Hammerfall’s guitarist, Oscar Dronjak, talks their upcoming Australian tour, the band’s origins, and the changing nature of the music industry.
Hammerfall’s legendary guitarist Oscar Dronjak appears across my screen like a wizard from a fairytale. Sitting in front of a crackling fireplace in his home in Sweden, Dronjak’s long silver hair dribbles down onto his jet-black clothes. Here is a true metal legend.
“We had the first below zero temperature here in Sweden for the first time in a while, so I decided to celebrate,” he immediately informs me with pride. Armed with a grin, he appears genuinely enthralled by my Australian accent. This is largely because it reminds him that his band, Hammerfall, are soon due to arrive in Australia for an upcoming tour. Despite their 31-year career, this tour marks Hammerfall’s first full tour of Australia.
“It’s been decades in the making. We went to Melbourne once, but that was just a one-off show. I do remember the audience was amazing though.” On this tour, however, the band never really got to experience Australia”
“We were only there for a day and a half,” Dronjak laments. “This time, I’m looking forward to experiencing more of it. We’re going to try and do the really touristy things.” Still, to get down here, the band need to make a 36-hour commute—something that none of the band, understandably, are looking forward to.
Genuinely bemused by this upcoming tour, Australia, for Dronjak, was a place he could only ever have dreamt of playing as a child. Born in the 70s, his first introduction to metal came from listening to KISS. Then, when German heavy metal band Accept released their 1983 song Balls to the Wall, everything for Dronjak changed.
“It blew my mind. It was when I realised that this was all part of a bigger thing—a metal movement. From that point on, I knew music was what I wanted to do.”
Unlike many with dreams of becoming a musician, Dronjak’s parents were supportive of his ambitions. Never once did he hear either one of his parents utter the all-too-familiar question of, ‘When are you going to get a real job?’
“My mum would literally drive me to the rehearsal room. It was like sports. She was always adamant that I play an instrument,” Dronjak added. “Metal was the type of music that made me the happiest, so I just stuck to it.”
After a rather intense period of grafting, in 1993, Dronjak met his Hammerfall bandmates. After a period of stop-starts with band members coming and going, by 1996, the lineup was locked.
This was after Joacim Cans was roped into the band at the last minute for a show. This experience of meeting Cans profoundly changed the course of Dronjak’s life. “In him [Cans] I had found someone that shared my views on what heavy metal should be. It just felt like how it was supposed to be. He had the same passion as me. It was truly meant to be. Without him, my life would look totally different.”
During this gig, Cans’ girlfriend recorded some of Hammerfall’s set using an old camera. With only enough tape for a song and a half, it was enough for Hammerfall to send to a record label as proof of concept.
“It wasn’t really much of a label though,” Dronjak jokes. “It was what they called a ‘wardrobe label,’ because his office was literally the size of a wardrobe. But he received the footage, loved it, and signed us.”
The band eventually recorded their first record, Glory to the Brave, which was released in 1997 to acclaim. Dronjak attributes the band’s success to people having certain hang-ups about rave culture. “I think people were sick of not having any melodies in their songs. No happy vibes. That’s what we brought to the table.”
Thirty years later, Hammerfall continue to be embraced by audiences around the world. Though navigating the ever-evolving music landscape has been ‘challenging’ for Hammerfall.
“In the 80s and 90s, you needed someone who believed in you. A band needed a lot of money invested in them. Fewer bands made it through, but there was more quality control. Now the cake has shrunk, and Spotify has taken a lot of the money. The music industry is a very different place.”
Dronjak also considers changing consumer habits to be an additional factor in the changes within the music industry. “I personally have never illegally downloaded music. I always felt that if I liked something, I would go buy it. People have that mindset less nowadays. But really, if you buy a ticket and some merchandise, then you know you’re supporting an artist.”
Hammerfall 2025 Australian Tour Dates
- Tuesday, 14 January – Metro Fremantle, Perth
- Wednesday, 15 January – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
- Friday, 17 January – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
- Saturday, 18 January – Manning Bar, Sydney
- Sunday, 19 January – The Triffid, Brisbane
Tickets are on sale now from The Phoenix.
