Being a long term HammerFall fan and also being blown away by Nils K Rue recently in Leeds when Pagan’s Mind supported Sonata Arctica, X-World 5 were always going to a band that would interest me. When the chance to interview Magnus Rosen was floated along the metal grapevine somewhat childishly I said, “Me, me, me!” Thus at the decidedly un-rock & roll time of 1400 hours on a Friday afternoon I answered the phone to find the erstwhile HammerFall bass player on the end of the line from Germany. He proved to be one of the more gracious and best mannered rock stars I have ever encountered. He also doesn’t sound one little bit like he looks. Imagine Sven Goran Eriksson speaking very quickly... 

MR - Hello Simon, its Magnus Rosen here. 

Hi, it’s great to hear from you, you’re very prompt and bang on time! 

MR - Well, I like to give people respect and if I say that I will do something, I do it. 

HardRockHouse has a wide and varied readership ranging from MCR fans to old school metallers and everything in between. Could you introduce yourself to those who may be unfamiliar with your work?

MR - Of course. I am Magnus Rosen, solo bass player for over thirty years. For ten years I was the bass player in HammerFall. I also perform solo bass tours and concerts. I have performed with Swedish Orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a solo bass ballet! 

Ballet? 

MR - Yes, in Gothenburg and the Princess of Sweden was there and she shook my hand and said how much she enjoyed it. There were lots of people there including those who had never been to a ballet before... 

But they came because of you?  

MR - Yes and they also told me how much they enjoyed it as well. 

Great. Now, you left HammerFall in 2006? 

MR - 2007. 

Oh OK, sometimes when members leave bands it kind of degenerates into a slanging match but this one hasn’t. Was it an amicable departure? 

MR - I have often read bullshit like that and it’s not interesting to me. I decided I would stop being in the band and that’s my choice. All the other bullshit is wrong they don’t touch each other’s heart and that’s not nice. 

Sometimes you can tell when a band member is unhappy and that member doesn’t give his all on stage but I saw you in Bradford with Krokus and the Poodles and you gave it all that you had. 

MR - That was almost one of the last shows I did with HammerFall and I always give my best for the fans. I always give everything from my inside. I always try to do my best in whatever I do. 

What were the highs and lows of being in HammerFall? 

MR - The highs were touring and meeting other people and fans and going to places you’d never been before like Bradford and of course the stage performances. The lows were not being involved with the music and plans for the future so to leave was my decision but so many good things happened in ten years but I did not feel creative. I am a creative musician and I wish to write and play Heavy Metal and that wasn’t possible. I left so that I can write with others. That is more important to me than being famous and having money. I turned down extra money to stay and it was very scary to say, “Bye bye,” but being happy and creative is too important. 

OK, so now you have X-World 5 which you began whilst still in HammerFall. You’ve certainly surrounded yourself with some great musicians. Let’s talk about them shall we? First there’s Big Swede, who I’m guessing is both big and Swedish? 

MR - That’s right. He lives in L.A. and he has a studio there. He works with different bands. He also did the intro tape for Van Halen. 

Nils K Rue is your singer – what does he bring to the table? 

MR - He’s a great singer and he brings all his experience and knowledge and is also a very nice guy and that’s important. He’s not like a Rock Star and doesn’t act like one. I don’t like those kinds of people. You can’t be too bigheaded. He’s a very nice human being. 

Reeves Gabrels? He was in Tin Machine wasn’t he? 

MR - Yes, he got involved through Big Swede. We were looking for some keyboards or guitars and he heard what we were doing and was interested. He brings something different. 

What about Andy La Roque? 

MR - He’s an old friend and a very good Heavy Metal guitarist – and a good person. All the members put in their own colour, experience and knowledge to X-World 5. For instance, Andy and I wrote six songs together initially at his Sonic Train Studios, we built riffs and bass lines and sent them to the States by e-mail, then again they went to Nils in Norway. It was very exciting and interesting for us to see what came back. 

There’s a big concept behind the CD New Universal Order isn’t there? 

MR - It’s a fantasy one hundred years in the future looking back at now and the choices we make today. We have to make a lot of choices. In the past we have made a lot of bad choices such as pollution and violence. People need to wake up and make good choices for a wonderful world. Space is also a part of the past and present world. We travel in space with the world. 

I don’t know of any other band like this. We can feel five players and try to have a soundscape, not just riffs or melodies but like the movies so you get not only songs but a kind of a feeling; something of an atmosphere.  

It’s very unlike the band members’ other groups.  

MR - We’re not re-treading old ground, it’s massive and heavy. Human beings need machines more and more. Cars and machines – we need to be friends with machines so that they’re not more important than humans. 

What does your future hold? 

MR - My vision of the future is to stop violence and for us not to make wrong choices and companies should be fined money if they are destroying our wonderful world. 

Tonight I go home from Germany to Sweden and from there I go to South America for my solo bass tour where the entrance fee is two kilos of food. I will then distribute that to the poor. I’ve done that before. I understand that it could have been me if I had been born there. I have paid for my charity tours with my HammerFall money so that 100% of the profits go to the people who need help. 

How does that affect the promotion for X-World 5? 

MR - I’m still packed with interviews and the other band members are doing them as well and Ill be doing the internet ones on my laptop and we shall create a platform to go on and start new songs. 

I always like to ask metal musicians what they listen to in their free time. What about you? 

MR - On June 12^th I shall be working with the Swedish National Symphony Orchestra so I listen to anything from Heavy Metal to classical, to solo bass, to jazz... funk, it’s a pleasure to listen to anything. When I was fifteen I only used to listen to Heavy Metal but now I listen to everything. 

We always ask this as our final question; is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of HardRockHouse? 

MR - I think it is important to believe in respect and to respect others because we are all different...and don’t hate. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. 

Sometimes musicians can come across a bit arsey but Manus Rosen was a pleasure to chat with and if all musos were the same our job would be much easier.

Simon Bray