Interview with Dirk van Den Auweele from :

CW: The new album is said to be somewhat heavier music-wise than the debut. What prompted that?

Anette: Yes, it’s a little bit heavier and harder than the first album but it’s still very melodic and, in fact, “Desert Dreams” has more ballads than the first so it has a soft side as well. Maybe some of our AOR-fans will be disappointed by the harder sound and we are sorry for that but it felt natural for us to return somewhat to our roots but with a modern approach. Before “Yankee Heaven”, when we were playing in different bands, the inspiration came from Helloween, Saxon, Queensryche for example. And to be honest…we had a rough year, so maybe we also were just a little pissed off when we did “Desert Dreams". Our first album was released with an English label, Z Records, but it turned out that they cheated on us big time so I guess that experience inspired the sound as well."

Mats: "It’s like Anette says, it felt naturally to get back to our roots but we have also tried to mix our music with some modern influences as well.”

CW: This is Shiva’s 2nd album, but how did you guys get to meet each other in the first place?

Anette: "I played in a band called Angelez around 1992 when two of our members quitted. Our drummer knew Mats, called him and made him start play with us. We also had a new bass player so we decided to change name to Yankee Heaven to get a fresh start. Why we choose that name I don’t remember. The music was quite different from Shiva, more melodic rock and not heavy at all. Our primary goal then was to get a record deal but when that didn’t happen we released an album in 1994 on our own called Unclassified. We didn’t exactly hit any playlist with the album but we were proud of it anyway.”

CW: How come Yankee Heaven no longer exists?

Anette: "Yankee Heaven ended around 1996 and I guess we grew apart from each other when our dreams of fortune and fame didn’t come true…; ). After that I tried a different road and did a pop/soul oriented demo album called “Nettie Q” with Per Billengren but the project ran out in the sand. Then I was a member in a cover band called Jellostone of which Mats was also a member and we played together again in bars and clubs. After we broke up around 1998 the only singing I did was in the shower until fall 2001 when Shiva was formed.

Mats: "I have done some projects after Yankee Heaven as well, but Anette and I have worked together now and then ‘til Shiva was formed. I had a musical break from 1999-2001. The last thing I did was playing with Renegade with whom I worked on their forth album which ran out in the sand. But it’s hard to live without playing so Anette and I had to do something.”

CW: Did you know that there was an A.O.R. band called Shiva, back in the ‘80s?

Anette: "No, we didn’t know that when we were looking for a name for our project. We wanted a name that would symbolize power and… came across the name Shiva.

Mats: "I found out later that there was a band called Shiva in the ‘80s. We also got some threats when we released our debut from a band in the USA who also called themselves Shiva. There was some lawyers and stuff involved. But we won that fight.”

CW: This ‘band’ is mainly vocalist Anette Johansson plus guitarist/ keyboardist backing vocalist Mats Edström, completed in the studio with a drummer and bassist. Now you’ll have to tell us who helped you out on both albums, right?

Mats: "On our debut album we had some help from Mattias Höijer (bass, Arrow, Renegade) and Jan Snarberg (drums and programming, Yankee Heaven) on a couple of songs (5 of them). But I mainly played the instruments by myself. On “Desert Dreams” I took the step to play almost everything including drums mixed with programming, bass etc. Except the piano on “Losing My Child” that was done by Niclas Olson (Alyson Avenue). We’ve been working this way because the lack of time, budget and so on. You also know what you get when you record things by your self. It was our intension to get on with a band on our debut, but as we said before Z Records came in our way, so we’ve been delayed 1,5 year you could say. You know, it has cost us a lot of money and time since we signed the Z Record deal.”

CW: You probably also wrote the music parts for the drummer & bassist, or did they have a say about what they did?

Mats: "Well, when it comes to recording, I’m a bit demanding maybe. But I usually try to get the best from the involved, and often it turns out pretty well.”

CW: With Anette’s way of life (living in the Swedish bush with 12 Siberian Huskies?), how does she combine the responsibilities of that lifestyle with ‘being in a band’?

