INTERVIEW WITH LION’S SHARE

LARS CHRISS-GUITARIST

INTERVIEW BY:  NEON BLONDE

MARCH 30, 2002  

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Q:  Where did the name LION’S SHARE come from?

  A: In the beginning we had an English guy named Peter Ferry writing our lyrics. He came up with a list of name suggestions, but strongly recommended LION’S SHARE.

  Q:  In 1993 when LION’S SHARE signed deals with Japan’s Zero Corp. and Germany’s Long Island Records what did this do to help the band?

  A: We were lucky to sign a record deal very fast after sending out our first demo. Of course this helped to get a positive feeling within the band instead of a lot of labels turning us down demo after demo like the case is for many other bands. We immediately got a pretty big following which of course felt great and helped us to motivate to continue making albums and touring.

  Q:  Tell us about the 96’ tour LION’S SHARE did with metal legends Saxon.  You know they’re coming to the states, Dallas, in April.  My favorite local heavy metal band, ASKA, will be opening up for them.

  A: That was amazing since I’ve been a Saxon fan since 1981. The band treated us great and was very supportive. I guess your first real tour is something you will never forget. To be able to do it with one of your favorite bands doesn’t suck either.

  Q:  How did it come about that LION’S SHARE was the only Scandinavian band to appear on the tribute to Judas Priest (1996)?  Your name is on the CD with such greats as Saxon, Helloween, among others.

A: We had just signed with Century Media so that was a great opportunity to introduce LION’S SHARE to a bigger audience before releasing our second album “Two”.  Judas Priest is actually my third favorite band after KISS and Black Sabbath, so we are very honored to be on that album.  In my opinion it’s the best tribute ever since it had so many big Metal bands on there like Saxon, Helloween, Testament, Fates Warning, U.D.O., Gamma Ray, Rage, Mercyful Fate etc.

  Q:  You did a tour with Iced Earth and Nevermore in 1997.  In your estimation how large was the crowd?  Was this the largest one to date? They are coming to the US as well.   I believe it will be Iced Earth, Jag Panzer, and In Flames.

  A: The Iced Earth/Nevermore crowds were not that big at all. I believe the biggest were about 4-500 people, and the smallest about 25 persons in Switzerland.  Both our two tours with SAXON, the one with U.D.O. and the dates we did with Dee Snider were bigger.  However our biggest tour to this date is the 16 dates Ice Hall tour we did with DIO, MANOWAR & MOTÖRHEAD in late 1999. At these shows we had 1500 to 5500 people coming, so that was a big thrill.

  Q:  You guys obviously were doing something right because to end the year you went on tour with Saxon again.  Tell us about that.

  A: We really hit it off as persons and their audience really liked us so I guess it was the right thing to do.

  Q:  Who contacted LION’S SHARE about the AVEX (Japan) deal you signed?

  A: It was their A&R at the time Steve Harrell.  Unfortunately they shut down their Hard Rock/Metal label the following year even though they had pretty big names like Saxon, DIO, Entombed and others on there.  I guess the Japanese market still have a diving trend ever since the Asian slump/crisis started in the early/mid 90’s.  The Japanese market is not what it used to be and that really shows in advances and sales for everybody these days.

Q:  I was in awe reading the history of the band.  It’s like reading a list of Who’s Who!  In 1999 LION’S SHARE toured with ex-Twisted Sister front man, Dee Snider.   What was that like?

  A: We joined him on a couple of dates mainly since we had never toured in those cities. He’s a great performer and front man, but I’m not a fan of his music.

  Q:  The legendary Sweden Rock Festival, same year 1999, LION’S SHARE is on the same stage as Scorpions, Deep Purple, David Lee Roth, Manowar, Motorhead, and Dio.  Did it seem real to you guys?  I mean that’s quite an honor to have your name beside these metal legends.

  A: We’ve been extremely fortunate to be able to play with most of our teenage idols with the exception of KISS, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Def Leppard.  It was really weird to sit down for breakfast and see the guys in Scorpions and Deep Purple sit next to you.  The funny thing is that after this great thing we would go on tour with three of the biggest names on the bill only five months later.  The experience of my life is really the tour we did with my absolute favorite singer of all time Ronnie James Dio.  He’s just the greatest and nicest person on earth. 

  Q:  The first time I heard “Shotgun Messiah” I thought it was so Queensryche!  Tony nailed those vocals.  Tell me about the American Queensryche Tribute you were apart of.  Has Tony been compared with Geoff Tate before?

  A: People usually think Tony is a mix of Rob Halford and Geoff Tate and I don’t mind that as you can imagine. We were offered a spot on a QR tribute and at the same point needed a bonus track for the re- release of our first album. We recorded “I Don’t Believe In Love” and sent it over to the label in the States. Unfortunately they got involved in a lawsuit or something, so the CD never came out. We included it on “Perspective” which is a 2 CD-set featuring our first two albums re- mastered + 3 bonus tracks.

