Interview with Magnus from GROUND MOWER

Hey! Yes, GROUND MOWER is getting ready for the upcoming shows during the spring and the summer festivals.

The band was formed in Stockholm in late 2004 by the drummer, guitarist and bassist who ran into each other at the local supermarket in Taby/Stockholm. The 3 had known each other for years and previously played together in bands like FACE DOWN and MOZES. They talked and were really eager to get something going again and Richard, the drummer, had seen me perform at a festival earlier that summer and told the other two about it. They started to write some music, and I was recruited shortly after that. We had our first performance together in May 2005.

We initially called ourselves LEDSTONE, for lack of a better name. I can't remember who it was that came up with GROUND MOWER but the second it was mentioned we all knew it was perfect. To me the name GROUND MOWER symbolizes the mood and tone in our sound.

It's awesome to have the material out there and all the feedback we have received and are receiving is really rewarding. Jocke Skog is a killer dude, great musician and a wicked sound engineer. We couldn't have asked for a better result! Jocke actually did a stand in on the guitar at a gig last August when our guitarist was out of town. He did an excellent job!

I would describe it as.....crunchy Hard Rock with a jagged Metal edge! That's our recently adopted phrase to describe it in 10 words or less to everyone.

In more detail, GROUND MOWER has a rather American Heavy Metal, Hardcore Rock, a little touch of Post Grunge, and with a seriously heavy groove.

Influences come from MOTORHEAD, SLAYER, PANTERA, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and HELMET.

Not really. I mean, I never got into Grunge. I don't mean to say that there aren't pieces that I like from the genre, but it's not my first choice. Chris Cornell is certainly a talented singer and songwriter, and there have been times when a SOUNDGARDEN song came on and I listened to it, I'd think- 'Yeah, that's how I would have done it too', so maybe there are some coincidental style similarities there that people see. It's widely accepted that a person is shaped by your first idols, and I started to listen to Rock n Roll in the late 80's. The reason I got into music in the first place is Axl Rose of GUNS & ROSES and Sebastian Bach of SKID ROW. Later, I discovered the good old soul and R&B bands and artists of the 60's and 70's, which is my main source of inspiration today.

To make a long story short, anybody can sign with Casket, all you have to do is pony up the cash. We have no label representation at the moment.

We have played with some well known acts in Sweden, and since the CD release and attention, we have been in contact with more internationally known names. On 30 April we're opening for Blaze Bayley, and we're playing the Gibson stage at Sweden Rock on 4 June, where we will be sharing the stage with giants like HEAVEN & HELL, IN FLAMES, ZZ TOP and MOTORHEAD to name a few. We are really stoked and this is a great opportunity to look at working with other internationally known bands at shows outside of Sweden also.

Well we don't think it's too early to start work on another album. We have recently started working on new material for the next album, and are planning to add a couple of new songs to our set list in the near future. We will also be shooting a video between shows and writing the new songs, and plan on hitting the studio later this year. We anticipate the next release in early 2010.

None of us in GROUND MOWER has really been into Death Metal or Sleaze, at points in former bands there has been a bit of it, but not much – and the only sleaze would be G&R when it comes to me. We all have been more into MOTORHEAD, PANTERA, SLIPKNOT and Swedish band LOK.

Oh, I sure hope so! We are currently looking at the possibilities for a US east coast tour when we emerge from the recording studio, and possibly a short European tour later this year if we can fit it all in!

Thank you! And thank you for all the support from Greece! Horns up and we'll see you on the road.