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Electro and goth in a blend
Many probably do not know that Malaise have been around for quite a while. Martin Danielsson, (vocals and programming) started the band as an electronic one-man show in 1989. A few years later it became more for real as new band members joined. Martin has been the heart and soul of the band since the beginning, and with his vision, he has led the band on the motley path to what Malaise is today. With a sound, many times described as electro goth, it is appreciated by many. The current line-up of Malaise have been playing together since their first gig at Tantogården, Stockholm in August 2000. Last year the band made several celebrated gigs, one of them being at Eurorock in July.
What are your influences, what music do you listen to?
- Martin: The influences vary a bit from member to member, I think. Personally I listen to a lot of different bands, but which ones that influence the music we make I don’t really know. Most Malaise songs have quite a lot of synthesiser sounds, and that maybe comes from me listening to a lot of electro bands when I was younger. Bands like Depeche Mode, Psyche and Front 242 come to mind. But I think that we all agree that a good song is a good song, regardless of genre.
We keep on talking about their music. I ask Martin who writes the music and what inspires their lyrics.
- Martin: I try to write the lyrics, but I often get help from someone else in the band. We mainly write the music two and two. I don’t think the whole band ever have written a song together. Even if just two of us write a song though, everybody has a saying about the “finished” version.
What is the reason to that you’ve had so many changes in the band's line-up during the years?
- Martin: Well, quite a few reasons I think. The drummer, Johan Linder (‘94-‘97), had to move due to studies. And when Malaise moved from Uppsala to Stockholm in ’99, that brought some problems, of course. (Editor’s note: Uppsala lies about 50 miles north of Stockholm.)
We’ve heard that you had a lot of problems getting the new album out. How is it going, really?
- Mmmm. We’ve had a lot of problems in the studio; broken computers and samplers and a fatal hard drive crash that wiped out many months of studio work last spring - and no backups. But now, things are going better, and I think the new CD will be finished sometimes late this winter. It’s planned to be a 6-song EP, with a few remixes of old songs and some new.
Last few years Malaise have made several live gigs, but not been on any real tour. How has the response been?
- We made some quite successful gigs last year, and it feels like the “Malaise-thing” is getting a bit bigger. That feels really good, especially considering that Malaise have been active for some 13 years now. We did a gig in Oslo in April as we played for about 1300 people, which was cool. Electric Gathering in Stockholm last summer was quite good too, especially considering the weather. We also played in Belgium, at Eurorock, and that was a nice experience
Future plans?
- We’re going to do a gig here in Stockholm 25 Jan at Kägelbanan, Mosebacke, so everyone interested is very welcome to come. We're also planning a tour this spring, playing all over Europe. We already got some gigs in England, Germany and Holland, and of course we will do some gigs in Scandinavia too. After the tour, we will concentrate on the new album, to which most of the material is already made.
On Malaise' homepage you can download a music video of their cover on Skinny Puppy's "Assimilate", and lots of more stuff. Homepage address is below.
/Sami Sinervä
Photos from Electric Gathering Festival in Stockholm 2001, by Sami Sinervä.
The Malaise line-up:
Martin Danielsson on vocals
Jimmy Widegren on guitars
Stefan Väisänen on bass
Fredrik Leijström on guitars
Jimmy Waern on guitars
and Robert Eklind on keyboards
Malaise homepage: www.malaise.net
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Martin of Malaise. Photo by Sami Sinervä.
Jimmy and Stefan, Malaise, at Electric Gathering Festival 2001 in Stockholm. Photo by Sami Sinervä.
Fredrik on guitar, Malaise, at Electric Gathering Festival 2001 in Stockholm. Photo by Sami Sinervä.
Martin Danielsson, Malaise, at Electric Gathering Festival 2001 in Stockholm. Photo by Sami Sinervä.
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