Photo: Soile Siirtola
We have plenty of readers on this site that appreciate a mix of classic heavy metal and melodic / power-oriented styles. With members from acts like Tad Morose, Wolf and M.ill.ion among others, Swedish act Starchaser are a relative newcomer that contains decades of seasoned musicians in its ranks. Their latest album Into the Great Unknown keeps the catchy anthems flowing on all fronts – especially for those who appreciate early Europe, Deep Purple, and Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath taken into heavier or sometimes more symphonic directions. We spoke with guitarist Kenneth Jonsson and vocalist Ulrich Carlsson about the work behind this record, their smooth songwriting process, lessons learned from previous bands that move forward into this band, favorite albums, as well as a peak into possible gigs down the line for the group.
Dead Rhetoric: Into the Great Unknown is the second album for Starchaser. You established yourselves and your sound in 2022 with the self-titled debut – where do you see the major differences in how the band has evolved with this release in comparison to that first effort?
Kenneth Jonsson: I think first of all, the first album was the first album – we didn’t really know what to expect. When we released the album, and when we recorded all the songs, we noticed that people liked it a lot and we got really good reviews. We were just trying to take it from there. We did discuss, Ulrich and I, how we could make the melodies better and how we can make the songs for the next album more likeable. We worked harder on the melodies, the hooks, the chords.
Ulrich Carlsson: I think you are right. For the first album, we talked about doing this for a long time and there was finally the time for it to just write some songs. For the second album, it was more like trying to continue what we started. See if we could evolve and do stuff better than the first time.
Jonsson: Also, a big difference from the first album – the music on that album was pretty much written on my piano. We had some talks and I tried to write more with my guitar on the second album, to make it more riffable. That’s another development, I think. There are more riffs going on with the second album.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you enjoy most in the collaborative process between you and Ulrich as songwriters? Are you very critical of the finer details to get the best performances out of each other in the end to the benefit of these songs?
Jonsson: We have a high ceiling; we can speak to each other easily. If I think the melody should go a different way, I tell him, and he tries that. If it makes it better, we go that way – and if it doesn’t, we go another way. We can speak very freely to each other without worrying about stepping on anyone’s toes. No friction whatsoever in the process of writing songs. Things go very fast. I can send my (songs) to Ulrich and he sends things back very fast, in a couple of days, and we have a song. There’s never waiting, everything goes smoothly and very quickly.
Dead Rhetoric: Is it easier for you Ulrich to develop the lyrics and melodies after Kenneth gives you a full piece of music – or are there times you have things prepared in advance and you match it up to what’s there?
Carlsson: I would say both I think. Usually, he sends a lot of music, different riffs, and longer or shorter bits of songs. I go into my studio, focus on one song, turn on the microphone and get some feelings, where is the song going? I look to my lyrics then or write something down just to help me. You just sing something. Either it works or it doesn’t – you have to feel that flow, this sounds right, or it isn’t going the right way. Sometimes I phone up Kenneth and tell him I need more music, and then I start recording three or four more ideas. It’s a good process, I think.
The lyrics, when you feel the idea is going the right way, it comes by itself, in a way. You know where it’s supposed to go. You never know – I have tons of lyrics lying around, thinking about where this or that could work. Some of them are short, some of them are longer. Depending on where things are going, it’s an interesting process of course. You have to not put too much time into it – it’s not going to go anywhere. You feel when you are on the right track – at least I do.
Dead Rhetoric: I understand how you want to keep things fresh to capture the spontaneous moments. Do you feel sometimes if you spend too much time on a certain idea, it can water things down and lessen the impact you wanted?
Carlsson: Yes, absolutely.
Jonsson: Sometimes I can send him stuff, and he is doing this perfect verse thing, but at the chorus it doesn’t happen because he doesn’t get the right feeling for that part. It happens two or three times where I had to redo the chorus to make it complete in a song, and to make the chorus fit the verses. That’s also something we’ve been working on, maybe that chorus needs to have a stronger musical component.
Dead Rhetoric: Was it an easy decision to figure out which singles to premiere from the record?
Jonsson: No! (laughs).
Carlsson: The record company had their thoughts about which songs we should premiere. I think we thought along most of the same lines as they did.
Jonsson: For example, we chose “Battalion of Heroes”, and Frontiers had another song in mind. That’s the cool thing – there’s no friction. We can speak about things and still agree even if we have different thoughts.
Carlsson: (These are) my eighth and ninth albums I’ve done in the music business during my time. It’s never been this easy, so far.
Dead Rhetoric: What is your approach when it comes to the lead guitar aspects for Starchaser? Do you go in with pre-planned aspects or do you prefer to be more spontaneous in capturing the best breaks to fit the specific needs of the song?
Jonsson: It depends. Sometimes I have this worked out idea that I want to record, and then I record it, and it pretty much stays the same. And sometimes when I send a song to Ulrich, I may have an intro riff, a verse, and a chorus but I don’t have a lead break. When Ulrich is doing the chorus, then I can go from his idea into a middle part that fits with his vocals. Try to work with a smooth transition. I love it when I get the opportunity to get back to the piano, those kinds of parts can be very symphonic and melodic, and I develop it from there. Sometimes I send complete songs to Ulrich, and they stay the same – others I need to work on more.
Carlsson: Sometimes you change what you play on the guitar because of what I’m singing. You like what I am doing, so you change it.
