Avatar launched their ninth studio album, Dance Devil Dance, on Feb. 17, and in about two weeks, it climbed to the No. 1 spot on Billboard‘s Current Hard Music album chart.
For frontman Johannes Eckerström, that sort of accolade is not a giant deal.
“[When I found out,] I went online and checked out the Recording Industry Association of America, the one that certifies [albums] Platinum and Gold and I went to look at their Top 10,” Eckerström advised Chuck Armstrong on Thursday night time’s version of Loudwire Nights (April 13). “The Eagles. Mariah Carey. Michael Jackson. I was like, ‘Okay, we have a long way to go. Get over yourself and get on with it.'”
As he laughed about that, he did admit that he’s appreciative of the success.
“It’s a sign that there’s something even more important happening,” he defined. “We’re connecting with people.”
On Dance Devil Dance, there is no query that Avatar are connecting with extra individuals than ever earlier than. As Eckerström shared, the band broke attendance information all through their current European tour, taking part in to 1000’s of followers every night time—a big step from their first present in America at a New York City membership that held just a few hundred individuals.
“It feels good, but we are here doing this every day,” Eckerström stated. “I’ve been in the band every day since [that show in New York City]. That felt like such a big deal at the time; you measure the success—or whatever you want to call it, it’s very relative to where you are at any given moment. Crossing the pond and doing that for the first time, it felt like a huge deal. Tonight, here in Munich, it’s a sold-out show for over 1,000 people. It feels exactly the same as playing for a few people in that New York basement. That was a big deal at the time. As long as you feel like you’re going somewhere, it feels good.”
Avatar Prepare to Tour the U.S.
Eckerström and his bandmates—guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, drummer John Alfredsson and bassist Henrik Sandelin—are gearing up for a run of reveals throughout the states, starting in Omaha on April 28, and wrapping up in Pittsburgh on May 28.
The reside expertise with Avatar is second-to-none and the frontman credit that to a couple various things.
“Well, we try to be onstage on time and get off before they kick us off,” he laughingly advised Chuck. “The fair description that we have been given many times is theatrical. I think it’s good to use the adjective theatrical rather than the noun theater. It’s not theater. Theater is something with a very clear specific goal of putting something together that you’re supposed to enjoy by sitting down and shutting up. I’ve been to the theater. I like it. But a rock and roll show is something else. It’s something that relates.”
As he considered what he simply stated, he in contrast a rock present to what a standup comic or skilled wrestler does.
“[I can relate with] anything where it’s a transaction between audience and performer that changes from night to night, from room to room,” he stated. “It’s something you bring on the road—that’s the rock and roll aspect to it. It’s something that’s alive and moving.”
Eckerström did say, although, that followers ought to anticipate some cool issues from Avatar once they hit the stage, too.
“We have little bells and whistles that we bring with us that elevate [the experience] and heighten it,” he described. “There are a bunch of things like that that happen throughout the show. It’s a big combo of an intense metal show with a rock and roll twist that makes you snap your fingers and move your feet and maybe there’s a nosebleed involved. And I wear different coats. It’s a potpourri of all the good stuff.”
Collaborating With One of the Greatest Voices Today
A pair of weeks earlier than Dance Devil Dance was launched, Avatar shared a robust monitor from the album that includes Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale. “Violence No Matter What” is an intense tune that’s, as Eckerström described when it first got here out, “about one thing and one thing only. It’s okay to debate and fight and to think differently. But there is a limit and the line must be drawn at authority held with violence, a worldview that cannot survive without enemies, a promised return to a fabricated former glory.”
Hale’s contribution to the monitor solely made it that rather more memorable and highly effective.
“Tim [Öhrström] wrote some amazing riffs and once there were enough riffs for me to try and do vocals and some lyrics,” Eckerström advised Chuck, “[we realized] this would be cool with two voices. The song evolved into a duet before there were any talks about who would be good to bring in.”
Avatar have not invited many outsiders into the studio earlier than, so this was a brand new expertise for the band.
“We’ve been having the time of our lives since it was just the five of us in a room where we would unscrew the lightbulbs,” he recalled. “We would play in the dark so no one would get to look at their instruments because that would lead to you being better at head banging while playing. It was just us sweating in the dark in our underwear because there was no oxygen and it was steaming hot in there.”
READ MORE: One-in-Five Music Industry Workers Experience Sexual Abuse
That variety of expertise bonded the bandmates, making a brotherhood of types that may have been awkward for somebody on the outdoors to infiltrate.
Fortunately, Hale wasn’t precisely an outsider to the band.
“Lzzy is one of the greatest voices of our time, I truly feel that,” Eckerström acknowledged. “We have toured a little bit together so there was a bit of a relationship. With that whole band, we respect them tremendously, not just for their musicianship and stuff, but we have come to learn how rare it is for bands to be the way you want bands to be when you’re a fan. Meaning, friends. Close to each other. A sense of family. Halestorm, they are very much like that, as are we. So we can relate to that.”
Eckerström had the likelihood to observe Halestorm carry out reside a number of instances over the years and at all times loved when Hale would “go hard” onstage.
“We knew she had it in her to do something more along the lines of what we were doing,” he stated. “She jumped at the opportunity and we’re very, very grateful for that and that she gladly stood behind the message.”
Watch Avatar’s Lyric Video For “Violence No Matter What”
Johannes Eckerström joined Chuck Armstrong for Loudwire Nights on Thursday, April 13; the present replays on-line right here, and you’ll tune in reside each weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app. Stream Avatar’s Dance Devil Dance at this location after which try their full tour schedule.
Most Anticipated Rock + Metal Albums of 2023
2023 is wanting good for rock and steel albums already.
Discussion about this post