이거 해석 좀...ㅡ.ㅡ.;..

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스트라토 홈피 갔다가 뉴스가 새로 업됐길래...퍼왔어용...

옌스의 가장 최근 인터뷰라네요......

이거 해석 좀...-_-..;;..ㅋㅋ...



From Yngwie Malmsteen to Allan Holdsworth, Jens Johansson has matched melodies with some extroardinary guitarists.

Not bad for a keyboard player.

"Yeah, that's occurred to me," says Johansson, famous for doubling the most complex guitar riffs - but on an entirely different instrument. Yet dazzling music fans has come easy since Silver Mountain, the 1982 release that unleashed the Swedish musician upon the world and lay the groundwork for a prolific recording career.

More than 70 albums later, Johansson stands atop a rarefied heap of metal keyboardists. Others in the elite fraternity include Don Airey, Vitalij Kuprij, Derek Sherinian, Erik Norlander and Michael Pinnella.

Perhaps best known for duplicating Yngwie Malmsteen's guitar runs on Rising Force and other seminal neoclassical albums, Johansson is more than a hired hand. Sure, he seldom turns down a gig - "it doesn't take that long to do a solo here and there" - but a certain Finnish act has been his mainstay since 1995.

That would be Stratovarius, arguably one of rock's biggest melodic-metal powerhouses. Since recording Fright Night in 1989, the quintet has set a heady benchmark for any band grafting precise guitar licks, quicksilver keyboard runs and heartfelt vocal harmonies atop double-bass bombast.

With The Elements Part II about to hit record racks, the band relaxes and reflects. The boys could bask in a legacy that has spawned nine studio albums - many of which went gold (20,000 units under Finland's sales system) - and collected their royalties.

But the musicians carry on, having signed a three-album deal with Sanctuary Records following three releases with Nuclear Blast. The move sees an act not at the end of the trail, but at the beginning of another.

Sure, worldwide touring isn't in the cards, but that's hardly unexpected from these guys. Increasingly long stretches between releases have become commonplace. But best-ofs and other compilations satisfy hungry fans until the next anticipated feast.

Infinite left fans famished after its 2000 release. 14 Diamonds - Best of Stratovarius and Intermission would feed that hunger until The Elements Part I surfaced early this year. And only a few months later comes Part II, leaner and more stripped down than its predecessor.

"That wasn't anything interntional," says Johansson. "Things just worked out that way. It's our writing process. Or Timo's."

That would be Timo Tolkki, mastermind of a band he joined in 1985. Founded a year earlier by drummer Tuomo Lassila, bass player John Viherva and guitarist Staffan Strahlman, the band performed as Black Water and bowed before the altar of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.

But Strahlman bailed, prompting Lassila to call Tolkki. Not only did he assume guitar and vocal duties, Tolkki brought neoclassical influence to the act.

Three studio albums would follow until Johansson and new drummer Jorg Michael signed on for Episode. The 1996 followup to Fourth Dimension featured 40 singers and string orchestration. It also boasted "Will The Sun Rise?", "Father Time" and other songs that would become Strat standards.

"Joining the band really fired my creativity," said Johansson. "We found we worked well together."

From there, the band simply took off, playing to thousands of fans and posting increasingly higher record sales. Though the band has yet to tour the United States, a stateside jaunt is not out of the question.

"We'll have to wait and see," says Johansson. "A full tour definitely won't happen for quite a while. But after our break, we'll see what happens."

If those words suggest a man content with his career, they do a disservice. For Johansson will fly anywhere, collaborate with virtually anyone, in the name of art. His discography speaks for itself.

From Dio, former Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow and HammerFall to Ginger Baker, Jonas Hellborg and fusion projects with brother Anders (who also played with Yngwie), Johansson keeps a busy schedule.

But he's never too busy to chat with ElectricBasement.com.

There's been much speculation about The Elements Part II. Is it as symphonic as Part I or more raw?

It's a little bit less symphonic, but not by design - rather, by coincidence. The music is similar to the first one. Most of the longer songs seemed to end up on the first album.

The drums were recorded in one go. It took three weeks maybe. It was a nine-month process to get all the mixing done. But that was done separately.

Were the discs recorded separately?

Basically, most everything was recorded at once except the drums. At some point, we recorded and performed everything together. Then after that, we redid things or overdubbed things. The traditional process for us is one week of bass, then three or four weeks of vocals, and so on. That's how we recorded Part I and Part II.

