Neverstore will take part this Saturday in the second semifinal of Melodifestivalen and we had the opportunity to ask them some questions. Neverstore had formed back in 2000 and they have already published four studio albums. As this is their first time on stage in Melodifestivalen we were curious about what challenges they were expecting. Read all the interview to get to know how to win a signed photo of the group!

Hello Neverstore! Congratulations for making it to Melodifestivalen 2015!

What did you think when you got accepted between this year’s songs?

We got very excited of course and are looking forward to this whole experience. A couple of years ago we wouldn’t have thought of ever being in the Melodifestivalen but times change and now we cant wait to get this thing started.

Can you tell us a bit about your song?

It’s a song about losing someone and wanting a chance to turn back time and make things differently. It’s a big mid tempo rock song we wrote together with Thomas Gson and John Gordon.

You have already published many albums and have been around for a bit. Why now this experience?

We started very young at the age of 15 and 16 and have toured all over the world and released 4 albums. When we got the chance to do something like this it felt like the right thing and the right time to do it. And we don’t wanna miss out on the party!

You had the possibility to tour with Sum 41 a while ago, what did you learn from that experience?

We learned a lot! We toured Japan together and to have the opportunity to perform in front of a full house every night was awesome. The way they merge a lot of their songs to keep a tight set and Derycks way to handle the audience also made a big impact on us.

You have participated in many different festivals, but this is a new environment, where the live show is linked to the TV experience. Do you think there’s something that you’ll need to change in your act because of this?

We need to focus on the viewers more than the crowd in the arena and that is something new to us. At our previous TV performances it has been the cameramen’s job to capture what we do, now it’s the other way around. We have to look for the camera and try to get thru. But we wont forget the crowd in the arena completely, it’s still a live performance and we need them to make the best out of the experience.

You have worked with Thomas G:son for your entry. How does this cooperation came to mind?

We have actually talked about writing together for a while. We live in the same city, Skövde, so we just needed a time and place to meet the make it happen.
We met at my old cabin and sat at my kitchen table and came up with the idea of ”If I was God for one day”.

What would representing Sweden in Eurovision mean to you?

That would be an honor of course and at the same time a lot of pressure on our backs.
You don’t wanna let the Swedish people down but we are also convinced we would cope with the responsibility. We would love to go all the way to Vienna!

How are you preparing yourself for your semifinal?

We are preparing for our 3 minutes of punk/rock by lots of hours in our rehearsal studio but we also rehears and prepare for the upcoming tour. Our participation in the Melodifestivalen is our biggest show for the year but it is also the starting point of a great year and we can’t wait to hit the road again.

Can you tell us a bit more about the staging of the song?

We wanna keep our performance a surprise and don’t wanna give away any details about it but we can tell you it’s gonna be both intimate and big and its gonna look awesome!

Who is the biggest contender you could think of from this year’s Melodifestivalen?

The biggest names are probably Eric Saade and Måns Zelmerlöw but we look forward to hear Mariette, she’s one of the most interesting contenders this year.

Do you have any favourite from past editions of Melodifestivalen?

ABBA of course, they are one of the greatest songwriters of all time. ”The Ark” and ”Dead by April” did come from ”outside the box” when they participated and have helped widen what kind of music- and what kind of band you can be to participate in Melodifestivalen.

On a lighter note: what kind of music do you like to listen to?

Growing up it was all about Blink 182, Rancid, Millencolin, NOFX, Nirvana and the rest of the American punk/rock scene but nowadays we have widen our range of what we listen to and our spotify playlists content everything from ”Emmylou Harris” and ”The Bronx” to ”The Script” and ”Papa Roach”.

Have you got any other artist you would recommend to our readers?

There are so many great undiscovered bands out there but to name a few: The Swellers, Like Torches, Hum Free Bug Art, Deportees, Monday Kills, Black Pacific, The Copyrights, Hata Som Lejon, Winhill/Losehill

Many people around the world will be reading this. What would you tell them about your country so to encourage them to visit it?

Sweden is a very beautiful and versatile country. You have the wavily yellow fields and the salty ocean in the south and the snowy mountains and breathtaking landscape in the north. Stockholm is a beautiful city which you definitely should visit but you should also go on a road trip into the middle country and visit a couple of small towns. Where we live, in Skövde and in Hjo there is lots to see and experience and you should pay us a visit in the summer.

Melodifestivalen is also known for the wild parties after the semifinal and final: what’s your party trick?

Our best party trick is to be yourself and let yourself go. A great playlist helps too, the cheesier the better and try not to think about tomorrow too much.

Thank you to the band for answering your question: you can already listen to a snippet of their song here. Do you want to win a signed picture by the band? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and send to matteo [at] escbubble.com your details until Saturday 21st to participate in our giveaway!