by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
Almost every artist loves talking about their growth and the importance of not being stuck in one place for the rest of their careers. It takes real courage, however, to actually put your money where your mouth is and allow yourself to evolve naturally and get inspired by different things. And it’s twice as hard if we talk about a band who started out more than thirty years ago… The representatives of the late ‘80s Scandi-AOR boom – the Swedish band Alien – were brave enough to try approaching their music from quite a different angle this time around. How does it feel for them to think about their music outside the strict AOR box they were put into? Was this stylistic shift a cause for the two original members to leave, and is the new, heavier sound what fans of “Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire” might have expected…? These were the first but certainly not the last issues we discussed with Alien’s lead singer Jim Jidhed. From an occasional look back taken at the group’s previous works to the joys of writing children’s books, there was a lot to catch up on after six years of not featuring Alien on Hardrock Haven.
Hardrock Haven: It’s been long six years since we discussed an Alien album with who is now a former member of the band, Ken Sandin, as Eternity was released back in 2014. What was the band up to during that period and why did it take you so long to record another album?
Jim Jidhed: That’s right, it’s been six years… You know, Alien has always made a record, had some shows and then some years passed before the next album. But I think we have to remember that the original line-up of five guys that started out in ‘86 came together again in 2010, primarily to do some shows – for the fun of it – and only then did we decide to make a record. But we didn’t have any real plan to do the next album and the next one after that. Therefore, that’s how six years passed by in a way.
Hardrock Haven: During these six years, Alien became a three-piece at some point. Were the reasons behind the rest of the guys leaving the band artistic or personal?
Jim Jidhed: Artistic. When we did the Eternity album six years ago, even then we’ve had some members in the band who already wanted to make slightly harder music. But since the five guys had to be on the same page and agree about everything, and some members didn’t want to do a tougher album, we didn’t do it. But then again, we didn’t do anything at all and nothing happened. So now we had this opportunity that we started discussing two years ago, to make a tougher album. At Christmas time we decided in a way to take a vote. It turned out that three guys wanted to do a new album with a harder, more guitar-based sound and two guys didn’t. So it was on the artistic level – what we wanted to do and didn’t want to do – that made the band a three-piece.
Hardrock Haven: So we can assume that with Ken [Sandin, ex-bass player] and Jimmy [Wandroph, ex-keyboard player] on board the next Alien album would have sounded quite differently?
Jim Jidhed: It’s a bit hard to say, Alexandra, because I’m a big part of all the songwriting in the band through my melodies. We were an AOR band before and now we’re a Melodic Hard Rock band, but we’re still melodic. So when we did Eternity, I wrote together with Jimmy and together with Tony [Borg, Alien’s guitar player], and then all of the band members were into it. This time, I wrote a lot of stuff together with Tony – that’s right, but still you have my melodies in the middle… That being said, I still would say we couldn’t have made this new album with these two guys because they’re very much into the old AOR school and the three of us aren’t anymore. We love the old albums and we love AOR music in terms of listening to it, but to be creative artistically it wasn’t an option for the three of us anymore. At least with Alien – I have a solo career, I did [the album] Push On Through just a few years ago and I can imagine myself doing another AOR album for sure, but only under my solo name. Alien wanted to do something new and not to repeat ourselves. So I don’t think this album that we have today could have existed with these two members staying on. That’s why they left – they didn’t want to [do it]. They wanted to do something else.
Hardrock Haven: So what’s the heavier sound of the new album prompted by? Were there new inspirations brought to the table?
Jim Jidhed: Two and a half years ago, our guitarist Tony presented some ideas of what he wanted to do with the band to the rest of us. And then, later on that year, we talked about it and we really had a vision of doing something slightly heavier. For instance, we’ve tuned down the guitars this time to get a heavier sound, while on all the other Alien records the guitars are tuned normally. So two and a half years ago we already had a vision of us doing something [different], but we didn’t know exactly what and how. We just knew that we have to keep the vocals and the melody in the middle and create a heavier sound around that. For sure we’ve had some inspirations. But basically, when you listen to the riffs we have on this album, if you tuned up the guitars and the sound wasn’t as heavy, you could hear such riffs in the ‘70s too. We also worked with some guys from the Gothenburg music scene who were Heavy Metal people and were in the project at the beginning and then left the production… Still, we were inspired by them, by the younger musicians in the business who play more of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.
Hardrock Haven: Speaking of the modern Hard Rock sound, you worked with Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse, W.E.T, Ammunition, Nordic Union) on mix and mastering. Why did you choose to work with him and what was it like?