Though in some cases, we did the keyboards and guitars overlapping as we moved between studios. It took a long time to do two records, so the approach, I would say, wasn't so much compromise. We set out to have no compromises.

Does Stratovarius usually compromise?

In the past, we have, yeah, because of budget constraints. If you don't have time or money, you make it 95-percent good instead of 99 percent. I think the bigger the band has gotten, the more money we have for the next record.

Psychologically, it's a much more relaxed atmosphere now because if you can allow yourself to be picky, you can relax. If you redo something 10 times to get it right, you feel justified because you feel like you don't have someone breathing down your neck or are over budget. In a lot of cases, benefits show up in the performance because it's more realized.

What about those who say great art comes from suffering?

There's a certain truth to that as well, but with this type of music, I would say torture and agony come in the composition stage (laughs). That's like, for us, 95 percent, and by going to 99 percent, if you can get more inspiration than perspiration, you have a more playful mood.

Explain the concept behind The Elements discs.

It's basically ... there is no concept! It's like a concept album with none. It's been a tradition with this band that the albums are named after one of the songs. You just pick one song title. Of course, in the case of this album, I see it as one huge album. We had to split the release up. The second CD doesn't have a song called "The Elements," but there's a connection with the cover.

So the common link between the discs is the cover art?

Yeah (laughs). It's kinda weak, but that's the strongest connection.

Are you happy with Derek Riggs' cover art?

Yeah. I actually think the cover for The Elements Part II looks even better.

Why?

It's not so much the cover, but the booklet. It's a much nicer layout.

Did Timo once again handle all the songwriting?

On the second disc, yes. On the first disc, I wrote four songs. One of them ended up as a single in Europe. Another one is a Japanese bonus track.

You wrote both tracks?

Exactly.

Timo seems to write everything. Does that frustrate you guys?

Not really. We trust him. That's the basic issue here. Because he's been doing this - and managing the band for a long time - of course it's a little frustrating, but everyone takes it in good stride. It's important to determine which song is better or worse. The way we solve it is to trust Timo.

Is Stratovarius a democracy, or do you pretty much follow Timo's vision?

We follow his vision. Of course, there's still consensus within the band over what we should do. It isn't like, "Aarrrggg! I'm deciding!" But some people in the band are too lazy. Some people like me have strong opinions, but I realize it's still preferable to do it this way. This lineup has been together seven years, so it's sort of proved that the concept has worked.

Stratovarius crosses many genres. Some liken you guys to a progressive metal band, while others point to your double-bass tendencies and call you power metal. How does Jens Johansson describe the band?

I would describe us as melodic power metal with some progressive elements.

No pun intended.

No (laughs)

You've worked with some of the world's greatest guitarists: Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Allan Holdsworth. How do each of those players approach songwriting?

I think the biggest two guys are Yngwie and Timo. But they're really different.

How?

Yngwie was basically happy to play solos. He is very much focused on that. It's almost like he gets possessed, whereas Timo hates to play solos?

Really?

Yeah, he's much more happy writing songs. With Yngwie, solos would be in rough demos and when we'd record, the solos would be the first tracks overdubbed even before rhythm guitar.

What was working with Tony MacAlpine like?

That was fun. I was in a studio in northern California working on another record, and he was in the studio next door. I snuck in there and did a session with him.

So it happened quickly.

Yeah, it only took a couple hours. Nice guy, Tony. I heard him also with Derek Sherinian.

His Planet X stuff is unreal.

Yeah, he sounds like a completely different guy now. More jazzy.

His stuff with CAB is really jazzy. He really surprised a lot of people.

Great player.

What were you recording in the adjoining studio before meeting Tony?

A Deep Purple tribute.

Is it different working with veteran musicians like Dio, Ginger Baker and Allan Holdsworth compared with Yngwie, Roland Grapow or even Timo Tolkki?

I don't think so. People are individuals. Everyone has their own quirks. Grapow and Timo are veterans by now, too. Timo's been doing this since 1985.

What's been your most fulfilling experience as a musician?

Some of them have been concerts where there were a lot of people. When you start out, you sort of have a dream. But you don't even think it will ever happen. Like when we played in front of 75,000 people at this California festival (appearing with Yngwie Malmsteen at the Day On The Green Festival in Oakland, Calif.)

