Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Singer Joakim Brodén of Swedish metal band Sabaton was asked how it feels for him and his colleagues to finally start breaking into the American market in a recent interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast, as per Blabbermouth.
I’m happy about it mostly, actually. We’re still a bit behind. The largest [venue] capacities [that we will play] in North America [on our upcoming tour] is gonna be about five thousand while we do largest in Europe is gonna be about 25 [thousand]. But it still keeps us on our toes. And it’s natural. I mean, we’re a European band. We started out touring here pretty early and we didn’t start touring the U.S. until 2011 for the first time. So it took us a while. And it’s a different market. You don’t have the same vibe with festivals with classic metal as we do in Europe. So it’s easier, I think. So it’s easier for European fans, in a way, to discover new metal bands because every country or every city, it feels like, has a medium-sized rock festival where any band from, basically, black metal to heavy metal can play.
Joakim agreed with podcast hostess Mistress Carrie when she pointed out that American festivals are typically structured more “based on the style of music,” whereas fans in Europe can be exposed to a variety of musical styles at different festivals.
Yeah, absolutely, [there are] lots of crossover festivals, but also the spectrum for what’s considered a heavy metal festival of what bands are invited. If you are doing a lot of American festivals, that market, if you will, is locked for a band like us unless you’ve achieved a certain size, because… And here’s the funny thing: it’s not about the fans. It’s sometimes the business itself, it feels like that: ‘No, no, no, no. That’s not gonna work in America.’ And then when the fans actually discover that band — it might not only be us ’cause we’re not the only band who’s experienced this transition that, ‘Oh, why haven’t I never heard of these guys before?’
Well, a lot of us have tried, but getting through the noise in the U.S. … But it is also because you have a lot of your own bands [who] are amazing and it’s a hard competition, but there’s also that wall of fighting your way through the business, because enough people think classical hard, rock, metal, power, metal, and that genre’s dead and gone, pretty much. Which is weird because Metallica is probably the biggest one of them all.
Joakim went on to explain why he believes classic heavy metal bands have a harder time being well-known in both the U.S. and Europe.
Yeah, well, it’s less prominent in mass media. I mean, rock radio sure has it — absolutely — but in general mass media, I think there’s still some sort of stigma related to being a metal band for enough people on the planet for this to matter. I mean, not if you’re in Finland, obviously, because heavy metal is mainstream there. But in most places of the world.
Joakim gave this comment when asked what he believes is the reason why hard rock and metal fans adore the Nordic nations’ frigid climate.
Yeah, we’ve been asking that as well. I mean, the amount of heavy metal bands per capita in Scandinavia is pretty damn high. And I don’t know why, really. But at least in the days before… well, everybody had a social media computer. I mean, computers we had, obviously, but growing up it was dark and cold during the winter. When you woke up, it was dark. When it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, it gets dark again. So what do you do in the winter? You don’t wanna be outside when it’s negative 32 or 35 or something like that. So you learn an instrument. … And [it’s] not only the weather — the culture, the people around you, all of these things are gonna affect your music. I mean, what was the popular music being played to you sort of when you grew up? Obviously, it seems like Scandinavian music is quite popular internationally for some reason, and I have no idea why, but I’m thankful.
