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But let's start from the beginning. I mean, why record a coversalbum at all? And especially at such an early stage in Elvira Madigan history. To understand the importance of this release one will have to turn back the clock to the autumn of 2001. I have just finished putting the last details on the album "Witches - Salem (1692 vs 2001)" which has taken me about two full years to record and it has been at times - in all honesty - a dreadful experience. So much souldraining toil was needed to put that album on tape. Prior to that I had continuously recorded highly original and demanding (songwriting-wise that is) material since early 1998 without a single break. From the first sessions I had (which ended up as the album "Elvira Madigan" or demo "Varsel") I jumped directly onto the sessions for "Blackarts" (which took me the entire year of 1999). Right after "Blackarts" was finished mixed I moved onto "Whiches..." which also was an album that I had extremely high demands on because of the success of "Blackarts". So by the end of 2001 when "Wiches..." has mixed I felt like if I was completely drained and couldn't imagine myself jumping directly onto the next original Elvira Madigan release. Besides, at this time "Wiches..." was getting an enormous response all over the world which led me to realizing I was going to have to top that album. And that was basically plain impossible in the state that I was. Making EM albums is not like recording some tracks and collecting the best of them onto an album. It's so much thought process and "feeling" ones way through, diving into onesself and digging out that very very best one can achieve songwritingwise. It is this very songwriting that drains the mind. And I needed a break from this or I was going to hate Elvira Madigan. And hate her I could not let myself do since the very essence of the project/band is expressing my creativity to my own delight. I was/am only really pleasing myself or I don't see the point of doing it at all. Well, enough yappering! How does one take a well deserved break at the same time one starts to get attention for the art one creates. Doing nothing for six to twelve months would really not be very wise. I knew I also needed time (for the first time with an Elvira Madigan release) for pre-production for the upcoming next original album (due to its' conceptual lyrics, general language and storyline). And add that pre-production time to recordingsessions lasting at least two years! Heck, I needed a solution... and lo and behold! From nowhere I realized what I was going to do. A covers album! Now this may all sound like the "Angelis Deamonae..." album is only sort of a "filler" in the discography but trust me, it truly isn't. I have always dreamt about doing some of these tracks in my very own way. Even before Elvira Madigan excisted! So here I was with finally the perfect opportunity to do this wonderful album and it would also act as therapy at the same time. Suddenly, I couldn't wait to jump into the studio again! Since the early nineties some non-metal tracks have amazed me with the thought of just how "metal" they really sound. The Chris deBurgh trilogy about the four horsemen of the apocalypse (The Leader, The Vision, What About Me?) may actuarly be blamed for the fact that I even considered doing a coversalbum. There is no point - in my opinion - to play the original tracks as they more or less already appear in their original form. I mean, You can only fail with such a task. From the moment I went through my list of potential victims for this album I knew that I would have to make the songs better than the originals or do them in completely different ways so that they can not be compared to the original versions. And all of them would have to feel like real Elvira Madigan songs. They would have to be interesting enough and I would have to be able to do them justice in a heavily interpreted way. Before I knew it I was digging my way through several tracks. Some only made it through initial stages such as "trying them out" with guitars, synths and drums. Some even partly made it on tape. And the rest - well - made it onto the album! And before I knew it I had recorded what I wanted and was ready to mix it all. As soon as the mixing was finished I was also going to rebuild the Madigan Studio from scratch to accomedate the next recording session. So this album was going to be the last in the "old" studio. In January 2003 I had the entire album finished and felt just as proud as I did when I finished my previous effort. The fact that I hadn't written the songs wasn't taken into cosideration anymore. The way I had interpreted them and how different they sound from the originals made them feel like my own (with a few instrumental exceptions which sound quite much like their original versions). During this time (spring of 2003) quite alot happened with Elvira Madigan with rereleases and licensing contracts as well as re-promoting Elvira Madigan in general in a larger scale so this title would unfortuanly have to wait for its' release until January 2005. But that doesn't make it less interesting or important - No quite the contrary! |
