Behind the Band: Graveyard

The Swedish hard rock band by the name of “Graveyard” was established in 2006, Gothenberg. They take quite a few types of rock for inspiration, creating a perfect blend of music in general. While some of the bandmates came from growly blues backgrounds, others stem from doomy metal folk backgrounds.

Graveyard is made up of Joakim Nilsson (guitar and vocals), Jonatan Larocca-Ramm (guitar and vocals), Truls Mörck (bass and vocals), and Oskar Bergenheim (drums).

Nilsson and Edlund joined the band Albatross before ‘Graveyard’ became a thing. At first, the Albatross was solely for fun, a hobby, something they could be passionate about without making it their entire world. After a long five years, they decided to take matters more seriously. However, they quickly grew displeased with the course their music had taken. When Albatross parted paths, Nilsson and Edlund determined they would form their own band in hopes to touch back with their roots as musicians. Nilsson goes on to explain, “I am a singer, but in Albatross, I only played guitar. Rikard played guitar, but he is a bass player. We also wanted a more straightforward [rock] sound.”

They had said later in an interview that they just didn’t fit in anywhere, concluding in ‘Graveyard .’ They had been too soft for the metalheads and too ‘stoner’ for the ‘softish’ bands. They were outcasts is one way to put it.

After consulting with Sjöberg (guitarist and singer) and Truls Mörck, they began practicing as ‘Graveyard.’ As a newly formed band, they made it perhaps their first priority to record a two-track demo. Not too long after, they played three shows, started plotting an album with SwedishTransubstans Records, and posted a demo of their music on MySpace, where they had grabbed the attention of Tony Presedo. The man was the founder of TeePee records.

Graveyard released their first album in early 2008, recorded by Don Ahlsterberg. The album did quite well, receiving excellent feedback. Later, they had the opportunity to play for the South by Southwest Music Festival. I like to think it is at these festivals that bands come out more known. I mean, a teen walks in there to listen to their favorite ever band play, and they walk out with millions of new bands they probably love more than the initial one.

Not much time later, Truls Mörck was replaced by Jonatan Ramm. It wasn’t the worst ever thing to happen. Though I do miss Truls Mörck’s unique ‘edge’ he added to the band. They went on to tour with bands like Witchcraft, CKY, and Clutch. The band released three albums from 2006 (when they started) and 2016 (just before the band broke up). They had even made their way around the world. “We’re excited to visit new place, where we haven’t been before. I always wanted to play Japan, Brazil, a little bit more of Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, where my cousin lives. Andy, we’re coming,” declared Joakim Nilsson in 2015.

Just before their world tour Rikard Edlund (bass player and co-founder) left the band to pursue his independent musical career. And in a year’s time, the band had announced a breakup. It was September 23rd, 2016 (pretty ironic that one of my new favorite bands broke up on my birthday). They claimed it was “all so classic reasons.”

Less than a couple of months later, they would get back together, writing to their Facebook page, “A.N.D.R – Graveyard re-open for business.” This time they returned beside a new drummer named Oskar Bergenheim. With a whole lot of touring under their belt, they thrive to enjoy their selves more, and try to worry less. And as they go on, they try to make sure they are not playing all the soft songs. They try to prove they can still play the harder ones rather than the slow ones.