Anette: "They are now 17 dogs and they live outdoors in different dog yards so we can leave them during the day without problems. They do take a lot of my time with feeding, training and playing around. Then I have a daytime job as an occupational therapist and also a 14 month old son, Victor, to take care of besides Shiva so…. How I manage to do everything...well, what can I say…. I’m a woman! To be honest, without my boyfriend and his parents it wouldn’t work at all. They have taken care of Victor and the dogs and giving me the time to work with the Shiva-project. I just love them!”

CW: How come Anette lives out in the wild anyway…and just how wild is ‘in the bush’?

Anette: "You must think I’m some kind of nutcase... ;)…and do you know what…you're so right! But it’s not so wild though, I do have electricity, TV and Internet. I live in a cottage surrounded by forest and ended up here just because of my interest for sled dogs racing and to get rid of all neighbors, the nearest lives 2 km away from here. I have my boyfriend and my 14 month old son to keep me company, and of course the dogs. But the nearest village is only 8 km away, so you see, it’s not that wild.”

CW: Are you able to write music together, or is that ‘job’ left completely to Mats?

Anette: "Yes, it’s completely up to Mats and he is doing a great job. Mats gets some ideas that he records in his studio. Then we get together and decide what key to play the song in and what the lyric should be about, what kind of “feeling” the song should have. Sometimes Mats already has a chorus line or verse and sometimes we start from scratch. Then Mats continues to work with the music arrangements and I work with the lyrics at home (sometimes we also finish the song in the studio but that’s not often). Then we get together again and record the song, sometimes with some adjustments. At this stage this has been the best way of working because both of us have so little free time after work and being with our families (and dogs!).”

CW: Mats, you have your own studio. Tell us a bit about it?

Mats: "Well, right now my studio is at my home in Jönköping! I’ve been kicked out from my former place that I had the studio. In fact we recorded the last song at my home. The song “Completely Strangers”. Anette lives near Jönköping so it’s pretty easy to come together when it’s time for recording. I have what you call a semi-professional studio, but I’ll upgrade it to a high-professional studio. The good thing about today’s recording-studios is that almost anyone can buy one today. When I started in the early ‘90s you had to come up with big money to just get a demo-studio. Today it’s the same money for a high-class studio. But it’s a lot of other equipment you need also, so in the end it will ruin you!”

CW: Okay, now tell us how long you took to record the album, preferably in detail?

Mats: "Our intension was to be ready with our second album for Z Records in September 2003. So we started recording in January '03. As you know, a lot happened during the process, I mean we broke the deal with Z Records, (that took a lot of energy) signed for a new label, MTM (thank God!). Threats from the other Shiva-band. Kicked out from my studio-place. And we also had some personal problems. So it was a tough year writing this album. In January '03 we had 4 songs ready ("The Preacher", "Porno Star", "Passenger Of Life", "Crucified"). Then it took much longer writing the other songs. The last song, “Completely Strangers”, was recorded in September '03, as I said, in my home.”

CW: Usually, when bands are in a studio, funny fuck-ups (aka ‘Spinal Tap’ moments) may occur, especially when (as is the case) the band is the owner of the studio. As things will be more relaxed, and less stressful, funny mistakes may happen even more often?

Mats: "Both Anette and I have a lot of fun while recording, we always have. It’s a lot of jokes, laughing and stuff. I mean, when we recorded “Completely Strangers” at my home, the neighbors must have been wondering what we were doing. Anette’s vocals are pretty (eh!) strong and of course Anette got a cold (hoarse) and she couldn’t sing anything at the end. I can’t explain how she was sounding then. My wife wasn’t happy I can tell. At that time we had booked the date with the ”mastering guys” and our label. So it was pretty stressful. But we succeeded at last.”

CW: Have there been any songs on this album that have asked more attention in the writing process, in the process of learning how to play, or the recording process?