Jim Jidhed: When we decided to get a mixing and mastering engineer for our production, we have already heard about Erik and that his band [Eclipse] sounded in a tougher Melodic Rock fashion. That’s why we contacted Erik and asked him if he wanted to mix the album. You know, we don’t know that much people in Heavy Metal world (laughs). So it was really like, “Hey, he and his band sound a bit harder”, “Okay, so let’s try this” (laughs). And I really think that working with Erik was a good choice. I have to say though that the three members of Alien have been involved in every aspect of this album – even when it comes to mix. We haven’t just given Erik the assignment and let him do what he wanted, ‘cause we worked tightly with him to give him our vision of how we want the things to sound. He did the mix and he showed it to us, and we were like, “Okay, but we gotta do it like this and this”. It’s just because to change Alien, which was founded over thirty years ago, you have to help every person you work with – the guy who makes the [album] cover, the guy who mixes, the guy who makes videos… We had to tell them we want to change, because otherwise people tend to stereotype us in a way. We’ve been around since ‘86 and have played soft AOR, and now we want to sound tougher, so… But Erik was great to work with.
Hardrock Haven: Speaking of the time span between 1986 and 2020, what do you think about the advantages of modern production and sound engineering and all the possibilities you have now in comparison to when Alien started?
Jim Jidhed: When you ask about that, I mostly think about when we did the pre-production. Today, our guitarist Tony has his own studio in Stockholm, so me and the drummer from Gothenburg which is located at the other side of the country went there quite often. And when we got into his studio, we had all this equipment – drums, everything – so we could use them, do experiments and try things out. I mean, when we were younger, we only had a rehearsal room to use… Now we could use effects and many other things to have fun and to test them. I think for us it was quite a big difference. Especially that on the Eternity album six years ago we worked in a rehearsal room only as we had all the instruments back then. This time, I played bass in the pre-production and keyboards as well… and I also played most of the keyboards on the album. So it was a different kind of work this time when there was three of us – simple, but very fun in terms of creativity. So I think we gained a lot from the development of technology and recording studios.
Hardrock Haven: We’ve already mentioned the change of sound on the new album. Music fans can be fickle, especially if they’re used to a certain type of sound from a certain band. Do you think they are going to accept Alien’s stylistic shift? Especially when it comes to fans who are with you from the very beginning…
Jim Jidhed: I really can’t say. If we look very closely here around us, we can sense that people we know quite well really like it and think this is an improvement and that we develop artistically. But for the hardcore AOR fans, I can’t really say, Alexandra. We got some reviews now and we have some really bad ones that I think are [written] by the hardcore AOR fans, and a lot of good ones that we get from the Metal world. And they go, “Well, I didn’t know much about this band, but now I’m gonna check Alien out because of this album.” But it’s like I told someone in another interview… if the music industry today had been similar to what it was thirty years ago, if our music had put bread on the table and given money for us to live on, of course this time around we’d have considered things twice. We’d go, “Can we make this change? Can we do this? Are we willing to jeopardize losing some fans…?” But today, we live in a world where we make nearly no money from our music and it doesn’t put bread on the table anymore. So we do this because we want to do this and if the fans don’t like it, we’re sorry, but we do this for ourselves. I mean, And making this album is quite similar to why we started playing music when we were young. We wanted to do something to prove to ourselves that we’re still burning and that we still have the hunger to create. You know, when you’re fourteen you never think what the fans would say. And if I made a million dollars each time I make an album, for sure I’d ask myself “Do I want to jeopardize making a Hard Rock album?” (laughs) But we don’t have that situation. We just love music and we love being creative, so hopefully we don’t lose many old fans. But if we do, so be it and I think we’re getting some new fans too.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely. The title of the new album, Into The Future, seems to correspond with its musical content. Can you see the band modernizing their sound even more in the future?
Jim Jidhed: Just off the top of my head – I don’t think so. It’s because as I mentioned to you before, my vocals are essential to the band. And since I’m a singer and not a growler and this and that, I use melodies and I think you can just take a certain kind of music so far before it sounds strange with such vocals as mine. I mean, for sure we can take it possibly a step further but I think I’m more than satisfied with this level. So I don’t see us doing a new album heavier than this one. I think this is a perfect match between the melody, my vocals and hard guitars, and that there’s a limit you can take it to before it turns into something else.
Hardrock Haven: What’s inspired the lyrics of the new album?
