ELEINE in the infernal interview

English version

ELEINE (Facebook ) have recently published their biggest work to date, „Dancing In Hell“ (Review ). I’ve been following the band’s success for quite some time now and I have to say that ELEINE is one of those bands that really works their asses off to push their success and live their dream. Even COVID-19 couldn’t stop ELEINE, because despite their limited possibilities they also used everything to be there for the fans, among other things with regular live Q&A gigs and always new videos from the new album. So I was even more pleased that they still took the time to answer my questions. You can look forward to an interesting interview and even a reunion with Beavis & Butthead😂

Attracting attention

MH: It has to be said that Madeleine Liljestam is an exceptional frontwoman. She has an insane charisma. Among other things, the eye-catching outfits are striking. Who is responsible for the outfits? Does Madeleine do the work herself or is it commissioned work? What does she prefer for private clothing?

Madeleine: Thank you so much! That’s lovely to hear. Well, I am involved with the creations of my outfits. Years ago I worked with Emma from Deadly Seams who helped me out with several outfits based on the founding ideas I had for my style. After that I’ve also worked with Imani Atélie in Brazil. As for my most recent outift, the black body suit with a skull belt, I designed it roughly a year ago. I showed it to Emma from Deadly Seams and she helped me make it become reality. I’m really happy about it, so it really warms my heart when fans and listeners highlight that!

Private clothing often results in black jeans and band t-shirts 🙂

The Singing

MH: I have the impression that the singing of Madeleine has developed further. But I also noticed this with Rikard, who is represented here with his dark growls, besides his clean vocals, which I also appreciate very much. I once read that Madeleine had professional singing lessons. Is that still the case? And how about Rikard?

Madeleine: I’ve had the same teacher since I was 8 years old. She taught me everything she knew, and now I’m teaching my students everything I know. I went to her until I was like 24 or something, and after that I’ve just haven’t had the time but I’ve been practicing a lot anyway since I’m a full time musician. I know where she is when I really need her you know. She’s a great woman.
Rikard is self-taught with some tips here and there from me! 🙂

Rikard: I can confirm this!

Second guitarist and guest musician

MH: You are four band members at the moment. Have you ever thought about enlarging your band, e.g. with an additional guitarist? If so, who would be your ideal candidate?

Madeleine: We are on the lookout for a permanent second guitarist. At the moment we use live session guitarist.

Rikard: Yeah and the reasoning is simple; We’re not in any rush. There are a lot of things that have to fit and it’s also good to do a couple of tours before adding to a line up.

MH: Would you like to work on a song with a guest musician? Who would you like to invite and why?

Madeleine: I would love to work with Sakis sometime from Rotting Christ. He’s fantastic. He really creates unique tracks with atmosphere, emotions and power.

Rikard: Agreed about Sakis! But hey since you said him, I’m gonna go with Michael Amott from Arch Enemy. I have a feeling it would turn out great.

A life for ELEINE

MH: Put yourself in your founding time of the band.

– What were your goals and expectations back then?

– Did you achieve or even exceed the goals you had set yourself at that time?

Because let’s not fool ourselves. You have had a great career so far.

Madeleine: Hehe, thank you! All the goals we’ve set, as part-goals, has been reached and we always strive toward new ones. We’ ve always worked our asses off and we still do that. I really don’t like to sit down and relax for more time than necessary. I never get too comfortable, and I don’t mind working so hard when it is for something I truly believe in and love doing, every day, every hour and for the rest of my life.

Rikard: I think we’ve reached all our partial goals, and new ones are set all the time as Madeleine said! Thank you very much. I always say that nothing’s ever served, all is earned.

MH: You show a lot of commitment and do a lot for your presence. What else is important in your life besides the band ELEINE? How much space does the band take in your life?

Madeleine: The band, and music is my life. Outside of the band I enjoy talking a walk.

Rikard: The band and music takes up aaaaall time. But, on the rare occasion it doesn’t, I play video games.

COVID 19-Shit

MH: In 2020 COVID 19 came and slowed down the whole music and entertainment industry. And it currently looks like this damn virus will keep us in a stranglehold for a while. 

How do you deal with it? What do you think about modern emergency solutions such as live-stream concerts?

