John P: So you were initially known as "Nosedive." Why`d you change to "Mother Misery" and what`s the significance behind that name?
John H: Hey there. Well, we never liked the name Nosedive, which we used for lack of a better one at the time, but as we were going to release our debut, Grandiosity, we really felt that we needed a name change. Me and Thomas [Piehl - guitar] sat down one day and tried it out and came up with it from mixing two old song titles that we had, which were "Mother" and "My Misery" (from the albums My Enemy and Grandiosity).
John P: And what about your full-length, All Eyes on You. Any special meaning behind that title?
John H: Itīs a small reflection of what I think all people feel at sometimes in their lives, in the matter of being controlled and watched or told what to do or not to do, as well as itīs about my and our own experiences in life.
John P: About how long did it take you to write and record the album?
John H: The first songs were probably written in the end of 2005 wich were also on the For the Crows CD EP, released in January 2006.
The rest of the songs were written from the middle of 2006 up `til the recordings started in October/November 2006, and the album was completed around April 2007.
John P: What are your favorite and least favorite tracks on All Eyes on You?
John H: Oooh tricky..;-)
Well my favorites are probably I Got It Now, Cure And Remedy, Broke Down, and This Time. Sorry, I canīt choose a least favorite from the rest.
John P: How is the writing broken down? Is it a collaborative effort or the work of just one or two people?
John H: Well, I write all the lyrics to start with and almost all the time - like in this case - me and Thomas do the main base of the song and then Marcus [Jäderholm - bass] and Jimmy [Lindbergh - drums] get to hear it and put their feel into it.
John P: There are, at last count, 6,329 Swedish rock bands out there. What separates Mother Misery from the rest of the pack?
John H: I donīt know really. We donīt put any energy in trying to be different or to "invent" anything new and revolutionary. We just do our stuff the best we can, and we love it and want others to love it as much.
But itīs hard to get through, since there`s so much good fucking bands out there.
John P: And of those remaining 6,328 bands, which other ones do you dig?
John H: A lot, man, Iīll probably miss mentioning 3000 of them but we have bands like The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Entombed, In Flames, Dozer, Sparzanza, The Hurricanez, Cavus, On Parole, Blindside, Molly`s Gusher, etc, etc.
John P: The vocals really seemed to have changed from the EP to the full-length (from the review: "On their previous offering, 2005`s For the Crows EP, he came off as a more accomplished Dave Wyndorf type, but on All Eyes on You, he sounds as if he`s a close relative of Chris Cornell. ") How did that evolve?
John H: I donīt know. I donīt try to sound like any of them, but I get compared all the time with Dave and Chris, but thatīs a good comparison i think.
Iīm singing all the time and getting better and better at it (I hope), and the voice changes and evolves a bit from year to year, so thatīs probably one reason for it.
John P: One of the things I`ve been asking US bands is the decline in CD sales as downloading becomes more and more prevalent. Is it the same in Europe, or do fans still prefer a tangible copy of the music? And how would you like to see the industry change?
John H: Yeah itīs the same over here, Itīs hard to survive from selling records.
But I think thereīs two sides of it. Now when itīs available for downloading, we get access to the whole world, and itīs so much easier to reach out to the bigger crowd. I personally donīt download songs. If I like a song I hear, I go and buy the album. I like to have the original booklet with info and pix of the band.
John P: What are your tour plans?
John H: We are going to do some Sweden gigs this year and some next year, nothing set yet except 14 December, when we play with a well known Swedish band, Lillasyster. Then with help from Daredevil Records and Rock This Town, weīll go for five dates between 23 - 27 January, of which the 25th and 27th will be with Entombed in the Netherlands. Then Rock This Town has started to book a European tour between 9 - 24 May.
John P: And how long before the follow-up to All Eyes on You?
John H: Not too long, I hope. If I would guess, I would say probably around the end of 2008.. Maybe...
Thanks and take care,
John + Mothers.
