Hard work has paid off for Erik Mårtensson. In the past 20 years, his band Eclipse have evolved from AOR worshippers to flagbearers of the Swedish hard and heavy scene. Such success has led to opportunities like collaborating with legends such as Jeff Scott Soto (W.E.T.) and Ronnie Atkins (Nordic Union), as well as too many production/mixing/songwriting credits to mention. As of this writing, Eclipse is a little over a month away from the release of their eighth studio album, Wired. We sat down with Erik to discuss the upcoming release and the latest happenings in the world of Eclipse.
Despite recent world events, you’ve been busier than ever, with this year seeing the release of a new W.E.T. album and now a new Eclipse album, Wired. When did the band start working on this album?
Erik Mårtensson: We started working on the Eclipse album in the beginning of winter, or maybe it was fall, of 2020. That’s when we started writing for real. The final writing took place somewhere by the end of winter. We recorded the whole album during the spring.
I’ve asked a couple other artists who have released albums this year this question. Do you think this album would’ve materialized earlier had it not been for the COVID pandemic?
EM: Well we already had a plan to release a new record, at the latest, two years after the previous one, Paradigm, which we released I think in October of 2019. We want to release albums quite often. We don’t want to wait too long. I think fans will forget about us or we will forget how to do music *laughs*. I think the original plan was to release it during the spring, but we decided to wait ’til after the summer so we could hopefully tour, but it didn’t happen. Hopefully something will happen, but no tours at the moment.
How did the band decide on the title Wired? Were there any other titles in consideration?
EM: Yeah, one title was Dying Breed, but we thought it was too negative, so we switched it to Wired. The whole album for us is an up tempo, party album. We wanted the title to reflect the music. What we really want to have, after this pandemic, is parties. We want to hang out with people. We want to go to concerts. All of that.
The first single off this album reflects that partying spirit, “Saturday Night (Hallelujah), which was co-written by Sha-Boom singer Dag Finn. How did this collaboration come to be?
EM: Dag was here in the studio with me. We were working on material for others, even for Sha-Boom. We said, “Let’s try to write an Eclipse song.” We wrote it in 15, 20 minutes. We had the basic structure. It just came like that. It was on a Friday evening. We just looked at each other and were laughing like, “This is ridiculously good!” Sometimes songs can almost write themselves. Too bad it doesn’t happen all the time *laughs*.
Yeah, and the collective response I saw from it was, “Yes! A new Eclipse song!”
EM: Yeah, it’s fun. It was played on a lot of big German radio stations. Somehow it picked up again, so now it’s starting to build for a second time, which is fantastic. Maybe people feel that the pandemic might be over, so they take the chance, listen to this song, and hope for the future.
The second single is one of your heavier songs, entitled “Bite the Bullet”. Could you give us some background on this song and its origins?
EM: It was the last song I wrote for the album. It must’ve been the last week before we started recording, so it was really last minute. I plugged in my guitar and put on this Eddie Van Halen type flanger pedal. I started doing the “chug chug chug” sound at the beginning. That song wrote itself as well. It’s funny that two of the singles were super simple to write. I wrote it all by myself here in the studio. I sent it to the guys in the band and was like, “I think I just wrote a cool song. It’s very old school heavy metal, but I kind of like it. What do you think?” And everyone loved it, so we recorded it.
That’s something I’ve always found cool about you guys. Stylistically, you bridge that gap between old school metal and 80s melodic rock. Was that a conscious effort on your behalf or just your influences showing?
EM: Yeah, it’s just the influences showing. All the plans we ever had for songwriting, they never happened. When you get inspiration, you write songs. You can make all the plans you want, but the album’s never gonna sound like the plans you had, so we gave up on that a long time ago. We just write songs that we love and if we like it, then hopefully others will like it as well.
The latest video, “Twilight”, features footage of your first show in over a year at the Alcatraz Festival. What was that show like and how did it feel to be back on stage?
EM: It was fantastic. I was super nervous before. Even weeks, even a month before the gig, I was super nervous. Will I be able to sing it? We haven’t played in 17 months, which has never happened before in my life that I had such a long time in between gigs. The gig was of course super fun. I was smiling for 30 minutes. I couldn’t stop smiling. I think the best part was just seeing a lot of people having a good time together. People having a beer in their hand and watching music and hanging out. I stayed up. I was at the festival until they closed, just hanging at the bar and having a good time. I thought, “Who knows when this will happen next time?”, so I stayed as long as possible.
Speaking of people having a good time, the band is currently slated to play the Monsters on the Mountain festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee this October. Has there ever been talk of doing a full US tour?
