Adam Grahn (Royal Republic) interview
Posted by Nade on Fri, 08 Apr 2011.
Swedish rock band, Royal Republic, hit up the UK earlier this year for the first time. We caught up with frontman Adam Grahn to see how life on the road was treating them all.
You’ve been on the road for quite a while now – how do you spend your downtime on tour – do you get to see much of the places that you are visiting?
On the road! Always on the road! We don't have a lot of downtime, but the few rare moments we do have we like to spend on the town, checking out…. stuff, just random stuff! We usually just see the inside of our bus and backstage areas, so just a “regular" city-centre will do just fine! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we have a packed schedule every day on tour, with interviews, meet & greets and acoustic sets, so we rarely have time for any other activities! We tried to get an hour of tennis in every day, but that idea was shot to death, brutally by our ever-brutal management. Dicks. Or heroes. You decide!
During your German shows late last year, you offered exclusive merch for fans who came to your shows wearing underwear on their heads. How many people took you up on this, and is this something that you would consider doing again in the future?
That was actually the record company's idea! They are so silly! When are those Roadrunner guys gonna grow up?! A lot of people did it though! They are so silly! When are those Germans gonna grow up?! I think if we do it again we'll push the envelope a bit, probably going with something like….."- If you show up completely nude, We will take a picture of you and put it on Facebook".... Or something more beneficial… Stick around and find out!
How did you get into playing the guitar? Do you have any heroes?
I grew up in a family of musicians so guitars have always been around and I kinda knew how to play them (basic chords) at the age of 5.
The first song I asked my father to teach me was “Back for Good" by Take That! I struggled, cried with anger and bled for about 6 months, but I finally got my fingers outta my ass and onto the fretboard, and I never put them back…
When I was 13, I got into Metallica and Nirvana more than any of the other bands I listened to at the time and I guess I'd be lying if I said I don't think that the late 90's James Hetfield is not the coolest. Wow, long sentence… I'll have to give my dad some credit here as well, for teaching me that song.
How did you go about writing “We are the Royal”? Did everyone already have some ideas of where they wanted the album to go?
We had a very clear vision of what we wanted the album to feel like… The songs came out without too much effort, sure we struggled a bit at some points but overall it was pretty easy. We wanted to make a straight up party record! The overall feel of the songs were more important than writing actual poetry at the time. What we wanted was for people to forget about their daily issues and just feel good, have fun… We might be getting mentally unstable because of too much fun by now, probably gonna make that up by releasing a “cut-yourself-into-shreds-with-angst-album" next. Good one! Point to ME!
Do you have a personal favourite track from the album?
“Full Steam Spacemachine". It's about space and sex. I love both.
“The Royal” is featured on the soundtrack for the latest Tony Hawk game, “Shred”. Do you feel this has opened up your music to a new section of fans? Are you a video game fan yourself?
I just heard about it! Awesome stuff! I have to check that out! Actually never been a major-gaming-guy, except for StarCraft II! Me and Jonas spend a lot of time playing that on tour, we are currently advancing to the Gold League. RoCK!
What would you say are the highlights of being in Royal Republic so far?
There are so, so, SO many, it's just that… We never stop and get off the train long enough to realize all the cool stuff that has happened to us over the last 2 years. Seriously!
We've hit all those milestones that new bands dream of! Record-deal, great record-deal, single on the radio, FOUR #1 singles on the radio, #1 on MTV, soldout show, soldout tour…. AND SO ON!
But while you are still in this world, you don't realize how great all this stuff is! You keep looking ahead and wanting more! Of course there are a few nights that we will remember longer than others…
You’ve previously said that after just a few rehearsals everyone in the band had big plans for Royal Republic. Could you give us a few hints as to what you are all planning to bring to the rock world over the next year or so?
Awesome viciousness and vicious awesomeness! We have a packed tour schedule (DUH?!?!?!) and we are really looking forward to hitting the UK again! We are working on new songs, recording demos when we have time off (except when playing tennis and learning songs on guitar). Rest assured, we will not rest until we get what we want – namely what every stupid band wants: world-domination. Peace kids.
Royal Republic are making a rapid return to the UK after playing making a successful debut here earlier in the year with the following dates confirmed:
Sat 28th May – BRISTOL Dot To Dot Fest (venue tbd)
Sun 29th May – NOTTINGHAM Dot To Dot Fest (venue tbd)
Mon 30th May – MANCHESTER Dot To Dot Fest (venue tbd)
Tue 31st May – LONDON Water Rats
For more information and tickets, visit http://www.dottodotfestival.co.uk/