To many, music is the lifeline that provides support, comfort, and piece of mind in all functions of life. Truly a companion that gives an outlet to express our joy, sadness, fears, and everything in-between… where would many of us be without it? More than sound and vibration or notes on a page, someone one who can relate to these emotions is the German born Singer-Songwriter Johanna Platow Andersson.
Well-known as the leading voice of the band known as Lucifer, Johanna has roots in music that are strong and deep. A part of bands now for the better part of three decades, she worked within various genres of music; from Black and Death Metal, to even more Electronic styles. All offering different shades of her personality, Johanna’s heart and soul has always been within Rock-n-Roll.
Exemplifying this with Lucifer, the band is entering their tenth year together, and over time have put out a haunting array of doomish, melodic, classic leaning Rock music that is undeniable. Now set to release their fifth album Lucifer V, it seems everything is clicking… because it could be their best collection to date. Pleased with the trajectory of her career and Lucifer, the multifaceted Johanna recently sat down to chat about the new music, her love for music, literature and movies, plus much more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in Rock and Metal music for many years now. Singing for many other bands, including The Oath, have settled in a decade now with Lucifer. How does it feel to find that niche that works for you after all the hard work you put in over time?
Johanna Platow Andersson – It feels great. It didn’t hit me that it was ten years until very recently. It actually coincides very well that the fifth album comes out two months before we hit the 10-year mark. That’s cool.
I hadn’t really had so much time to reflect on everything, because we’re always very busy. I’m very proud of the albums that we have made. I think we recorded in a good tact; five albums in ten years is quite all right.
I’m proud of how Lucifer is growing, because it’s a slow grower. It’s not like a middle-of-the-road band or anything. I know we are an underground band and we are probably going to be doomed to remain so; because we stay true to what we like sonically. We’re not getting a fancy, sleek producer to give us some sort of modern radio-friendly production or anything. I can say that we haven’t sold out yet, but we have a good fan base that is very loyal and stays with us through the albums. Somehow, we manage to always collect a few more with every release too.
It’s a slow growth, but a steady and reliable one. That feels better than some sort of fast, hype, flame-like thing burning up and disappearing as fast as it came. I’m happy with where Lucifer is.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely, it is better to have a slow burn rather than a quick flare, as you mentioned. Lucifer style is obviously very retro; a Classic Rock sound from the ’70s, early ’80s, and more of a very traditional Metal sound. Do you find that perhaps older generations discover Lucifer and find themselves very pleased with what they hear?
Johanna Platow Andersson – We have a very mixed audience. It’s always very cool to see when we go on tour who is at our shows. You sometimes have very young girls together with their dads, and other times even people that could be their grandparents. (Laughs) You get the whole spectrum.
I think also with Lucifer, it’s a little funny, because we combine so many different influences. We do get booked for super underground Extreme Metal festivals where the other bands are all more like Death Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal and very underground. Then we are kind of more Pop band there. At the same time, we get booked at things that are a Stoner or some Classic Rock festivals. You can kind of pair us with very different bands; like the old classic ones, or the young, fuzzy ones.
Cryptic Rock – Understood. It is a curious thing because some studies show, as we get older, we stop seeking out new music. Well this can be a generalized idea, it may also be true in many respects.
Johanna Platow Andersson – I am absolutely guilty of it. There’s not a lot of contemporary stuff that knocks me off my feet, really. There’s very few new things that I like. I’m also very sentimental. I think I look very much backwards; which is maybe not a cool thing to say. I sound like an old person, but I guess I am. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – There is so much great material out there that sometimes it seems excessive to even look at more contemporary acts. You talk about the importance of the sonic quality of Lucifer’s music; which is one of the X-factors in your sound. There is a very atmospheric full-bodied sound to the music. It’s really nice and something that people can really dig into. How would you say you developed that sonic sound?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Thank you very much for saying that. That’s really cool to hear. I think it all starts from us wanting to have a very organic sound; as in, we don’t use click for drums. If we did, it would make things very clinical and static. Humans don’t work like that. We are not machines.
I think the component of having the human touch audible in it is very important for me to find what I’m looking for in music. As a fan of music, I need to feel that it’s not some computer-generated, slicked-over thing. I want this to be handmade by people, and I want there to be blood, sweat, and tears in the work. I want to hear little flaws because I want to be comforted by the music. I want to be lifted up. The music is my friend, and sometimes my only friend. I think that just can’t be translated well if the production sounds like a shitty throwaway Pop song… and I mean it in the worst possible way.
Even Pop music, up until the ’90s, was interesting and diverse. Nowadays, somehow, everything sounds samey, samey. In all the genres – Pop, Country, and Rock , etc – it’s all very generic. It’s really dumbing down people, their tastes, and I think it’s really sad. That’s why I like mostly old music; such as old Country, Pop music. There’s ’80s Pop that I love, because I grew up with it. Of course ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and even some ’90s things that influenced me a lot; like Danzig or Type O Negative.
