Back in issue 329 (June 2010) we sat down with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt to reflect on being 20 years into a successful career with the Swedish progressive metallers. Here in the full transcript he candidly reflects with us on the musical and personal challenges he's faced over the years. But first, let's go right back to the beginning…
When did you first start playing and what was your first guitar?
Mikael Åkerfeldt: "I was pretty young – I must have been seven or eight years old when I started playing. I got a guitar from my grandmother, a Levin classical guitar. That was the first one but I ended up having two of those and both I kind of… smashed later on. I remember being disappointed because I wanted an electric guitar, of course. This just looked like any other – like some Christian vocal group, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. So I remember painting volume and tone knobs on the top of the guitar!"
Did you come from a musical family?
"Not really. They were interested in listening to music though. My dad was into Elvis and my mother was into Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard and The Shadows. It was my grandmother who gave me the guitar and gave me a few chord books. She would improvise songs when we would go over to hers. She was a painter, a poet… very artistic. She had a guitar too and I'd play it every time I was over there. She was always recording me and I remember her playing those fucking tapes whenever we had a family dinner! I have to say she subconsciously helped me to get started."
Do you remember the first riffs you learned?
"Oh, standards – I was a heavy metal kid pretty early on. But in those days I wasn't only listening to heavy metal; I'd listen to whatever was on the radio like Eurovision Song Contest stuff and Abba – shit like that. I was a big fan of David Bowie too. But the first song I learned was probably Smoke On The Water – on the high E string. Once I'd learned a few chords I learned The House Of The Rising Sun. I got two books on guitar chords and it had anything from church music to Beatles songs. I didn't learn the Christian songs! The Beatles songs were a bit too complicated for me at the time so I think it was just House Of The Rising Sun."
Your first band was Eruption, did you just play covers to begin with?
"I wouldn't say it was a band – it was more me and my friend hanging out when we were 13 or 14; how it is when you're a kid. He had a drum kit in his cellar and I was really into playing guitar. At the time I had a 12-watt Marshall combo, it sounded like an amplified fart through that! I set it up in his cellar and he had an old Gretsch drum kit that basically wasn't really working. But we'd hammer away playing improvised songs and riffs, whatever from other bands that we could play. We only played metal songs but I didn't have a pedal at the time so just had full-on distortion constantly. I wasn't playing [The Beatles'] Yesterday if you know what I mean. It was just trying to be loud."
You were asked to join an early Opeth line-up as a bassist originally, what changed?
"Yes, it wasn't a big deal to be honest. Nobody knew about Eruption – at the end of that time we were a three-piece. I was playing guitar and doing vocals, there was the drummer and a bass player too. The only ones who knew about that band were the three of us – we didn't have any shows, demos… nobody knew who the fuck we were except for this one guy [David Isberg] who knew I was playing in a band and we went to school together. He had a band called Opeth. We were skateboarders at the time and listening to thrash. He thought I was a pretty good guitar player, I believe. He didn't ask me to come and play guitar because he already had two guitar players in his band. He just asked me to come and play bass because the bass player couldn't play at all. That band was just a bunch of friends hanging out at the time. We weren't really friends but that guy had something like a vision, he knew a lot of people and I also liked the name Opeth, I thought it sounded cool. The logo they had at the time was cool too – it was hand drawn with a big inverted cross and gothic font. It was appealing and I wasn't going anywhere with my own band. Even though I didn't want to play bass I thought it was a little bit of a break for me to be auditioning for another band. But the other guys didn't know I was coming to the rehearsal – the original bass player showed up too and said, Who the fuck is this guy? They had a huge argument and he fired them. Well we were kids, so five minutes later they had another band and were continuing as normal. Nothing was a big deal in those days – he told them to fuck off and me and him became Opeth.
Eventually you took over the role as frontman of Opeth. Was that out of necessity to keep momentum going or did you always have ambitions to be a singer too?
"I couldn't really sing back then and didn't get any feedback on my screaming vocals – so I didn't really know if it was good or if it was shit. I was the singer in Eruption so when David, the original singer from Opeth, left in 1991 or 1992 I became the singer because I was the only one who had been singing before. None of the other guys wanted to sing and there was no discussion about it, I just became the singer."
You recorded Opeth's debut Orchid at 19; the album was recorded and mixed in 12 days. How long had you been listening to progressive rock music at that point?
