In a new interview with GRIMM Gent, vocalist Johannes Eckerström of Swedish metallers AVATAR was asked how his relationship with touring has changed compared to 10 or 15 years ago. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, it has changed a lot. 15 years ago was much wilder than now. I mean, people still party, but I think the big thing, in the last few years, has been this idea of wanting to have a life. Because in the beginning, the partying and staying up late and playing the show and the excitement of that itself was [the main point of] life and still is a great part of life. But then with more committed relationship overall in the band compared to a decade and a half ago means that … you cannot just press pause on home, when on the road. So things blend into each other more. And also just the thing of when waking up on a day off, not being hung over all day or just whatever that is also, like, ‘Where are we? Okay, Google. Google. That’s cool. Let’s go and see that.’ Or even on show days. I think I’ve been to Philadelphia six times in in the same neighborhood, and after a while, ‘Let’s look at the map. And then that liberty bell, with the cracked bell that they have in the house, where the signed Declaration Of Independence, it’s there — right over there. So let’s go and check it out.’ So just enriching yourself in ways around that is not just the music and the performing and the nightlife. That still plays a part, and especially the music [is] a huge part, but then it’s everything else, and the friends you made through the years, maintaining those relationships. So, in those ways I think it’s a richer and — it’s a boring word in this context, I guess — but a more mature approach to it all… And sometimes you’re specifically close to cool nature, and hike some mountains, and to seize those opportunities.”
Asked if he and his AVATAR bandmates still get moments onstage where something goes slightly wrong, which in turn then actually makes the show better, Johannes said: “Yeah. I think there’s the elements of chaos. If it doesn’t show up by itself, there’s something about… ‘Cause we make a plan of things we wanna do on stage, and then the show develops on stage and what was a spontaneous good idea on the third show has become part of the script 10 shows in and everything. And at some point there, when you start to have what feels like a perfect show based on that you did everything you intended on doing, but show after that you have to fuck with each other a bit. Then the gremlin comes out and tries to sabotage it a bit in one way or another. So either it’s from the outside that it happens or you start adding that element yourself. But you don’t maybe have to try so much anyway. Things happen. It’s a living, breathing, crazy thing, and it’s a rock and roll show.”
He continued: “Anytime that I talk about making mistakes on stage or whatever, it always brings me back to seeing DANKO JONES for the very first time live, where he — by now it’s standard in his show that — [he goes], like, ‘Oh, I fucked up. Well, I guess it’s rock and roll, guys.’ ‘Cause when you’re in the audience, you almost like it when it happens, when it’s something that you feel probably you’re being brought a bit closer to the artist or realize, ‘Oh, shit, this is real.’ It’s a balance act for us being so theatrical, because a lot of things has to be as planned. But I always make sure to have little pockets that belong to me and just what I say and or what I do in certain parts of the songs and that where I know I can do something if I want to, to keep that element alive in the show.”
AVATAR released its tenth studio album, “Don’t Go In The Forest”, last October via Black Waltz Records. The follow-up to 2023’s “Dance Devil Dance” was once again produced by Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and URIAH HEEP, among many others.
Ruston first worked with AVATAR when he mixed “Hail The Apocalypse”, a role he reprised on “Feathers & Flesh” before taking the wheel as producer on “Avatar Country” and “Hunter Gatherer”.
“Dance Devil Dance” featured a guest appearance by Lzzy Hale of HALESTORM on the song “Violence No Matter What”. The record also included the single “The Dirt I’m Buried In”, which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Johannes formed AVATAR in 2001. The band’s lineup has remained virtually the same ever since, save for guitarist Tim Öhrström, who entered the fray just over a decade later. AVATAR also includes guitarist Jonas Jarlsby, bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson.
Eckerström told Metal Symphony about how AVATAR has managed to keep its lineup intact for a decade and a half: “For us, the most important thing is friendship. That’s not just a nice thing to say — it’s very practical. Our job is to write and perform our own music; we don’t use outside songwriters or fake it in the studio. We want to write, play, and perform what’s truly ours — and do it in a way that keeps us friends. Sometimes that means making decisions that might not be the best for business in the short term but are better for the band and our relationships in the long run. That’s always the priority. The longer we stay together, the more opportunities we have to grow — both personally and artistically. That’s the secret: we genuinely want to stay together.”
Regarding how much each AVATAR member contributed to the composition of “Don’t Go In The Forest”, Johannes told Metal Symphony: “It’s hard to measure. Our producer, Jay Ruston, often says AVATAR is the most democratic band he’s ever worked with. Traditionally, the main songwriters are Tim, Jonas and myself. But the process is so collaborative that all five of us get deeply involved in finishing the songs. Take the title track, for example: it began as a song Tim wrote, but we couldn’t make the full version work. Years later, Jonas brought back one of the riffs, added new bass and drums, and built something around it. Then I came in to clean it up, rearrange parts, add keyboards and a pulsing bass line — and everyone added something. Each song is different. Sometimes one of us writes most of it; sometimes it’s a complete group effort. But the key is that by the end, everyone feels ownership — it becomes our song.”