It’s trying to stay away from modern recording techniques. For example, we would never use auto-tune. You just try to sing it until you nail it. That’s just how it works. It’s the craftsmanship that a lot of people are too lazy to perfect nowadays. Back then, the bands knew how to sing a song perfectly, because they had to. They didn’t have any fancy in-ear monitoring or auto-tune or whatever for live shows. We want it to be as perfect as humanly possible. Whatever other flaws are peeking through, that is the human touch. Those little imperfections are okay… they are organic and natural.
Cryptic Rock – That is what makes the music special and memorable… those natural, real aspects. To your point about modern recording techniques, it seems like there has been a loss of dynamics in music across the board; no matter the genre. It is a matter of ear fatigue where everything is so loud, no matter the genre of music. Your records all have dynamics where you could turn it up and still enjoy it without hurting your ears. Everything has its own place in the mix and that is what dynamics are about. A lot of modern recording techniques have lost that attribute.
Johanna Platow Andersson – That’s true, yes.
Cryptic Rock – Which leads us to your new album; Lucifer V which is a really great record. It feels quite inspired and could be one of the best from Lucifer yet. What was it like recording and writing this album?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Thank you very much. Actually, we just wrote and recorded it the same way as we always do. Nothing is ever rushed, there’s no fillers, and everything has a meaning. I don’t think we have put any more or less effort into the new album than any previous ones. Somehow, I don’t know what happened, but what you’re saying is kind of almost what every journalist is saying to me right now. We personally in the band also have that feeling about this album too.
The only difference is that this album was mixed by somebody else. We didn’t have the time to do it ourselves. We gave it to a really good friend of ours, Robert Pehrsson. Nicke (Andersson) plays with him in a band called Death Breath. He has a studio and he has a very similar taste in music as we do. He managed to mix it in a way that Nicke said to me, “I think I can’t mix Lucifer albums anymore. This is way better.” That’s the only difference.
Maybe it’s also that, by now, we have somehow tapped into something between us. You perfect a little bit more of the musical language, the machine that is Lucifer, and how everything clicks together. Maybe we expand it a little bit more, because all ingredients of the new album… you will find on other Lucifer records. You have the Doom, you have the Hard Rock, you have the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and maybe some Soul or Pop influences that are peeking through. But, maybe we don’t have a song that’s as middle of the road as “Maculate Heart” or as balladesque as “Slow Dance In A Crypt.”
Maybe we take all these elements a little bit further even now; so there’s more diversity on the album. It feels like that somehow… or maybe we just got lucky. The muse spoke to us; the weird unknown thing up there that puts the songs in you.
Cryptic Rock – It did come out exceptionally well. As you say, it is really no different than other Lucifer records that came prior, but it does stick out.
Now, let’s talk about the inspiration behind the songs. Obviously, there is a dark, romantic, Gothic feel to them; one that is very witchy, seductive, and something that kind of sucks you in. Tell us a little bit about those influences.
Johanna Platow Andersson – I’m trying to kind of create a world for myself here with the music and the lyrics to kind of escape into. As you know, life can be beautiful and also very horrible. (Laughs) It’s nice to have a little world where you can find comfort. It’s kind of like when you have your own house and you surround yourself with things you love. I guess Lucifer’s music is that form of music.
I’m trying to make sense of death and loss and all these things. I try to comfort myself. There’s so many people that I have lost in my life already; and I just can’t get over that. It helps me to try to look at it in a humorous way sometimes and to turn these figures of my life into figures in music. Or, actually, I manage to wake them up from the dead in the songs. There is a lot of wishful thinking in there too. I think it comforts my sadness a little bit.
Cryptic Rock – Honestly, that is what music should do for everyone. Even as a listener, you can relate with that. Life is full of ups and downs; dark and light. It is that yin and yang. We all have lost things that meant something to us. Another aspect noticed about the music with Lucifer, with your songwriting, is you seem like a very literal person and that you are a reader. Is that an accurate assessment?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Yes, I do. I just wish I had more time for it. Right now I’m just always so busy with the band. But yes, I was raised to be a bookworm. I have a brother who’s eleven years older than me. When I was a child, he would always read at night to me. He would often read stuff that was way too advanced for a child. I think he tried to educate me. I think books are extremely important, and just like music, to shape you emotionally.
Actually, I went to a school for three years where I had to basically study German literature; how to run a publishing house, how to run a bookshop, how to work for a publishing house, how book production functions. I don’t know if you have a job description for that in The States, but you go to school to learn everything that relates to books. I guess in German, if you would translate the job title, it’s like a book trades person. That’s what my profession actually is. I worked in that not so long before music swept me away and I just started to book shows, etc. So yeah… I’m a long gone bookworm from in the past.