Q:  I wanna go back for a minute to 1996.  You inked a worldwide deal with Century Media Label.  At that time how did this help to promote the band further?

  A: At the time they were more into Death/Black/Goth Metal and really didn’t understand our kind of music so we were never happy on that label.  By the time we were about to enter the studio to record “Fall From Grace”, they were having huge economical issues and we simply saw our chance to get away from a bunch of options.  We took help from a lawyer and halfway through the recordings we managed to get our contract terminated.  I believe they are much more suited for our kind of music today, but back then we didn’t know that bands like HammerFall would turn the trend around only 6 months later.

  Q:  Then you guys signed a deal with Massacre Records.  Are you still with them?

  A: Yes, they have two more options.  I’m not impressed with their work so far however.  They gave their promotion guy the boot right in the middle of the promotion of “Fall From Grace” and more or less missed the opportunity to really break the band with such a great Metal album. We asked to be put on tour both after “FFG” and after “Entrance”, but so far they haven’t done anything about it.  Actually they don’t put any of their bands on tour like both Century Media and Nuclear Blast do. The only Massacre bands that tour are the one’s that have a big management or booking agency behind them like Pretty Maids, Silent Force, Axxis and Pink Cream 69.

  Q:  Let’s talk about music, your albums.  I love “Entrance” (2001).  How long from start to finish did it take to complete the album and how was it received?

  A: I always write and collect ideas on cassettes, but the actual demo-ing and pre-production started in May 2000.  We entered the studio in October/November and the mix was done in January 2001.  Everybody from the label to the critics and even our old fans think it’s our best album so far with very few exceptions.  It’s our most straightforward album so I guess it’s pretty easy to get into and understand at a first listen compared to some of the old stuff.  I have always tried very hard to make sure the albums sound different from each other since I don’t see the point of making the same album over and over again. Sometimes it takes a member leaving the ship, but I hope in the end the fans will thank me for continuing the LION’S SHARE journey and add another piece to the puzzle.

  Q:  Off the same album is a wonderful song called “Through The Clouds”.  Was this song written from personal experience?  The music is beautifully done!  So many songs out there today lack substance, harmonies, guitars, etc.  This song has it all!

  A: Thanks a lot!  I’m really a ballad man and this song is an absolute favorite.  I never write any lyrics so I really can’t comment on that, but the music and melody was all written by me and I’m really proud of the result.

  Q:  The song “Fall From Grace” off the same-titled CD got critical acclaim.  Tell us about that and what it meant to the band.

  A: The whole “Fall From Grace” album is great in my opinion.  The title track is another absolute favorite of mine.  I love Black Sabbath with R.J.Dio and Tony Martin, and you can really hear that in this song.  My natural style of writing is the really heavy/doom stuff, but unfortunately the average listeners in both POP and Rock seems to prefer up tempo songs, so lately I have tried to write some more songs in that direction as well.

  Q:  The “Fall From Grace” artwork is incredible.  Whose concept was it and where did the vision come from?

  A: The original painting was done by Per Christmansson and can be viewed in its full at the back of the CD.  However we felt there were too many strong colors, so me and a guy named Magnus Andersson took the angel from the oil painting and scanned into a computer along with a rusty iron bar back ground and a crashed jewel case (the cracks) and came up with the final result after playing around with the colors for a while.

  Q:  Do you have the same artist paint for the covers?  If so, who is he/she?

  A: For “Entrance”, “Perspective” and “Two” we used Nicklas Westin. Per Christmansson did “Fall From Grace” and the Century Media version of “Lion’s Share”. Jorma Naula did the first version of “Lion’s Share”.

  Q:  On your album “TWO”, “Baptism of Fire” has a line, in Latin I presume.  Please correct me if I’m wrong.  It is: “Primer se volch demostar ave nostra sanctus dominus.”  What does it mean?

  A: I’ve been told by Andy who wrote the lyrics that it’s a prayer in Latin by the pilgrim the song is about.

  Q:  What is the story behind the song?  It has, to me, very religious connotations?  Was this intentional?

  A: I think it’s about a pilgrim’s journey or something.  To my knowledge no one in the band, past or present is religious.  I think Andy who wrote the lyrics for the first three albums got many of his ideas from films, so maybe that’s the case with this one?

  Q:  I noticed on your web site that you guys have done four videos.  UNHOLY RITES (2000), REMEMBRANCE (1999), SHADOWS (1997), & SINS OF A FATHER (1995).  What was the process for making the videos, where were they done, and did you have fun making them?

