Enigma Experience – Das Interview mit Mr. Dango über „Question Mark“
Mr. Dango kennen einige als Gitarristen von den Truckfighters aus Schweden. Wir von Moshpit Passion berichteten letztes Jahr von deren Show in Köln HIER. Jener Klampfenzupfer bringt nun mit seiner neuen Band am Freitag, den 13. November 2020 das Debüt „Question Mark“ über Fuzzorama Records raus. Zur Freude vieler Truckfighter-Fans wird es an den Drums ein Comeback von Mr. Pezo geben. Mehr dazu findet ihr bei uns im Interview. Achtung! Die Pre-Orders sind bereits online ihr solltet euch schnell eine der limitierten Vinyl-Set HIER sichern.
Mr. Dango im Gespräch
When came you up with the idea of having a band besides the Truckfighters?
Sometime after we planned our hiatus with Truckfighters , so before the hiatus actually began I had an idea to write a record by myself.
How did you convince Mr. Pezo to hit the drums again? I guess a lot old school TF fans will love to see him.
Mr.Pezo and me have always had a special connection, and he loves music so it wasn’t difficult. Pezo has such a talent for drums and we know each other for so long that all I had to do was make him come down to the studio and he conjured his drums from another dimension. Most of the times he didn’t even listen to the songs beforehand we just went through everything on site. I think it also felt good for him mentally that it was no pressure with touring planned. Just drumming, and in my opinion playing drums is his destiny.
If I get it right, Maurice is from Norway. Tell us how and where did you meet him for the first time?
I met in first time in Oslo in November last year. A band he was in at that time, Motorfinger, opened up the night and I was extremely impresses by his voice and stage presence. After the show we started taking backstage and really connected and from there nature had it’s way! ha ha.
I think, the voice of Maurice reminds me a bit of Chris Cornell. How did you as a producer worked with him on the tracks so that his voice fits to the sound of the band?
Maurice has truly a great voice and he was very open for direction. I usually get a very clear image in my mind how I want things to sound (incl humans, ha ha) so it was easy for me to describe what I wanted from him. Aslo I am as you surely understand a big fan of the 90’s rock singers so I guess I just needed to make Maurice not sound to happy, ha ha. Most of the time he had a good vibe from the start and I came with small adjustments on how he could try to sing. I had already written most of the vocal melodies for the album but we didn’t follow them strictly instead we tried to find notes to sing that fit Maurice voice best in harmony with the music and my backing vocals.
The name of the band and the record title is all about question marks, enigma. It seems like a big riddle. What was the idea behind the name(s)? Or is it more like a concept/red line?
The idea behind the band name comes from that a friend of mine once called me an ’Enigma‘ because I give such a different impression whilst on stage as a super energetic ’rockstar’ and at home in soft ’normal’ mode, ha ha. So then I thought Enigma Experience would fit as it from the beginning wasn’t really a band more like a new thing I didn’t know if it was a solo project or would be like a new band, meaning to experience me, with also of course a little reference to the Jimmy Hendrix Experience. He was also a prophet of rock music just like I am.
Enigma also means riddle yes and this meaning is more how we want the album title to be interpreted. It’s a new band, no one knows how it sounds except us! And maybe also because I didn’t really know what would come out of this when I started writing the songs this reflects in the album title.
When it comes to the lyrics, are there also connections to riddles/the record title?
Yes you know Enigma refers to something or someone that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to figure out, it is a more compelex meaning than just ‚riddle‘ which is a simplification.
Thus the world we live in can be considered a big Enigma and the lyrics on this album goes from modern age reflections of Social Media, of Corruption to more personal thought and feelings like the difficulty to find balance in life, how the mind can turn into a prison, how the world can be seen in different way with different minds.
When did you wrote all the songs? Was it before or during the covid-19 lockdown?
Long before. I wrote all music early 2018 when we started the Truckfighters hiatus. We also recorded most of the album that spring. Then the friend of mine that was supposed to sing bailed out on the project and I got stuck in a mental limbo for about a year, hoping the right singer would appear for me as a sign from the god of rock and roll. He did not. So around June 2019 I decided to sing myself. At this time we had decoded to start playing again with Truckfighters and I felt that I wanted to finish the album before things got too busy again. Luckily I needed a long time to learn to sig better and write the lyrics and vocal melodies so I didn’t finish in time, then I met Maurice as he sang ina band opening up for us in Oslo last November. THERE he was, the right singer had finally appeared! Luckily apart from having a great voice he also turned out to be a very nice guy, we really connected almost in a spiritual level, you know probably as much as you can connect without being gay. We’ve known each other less than a year but feels like friends for a long time.
I guess you and Mr. Pezo worked in the studio together while Maurice was sending you vocal files, right? How did it take from the idea of the band, songwriting to the final mix of the record?
I wrote all music at home, recorded drums with Pezo in Örebro. Some guitars in Örebro, most guitars and bass at home, the re-amped what I needed in the studio. Vocals we recorded mostly at my place too, we just did the second vocal session in Studio Bombshelter. Maurice and I felt we needed to direct feedback in my producing skills to make it over the top amazing worthy the rock gods.
How did the current situation influenced the songwriting? What were the advantages and disadvantages?
Had nothing at all to do with this album except I postponed the release a few months because everything felt very unsure. Personally the covid has made me if anything unmotivated and bored, I mean it forced Truckfighters to cancel shows, delayed the Enigma Experience release, so this wasn’t always the easiest thing to handle mentally.
You will release a debut record of a new band due the covid timeline. The live gigs are very limited to promote your record/band. Will you do something like a streaming concert? Or do some live shows in front of a limited audience?
Yes probably, Norway just needs to loosen it’s travel restrictions so we can have our singer. It’s really weird to not promote a release with touring but I guess we will be able to tour at some point. I hope we will reach out to fans anyway as the album is so good it would be a shame if peopel miss out on the album of the decade!
Thanks for making me broke because on 13.11.2020 the new Witchhunter & Enigma Experience record will be both released on Vinyl. However I am asking for a very strong vinyl and collector addicted friend: How many copies of the limited boxet did you create?
Ha ha ha. 300. It is way too nice to do in a smaller number than this. And would have to sell them even more expensive.
Bildnachweis: Fuzzorama Records.