The National Anthems

The National Anthems

The National Anthems form in Karlstad, Sweden, and begin in early 2000 when Robert Stålbro records a two-song demo on his own. After Stålbro plays the material to Joakim Johansson, the pair decide to turn the project into a band. They bring in Christian Jernbro on drums and Fredrik Nilsson on bass, and The National Anthems form in August 2001.

Early releases and festival appearance

After playing a few shows in Karlstad, the band records its first demo as a full group in May 2002. That recording leads to an appearance at the Arvika festival in Sweden. In September 2002, Deep Elm Records in the United States invites the band to contribute a track to the Emo Diaries compilation series, and “My Picture” appears on Sad Songs Remind Me (Emo Diaries 9). The band then signs to the German label Defiance Records, and the debut album Before the Storm appears in September 2003.

Line-up changes and later work

After the release of Before the Storm, Christian Jernbro leaves the band and Henrik Gillgren, a long-time friend and former drummer in other local groups, joins on drums. The band then tours extensively in Europe, including around 100 shows over five tours, with acts such as Embrace, The Weakerthans, Miracle of 86 and Sportfreunde Stiller. They also open for Franz Ferdinand, The Crash and Nada Surf on some of those runs.

The later album Paradoxical draws on the experience of those tours and is described by the band as more varied in song character, tighter in performance and more intense in sound. The writing on the album reflects influences ranging from Deep Purple and Pink Floyd to U2 and Radiohead. Four of its songs are co-written by Bo Thörnqvist of Stoned. For the recording, the band handles most of the production itself, while vocal recording and mixing are done by Robin Larsson-Asp and Rikard Löfgren of Tigra Music.