"Not for very long, maybe two or three years. The early nineties are a blur of death metal bands. I wasn't really listening to anything else apart from a few bands. My best friend at the time was a record collector like me – we were collecting whatever – death metal and thrash, Brazilian black metal… obscure stuff because it was cool to have the stuff that nobody else had. So whenever we had some leftover money we went out buying records. He had stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd. I didn't know who the fuck they were, I don't think I'd even heard Sweet Home Alabama, but they looked cool – they had long hair and bellbottoms. So I started digging around the second hand record stores in Stockholm, and this is when CDs were coming in and everybody was dumping their record collections to buy CDs. So you could pick up anything for like 50p. I could go out into town with the equivalent of £10 and come back home with 20 records. It was so cheap and I picked up anything that looked cool and through that I stumbled on a few bands that I guess were progressive rock. Bands like Yes, you look at their sleeves and you think, I've got to have that – a Roger Dean sleeve looked striking. So I picked up a lot of music like that. I stumbled upon bands so that's how I found a few of those bands."
Orchid has quite a bold sound because of those influences coming through, even at that stage – did it feel like an original move at the time?
"Not really – it felt natural. At the time I'd dropped the whole being tough idea. I wasn't listening to music because I wanted to be cool anymore. I wasn't afraid. The death metal scene at the time was really closed in – you were supposed to be a certain way otherwise you weren't, the word they used at the time was 'true.' Or you were a poseur. And I was a poseur because I wasn't pure; I was into bands like the Scorpions, Judas Priest, Sabbath and Deep Purple. All of which had progressive influences – they were blending styles which I always liked. That's what I wanted to bring into Opeth but I didn't see it as something unique, I just thought it was just pretty good music. That's always been the bottom line – and the reason I want to write music to this day is because I want to write something I think is good."
How important was the UK when Opeth became a touring band? Did you gain a small following here early on?
"It's got more to do with that fact that they were the first overseas shows. Our record labels – we had three or four – always had their base in the UK. Candlelight Records were our first record label and they brought us over to play a few promotional shows. Some of them were in small pubs in High Wycombe! We played a death metal festival at the Astoria, a show at the Borderline… decent shows. It was impressive for me because we didn't really play much at home back then – or anywhere else for that matter. I was impressed by the fact people were there and listening to us at all. Pretty soon we got features in the magazines there and more people started coming to the shows. And even at the small pub in High Wycombe there were five fans watching us – that's something because at home we had nothing. So ever since we first played in the UK we always had a good following, even though it was absolutely tiny – there was somebody there."
Jumping forwards, Still Life and Blackwater Park signalled a significant rise in Opeth's profile in Europe and they are landmark albums in metal. But looking back on those albums, how well prepared were you as the songwriter going into the studio?
"With Still Life there were no rehearsals, we didn't have a rehearsal room and I didn't have an amp. I had to sell my amp to pay the rent. But the songs were pretty much written – I was confident in those days, I wrote it down on a piece of paper: first riff (four bars) / second riff (four bars) / vocals (same riff, four bars)…I just wrote the song down. I came up with the riffs and had to remember them, I had no means to record them and just had to remember how to play them. I remember I was living in a small flat at the time and I just wrote it all down the day before we were going in to record Still Life and I was like, there, done. Actually I had gone to a friend's house to record a few riffs to be honest with you, just trying out a few ideas so there was some type of sound that I had in mind for the album. I never heard the songs though – nobody heard the songs until we had the album. Nobody knew what they were recording. Martin Lopez did a drum take for two riffs and by the time he went into the third riff he had forgotten the first riff! So nobody had the faintest idea of what it would sound like – it was quite exciting in that respect. But it was also risky. If I discovered that I didn't really like a riff… like when the song is finished and it's all on tape and I'm doing lead guitar on it or whatever and I'm thinking, this isn't a very good riff you know. I'd just put shit loads of stuff on there – disguising the shit riff underneath with lots of Ebows, effects and vocals. It was all about being inventive with whatever you had – you had to develop whatever you had. In those days it was a good way for me to write songs because I was always progressing, moving forwards."
How did that compare to the pressure of back to back recording of the Deliverance and Damnation albums?
