Filippa, you’ve just moved and are already back on tour. How do you balance family and touring life?
Filippa: I need it all to be a happy person. But since I am also easily overwhelmed lately with being a new mum I need to plan and have organisation it mostly everything. Once a week I plan to have nothing planned at all. I make a schedule to work on the “Thundermother office hours” as I call it, usually two days a week I sit by the computer and work 3-4 hours emailing, planning shows, calculation gigs or booking flights / buses for upcoming tours. I have a parter which helps me via zoom in Malmö called Mia who helps me with the accounting and band budgets. Also we try to come up with ways to build the band in different ways and it’s nice to have this as a kind of a “job”. Later, when I close the computer, I can fully commit to the family and going out on walks and play with my daughter. I have close communication with her daddy so we can plan baby sitters or who’s taking her on show days. She’s been with us many times in the tour bus and it works really good! My mum or dad or partner come with me because I can’t be without my daughter more than 24 hours because I still breast feed. I want to take her with me. The only thing which always is a bit tricky is social media but I try my best when there’s a show or announcing a gig. It’s for sure some stuff to juggle but I kind of love it!
How do you prepare physically for tours? It’s physically exhausting to power through for more than 2 hours.
Linnéa: I just carry my kids and walk my dog, haha!
Joan: For the last tour, I’ve been preparing more than ever before. My goal was to be able to perform a 90mins show, with high intensity drumming, including a drum solo, and no break. I practiced every evening for 3-4h, 6 months before going on tour. I wanted to feel comfortable on tour, so I decided to practice hard. It’s also important to have a healthy life. So I take care of my sleep, food and work out 2-3 times per week. And I have a good chiropractor ! Haha! Meditation is a great tool for the mental approach. It helps me to connect to my body, to the music, my bandmates, and the audience.
Filippa: I walk every day. I also swim once a week and go to water practice to rebuild my muscles after having the baby! If I need a day rest I won’t blame myself for doing it. The mental health is also important. Also I stopped head banging like crazy every song and I’ve started to focus more on playing good so physically it’s pretty easy nowadays. I will start running out in the crowd again when my body is healed but in the meantime I will take it a bit easy. Rocking has taken its toll on my body (jaw failure, teeth knocked out, tinnitus etc) but the price is worth the reward.
Do you work on new songs?
Linnéa: Yes! We’re working on a follow-up to Dirty and Divine. We already have a lot of material and it’s gonna be so much funto put it all together!
Joan: YES!
Filippa: Yes because we already have a deadline and I’m pumped!!! I’m coming up with stuff everyday and together we have started to jam in the rehearsal room where we meet every Thursday.
Do you get excited before gigs?
Linnéa: I absolutely get excited before a gig, but nowadays that excitement is a more calm energy than a nervous energy.
Joan: Always! When I have time, I love to go out in the audience and get the vibe. It’s super nice to see how the stage looks from there, and how it sounds for the crowd. Somehow during the day, I’ll always meet someone or do something that reminds me how lucky we are to be able to do what we do.
Filippa: Yes ofcourse!!!! The adrenaline rush is super important to me to survive haha. I need it and I love it, and since I’m home much, I need this outlet!
Do you have rituals before you go on stage?
Linnéa: Makeup, a beer and we always gather on the side of the stage and do a secret ritual together. (No witchcraft, I promise) Joan waves goodbye before going on stage, and that’s when I shift into the gig-gear!
Majsan: Rituals befor stage,.. have a sugarfree redbull. Do makeup (very often together with Linnea) that feels like a ritual actually, then we open a beer just befor show and cheer all of us. The excitement is just always there.
Joan: Yes! I get mentally ready to peform. Which means for me, to give my best no matter what happens. And of course I warm up, drink a bottle of energy drink and hug my bandmates.
Filippa: No, I was born to rock, haha! I hug the team and enjoy spending time with the band watching them to their thing.
You are very close to your fans, are there any situations that you found uncomfortable? Or are there situations that you will never forget (positive or negative)?
Linnéa: I was incredibly nervous when I first started meeting the Thundermother fans, being the new singer and all. But now I know that I’m accepted into the Thundermother family and everyone is almost always really kind and nice. Now I feel much more confident which has lead to me being more socially relaxed
Majsan: When we meet the fans by the merch after the show is a moment that is very special. When we walk to the merchstand, it often feels like it’s gonna be too intense and like I’d rather hide somewhere backstage. But the second we meet the people, this feeling is totally reversed, and they give us so much positive energy and appreciation. Since I’ve done this for quite some time now, I really find that I miss these meetings whenever we don’t have the opportunity to meet up with the crowd. I was contacted by a person that told me he had terminal cancer. He asked if it would be possible to meet us at a specific show some months later. If he was still around then, he said. I tried to arrange this and put it in our tourbook so that we would remember. He never showed up.I still think about this sometimes. He was a big fan and this was a dream for him. If we really wanna speak about it negative… you decide; We try to give the crowd and fans equally of our time. Sometimes someone is a bit to exited to see us and doesn’t want to let us go. This can become difficult since we feel like we need to go on and meet as many as possible
Joan: I think we have fantastic fans. They’re super nice, supportive and dedicated. Unfortunately it happens that some people forgets to be respectful. Personally, I choose not to remember them. We look out for each other as we are bandmates and friends, and we make sure that we and our fans always feel safe. This year the band organized a surprise on stage for my birthday, during our show in Pratteln. The audience sang along with the whole team who joined us on stage for the occasion. It’s definitely one of my best memories!
Filippa: Nah, I’m filled with gratitude for everyone who wants to see us. I always appreciate talking to fans and meeting them. It is super important to me, and I will never stop doing that. I love meeting people and it’s the best part of my day.