{"id":422,"date":"2019-09-11T20:30:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/?p=422"},"modified":"2020-01-03T10:27:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T09:27:36","slug":"interview-age-of-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/?p=422","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Age Of Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Age of Reflection  &#8211; Something big coming up from up north!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Swedish band AGE OF REFLECTION and their mastermind Carl Berglund (g) have a real melodic rock\/AOR monster at hand that will doubtlessly leave you speechless. \u201cA New Dawn\u201c will definitely be a true contender for every \u201calbum of the year\u201c-ranking of the genre. Needless to say that this makes us call Sweden and ask Carl about the creative process, development as well as the next live adventures.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AOR-Logo-450.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AOR-Logo-450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AOR-Logo-450-300x148.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Carl, what went differently this time? \u201cIn The Heat Of The Night\u201c, your 2017 debut album has been a great piece of music &#8211; but the new one is nothing but fantastic!<\/strong><br> Thanks a lot, Martin! It means a lot to all of us, I can tell you. You know, this time around one of the biggest differences for sure was that on the one hand we played some shows which made us stronger and tighter as a band. So we tried to capture the live energy in the studio, too. And on the other hand, compared to \u201cIn The Heat Of The Night\u201c, which mainly featured my ideas and those of bass player Jan Sk\u00e4rming, for the new album basically all members of the band contributed to the creative process one way or the other. Although the basics of the songs are still mine, everybody added some personal flavor which made the overall impression extremely positive and versatile. For me personally, this record means a lot because I changed a lot in my life and put much effort, work and of course, heart and soul into the songs. So, you see, we changed a lot and were able to record in my own, new studio. We were working hand in hand more than ever and I guess, that\u2019s actually what you can hear.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Carl-Berglund-450.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Carl-Berglund-450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Carl-Berglund-450-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there a key song on \u201cA New Dawn\u201c? A song that is most dear to you or a song that pretty much sums up what Age of Reflections is about?<\/strong><br> Well, I would say \u201cStay With Me\u201c because of being straight and because of its hooklike but also \u201cGo\u201c because of representing another side of the band, a more modern approach, if you like. But \u201cHere I Stand\u201c, too, which became our first video for \u201cA New Dawn\u201c. The choice was actually really tough but better this way than only having one or two possible candidates, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"AGE OF REFLECTION - Here I Stand (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EotU_rCNp_8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Erik M\u00e5rtensson of Eclipse and W.E.T. fame is responsible for mix and mastering. He\u2019s amazingly talented but probably pretty busy these days with various bands, productions and projects. How was working with him in general?<\/strong><br> From the beginning on, our impression simply was that we have to deliver the best possible material  ever for him to put some finishing magic onto. Not only for me but to all of us, he\u2019s the best of the best in the genre. Therefore, it was the next logical step for us to collaborate with him. He\u2019s been an integral part of the strongest pieces of music of the melodic scene over the last couple of years. Working with him was very nice, pleasant and extremely challenging at the end of the day. He was able to incorporate some extra magic here and there. Age Of Reflection as a band pretty much profited from his experience and expertise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cI Just Died\u201c is a cover version of one of the greatest eighties songs ever by Cutting Crew, one of the most under-rated bands of that era. Did you receive any feedback at all from them?<\/strong><br> No, unfortunately not. But I think this song has been re-recorded and has been covered a lot. Nevertheless, I would be glad to know whether they like it or not. But their management agreed on our version to be published because we obviously did not change it significantly. We made the song a bit faster but apart from that, it\u2019s pretty close to the original. We somehow had a lengthy discussion on what song to cover. We have different influences and backgrounds but when somebody suggested this particular song we looked at each other an felt the same. It\u2019s a good choice. So we immediately agreed. This tune adds a little bit of a different flavor to the record that easily connects with the rest of the material. To me the keyboards are a reminiscent of Bon Jovi\u2019s \u201cRunaway\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AGE-OF-REFLECTION_band-450.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AGE-OF-REFLECTION_band-450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AGE-OF-REFLECTION_band-450-235x300.jpg 235w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You play your first gig in Germany at the prestigious HEAT-festival at the end of the year after going over to the UK for some headline shows. What can people expect?<\/strong><br> Well, our goal is to present the band in the best way possible which means we play a couple of new songs but also the best tracks of the debut, too. We\u2019re right in the middle of rehearsals and can not wait to play because we heard a lot about especially HEAT-festival. We\u2019re very much looking forward to it. When we played Rockingham in England in 2017 everything went fine but I can tell you, we have certainly grown in any way given our current line-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anything left that we forgot? Anything you would like to address to the fans in Europe, especially Germany?<\/strong><br> Absolutely! Thank you very much for your interest and support which really means a lot to us. And not only because our label is located in Germany but mainly because you guys over there value original music the way it should be. We appreciate your support very much and can\u2019t wait to play for you. See you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martin Stark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Age of Reflection &#8211; Something big coming up from up north! Swedish band AGE OF REFLECTION and their mastermind Carl&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews-interviews","wpcat-20-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":428,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions\/428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aormusic.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}