Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / THE HALO EFFECT: A Conversation with NICLAS ENGELIN On Their New Album And Band Energy

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THE HALO EFFECT: A Conversation with NICLAS ENGELIN On Their New Album And Band Energy · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi there everyone. My name is Nicholas Engelnen and I
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: play guitar with the halo effect and I always obey
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the riff. Good.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much your new album, Much of the Unheard.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Are there any songs left over from Days of the
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Lost or is it all new material?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: It's all new material. Actually, it is interesting.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: And do you have quite a few songs that you
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: wanted to put on the album? Did all the songs
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: make it?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Uh? We tend to overdo that writing side of the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: band a little bit, but I think we've got I mean,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the main thing when you write an album, you need
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to stay focused and kind of holding a torch like
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: this and never dropped the torch because there you can't
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: find a vision again, and then buying set for it,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: which is really important to have, and then tend to write.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: When you have a bunch of songs, you don't a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: skeleton part of it and you kind of still molding
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the songs. You kind of get up, hey, this should
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: be opener, middle and this is the end kind of thing.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: And that's what we did this time, with a little
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: bit of maybe Mikey came into the end. Oh, I
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: got a lot of idea, well, we gotta do this,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and yeah, but let's debut of it when you when
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: you work like this?
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And was there a special reason why Detonate felt
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: right to release first from the album to the public.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: We felt that it was a fast track, It's like
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Judah's Priest, full on, tons of guitar stuff and harmonies,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and and we thought that it was really catchy. Yeah,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: let's rider, let's let's let's go for that one. And
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the whole label management, the whole organization was really into Yeah,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: let's start with Detonment. Yeah, I think with a good choice.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Is that what we can expect from the
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: rest of the album to sound like as well from
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Detonate or do they all sound completely different?
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: No? I you're right. I think that represents the album
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: quite a bit because it's a little bit more of everything.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: This time. We sound more confident as a band, as
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a Halo effect band, which I think is important. But
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: I mean it comes by by natural. I mean doing
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: ninety six shows for the first album. Uh, something's gonna happen.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what if we if we didn't gel by them, Okay, packeting,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: I believe it's the doing bowling instead at least.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: To realistic and you know when to stop if it
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: wasn't working.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: But exactly, Yeah, your.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Riefs really carry a lot of the songs. What is
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the process of you guys making such wicked songs? Do
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: you always do music first vocals? How does it work?
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: I think it works like this a little bit. You
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: may laugh, but I for me personally and when I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: work with Jasper, it's all about positive energy and having
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: fun with what you're doing. So we do coffee and
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: a pastry called Gift Flatter it could easily be Flatter instead,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: So we do a lot of that. And then we
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: talked about old albums with you just pretty creator made
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: and more and stuff. We just hang out enjoying our
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: company and just and we go from there. And then
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: we just go with the energy that's in the room
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and how we feel and and the beauty of it all.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the day, it always comes.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: We'll always have one song done and maybe two or
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: three IDs to another sounds.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's really effort as well, Like it's not
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: just one of you saying this is what we're doing now.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And I think I mean that sometimes I come up
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: with a skeleton. So I always tend to start doctor
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: songs to have something to work with, so we get molded,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and that's important to have. Then you have a starting point.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And I work the same with positive energy. I don't
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: understand writings through suffering or dark, but that's where their
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: way of writing me is more like coffee, Stay positive
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  Speaker 1: and go for it.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Do you think you guys are more coherent? You've already
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: sort of answered this one, but I'm more coherent with
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: this album, Like you've really solidified the Halo Effects sound.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're got to sound by the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: first album. I mean it's our way of playing and
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: we as a person who play Daniel and drums, Peter
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: on bass, I mean Jet the guitar, and then you
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: have Michael Lobocus. I think we already got our blueprint
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: in the flesh, so to speak. But this time we
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I think we got more confidence. And I hate the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: word mattire because I'm a vampire, but it's sounds more
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: confident this time, and that's because of all the live experience.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I think, yeah, yeah, definitely, even just with that first
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: taste of that song you've released, it definitely sounds really
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: together and more. Not that it didn't sound coherent before,
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: but it sounds difference.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: What was your guitar journey, like, when did you start
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: playing and how did you end up here in a
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: huge band?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Do we have the time? Yes? I grew up in
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the suburbs of Gothenburg, called to Red. I love it
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: out there still I do. It's close to the sea,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: so every time you go there or you can smell
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the sea is always the sea. And today I live
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: more inland and I missed a lot, so I used
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: to go for lunches with my old friends and then
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  Speaker 1: just smell it beautiful anyway. I have four older sisters
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and they attracted crowd, of course, and I used to
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: hang out with their friends who was really into soccer, ice, hockey,
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  Speaker 1: floor ball and all that stuff. So I didn't end
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: up at them all. I was with them all the time.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: They were like my idols, caring about me, really really caring.