"I wrote a lot for those albums – I had lots of riffs and short arrangements written back home. I had a little portable digital eight-track. If you had music on all eight channels it was enough for like five minutes on a disc. So I couldn't put an entire song on there even if I wanted to. Besides, I had to program a drum machine manually for every riff and then piece everything together so it was almost like mathematics. So I could only be bothered writing short arrangements – two riffs, piece them together with drum beats. I could never really finish anything off so I left it open for the studio. Looking back at Still Life and Blackwater Park, there was a lot of improvisation going on in the studio so I thought, yeah let's do it like that again. Only this time we're going to record two albums. It was taking on a little bit more than I could handle. I thought I could do it so I ended up working my ass off through the night but during the first week it went pretty good. Then I started to lose interest and get sloppy because I was so tired – all of a sudden I was writing music just to have something to record the next day. I wasn't really paying attention to whether it was good or shit, basically. The band was in a terrible state anyways so with some of those arrangements I couldn't even save them with the layering I was talking about before. I couldn't even make some of it sound decent but I'm still quite surprised that we managed to make those albums. Especially Damnation, I think it's a fine record and parts of Deliverance have become classic Opeth. But it was hell."
So if there was anything you could change from the last 20 years, would the making of Deliverance be the candidate?
"Well I don't believe in changing things so even though there are parts of that record that make me cringe when I listen to them, I do that with some of the older stuff as well. I remember I was superhappy with it at the time. I can't go back and change the past and that's one of the reasons that if I have leftover material from an album, I never bring it when I start to write for the next album. I want to write completely new material. So even though some music didn't end up on a record, it still belongs to that record. I want to start with a clean slate, so to speak."
Damnation was a very brave move for a metal band, people didn't seem too surprised that you'd made an all mellow album at the time though did they?
"I thought it was going to have a bigger impact. People were kind of shrugging, Yeah? Whatever – cool. It didn't have an impact at all it seemed at the time! I was expecting people to either hate it or say, Fucking hell there's this death metal band doing an album like that! With doing Deliverance at the same time I thought people were going to be impressed. I was also aching for some kind of recognition because of what I went through with the recording. I wanted some approval. But what happened was people started downloading the album before it was released and then started slagging it off. So I was like, fuck off you fucking insects!"
That's like shoplifting a Mars bar then going back to the shop to complain you don't like the way it tastes…
"Yes, so I was really upset. But now a few years later people are coming out of the woodwork saying, That album changed my life or that album is what I'll have playing at my funeral. Or I wouldn't have met my wife if it wasn't for that album…"
And it's a good entry point to get into the band too…
"Yes and a lot of people hold that record pretty close to their hearts – all sorts of people from metal people to general music fans. So now I'm getting a little credit for that record."
The acoustic folk-influenced fingerpicking side to your playing is equally as important to Opeth's sound as the metal elements. Is it true that you worked in an acoustic guitar shop and developed that side of your technique there?
"Yes that's true. I was working at a small guitar shop in Stockholm and I was basically doing repairs – I don't know how I got employed there because I didn't know how to repair guitars! But the owner taught me things like how to make a bone nut from scratch, fixing cracks… But I was quite disappointed when I first went in there because there were no electric guitars. It was only acoustics – but at least it was still guitars, plus at the end of the day it was a job and I didn't expect to sit around playing all day. But that's what happened; we didn't have many customers because we sold Martin guitars and they're quite expensive. People weren't coming in and buying them for their kids. If you went into that store you were buying a guitar for £3,000. So I ended up playing a lot and there weren't any guitars but steel string, 12-string and nylon string. So I was playing a lot and writing a lot for our second album [Morningrise] and developing my technique as an acoustic guitar player. And that's something that made a lot of difference to me as a songwriter, guitar player and musician overall. The years in that store helped me to develop our sound."
Do you usually write on an acoustic guitar these days?
"I write a lot on acoustic but now my situation is a little bit different because I have a home studio. So I can just plug in my electric guitar and off I go. But I always have an acoustic close at hand if I just want to play – and to be honest it's easier for me to come up with something on an acoustic guitar. Everytime you pick it up you'll come up with something and think, oh that's nice. But when you plug in an electric guitar you end up playing some shitty blues!"
But talking of electric guitar, you must be incredibly proud to have a PRS Signature now…
"I'm not proud at all! [laughs] No, I love it, I can't even say it's like a childhood dream because I didn't even think there was a chance in hell that anyone would even give me a guitar, let alone get a signature model with my name on it. It's amazing. I'm pretty fucking proud."
Opeth has a stable line up now but how much of a personal toll has some of Opeth's line up changes taken on you over the years?
