Interview with David Johansson from Kongh

Kongh is a vigorous band hailing from Sweden. We’re recently reviewed their epic second album “Shadows of the Shapeless” which garnered a lot of interest.

This was a perfect opportunity to chat with David Johansson, the man behind the guitar and the vocals.

How did you come up with the name of the band?

It was back in 2005, a few months before we recorded our first demo. We wanted something that went along well with the mood of our music, which made us think of King Kong. Huge, heavy and dangerous – but with a big heart. Used the name Kong for a while but added the ‘h’ to avoid problems with higher powers.

You recently released your first album. How long did the recording process take?

Actually it’s our second full length album. Our debut “Counting Heartbeats” was released in 2007. The recording process was a bit complicated because we could almost only record during the weekends. Not sure of the total amount of days, but somewhere between 15-20 would be my guess. The total process took 2 or 3 months. The next time we will rent a studio and make sure we get full access, during the week days as well.

Who is the main creative catalyst behind Kongh and what does your creative process look like?

I (David) am writing most of the riffs and melodies, and all the lyrics as well. Tomas is also contributing with an occasional riff now and then. When it comes to shaping the songs, it’s a teamwork based on melting the ideas together to give them the perfect flow and structure. This is the part that requires most time and since our songs are often close to the 15 minute mark, writing them usually takes about 3-6 months.

What’s your take on the influence of the Internet on the music business? Did it help you reach a wider audience? Do you think it will impact the sales of your record because of illegal downloads?

I’m aware that lots of people are downloading our music without paying for it, and it doesn’t bother me at all. If people want to buy our albums we will eventually earn some money, and that’s nice, because having a band is lots of hard work. But I’m also aware that lots of people out there aren’t really interested in owning CDs or vinyls. They’re fine with having mp3s on the computer. Whatever works for them, you know. I’m just glad people are into our music, and weither they pay for it or not is up to them. I don’t mind.

Actually I think the internet helped us a lot in many ways, it’s a great way for bands to promote themselves, with myspace and everything. You don’t need to send out hundreds of demos to get your music heard. All you need is to sign up for a myspace account and upload your music. If your music is good and original, some people will eventually take notice.

You play dark music, but what do you listen to? Any unexpected bands we should know about?

We listen to a lot of music. 60′s-00′s pop, rock & metal, doom metal, death metal, black metal, heavy metal, thrash metal, rock’n'roll, prog, punk, crust, grind, blues, sludge, drone, ambient, soundtracks and the list goes on. We’re really open minded and I think a lot of what we listen to finds its way into our music one way or another.

Unexpected bands you should know about? Hmm, don’t know what people would consider unexpected, but OK, I’ll try. Check out Zombi – an american rock duo consisting of awesome drumming and amazing synth soundscapes. One of my favorite bands. I’m also into several film score composers – like Fabio Frizzi, he wrote the scores for several horror films by Lucio Fulci. Angelo Badalamenti wrote some beautiful scores too, for David Lynch movies for example. And Walter Rizzati’s score to “House by the cemetery” just kills. I also enjoy listening to calm ambient stuff like Brian Eno. His albums “Ambient 1: Music For Airports” and “Apollo: Atmospheres and soundtracks” are quite enjoyable. Unexpected enough?

What are your plans for 2010? Will we see you on tour?

We just began writing our third album and things are going good so far. We’ll work hard with that for the rest of the year. As soon as we’re ready, we’ll hit the studio and record. Might be in autumn 2010, or spring 2011. Time will tell.

Our last album “Shadows of the shapeless” will also be released in the US in march.
Touring: yes, there will be a european tour in July. Hopefully one in North America as well but nothing is certain yet.