Jonas Bjorler of The Haunted
by Cameron Edney
Guest Staff Writer
10 Minutes with …
This week Swedish metallers The Haunted blasted their way around Australia playing to sold-out crowds on their fifth and most successful visit to date. The band has certainly come a long way in fifteen years. The band recently released their seventh and most diverse album to date Unseen. Having started penning ideas for Unseen back in 2009, the album may have been met with mixed reviews from critics, but fans around the world love it! I had the pleasure of catching up with The Haunted’s bassist Jonas Bjorler to discuss the latest album and current Australian tour.
Here is what Jonas had to say…
Hardrock Haven: Hi Jonas, thanks so much for putting some time aside for our readers; it’s great to see you back here this week on your fifth Australian tour, what fond memories come to mind when you look back on previous visits?
Jonas: I always remember the twins Andrew and Paul Haug and that I’m always very tired after coming from Japan. You’re always so jet lagged when you’re in Australia; you need three or four days to recuperate.
Hardrock Haven: You’re currently touring around Australia, with album number seven released back in March, I would imagine its becoming harder to put together the set list. One that you’re happy doing night after night as well as a set for fans of all eras of the band, how do you tackle that issue?
Jonas: It’s really hard as you say; we have to accommodate both ourselves and the audience. We try to mix the old and new stuff together, try to mix the fast and heavy stuff with the slow. The set we’ve been using for the past month is really good.
Hardrock Haven: You’ve had the pleasure of touring across the globe, how do the Australian fans stack up when compared to those in Europe and the United States?
Jonas: It’s up there in our top five audiences together with the U.K., U.S.A., Japan and Sweden.
Hardrock Haven: Whilst we’re on the subject of touring Jonas; over the years you’ve shared the stage with so many great bands. Who’s given you the best advice and what was it?
Jonas: I’m not too sure, that’s a really good question but I can’t think of anything… I think somebody gave us advice not to drink? It was a vocalist that gave this advice to Peter saying never to drink before you perform and things like that, and about an hour later we seen him falling down some stairs totally drunk [laughs] it wasn’t good advice [laughs].
Hardrock Haven: In the past I have seen you perform and and it’s clear that the crowd connects with the band from the moment the house lights go down. and you appear onstage! Being onstage you have the best seat in the house to witness the craziness and bizarre things that happen in the crowd during your performances. What comes to mind as the most outrageous thing you’ve seen happening whilst you’ve been onstage?
Jonas: When we played Ozzfest in 2005 when we saw a guy in a wheelchair, in the pit with people picking him up and throwing him down to the crowd. He was totally into it, he was enjoying it, it was the most bizarre thing I’ve seen.
Hardrock Haven: Jonas, let’s talk about the latest album ‘Unseen’ for a moment. You started writing songs for this album back in 2009 and more than forty songs had been written once it was time to begin recording. Did you find it difficult to cut the list down from forty to twelve tracks?
Jonas: Yeah, it’s always hard to get from forty down to twelve but we had a lot of time to listen to all of the tracks. We had a year to listen to them all and decide and you really get a certain feeling for each song. In the end it was quite obvious to us which songs we should use.
Hardrock Haven: When it came to the writing process for ‘Unseen’, where did you draw inspiration from this time around?
Jonas: We’ve always been influenced by a lot of progressive rock from the seventies so this time we didn’t copout; we went all the way with our influences musically. Peter had some other ideas for vocal harmonies, the major change is probably the vocals, more melodic, more singing, but musically we took it one step closer towards progressive rock.
Hardrock Haven: Looking back over the whole process now, is there anything you would have changed or wish you’d done differently?
Jonas: You always have some regrets after it’s made but that’s only natural, it gives you motivation to improve on the next one. There are no major changes but just some smaller details in the songs.
Hardrock Haven: Jonas just before we wrap it up I want to ask you a couple of quick questions for our readers to get to know more about the real you… growing up what was the first concert you ever attended and how much of an impact did that have on you musically?
Jonas: First show was Motley Crüe in 1986, and that was the first heavy metal show I ever attended. Naturally I was blown away by that, and after that I got more and more involved in the heavy metal scene. I went to more concerts and that led to even more extreme music like Metallica and Slayer later on.
Hardrock Haven: Musically is there anything else you would like to achieve? Could we see you putting out something totally different to what we best know you for?
Jonas: I think we’ve reached a certain point that corresponds with my goals in the beginning, I am quite happy with where I am right now!
Hardrock Haven: Lastly, when you look back over your entire career what’s the one most important lesson you feel you’ve learned?
Jonas: To be humble regarding touring and meeting other people, to have a humble approach to everything.
Hardrock Haven: Jonas thanks again for your time, I really appreciate it. Do you have any last words for our readers?
Jonas: Check us out, come out to the shows and have a good time!