"Obviously I can't say I like them but every line-up change has made us into a better band. But people relate to when their favourite album of ours was made by a specific line-up – they think that line-up is better. For me, from the inside, [changes] always made us progress and ultimately turned us into a better band. But, line-up changes, what can I say? I hate them. I wish – to a certain extent – that we were the same guys who played together in 1989. Ultimately you lose touch with these people who were once really good friends and it's tough. Mostly from the friendship point of view I have to say. Peter leaving [Lindgren, guitar 1991 – 2007] was fucking rough for me. [Martin] Lopez [drums 1997-2006] wasn't really rough, we were friends of course but we weren't really hanging out. He was asked to join the band as a drummer and I'd never seen the guy in my life before he came to meet us. But Peter and I had been friends before we played together. So with some of these guys it's been very difficult, almost to the point that I didn't know whether I wanted to go on anymore. Like when the first drummer [Anders Nordin 1990-1997] who played on the first two records, left. When he left I was like, okay, that's it for me."
So there were points where you nearly gave up on Opeth?
"Well that was one definitely. But then I just realised that I'm still a musician. They can leave and go work at Ericson or whatever but I still love this. Once I realised that, the friendship type of thing took a little bit of a back seat. Not that I became ruthless and didn't want to be friends with my band members, not at all. But whatever happens won't change my interest and my goals. But it's rough, not fun."
Peter's replacement, Fredrik Åkesson is held in high esteem by other metal players, but he has a reputation as a technical shredder. Do you think Opeth's given him the chance to show a more soulful side and will we see more of that?
"He is a shredder. He's a typical shred player in that's what he loves. He loves learning licks by shredder guys, he buys all the magazines. When he's got Guitarist magazine he goes straight to the techniques section which I'm completely uninterested in! But he loves it. But one of the reasons he's in the band is that he has another side to his playing – he's very musical and has this great tone. Fantastic tone. I didn't get him into the band because of his shredding. To be honest I'm not a big fan of shredding for the sake of playing fast. He can definitely do that but I'm holding him back a little in the shredding department. I want a guitar solo to be, wow – it has to serve the best interest of the song. So even though it's his solo spot it's also part of the song and I can't have a really fast shredding solo that I hate. That would just bring the song down so it has to be very musical. And the thing is, he loves that stuff too – once he nails solos that fit the song it's a whole different thing to putting down fast runs. So I'm hoping that people are going to see him as just a great lead guitar player, as opposed to competing with shredders. Because there's always someone who's going to play faster and I heard some of that on the videos that come with the magazines. And I'm like, that fucking sucks. I'm not going to name drop but some of these guys aren't musicians, they can't hear music. It's not interesting at all to me. In fact I get irritated – it's like measuring penises. I hate that stuff."
You pay a lot of attention to drum parts when you're writing, do you think guitarists often overlook that interaction?
"Oh yeah – especially lead guitar players who'll complain that the guitar solo is too low in the mix, turn it up! Maybe I'm wrong and there's a lot of people that aren't like that but it seems like many lead guitar players have a really shitty sense of rhythm and they can't play rhythm guitar and they can't write songs because they're so focused on shredding. I can't shred but I can do some of the other stuff and I can't understand how you can overlook the song. And the song starts for me with, say the drums. That foundation has to be there first before you can shred."
Are you now able to look back through your career with the band and identify songs that were key to what came after them?
"Sometimes you'll do something you consider to be a bit daring – like on the second album we had a ballad called To Bid You Farewell, which was cool but I was anxious to see what people would think. Once people said, I like that stuff, it made it easier for me to write more that blended it up more. It was important for developing that softer side of the band. I guess there's one song per album that makes you go, Hmmm that's a bit odd."
You've mentioned recently that there's a possibility of you making a solo acoustic album – is this still on your mind?
"Yes it is. I'm actually working on a song for it now. I'm working on one Opeth song and a solo song. But I did a vocal line and it was horrible! I'll have to do something better. The thing with this so-called solo album is it might not be released but it's something I want to do for me – to produce an album from scratch in my home studio without any help."
With that in mind, who are you inspirations on the singer / songwriter side of things?
"Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Jackson C. Frank… some of the acoustic guitar players too. I want it to be a good guitar record but the most important thing is I want it to be good songs on there. But it's going to be pretty simple and a bit melancholic sounding I guess. Nick Drake and Joni are in my blood so to speak – both my kids were born when Bryter Layter was playing. And Joni Mitchell, I listen to her and I can cry. I feel safe in her music. It's something that goes beyond a good record. I don't expect anything to be as moving as a second of their music but I just want to do it for me and see if it can be something. I also like some of the newer cats – Tommy Emmanuel is one. I wouldn't say he sounds like Bert Jansch but the mindset is similar."
