Having just released their ninth studio album with Watershed, Opeth are showing no signs of fatigue. The new album spelled change for the band as long standing guitarist Peter Lindgren and Martin Lopez, drummer and also a major contributor parted ways with the band. Taking a brief respite from a hectic touring schedule, I called up Fredrik Akesson (guitarist, previously of Arch Enemy) to discuss what it’s like being the new guy in Opeth.
LH: Hi Fredrik! How’s it going?
Fredrik: Going good! I’m in the countryside on vacation. In a place close to the Norwegian border.
LH: Nice! So, onto the interview…You’ve been with Opeth for a little over a year now, so how are things going for you so far?
Fredrik: Well I definitely feel like I’ve grown into the band now. I’ve done a few gigs now with them and recorded Watershed, and it feels great. I’ve never laughed so much as I have while touring with them.
LH: So it sounds like you get on really well with the other guys?
Fredrik: Yea, definitely. I mean, there’s no friction at all.
LH: How did the opportunity come about for you to join Opeth? I believe you were already in contact with Mikael anyway.
Fredrik: Yes he saw me play about five years ago and he came up to me after the show and said he really liked my guitar playing and that he’d like to work with me. We’ve talked on and off over the years about jamming together but it never really happened. When I started playing guitar for Arch Enemy, we toured together in the States and I think Mikael saw that I had the ability to do heavy touring, and so last year in February we got together and jammed at Mikaels house…in a way I think that he was secretly auditioning me - I played him some stuff on guitar and then he showed me an Opeth riff, and I guess he was checking out if I was able to play them.
LH: So you were Mikaels first choice for a new guitarist by the sounds of it.
Fredrik: That’s what he told me. He told me that I was his first and only choice, which was of course nice. Then in March he called me up and asked if I would join the band.
LH: Obviously Watershed is your first album for Opeth, and I was hoping you could tell me about your time in the studio. Was it a positive experience?
Fredrik: Yea I think this time we were really well prepared. Everyone knew their part and we rehearsed for about six weeks beforehand. We sorted out the sequencing for the album already so that helped a lot. The studio was located two hours drive from Stockholm and it was pretty much in the countryside so there were no distractions, like pubs or anything around. It’s boring in a way, but it really made us a lot more focussed. We’d start recording at 8:00AM and James who runs the studio wanted us to record at night so we had to do a bit of adjusting. The studio was split into two rooms, both with the same facilities so it saved us a lot of time to be able to work in the two studios. We lived in the studio and we cooked food in there and everything…
LH: So you had quite a bit of time to spend on getting things right.
Fredrik: Yea. I think the recording took about 5 or 6 weeks and after that he mixed the record which took another week. But it was nice, and a really good experience I think. We didn’t run into any problems…apart from Per, he broke a key on an organ we had borrowed from a nearby church.
LH: (laughs) I guess the church wasn’t too happy about that!
Fredrik: No, they weren’t. There was Christmas coming up too. But we didn’t get billed for it.
LH: Well that’s good! Now, you co-wrote one of the songs on Watershed…
Fredrik: Porcelain Heart!
LH: Yes. So do you think you’ll be contributing much to the band in the ways of song writing on future albums?
Fredrik: Oh I always try to come up with new riffs and stuff. Right now I’m on my vacation and I’ve brought my laptop so I’m going to make a start and record some ideas tomorrow. So I’ll always try to present these to Mikael. When I joined the band I asked Mikael ‘Is it cool if I introduce some of my ideas to the band?’ and he was cool with it.
LH: It’s good that he’s open to your input then!
Fredrik: Yes, absolutely. He’s the pilot of the band of course, but he likes everybody else to contribute their ideas as well. That’s cool.
LH: As far as influences go, it sounds as though you’ve got quite a broad range of influences, from classic rock right through to death metal and more classical guitarists. Do you think it’s vital that you are open to inspiration from more than one style in order to develop your own sound?
Fredrik: Absolutely, I think it’s very vital. I listen to a lot of different stuff. Basically I’m a metalhead but I grew up with the old school, you know the British heavy metal bands when I was 8 years old and I was first introduced to metal.
LH: You got hooked early on then!
Fredrik: I remember when Iron Maiden release ‘Piece Of Mind’…and I love the old school bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the early death metal stuff. I think it’s also very fun to be playing the Opeth because Mikaels such a huge record collector and he listens to so much music that I haven’t heard of before. So he introduces me to a lot of different music which is really fun. So since I joined Opeth I listen to even more different types of bands.
LH: Cool. Of course Opeth are regarded as pretty much being a genre of their own, and I suppose it’s important that any musician who enters the band is really creative about how they play and is able to contribute something pretty unique as well.
Fredrik: Yea, absolutely. I’ve played with a lot of different styles before and I think that’s been really helpful to me as well, you know, I’ve experimented with playing blues, motown…lots of different kinds of stuff. It may not be the kind of stuff I want to play but it’s good to have it in a way; it’s experience. Mikael’s a really good guitar player, and basically I really had to work to learn all the older songs. It wasn’t easy, it was a real struggle to learn some of them, but I feel I’ve raised, and broadened my guitar playing.
LH: So it was quite a challenge for you!