Mats: "Mainly it has been pretty easy recording the songs, maybe harder to write them. But we had a lot trouble with “Dawning Of A New Horizon”, because the arrangement was hard to do. The song didn’t at first come up the way we wanted to. We loved the song but didn’t have the right feeling. So I think we worked a couple of weeks with that song just to get the right feeling. I think we succeeded, but of course a symphony-orchestra would be nice for that song. But no one showed up!”

CW: You guys are apparently also in for joking around a bit! Or how else do you explain that funny comment from Anette during the funky bit in the song “Unjustify The Truth”?

Mats: “We can’t explain that, it just happened! You know, we like to play around a little and we don’t take ourselves too seriously. I guess we just said: "Hey, let’s do something totally off here. Nobody will probably like it but at least we have a good time!" And so we did and we had some great laughs too.”

CW: I’m just gonna suppose Anette’s the one who writes the lyrics, so my question now would be where she finds the inspiration to write her lyrics?

Anette: I usually “collect” phrases or words that interests me when I watch TV ("Dr Phil" is a goldmine…), listen to the radio or just talking to people. I write them down and start to make up a history around these fragments. Sometimes the lyrics just “pop out” without any effort and sometimes I must work very hard to come up with anything at all. I do not use so much of own personal experience but I do try to get a personal touch to the lyric so it sounds truthfully and honest. I also have a very big imagination to find inspiration from. I like it when the lyrics are symbolic because then they can mean different things to different people. I have a long way to go but I think my writing has improved on this album.”

CW: Choose 5 songs off the new album, and tell us what the lyrics are about?

Mats:

“Mystery Of Mind”: It ´s about the crazy and dangerous people out there, with a twisted way of viewing the world. In their sick minds they truly believe that they are the chosen ones with a mission to fulfil, and they are not responsible for their actions because they are controlled by voices in their head. The scary part is that it could be just anyone you meet in the streets…

“Desert Dreams”: This song is about the things we desire, it could be money, power, drugs etc. We easily fall into the hands of the ones that possess these things and become their puppets. So we all have our own desert dreams that we are searching for, which one is yours…?

“Losing My Child”: The worst thing that could happen to you is to lose your child. This song is about that pain and that anger you must feel against God for letting it happen. The original idea we got from the musical “Kristina from Duvemåla” where the deeply religious Kristina loses her child and starts to curse God for being unjust. When we were finished with the song we couldn’t listen to it for a while because it touched us so, it's a cruel song in that way.

“Unjustify The Truth”: Well…this song is dedicated to Mark at Z Records, our first label. He is a liar that has had profit on us without giving us a penny. He has violated the contract and broken the law. To make a long story short – we don’t like him.

“Porno Star”: I guess the title speaks for itself. If you think about it, isn’t it a kind of strange phenomena that men and women are willing to pay big money just to see some people’s genitals on stage? Anyway, it´ s an expensive hobby…

CW: Do you have any preferred songs on this album, and justify your choice?

Anette: My favorite song is “Losing My Child” because it just touches me so, maybe it’s because I’m a mother. And the song has a great melody, great guitars and I’m very happy how my performance turned out. I also like the part where there’s a touch of Swedish folk music in it.

Mats: My favorite for the moment is “Mystery Of Mind” because I think it rocks a lot and it’s a very powerful song with great lyrics and heavy guitars.

CW: Will this band ever get on the road (and to Belgium specifically)? Because I for one would like to see you on stage!

Mats: “When we first started out Shiva it was just meant to be a studio project because it was difficult to find band members among our old friends (we had to face it, we weren’t 16 anymore with all the time in the world…). We we’re quite surprised when we got our first record deal because our primary goal was to try to get a distribution deal. Anyway, the first record got great reviews and it seems that “Desert Dreams” also will get that so the idea of playing live doesn’t feel so far away anymore. We have contacted a couple of musicians that will help us out if we have an inquiry send to us. So you'll just never now, maybe we’ll see you sometime! If you want to reach us before that happens please visit our homepage: www.shivahardrock.com and sign our guest book or ask us something in the forum section.”