By Liam Sweeny.
RRX: One of the best icebreakers is to ask someone what their favorite song is. And there are sometimes two; your favorite song, and today’s favorite song. What’s your favorite song, today’s and for all time?
Figo: I assume that question isn’t referring to our own songs. I don’t really have a “favorite song.”
Daniel: My song of the day is “Blackhole” by Architects. If you don’t know Architects, you have to check them out. They make great music and are very interesting people.
The best song ever is “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. This song inspired generations to pick up a guitar, just like it did in my case. Metallica is the greatest heavy metal band in the world, period.
RRX: We lean on our friends as musicians. We don’t play for our health. We need our friends to tell us whether we’re hitting the mark. What’s the most meaningful thing a friend told you about your music, and how did it affect your playing or songwriting?
Figo: That’s absolutely right. Why would you compose songs just for yourself? Music is meant to inspire and be shared. Before a new song is released, I let very close friends hear it first, and they are brutally honest with their feedback. However, it doesn’t have a direct influence, in my case, on my performance.
Daniel: My friend Figo always inspires me to push myself further. He keeps telling me that I’m a great guitar player, even though I wouldn’t say that about myself. I remember one time when another friend of mine, who was in a successful band and toured around the world, told me after a jam session at his house that I should pursue music because he believed I could achieve something.
Those small moments, even though I don’t realistically believe I’ll “make it” in the music business, inspire me and give me more fuel to rock and roll. Sometimes, those are exactly the words you need to hear.
RRX: People aren’t going out to concerts as much. And musicians are caught up trying to figure out algorithms and marketing instead of sweating it out through a show. Do you see us going out more in the future? Why or why not?
Figo: I can’t confirm that people aren’t going to concerts much. As for the whole issue of algorithms and marketing—well, you obviously can’t do without them; they’ve always been part of releasing music. But I suspect you’re referring to the whole social media side of things—how many likes and followers you get, and so on. I sometimes get the impression that some bands do it solely for that reason, defining and measuring their music by likes and streams. Sure, I’m happy about likes and streams, but I don’t measure our songs by likes or streams. I’m not out there chasing likes.
Daniel: Realistically, I think the world will keep moving in the direction of digitalization, AI, and so on. Music has never been so easily accessible to everyone, and at the same time, it feels like people are not as fascinated by live shows anymore. We have YouTube, Spotify, etc. We can have a live show in our homes, so why go out somewhere?
One day, VR shows will be something completely normal, and they will present another threat to live shows. Live shows are still popular, but the business is brutal. Prices keep rising, while the motivation to attend keeps declining. It’s just the sad reality.
I think live shows will never die, but then again, dinosaurs didn’t know they were going to go extinct in the blink of an eye either, right?
RRX: Songwriters are poets. Maybe. People who consider themselves poets might not see song lyrics as poetry proper. What do you think? Are song lyrics poetry even if they don’t match accepted poetic structures?
Figo: To start with, I don’t really care what a poet says about lyricists, or vice versa. I write song lyrics.
RRX: A big part of the music is the life that inspired the music. Do you have an internalized way of turning your life’s highs and lows into song, or do you go into songwriting openly and your life just happens upon you at that time?
Figo: I don’t have a specific method or formula; I simply write, and while I’m writing, I’m not always fully aware of what it’s actually about—that only becomes clear later on. With the exception of *Disgust At The Horror*, the lyrics for all my releases to date—whether for King Ern or as part of collaborations—date back to 1995 and were originally intended for a book. However, since I found writing a book difficult and the material resembled song lyrics more than anything else, I opted for lyrics; in a sense, then, I am singing my book.
Daniel: I’ve tried many times to write a song inspired by life events or emotions, but since I don’t write lyrics, I find it very difficult to express those things through an instrument alone. I approach my music in a cold, calculated, and structured way. But I can’t directly transfer emotion into my music, for example, how being enraged or sad could transform me in a split second into a virtuoso.
I’m still the same Daniel, but now I’m twice as pissed off because I was already pissed off before I picked up my guitar, and now I’m pissed off because I can’t write a good riff on the spot.
RRX: Writing about life, singing about your deepest moments, you must draw a line between what you give the public and what you keep. How do you decide where that line is? And has it shifted over the years?
Figo: As a rule, I don’t explain my lyrics, nor would I discuss them, because I don’t write for others and I leave the interpretation to the readers. If I am asked what the lyrics are about, I do answer the question. I don’t expect my lyrics to be understood, I am the content of these lyrics.
RRX: When you’re putting songs together, is it a gathering of parts, or is one instrument the “bedrock” that you lay down first? If you’re solo, is it singing first or instrument first?
Daniel: Basically, my songs usually start with a riff. I develop the riff into longer sections. I constantly ask myself, “What does this song need?” and, based on my intuition, I start adding new layers that complement the riff. So far, I have composed only one song based purely on a feeling, but usually, the riff is the foundation on which I build the entire song.
RRX: Have you ever teared up when you were writing a song? Or smashed an instrument, or even felt the urge to do either so strongly you had to restrain yourself? If so, what was happening? And what song came from it?
Daniel: There was only one song that I composed in one sitting because I needed to quickly express my deep sadness and meditate. It was a reaction to a huge disappointment at one stage of my life and a manifestation of my feelings. The song was never released. Maybe one day
