Multi Instrumentalist SNOWY SHAW teams up with MAGNUS DAUN (Mad Architect) to form new project “GOD”, and offers a “self interview” to best describe the new project!

GOD: Official release on all streaming platforms: Friday 17th October.

Preview Trailer: 

Snowy interviews himself!… Taking the concept of the split personality between whom an artist is on and off stage, or in and out of the studio to another level, Snowy Shaw has provided the following “self interview” to best describe the new project, which is available on all streaming platforms this Friday the 17^th October.

“GOD” by Magnus Daun & Snowy Shaw.

What can be said about this debuting new release?

“If you like real heavy kick ass rock n’ roll or just love brutal fucking true metal that makes you wanna bang your head bloody against a brick wall. – Well, then I suspect this kind of music might not be for you. 

OK, nicely put. So what the hell is this thing then. Emo, Indie-pop, Skate-Punk or what?

No, well this dark, cinematic and epic filmscore music project is not so much a band as a collaboration between two individual composers & musicians. For lack of better comparison, imagine if Danny Elfman and Ennio Morricone would team up to create grand dramatic music for a big Hollywood movie, that never existed,.. yet! Something like that, although I’m certainly not saying we’re in the same league as these masters but instead of coming up with yet another band name or do another Mad Architect album we opted to approach this new concept a little differently and use our own names with highlighted focus on the song title and concept at hand, meanwhile us the creators are subordinated. 

Mad Architect? please tell me a little more about that band. 

Yeah, well me and Magnus have a recorded history under the moniker of Mad Architect, with whom we put out 2 albums some odd 10 years ago. From the get go it was always more of a studio project, than a live act from when I was first contacted via email to do guest vocals on one single track, which I agreed to. Then later came the request to do yet another song, which I thought a bit strange but as it turned out, they had no singer and there was no “they” at all. In reality it was just Magnus hiring people to record his songs, more or less. And I ended up doing all the vocals. The first album recording took place around the time I was out touring the world with Sabaton during 2012-2013 and I tracked the vocals either in my own home studio whenever I had a short break in touring or in the tourbus or backstage somewhere with my laptop, a microphone and a simple recording device. Modern technology is pretty fantastic isn’t it? Pretty damn bizarre actually. So it was a rather strange birth one might say. As a matter of fact I had never met or even talked to the guy (Magnus) over the phone until after the first album had been out for months. Take into consideration that this although we both live in the same city (Gothenburg, Sweden) 

Hahaha! That’s hilarious!  And that’s when you decided to team up?

Like I said, it wasn’t so much of a band as Magnus´solo album with the difference that, especially on the second album I ended up doing about 95% of all the work. This because all the other musicians had somehow dropped off once the debut was released, and neither him nor I managed to find proper replacements for each position respectively based on his so-called demos, of chorus drenched incoherent instrumental guitar backgrounds. So in the end I figured the only way to make this project to work at all, is if I take charge of the situation and handle the rest of the instruments. Really insane when you think about it. Allow me to be a little witty here, Magnus sure is the “Mad Architect”. 

If what you’re saying is correct then it’s more like your solo album isn’t it? 

Naw, in a way I guess you could say that it was but that’s not the point and I don’t wanna take credit for it because I was hired to do a job and I did my very best and all in my power to make this thing fly and live up to my quality standards given what I had to work with. We’re talking writing, arranging, producing, recording, mixing, designing, promoting etc. And that on top of all vocals and playing the drums and bass etc. Magnus is a great guy and I don’t wanna make it sound like he’s totally incompetent or anything. I saw a guy whose dream & ambition was to make his own music & band although at the time….he didn’t necessarily possess the right kind of skills, competence nor experience required to do so. Very much like myself in my younger days, so I could relate and felt compassionate for him. However, what matters is that I was able to fill in the gaps and help out fulfilling his dream, and I was happy to oblige. (and of course be richly compensated for my work.)

Nice of you to help out this young kid though

I never said he was young. He’s 3 years older than me I think. 

Anyway, if you’d ask me if I would willingly do it all again under those circumstances and conditions the answer would be a loud and definitive No, not in this lifetime. Which is also why it has taken over 10 years. Whenever approached I have repeatedly explained to Magnus that I was super adamant towards the whole idea and that I simply can’t nor won’t work or operate under such conditions again. I don’t really wanna use the derogatory phrase “You can’t polish turds” but then again I can’t think of a better more suitable term. If it’s ever gonna happen it has to be under the right circumstances.   

So how did this new thing come about then, what made you change your mind? 

He learned his lesson and got his shit together, let’s say. Earlier this year Magnus released short pieces of new atmospheric instrumental music under his own name which I thought was a 100 times better than anything I had previously heard from him, and I was really impressed and uttered – Wow! Now we’re talking! This I really, really like. This has harmonic substance and something to build on with a distinct theme which offers tons more possibilities. 

Truth be told, I applaud him for having really have made a quantum leap in improvement over the decade that has now passed. I’m mighty impressed with his newfound technical skills and understanding. I dare say that the biggest difference was that now he had composed it all using keyboards with great sounds which was a huge improvement as opposed to all the generic guitar riffing and directionless set of chords that he used to present in the past.

This was more bombastic symphonic filmscore music, just the way that I love it and I immediately got all these images in my head and envisioned how we could arrange it with voices and menacing dark narration, chimes, marching snares, strings, heavy downtuned distorded bass and shit. And I also added heavy mean guitars to the mix for effect, and personally I think it turned out fantastic.

Maybe it’s just me who’ve been doing this for too long and have become jaded and disillusioned but to be perfectly honest with you, I haven’t been inspired or influenced by metal or rock bands since I was a teenager. More than anything I’m drawn towards composers like John Barry (James Bond)  Danny Elfman, John Carpenter, Vangelis among others. I’m not an adept consumer but that’s the kind of music that triggers me, and over the years I’ve often found out in retrospect that ‘s the kind of music that subconsciuosly influenced me.  

 So is this a one off thing or can we expect a full length album any time soon? 

Hell yeah! We just signed a massive 4 album recording deal with Universal Studios worldwide.

By mid November we’ll be recording our new material with New York philharmonic orchestra for an upcoming 2026 blockbuster Hollywood movie and,… No, I’m just kiddin’, obviously.  

First of all, it’s 2025 and the album format is obsolete and dead for starters, not just physical but overall, which is deeply tragic and immensely sad I think. The world in general is fucked, and not just the music industry and the movie industry but every-fucking-thing that we know of and everything that we all grew up loving is all dead and gone. But yes, let’s try to be a little positive here shall we. We’ll surely be putting out more new music. When and if we feel like it. That’s really all that matters at the end of the day, isn’t it?

More information: https://www.snowyshaw.net