written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hey Ludvig. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well? How are the other guys of My Diligent Future?
Ludvig: Hi Marko! We are alive and kicking despite several memberswitches theese past two years the main core of MDF camp is still working hard to bring new songs and content to the music scene. We have allways been and are still in a sence a studioband but we aim to be able to create a strong foundation of new material this year to bring out on the road hopefully in some extent 2022.
Pix666: … what was your inspiration to become a musician in general?
Ludvig: I think in the beginning as a young teenager you almost had like a religious experience when hearing Iron Maiden or the local death metal scene in Gothenburg for the first time with bands such as At The Gates, The Haunted etc. It was grown up people who didn’t act or look like regular adults that made something that you immediately felt like you wanted to be a part of. The whole attitude and vibration of the metal scene resonated with you on all emotionell levels i guess.
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. How did you get to know each other as a band? For all readers who don’t know My Diligent Future yet, how would you describe or name the kind of music you make?
Ludvig: Johan ( drummer / mixer ) is someone who doesn’t say much but when he does it is usually of great relevence and importance. He is also the technical mind behind our sound when it comes to adding textures and sounds to the mix. Magnus (base) is the brother of Johan. We call him the ambassador. He is the one we turn to when we need guidence and perspective wether it’s is working on new songs or deabating over general stuff.
Chris (keyboards) what can i say. He has a spiritual mind obsessed with making the perfect arpeggios and leadkeyboards for our tracks. Allways positivie and willing to go that extra mile if needed. Martin (vocal / scream) made his comeback this year actually. This guy can scream better than most and also has a battery of unexplored potential which really shows on the new tracks we are working on when doing stuff we didn’t know was just possible with the human voice.
We have all known eachother sence high school and been a part of the undergound metal scene in various projects. Me and Chris go way back i think we have known eachother for 20 years which is just crazy when you think about it.
Pix666: You have been on the road with My Diligent Future for about 3 years now. What have been your best experiences and adventures with the band so far?
Ludvig: I think we have developed our skills as musicians / songwriters to the level where we feel confident to create and explore without any limitations. Of course you are never done and there are allways better songs and performances to be made but we now have the foundation to really lift this project to the next level. Also we have a good communication and friendship that trancends into all areas of life.
Pix666: You released your new single ‚Electric Waves‘ a few day ago. How were the fans’ reactions to the song?
Ludvig: The fans are happy and so are we with the release and the track itself. This was a little taste of our new setup with me stepping out of the clean vocals focusing juts on guitars/songwriting and Martin was introduced as a full time hybrid singer.
Pix666: The video of ‚Electric Waves‘ has more than 6,000 views on YouTube. How satisfied are you with that? Do you look at the numbers of streams, the views on YouTube, or do you know, for example, in which countries the people who listen to your music live?
Ludvig: Cool to hear that’s really great! To be honest we try to track and analyze our releases in the eyes of a marketing perspective. As creators and musicians you focus 99% of the time to create the best songs as possible. We have alot of Russian / German and South American fans i would say. Sweden aswell ofcourse all through out the country.
Pix666: Your EP ‘The Mayflower’ came out at the end of 2020, hopefully ‘Electric Waves’ will be the first song from the upcoming album! Do you have more songs in the works – will you release a new album this year?
Ludvig: We are working with the NEW material in Studio Fredman atm with the up and coming producer Mr Kukkla. It’s been truly fun and creative to record for the first time everything from drums to vocals in a premium studio. I think we will go for a couple of more singles / videos and finish it off with a EP sometime this fall.
Pix666: Have you already made tour plans – are there already some tour or festival dates?
Ludvig: As I mentioned earlier we are planning to be available for gigs/tours in 2022. Main focus is now to make the best songs / videos / productions for that vision to hopefully become a reality.
Pix666: You have been distributing your songs on your own so far. Are there any plans to sign with a label in the future to promote your songs better or maybe organise a tour more easily?
Ludvig: We are doing this on our own until the day comes when the right oppurtunity presents itself. It would be awesome to make a single/video release with a known label that has the perfect fanbase for our music to see how far it can go. Maybe this can happen in a near future who knows.
Pix666: Social media and music streaming are both a blessing and a curse for bands. From your point of view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this development for your band. How much do My Diligent Future use social media and where are you represented?
Ludvig: I would say this is one of our and many bands concern. In the end it all comes down to how good you are, timing and oppurtunity (luck). It is much easier today to create something that sounds good but it is still really hard to make something that sounds above and beyond and that can break through the noice.
We intend to break through the noice and when we do our chances of luck will hopefully increase. We can and must become better in all areas including social media exposure/content for this to happen. We are taking small but also the right steps towards this.
Pix666: As a musician, you surely spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to distract yourself – are there any interesting hobbies you pursue?
Ludvig: I like to go to the gym, fishing and hang out with my friends/family. I am an uncle now for two little girls ( sounds like im 100 years old hehe ) and that has given me even extra love and affection for how much family really means to me. Also i like to go out and party once in a while to reset my soul and brain 🙂 For me songwriting is organic and if you don’t live life to the fullest how can you have something to say, right?
Pix666: Do you have any other news about your band that you would like to share with the fans?
Ludvig: I would like to say thank you to all the MDF fans out there. We may not know who you are so please join our community on instagram/facebook and we will keep you updated on the latest news about everything whats going on!
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck with the new songs and stay healthy!!!
Ludvig: Thank you! 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/mydiligentfuture
photos © MDF