Cryptic Rock – So, the intuition was correct; it bleeds through in the music. Not to knock modern music and modern culture, but it seems like there is an ineptitude of literacy amongst many these days. People’s reading has been boiled down to a thirty character tweet. No one actually indulges in anything of any historical or literary context anymore. It just seems like it is a shallow world that we are living in.
Johanna Platow Andersson – I know. That’s what I mean by dumbing down. It’s really sad. I actually refuse to leave out punctuation from texts like other people do. In German, which is even more elaborate than English grammar, people don’t use capital letters anymore in their text messages. I’m so stubborn and taking the time and giving everything appropriate grammar. I’m such a grandmother. It’s horrible. (Laughs) But to each their own.
Cryptic Rock – That is great, though. It has become common for those who text messages to find if you start off a message with “Hi, how are you?” as too formal. Why? That is just polite and a nice way to speak to one another. No one even does that anymore!
Johanna Platow Andersson – That’s what I always do. I think it’s super important. I think it’s nice to put a little bit of framework around things. We are not cavemen.
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) Right. It is great that you are able to harness all of these more old-world views into the music; because it definitely makes for something special. With the new record set for release, will there be more touring?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Yes. We have just returned from doing a US tour last November. Now we have to focus on Europe. In a week, we’re going to embark on a European tour together with Angel Witch for some of the dates, and then some other German bands. I’m working on more European legs; because of the pandemic we didn’t really tour a lot with Lucifer III from 2020 and IV from 2021 either. We have actually three albums to support. I think with this album, it’s going to be a lot of touring. Hopefully we can come back to the United States and Canada again, but that probably won’t happen until next year.
Cryptic Rock – Excellent. Yes, there is a lot of material to go through. Like you said, there were about three lost years of touring for bands such as Lucifer. You mentioned how the band has been very busy with touring through the years up until, obviously, that pause with the pandemic. Life on the road can be a lot; traveling around, sleeping in a different bed every night, etc. Does that touring get taxing on you?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Oh, yeah, totally. It’s absolutely taxing. Traveling itself somehow drains one. It’s really interesting. Just having a travel day flying to a festival, even though you’re not really doing anything – you sit in a taxi, then you sit at the airport, then you sit on the plane, and then you sit in a taxi again. Somehow, it’s really draining. I don’t know what it is about traveling; maybe also the interaction with many people and so on. That plus playing a full-on show every night. So yes, after a month of touring the US, you needed a week to just kind of see nobody, just do laundry, pick yourself up again, ruffle your feathers, take your vitamins, and get back on track.
Cryptic Rock – That is completely understandable. Sometimes it is challenging even to be away from your home for more than four days at a time.
Johanna Platow Andersson – Exactly. Especially because of the pandemic, I noticed more and more what a weird hermit I am. I might have some undiagnosed thing going on. I notice that people really drain me. I love being alone. Don’t get me wrong, I really love being on the road and meeting people that I have things in common with too. I enjoy it very much, but it’s physically draining. It just is.
Cryptic Rock – It is understandable. A lot of people can relate to those feelings in one way or another. Looking at the music more, Lucifer also has a very cinematic quality about them as well. That in mind, are you a fan of movies?
Johanna Platow Andersson – Yeah, totally. The influences are not only musical, but also books and films, very much so. My favorite film of all time is Rosemary’s Baby (1968). We actually always have the main theme as the outro after our shows. I love it very much because I am a Horror fan. I prefer Horror though that springs from your own mind; Horror that is not so blunt in your face.
Nowadays, with modern Horror films, I find it a little bit annoying. There we have it again with the dumbing down. It gets gory, and it’s somebody sawing somebody’s neck off for half an hour. It’s like, “Okay. It’s horrible. I can’t see it anymore.” It’s not the Horror that you have when you watch an old Hitchcock film or something. It is not like the shower scene in Psycho (1960) where the woman gets stabbed to death. You don’t actually see it, but somehow your mind fills in the puzzle pieces. I love that and I like when it’s subtle. I find it way more creepy and when it’s just more classy. I don’t know how to describe it.
I like the type of Horror that makes you not want to stick your foot out from underneath your blanket at night. (Laughs) It’s like the stuff that you can’t grab, that you can’t see, and you don’t know exactly what it is. I find that so much more appealing. However, I do love old zombie films that are so crass and silly; that it’s more amusing. That’s a different type of Horror. I also really like Italian Horror. I like Argento, Fulci and that kind of stuff. I love Dellamorte Dellamore (1994). That’s also a great Italian film. I think those are really beautiful visually as well.
Sometimes you have some modern directors that are trying to do something that looks old-school like The House of the Devil (2009). That was a pretty cool one and I thought it was one of the better contemporary films; but then it looks like an old-school film anyways. I could go on a little bit about that too. It is all definitely important to Lucifer.
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