A Dirty Dozen with HAL MARABEL from MAD INVASION – April 2025

According to a recent press release: “MAD INVASION (featuring special guest Mikkey Dee) release their second album Crack In The Sky on April 25 via Border Music. The band’s combination of classic 70’s / 80’s hard rock with a contemporary sound, delivers a distinct and unique listening experience that makes them stand out in the musical landscape. The new album is a natural progression of the band’s trademark sound with the exciting addition of also being available in a concept version. Crack In The Sky is masterfully crafted and refined mix of melody and destruction, with sing-along choruses and hooky guitar melodies being contrasted by crushingly heavy guitar riffs on a solid bedrock of drums and bass.” We get guitarist / keyboardist Hal to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

The Crack In The Sky album is a natural progression from the first album, with wide range of hard rocking songs with bone-crushing guitars, airy keyboards, and some heavy skin-pounding from Mikkey Dee. The production own this album is next level, big and with a live feeling – complemented by a thematic story flowing through the album.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My father taught me guitar from the age of 6 and at first I was mostly inspired by troubadour and folk music, but when I heard the Jimi Hendrix for the first time (1971), I was blown away by how he could make his guitar sound. The following years I started to discover bands like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple – a new world opened up. When the more visual bands like Kiss, Sweet and Slade appeared on the scene, I just knew that I had to get into this band business myself. I formed my first rock band in 1978, at the age of 14.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

• AC/DC – High Voltage: the songs “It’s A Long Way To The Top,” “Live Wire,” “TNT”
  
• Kiss – Destroyer: the songs “Detroit Rock City,” “God Of Thunder,” “Great Expectations”
  
• Sweet – The Sweet: the songs ”Hellraiser,” ”Blockbuster”
  
• Van Halen – Van Halen: the songs ”Running With The Devil,” ”Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love”
• Def Leppard – Pyromania: the songs ”Photograph,” ”Fooling,” ”Rock!Rock! ’Til You Drop”
  

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I’d love to do a song with any legendary singer like David Coverdale, Ronnie James Dio, Glenn Hughes – also producers like Bob Rock and Ron Nevison.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I like spending time with family and friends. I also work out at the gym a few times a week, to stay in shape. Other than that, my job and my music do take up much of my time.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

MAD INVASION plays heavy classic rock with a modern, fresh, and distinct sound that makes the band stand out in the genre. The musical approach is pure and energetic, bound to get classic rock lovers going. As far as review and fans, there’s really nothing negative that has been said so far… but a reviewer just called our music ’meat and potato’ rock – which we took as something good… like in solid and straightforward… : )

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Ha, ha, ha… Björn will cook and fix drinks, Pete will be the first to get the acoustic guitar out and start trubadouring…. Mats and I do much of the talking.. and there are overall a lot of laughs…

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I don’t usually get starstruck anymore… too old for that now, he-he… but it was pretty cool when we met a Toto’s Steve Lukather and the late Jeff Porcaro in our rehearsal complex many years ago, when they toured Sweden and had check-in in to get a last minute rehearsals in.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best part is the freedom and flexibility – being able to decide when and how to create and produce your music as well as how you package it. If not being a musician, I would choose what I actually work with in the daytime… business operational development and change in a big company, which I enjoy a lot.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

So far, I think that most questions have been good or interesting – e.g about the ideas and work behind music, plans ahead, and influences. Sometimes there will be questions about other things that are not related to music, like politics, beliefs, social things  – but I prefer talking about music.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

There are certainly some moments and situations where I wish I would have done things differently, but my philosophy is that everything has happens for a reason – to learn and evolve from over time, even when things don’t go your way. I wouldn’t change anything since I then wouldn’t be who and where I am today. If anything, maybe that I could have started sooner with taking music seriously, as it would have saved me some time… : )

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Van Halen, Boston, Def Leppard Pyromania, and Journey Escape. All legendary recordings with magical songs, dynamics and ambience – that affected me strongly and inspired my development in the early stages of my musical journey.

MAD INVASION LINKS:

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Category: Interviews