The following article is an interview we did with the Icelandic newpaper Fréttablaðið. It has been translated to english, to read the original Icelandic version please click this link: https://bit.ly/319s60r
Ring of Gyges write music for themselves
The members of the band Ring of Gyges have just returned from a week of "isolation" at Breiðdalsvík where they were writing material for a new album.
The band has been active since 2014 and they aim to release their third album next year. The band is composed of: Helgi Jónsson, singer and guitarist, Guðjón Sveinsson singer and guitarist as well, bassist Þorsteinn Ýmir Ásgeirsson , Gísli Þór Ingólfsson on piano, keyboard and synths and Einar Merlin Cortes on drums.
The guys didn’t know each other when the band was formed five years ago. "I’d been working on some demos on my computer at home. I then found a group on Facebook called “musicians wanted” or something like that. I put an ad there and Guðjón and Einar answered,” Helgi comments on the beginnings of Ring of Gyges.
Gísli joined a year later and bassist Ýmir has been with the band for about two years, and the collaboration is going well.
Helgi says he knew at the outset that he wanted to write progressive metal. "That was the reason why me and Einar joined. We found that we had a similar taste in music, ”Gudjón adds.
The guys explain that prog metal is similar to progressive rock (often referred to as prog rock or simply prog), except prog metal is heavier. "Prog rock got started with 70s bands such as Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes and those sort of bands. Then bands like Dream Theater, Mastodon and Symphony X have mixed some metal into it, ”says Guðjón.
"Today, there’s many new bands that take this even further and we are influenced by that scene," he adds.
a lot of experimentation
The band's music is characterized by long songs and complex combinations. "If we want to do something, we do it and however listeners take it is up to them," says Helgi.
The guys say there are not many Icelandic bands that could be called prog. They mention that the best known band is perhaps the 70s band Trúbrot. Newer bands within the genre are Agent Fresco and Future Figment for example.
What fascinates band members most about prog metal is how free the genre is of any restrictions. "You can do just about anything within the genre and it doesn't have to conform to any standards or conventions like with other music genres. We do a lot of experimentation with rhythm and mix influences from all directions and try to find out what works. It’s a very rewarding and challenging genre for both musicians and listeners, "they say.
Next on the agenda is to record the material they wrote in Breiðdalsvík, and play in Gothenburg this summer to follow up their last album, Beyond the Night Sky.
Since Helgi lives in Stockholm and Guðjón has also been studying there, they have not played much together recently. They did, however, do a short Scandinavian tour this past January and played in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It was in fact on this Scandinavian tour that they got offered to play in Gothenburg this summer.
"It’s a festival in the middle of Gothenburg in a forest called Slottsskogen. It’s called Slottsskogen Goes Progressive and will be held for the 20th time this summer on August 17," says Guðjón.
"When we were booking gigs for the Nordic tour in January, we sent emails all over the place. Among other things, we emailed the organization that manages this festival. We didn't know anything about the festival, we just wanted to book a concert in Gothenburg. But that didn't work out. So we just decided to take a day off in Gothenburg during the tour, but exactly on that very day we were contacted by a man from the organization who wanted to meet us. We went to a meeting with him and it went so well that we were booked.”
The next album will be heavier
The boys hope to be able to use the trip and book more concerts in Sweden and the surrounding countries around that time. Otherwise, the plan is just to finish the new album. The writing has been going well and they claim to have more than enough material. Now it’s just a matter of picking and choosing.
"Helgi and I had a lot of demos and the other guys had some stuff too. We wanted to get away and isolate ourselves to weld together the material, ”says Gudjón on the reason why they went to Breiðdalsvík.
They say fans of the band can expect the new album to be heavier than the previous one. "There was a lot of 70's influence on the previous albums but now we are more influenced by modern music. We had a bunch of guest musicians on the last record, such as a string quartet and brass and flutes. But now it’s just us.”
They say the goal of their music is not becoming world famous. "If that were the case we’d probably be playing some other kind of music," they say and laugh. "We write for ourselves and not for others, but if someone else enjoys it then that’s great," says Guðjón.
"You can be excited for the next album," says Helgi, and jokingly adds: "Because it will be awesome!"
Those who are interested in listening to Ring of Gyges can find their albums on all major streaming devices, such as Spotify. They also sell the albums through their website ringofgygesband.com.
Original article written by Sandra Guðmundsdóttir, appeared in Fréttablaðið on June 3rd 2019.
English translation by Helgi Jónsson.
