Photo Courtesy of GrimnerWho are you and what is your role in the band?
Greetings! My name is Johan Rydberg and I play flutes and other folk instruments in Grimner.
How did the band get started?
The band was started by Ted and Henry after their previous band split up. They had been playing melodic death metal but Ted was already heading towards folk metal so they decided to continue with their new project which they named Grimner.
Who are your influences and how do they play a role in your sound?
Ted is the main songwriter in the band although we all contribute in different ways to the music. But both Ted and I have been listening to a lot of the now considered classic folk/viking metal bands like Ensiferum, Finntroll, Tyr and so fourth. But we also find inspiration from all kinds of music as well as game and movie music.
Your lyrics are exclusively in Swedish. Is that to honor your history? Do you think it might limit your accessibility?
So far we have only been singing in Swedish. And we will probably never switch to only singing in English. But, we might do some songs in English, only time will tell. The main thing for us is that it fits the music and lyrical themes better to sing in Swedish. Since we sing a lot about mythology and history it would be a bit weird translating all the characters and places we sing about. And we don’t think it limits us. A lot of folk metal bands sing in their native languages. It just feels like it ads to the themes of the music.
This is your 10 anniversary as a band. What has been your most meaningful experience so far?
A big moment for us was to get to play as closing band at Sabaton Open Air 2017. We don’t play as big of gigs in Sweden as in other countries like Germany. So to get a chance to play at one of Sweden’s largest festivals was a big thing for us.
Favorite memory from a show you’ve played or a place you’ve travelled?
Probably when we played our second visit at Hörnerfest festival in Germany and we managed to fill up the whole crowd area with people at about 13.00 (1:00 pm) in the afternoon. It was quite humbling to see so many fans wanting to the show.
What more do you hope to accomplish with your music?
For us it is mostly about having a good time with friends and fans. And if you are interested in mythology or history you will find a lot of interesting stuff in our lyrics as well but mainly when we play we just want to have fun, drink some beer and have a good time.
Something about you that no one knows?
Haha, that’s a really tricky question. Not sure if i have a good or interesting answer to that.
Hard to come up with with something that no one knows. But just some interesting stuff might be that a lot of our stage outfits are ours or our friends. Or that most of us are quite nerdy playing a lot of video and board games.
What is next for the band?
We have played about a third of this years giggs and still have a lot to go. This year being the 10 year anniversary, we have planned more gigs than we ever played in one year. ever before. So right now we are preparing for the biggest route in September when we will be touring for about three weeks.
Anything else you want to add?
Thank you so much for taking your time to read this interview! And hopefully you enjoy our music and if possible we hope to see you during gigs sometime in the future!
