Senior journalist Anabel DFlux had the pleasure to pick the brain of Johan Andreassen of Amaranthe in regards to their newest album Helix!
RockRevolt Magazine: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? Can you tell me a bit about the recording and production process for Helix?
Johan Andreassen: The writing on this album has mainly been Olof and Elise…Nils and Henrik has been a part too in the actual writing process but mainly it’s Elise and Olof! They are totally masterminds and manage to switch on their creativity in a very awesome way! They write the fundamental ideas behind the songs but the actual ready song is finished off in the studio where Morten arranges his drums and I do my bass part together with Jacob Hansen this time…previous albums me and Olof did it together but this time I tracked almost exclusively with Jacob Hansen!
RR: Tell me about the album cover!
Johan: We simply wanted to have some sort of movie theme behind it… something in the line “5th element” and such…
RR: I’ve had the pleasure of listening through Helix- the sound is very much in Amaranthe’s unique and iconic style but still features many new melodic sensibilities. How do you feel your sound has evolved over the years, since the very first release?
Johan: I fell like our sound is constantly evolving within it’s self…we still sound the same but we always have new things up our sleeves. And it all follows a natural curve…just like someone growing up. But of course we always try to push the boundaries as much as we can, and even if it sometimes seems like we can’t,we always find away of doing so.
RR: Any fun stories from the album’s creation that you can share with us?
Johan: Yeah….when we were done and finally got to listen to the finished product! That was a proud moment.
RR: Tell me about the music video for “365”. How was this video conceptualized? What did you enjoy most about the filming process?
Johan: We wanted to make a performance video and so we did! It was a scorching hot day at the set….well above 30°…close to 35…but Patric Ullaeus always manage to bring out the best in us and makes us push ourselves as much as possible and even more!
RR: What influenced the decision to make “365” the first single?
Johan: That was our own decision….the label wanted another song but we felt that this was most representative of us now! We wanted to show something that wasn’t typical old Amaranthe but something that showed us more “at the moment”! There was a lot of debating with the label but we won that one! Labels are not always right you know.
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RR: Thus far throughout your career, your band has racked up north of 118 million YouTube views, half a billion song streams, and the honor of being three-time holders of BillBoard Heatseekers Chart #1 position. What are your hopes with this upcoming release?
Johan: We really feel that now that we started working with Angela Gossow as a manager we will take this to a higher level and I (We!) strongly believe that this will take off big time…we all ready have big things in “the pipe” and 2019 will be a big year for us!
RR: As much as this tends to be a difficult question, I have to ask- what track off of Helix is your utmost favorite? Whether it be for sentimental reasons, the melody, etc.
Johan: Oh…that’s a tricky question with an almost impossible answer….I really love all the songs in it’s own special way but if I had to choose I would say “the Score”! It has this certain groove to it….
RR: How does music affect you and the world around you?
Johan: I think music effects everything around us in one way or another…think of a movie with music?! That is just strange….music enhances emotions and feelings in ways we can’t understand. Personally it’s my way of making a living,something I always dreamt of but had a hard time believing would happen..but it did!
RR: What are your fondest musical memories?
Johan: There are so many….but top of my head and to me personally it would have been when I got endorsed and taken up in the Warwick family! Warwick basses has always been my favorite basses and getting endorsed by them was a teenage dream come true! I feel very proud and honored by that fact!
RR: I saw you have some tour dates around Europe! What are you most looking forward to?
Johan: All of it!! I love to tour and play different cities and venues even how hard can be sometime to be away from the family back home! But it is at least a good comfort that we have so many sold out shows and that is always a good thing to boost the ego with!
RR: Any final words for your fans before we conclude this interview?
Johan: Thank you for your amazing support throughout the years…you made us into what we are and we hope we can pay you back!
RR: Thank you!
