Seven Circles – 20/07/2007

Andreas Lantz 
By: Sabine van Gameren

Seven Circles is a metal/goth/rock band from Sweden. With influences from My Dying Bride, H.I.M and Paradise Lost This band tries to get started in the big world of music.

– What makes Seven circles unique?
There is a certain surprise factor when you listen to us. The vocals are very dynamic and they change a lot compared to most gothrock bands. We often write songs in an original way even though they are simple and short. “Why Did You Choose” and even more “Touareg Man” are different from what you usually hear. Some of our lyrics stand out from the rest. “Touareg Man” is about a tribe of nomads in the Sahara Deserts with really strange gender roles. It is hard to believe that such a society exist but it´s true. We also wrote a prophecy about what will happen in the future in an old song called “2040”.

– How did all the band members meet?
The band was originally formed in Lund in the south of Sweden but the current line-up was formed when Andreas moved to Gothenburg. Andreas found the members via various internet adds.

– How did you get the band name?
The original guitarist came up with the logo and the bandname and we thought it worked great.

– What does the band name mean to you?
Hard to say since I didn´t come up with it. It sounds good and the logo is great I think

– When we want to get know you, we want to know more about your personality.
If you would be an animal, what animal would you be, and why do you think this animal matches your personality?
I would propably ba a Parrot. Parrots talk a lot and they learn a lot quickly. They do what they want to and they care a lot about the ones they love but they are hardly social all the time.

– You recorded a demo some time ago. Where did you get inspiration from
when writing songs like this?

We get inspired by everyday life in general and things in our society that we don´t like. The songs are fairly different from eachother especially when it comes to lyrics and it all depends on what I (Andreas) think about at that certain moment.

– Is there a hidden message in one of your songs?
There is a hidden message in more then one of the songs. There may be messages in all of them. You have to listen carefully to hear everything. Listen to “Laws of Fashion” for instance “200 BC. being straight is out of fashion and every man in Greece is gay, 2030 to rape is the latest trend and not a single woman is left to take. What do you expect will happen if the Laws of Fashion will   continue…”

– Can we expect a new demo/ep/cd soon?
I hope so, We are working on writing new songs at the moment but we got one old as well that was recorded with the old line-up

– How was your first gig experience with Seven circles
It was at the Emergenza festival here in Sweden. Very few people showed up but we sold some demos after the show. My (Andreas) voice was not very good that night unfortunately.

– Do you have some funny backstage stories to share with us?
Not yet unfortunately. There is not much of a backstage for underground bands in Sweden either you just walk of the stage and pass through the audience when you leave the stage.

– Do you have any upcoming plans for touring?
We would love to but it´s a bit expensive at this point but I always tell people to tell everybody they know to contact us at   magikern_andy@hotmail.com or myspace if they want us to tour where they live. The more people that e-mail us and tell that they want us to tour where they live the harder we work to arrange a tour there.

– We have seen you participated at the Emergenza festival (2005). How was this experience?
I mentioned that earlier. We didn´t have many friends that could vote for us so we didn´t continue to the second round so to speak.

– What did you like and/or dislike from this festival?
It is a great way for underground bands to get exposure but unfortunately it didn´t get the promotion it could have got . We expected 400 people to show up but there were apr. 60 people there when we played.

– What festival would you love to play at?
Ozzfest would be fun and Rock ´Am Ring as well

– Personally, I think your music would be perfect for some dark tragic musical.
What do you think of it? Would you consider writing music for musicals?
Sure, If anyone know someone that would be interested in having our songs in their musical. Tell them to contact us if they do.

– Where would you like to see your band in the future? Any dreams?
Touring the world and topping the charts I guess. Extremely hard to achieve but if you work hard enough…

– When thinking of the future, is there anyone you want to collaborate with?

We would love to play with H.I.M.. They write the music they love and they don´t care about trends and still they have a huge following.

– If you could make a cover of an English song, in the Swedish language,
  which song would you choose?
Hard to say, Bobby Brown by Frank Zappa perhaps. I really liked some of Zappa´s songs

– How would you define “success”? When are you satisfied?
We will propably never be satisfied. There are so many things that you have to work for many years to achieve

– Besides Seven circles, do you have other bands or side projects?
Not anymore I haven´t got the time.

– What effect do you think that the new media as Internet, Myspace and Forums
have on the fame of Seven circles?
It is positive without any doubt especially since there are so few people attending liveshows here in Sweden. Many people would be surprised if they knew how few people that actually showed up at liveshows in Sweden. In Flames are huge in Sweden but they only attract apr 2000 live.