Interview with Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth, Part Four

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Were you brought up in the Lutheran Church? Was your family religious?

JH - I was baptized. My dad is an atheist, always has been for my entire life. Actually, my mom is very spiritual, but I wouldn’t say that she’s religious. I think that I stopped believing in God when I was like seven or something. Ha!

I decided, “Nah, that’s bullshit.” Ha! I didn’t want to go to church with class and all this stuff. Because I was baptized, I was a member of the church until I was eighteen, when it was legal for me to leave to the Lutheran Church.

Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

You have to be eighteen to legally leave, if you’re baptized. Nobody can leave it for you, and you have to be of age to sign that paper that “I don’t want to be a part of this,” which is stupid, I think. It should be whenever you go, “Yeah, I don’t want to be a part of it.” That should be it.

I got this very funny paper sent back to me - “Since you’re not going to be a part of the church anymore, we can’t guarantee your place in heaven.” Ha!

Olavi Mikkonen in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

Growing up, I didn’t come from a very religious home. No, I didn’t. I was always brought up to question stuff, to look into it - “Does this make sense?” That’s how I was brought up.

I’ve always been interested in history. I think that’s also one of the reasons why I got into Viking history and Viking mythology.

Johan Söderberg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Has the Swedish Asatru Society, Nätverket Gimle, or any other pagan group in Sweden asked you to be their spokesman?

JH - No. I’ve met a couple of guys, but only briefly. It’s never been long discussions or anything.

None of them have contacted me. Honestly, I don’t think I would want to, either.

Johan Söderberg and Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

I know it sounds kind of weird, since some of the lyrics are kind of preaching, but I don’t want to preach. I don’t want to be that guy, to tell people what to believe and what not to believe, especially since I’m an atheist myself. It wouldn’t be logical for me to do that.