Jonsson: Yeah, to make it fit. That’s the beauty when you have two people working together, you can fit your stuff with your partner in writing, you can fit the pieces together. We listen to each other, and the thing that I think is very cool is we think a lot of things in the same way. I can build off of things, it’s very natural. When you get a riff, he makes the melodies and he’s doing it as I’m very often hearing it in my head before he actually does it. That goes for both albums, and that’s a cool thing. I’ve never been in a band or constellation before that has been so smooth before.
Carlsson: And the third part comes in. When you and I have a piece of the song, everyone else in the band takes their instruments and approaches into it, which makes things grow even more. If you compare it with the demos that we do, and then they play, it’s fantastic what that can do to a song as well.
Jonsson: It wouldn’t sound the same if Johan the drummer was replaced or Örjan the bass player was replaced, it would sound different, and I wouldn’t want that. All the guys in Starchaser are contributing with their abilities. And this makes the end product sound like Starchaser.
Carlsson: Everyone has grown into their roles – from the first album to the second. They contribute to the band thing – they feel more confident and comfortable.
Jonsson: Johan played like a king on the first album – his drumming is brilliant. This time I noticed when I was putting all the files together and start mixing it, I noticed that he did a lot more on his own. I played the drums on the demos in a certain way, but he went from that to something of his own. That happened a lot more on the second album than on the first album. His drumming is shaping this album more than on the first album, and that’s exactly what I want as well. I am confident that this makes the album magical, and he succeeded.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you believe you learned most during your time with Tad Morose and M.ill.ion that you’ve been able to apply moving forward for Starchaser?
Jonsson: One thing I learned when I was coming into Tad Morose, it was a bit special. That was a band that I listened to when I was growing up, as well. I started to play in Tad Morose, and I learned so much. One thing that is important, have a beer, relax, don’t take things too seriously – just play your guitar, and no one is going to judge you anyway. That’s what I try to do now as well when I start writing my own songs. I play and see what comes out – if it’s good, it’s good – and if it’s not, it’s cool as well. We were touring a lot, all the basic things, make sure you are prepared when you are up for live shows, check on your equipment, which was very important to learn from Tad Morose.
Carlsson: Which is an interesting thing for me. We started this together; this is our baby. In M.ill.ion, I didn’t write that many songs. This is another thing. Music-wise, this is something else as well. This is more me as a singer as well. Of course, as long as you play in different bands, you have experience, all the stuff you’ve done. Which is good to have with you. Having our own studios, we don’t live next door to each other – it’s a twelve-hour drive to see each other. We work like this whenever we can, work for an hour or a whole day, that’s different than any project I’ve ever been involved with before.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you feel being a part of the Frontiers Music roster – do you believe they have proper understanding of pushing Starchaser to the right audiences due to their strong promotional staff and seasoned knowledge of various melodic hard rock / metal styles?
Jonsson: It’s hard to answer. Frontiers is mainly an AOR, melodic rock label – and we are more metal. I think it’s cool that Frontiers actually took us in, and we can see their efforts. They are trying to promote us as best as they can. They do a good job, and we try to do our job, hopefully. I hope it will establish Starchaser even further. Yes, we are getting a lot of fans, and that’s thanks to Frontiers as well.
Carlsson: It’s always hard or difficult with a new band – even if we’ve been in different bands before this. It’s a new band thing. We’ve proven that now.
Dead Rhetoric: What would you consider three of the most important albums (metal or otherwise) that helped fuel your passion for music?
Carlsson: That’s a difficult question. We talked about this recently as a band, having a beer and talking about music. For me, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – Black Sabbath, a major impact on me. Looking at the album, I was in my older brother’s room when he was out, going through his albums, I put it on. The first riff, my God, I was blown away. I would say – Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche. For a lot of people, it’s an important album. Putting my headphones on and listening to that album for the first time, I don’t know how to explain it. It was like a movie and everything at the same time. And then I would have to say Ronnie James Dio – Holy Diver. That was something that blew me away.
Jonsson: I have a slightly different kind of background with music. What comes up, it changes day to day. One album that I think in particular is Queen – Sheer Heart Attack. I love Queen, that has shaped me as a guitar player. Anything with Steve Morse as well – the Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, and the first album with Deep Purple he did Purpendicular. I had to stop my car when I heard the guitar solo in “Ted the Mechanic” for the first time. And I would have to say Philip Glass is probably my biggest inspiration when it comes to music. He is a guy who can paint pictures with one color or make a complete album with three notes, and it doesn’t sound the same. The Hours, the movie I didn’t really like, but his music is the reason why I’ve seen that movie ten times. I listen to the music, it’s magic. He’s one of a kind.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the horizon for Starchaser over the next twelve months to support this release? Has work begun behind the scenes on the third album – and if so, where do you see the initial ideas and songwriting going compared to the first two releases?
Carlsson: I just called Kenneth a couple of weeks ago and said I’ve started some ideas with lyrics. I have never had this many lyrics finished as I have right now. I don’t know where things are going for the next album, but that’s a good start for me. We talked about this; we need to start thinking about the next album. It’s a long process before you have those songs that you need done. Sometimes it takes more time.
Jonsson: I have a few riffs in the studio recorded now, so I’m onto it! (laughs). My intention is to start working in the same way. We want to develop things production-wise even further, to make things sound better. I want to work more on that aspect, the first two albums were great. We are recording a video this past weekend, we sat down and spoke with everyone in the band. We want to get some gigs going on, some festival spots. We want to bring Starchaser out more live.
Carlsson: We are also encouraging the other guys to bring in material next time as well. It would be interesting to see what the other guys could bring in, if they want to.