Where did the name Falconer come from?

I chose the name FALCONER since it was an easy and short name. It quite well made you understand what kind of lyrics we would have: medieval. I can’t say that it has any special or deep meaning; it's just a fitting name.

Who would you say are your major influences?

Hard to say, it's not like I'm having certain role models I try to sound like so I guess the music I like is the music I want to play. Lets say then that my influences are: Jethro Tull, Queen, Rainbow, Dio, Iron Maiden, Gamma Ray.

Stefan used to play in a band called Mithotyn. Why did they dissolve?

Because I no longer listened to the kind of music Mithotyn played. I felt that the harsh vocals didn’t add anything to the music. Shortly I had moved on musically and wanted a fresh start under a new band name.

Why did Stefan decide to switch to a clean vocalist in Falconer?

That way I had one more instrument to carry a melody, I didn’t listen to many bands that had death/black metal vocals so it didn’t come as natural as before to have that in my own music.

Falconer did not have any intention of playing live shows at the start of the band. Why was that?

Because it didn’t give me anything, I am still into making music mostly because of the creative process. Writing and recording is what drives me. Since we were 3 members I thought it would be easier for me to record all guitars and bass instead of having other members in the band that you have to learn, and playing live wasn’t even something I had thought of.

 How did you find those first few live shows, especially Wacken?

Wacken was our 3rd show ever so you felt quite small when entering the stage. It is definitely something I will always remember. Not the best show but in my heart I cherish it.

 Do you enjoying playing live shows now?

I'm not going to lie and say it's the reason I do music. It's not a passion but I like it, I love recording and writing more. Still certain shows give you something that really fuels your energy.

“Among Beggars and Thieves” was a noticeably heavier album than “Northwind”. Is this a sign of things to come?

No, it was just a direction we took because we were so satisfied with NORTHWIND (I think it's our best one). We didn’t want to make the same album once again so we decided to go faster, heavier and a bit more unpredictable in the arrangements. For the next album we'll chose another path. It's gonna be quite different from the other albums.

The lyrics on “Among Beggars and Thieves” centre on Swedish history and what it was like to live back then. What do you find so interesting in this period of history?

Besides music I have history as my big interest. It's both a way to escape reality somehow. Why I have chosen the medieval days especially I don’t really know. It would be silly if I as a Sweden only wrote about the Egyptians or the Roman Empire, which I have no connection to. My own roots on the other hand are something I can relate to in a different way. Most bands get hung up on king Arthur, Templar knights, fair maidens and stuff like that. Things that are either fairytales or real but still a minimal part of the medieval world. I am a simple man and like to describe the simple man’s struggle or yokes of the upper class. If I say it this way: I wouldn’t want to live in the medieval days with all the famine, plagues, wars, religious bullshit and oppression which really was the reality of 95% of the population.

Do you have any other lyrical themes?

Some more environmental and political views upon today’s lifestyle do appear sometimes often disguised in a medieval style so to speak.

You made quite an epic video for “Carnival of Disgust”. What was the theme behind it? Did you have fun making it?

The one responsible for it is our photographer who really has an eye for the visual equivalence of Falconer’s music I think. We thought it could be a fun thing to do and also somewhat of a visual substitute for not playing more live. We do realize that it will probably not be shown on TV but only on YouTube but that´s better than nothing. Will it bring more fans and fame to Falconer……. I doubt it will do much but I'm proud of it and think it represents the band very good. It was shot in a medieval castle. What we wanted was a video that portrayed the lyrics and not just a band playing in a dark room for 5 minutes or having a naked girl running through the forest even if the lyric isn’t about that. A video should enhance the lyrical concept, this time the situation of a executioner forced to chose the job or serving his own sentence…..death penalty. I think the video turned out great. Trivia: the guy playing the executioner is Karl Beckman from my old band Mithotyn.

You album covers have quite striking artwork. Who designed them?

Jan Meininghaus, as always. For this time I didn’t have much of an idea for the artwork except that it should contain a beggar. The rest is the idea of Jan.

Snowy Shaw played drums on “I Refuse” from the “Grime vs. Grandeur” album. How did this come about?

He and Kristoffer knew each other so it was basically his idea. I love his playing on that song but honestly it feel more like he appears because we wanted to show that we knew him. Karsten could just as well have played that song to. I can’t really find any good reason to why we did it, but the result got good so……..

No, since the ones released under a different label than Metal Blade, in Japan is owned by the Japanese label. Nowadays our label in Japan is Metal Blade so that's more possible.

Falconer has covered a number of Swedish folk songs, “We Sold Our Homesteads” and “En Kungens Man”. Why did you choose to cover these?

Because they are good and fit our style. It started with “Per Tyrssons döttrar I Vänge” which became a hit among the fans on the first album than we have thrown in one or two on most albums. It's our style you could say.

Are there any more covers in the works? Are there any songs you would like to cover?

Yes and yes. I'd also like to cover non-Swedish artists to but that might be a later issue.

What can we expect for Falconer in the future?

Shortly: a new album in 2010. Honestly it's not more than that and it suits me fine being a family man with a fulltime job. The days get full somehow, but every once in a while you have to break free and lock yourself into the bedroom to make a riff or two.