What's been the toughest project you've ever tackled?

One of the tougher ones was the Ginger Baker one.

Why?

He's a very peculiar person. At the time, he was 55 years old and extremely grumpy and hostile. He was complaining heavily about everything. He didn't want to go on tour. On a professional level, he wasn't difficult, but he was complicated.

He didn't want to tour, but you did?

Sort of. We did some gigs in Germany, jazz-type shows. I tell you, if you think Yngwie's an asshole to journalists, Yngwie's an amateur! This guy (Baker) is insane. I've never seen anyone ruder to journalists. You wouldn't believe.

Tell me more.

He wrote the book! It's kind of funny. I think Yngwie could take lessons from this guy. But actually, Yngwie has mellowed out over the years.

Maybe marriage and fatherhood had something to do with it.

Yeah, plus once you bang your head against the wall 500 times, the 501st time, you stop. He stopped drinking so much, too.

What's your favorite Stratovarius album?

That's difficult to say. One of my favorites was the Visions of Europe - Live! record because it's a good representation of what we sounded like.

The metal world has far fewer keyboard players than guitarists. Does that make competition for gigs extra fierce, like between you, Erik Norlander, Don Airey and others?

It doesn't feel like that to me. Of course, I've been doing Stratovarius for seven years. I haven't been looking for other gigs.

The gigs come looking for you?

Yeah, but I think what you said's probably true. There's probably not so many bands that do this kind of stuff.

Few bands specialize in doubling guitar-keyboard riffs like you guys.

That's true. But we don't do that too much anymore. It's like more of a hangover from the '80s. It's something me and Yngwie did, as well.

Your recording history is overwhelming. How do you find the time for so many projects?

It doesn't take so much time. The hardest ones are when you are actually responsible for songwriting and production. When playing some solo, I can do that in my sleep. It takes three hours a lot of times.

Who are your musical influences?

In the beginning, Jon Lord. I still like him actually. Guys like Don Airey, Eddie Jobson.

When he played with U.K.?

Yeah. Frank Zappa, too. He played for a lot of guys.

Is Stratovarius going to tour for the new album?

Not for The Elements Part II. We just got off tour for the first album. I think everyone's sick of touring. Jorg and his wife are having twins in January, so he'll have his hands full. I'm trying to record an album.

A new solo album?

Yeah. I have finished some already. The drums are done, and I've got to edit those. I've been lazy these past few years. I readily admit that.

Are you impressed by any new music out there?

Meshuggah. Derek Sherinian's new solo one.

Yeah, it's awesome. Di Meola, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie. He's got some killer players on there.

It's fucking great. That's one of the reasons I have the luxury of being lazy. He's making all these solo albums so I don't have to (laughs). Oh, I also like the new Sonata Arctica.

Some have called them "Stratovarius Jr."

Their sound is somewhat similar. You have quite fast double bass and guitar. But the songs are different enough to me where I respect it very much. The songs are great.

Would you like to say anything to your fans?

We've been promising to come to the states for a long time. That's a possibility in the future. It seems like more bands are coming to the states, so hopefully we be able to eventually do that, too




Visit http://www.stratovarius.com for more info on the band.

[Loudness]

헉 길다 ㅡㅡ;

[알로에]

어어억~~~~

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ㅎㅎ..ㅡㅡ..;;..좀 길죵...-_-..;;..

[푸헐~♡]

번역프로그램 있자나여...앞에 한 4문장 읽고나니..뇌가 터질듯...속이 울렁거리기 까지...

[임펠리테리]

대충 읽어보니까 옌스요한슨이 element pt 이후에 뭘 하는것 같은데..제 느낌이 틀리길 바랍니다

[EPISODE]

좋은내용이네요~

[Into the Secret Sphere]

미열이가 해줄거임-_-;;

[절대암흑마녀-WindMaster]

겁나 기눼...ㅡ ㅡ;;

[♡美熱小女♡]

프린트 하니까 A4 로 6장 나오드라. 쩝~ 겁나 기네.. 근데 지금 내 눈에는 흰 면은 바탕이거.. 까만거는 점이당.. 이거 볼 여유 있으면 좋겠다. 갑자기 밀려 드는 과제 때문에 미치거 환장 하거 팔짝 뛴다!! ㅡㅡ;;