dEMOTIONAL – interview with Sebastian Fjordevik (guitar)

The note about this band is “dEMOTIONAL is an up-rising, promising sextet hailing from Sweden, formed in 2009 with the aim to step and be in the front line of the new wave of Swedish metal bands. The band is not only recognized for their music but also for their sense of fashion and style on and off stage. The audience is thrilled to see head banging rockers in suites, and not only trashy jeans and tank tops like common metal bands typically wore…

After releasing two albums of studio “State: In Denial” (2013) and “Tarassis” (2015) and numerous shows in Scandinavia and Europe (sharing stages with Arch Enemy, Entombed …) plus a headlining tour in Russia, dEmotional released its new opus “Discovery”.”

Livius Pilavi: What is the meaning of the name of your band?
Pavel: And why did you add the letter “d” to the band’s name?

DEMOTIONAL is a pun of the word emotional. No real meaning or intention behind it, we just kinda liked the way it sounded.

Livius Pilavi: What bands did you listen to while you were setting up dEMOTIONAL? Who inspired you to create such music?

I listened, and still listen to a lot of different bands in different genres, not only metal. But the one thing I would consider my main influence in music is probably “The Gothenburg Sound” with bands like In Flames, At The Gates, Cipher System and Sonic Syndicate.

Pavel: You represent Contemporary Metal music. Your image is also typical of Modern Metal bands. So, don’t you like the image of a classic metalhead?

For us metal isn’t a way to look or dress, for us metal is in your heart. If you want to look a certain way you definitely should, but how you look doesn’t define what type of music your listening to.

Livius Pilavi: You are dressed elegantly. Do suits do not bother you in jumping around the stage?

To be honest, to wear suit trousers and a shirt on stage is extremely comfortable. But we don’t always do that, usually nowadays we just wear black jeans and a shirt or t-shirt. The thought about or clothes is mostly to create like a unison look for the band.

Livius Pilavi: You play non-Extreme Metal. But do you sometimes listen to Extreme Metal, such as Death Metal or SLAYER?

Oh, we listen to a lot of extreme metal. When I’m in the mood I listen to some heavy shit. The latest week my playlists been filled with Meshuggah, Periphery, Veil of Maya, Mayhem, Betraying the Martyrs and Humanity’s Last Breath.

Pavel: In spite of all, your music is very energetic and sharp, at times very aggressive and of course melodious, with a big load of emotions… How are the songs created?

It’s really hard to pinpoint how exactly a song is created but mostly it starts with someone creating a couple of riffs and starts to build a basic sketch of the song. Then we start to work with it together and try different angles on how we can make the best out of that song. When everything runs smooth it’s absolutely amazing, but when the creativity is harder to find it’s a little bit more time tricky. Sometimes a song can be written in a day and sometimes it can take months to finish it.

Livius Pilavi: What is the subject of your lyrics? What would you like to pass on to your listeners?

The subject of the lyrics vary, but the main thought is to transform a feeling, a state of mind or a scenario into the lyrics that the listener can relate to.

Pavel: You’ve realized some music videos. Is any one more special?

All of our videos as special for us in its own way, but the making of the video for the song “Rush” will always be remembered. Two days of hard work, head banging, cold mud baths, and even colder showers afterwards.

Livius Pilavi: You’ve been touring Russia as a headliner. Are you popular in this country? How did the Russian audience react to your performances? Did you like Russia?

The people in Russia seem to like us, and we sure as hell like Russia! There’s few countries where not only does the fans visit your shows, they come greet you at the airport as well.

Livius Pilavi: Do you know the Ukrainian band THE HARDKISS also putting great emphasis on fashion?

We did not know that, but we do have to check them out!

Livius Pilavi: Is there any band you would like to play on a stage with him?

We’d love to share stage with many bands, but one of my personal favorites would be to play with In Flames.

Pavel: Where will you be seen in the near future?

Hopefully you’ll see us at many places. Right now we’re booking shows for the spring, so keep your eyes open for our posters somewhere nearby your town!

Pavel: What will be the future of dEMOTIONAL?

To continue to create and play music, hopefully we’ll get out on the road again soon!

Pavel: Thank you for the interview and we wish you success!

Thank you for all the kind words and the interesting questions!