Wir hatten in den vergangenen Wochen die Möglichkeit Emlee Johansson (Schlagzeugerin) von Thundermother zu interviewen – wir stellten Fragen zur aktuellen „Release-Tour“ des Albums „Heat Wave„, die Verbundenheit zum Wacken Open Air, als auch die Verbindung zu den Großvätern AC/DC.

Frontstage Magazine: How does it feel to be the only band on tour?

Emlee von Thundermother: It feels great, I mean.. we are so lucky! It’s a miracle! Our fellow colleagues in the music business are just very impressed and surprised that we manage to do this, and we are too haha.. Of course we take a lot of risks here, the tour could be cancelled any day, and we never know what’s gonna happen but so far so good and we think it’s worth taking the risk. We got nothing better to do anyway! It’s amazing to be on tour again, and people are just so happy to finally be able to go to a rock show again. Just good vibes all over the place. The gigs are very special, and different from day to day and I’m very impressed how creative people have been to make the shows corona friendly. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that we continue to have luck on our side!

Frontstage Magazine: „Into the Mud“ is a „pure Wacken song“ – how do you feel about the Wacken Open Air? Is there a more popular festival of you?

Emlee von Thundermother: There are a lot of cool festivals our there and Wacken is definitely one of our big favorites. It’s not just a GREAT festival filled with happiness, the ”Wacken people” has always been very supportive to us in many different ways, via Wacken Foundationd and Wacken TV for example, and for that they will always have a very special place in our hearts. We are so proud to be a part of the Wacken family!

Frontstage Magazine: „Heat Wave“ is the first album that was created by all of you, what are your favorite songs of the album? (One song from each band member)

Emlee von Thundermother: Yes, we had so much fun creating this album together! I love every song on the album, they are all our babies, but I must say that ”Back in 76” is the one I enjoy playing on the drums the most. I just love the grooves in that one and it really represents me as a drummer!

Frontstage Magazine: Thundermother was considered the „granddaughters of AC/DC“ in many „fan groups“ – now there was the first song of the new AC/DC album – could you imagine playing a world tour together with them?

Emlee von Thundermother: Well, we are their granddaughters in some kind of way, because we will keep their heritage alive in the future, when they’re gone. It is of course big shoes to fill but we are not afraid of that, haha! We would of course loooooove to go on tour with AC/DC, that would be a dream come true. We are definitely aiming for a big arena tour in the future, as an opening band first but also to eventually do a headline arena tour. We are reaching for the top and nothing can stop us!

Frontstage Magazine: What are your plans for 2021? Will there be a live album? Will there be another tour? 

Emlee von Thundermother: Most of the cancelled shows this year is postponed til 2021, so if everything goes as planned it will be a very busy year! There is some kind of new release in planning for 2021, but I can’t tell you anything about that yet… 

Frontstage Magazine: In which country would you like to play live?

Emlee von Thundermother: Every country, haha! Well, first we wanna continue to build our brand in Europe and specially Germany. We love Germany, it’s like a second home to us. We do hope that we can tour in the USA soon, and also Japan and South America. We just have to see what the future brings us!

Frontstage Magazine: If Thundermother would dissolve tomorrow – how would you want to spend your everyday life?

Emlee von Thundermother: First of all I would try to get a job as a drummer in other bands/projects. I would also try to do more songwriting jobs, get myself a proper studio, and I would try to get in to the movie music business. Composing orchestral music is a big interest and passion I have. I am also an educated teacher, so I would probably also work a little as a drum teacher. But I’m planning to do all those things in the future anyway, combined with playing in Thundermother of course!

Many thanks for your time!

Stay healthy, keep making great music and stay true to your fans. We from Frontstage-Magazine are happy and very happy!

Fotocredit Beitragsbild: Guido Karp, Thundermother