Talking again with a band from Sweden. It shows us again that there is a lot of talent in that country. This time it’s ‘First Revival’ , a band from the north of Sweden. And it’s always nice to find out some new things. How you find a suitable name, the difference between the meal scene in the north and south. Let’s hear what they have to tell us
The band is called ‘First Revival’. What can you tell us about the name. Does it have a special meaning and with of you came up with it?
Simone was the one who came up with the name. She honestly just used a “bandname generator” on the internet and picked up a name which sounded good and was easy to pronounce, ‘First Division’. But that name was already in use, so she took the other suggested name on the list, ‘First Revival’.
In the beginning the name was just a name without any meaning, but after a while the whole band founded a meaning for it. All the band members have been struggling to find serious bands and band members in the past, and now with ‘First Revival’ it feels right, with both members and the music. So we use to say that it has been like a reborn for us all with the band. If that make any sense, haha?!
Can you tell something about the history of the band?
Besides the band name thing, the early years of ‘First revival’ were not so pleasant (late 2015 and early 2016). We had two different band members not including the original lineup and the first months were just rubbish and no serious rehearsals. Until the moment we won a small competition and won a day at a studio to record a song.
This was in January 2016 and then we got a deadline till the 10th of April (that day was the planned studio-day so toe speak) and in the same time we got two new members, a new guitarist and our bassplayer. Our bassplayer (Hasse) joined the band 2 days before we entered the studio.
So we entered the studio in April 2016 and one month later our first single “Nothing but Monsters” was released.
Our debut EP “Hope Has Us Blinded” was released the 20th of May 2017 with a different lineup of the band. Another guitarist and another singer. In the fall of 2017 our lead guitarist left the band due personal reasons and a few weeks later we recruited Isac to the band. In the spring of 2018 we parted ways with our old singer and Hasse took over the lead vocals and we developed a heavier and steadier sound. The sound we have now is the sound we wanted for ‘First Revival’ from the beginning.
Please introduce the band members to us. Who are they, which instruments do they play, musicals backgrounds etc?
Simone Stålnacke
She is one of the guitarists, and also the founder of ‘First Revival’. She started her music career at the age of 13 and had several bands since then. ‘First Revival’ is her fourth serious band and hopefully her last. We hope she will stay!
Hasse Johansson
He is the lead singer and bassplayer of the band. He began his music career when he was about 9 years old., first singing so now and then, but in the spring of 2018 he started to sing fulltime. He has also been in several different bands trough the years.
Johan Wikberg
He is the goofy drummer. He was practically born with a drumkit. He has been playing for a long time, stared when he was 10 years old or so. He has been in ‘First Revival’ from the beginning. ‘First Revival’ is his fourth band.
Isac Lundquist
He is also guitarist (playing the lead parts) and has been shredding the guitar since he was about 19 years old. Like all the other band members he’s also been in other bands through the years.
Are there band members playing in other bands also at this moment?
No, ‘First Revival’ is the only band for all our band members!
How would you describe the music of ‘First Revival’?
I would say “dirty heavy metal with attitude”. A nice mix between 70’s heavy metal with a slight touch of modern stoner metal.
Which other bands are your favorites?
As a band we find influences from ‘Motorhead’ and ‘Black Sabbath’. But individually we have a different kind of taste in music.
Simone is more into modern heavy metal such as ‘Corroded’ and ‘Mustasch’ and bands like that. Hasse likes the 70’s and ‘Motorhead’. Lemmy is the reason why he even picked up a bass in the first place. Isac likes the melodic kind of metal. ‘Wintersun’ is one of his favorites. And Johan likes ‘AC/DC’ and ‘Joe Bonamassa’.
Can we hear the influences of these bands in your music?
Yes, ‘Motorhead’ and ‘Black Sabbath’ are two bands who had influenced our music. We have our own sound but you can hear that we are inspired by those bands. Many people have told us that we sound even a bit like the early days of ‘Sepultura’ and ‘Slayer’.
The band is from the north of Sweden. Is it easy for bands to play in that area?
It’s not easy at all, the are only a very few venues and the conditions are hard. It’s usually a long distance between the cities, so only to get to the venue and play is difficult enough and a task itself. Other than that there are not so many venues to play at.
What can you tell us about the metal scene in Sweden?
The metal scene in Sweden is really good. We have lots of metal bands and some of them had even made it to the top, such as ‘In Flames’, ‘Mustasch’, ‘Meshuggah’, ‘Candlemass’, ‘Arch Enemy’ and more.
Other than a good export of metal music, Sweden’s metal scene in the south parts have great audiences and the underground music scene is still alive. Much more than one can say about the northern parts of Sweden. There is the underground scene pretty much dead and people seems even scared to find and listen to new music or bands that aren’t famous. But there are a few people out there who support the local bands and artists, and they are awesome!!
What are your goals in music?
Otherwise than develop our skills at our instruments and growing as musicians, we want to inspire others and make music where the listener can relate to and maybe find comfort and support in the lyrics.
And of course we want to able to make a living of our music and play live as much as possible.
Can you tell us which one was your most remarkable gig so far?
One time we were on a small tour in the summer of 2018, in Stockholm at the Lion Bar. The crowd was very amazing and people came to us afterwards to talk and they even wanted to make pictures with us, and they even wanted to have our autographs! Haha….
And another remarkable gig was pretty recent, the 28th of December in a small town called Boden, her in the north of Sweden. The crowd seemed to like our music and they even sang the lyrics of our songs. And afterwards we sold a lot of merch. It was an amazing feeling standing on stage and seeing and hearing people sing along the songs, and enjoying the show. We will never forget that moment.
What can you tell us about the Swedish audience?
The audience here in the northern parts is very hard to please. There are a few who actually supports and wanted to listen to the non-famous underground bands. The southern part of Sweden are more open minded for new bands and underground music.
Do you have released records so far or are there plans to do so?
We have only our EP “Hope Has Us Blinded”, but its outdated and we have thrown a lot of old songs in the garbage can. But as we speak (or write hahaha….) we are currently working on our full length album “Rust” which is going to be released this year (2019). We will have it ready and mixed somewhere in fall or winter.
Who is responsible for writing the music and the lyrics?
Hasse and Isac are the ones who write the music and lyrics most of the time. Simone and Johan are of course having input or ideas as well.
Is there (always) a message in your songs?
Not always, but most of our songs are about things that people can relate to. Mental illness is a recurring topic in our lyrics.
Where can we find the band in 3 years from now?
Hopefully we have grown bigger and got a bigger fan base, and hopefully we have had our first European tour. And a second EP/album should be available on Spotify our other social media’s in 2022.
You can find more information about the band:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Rpw7HXkF4PrbE5rueaco5
ONS NIEUWS MUSIC 
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