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  Speaker 1: And when they started playing music, I gotta tag along
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  Speaker 1: as their mascot every Sunday to their rehearsing room and
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: they played stuff by Uros, Priest van Halen, Berkeley Crewe
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: and they grew out the hair. So I mean the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: they were my guides, so to speak. So I didn't
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: not a choice then start playing guitar. He's about Haleen album.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Here's a black say about more rooless like this. And
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: they were really supportive all the way, always supporting. But
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I had a really good future in soccer. I used
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: to play soccer a lot. Yeah, and that's because of
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: them also because they were huge. They are still huge
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: soccer fans. So when I started in seventh grade, I
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: met yet before the first time. Those guys were my youth,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: our our youth sent the leaders. So first day in
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the seventh grade, holy class, come on, come, come come. Yeah.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: So I was sheltered. I was always you know, cared for, Yeah,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: and it felt natural to just go with that energy.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And even today I have more young Jans and it's
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: one of those guys and it did our video for
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  Speaker 1: much of the Unheard And I still keep contact with
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: the other guys who was there from the day one.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: It's a text away or a phone call away. And
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: there are musicians that writers, they are artists.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: That's amazing. So did you have formal training or purely
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: just you were given a guitar by your sisters and
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: that's it.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I was giving a guitar by them. Here you can
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: have this one. Just noodle around or he's how you
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: play and talking about love with Van Hailer gat go
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: get go, get get, get, go, gett and down here
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: just go for it. And then what it's like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the energy if it's if you play in a football
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: team or in a team where you're are you having
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: fun like that? That was their energy. Oh now it's
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: mokally crue and they just go for it because they
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: just had that magic within they can just play. You
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: can give them any instrument and they were like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: they will make it happen. So impressing. So I didn't
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: have a went to school or knowledge because they didn't
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: have a knowledge. They go by ear and just go
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  Speaker 1: for it. So I love that energy because that's yeah,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: it's a working class, blue collar football have a metal,
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  Speaker 1: just go for it kind of mentality. And that's still
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: what I do even today. I haven't left that.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: That's amazing. That's you are so talented and to hear
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  Speaker 2: that that's how it all started is crazy because I've
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: tried a few instruments myself and I haven't gotten very
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: far with it, so well done, I.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Think, I mean they they are still very inspirational human beings.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: But the core thing with their thinking has always been
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: having fun with the case. Always has to be fun,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: otherwise they just drop it. Very fun live. Yeah, so
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: it's all about having fun and have the energy for it. Yeah.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Do you guys all hang out in your spare
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: time outside of the band? Are you all pretty close?
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: So I imagine, well they're pretty close, but we all
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: got tight schedules.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Uh, kids, families, other bands, our other businesses, and so
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: we are one of these boring bands that that.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Got a calendar. Okay, how is next year is going
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: to look? Like? How do we plan this? I mean
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: it's needed. It's neither in air life, I think to
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: have some kind of planning calendar up there, up and running.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: So uh we and then we I mean we are
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: touring a lot, We've done a lot of gigs, and
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: we have a lot of recordings, and so it goes
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  Speaker 1: quite natural.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not forced.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Now, it's not forced, but we talk at least a
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: couple of times a week and the phone or text
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: or mail or something like that.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Oh nice.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Is there any on whether you guys will tour the
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: new album in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: I really hope. So we went the last year New
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Zealand and Australia, which is just beautiful. I love it.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: I love it wonderful. I know it's been in talks
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: and no, it's been we're trying to make that happen
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: within the next album touring cycle. We were still talking
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: about it. How to put it together, yeah, because we
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: really want to go to Australia.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we would love that. And what can
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: fans expect from the upcoming tour? Will you play, you know,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: just everything from the new album or will we hear
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: a few of the older songs as well?
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I think it will be a mixture. I mean that's
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: that's really interesting. When you play live, that's where the
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: song comes alive for the first time because you heard
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: it on the album and you have your favorites and
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: you have your argument like that one or and then
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: some songs need to grow on you and I can,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I mean I can, I can. I could send some
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: feel a difference from when we've started out the first
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: tour with a morning machine head up to now now
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: people are singing along to the sharing along to the
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: intro that we kept throughout the whole album cycle, and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I mean songs like Needless and Days of the Lost
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  Speaker 1: is just people loves it, So I mean it's starting
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: to get some fan favorites out there, so we gotta
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: play those and they are still fun song to play.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think we're all getting a feel
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: for you guys now, and we're really learning all the
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: songs in every word and yeah, dancing alone. What does
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: the halo effect mean to you? And what do you
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: hope it means for fans?