Jim Jidhed: When I start to write the new lyrics, even though I collaborated with Janet Minto [Alien’s longtime songwriter] on this album and I collaborate with other people on my solo stuff, I always have a feeling – a sense – of what I want to say. And I think that changes through life. I mean, in a few months I’m turning 58. You’ve seen more than when you’re, say, 25. And I think you just write about life, you know? For instance, when you take a song “What Are We Fighting For”, it is about my view of the world where I say “I agree to disagree with you…” I mean, today we live by the rules made by the society, where everyone can say “What the hell is going on? What is this?” And the older you get, you look at politicians more like at children… I don’t say that younger people can’t do that too – of course they can. But as you progress and get older, it’s all about children, big and small. And I just make a statement that I agree to disagree to the views of truth. “What Are We Fighting For” is really a question what to fight for if everyone can decide for themselves. But on Into The Future as a whole, every song has its different input. For example “Children”, the last song. That song is about my view of a woman fighting for her children. I imagined her in the middle of war, running with her children in her arms. So you get different kinds of inspiration.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. But when we look back a bit, it turns out Into The Future is actually not the first Alien album to be a bit different from the rest when it comes to sound. Are you satisfied with what you’ve done on Dark Eyes back in 2005?
Jim Jidhed: Yes. With that album Tony called me and asked me if we should do something together because there were many years when Alien didn’t play at all. I mean, I did other stuff and so did Ken and Jimmy, and Toby [Tarrach, Alien’s drummer] and Tony. So, Tony called me and at that time it was just the two of us that made it and I really like that album. By the way, you’ve got good questions Alexandra, I really like them!
Hardrock Haven: Well, thank you!
Jim Jidhed: But back to the album, if you put the sound of Into The Future on Dark Eyes, I think that album would’ve been explosive. We had quite a soft Rock sound on Dark Eyes, but the songs themselves were quite tough, so if we put it together I think those two records could be similar. I really enjoyed that album anyway.
Hardrock Haven: Also, on November the 26th, you’re going to take part in a special release party gig of sorts – that is, live streaming event of course. What have you planned to include in your performance for this special occasion?
Jim Jidhed: True. I mean, this live stream is the only thing we can do now – we can’t have a release party or anything. So we’re gonna play four songs live and we’re gonna do a show where we open a program with a song from the record. So we’re gonna play a lot of songs during the program – open it with “Time Is Right” from the record, and then we’re gonna have Johan Nylen otherwise known as “Dr AOR” hosting the show, interviewing us and so forth. And we’re gonna play four songs from the new album live, and we’re also gonna do two acoustic version from the old stuff – “Go Easy” and “Only One Woman” acoustically. And I have to say that, Alexandra, ‘cause I want our fans to know that we appreciate them very much and we do love our old stuff. And yet, it’s only about people wanting to develop and to be creative and I really hope our fans can understand that – I think many will do and some won’t. Anyway, that’s a program and hopefully, it’s gonna turn out great but we’ve never done this kind of thing so it is what it is and we’re gonna do our best (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed! And what’s your general stance on live streaming, especially when it comes to Rock music relying heavily on the interaction between an artist and the crowd – and also, your vast experience when it comes to playing live?
Jim Jidhed: We as well as the entire world are living in strange times, and our sector in the culture world is all shut down. And since this is the only opportunity, I think I just see it as a TV performance – not a lot of an audience, you have to play to the cameras etc. So what we have said is that we’re gonna take it nice and slow… I mean, I know it’s not a TV show and the program is gonna take maybe an hour – we’d figure. But we’re gonna take it nice and easy, talk a little bit and play… That’s what we have to use and I think this is gonna stay on for quite some time, this whole live streaming thing. I think we just have to get with the program (laughs). But it is what it is for everyone. The main thing is that we all can try to stay healthy and take care of each other. It is what it is, it’s only music comparing to what’s going on, so we’re thankful that we can do this at least.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. You’ve also mentioned your solo career with a string of solo albums under your belt. When can we expect a follow-up to 2017’s Push On Through?
Jim Jidhed: Tomorrow! (laughs) No, I’m just kidding. You know, two weeks ago I released a children’s book here in Sweden so I had been an author the last three years too. It has been a tremendous experience to write a book. So after this album, I can’t say what I want to do first – if I want to write another children’s book or a solo album or maybe Alien, if we’re gonna start working on the new record in spring. So it’s hard to say, Alexandra. I have a lot of demo songs from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, around ten songs that haven’t been released. So that’s a thought that maybe I’ll do recordings of those old demos that didn’t end up on records a long time ago. But I can’t say right now.