It's interesting to hear you mention Jackson C. Frank – he's something of a 'lost' folk hero really isn't he and like Nick Drake, his life tells quite a sad story…
"I first heard him about five or six years ago and I didn't know who he was. Then somebody played me a song called I Want To Be Alone. Wow. And then there's a lot of his songs that Nick Drake covered – I think he did half of that first album, the only album. It's on [Nick Drake's] bootleg recordings. I've seen a few interviews with Bert Jansch where he says, that guy started that scene in 1965 or '66. It's beautiful music. I was lucky enough to find a copy of the original vinyl from a seller in the UK. I'm very happy with that but it put me back £250! But I had to have it."
Difficult question but 20 years in, what are your proudest achievements so far?
"That is a difficult question. I don't ever feel particularly proud in the sense of, Look at me I did this and that. I'm happy with every new album."
And it's all without compromise…
"Yes definitely. Musically I don't compromise for anyone. If you ask me to do it a certain way you can just fuck off, if you know what I mean. Once the music and the lyrics are done I can be a bit of a whore if that's what the label wants me to do – I'll do their interviews, I'll do whatever they tell me to do in order to promote the record and work. But when it comes to the music it's sacred to me. I can be like the Antichrist when it comes to people interfering with the music. Not the band, that's not a problem at all but if a record label executive came up to me and said, That riff is not good, I would probably headbutt him: shut the fuck up and sell the record."
Opeth are getting bigger all the time, are the pressures of the business greater on you now personally?
"Yes there's a lot of pressure. Once the album is done it's relentless. I immediately go into four weeks of press trips and another two weeks of 'phoners. Then the tour and interviews everyday on the tour. And a lot of people want to speak to me because I write most of the music and I write the lyrics, I'm the frontman. So I understand but it's fucking tedious so for me personally there's massive pressure on me at all times. But I'm trying to get the other guys involved – especially in the interviews part, helping me out and I think it's important for them because I tend to be such a control freak about the music and it's important for them to have an opinion. I want them to do more interviews – they don't necessarily want to but I want to do less! When Opeth is in the magazine I don't just want it to be me on the cover, I want it to be the band."
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Martin Axenrot - Interview by Guido (02 Oct 2010)
I recently got to do an email interview with non other than Bloodbath, Opeth and Witchery drummer Martin "Axe" Axenrot.
Special thanks go out to Jasper Schuurmans, who helped making this possible. Blast some Bloodbath and read the interview after the jump.
Dose of Metal: You've been playing with Bloodbath since 'Nightmares Made Flesh'. What is the biggest difference between playing with Peter Tägtgren and Mikael Akerfeldt?
Martin "Axe" Axenrot: The biggest difference, I guess, is that I know Mikael a lot better than Peter and we´ve play in the same band together for a while now. We´ve done quite a lot of touring and concerts together, ya know. I have never played live with Peter from what I can remember. Very nice guy though... and good voice too!
DoM: A lot of people call you Legolas, how do you feel about that?
Axe: I like to think that they´re only joking but I take it as a compliment otherwise...hehe. But if you look at Orlando Bloom how he looks normally without Legolias´ long blonde hair, I can´t really see many similarities with him anymore. I guess it´s all in the hair...
DoM: Lord of the Rings is pretty gay, isn't it?
Axe: Is it? I thought it was fairly good. Maybe it depends on who´s watching...
DoM: Bloodbath have played more melodic and more brutal death metal, which style do you personally prefer?
Axe: Not sure if I understood the question. But more of everything is nice. Even though less usually does the trick.
DoM: Do you have groupies? Or let me ask more politely: have you ever fucked a groupie?
Axe: I always give them away to journalists, photographers, crew, etc. They seem to have time for that sort of thing.
DoM: What is the biggest difference between playing for Bloodbath, Witchery and Opeth?
Axe: It´s very different when it comes to the music I would say. When we go out on tour with Opeth, we´d be out for 2 years, and play 200-250 shows a year. That makes it very different to the other bands with which we only do a couple of shows, if even that. I guess Bloodbath and Witchery is a bit more physical than Opeth. At least for me it is.
DoM: Which one of these three bands get the most groupies?
Axe: Obviously the band that is biggest and has most fans gets the most groupies. Still, if your goal is to get a load of groupies, maybe experimental / prog / death metal isn´t the music you should be playing...