  A: I personally hate doing videos and photo sessions.  I’m a musician and I wanna spend my time in the studio or up on stage. There’s really no market for Metal videos anymore, so they are all more or less pretty cheap just to have something without going bankrupt. “Shadows” is the most professional followed by “Remembrance” which are both pretty good.  Sins Of A Father is the worst…

  Q:  I want to talk about the writing/recording process for a minute.  How does the recording and writing process come about?  Do you write in the studio or is it done when you get there?

  A: It’s done before we get there except for most of the guitar solos, which are usually improvised, in the studio. I usually write 95% of the music and all melodies (except on “Two” where I wrote a lot less of the melodies).  When I think I have all music done, we program the drums and make a demo so I can go home and write the melody line.  After that I give a DAT with me signing the melody to whoever’s gonna write the lyrics.  Usually we just continues to build the song around the demo, like adding the finished vocals, keyboards and bass and then take it to an analog 24 /2” track studio and replace the demo guitars and the drum machine with the real thing.  We usually end up having all drums and guitars on analog tape synced to a computer with Logic Audio where all vocals, keyboards and bass are to be found.  Since I’m producing as well I prefer to add my guitars first when we get to the analog studio to the drum machine.  This way I can fully concentrate on my producer’s role when it gets time for drums and the mixing.  The quite unusual thing is that we actually record the drums last instead of like most bands first!

  Q:  Lars, how old were you when you wanted to be a musician?

A: It was the first time I heard KISS at age 8.

  Q:  Did you have the support of your family?

  A: Absolutely! Both from my parents during childhood, and lately from my girlfriend. This is usually the most common reason why bands break up I think. As you get older and have children etc. the pressure from the family life takes over, and the band start to suffer. Either you are all on the same level and everything is fine, but usually a couple of guys wanna move on and push the band to its limits.  Since you can’t both have the cake and eat it, a crack evolves and the band either breaks up or move on with new members. This scenario has been played up before my eyes more times than I can remember now and I’m sure I haven’t seen the last member passing through LION’S SHARE because of it.

  Q:  What was the first heavy metal concert you ever attended?

  A: KISS at Isstadion, Stockholm in 1983 on the “Lick It Up” tour.

  Q:  How old were you when you started playing the guitar?

  A: I believe I was like 8 or something when I started playing acoustic.  I then moved on to electric, mainly playing rhythm until I was like 16 before I started playing solos.  A mistake many kids do is that they start playing solos too early and forget about the most important thing, the rhythm guitar.  95% of the songs are rhythm guitar playing.  Being able to play tight to a click track, over dub left/right in the studio etc.  Many kids can play Yngwie scales sitting in their bedroom, but put them together with a band and it’s usually a disaster.

  Q:  What do you like to do for fun?  Do you get to many hockey games?

  A: I love watching Ice Hockey both on TV and live.  Sometimes I go to a club with a friend to watch a band and drink some beer.  I also enjoy taking a boat out on the sea in the sunshine during summertime.

  Q:  What would you say your biggest contribution to LION’S SHARE has been?  Personally, musically.

  A: I didn’t admit this in the past, but over the years both people in, and outside of the band always said that I AM Lion’s Share.  I own the name, all albums, the publishing, rehearsal equipment etc.  I do all interviews and media contact.  Produce and write most of the material.  I negotiate for tours and for studio recordings.  The licensing and distribution contracts are all in my name alone.  I have put so many hours and so much hard work and money in to this band you wouldn’t believe it.  I always wanted it to be a band where everybody did equal amount of work.  Very early on it became clear that wasn’t going to happen.  I would love to have a member come on board with that extra sparkle, fresh ideas and a strong vision.  We’ve had a couple of line up changes, but so far no new member have added anything other than their musical knowledge to the band.  So with risk of sounding like total dick, my biggest contribution is doing everything except writing lyrics, play drums, bass, keyboards and sing.

  Q:  What kind of American following does LION’S SHARE have?  Do you feel like it’s an underground following?

  A: Actually the most devoted fans are Americans.  They write most letters and emails and always ask us to come on tour.  Last year we had two great guys from the New York area start a Yahoo Fan Forum Club in our honor (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lionssharearmy/).  Unfortunately we have never released any of our albums officially over there, but feel free to visit our friends at http://www.nightmarerecords.com/ if you’re searching for our albums in the US. 

  Q:  In 1995, when Pontus Egberg joined the band you said he proved to be the missing link in the line-up.  How so?

  A: We didn’t. The guy who wrote the Biography did LOL!  Pontus is a great performer on stage.  Andy Loos is a better bass player technically when it comes to the studio work.  They are both great but in different ways…

  Q:  Where and how did LION’S SHARE find drummer Johan Koleberg?  Was he involved in any other projects prior to LION’S SHARE?

