This interview with Mikael from OPETH was conducted prior to the Sounds of the Underground tour this summer. Few bands can capture the sound Opeth has and still remain calm onstage, as if it comes perfectly natural to them. Their music speaks for itself without any on-stage theatrics. Opeth's new album Ghost Reveries is available now through Roadrunner Records.
Paragon Rob: We like to ask a lot of different questions, fans can read the same old stock stuff in any interview. We like to get a little more personal, and sometimes a little funny too. Every now and then we get people that don’t seem to share the same sense of humor that we do, and they usually end up not enjoying the interview. What do you think of people like that, who have no sense of humor and take themselves way too seriously?
Mikael Åkerfeldt: I can understand it to some extent. You don’t want to be ridiculed for it, for being serious about your music, of course, but then, it can also become pathetic. We are serious about our music, but we also step outside of the whole musician thing, and kind of joke about it. We don’t have any problems with that at all. I think we’re probably perceived as being super-serious, but I think we’re pretty much the other way around. We’re serious about it, but we can all joke about it without being pretentious.
PR: You recently celebrated your birthday, right?
MÅ: Yeah, 17th of April.
PR: What did you do to celebrate?
MÅ: Actually, I was supposed to be in the studio, but I finished some guitar [parts] and then went back home and spent the day with my wife and my daughter. We had a piece of cake, and I dunno, watched TV, ::laughs:: you know, I didn’t do anything, really. I turned 31 and didn’t feel like drinking or partying or anything, so I took it easy with my family.
PR: I also read that you smoke Marlboro Lights, and that you’ve been trying to quit. I quit cold turkey a few years ago, what method are you using, and how is it going?
MÅ: Bad. I quit when we had our daughter. I quit and I don’t like to smoke around her. I basically don’t smoke when I’m back home, but it’s something to do with the band, you know, I get stressed, and when I smoke, I tend to think about music better for some weird reason, or maybe that’s just in my head. But it’s relaxing, and especially when I’m in a crazy mood, so to speak. When I’m writing the music, I like to have a cigarette and think about whatever riff I just wrote, and what I can do with that. I also like to smoke when I’m drinking. But not around my daughter.
PR: You’ll be heading out on the Sounds of the Underground tour in late June. It’s got a pretty big lineup, are there any bands on that tour that you never played with before but you are looking forward to being on tour with?
MÅ: We have played with STRAPPING YOUND LAD once, and I think we’ve played with CLUTCH once before, and they are basically the only bands that I know from that bill. I’ve heard of some of the other bands but I’m not so familiar with the music of most of those bands. Some of them, I’ve never even heard of them. They might be like big sellers in the U.S. but I’ve never heard of them.
PR: Do you feel that you fit well amongst the bands on the tour package? Your sound is rather epic compared to many of the bands on the bill.
MÅ: I don’t know, probably not. ::laughs:: I don’t like us to fit into the bill, I want us to be kind of either a sore thumb in the eyes of everybody or just the best band of the evening, if you know what I mean. I don’t want to disappear among the other bands, and I think we’re probably going to stand out, or at least that’s what I hope; that we’re going to be different from the other bands on the bill. But I think it’s good with a festival like this, when all the bands don’t sound the same. I don’t know if that’s the case with this tour. As for us, I hope we will be one of a kind.
PR: You guys had gone out on tour to play a few shows that would only feature your mellower acoustic material. What was the fan response to that tour like, did you find that just as many fans came out to see that side of you guys as would normally come out for your heavier material?
MÅ: Yeah, that was a pretty successful tour for us. We played some big venues, and most of the fans that came to the shows knew that we were going to do a softer kind of set, so the reaction overall was extremely good. Some shows there might’ve been a couple guys saying, “Come on, play something heavier,” but we had set our minds on playing only soft songs. Some people didn’t like it, but it was good for us, it was a good experience.
PR: You say on your website that “The Night and the Silent Water” is your least favorite Opeth song. Why is that?
MÅ: It’s not that I hate the song, I think it’s a good song, it’s just that when I get questioned about which is my least favorite, that’s probably the one. It could’ve been any song, but I basically had high hopes for that song when I wrote it and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. It was weaker, and I wasn’t happy with the lyrics.
PR: When you lost your voice on stage back in 2001, how did that all work out? Did you notice your voice fading slowly or was it all very sudden?