DoM: How do you feel about the term "supergroup" in relation to Bloodbath?
Axe: Good, I guess. I personally don´t call it the "supergroup", but if someone wants to call it that, it´s fine with me.
DoM: Have you ever had a supergroup of groupies? Supergroupies?
Axe: Not that Im aware of...
DoM: Bloodbath have done a couple of dates at festivals this year, are there plans to do a full on Bloodbath tour in the future?
Axe: Don´t think so. Everyone is occupied with their main bands, I think. Katatonia tours a lot now, and Opeth are working on a new record. Hopefully there is time for a new BB record at some point...
DoM: How hard is it to get a decent shower during tour?
Axe: It depends on where in the world you are. We dont have shower problems with Opeth that much. I´ve done some Wicked tours in Europe with Satanic Slaughter in the nineties, when we slept in a minivan for 2 weeks. There weren´t even enough seats for everybody to sit in while we drove. One time one of the tires exploded on the German autobahn and we almost crashed. Pretty hard tour. It´s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll...hehe
DoM: Which song, of the new album, was the most challenging to record for you?
Axe: I can´t really remember. Felt like the whole album is one long song. Derelict Herds maybe.... Thats a bonus song though...
DoM: Witchery has just released a new album this year, what was it like to work with Erik 'Legion' Hagstedt compared to Witchery's former singer Tony 'Toxine' Kampner?
Axe: I was actually not in the studio while he put down the vocals. Think I was on tour. I think the vocal sounds good on the record, and what Ive heard it all went down very smooth in the studio.
DoM: You've been in Opeth for 4 years now, what was it like to step into Martin Lopez's footsteps?
Axe: Actually my first show was 8th of august 2005. But as a member I guess it has indeed been 4 years. I´ve played a lot of songs from Opeth´s earlier days live, both with Anders and Martin on drums on the records. It´s always a good challenge to make ´em sound as good as possible live.
DoM: Mikael Akerfeldt recently stated that Opeth are currently writing for their upcoming album. How far are you with the songwriting yet?
Axe: I´m not involved with the actual song writing but Mike sent me a demo with a few tracks that he´d written so far and I´m working out the drum part from my own home. Can´t wait to hit the studio and start recording!
DoM: Cowgirl or reverse cowgirl?
Axe: Cowbell for me...
DoM: Which album, you've been on, features your favourite work?
Axe: Watershed.
DoM: You're our second interviewee, do you feel honoured? You should!
Axe: Very!
DoM: Any last words for your readers at doseofmetal.com?
Axe: Either you do it or you don´t.
DoM: Thank you for your time!
Special thanks go out to Jasper Schuurmans, who helped making this possible. Blast some Bloodbath and read the interview after the jump.
Dose of Metal: You've been playing with Bloodbath since 'Nightmares Made Flesh'. What is the biggest difference between playing with Peter Tägtgren and Mikael Akerfeldt?
Martin "Axe" Axenrot: The biggest difference, I guess, is that I know Mikael a lot better than Peter and we´ve play in the same band together for a while now. We´ve done quite a lot of touring and concerts together, ya know. I have never played live with Peter from what I can remember. Very nice guy though... and good voice too!
DoM: A lot of people call you Legolas, how do you feel about that?
Axe: I like to think that they´re only joking but I take it as a compliment otherwise...hehe. But if you look at Orlando Bloom how he looks normally without Legolias´ long blonde hair, I can´t really see many similarities with him anymore. I guess it´s all in the hair...
DoM: Lord of the Rings is pretty gay, isn't it?
Axe: Is it? I thought it was fairly good. Maybe it depends on who´s watching...
DoM: Bloodbath have played more melodic and more brutal death metal, which style do you personally prefer?
Axe: Not sure if I understood the question. But more of everything is nice. Even though less usually does the trick.
DoM: Do you have groupies? Or let me ask more politely: have you ever fucked a groupie?
Axe: I always give them away to journalists, photographers, crew, etc. They seem to have time for that sort of thing.
DoM: What is the biggest difference between playing for Bloodbath, Witchery and Opeth?
Axe: It´s very different when it comes to the music I would say. When we go out on tour with Opeth, we´d be out for 2 years, and play 200-250 shows a year. That makes it very different to the other bands with which we only do a couple of shows, if even that. I guess Bloodbath and Witchery is a bit more physical than Opeth. At least for me it is.
