• It's not every often when you have the chance to talk with a hero and especially with Captain Fastbeer. His ordinary real life name is Michael Hakansson and he is the bass player of the hyper power band which acts under the mystic name EVERGREY. He reveals in this interview his thoughts about conquering the world with their music and their upcoming album which will be released in a few days

1.GIVE A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAND. WHICH ARE THE  CURRENT BAND MEMBERS?

•  Well Evergrey was formed back in `96 by Tom Englund and former guitarist Dan Bronell. Shortly after that drummer Patric Carlsson and bassplayer Daniel Nojd joined the band. They also recruited a keyboardplayer, Will Chandra. Then in `97 they recorded their debutalbum ”The Dark Discovery” which was released on GNW Records during the spring of `98. Shortly after that Will left the band but they didn´t recruit anyone new for the job, instead they continued on their own, creating what later would take the shape of the second album ”Solitude Dominance, Tragedy”. The album was released under licence by the Swiss label Hall Of Sermon. And again, shortly after the recording some line-up changes were made. Bassplayer Daniel Nojd left the band and I, Michael Hakansson, joined the band. By that time I played in another Swedish band, the melodic death, black act Embraced and I brought our keyboardplayer Sven Karlsson with me to Evergrey. We did a European tour together with Kamelot and Crimson Glory during the spring of `00 and some festivals the same summer. After that we started to work on new material for the upcoming album but unfortunately some problems occured. Guitarist Dan Bronell decided to leave the band in November `00, while we were in the middle of the writing process of the new album. Luckily we quickly found a replacement in Henrik Danhage who really did a great job and became an important part of Evergrey and contributed with a lot of ideas for the new material. Everything really worked out fantastic when Henric came and we successfully finished and recorded the new record ”In Search Of Truth”. Shortly after that we closed a deal with Inside Out, a collaboration which I really believe will be fantastic. That´s about it I guess…
• So today´s line is:
•  Tom S Englund – Vocals, Guitar
•  Henric Danhage – Guitar, Backing Vocals
•  Patric Carlsson – Drums
•  Michael Hakansson – Bass
•  Sven Karlsson – Keyboard

•  It´s always hard to mention any main influences as we are 5 people with different backgrounds and naturally different bands that have influenced our own musical growth. When it comes to describing our music, to make it as easy as possible, I would say that we play very melodic and emotional metal with a slight touch of progressive elements.

•  Yes our new album will be released on the 17th of September on Inside Out. The album is titled ”In Search Of Truth” and the tracks are:
•  1. The Masterplan
•  2. Rulers Of The Mind
•  3. Watching The Skies
•  4. State Of Paralysis
•  5.The Encounter
•  6. Mark Of The Triangle
•  7. Dark Waters
•  8. Different Worlds
•  9. Misled

•  Andy Has been involved since the beginning and has always been an important part of Evergrey. He has now done all three of the albums and we are very pleased with all of them.

•  Absolutely. This is my first record with Evergrey but I know the guys are still very pleased with the previous albums, as they should be! The reaction has always been really good for Evergrey, both press and fans have given us fantastic response.

•  Well, I´ve been a part of the band for almost two years now, I joined right after the recording of SDT and during that time there is nothing I would want to have done differently.

•  I absolutely think that fantasy can be a fantastic way of expressing reality. It´s almost like you´re painting a picture with the words, and it gives everyone the opportunity to create they´re own idea of what it´s all about. And of course, everyday situations are a part to, they are the ones that shapes you life.  The lyrics on ”In Search Of Truth” are all under the same theme. They´re basicly about a man who has been abducted and how this effects his life.

•  The name has it´s roots in a time of Tom´s and Dan´s life when they were both unemployed and everything just seemed to be grey. As easy as that. Nowdays I really think it fits the emotion we create with our music too.

•  We had a fantastic time during the tour. It was the first tour for us so of course it was something special. I would gladly tour with them again but as Crimson Glory do not exist any longer it would be pretty hard to tour with them ?. We can´t wait to get back to Greece again, you guys were fucking crazy, it was the best experience I´ve ever had. Greece really knows how to kick ass!!!!

•  Hhhmmmm, eeehhhh……………don´t know actually. I hope that day never comes.

•  Nosferatu and Solitude Within are killer songs. Then we have The Masterplan and Rulers Of the minds etc, etc from the new one. I think there are a lot of songs that would stand as a great trademark for Evergrey.

•  One of my absolute favourites and the one that has affected me most is without doubt ”Abducted” by Whitley Strieber. Another author I can warmly recommend is Zecharia Sitchin. He has written 7 books which reveals a, or the most, radical theori of life´s beginning on earth.

•  Hero?………..I am a hero: Captain Fastbeer

•  Absolutely, I think that would be fantastic if we got that opportunity. The perfect film would be if the ever made a movie based on Whitley Strieber´s ”Abducted”

•  To be able to continue to make records that people love and to go on tour to meet all you guys out there!!! And of course if I could make a living on the music the dream would be complete.

•  I really like all the great people that you meet and the experienced that I get from doing this and I really despise all the fucking crap and broken promises that people who are not serious make. If you´re not serious about what you´re doing then please don´t do it!! I really can´t figure out why there are so many people involved in the music industry who´s not serious. We really need to clean up some of the mess before the standard gets to low.

•  I haven´t really heard any new bands lately, unfortunately……

•  Thanx a lot for the interview, and to all you metalheads out there: Check out ”In Search Of Truth”, you won´t be disappointed!!!!! Stay Grey….Mike