Covered Call (photo: Michael Johansson)
Joel: We like to play as much as possible this year and we are planning a new record already. We are going to start with that this autumn.
MM: So can you tell us how you all met and the history of the band to this point?
Joel: It was Ronny (drummer) how started the band as a project. Soon songs and riffs started to pop up. I (Joel) joined the band during 2006 and we started to record demos in our workshop studio. There were these other guys Ola and Johan how also worked with this project and it soon became a real band. On different circumstances Ola and Johan quit the band and we needed new band members. We found Thomas Thulin, who were playing bass in the Swedish band Spearfish and Morgan Rosenquist known from the local scen who both decided to join us. Now we only needed a singer. Through Blistering Records we got in contact with Thomas Wikström known from Candlemass, Therion etc. After being listen to our songs, he decided to join the ship and the band was completed.
MM: Tell us about the recording process of your new record – how was it this time round? How would you say this record is different from your previous records?
Joel: Well this is our debute record with Covered Call. We made the record with help of Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman. (In Flames, Hammerfall) We made the recording of the instruments in a old office building. After that Thomas recorded the song at Studio Fredman, who later on did the mixing of the album.
MM: For our readers who’ve never heard your music… what do you sound like?
Joel: We play melodic rock. A mix of Bon Jovi, Van Halen and Thin Lizzy.
MM: Influences. Standard and cheesy, but it could help you find some fans through association with other acts that our readers like.
Joel: Our influences in the band are very different. We have been growing up with different music/bands. Van Halen, Pantera, Thin Lizzy, Europe, Whitesnake. The influence are many as you can see.
MM: What are the best and worst things about life in the band?
Joel: The best things are that you can do something that you really like. Spread your own music. The worst thing might be finding time between the band and the family.
MM: What is the strangest or best thing (whatever makes a better answer!) that has happened at one of your shows? Alternatively, what is the strangest request or experience you’ve had from / involving a fan?
Joel: At Sweden Rock Festival this year there were a group of fans who came up after the show and said that they came all the way from Brazil just to see us!
Joel Carlson (photo: Michael Johansson)
MM: Whose music have you been listening recently to apart from your own?
Joel: I have been listening to Dire Straits lately
MM: What would you like to be doing as a band and as a person / people in five years time?
Joel: Make a second record and push the band forward.
MM: If an anonymous benefactor gave you a million pounds on the condition you spent it or otherwise got rid of it rather than invested it, what would you buy / do first?
Joel: Pay my house and probably give some money away to family members.
MM: If you could change or make one law what would it be?
Joel: The weapon law in USA.
MM: If you were asked to headline a festival and you could have any five musicians or bands from the past or present to play with you, who would you choose?
Joel: Foo Fighters, Thin Lizzy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Dimebag Darrell