MÅ: I was sick like I am now. The night before, I had been out on the mother of all benders, drinking heavily and smoking. I was too hung over to get up for sound check so I figured I’d rest and do the show. I could still do the screams and everything, it was when the first part of clean singing came, there was no voice there at all; it was pathetic. It was the most embarrassing thing. And it was in the first song and we had an hour and 30 minutes to go. So the next show, the day after, in Germany, I didn’t sing at all. We had the crowd singing the songs and we had some guest appearances. That was actually a pretty cool show, and quite unique. But the show before was awful, it was horrible.
PR: I look at your collection of guitars and it reminds me of my own in the sense that I don’t really stick to just one company. I’ve got an Epiphone, BC Rich, Jackson, Peavey, etc. Most guys in your position like to find one company and stick to it, why is it that you decided to have Fenders, Gibsons, BC Rich, and PRS in your collection, rather than just sticking with one brand?
MÅ: I love guitars, what can I say? I love them. PRS is the best guitar for my use with the band. That’s what I use on the records, and that’s what I use live, it kind of works perfectly. Stratocasters, I just love them, just because of Richie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen. Ever since I was a kid, I thought the Stratocaster was the most beautiful guitar. I used to draw them in my schoolbooks. I love them. So obviously, when I got some cash, I bought my first Stratocaster and I used it on a couple of tours too, but they sound obviously too weak for the sound that I need. I love them anyway, so I’m going to keep buying them. If I get loads of money, I’m going to buy a few more Stratocasters just because I love them. Gibsons are more versatile but they don’t have the tremolo, which I like, and I also like to reach the volume up, and they break so easily. I actually bought a Flying V recently.
PR: Are you still endorsed by Laney and PRS?
MÅ: Yeah, we are endorsed PRS and Laney. We’re actually endorsed by Fender and Gibson and Martin guitars. My last guitar from PRS I got for free. I designed it, and ordered exactly what I wanted to see.
PR: I understand you are into the Silent Hill video games, I think they are up to the fourth game now, have you played all of them yet?
MÅ: I’ve played all of them. For me, when I play, it’s more of an obsession. I’m obsessed with finishing the game. I play for entire nights, for weeks. It’s almost like a drug habit, if you know what I mean? I’m not enjoying it as much as I should, I’m just kind of obsessed with finishing the game. I’m finishing one game and then on to the next and the next…I just love it. I find it relaxing, in a way, but it becomes an obsession.
PR: You have 2 cats at home, so I’d think it’s safe to say that you are an animal lover. Do you think that animals have souls?
MÅ: Of course. Especially one of my cats, he’s like a human. He seems to think like a human being. He’s very cunning. And I’ve been around cats all my life and all of them have different personalities, they’re not all the same. Every cat is different, just like every human person is different, at least that’s what I think.
PR: What about humans? Souls or no souls?
MÅ: Yeah, every human is different, you know? Every human is unique. I think that goes for all animals, except for maybe ants. ::laughs::
PR: From what you’ve seen, what is the one dominant trait that separates the United States from Sweden?
MÅ: That’s a tough question. I think much of it is the same. When I travel, it’s mostly to do gigs, and I’m very lazy on tour because we kind of just stay on the bus and drink. The United States is probably more relaxed than I expected it to be. I expected it to be more stressed out for some reason, I don’t know why. But it’s more relaxed than I thought. And also, some parts of the world dislike the United States because of the perception of Americans being cocky and self-confident and kind of egocentric, but that’s not the case at all. I think our fans, and the people I’ve met, are very open. We’ve been to so many countries, and most of it is quite the same.
PR: Writing music and touring must be pretty stressful, what do you do to unwind and de-stress?
MÅ: I’m a slacker at heart. If I didn’t have the band, if I could afford to be slacking all day, I’d do that, I’d watch TV and play video games. Now, when I’m back home, I have my daughter, and I love to hang around with her, and that’s far from being a slacker. That’s more work than the band. And while I’m on tour, it’s basically the same. Just going along, hanging with the guys in the band, drinking a little bit, watching TV, I guess what everybody does.
PR: Plugs?
MÅ: I’ll just say what I usually say. I hope that they check out the new album. People who’ve never heard of us should also check us out. This new album’s gonna be a killer. It’s a very cliché answer. ::laughs::
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