land?

No, not really lost.

By the way, the mighty Lord Kenth Philipson says “hi!” and claims that you know who he is. Please, tell the fans where do you know him from.

Well everybody in the good old death metal scene knew each other back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The scene was pretty small and everybody knew all other bands and fanzines. It’s quite weird in way, as I remember it there were almost no normal fans – everybody was involved actively in the scene in one way or another, playing, having a zine, having an underground label releasing 7 inch vinyls, making complilation tapes etc.

I’m trying to recall the name of Kentha’s (nick name) band, but at the moment I’m stuck. I think we had some common friends as well. Well… it must have been some 15 years ago so no wonder it’s hard to recall.

For further info on Chris and all things Therion, please visit www.megatherion.com

Interviews