HAGEN
"The Northwinds Blow"
Interview to Hans Rosen
By Sergio Vilar
Well Hans, Could you begin speaking to us of the beginnings of Hagen and of the musical trajectory of each one of the members?
Oh! That’s a question whish not can be told in short words. But I can try to give you some background. We all are very experienced musicians mainly from the heavier side of rock music, but also from jazz and folk music. There’s also a red line going through our backgrounds, and this is the wish to develop the music a step further. You can call it progressive if you want. I also believe that it’s been important that the music should have a soul in some way. A song must be able to communicate to the listener.
Hagen was formed by me and my brother Anders as a result from trying our ideas together to combine folk and rock music. The Swedish musical traditions are very alive here in our country and can be heard in most of the music coming from Sweden. It can be ABBA, death metal or other music of today. I’ve heard it’s called the Scandinavian style. It all origins from our ancient folk songs, tunes and traditions living close to nature. It’s very melodically in a melancholy but still happy mood.
When the first demos were recorded I called Per who I had heard of from a friend. Per knew Henrik Olsson (Theory in Practice) and recommended him. At the time I was in a band with former Yngwie Malmsteen singer Göran Edman and I talked to him about Hagen. I gave him the demos and he was on and also talked about Morgan Ågren (Yngwie too??..Well, can be found everywhere) as a drummer. It turned out Görans time was limited and I chose to call my old collaborator Michael Ohlsson instead to get things going. There are some rehearsal instrumental recordings with Henrik on the drums.
Anders was on a trip to Stockholm one day to buy a Prophet synth and the seller turned out to be the famous Mats Öberg (Zappa and many more). He took the opportunity to play the demos, also asking for a future collaboration. He was also interested. But the time went on and one day I suggested Hans Lundin to Anders. Kaipa had always been one of my favorite bands of Sweden using folk influences in their music. Today they are active again, but then they had been gone for long. I said “Why not call him”… and then he was in.
Why did Hagen call to the group? Which is your meaning?
The name comes from a place in the village Yttermalung here in Sweden from where me and my brothers family origins since ages. The Swedish word “Hagen” also means “enclosed pasture”,“wooded pasture”, “field” translated into English. And that’s how it looks like there.
Musically, how would you describe your proposal?
We try to use traditional Swedish folklore and combine it with modern rock music. Other bands have done it and do it at the moment but I think they have only reached half way in melting the styles together. Shortly, we try to use our musical heritage running in our veins combining it with modern rock. How was the process of creation of Corridors Of Time?" It was like heaven and hell!!!!
Does your music suggest images constantly… How did you create the climax in the songs?
As I’ve told you before, it’s important that the music have a soul, life if you want. It has to reach the listener otherwise it’s no music, only sound…or in some cases circus acts. Real music contains images, thoughts, feelings, colors…you name it!!
"Corridors Of Time" is really a formidable disk, with so many rhythm changes and melodies that go from the symphonic rock and the heavy metal, until the Celtic and medieval music... you are able to make very difficult the task of distinguishing its musical influences...
Yeah, we keep it simple and reachable!
Of what do you speak in the letters? Who is the responsible one of writing them?
Mainly, Michael writes the lyrics and from what I know, it’s from his experiences. But you can also find me and Hans Lundin as lyricists on “Corridors of time”. I can tell you about the lyrics of “Remember”. Once, me and my brother Anders was working on a very old tune which was found, written down and stored on micro film in London I believe. It was after a Swedish musician living around 1600. When we played the tune I felt he was standing in the room behind me smiling, glad to hear his song played again wanting to join us playing.
From this, I wrote the lyrics as a message, talking to the listeners in the future when all of us are gone, maybe joining them. Like a connection between people and time. I will be there smiling when it’s played.
Do a lot of people say that the progressive rock should be sung in English, which is its opinion about it?
I think it’s all about who is your audience. We chose to do it in English because we did not want to be limited to present our music for a Swedish audience only.
What comments has it received the album on the part of it criticizes it and does the one publish?
The reviews and comments coming from all over the world have been positive all over. But you could also see that some people have some difficulties to understand the music. We have seen words like “weird” mentioned some times. We have also been compared to Celtic music which I believe is used as a closest-too comparison if you’re not familiar with Swedish folklore. The UK and Scandinavia have close connections though since the age of the Vikings. And I understand the music can be compared… but it’s not Celtic. It’s Scandinavian.
Generally, the more close to Sweden the comments come from, the easier are the understanding. Of course, this is not strange in any way; Swedish traditional music is very special. We have seen some negative words too… from the papers in our neighbourhood… but that’s only natural here in Sweden.
Did you already begin to work in new songs? What can we expect from the next work?
There are songs ready, but at the moment we’re working on an album with English translations of the Russian mega artist Vladimir Vysotsky (-1980). We where contacted by the Israeli translator George Tokarev asking us to work with him. The style of this music differs from Hagen and therefore it most probably will be released under a different name.
The next Hagen album will be more vocal based than “Corridors of time” as our violin player has left the band since a while. The music will still be based on Swedish folklore though.
How do you come to the European scene, especially the Scandinavian?
The musical scene in Sweden is very much alive and has been so for a long time. In a historical view Sweden has always been a leading European country in music. Guess it has to do with our climate and nature. There is something special in the melodies, harmonies and the air of the music making you able to sort out Swedish music from others, even from our neighbour countries. This has made Swedish music very popular around the world. Of course, having world’s eyes upon you helps all musicians here.
What goals have you noticed to reach with Hagen?
Well, I think we have made a record never done before, at least here in Sweden. A very well respected Magazine (Lira) has compared Hagen impact to folk rock with two other groundbreaking bands, Kebnekaise and Contact. Those bands where active in the seventies. You could read that “Corridors of time” was the most important step in folk rock since the music of the mentioned bands. That’s really something to be proud of.
And of course, I think we succeeded in the goal to combine the musical styles in a way making the music as one unit instead of what I often hear with other bands music, a folk part and a rock part existing as two separate elements never really melted together.
The fact that I can listen to the album over and over without getting tired is very positive too. There are not too many other albums strong enough for this.
Thank you Hans. If you want this way it you can leave a message to our readers.
It would be very nice to visit your country meeting people and learn the culture, at least get a taste of it. Just think about the lovely situation watching a football game between Argentina and Sweden… I believe we won last time… Live in peace and stay updated on our website:
http://www.hagen.nu/
