 The story of how "Regent Sie" came to life begins in 2001 when the previous original album ("Angelis Deamonae excluded since it is a covers album) is finished. "Witches..." has been a grueling task to undertake and not much strength and motivation remains after endless sessions since 1998 spawning not only "Witches" but also two other titles. Storylines were all coming up at a rather slower pace and the idea to make one big story instead of several smaller ones came up. Since I didn't want to just start recording the next album right away due to my state of being watered out, the need for a time off was also brought into daylight. This time off was spent recording the "Angelis..." album (as told of in the details of that specific title) while in mellow contemplation pondering over preproduction, story lines and anylization of how I wanted this album to end up. A journey that involved so much more than I could have imagined. PREPRODUCTION: First off, I am a sucker for really good concept albums. At this time the market wasn't completely flooded by these efforts like the situation is 2008 so it felt like a fresh idea. Also, the fact that most of the available concept albums then (and also now for that matter) all failed as concept album. So in candlelight over cups of coffee in dungeons of the Old Town in stockholm I sketched out what needed to be done and what had to be included in order for a really good "rock opera" or "concept album" to not go down that same path of inadaquance like those I had unfortuanly spent my hard cash on. I came to the conclution that several issues needed to be dealt with: The storyline had to be interesting enough and it had to be told in a vivid and understandable way but still include certain intellectual and intruiging basics. Relations between characters was what was to bring the story forward and not magic swords, dragons or any other rubbish that never affect anyone on any other level than escapism. I wanted my story to deal with certain folkloreish elements so it would be a difficult task to make that realistic and natural while at the same time including all these deities that play active parts in the whole saga. The choice of language was essential here since I was only to focus on the english tounge for the first time, and paint a certain picture with a highly poetic and difficult form of english while never straying from the essential issue of making the story understandable. But this was not all... What happens in the tale had to be involving, intruiging and dramatic. Otherwise You'd never care what happens next or where the story is heading. Now these are all just thoughts concerning the art of the written/spoken word. These are all matters that suffice as issues if writing a book. And I was not writing a book. I was going to put these words into songs and not rely upon space between the songs in the CD-booklet to explain what was happening all the time. What was going to be sung was to be enough information. And if I couldn't use the songs to explain and tell the story right then I would have failed. Elvira Madigan music spanns a great spectra genrewise and I would have to know where to put each event. Things had to sound right for the right situation. Like chaotic interludes that would provide a certain feel of distress and... well, yes... Chaos. Fast and brutal parts would provide a feeling of anger and violence, While softer parts would paint a more mellow image and could be used for other emotions. This time around while making the album I would not have the same freedom to toss around songs in order to make the musical experience feel like a "whole" in later stages of recording. The order of the songs would have to be decided upon before writing lyrics for them all. This was something I was fully aware of and was the reason I needed preproduction to gather songs and ideas for a year while recording "Angelis..." before putting things on track for "Regent Sie". So for the first time I had to make elaborate plans out of everything before I could record. RECORDING: In January I finish the mixing sessions for my therapeutical album "Angelis Deamonae" which means I am free to start recording "Regent Sie". And now I can't wait! But there are still things to be dealt with in order to give this giant album justice. The studio just isn't nearly as good enough as it would have to be. Besides, my old equipment is leaving me one by one due to fatuige and old age. Shortly, the days of Madigan Studios has come to an end. Three months are spent rebuiling the studio and investing in new gear. I am granted twice as many channels to work with and a new soundmodule with over eighthundred sounds to make "Regent Sie" come alive. The vocal production was going to be far more elaborate so much time was spent providing means to satisfy that need. And finally in April I start recording in the new "Red Room Studios". As I recall, there was an unusually raging storm outside. Recordingsessions during all these years are more or less a blur for me. I recall trying to keep a journal the first months but I forgot writing in it all too often for the notes to have some value today. I record bits of music all the time, rarely any complete songs. I work with drums and guitars initially and write lyrics all the time. As usually I feel my way through the songs and as they change, the story line changes simultaniously, or vice versa. I come up with alot of new material that wasn't thought of in the preproduction and I alter thing all the time. The Red Room Studios is host for the bulk of the album including alot of the recorded vocals. However, in late 2005 I move closer to Stockholm and the studio has to come with me, so it is once more rebuilt in a smaller version. What is left to be recorded in what I come to call "Hellvira Studios" are bass, some vocals and a hell of alot of synthezisers. Compared to Red Room the Hellvira Studio is a rather dreadful enviroment and I work myself stupid to get the album finished. And in the beginning of 2007 I can start to reevaluate everything and start mixing. MIXING: Alot of material and insanely huge landscapes have been put on tape and everything has to be given justice. It is the first time I am to mix with my new mixingtable and I just can't get things to sound right. A problem with Elvira Madigan is that the synthezisers always lie on a differnt frequenzy due to the fact that I want a certain guitarsound. Elvira Madigan is also to represent a more traditional and an older way of creating music which although makes me very proud, also has me tossing and turning with impossible issues and has we working myself stupid. If I were to give in to new technology things would be easier but on the other hand I would probably work in too unfamiliar ground to ever know where I was heading. The task of achieving such an album like "Regent Sie" all by myself felt big enough to start learning completely new technology. So in short, I needed to stay with something familiar although it meant that I got a much larger workload in the end. After two months of mixing I hadn't got anywhere. And this was eating me up. There were suggestions to leave the mix to someone else, but my associates at Black Lodge records convinced me that I would probably never be completely satisfied after so many years should I leave things to a second party at such a critical stage. So I bought an analogue equalizer and started from scratch again. And now, thankfully, things started looking better. The nature of the album forces me to mix interludes of 2 to 10 minutes at a time and leave it to the masteringsessions to tie the right mixies together. And in June I am finally finished. I could not believe that the journey I set out on in early 2002 has now finally come to an end. STORYLINE: I will not use space here to tell and completely undress the intruiging story of "Regent Sie". Partly because I want You to buy the CD of course, since I won't be getting any earnings otherwise, but also because I want You to sit down and experience it first hand with the booklet in Your hand and not have the storyline ruined by spoilers on this website. There is also much room for interpretations and analyzation and that should never be dictated onto anyone by anyone else. However, my ambition was to create a story that worked on several levels. There was to be a huge dose of criticism towards the church and towards the general powers that be - whether today or yesterday. I wanted a folklore that was driven by the actions of a few select beings and I wanted the issue of fate to be questioned. Whether ones actions really matter or not in the great scheme of things. The old religion and its beeings are just as real as the human characters while the new faith - christianity - is a foreign entity that is only verified by a book of an alien language. There is no substantial evidence or any action in the story that proves that anything in this religion has any truth to it at all while the deities of old interact with everything. Together with a helthy dose of the riddled human nature and what comes out of denying it (as well as affirming it) and You have the basics upon which the story can be told. As well as the characters grow richer from the experience of the tale, so does the world order. Lies and deception and whether these are to the gain of individuals or the collective play crucial parts in an album that has taken half a decade to make. |