Hammerfall – Oscar Dronjak
Greg: It’s interesting that you bring up MANOWAR. MANOWAR is clearly very popular everywhere but the U.S. HAMMERFALL is very popular worldwide. And while you draw in the U.S., you don’t draw to the same levels. There’s obviously some similarities between the two bands. Which leads me to ask, do you ever think American fans take themselves a little too seriously?
Oscar: (laughter)
Greg: I know that’s a dangerous question for an artist that’s trying to sell records…
Oscar: It is. I really don’t think they take themselves too seriously. But they take what they’re listening to, maybe too seriously. I don’t know if that’s the reason either. A large part of the reason that bands like us are not as big in the U.S., as we are elsewhere, is because we have clear vocals, where people actually can sing. High pitched, all that stuff as well.
It seems to me there’s not enough aggression in HAMMERFALL or this type of music… for American people. That’s what I think actually. I don’t know why. I don’t know why it has to be aggression all the time. I love SLAYER as well. The aggression is their cornerstone. And the new album, World Painted Blood is fantastic. It’s the best SLAYER album in twenty years almost. It’s really good I think.
But I get a little tired of that constant aggression…. It’s almost like they build it up, in the song, then maybe they sing a little bit properly and then, BLAAHHHH… that’s like what everybody is waiting for. We don’t have any of that stuff. We don’t have all this screaming and shit. And if that’s what it takes to pull more than 500 or whatever, we’re never gonna do that.
Greg: It’s interesting, you mentioned listening to the most recent works by both SLAYER and MANOWAR. A lot of the musicians I speak with tell me they listen to KYLIE MINOGUE or Blues or Jazz. But it sounds like you’re still very much a fan of the (Metal) genre.
Oscar: Absolutely. That’s why we started playing this type of music, because we listened to it for fifteen years. I love this type of music. I love Metal… I don’t love every kind of Metal, I’m very specific with my tastes. But if you look at my iPod, apart from stand-up comedy, there’s almost exclusively Metal albums. This is what I like. It’s not a big deal either, because it’s always been like this.
I understand what you mean. You meet a lot of people who listen to weird shit. I have no idea what they see in it. Everybody is different…
Greg: So let’s talk a bit about ProgPower. It’s the reason we’re talking today. You guys will be headlining the festival in September in Atlanta. Were you guys aware of the festival before Glenn reached out to you about playing it?
Oscar: For sure. We heard about it every year. I think this is the 11th time…
Greg: Yes, it is.
Oscar: I don’t know when I discovered it… probably somewhere in the middle of the 2000s. But I’ve heard about it a lot. Because a Metal festival in the U.S., especially back in those days, was inconceivable I thought. But it’s worked out really well.
Greg: So for a lot of the smaller bands, who get to showcase their material with a lot of bigger bands, I’m sure the festival is a huge deal. However, for a band like yours, who likely plays venues this size or bigger on a regular basis, does this feel like just another tour date or because it’s a U.S. festival does it feel a little different?
Oscar: I think because it’s a festival in the U.S. it is different. You’re going to reach out to people who wouldn’t be at your shows normally. And if they are there, hopefully you can give them something special.
Greg: And do you change up your set list at all, to reach new people?
Oscar: I don’t think so. We changed the set list from last year to this year. But we did a tour in the U.S. in March and April. Then we played five or six songs that we did not do in Europe before that. We’ve done them all the time this summer now, in the festivals over here, and I don’t think we’re gonna change much up, actually. It’s what we want to do right now.
Next tour we’re gonna do something different probably, change a couple songs. But we’re not going to tailor-make the set list or anything. This is HAMMERFALL. I think any HAMMERFALL song… I think we could take all the HAMMERFALL songs we’ve ever done, and just put them on a piece of paper, and put them in a hat, and pull fifteen numbers. That’s how I feel about the songs.
Greg: That’s fair. Will you use the trip here to do any other tour dates?
Oscar: No. We’re gonna be in Russia and the Ukraine the week before, and then we fly to Atlanta. And that’s actually the last show that we do on this tour.
Greg: And then you go in writing mode?