Madeleine: It’s been a very tough time for everyone. I mean, our entire world was pretty much turned on its head. It’s very surreal, and there has been moments of feeling a very heavy weight on my chest but I’ve fought through. All thanks to my band members, family and our fans. We are planning for 2021, ready to run out of the gates so to say. At the moment no live stream concert (without an audience).

Humor

Rikard: We’re staying focused on the new album and try to stay as positive and motivated as possible. On the live stream thing, it’s each to their own on that part. I mean, it’s nothing new, there have been live streamed concerts for a while now. Me personally, I prefer to do live stream gigs when there is an audience there with us.

MH: I have followed live streams of you. Madeleine and Rikard generally make a good-humoured impression with a healthy dose of humour. Which of your band actually has the most humour?

Madeleine: Hehe, we really enjoy each others company and we’re always close to a smile or laugh. It’s important. We’re not the pranky ones but we have a huge library of internal joke after many gigs and tours where we’ve been through so much together.

Rikard: Thank you for checking out the live Q&A’s we’ve done! Humor is very important, and I am never late to crack a joke. That becomes very apparent on our monthly live stream hangouts with our patrons on Patreon haha.

Easter Eggs

MH: Speaking of humour… During a live stream Rikard said, that he hid Easter Eggs in the current videos. What is that all about?

Rikard: Oh man, it’s all about the deeper level. To add tiny easter eggs that only a few will ever notice is so much fun. I myself love to find easter eggs in movies/games/music. It’s just an extra little treat you know?

Madeleine: In almost everything we’ve created there are small easter eggs. It’s a fun thing to see if anyone really hears/sees it one day!

Rikard: Do you still know the guys from the following videos? Just watch the videos and be surprised… At least you should know the bands, right? 

MH: Cool bands, cool songs, cool guys!  Which song of yours would you introduce to these two guys? 

Rikard: 😂 Dude, I used to watch Beavis and Butthead all the time! „Do America“ is such a stupid and great movie. I would definitely introduce ”Where Your Rotting Corpse Lie” to them.

Madeleine: Wow, 😂. That brought back many memories from the past! They’re hilarious.
I would LOVE to hear Beavies & Butthead to ”As I Breathe”.

ELEINE in dark worlds

MH: „Break Take Live“ for example was a very cool song of yours. „Sanity“ from the last album was a real highlight for me. Both are dark and aggressive songs, and the growls of Rikard fit perfectly. The new album goes more in this dark direction. The sound has become even more powerful and aggressive. Pure-bred calm ballads are not to be found on the album this time. At most „Die From Within“ in the symphonic version could be described as such.

Why did you decide for this way and where will your way still lead you?

Rikard: Once again, thank you very much! It was just a natural progression. We write about what we know, what we feel and what we see. Both Madeleine And I have seen our fair share of struggle and this album reflects that amongst other things. We can´t see where the future takes us, but we do like the vibe we got going on.

Madeleine: We always want to stay true to ourselves, otherwise it wouldn’t be that Eleine sound. It all just came very natural.

ELEINE in other fields

Rikard: Speaking of the dark way… you covered the song „Mein Herz Brennt“ by the German band RAMMSTEIN on your last EP „All Shall Burn“! To be honest, I was very surprised and didn’t expect this from you.

Who came up with this idea and why this song of all songs?

Can we expect in the future that there will be an ELEINE-Song with German lyrics?

Madeleine: When releasing an EP, ”All Shall Burn”, you have more wiggle room to throw in for example a cover. We came up with the idea together, but I think it was Rikard who cracked it.

Rikard: I think so to! We all just felt ”Aaaah hell yeah” we when we brought it up. Rammstein has always been there, and this was our little way of showing appreciation towards them. And I don’t think it has gone unnoticed since they added us to their Spotify list ”Rammstein By Others”. How cool is that?!

Haha, sadly no I don’t think we’ll write an ELEINE song in German!

MH: Tell me one outstanding event in your life that has shaped you or that you will never forget? Doesn’t necessarily have something to do with music.

Rikard: Each struggle has gotten me more dedicated than before, more determined to not give up and keep on pushing toward my goals.

Madeleine: What he said!