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Halo effect? I mean when I when I listen to
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: our music and I see the color green and the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: logo and symbol, I feel that it stands for something positivity, good,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: very good energy to it. I used the word energy,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: but I gotta do that because I write music during
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: positive energy. It has to be a flow.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, that's awesome and we can definitely feel
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: it too. Can you feel that energy too when you're
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: up there on stage playing from the crowd?
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Uh? Yes, I do. I do. What would you be.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Doing if you weren't in the Halo effect?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: What I will be doing? I won't be playing guitar?
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe I couldistic guitar more. I think, yeah, brilliant.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Do you have any hobbies that you may go into
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: if you weren't?
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, I would love to do more sports. I
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: would love to have at least able to play soccer
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: once a week or something like that. Yeah, but I
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: mean music is my hobby as well as my life.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: It's just there twenty four seven, and it's something that
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I need in my everyday life.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I think, yeah, beautiful. I can understand that. What gave
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: you guys the inspiration to do this album? Quite soon
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: after Days of the last.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: I think that we've got our first kick ever at
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Swing and Rock Festival on the main stage. If we
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: had like an hour now the album is like forty
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: two minutes forty one twenty second songthing like that, what
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: do we do? Yeah, Michael, can you read a poem?
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Maybe nothing? Not for eighteen minutes? Yes, I love would
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: be crazy. So I wrote an intro or an outro
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: for the whole set to kind of dry without yea yeah, yeah,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: drag it out, which worked really good, and then we
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: kept the intro and outro for ninety six shows. But
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: during that time I thought that why don't I try
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to make a song out of the intro, and that
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: became much of the unheard for real Wow Yeah, and
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the outro later on became Coder, the last song on
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the album, which is based upon a melodies throughout the
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: whole album together with a cello and violin and then
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: soaring vocals on top.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: It was all you then, Yes, when I think of it, yes,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: so that that was the starting point for the whole writing.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I think you've played some massive festivals. What's the energy
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: like at these festivals. Do you have a favorite place
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: or festival that you've played.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's a lot of beautiful festivals and people working
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: at festivals and all the beautiful portals at festivals. I mean,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: it's like getting these questions, which what kind of gigs
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: do you love to do? Festivals, clubs. It's hard to
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: tell because I cannot love them all in a way
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: because you never know what you get. I mean, if
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: we were we were playing yesterday and yeah he did that.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Did you see that in the crowd? Yeah? That was cool,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: and they were sharing a lot. That wouldn't be the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: same tonight because it's a different city, different people coming out.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: So that's the bit of playing live but in this
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: kind of genre and music style, for me, and I
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: guess it is for you as well, is to keep
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: positive people are happy or being there. They what I get. Yes,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: let's have a good time. Let's build the strong reflection
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: founder from the stage. Oh yeah, yeah exactly. And a
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: metal show is depending on both bands and audience to
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: make it happen like this, and when that is made,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: then the roof goes up. It's so cool. And sometimes
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: you can tell that the band on stage, ah, they
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: ain't enjoying it, and yeah it is so so or
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you can come to a place where the audience is
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: kind of tired or you know. But most for most
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: times it is like you give and you get something
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: back and then you That's what I love about this
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: genre in music and doesn't matter if it's on a
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: festival stage or a club stage.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: To me, yeah, yeah, no, I love when you guys
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: especially keep up that energy on stage. It really does
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: have an impact on the crowd. Like you were saying, like,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: if you guys are responding one way, the crowd is
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: usually going to respond the same way. So it's great
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: to see that you guys keep that energy up and
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: keep it positive for.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Us out there.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Is there anything you would like to say to your
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Australian fans.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I love your country and I can't wait to come
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: back with a halo effect and play songs from the
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: March of the Unheard for you all and see your
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: happy faces and enjoy some proper weather.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Ah, it is really hot at the moment. Is it
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: really cold where you are?
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's with the time.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, snowing yet or not.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: This part of Sweden, close to the Sea of Gothenburg
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: West coast, Yeah, is a little bit rainy, gray BROWNI
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: sometimes we get snow and if it's getting everyone that's
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: happy like this, but it fades the way after two days.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think it'd be nice near the seaside
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: anyway where you are.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: That sounds nice exactly. It is very nice. It is
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: in summertime. It's perfect. Yeah.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for sitting down with us today
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: at Heavy. We can't wait to hear the album before.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Nicholas
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thank you, Bye bye.