THUNDERMOTHER interview with Emlee Johansson (Drums)
Interview by; DeeDee
You originally formed ‘Thundermother’ in 2010, after a break, you re-formed in 2017, have you noticed any changes to the music scene, since you’ve been back?
Well, the break was just about a couple of months in 2017, so I don’t think anything major had happened when the band came back. Me and singer Guernica were the new members in 2017 and we didn’t really know how the fans would react, we thought a lot about the movie ”Rockstar” where the fans throws bottles on the new singer and have signs with mean words on, haha. But that did not happen to us at all, all the fans have been welcoming us from the very beginning and we are so happy for that! We have a fan base that supports us through everything we do!
You have a massive tour coming up, is this the biggest yet?
Because of corona we had to postpone almost all of our shows in 2020, and then postpone them again this first half of 2021 and suddenly we have a fully packed schedule from September and on! We didn’t really plan it, but yeah, it’s a big one and we are looking forward to it and hoping that corona doesn’t stop us anymore. We are ready to tour and to spread our rock around the world!
We look forward to seeing you in September and October, have you been to the UK before?
Yes, several times! Since I joined the band we’ve done a small UK-tour and we also played in London on a festival called ”Hamburg on tour”. A Stockholm band representing Hamburg in London, haha! It was awesome. We look forward to the UK-tour! Our fanclub just started a special UK & Ireland Fan group on facebook, you should check it out!
You have also been added to Wacken 2022, how does that feel?
Wonderful! We love Wacken and we can’t wait to be back. We were supposed to play there 2020, and have our release party for ”Heat Wave” the day we played, but the world had other plans… and now we’ll make new ones for 2022. The great thing with Wacken is that they are always up for fun, crazy ideas!
What is the best and worst thing about being on the road for so long?
The best thing is that you get to do what you love every day and all the fun and interesting people you meet. The worst thing is to be away from your friends and family.
‘Heat Wave’ is your 4th Album, how does it compare to your previous work?
This album means a lot to us, and we are very proud of it! What's a little different with this album is that we have been writing all the songs more or less together. On the previous three albums Filippa has done most of the song writing, and of course did that very well, but now we are very happy to all be a part of it. It creates a special bound between us and our team is stronger than ever! We also found a secret weapon, Søren Andersen, who is just a perfect match for us. He took the whole album to the next level. We just had a dream team in the studio, and a blast. I think you can hear that when you listen to the record!
What was it like to have producer Soren Anderson (Glenn Hughes, Mike Tramp, Dave Mustaine) on board?
He is an amazing person, songwriter, musician and producer. And he fully understands what Thundermother is all about. We just love to work with him, he brings a good vibe into the room and we fully trust him, in all decisions we take. To work with Søren has definitely been a level up for us.
It was released nearly a year ago now, were you happy with how well it was received?
Yes we are super happy, we reached the charts in Germany, Sweden and Austria and again with the re-release ”Heat Wave Deluxe Edition” in may. A lot of bands has been standing still during Corona but Thundermother has just continued growing, and I think it’s a lot because of this album, so it’s great! But now we wanna tour with the album, haha!
Are you writing a follow up yet?
Yes, we are writing new material for the next album. Right now I can’t tell you more than that… but there are big plans for the future!
You are likened to AC/DC and Motorhead, do you think that’s a fair comparison?
Absolutely! We have a lot of influences from both AC/DC and Motörhead, and to be compared with them is just an honor! Some people call us ”The granddaughters of AC/DC” and we don’t mind at all!
Who would you like to share the stage with, who are your heroes?
We would love to share the stage with our grandfathers in AC/DC. Wouldn’t that be a perfect match? I would also love to open up for Iron Maiden, that would be a dream come true for me. Iron Maiden has been my biggest heroes since I was 15 years old.
Have you any message for your fans and our readers?
Thank you for all your support and we really hope to see you soon on the road! Stay strong and stay healthy!
Finally, thank you again for taking time to chat, good luck with the tour.
Thank you!
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