THE GEMS – AN INTERVIEW WITH MONA LINDGREN

The Gems are a Swedish powerhouse trio born from the loins of Thundermother. The band just released their debut album appropriately entitled Phoenix via Napalm Records. The Gems are comprised of Guernica Mancini (Vocals), Emlee Johansson (Drums) and Mona Lindgren (Guitar/Bass). Their sound is pure rock & roll nirvana. Every track on Phoenix blares with a brazen fearlessness. All 15 tracks are aggressively melodic delivering sledgehammer textures and nuances. Songs like “Like A Phoenix”, “Domino” and “P.S.Y.C.H.O.” demonstrates The Gem‘s innate ability to create songs that groove while grabbing the listener by the throat. Other tunes distribute the perfect blend of blues and rock.

Throughout Phoenix, Guernica’s vocals are robust with a rugged continence. With her explosive voice she easily pulls off the bangers while being emotively captivating when necessary. Her vocals are powerful and edgy. Emlee’s percussions are truly sublime. Her intensity and musicianship are outstanding. Emlee’s fills and runs are colossal. Her depth is unsurmountable. Mona’s guitars are full of stellar licks. Her vibrant instrumentation is ferocious while discharging white hot heat. The Gems are firing on all cylinders.

Mona Lindgren was kind enough to sit with AMP for this informative interview.

AMP: Can you give our readers a little background on the band?

MONA: The Gems started out just one year ago. In case your readers are not aware, the three of us were all members of Thundermother. Thundermother supported the Scorpions at the end of 2022. It was going fairly well until we split from the band due to circumstances beyond our control. We had a rough start at first. The beginning of 2023 was tough. That’s when we decided to form a new band. We wanted to get back on the rails and make things right. That’s how The Gems were conceived.

AMP: Your sound embodies hard hitting rock & roll. Do you feel that the direction of today’s music scene?

MONA: We always want to write songs that work well with rock radio and streaming. Today’s commercial sound, if you look at the Billboard charts, is mainly pop. Most of the time, rock music is nowhere to be found. We are hoping that rock music will become popular again. We are trying to write classic rock tunes but packaging them in a modern way. Modern both in terms of songwriting and production. The Gems‘ goal in life is to nudge people into rediscovering rock.

AMP: How does your creative process work?

MONA: It works differently from song to song. Sometimes Guernica has an idea. It can be a phrase, a melody or even an emotion. We take that into our songwriting sessions and as a band we hash out the details. Then the songs start to take shape. For this album we also has several older songs and demos that had a rebirth. For example, Guernica had a tune she wrote with another songwriter that was slated for her solo project. She presented the song to us and I really liked it but the guitar parts weren’t right for me. They sounded like they belonged in a nu-metal track. We completely changed the key and it became “Running” on Phoenix.

Another example is “Undiscovered Paths” on the record. The song was written eleven years ago by me and Emlee when we were in a band together. It really had crappy lyrics. I was 20 years old and into poetic and dark imagery. Plus, I wasn’t that proficient in the English language. Lyrically it was a disaster but we presented it to Guernica hoping she could make the words make sense. She revised it and it’s on the album. So in retrospect, our creative process is extremely varied.

AMP: Your new album Phoenix just dropped. How has the response been?

MONA: Very very good! It been so well received by people we never expected to enjoy it. We’ve gotten so many positive messages. It really feels great. Also, we have gotten mostly good reviews from the media.

AMP: Do you feel that The Gems are an evolution in musical style from Thundermother?

MONA: The fact that the three of us wrote songs for the last two Thundermother albums, there will always be similarities. So, we do sound somewhat like Thundermother. We write songs and play in the same fashion. But with The Gems, we explore other musical variations. Thundermother was heavily influenced by AC/DC. I feel we have broken those chains and have incorporated a variety of influences in our songwriting. We love AC/DC but we want to expand our horizons. It’s good that we have been able to differentiate ourselves from Thundermother. We are now two different bands.

AMP: What do you want your fans to take it away from your music?

MONA: I hope our fans can find songs that can resonate with them. Hopefully, they can find some inspiration in our music, especially when they are feeling down. Also, if they can find a song to work out to, that would be cool. But seriously, I hope they find a song that they can make their own.

AMP: What’s next for The Gems?

MONA: We will tour off this album. We haven’t announced it yet but there is a European tour in the works with several festivals already set. In addition, a US tour is possible. It may take some time but it will definitely happen.

AMP: Any last words?

MONA: Thank you for having me and thank you for the support. We are so happy that people are really enjoying Phoenix.

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