FORGOTTEN SCROLL from Greece
Questions: Kostas Kounadinis
Answers: Martin Furängen
Date: Febraury 02, 2008



First of all I would like to express my admiration for your work. Your debut is among the very best records I’ve ever heard.

Thank you! No matter how often we hear it, it is always very rewarding to hear appreciative words regarding our work. It warms our hearts.

After the release of the second album, Lost Horizon fell into obscurity. Daniel left and you decided to put the band on hiatus. What happened back then and what led to Daniel’s departure?

At the time of Daniels leaving there was some turbulence in the band for several reasons, and virtually all of us I think needed a rest from that. We had spent a lot of time together working in studios, travelling in touring buses and other environments that meant living together under very close conditions. Add to this some differences in personality and different approaches to important issues. All of this resulted in disagreements which ultimately led to Daniel and Lost Horizon parting ways. Daniels personal reasons, however, would need to be told by himself.

Why didn’t you continue with a new singer?

Singers with a voice that can embrace Lost Horizons music are not around in plentiful. When we searched for a new singer we got response from a lot of singers, who sent in their versions of the audition songs, but less than a handful were good enough to be considered. Of the ones considered, a few were either auditioned or in other ways tried out. But in the end we were, for different reasons, left with none. Then the rest of us decided to put Lost Horizon on ice for a period and went on to do different sorts of other musical projects.

Will a third album ever be released and if yes, what musical direction will it follow?

Yes, we will release a third album. In fact, we are just about to start recording the first song for it. Music has been written on and off through these last years, and now we have enough material for a full album. The approach for recording will be very different this time though. Since we no longer have the pressure from a record label to have it ready on a certain date, and we have all the necessary recording equipment ourselves, we will be recording – and releasing – one song at the time. Initially we plan to release the music only via the Internet.
The musical direction will be somewhat of a mixture of both previous albums, with the distinctive Lost Horizon style further evolved, exploring and exposing totally new, mystical dimensions.

Is Daniel’s return a possible scenario?

Since one of Lost Horizons main ideological issues is that nothing is impossible, the answer to this question must necessarily be yes. Though we have not spoken to him about it, and therefore do not know where he stands, we certainly do not rule it out as an option. Disagreements may exist, but Daniel is still a cool guy.

Tell me about the feedback from fans and press. How did they receive both albums and the news of the band breaking up? Which country supported you the most?

Feedback from fans has always been fantastic, and feedback from the press has to about 90% been incredibly good. The remaining 10 % have been just the opposite! This goes for both albums.
To be honest, at the time of our breaking up, I did not read much of what was written about us. I remember there was a lot of disappointment, but at the same time confidence that we would carry on, which we now do, though maybe a bit later than one could have wished for.
From a live perspective, support has actually been really good in most places, but there is a certain passion in the crowd of southern Europe that you rarely see in the northern parts. Then there has been an incredible support from fans and press in Australia and the US, even though we haven’t played there (yet).

What are your main inspirations and influences as a musician and composer?

My inspirational and influential sources as a bassist originally came from Steve Harris, but then broadened to Joey DeMaio, Flea, Gary Willis, Michael Manring, Jaco Pastorius and a few others. As a composer, even though Wojtek does most of the composing in Lost Horizon, I cannot say that there is a specific musical influence. The melodies just come out, but no doubt my musical background reflects in the outcome of it all.

Looking back at the past, is there anything you wish you had done in a different way? Is there something you would like to fix if you had the chance?

Sure, there are some things that didn’t turn out the way we expected, and that possibly had generated a different outcome should we have acted in a different manner. But I prefer to look forward instead of backward, what’s done is done, and a lesson is learned for all of these situations.

Tell me about touring and playing live. Did Lost Horizon play any gigs and which concerts are worth remembering?

Playing live is the essence of performing music. We all love it. Nothing compares to bursting out in front of thousands of screaming fans!
We certainly played a lot of gigs! We did a countless number of weekend tours in Sweden, a tour of Spain, and numerous festival gigs all around Europe. One of the gigs I remember the most is the one we made in Paris at the NTS festival in 2001. It was our first major gig and the audience were just lifting the roof. Fantastic!

Please tell us about the best and worst moments of your career.

Some of the best moments are when a new album is being released and thousands of hours of work are being materialized. But to pick a specific moment it would be one as described in the previous question.
The worst memory is definitely when we had a major crash with our mini-bus on the way to a gig in the northern part of Sweden. We slipped on an ice slick on the freeway when running along in 110 km/h and made some three and a half somersault before gliding to a stop. The bus was absolutely destroyed. Some of us, incredibly, walked out without a scratch, but Christian and our technician Kristofer were rushed to hospital. Christian fractured his shoulder and Kristofer lost a toe. We all realized that we could easily have been killed. This happened one week prior to us going on tour in Spain, and Christian was injured so we had to find a stand-in drummer, a great guy named Mats. Cancelling the tour didn’t really feel like an option, so we ended up driving 7000 kilometres around Spain in a mini-bus driven by Spanish speed freaks, just what we longed for... But the tour was very good, a lot of great gigs.

Why did the members of the band adopt these strange names? Is there any meaning behind each one of them?

They are not names. They are spiritual titles that reflect characteristics in our personalities.

What are the current bands or albums on your playlist?

I listen to a lot of fusion jazz and trance music, like for example E.S.T, Tribal Tech and Niels Petter Molvaer on the fusion jazz side, and a whole lot of Goa/Psy-constellations on the trance side.

What do you do for a living? Do you think that a heavy metal musician can live just by playing music and without a day job?

I currently work with computer graphics for web and multimedia.
Depending on your willingness to play “what the market asks for”, I think it is definitely possible for a metal musician to live of the music, but it sure isn’t easy for most. If priority is given to originality and having a strong belief in something, that differs from the mainstream, it is even harder.

Thank you for this interview. Please send a message to all our readers.

You are welcome! Stay true to yourself, and keep an eye out for new Lost Horizon music in the near future!