EM: Well, of course there’s been talks, at least talking about maybe doing some major cities or something, but they haven’t come true yet. Hopefully in the future, but there absolutely has been a lot of talking about doing it. Nothing planned at the moment. And of course we’re playing the Monsters of Rock Cruise next year as well.
Navigating your way through a global pandemic hasn’t been the only change for Eclipse. Wired will also be your first album with new bassist Vicke Crusner. What’s it like having him in the band?
EM: It’s fantastic. The whole band, we don’t even have to play music to have a good time. We can just hang out and have a dinner because we’re like a big family now. We really enjoy hanging out together. That was a big change when Victor came into the band. I think the whole new album reflects that because it’s really been teamwork. We’ve been working very closely together, both in writing and production. Everything from choosing songs to what directions to take. It’s super easy to work together.
That’s great for the band as a unit.
EM: I think every musician will know that it’s not hard to find great musicians, but it’s very hard to find musicians to be in a band. The biggest problem is to find the right people to work together with, that have the same goals, that have the same dedication. It’s really hard to find.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Eclipse’s first album, The Truth and a Little More. Looking back, what are your thoughts on that album and are there any songs on there that stick out to you?
EM: Well, I don’t really like that album that much. Without that album, there wouldn’t have been an Eclipse, but it sounds quite different from what we sound like today and we recorded it ourselves. We mixed it ourselves. It was more like an official demo or something like that. There was no producer. We were young. If we would’ve had a producer, maybe we could’ve done a good album, but, well, we didn’t. There is a lot of talent. You can hear small glimpses of good songwriting here and there.
Have you ever considered rerecording some of those early songs?
EM: No, not really. I’m not much into rerecording stuff. I’d rather write a better and new song than record something old and bad *laughs*. I think the best Eclipse songs are not written yet. I think they’re in the future.
That’s a great way of looking at it. I, having been a fan now for a few years and listened to the entire catalog, I’d say “This song’s the best song.” or “That song’s the best song.” Then I got Paradigm the day it came out and the song that became my new favorite is “Mary Leigh”. I love that song.
EM: Yeah, it’s great. I love it too. It’s a fun song.
How did that song come about?
EM: The guitarist (Magnus Henriksson) and me were with a guy named Johan, who we were writing quite a few Eclipse songs together with. I think he put on a Ghost song and we were like, “That’s a good song, but we can do a better one.” Then we started listening to some Blue Öyster Cult and got inspiration from that. I can’t remember which album. It was some 80s album. And somehow we came up with this riff. That’s how it came about. The guitar solo is very KISS influenced. It’s because my youngest son was listening to KISS all the time. He was constantly singing a guitar solo, maybe from “Strutter”. He was walking around singing it all the time. When we were recording guitar solos, he came into the studio, because I have a studio in a separate house in the garden. He came in there and started humming that guitar solo. I was like, “What the hell! Let’s do a KISS solo for this song.” That’s why it’s an Ace Frehley inspired solo.
Aside from Eclipse, are there any other projects you’re working on, whether it be performing, producing, or songwriting, that we should keep our ears and eyes out for?
EM: At the moment, I have a few mixes coming up. I’m gonna produce a Norwegian/Swedish sleaze band called The Cruel Intentions. It’s their second album. I’m gonna do some producing and I’ve already recorded the drums. I’m gonna do the mixing and maybe some vocal recording for them as well. I’m not gonna sing, I’m gonna record their vocalist. I’m gonna work on some new Therion as well, and let’s see what happens. Maybe I’ll start writing for Nordic Union or something like that. We haven’t made any big plans at the moment.
How’s Ronnie (Atkins) been doing?
EM: It looked very dark. He was really bad. The treatment was almost killing him, but he responded really well to the latest treatments. At the moment, I think he’s feeling pretty good. I talked to him almost a month ago and he was feeling really good, so fingers crossed he will be with us for a long time.
Absolutely. He’s a treasure.
EM: He is. When you’re working with him, it’s very inspiring because he’s been in this business for a long time. A lot of people getting older in the music business, they’re just tired and like, “Yeah, I do my singing and that’s good enough.” It’s always the “that’s good enough” attitude. Ronnie doesn’t have any of that. He gives 110% percent. He makes sure it’s top notch: the delivery, the performance. Everything he delivers is just top notch. That’s super inspiring.
Finally, what would you say sets Wired apart from past Eclipse releases?
EM: I think it has more teamwork than previous records. Previously, it’s been more me and Magnus writing it and dictating the whole thing. I think this album really has made it. We’re finally a complete band. We work so well together. I think that’s, for us, psychologically, the biggest difference. It’s up tempo and has a little bit more of a punk attitude than previous records.
Wired comes out Friday, October 8 on Frontiers Records. For more information on Eclipse, visit www.eclipsemania.com.