Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Down the Garden Path with JOHANNES ECKERSTROM From AVATAR

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Down the Garden Path with JOHANNES ECKERSTROM From AVATAR · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, this is Johannes from Avatar speaking and you hearing.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Enjoying fantastic, Thank you so much. You'll be gracing You'll
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: be gracing our shows in August. And Australia has always
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: embraced larger than life heavy bands. What keeps bringing Avatar
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: back here?
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Well, keeps people will kind enough to invite us back
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: after the first time, I guess because it took forever.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Look at the band's history. It took way too long
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: for us to come over the first time. But it
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: was a great experience and we said we want some
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: more of that, and this time we are getting more.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: We had a couple more shows to the circuit and
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: all of that. It just, I mean, the shows so great.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: The whole experience was just very, very enjoyable. And I
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: did did Australian things that you hope to do, meaning
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: that I saw kangaroos, I did not see spiders. It's
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: everything you hoped for, you know as a Swede coming over.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: That's you know, two good things. And but I know
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I feel like we connected well and look forward to
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: more on that.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's fantastic. And is there anything this time around
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: that you maybe want to see that you didn't last time.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: The way things are planned out, I don't think this
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: will be what I have the chance to do what
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I actually want to do well. For once, I would
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: need us Gooba license and I don't have to have
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: that right A bass player does, and but he's also
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: been in his own time and done the thing right,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and I would I would like that. But I was
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: also if someone would be skilled enough to keep me alive,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I would love just to head out in nature, because
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you know, we've got to be we got to see
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the towns. I took this self in front of the
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Sydney Opera and point and of course pointing out that
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: the that the material is important from Sweden, so you're
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: welcome and all the things you need to do as
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: far as being in the cities and down town, which
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: was great, But you know, I want to explore every place. Yeah,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: every place as I go to now, because that's the
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: rare way of traveling for us in any place. But
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: when you get a little touch on nature, find time
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: for that and you're able to pull that off that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: that ends up being usually more memorable thing for me.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, we've got to see sunrise, our Grand Canyon,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and it's long ago we did that, but we did that,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: and it still stays with me as profound. So if
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: I would have time for nature, that would have been
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: my go to answer. But I'll make do with whatever
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the cities has to offer for this for the time being.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, oh beautiful. I'm curious too if we went over
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  Speaker 2: to Sweden, what would be some of the animals we
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: would see there. I know your nature is more like
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: colder and more woody, but animals.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean as far as animals worth taking a
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: picture of. If you're from Australia, I guess our elk
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: meaning that moves, but then it's that Okay, it's not
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: quite as big as the Canadian but that's their national animal.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: This Swedish moves, so you know, I guess they would
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  Speaker 1: stand out, and you're what, I really have to go
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: looking for them. But you know, bears and links and
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: wolverines and otters and you know mammals.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh that's also okay, I'm getting sidetracked anyway,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: back to the interview, but one day I hope to
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: get there. The Don't Go in the Forest tours titles
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: sounds cinematic and unsettling, and I've heard a few incredible
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: metaphors around the title. For you, what's the story or
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: feeling behind that thing?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Well, I think that the reason it worked as an
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: album title is because I feel like it has a
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: couple of layers to it to me, because it needs
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: to be said. At every other album it seems to go,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: you know, every second album, it's kind of we start
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: with a plan or we figure out the plan early
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: on in making it, and which shapes also things like
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: what it's called and the visual sides. And that was
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Sabotar Country, that was Dance, Table Dance, that was well,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: I guess yeah, I don't remember what albums we made
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: you get it and then in between, because you have
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: that process with those, then it's the fresh, natural, fresh
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  Speaker 1: take with the with the album would that would follow
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: that to not just get stuck in the same wheel
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and you know, stuck in a rot is to do
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the opposite and just go for something figuring out on
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  Speaker 1: the way, explore and don't go. The forest was an
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: explorative album in that sense, which also but that which
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: is great. It just leads to towards the end of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the album last day of Vocals, I think where drummer
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  Speaker 1: John had audacity to do. So what are we gonna
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: call it? And you're like shit, But then going through
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: what we actually had and what was them down as
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: songs were called, So don't go in the forest was
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: kind of a no brainer. Yeh. Big part is well,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: for one, just as an idea, like the kind of
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: person who's drawn to metal to begin with at a
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: young age, all that do you have that don't do
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  Speaker 1: the forbidden the thing you know, don't go in the forest,
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  Speaker 1: and you go, I really need to go in the forest.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: You know what's over there? What are you? What are
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  Speaker 1: you keeping from me? So is that But then also
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: just the psychological nature of what the songs are about
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: and everything, and hope like and I think the role
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: they play in my life is writing them, and then
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: hopefully to some degrees from people with people connect with it.