Fredrik: It was in the beginning. The songs are so long and there’s a lot of riffs to remember. It takes a while to get into it, because it’s so different to what I’m used to playing in other bands. Now I feel I’m adjusting and I’ve done the record, and it feels good.
LH: You were with Arch Enemy for a couple of years even though you never contributed to any studio albums. Of course they’re another band who have a pretty huge following so I imagine there’s a few similarities there. Are there any major differences for you being with Opeth to when you were in Arch Enemy?
Fredrik: The music is very different in a way. I mean Arch Enemy is a bit technical at times but it’s more straightforward.
LH: I mean, in terms of how the band functions and that kind of stuff…
Fredrik: Quite a bit different. I enjoyed my time with Arch Enemy but with Opeth I feel much more involved with the band. It’s a great experience for me.
LH: I imagine it was pretty tough for you joining a band of Opeth’s stature, simply because they have such a dedicated following and some of the fans are bound to miss old members. From what I’ve noticed so far, the fans have really welcomed you into the band. Still, were you ever a bit nervous about how they might react – before the album came out, and certainly when you first joined.
Fredrik: They were much more picky when I joined Arch Enemy in a way. I think a lot of people were worried in the beginning. I mean, some people thought I was just going to play shred solos all the time, which was never my intention. But I guess that means that I can bring a bit of Arch Enemy into Opeth…but mainly it’s been a good response. The record’s been out for a while and from what I’ve read on MySpace and stuff, people are generally liking my contributions. There have been people at the shows who come up to me, shake my hand and say ‘Welcome to Opeth’ and so it feels like most people have accepted me. I can understand it from a fans point of view. When Adrian Smith left Iron Maiden when I was a kid I was devastated. I totally understand how sometimes it takes a while to get used to new members.
LH: So you’re having a bit of a break at the moment and then you’re back on the road for pretty much solid touring right through till December, so it must be pretty intense! How are you finding life on the road?
Fredrik: I love it. But we’re doing the festivals soon and that really gets to me. Sometimes you are lucky if you get two hours sleep, which I don’t really like. The times of the flights means that the plane might leave at 12:00 at night and you’ll be playing early in the morning, and after the gig you want to hang out for a couple of beers. So that’s the only negative side to it. I really prefer the times when I can tour in a bus because then you can get a certain amount of hours to sleep. If you don’t get any sleep for two or three days it can start to affect your playing. I do love the festivals, the crowds are great and you get to meet the fans backstage…
LH: So it’s all worthwhile in the end.
Fredrik: Oh, certainly! I’m not complaining at all, but there’s gonna be a lot of touring now, I think we’ve got 6 or 7 festivals, then we head over to Australia, we have a headlining tour in America then tours in Europe and the UK. Then it’s Christmas. We’re touring right until the 17th December.
LH: So you have a bit of a break for Christmas and then back on the road in early 2009…
Fredrik: Oh yes, we’re back on the road. I don’t know the exact schedule yet for next year, but I do know that we’re going to Dubai, the Desert Rock festival which will be interesting. In America we’re opening for a big band. I don’t know any names yet, I can’t reveal that…
LH: Oh. Can’t you give us an exclusive!? (laughs)
Fredrik: Not confirmed yet, so I can tell you…or they’ll yell at me!
LH: Alright. Well I certainly can’t imagine any of the guys in the band to be into wild partying and all that stuff on the road so how do you spend your days off while you’re touring?
Fredrik: Last week we did 5 shows and we were out for actually 12 days, so it was kind of a long time to be out for only 5 shows. The travelling and everything meant that we ended up spending three days in Greece, and so we spent some time on the beach. In a way I don’t like many off days because when you’re playing every day you start to feel so comfortable on the stage. If you have a day off it feels a bit like having to start from scratch.
LH: Uh huh. It means a lot of warming back up.
Fredrik: Well exactly. We had a great time. What we did was just swim in the ocean, and eat lots of Greek salad.
LH: So finally you’re returning to the UK very shortly, as you mentioned, you’re playing at the Bloodstock Open Air festival, and you’re back here for a tour in November. I know at least the London date has sold out already, I’m not sure if the others have yet. So, UK crowds; are we one of the best!? Haha.
Fredrik: Certainly. I mean the third gig I played was in the UK. We toured with Arch Enemy, ironically enough. That was great. We played London and I think the UK crowd is always very supportive to us and it’s going to be great to go back for a headlining tour. There’s going to be a lot more production this time, maybe some screens up next to the stage, so it’s going to be interesting.
LH: So this tour in November. Should we expect to hear a lot off the new album, or a good mixture of stuff…
Fredrik: Expect a longer set. Maybe some older songs that we haven’t played before. We’re going to start rehearsing very soon…and of course you can expect to hear a lot more songs off Watershed. Maybe at least three.
LH: Well I guess there will be a fair few people there wanting to hear the stuff from Watershed.
Fredrik: I wonder how the record is doing in the UK now. I know it entered the charts…
LH: Yes, it got to something like number 32…
Fredrik: Oh great!
LH: And number one in Finland! Congrats on that!
Fredrik: Yes. That was amazing! So yes, longer sets, better production and more older songs…
LH: Cool. So finally I’d like to thank you for your time, and wish you all the best with the touring and the future!
Fredrik: Thank you for talking to me. Take care!
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