NARNIA
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 6th August 2009.
Narnia is a hard rocking metal band Sweden. They have just released an excellent new album and, although their music doesn't sound even vaguely religious, they are often labeled as a Christian rock outfit.
Guitarist / keyboard player Carl Johan Grimmark answers questions on behalf of the band.
Hi Carl, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Carl: Thanks Jon! Yes, all is well here!!
How did you originally get into music? Do you come from a musical family?
Carl: Yes, no one in my family played professionally, but my mom and sister always played piano at home when I was very young. My interest developed very early. When I was about 3 years only, it was obvious where I was heading.
Who were your personal influences and inspirations?
Carl: When I first started listening to hard rock, Europe were my big heroes. They were soon followed by Yngwie, Gary Moore and Joe Satriani, and also 70's bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rainbow + progressive stuff such as Marillion, Genesis and Yes and others.
Narnia are described as a Christian rock band. Do you consider Narnia to be a Christian rock band, or is that a title the media came up with?
Carl: Well, we are all Christians, so we must be a Christian band, but we don't play any special type of music or for any special type of people because of that.
Like on the new Stryper release, your lyrics are very much open to interpretation (unlike for instance the recent Lou Gramm album which is OVERTLY Christian). Was it a conscious decision to be more subtle in your approach?
Carl: No, not really. That's just our way of expressing ourselves and has nothing to do with being more mainstream or being afraid of scaring people away with our message.
Do you find, as soon as the words Christian and rock are used in the same sentence, a lot of people lose interest, regardless of how good the music is?
Carl: SOME people lose interest, but most people are more open minded than that. For example, Sweden is an extremely non-religious country, but festivals, promoters and magazines here are VERY open minded and have no problem with any faith related things.
Does it annoy you that people focus on the religion rather than the music?
Carl: Haha....sometimes, when it's all about labeling a band, yes.
How would you describe the sound of the new album, and how does it compare to older work?
Carl: It's definitely a big leap forward in many ways. I think that we, for the first time, developed something that is "our own" blend. Sure you can hear certain influences, no doubt, but the combination of aggressive riffing and very strong melodies that we came up with this time really feels unique to me.
Are you pleased with the feedback so far?
Carl: Oh yes indeed. We get great reviews now, so I'm happy! I just hope everyone in the whole world will now buy the album, haha ;)
New vocalist Germán Pascual is jolly handy :) How did he come to join the band, and has his vocal influence altered your approach to making records?
Carl: Out of all the singers we listened to, Germán was the one who made the biggest total impact on us. Both the way in which he introduced himself to us as a person, and his vocal abilities. He really fits very well on both our new AND old material. Germán and our bass player Andreas Passmark had a common friend, Daniel Flores, who told Germán that we were looking for a singer and that he thought Germán should apply for the job - so he did.
Which songs are you most proud of - both on the new album and from the back catalogue?
Carl: On the new one I'm especially proud of "Sail around the world" and "Scared". Out of the older songs I like "Into this game" a lot. "Inner Sanctum" is a great song that I really enjoy to play live.
Are there any bands out there that influenced the Narnia sound, or did it develop of its own free will?
Carl: If I'd mention recent influences I'd say Soilwork, Metallica, In Flames, Masterplan, Dream Theater and Peter Gabriel. On the old stuff we had our roots in more neoclassical stuff such as Yngwie and Rainbow etc.
Are you planning to tour on the back of the new release? Any chance you may come to the UK?
Carl: Oh, I'd LOVE to come to the UK. COME ON - BOOK US!!!!!! ;) We played there once back in 2000 or so, and the 1000+ in the audience seemed to enjoy it very much! For now we have shows planned for Sweden, Norway and Holland but we're planning and hoping for more.
Do you go to many live gigs? If so, what's the best band you've ever seen?
Carl: Not really, but I almost always go to the Sweden Rock Festival and some other stuff occasionally. I think I had the strongest experience on one show with Dream Theater a few years ago + a show with Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper didn't lose his 100% focus for one single second during the whole show.
You've worked with Rob Rock on a few of his solo albums. What's it like working with him, and are you planning to record more material together in the future?
Carl: Rob is a VERY kind and talented guy and I think I've been lucky to play on his, in my opinion, best album ever - Garden of Chaos from 2007. We don't really have any plans at the moment. We have both been busy on other things, but we'll see what happens ahead. We just released the "Live in Atlanta" DVD that we recorded last year.
Is there anyone else you'd really like to work with?
Carl: Haha...I guess so :) We have this very interesting new band called "Full Force" with the talented singer Mike Andersson of Cloudscape, + previous Hammerfallers Stefan Elmgren and Magnus Rosén and current Hammerfall, ex-Yngwie's Rising Force drummer Anders Johansson. We're planning a release and shows in 2010 so that feels great. I've always wanted to work with the Johansson brothers for their huge talent, so I'm now fulfilling 50% of that dream. I'd happily jump if Queensrÿche needed a guitarist as well ;) There's so many good bands that I could imagine would be a blast to play with.
If you were trapped on a desert island with a solar powered CD player, what five albums would you want there with you?
Carl:
Dream Theater - Six degrees of Inner Turbulence
Dream Theater - Train of Thought
Peter Gabriel - Up
Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime
Led Zeppelin - IV
And who would you like there with you if you could have one other person?
Carl: Holy cr**p You're asking me to choose between my to children - impossible! Let's pretend they don't exist, then I'd bring my wife....we could then eventually have our kids anyway:)
Are you someone who collects guitars as well as plays them? If so, what are the favourite ones in your collection?
Carl: I'm not really a collector but I've had around 30+ guitars, but I don't keep ones I don't use. I have 12 or 13 or so but my main guitars are my 4 Caparisons, they are my tools of choice. If I'd point out something else that is very special, I'd say it's my Gibson "Zakk Wylde signature" Flying V...
What does the future hold, both for you and for the band?
Carl: As mentioned, Full Force is a cool thing coming up for me personally. Regarding Narnia I'm hoping for extended tour dates in the winter/spring.
What are you up to once you've finished answering these questions?
Carl: I think I'll say goodnight to the kids and then watch a movie with my wife here at the summerhouse on an island on the Swedish west-coast.
Thanks for your time :)
Carl: Thanks a LOT for the attention and space!! Take care CJ
The new Narnia album is out now. Check out the review on Rock Realms here for further details...
http://www.myspace.com/narniaofficial