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  Speaker 1: Is that confrontation with yourself, dealing with whatever it's hard
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: to deal with at times that happens, you know, facing fears.
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  Speaker 1: Really then you know, it's not that I've therapy what
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I had to deal with trauma, but from what I
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: know about it, you know, like if you do that,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: it's in avoidable at some point to have the tough
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: conversation about what happened and through that's part of a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: journey of healing. So entering that dark, forbidden room and
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that sends breaking a taboo that you build for yourself,
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  Speaker 1: and then it's just also a mysterious, exciting place which
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: kind of leads in to them maybe the magic of Avatar,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: if you will, because there's a little movie that played
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: in my head when not for the song, but when
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: it became the title track it. Effort described the album
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  Speaker 1: overall the idea of being lost in the forest in
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the dark, cold alone and you're start to hear light
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and music from between the trees. You head down that
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: way and there's a circus tend in a meadow that
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be there, but it is, and there's music coming
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: from within that tent. You step inside and then you're
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: in our world. So it has that to me, a
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: mythological quality. So it's really about the layers what you
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I guess you look for with a title, unless it's
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: just if every album is about the Australian EMU Wars,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: you can just call it the Wars.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, Well, that's really interesting how nuanced this album is
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  Speaker 2: and the title for being an album that was really
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: made without you know, that former thought of this is
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: what we're going to do.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: For this album? Yeah, well, you know because also I
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: think that was another big part of the process, was
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: in pursuing and yet another level of honesty. I got
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: interested in and in letting the subconscious really take charge,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: specifically most of all talking lyrics here and roughly half
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the songs. I trusted the process of just writing things
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that came out and just trust the sense of a
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: sense of beauty and it like, oh I like this,
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  Speaker 1: let's I didn't need I didn't need the answers right away.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: And because you know, once you have an idea to
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  Speaker 1: work with it and polish it and make it and
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: figuring out and you know, fix it enough to have
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: it be a complete song or a painting or house
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: whatever you're making. That is a very concrete thing about
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  Speaker 1: all those things. There's a deep seated, abstract place in
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  Speaker 1: your consciousness. I think where that where that first spark is.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: And I think maybe in the passed that was in
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  Speaker 1: a bit of a hurry to to, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: figure it out, what is this? What can we make
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  Speaker 1: out of this? And I think I got I've gotten
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: more and more comfortable over the years to like, I'm
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: not sure we'll reveal itself over time. Let's just go
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  Speaker 1: with it, work on it a bit. At some point
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the cleanup face comes at some point is is like
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: how many courses at the end. You know, at some
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: point you reach that, but to delay that as far
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: as possible. And what turns out is then if you listen,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: because you know, rains are weird, and our consciousness and
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: my thoughts and memories everything, and there is very as
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: a vast space, and this album in a way it
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: felt like it made sense to me the way before
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: it made sense to me, and that sense so the
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  Speaker 1: three forms sometimes leads to a more concrete place than
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  Speaker 1: if you and then if you have a very concrete
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: plan to begin with, because then some of whatever impulse
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  Speaker 1: you have over the course of maybe a year of
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: writing and like, oh this is great, but now it
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: needs to fit in here, and here things were allowed
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: to fit more naturally.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: If that makes sense, absolutely, like take their own course
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  Speaker 2: and you let really let those ideas breathe and coome
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  Speaker 2: their own.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that then it comes together nicely in the
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: end anyway, because also because at the end. With all
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: that being said, it's five guys in the room playing
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: heavy metal together and as ecliptic as Avatar is, and
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: we're still those five dudes with our specific skill talents, limitations, sensibilities.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: That helps narrow it down anyway. Yeah, you know, because
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: we're not talented enough to be not ourselves that we
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: can that we have just about the right amount of
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: skills to be ourselves. So then that makes me also
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: worry not so much about wherever the idea comes from.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely, So as well, you're I think, are
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: you trying to say that the people around you, obviously
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: in the band, having their input, you trust their input
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Well. We are also multiple songwriters, so yeah, and and
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  Speaker 1: it's a very collective process that we do. Like there's
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: a handful of us that tend to start writing the songs.