Hardrock Haven: That would be a real treat for the fans, especially those who got into the band in the early era… But funnily enough, I was just about to ask you about your book and the circumstances in which the whole idea started. Where did it come from and when did you start thinking about writing it?
Jim Jidhed: You know, it all started when my son was a child. He’s also a singer by the way, and he’s really, really good. And when he was about six years old, I used to tell him goodnight stories before he went to sleep. Suddenly, one night this horse – a horse named Brunte – jumped into my mind and I began telling my son the story of a horse who poops on children. So the book’s name is exactly that – Brunte, the Horse Who Poops on Children [Swedish: Brunte – hästen som bajsar på barn]. And I can tell you Alexandra, that now a big company wants to take in the book, come this February. So it feels good right now. But anyway, many years ago I told the story to my son back then and I told him, “You know, Robin, the horse did this on a football field to all the children, and he poops ice cream and candy…” And I told my son, “Can you catch it? Can you catch it so he won’t do what he does to all the children?” And he was like, “Yes, daddy! We’ll do this and we’ll do this!” So he “caught” the horse and then he went to sleep. And the next day I told him, “Now the horse is getting loose and he starts all over. Can you catch it?” And so and forth, we kept on for all over the year with this horse (laughs). And many years later, my girlfriend Sandra told me, “Jim, shouldn’t you write a book about this crazy horse?” “A book”, I said, “Well, I can give it a chance.” So I sat down and I’ve been working for three years – not all the time of course, but I’ve worked a lot. So finally, two weeks ago this horse has entered the Swedish book industry and many thinks it’s quite funny that a Rock singer writes a book about a horse who poops on children… so it’s become quite a funny thing here in Sweden (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: Anything else you’re currently up to?
Jim Jidhed: Not really. Because of the album’s coming next week and also that the book came out two weeks ago, I think I have to reflect if, as I mentioned, it’s gonna be a new Alien album, a new solo album or a new book soon. So I have to say it’s about getting into a reflection time.
Hardrock Haven: As you’ve just mentioned, your son is also a musician. Knowing the joys and hardships of the music industry inside and out, were you supportive of his career and choices?
Jim Jidhed: I’ve been supportive of him in everything he wants to do. When he grew up, he saw his dad was always on the way to something. And when he was young, he started to play the guitar in his room… But he did that for himself, and he liked to dance and sing too. And when he started to do it seriously, we talked about stuff like how to sing on stage or something like that, but he used to manage such things himself. For sure, when he was in Creye [Robin Jidhed performed lead vocals on the band’s first album], we talked a lot about how to record vocals… you know, being supportive, being there for him… And today the situation is that I check things with him – concerning Alien or if I’m writing for myself – and we check things with each other. So I think I’ve been supportive… But Robin knows the business, and he’s generally moving slowly. He doesn’t jump into things, he takes his time and thinks about things before he does them. He’s very particular in everything he does. Now he’s got exciting things going on for him – he had done three new songs and he’s working on the video now that’s coming out soon… He doesn’t have a label though, not yet.
Hardrock Haven: So what kind of advice did you offer your son that also could apply to all the young musicians out there?
Jim Jidhed: I can’t say I did, actually. Twenty five or thirty years ago, the business worked in a certain way. Now you can’t say what the business is, ‘cause everyone does their own stuff and there’s a lot of social media and this and that… I mean, he has a steady day job in Gothenburg and he’s happy with that, and he already knows what he wants out of this. I can give him advice if he asks me about singing, as I do that for people sometimes… Writing songs maybe, too. But I can’t say I have any special piece of advice about the business for him or anyone else…
Hardrock Haven: …because, as you’ve said, it changed so much.
Jim Jidhed: Yeah, it did. I mean, if you look back thirty years ago – at least in Sweden – it was very, very hard to get a record deal. But once you got that, you were on the inside. Then you could see the different record companies talking with each other, “Ahh, you released that? Okay, we’ll do that too.” I mean, if you released an album in 1988, you’ve got the TV shows, all the radio, all the newspapers, the Pop magazines… you’ve got it all. But since the whole business is gone, anything goes. So it’s hard to give advice really, ‘cause there ain’t these big record deals for most people out there. It’s a different kind of thing… You have to take care of yourself and not to sign in foolish agreements with companies… Today, you sign in for one or two records – maybe. I just say to people, “Take it nicely, think about it and don’t contract for too long if you can’t manage.”
Hardrock Haven: Any last words?
Jim Jidhed: I just hope that are old fans are gonna like the new album and I hope we’re gonna get some new ones… And thank you of course!
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