DoM: Which one of these three bands get the most groupies?
Axe: Obviously the band that is biggest and has most fans gets the most groupies. Still, if your goal is to get a load of groupies, maybe experimental / prog / death metal isn´t the music you should be playing...
DoM: How do you feel about the term "supergroup" in relation to Bloodbath?
Axe: Good, I guess. I personally don´t call it the "supergroup", but if someone wants to call it that, it´s fine with me.
DoM: Have you ever had a supergroup of groupies? Supergroupies?
Axe: Not that Im aware of...
DoM: Bloodbath have done a couple of dates at festivals this year, are there plans to do a full on Bloodbath tour in the future?
Axe: Don´t think so. Everyone is occupied with their main bands, I think. Katatonia tours a lot now, and Opeth are working on a new record. Hopefully there is time for a new BB record at some point...
DoM: How hard is it to get a decent shower during tour?
Axe: It depends on where in the world you are. We dont have shower problems with Opeth that much. I´ve done some Wicked tours in Europe with Satanic Slaughter in the nineties, when we slept in a minivan for 2 weeks. There weren´t even enough seats for everybody to sit in while we drove. One time one of the tires exploded on the German autobahn and we almost crashed. Pretty hard tour. It´s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll...hehe
DoM: Which song, of the new album, was the most challenging to record for you?
Axe: I can´t really remember. Felt like the whole album is one long song. Derelict Herds maybe.... Thats a bonus song though...
DoM: Witchery has just released a new album this year, what was it like to work with Erik 'Legion' Hagstedt compared to Witchery's former singer Tony 'Toxine' Kampner?
Axe: I was actually not in the studio while he put down the vocals. Think I was on tour. I think the vocal sounds good on the record, and what Ive heard it all went down very smooth in the studio.
DoM: You've been in Opeth for 4 years now, what was it like to step into Martin Lopez's footsteps?
Axe: Actually my first show was 8th of august 2005. But as a member I guess it has indeed been 4 years. I´ve played a lot of songs from Opeth´s earlier days live, both with Anders and Martin on drums on the records. It´s always a good challenge to make ´em sound as good as possible live.
DoM: Mikael Akerfeldt recently stated that Opeth are currently writing for their upcoming album. How far are you with the songwriting yet?
Axe: I´m not involved with the actual song writing but Mike sent me a demo with a few tracks that he´d written so far and I´m working out the drum part from my own home. Can´t wait to hit the studio and start recording!
DoM: Cowgirl or reverse cowgirl?
Axe: Cowbell for me...
DoM: Which album, you've been on, features your favourite work?
Axe: Watershed.
DoM: You're our second interviewee, do you feel honoured? You should!
Axe: Very!
DoM: Any last words for your readers at doseofmetal.com?
Axe: Either you do it or you don´t.
DoM: Thank you for your time!
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Fredrik Åkesson - Interview by Rob Laing (31 Aug 2010)
Guitarist Extra: We recently caught up with Fredrik Akesson from acclaimed Swedish progressive metallers Opeth for a piece that will appear in the next issue (334) of the magazine. But we couldn't resist dropping in some extra questions for the Guitarist.co.uk during our chat so Fredrik could share playing tips and insight about his career so far with us.
You're at the end of the Summer festival season now, how is the material for the next Opeth album coming along?
"Mikael [Åkerfeldt, Opeth mainman/singer/guitarist] recently showed me a riff that he's working on right now. Very different and very interesting! That's probably going to end up on the new Opeth album. He's working on two tracks for the next one at the moment. Mendez and I are working on material at my house. We'll see what happens, but we'll try and squeeze some material in there – see what the master says! [laughs]
The DVD of Opeth's Albert Hall show is being released soon, but was that your personal favourite gig from the run of anniversary shows last year?
"I think it was New York [at the Terminal 5 venue] because I felt it was maybe a bit better playing-wise. Small details most people wouldn't notice. I always compete with myself to play the perfect gig and that's what makes it fun to play."
What's been the highlight of your time in the band so far?
"Some gigs are magic – playing the Royal Albert Hall with the band was incredible. I saw the DVD and it looks very cool. I was a little unfortunate with the camerman stepping on my power though! I went silent in the last song – the whole rig died. A bit stressful standing in front of all those people."
You and Mikael are using the Fractal Axe-FX Ultra effects and amp modelling processor live now, is that right?
