MARTEN ANDERSSON (LEGACY, LIZZY BORDEN)
By Brian Coles - www.electricbasement.com
2/1/01
| MARTEN ANDERSSON is well known for his amazing axe work in seminal 80s shock rock band LIZZY BORDEN, but he has also carved out many other "occupations." Not only does he have a strong side project in LEGACY, another traditional metal act, but he has written a successful music industry publication AND now has the ultimate supplementary job, watching porn!!! Think we're kidding? Read on! |
BRIAN COLES: Hey Marten, thanks for doing this! The Legacy disc recalls classic metal in every sense. I
was impressed to learn that the band members have a lot of training and diverse influence (music degrees, fusion, jazz
etc.) Was this something that factored into your decision join up with them?
MARTEN ANDERSSON: This is my pleasure. Well let me start with Jonas Hansson. I have known Jonas (Legacy guitarist)
for a long time, I played on 2 of his solo albums, so he was a given when I started to toy around with the idea of putting my
own solo project together. I auditioned some singers and I found Chris Roseberry. He is a local guy who had been playing
around LA for a few years. As far as drummers, I was looking for someone that was down to earth, a
fat learner and a great player. Guitarist Joy Basu (who has appeared and recorded with Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, and
members of Dio, Dweezil Zappa and Billy Idol) is a teacher at "LA Music Academy". He highly
recommended this kid, named Stephan, which was attending the school. Stephan turned out to be a great choice. Stephan is currently busy playing in the German
version of Romeo and Juliet with the German Symphony Orchestra; this kid will have many years of
successful drumming ahead of him.
BC: I take it you keep yourself pretty busy. How are you juggling the new Lizzy Borden campaign and the Legacy
commitments? What can we expect from Legacy this year?
MA: Look for LEGACY to PERFORM AT YOUR NEAREST BOWLING ALLY or SKATING RINK. I am kidding of course.
Actually Jonas is in the middle of putting together a reunion album of his old band Silver Mountain, and this is going to be a
very busy year for Lizzy Borden so I don't expect any Legacy touring, but an occasional live show orso is not to be ruled
out.
BC: What do you consider your main focus; musically I mean... Lizzy or Legacy?
MA: Lizzy Borden is my main focus, but I am always playing and writing my own material. I have always wanted to do a solo
album or an instrumental bass album of some sort. Maybe this is the time to show the people some cool bass
licks but don't rule out another new Legacy album.
BC: I noticed a plethora of true metal riffage on the album. Do you see the riff coming back into rock music or is it destined
to remain with the metal underground?
MA: In my case, I really don't care what is "in" or not. I just keep writing whatever comes out. I hear a lot of bands, especially
in Europe, that has the classical riffs and sounds. Hopefully we get to see it coming back more and more in the States.
BC: I understand Dave Mustaine's online company FullConcept.com has signed with you guys to sell mp3s of your music.
How did you hook up with him and how is that progressing?
MA: His people approached me and at this point we are just getting started. So, it's a little early to say, but I have seen
Dave's hard work and commitment. It's going to be exciting to see. I am very excited to see how the progress of Napster
and music in general on the Internet and how it will progress. Ask me again in a year.
BC: You wrote a very informative book "Make Label Contact/The Ultimate U.S. Source Directory" that was issues a couple
years back. How would you compare/contrast putting together a book as opposed to musical creation?
MA: It was a lot of fun to do and the book did really well. It's totally sold out actually!! It's definitely a different mind frame. I
had tossed around of the idea for along time. Believe it or not, it actually started when I was about 15, sitting around with a
bunch of songs. I wanted a record deal but had no clue what to do, how to go about it or where to send our songs too. So, I
figure there are a ton of young great musicians and songwriters that really never get the chance, because they don't know
what to do and where to go. So, this book turned out to be a great reference book and will give you an inside track that will
take years to figure out in the real world.
BC: I just got a press release about OUI magazine asking rockers for porn reviews with you and Lizzy one of the first.. How
on earth did you hook up with them?
MA: HAHA HA!!! I was waiting for that one!! Lizzy and I had a blast doing that. It's definitely something we have never done
before. Hey imagine watching porn for a living, how can you beat that?!! The Music Editor is a friend of ours and a fan of
hard-rock music. She approached us and asked if we felt like doing it and we said "Hell YES!!!!!!" I guess they have been
playing around with this rock/porn idea for a while and as far as I understand, their new format is not going to replace the
naked chicks/porn, it's mainly an addition to the magazine.
MA: By the way, I know you did Wacken 2000 with Lizzy. The crowds over there must be a whole galaxy apart from the laid
back SoCallers. Have you found crowds in SoCal as "indifferent " as I do? I don't mean to be harsh toward them, but they
certainly don't seem to have the physical/verbal participation element down like the Euros...
It was just amazing playing on a Kiss size stage, with 35 thousand screaming German fans and media. However, CA is our
home and if you get a packed place with a bunch of crazy people here that's pretty awesome too. Europeans are very
sincere; they will tell you if they did not like something. You don't see that aspect here.
BC: The Legacy album is quite serious in subject matter, less theatrical than Lizzy. Is Legacy more reflective of your
personal musical tastes?
MA: Sure, it's a little different from each other and I don't think they ever should be compared. I would say Legacy sounds
like a mix between Dio and Queensryche. I wrote all the material for this CD (with the help of the guys in Legacy) and in a
way I guess it lets me get out some of the instrumental musician out of me as well. After all, there are a lot of bass solo's
and 2 instrumental songs on the CD.
BC: As an expert in the music biz and multi-talented guy, how do you see metal breaking out again? What are the key
elements? Will the net have a hand?
MA: Hard rock really never disappeared. It was the mainstream media that tried to make it that way. From being on the
road, all over the world, we have seen a lot of young new fans that listen to true Heavy metal/hard rock. Also, we have
noticed more and more exposure to hard rock. Especially with the introduction of the net and websites, such as your own.
You are truly a messenger my friend!! There was hard rock/heavy metal before MTV. There will continue to be hard rock -
heavy metal!!!
BC: Thanks for the kind words and good luck to ya!
MA: My pleasure, Thanks!!
Also: Legacy review by Electric
Basement - Click Here
You can find out more about Marten's work here:
Marten Andersson - http://www.marten.cc
Lizzy Borden - http://www.lizzyborden.com
Legacy - http://www.legacylive.com
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