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  Speaker 1: You know that if we will work more strictly defined
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: who does what who would have probably been called the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: songwriters off the band to some degree we are, but
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: then the end goal is so collective and every everyone's
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: opinion counts along the way because it's everybody's song at
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: the end. Actually, our producer Jay Rosta, for the last
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: bunch of albums. Now. He he said we are the
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: most democratic band he ever worked with.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: That's an amazing compliment.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, well, maybe an explanation to why we're
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: not bigger. Who knows. Maybe all I'm saying is maybe
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: if if everybody would listen to me all the time,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: maybe it's still at stadiums.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just they should give it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: I guess we'll never know.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: They should give it a try sometime. Just listening to
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: what you want all the time.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Speaking about all these ideas, if Avatar could create a
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: full immersive experience with no budget limits like a film,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: a haunted attraction or theatrical production, what would the dream
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: project look like?
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: There are bunch of those. I don't know. Like as
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: far as just having a specific dream project, the only
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: thing that comes to my mind, which isn't that really
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: is that at some point to do some proper touring
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: of Africa, because that's tricky for a northern hemisphere, Western
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: civilization rooted band to do. But I also know there
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: are metal heads there too, you know, and that is
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: also this is also doing this has been my key
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: to the world, so to get to use it for
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: places that on paper would be less given for us
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to It's not so weird if a Swedish had a
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: metal band comes to Australia and comes to North American
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: stuff for us to get to do something in Tansania
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: or something and so, but that question, I think it
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: would be all of the above. And I mean we
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: made a little Avatar country film when we did that album.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: We integrate theatrical parts in what we do live well.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: One would be if with alongside the right idea because
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: it doesn't serve a purpose if you know, it's always
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: starts with the music anyway, but with the right music
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: and things aligning the idea that if we would put
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: something together that we warrant and that we would have
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: an audience enough for to have a residential situation and
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: you know, stay in an opera house and stay in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that kind of place where with stages that are built
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: there there are as much space on the sides and
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the low and above and behind us the stage area
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: is so you can have these wild product, you know,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: for musicals and opera in those kind of things, and
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to utilize that fully on principle, that is a thing
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  Speaker 1: I think we all would be very excited about doing,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: But for real, we only get really excited about it
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: at the time when it's like and then it would
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: be about this, and we do like, you know, the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: when we have the riffs that feeds into making songs
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: that start to feed it that big picture radio. But yeah,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: opera house level things.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Oh that's incredible. I really like your answer about touring
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: places that maybe even bands in general don't typically go to.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I feel like sometimes i've yeah, but
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: I mean metal opens a lot of doors because again
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: it's a subculture that lives within the culture surf you
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: really pushed forward, you can that can take you a
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: whole lot around the world, but clear some places more
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: than others where I feel like I just I feel
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: like I've seen more jazz exchange with Africa, like I
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: see more you know what's broadly describes world music, you know,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: broadly speaking that has had the opportunity for those kind
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: of exchanges. But then you know, again, starting a Marshal
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Pitt in Kenya would be sweet.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: They're there because I've actually only interviewed one African band
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: who was a metal band and they were insane and yeah,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: they Oh my gosh, I'll have to look it up
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: and said it to you. It was a long time ago,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: but I was like, you guys are incredible. To shame
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: not more people know about it, you know, yeah.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Incredible because there's a really cool one from this small
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: there's a small country to go. I don't think they are.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: And I because was it like Arakan and I pronounce
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: it wrong, I'm sure, but that they are to gosh.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: At the time, I was told about and Togo's only
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: metal band. They had a couple of rock bands, but
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: they had one metal band. Yeah, and very cool. Get
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: some attention, get to come a little bit to Europe,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: just and I hope they get because I really liked them.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: And then I just of course their entry into coming
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: to Europe is you know that what they are is
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: so interesting in itself, so they show up in those
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: more intellectual forums first, which is so fine and Danny
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: in a good start. But then I hope they get
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: to grab you know, come to festivals where people go, whoa,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: this rules you know, yeah, that's next level for them.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: But because they also do one of those yeah you
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: can hear you can tell them from Africa and what
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the interview with the music, which is another cool thing.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: With metal right, that keeps happening. You know, like, well
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: if you swim, swim for a bit and you see Lena,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: you got hailing weaponry and what they do with their
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Maori heritage, and metal lends itself very well to this. Yeah,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: to to have to marrying itself, whatever you grew up with,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: whatever was fed with you with your mother's milk, That
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: music can easily find its way into becoming a heavy
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: version of itself.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree. And look, I'm running out of time,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: but that was a great way to end it. Johanna's
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: thank you so much for your time and we can't
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: wait to see you in August
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Looking forward to Thank you so much