Planet Alliance was born when highly respected producer Anders 'Theo' Theander was asked to put together an 'all-star' project. Calling in his friends in the business, he soon had a veritable collection of musicians from the world of melodic hard rock and metal, including the likes of Magnus Karlsson (Starbreaker, Lost Tribe), Mike Andersson (Cloudscape), Anders Johansson (Hammerfall), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen) and the ubiquitous Bob Daisley on bass, amongst many others. Utilising the strengths of four different guitarists across the songs results in an album that stays fresh from song to song, never standing still, bringing fresh challenges to the listener at every turn, while keeping an all important ear towards the importance of melody.

Marco Spaeth caught up with Magnus Karlsson to get the low-down on this exciting project...

Can you please tell us who was the initiator for the PLANET ALLIANCE project and how all the different musicians became part of the project?

"I got a call from producer Anders "Theo" Theander from the Roastinghouse.studio He wanted me to write a couple of songs for a new project that Metalheaven had asked him to put together. When I heard that Mike from Cloudscape was going to be the singer I said yes right away. I always wanted to do something with Mike since the first time I heard him sing. He is a really awesome singer. And terrible fast! When we did the pre-production on my songs in my own studio Mike had never heard the songs before and recorded them in one take. And this is sounding as good as the real album. It's not fair! He's got way to much talent that guy!"

With the exception of Bob Daisley all involved musicians come from Scandinavia. Does Bob play any special role in this project?

"Yeah, absolutely. He is not only playing outstanding bass on a couple tracks he also did contribute with two great songs. In beginning I thought it was a quite strange mix of musicians on a metal album. But it turned out great and Bob mixed well with us Scandinavian powermetalheads, haha!"

What was your part in PLANET ALLIANCE? Tell us a little bit about your role, please!?

"Songwriter and guitar shredder. I also was involved with the production on my own songs."

How did the songwriting and the recording process go for PLANET ALLIANCE? I mean, did you write and record seperately or did some of you meet in the studio or for rehearsals?

"No we wrote our stuff on our own... and rehearsals, what is that, haha! I actually didn't know whose songs it would be in the beginning. There were several songwriters involved."

Even though the songs come from diffent songwriters they all fit very well. Was there any guideline for the writing of the material?

"I was told to write in the powermetal tradition. Not too progressive and not too AOR. My own goal was to write something that would suit Mike's voice perfectly. And I also had in mind if I write powermetal like, for example, Sonata Artica or something, it will sound strange with writers like Bob. I think my songs turned out more old school metal than usual."

How did you find the name PLANET ALLIANCE? It reminds me a bit of Star Trek...

"I believe that it was Mike, Theo and Sam (the guy who did the cover) that came up with the name. I think it sounds pretty cool. Maybe we should have gone for Metal Alliance instead, haha."

There can be no doubt about it that PLANET ALLIANCE is a real all-star project? What do you think about those projects in general?

"Well I'm involved in several ones and of course it's no guarantee it will be great just because of well-known names in the line up. But if you connect good musicians and writers that work well together there is a big chance that some exciting will come up. I don't join these kind of albums if I don't believe it will turn out great. And believe me I'm not doing this for the big money, haha!"

Do you think that all the renowed names involved in PLANET ALLIANCE are helpful for the success of the project? I mean, some people might have super high expecations on the album. Probably higher as on an album from a new band of unknown names...

"That's true. But I mean if you like Cloudscape or Last tribe for example I'm pretty sure you will appreciate this album. Since I released my first album there has always been high expectations and that is the way it should be. It's something I worked hard for. Even if I have done a lot of albums lately, every one of them is made with hard work and contains the best music I can do. No leftover songs and no hasty stuff caused by a deadlines. So continue to have high expectations. The day you can't have that I won't write music anymore. I mean even if you have a name that some people recognize you have to prove every time that you can do something good or nobody will care about the next album."

What are your personal favourites on the new album and what do you think about the writing and playing of the other musicians involved!?

"Right now I would choose REMEMBER ME, THE QUICKENING and I have to shamelessly say THE REAL YOU. I think everyone has done an excellent job. But this is the last time I play guitar duels with guitarists that are faster than me, haha!"

One of the most outstanding tracks on the album is the opener 'The Real You'. I love its classical influences. Sound like a classic Magnus Karlsson song to me!?

"Thanks a lot Marco. I'm quite proud of that intro. I'm very inspired by filmm music and especially the horror stuff. Hopefully you can hear traces of that in the intro. I also think that Mike's vocals suits this song perfect."

Do you think there is a chance that there comes a real band off PLANET ALLIANCE for live activities someday?

"To be honest the chances are quite small. Not because we don't want to but everyone has other bands that take much of their time."

Is there any chance for a second album from PLANET ALLIANCE?

"We haven't discussed that yet but there is always a chance."

Are there any other projects besides PLANET ALLIANCE that you're personally working on right now?

"Yeah I'm working on a album together with some really great people like Olaf Senkbeil (Dreamtide, Uli Jon Roth) on vocals, Linus Abrahamson on bass and Daniel Flores (Minds Eye and many others) on drums. This is going to be something really special! I think it will be released later this year. And there will be soon be another album with Russel Allen and Jörn Lande."