Following on from her review of their recent album Death, Skulls & Satan, Bones threw a few questions in the direction of Stockholm rockers Nale…
How did you guys meet?
Anders: By playing in different bands in our youth, we knew of each other when it was time to put Nale together.
What are your plans for this year and will you be touring the UK?
Mathias: Plan is to get some nice touring going. UK, with Germany and Scandinavia, will be priorities and we’ll see what we can make happen.
What kind of equipment/guitars are you using right now?
- Anders (Drums): Tama Superstar with Tama hardware and Zildjian cymbals
- Johan (Bass): Warwick Basses, EBS amp and assorted pedals
- Tomas (Guitar): Gibson Flying Vs, Peavey 5150 amp
- Mathias (Vocals): Shure mics
Thinking back to when you were kids, can you remember which bands inspired you to be musicians?
Anders: Elvis, Europe, Entombed, Sepultura to mention a few. All kinds of heavy and aggressive but also good beats and melodies (different genres).
Mathias: I listened to Elvis too, thanks to my dad. Elvis, Sam & Dave, Little Richard. Then my older brother introduced me to Guns N’ Roses which was the starting point to the “heavier” music.
What is the local metal scene like in Stockholm right now? I know there has been a glam/sleaze revival in recent years with bands like Sister and Crashdïet, and musically, Scandinavian countries in general are most famous for the extreme metal scene (and ABBA). Have you noticed a shift in preferred genre?
Anders: No, Just that a lot of bands exists and will probably always exist and hopefully drive the scene in a “good” direction. As long as it has “the right vibe” and groove to it, I’m satisfied.
Mathias: We’ve got lots of bands, good ones too. But the stages are disappearing fast and hard so if there isn’t some kind of change soon and we turn this around, I’m guessing that the “Swedish metal phenomenon” will have a slow and tragic death and all that will be left is Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.
If you were to tour with any band, what would your dream line up be?
Anders: Any band with a sense of humour and with a distance to themselves (very rare among metal bands) would do. I don’t have any preferred act in regards to musicality/idolisation.
Mathias: With what Anders said, I’d probably want Mastodon. Love their music, they seem to have our taste in strange humour and are probably nice guys.
What do you do to stay inspired and creative during difficult times?
Anders: Creativity is hard work and sometimes you just need to take a break from hard work. Usually it works to stop forcing stuff and do something else for a while but you don¹t solve things by ignoring them.
Mathias: Agreeing with my fabulously handsome drummer. And hard times can sometimes also be the inspiration to your creativity! At least for me.
Who is your guilty pleasure artist?
Anders: None, I’m not embarrassed about liking what I like.
Mathias: I’m also not embarrassed about what Anders likes.
Do you have any advice for younger musicians? Maybe something you wish people had told you?
Anders: Creativity is hard work but it has to be fun too. Just play and rehearse to get better at your stuff as long as it is fun.
Mathias: If you try to be a rockstar, you’ve probably already failed. Be a musician instead.