  A: We had an early, quite different version of the band going when I still lived in my hometown Sundsvall.  We were looking for a singer at the time and one of the singers played our demo to his band that featured Johan on drums.  He was totally blown away and secretly contacted me and eventually ended up being our new drummer.

  Q:  I noticed the only two CD’s available on your web site is “Fall From Grace” and “Perspective”.  Can you still get the other records or are they out of print?

  A: The albums that are still available are the one’s that are being put out by Massacre Records:

1 - “Perspective” – a 2 CD-set featuring re mastered versions of “Lion’s Share” and “Two” + 3 bonus tracks.

2 – “Fall From Grace” – our third album.

3 – “Entrance” – our latest and fourth album

We are working on a new Merchandise form that will offer all official albums, T-shirts, posters, signed stuff, limited items like out of print and Japanese album versions etc. at www.lionsshare.org

  Q:  Do you ever see LION’S SHARE coming to America?

  A: We would love to come there!  I really hope that the trend will switch to our advantage musically so we can sign a decent record contract for North America as well.

  Q:  Where has the band toured or played?

  A: Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

  Q:  Are you guys expected to put out an album every year or every other year?  Tour for months?  Do you have any difficulty getting gigs?

  A: So far we have been in studio every second year to record a new album. We have toured a lot in Scandinavia and are an established name here by now, so we don’t have trouble getting gigs in Sweden at least.  When it comes to the rest of Europe we need help from our label Massacre Records, since it’s their market and we don’t know any promoters down there.

  Q:  Are you pretty much able to tour when the opportunity presents itself?

  A: If the tour is right for us, I’m always ready to hit the road to promote the band and meet with the fans.  A problem we’ve been having through the years is that certain members have had problems with this due to their family situations.  My opinion is that you can’t have the cake and eat it, so I more or less demand that the guys either be there for the band or quit.  Needless to say, we’ve had quite a few line up changes….

  Q:  What is radio like in Sweden?  What I mean is there someone who dictates what’s played or is Heavy Metal still played on the radio?  I’m sorry to say here in America heavy metal music has been lost somewhere along the way.  We need to help it find it’s way back

. A: It’s actually getting better and better.  Metal gets played in small doses on both TV and radio, and we even have some channels that only play Rock.  I believe the big difference for us is that the alternative/grunge/hip-hop thing you had over there, never got especially big over here, so the melodic music never totally disappeared even though it took a huge dive in the mid/late 90’s.

  Q:  Is LION’S SHARE your career or a second job?

  A: I’ve been working with the band full time since 1995.  Lately I have gotten more and more offers to produce and mix other bands, so I might do a bit more of that in the future as well.  Actually I have for the first time accepted to do 2 side projects this year.  One will be like the most melodic side of LS (AOR with an edge), and the other one will be heavier than LS (homepage at www.cosmicsphere.net).

  Q:  What are the short-term/long-term goals for LION’S SHARE?  Are you happy with where the band is now?

  A: I’m really happy with all 4 albums and the great tours and festivals we have done.  If we had come out sounding like this in the mid/late 80’s, I’m sure we would have been huge, but we started out right in the middle of the Grunge and un-melodic era, so I guess we are the right band in the wrong time.  Everybody that likes our style of music think we are awesome within the genre, but with the market looking like it does, the biggest problem is to reach out to all the potential fans of this music without the media hype that bands in the 80’s had.  Especially the American market is a huge disappointment, and it’s a shame we haven’t been able to release any of our albums officially there yet.

  Q:  How do your families feel about the success of the band?

  A: Mixed emotions I guess.  Of course they are very proud, especially when they come out to the shows.  The problem starts when we are locked away in the studio, or out on tour for a month.

  Q:  Tell the fans and readers about the new LION’S SHARE album.  When can we expect it and will it stay true to the same musical style or will we see changes?

  A: It will come out when we have enough songs sounding as good, or better than the previous stuff.  We don’t wanna put out a new album just for the sake of it.  I’m very picky when it comes to the quality of this band.  I don’t wanna let the fans down.  I hope to have a new album out in the Fall 2003.  But then again, it really depends on if I believe it can match the quality of especially “Entrance” and “Fall From Grace”. It will still be heavy riffs and catchy melodies, hopefully with a fresh and interesting production.

  Q:  One last quick question.  Are you guys familiar with the band Falconer?  I have been communicating with the founder of Falconer.  His name is Stefan Weinerhall.  A great guy.  Have you guys ever had occasion to talk?

A: I’m not familiar with the sound of that band unfortunately, even though I have seen their name and covers on the net.

  Lars, the floor is yours!!  Thank you so much for doing the interview and much continued success and I will do everything possible for you guys over here in America.  Any last words?

  A: Thanks for doing this interview and for supporting Lion’s Share. Don’t forget to stop by our official homepage for further information, news, sound samples etc. at www.lionsshare.org

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