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Beseech Fanclub Interview with Manne
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1. Hi there Manne. For most of the Beseech audience you’re
unknowned, tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi there to you too. Lets see, I´m 28 and I live in Varberg
on the west coast of sweden. I guess the best way to describe
me is to say that I´m in love with music. I love to play
it, write it, record it, produce it, you name it. I love it all.
Maybe not the buisines part of it though, that may be the one
part that I dislike about music. Other ways to describe me would
be that I´m a calm, mellow person. I tend to be a bit serious,
but a smile or a joke is never far away.
2. Have you played in any other bands before Beseech?
I´ve played with a couple of bands before. My first band
was formed back in 1993. It was a death metal band called FATAL
EMBRACE. We released an album in 1997 on Candlelight. We recorded
a second album in 1998 that Century Media was supposed to release.
When that didn´t happen we ended that band. I have also
played with SUNDOWN on the Glimmer album and CEMETARY 1213 on
the Beast Devine album. Both released on Century Media.
Playing in Fatal Embrace was great, we were all friends from school
and we allways had a good time. When I was in Sundown and Cemetary
1213, I was allways just a session guitarist. I was hired to do
a job. And now when I´m in BESEECH I feel like I´m
in a band again, a part of something that is bigger than myself.
That is a great feeling.
I still make music together with Andreas from Fatal Embrace.
It´s a side project and we´re writing music right
now and we will start to record sometime next year. I´ll
let you know what happens…
3. How did you become a member of Beseech?
I´ve actually been a fan of Beseech for many years. I´ve
said to Chris Silver (their pruducer) many times. That I would
love to play with them. Their musical style suits my way of playing
and they write great songs. I met them in the studio for the first
time when they were recording Souls Highway. They were recording
in studio 2 and I was mixing The Crown in studio 1 with Chris.
Then I got to work with them on Drama. That made me want to be
in the band even more. They are great to work with. I made a guest
appearance on their releaseparty for Drama and after the show
I told them that I would love to be in the band. Then last summer
I went to Sweden Rock Festival with them and after their gig they
asked we if I wanted to join the band. I said yes then and there.
I mean, how often is it you get to join a band you are big fan
of? Many of their songs are written for two guitars, so when Klas
left the band I think they felt a void when they played live.
I´m more than happy to fill that void.
4. You’ve been performing with Beseech on a couple
of occasions; do you have any favourite song to perform live?
That´s right, I´ve done a few gigs with them this
last summer. The Tuska festival in Helsinki, Summer Breeze festival
in germany, a local gig in their hometown Borås and a show
in Stockholm with Therion this fall. I must say that Manmade Dreams
is the most fun to play live. Either that one or Drama is also
fun to play.
5. What’s your own personal favourite Beseech album?
I must say Drama. The weight they muster up on that one is amazing.
I mean, I realy like Souls Highway, but if I have to pick a favourite,
it has to be Drama.
6. What do you think you’ll be able to contribute
with for the Beseech sound?
Most songs are written for two guitars, so when playing live
I´ll contribute a lot. The sound will be more like what
you are used to hear on the albums. Otherwise it´s still
hard to say. I´m involved in the creative process now and
so far my main contribution is when we are in the studio. That’s
is when I can get my ideas across to the production. I´ve
written some small guitarparts and sound FX stuff so far, but
I´m sure that as time goes on I will contribute in the songwriting
as well. At least that´s my goal.
7. What are your strengths as a musician?
I think that I´m able to listen to the songs as a whole
unit. Not just focusing on my guitarplaying. I´m not the
greatest guitarplayer in the world and I´ll never will be,
but I feel confident in what I do. I know my limitations. That
is a strength as a musician. There is nothing that I hate more
than to listen to a band that plays more complicated stuff than
their able to pull off. If you´re not good at swimming-
than don´t spend time in the deep end of the pool. if you
know what I mean.
8. You’re part owner of Studiomega where Beseech
records their albums. Could you describe your role in the company?
It´s a long story, but I´ll try to keep it short.
In 1995 I recorded my first demo in Studiomega. That was when
I first met Chris Silver. Then I kept coming back there to record
albums, singels and stuff. I´ve lost count on how many recordings
I´ve done with Chris. Anyway, we ended up being friends
and soon enough he started to ask me to join him on some projects
in the studio. After a couple of years we said to eachother that
we should go in to buisiness together. Said and done, we bought
out two other part owners and built a new studio in Varberg where
I live. We have done this togeteher now for 3 years and it is
going great. Chris handles most of the productions and I take
care of the buisiness end of it all. But I get my fair share of
the engineering and producing as well.
9. Will the fact that you’re part owner of a studio,
affect Beseech recordings in the future?
It´s hard to say. Right now I have one foot in both camps,
so to speak. I´m however confident that we will make it
work in advantage for both parts. The way it feels though, is
that Beseech will be the winner in all this. I mean, Chris and
I will be able to work on the recordings on every free time we
can find in the studio. Napalm Records will for shure get a great
product to release in the end of all this.
10. You will be participating on the new album and we’ve
gotten a sneak preview of a couple of songs and they sound really
great. Are you satisfied with the work on the new album so far?
So far I´m more than pleased. I feel that the songs are
very strong and so far the pruduction is the best I´ve heard
from Studiomega as well. It is hard to be objective about it all
when you are in the middle of the process, but the feeling I get
from the new songs and the way they sound on the recording is
overwhelming. I can´t wait to have the next album released
so we can get the response from the fans.
11. You’ve recorded 3 songs for a demo. What’s
that going to be used for? Are you looking for a new record label?
What we´re doing right now is recording material that will
be used on the album. We started with 3 songs that you could call
a demo, but most of it will be used for the album as well. The
Demo is for Napalm Records only. We want them to have a headstart
in the process as well. This way they know in what direction we
are moving and now they can plan ahead. Chose what song will be
the single and so on. The plan for this next album is to have
a single and a video out before the album and the demo is done
to help Napalm with that work.
12. Do you have any idea on when we can expect the new
album to be released?
Our goal is to have at least the single out before the summer,
maybe even the whole album. It is all up to Napalm Records, but
we want to spend next summer doing festivals and the next fall
on tour. The album will be done sometime in the spring and by
then I´m sure we will have an exact releasedate for you.
13. Finally, is there anything you’d like to say
to the Beseech audience around the world?
So far, the Beseech fans has been great to me and for that I
would like to say thanks. I guess I´ll see them on tour
next year. I would also like to say thanks for all the mails,
letters and postings in the guestbook. It is really heartwarmig
to see that people from all over the world take an interest in
what we do. I hope that you all will like the next album. See
you soon!
Thanks a lot!
/Morgan
The Beseech Fanclub Crew
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