Greetings from Sweden. I'm Vediger and I am a lot of different things to different people, but for the puropose of this conversation, I'm the bassplayer of Grá since 2016.
- Jo: Who is your favorite live audience?
Obviously it's best when the audience members are right at the front, full of energy, losing their minds. But every audience member doesn't have to be like that. As long as they pay attention and are emotionally invested in the music, it doesn't matter to me how they express that.
- Jo: What did you listen to as teenagers and did it influence your choice of sound?
I discovered Death Metal when I was 12 years old and only a few months later I discovered Black Metal, which became my obsession during my teenage years. In the beginning, as a teenager, the bands I played with were definetely influenced by what I/we listened to, but as the years pass we try to make unique music with the roots in the music we listened to as teenagers.
- Jo: Which piece of yours and to whom would you give it to re-perform?
I don't know really. There have been people who have made vocal covers and others who have made slow accoustic versions of our songs and those have been great to hear. I think I just prefer when the covers are a surprise.
- Jo: In a parallel universe, which Greek / Sweden singer - band would you collaborate with?
I don't want to dismiss all the great Greek bands, but who wouldn't want to collaborate with either Quorthon or Håkan Florå, if they had the opportunity? Sadly both of them have passed away.
- Jo: Are you in favor of bands collaborations in lives and concerts?
I don't have any strong opinions about that subject.
- Jo: Do you have a social page? Do you follow, read all the messages, reply yourself?
Yes, we have both a Facebook page and an Instagram profile, just search for grahorde. We read all messages and reply as much as we can. The only times it becomes hard to read and reply is during gig weekends. Generally the day before, the day after and on the day of the live gig is when it's hard to keep up with the correspondance. Also occassionally during very intense rehearsal weekends. But other than that it is we who are replying.
- Jo: What are your favourite venues to perform at?
As long as the people who organise the gig and the people working at the venue wants the evening to become a success, then I'm good. I don't need much.
- Jo: Is there support from Sweden record companies? What is your suggestion for the record companies to help you reach the audience at your country and all over the world?
We have actually switched to the italian record label Avantgarde Music in 2022. They have many decades of experience and we are very satisfied, this far. Communication is always important when trying to do anything.
-Jo:Is the band working on anything new?
We released our fourth fullength album "Lycaon" earlier this year. A lot of energy went into releasing that album and the two music videos that followed. We are working on future stuff, but it's too early to talk about since it's mostly in the idea stage.
That is a hard question to answer. I've played music in bands since I was around 10 years old, it's just something I have done, on and off for over 30 years. By now it's just something I do and the 'artist' part is just a label that comes with it.
-Jo: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
These days it's hard to exactly pin point what genre bands move in, but I enjoy a lot of different varieties of extreme metal, Black Metal being at the front. I also enjoy a lot of artists that perform music within genres beyond the "extreme metal"-barrier, but I wouldn't say that I enjoy enough bands to say I like those genres. If that makes any sense? The only music I truly dislike is the music that is made to only gain either money or mindless popularity. Play and perform from the heart - and you have my respect!
-Jo: How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean?
The short answer is that the name Grá comes from a mixture of the Icelandic “grár” and the Swedish “grå”, simply meaning “gray”.
-Jo: Any plans for the future? ( heard you are coming to Greece hahahahaah)
We are constantly doing something. As of now, mid 2023, we are moving to a different rehearsal place in Stockholm and preparing for confirmed live gigs in Sweden. There are rumours that we might come to Greece this year, who lives will see.
-Jo: What's your opinion for the music reality shows?
I wasn't 100% sure what you meant by this, but I did a quick search on a popular search engine and things like "The Voice", "X-Factor" and others came up. I haven't managed to watch more than 2 minutes of any of those, so I don't know what to say. It seems pointless, but the masses need to be entertained.
-Jo: Is there any presentation from Swedish social media for Black Metal Music?
I would say so. Everything from gig-photographers to podcasts who do interviews and talk about what's going on at the moment. Although I must confess that I try to spend as little time as possible on social media. Which means that after dealing with Grá's social media, I don't have much energy left to spend on other social media. But occasionally I stumble across some people who are invested in it.
We played in Thessaloniki back in 2016 and had a great time there. Get your local promotors to contact us and maybe we will see you there soon. We appreciate your kind offer and wish you the best!
/Vediger of Grá
Check them out
Country of origin: Sweden
Location: Stockholm
Status: Active
Formed in: 2010
Genre: Black Metal
Themes: Ancient Scandinavian spirituality, Misanthropy, Death worship
Current label: Avantgarde Music
Years active: 2010-present
Discography
Helfärd EP 2010
Grá Full-length 2011 2 (89%)
Necrology of the Witch EP 2013
Where Shadows Dwell Single 2014
Grá / Gnosis of the Witch Split 2015 1 (80%)
Ending Full-length 2015 1 (90%)
Ramsvarta tankar Single 2017
Väsen Full-length 2018 2 (81%)
Flame of Haephestus Single 2022
Lycaon Full-length 2023 1 (71%)
https://grahorde.bandcamp.com/album/v-sen
https://www.facebook.com/graofficial
https://www.instagram.com/grahorde/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Grahorde
*Τα κείμενα ανήκουν αποκλειστικά στον κάτοχο του blog "Sound Stories by Jo". Οποιαδήποτε αναπαραγωγή επιτρέπεται μόνο με την αναφορά της πηγής.
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