"I only use it in the loop for delays. Mike [Åkerfeldt] uses it as a power amp but I'm still particular about tube amps, a wah is the only effect I have out front. I don't use the amp simulations live but I do in the studio back home. It's very good."
As well as that, you're playing PRS through the Blackstar Series One, but is there anything else about your live rig we don't know about?
"I use a buffer pedal made by a guy who runs a Swedish company called Sound Of Silence www.soundofsilence.se. He analysed my setup and advised me to switch out all my cables. He also advised that the cable that goes from the amp to the wah pedal shouldn't necessarily be a guitar cable because it can colour the sound, it's better to sue a line cable. The buffer pedal boosts the sigal that's lost through the cable length. In A/B testing all this did makes a difference. IF you use EMG active pickups you don't really did it but the buffer pedal can compensate. He also does tricks with wireless packs – puts a little chip in the belt pack that can compensate the sound if you're losing a little low end. It's pretty theory behind it all – I think I'm turning into Eric Johnson!"
Looking back on your journey as a player so far, do you have any advice to others?
"I think it's a good thing to be inspired by many different players but to inevitably find your own tone. When I was younger I listened to a lot of players but now I spend most of my time playing and improvising over chord changes I've recorded. I think that can be very useful. Also, I used to work out solos note for note – that's always a good thing if you want to learn new techniques and add more variation to your own playing."
If you weren't a guitar player what do you think you'd be doing for a living?
"Maybe I'd be a singer! Normal job? I've done a lot of shity jobs. I've been a construction worker, I've cleaned up after dead people… I don't want to go back to anything like that. Maybe I'd be working in a studio – close to music. Actually, I'd be a guitar tech. I've done it once before. One show with Dokken when [Europe guitarist] John Norum was in the band."
You're from the same town in Sweden as John aren't you?
"Yes, Upplands Väsby. I don't live there anymore though. I've written some material on John's solo albums and did some touring with him in the mid nineties. We jammed a lot back in the day. He has a great style, he was influential on me when I was a kid. He has great tone and his new solo album is cool – more seventies-influenced and bluesy."
You're obviously a player that works hard at developing your technique. Can you pinpoint when you've had breakthroughs over the years?
"I practised a lot between the age of 15 and 18 – six to eight hours a day. When I was 15 I dropped out of school to work at a factory to earn the money for my first Marshall amp. I played and Played and at 19 I joined a band called Talisman and learned a lot from them because they were older and had played with guys like Yngwie. Around 1998-2000 I started to mature as a player too, it wasn't just about playing fast. But it's an ongoing process – there's always something new to learn."
When you first joined Opeth, a lot of people may have seen you as a shredder. But there's a lot more to you than that as Mikael has said. Do you think people have realised that now?
"Yes and if you listen to Watershed there isn't that much shredding. It's a couple of runs – I had to squeeze something in! [laughs] But I hope people see that I try to be diverse. On the solos from Burden, for example, it's more of a vintage approach – Gilmour, Knopfler, early Blackmore. I try to play what's right for the song rather than getting in as much shred as possible to impress people. Shredding is fun but you have to be tasteful."
You're at the end of the Summer festival season now, how is the material for the next Opeth album coming along?
"Mikael [Åkerfeldt, Opeth mainman/singer/guitarist] recently showed me a riff that he's working on right now. Very different and very interesting! That's probably going to end up on the new Opeth album. He's working on two tracks for the next one at the moment. Mendez and I are working on material at my house. We'll see what happens, but we'll try and squeeze some material in there – see what the master says! [laughs]
The DVD of Opeth's Albert Hall show is being released soon, but was that your personal favourite gig from the run of anniversary shows last year?
"I think it was New York [at the Terminal 5 venue] because I felt it was maybe a bit better playing-wise. Small details most people wouldn't notice. I always compete with myself to play the perfect gig and that's what makes it fun to play."
What's been the highlight of your time in the band so far?
"Some gigs are magic – playing the Royal Albert Hall with the band was incredible. I saw the DVD and it looks very cool. I was a little unfortunate with the camerman stepping on my power though! I went silent in the last song – the whole rig died. A bit stressful standing in front of all those people."
You and Mikael are using the Fractal Axe-FX Ultra effects and amp modelling processor live now, is that right?
"I only use it in the loop for delays. Mike [Åkerfeldt] uses it as a power amp but I'm still particular about tube amps, a wah is the only effect I have out front. I don't use the amp simulations live but I do in the studio back home. It's very good."
As well as that, you're playing PRS through the Blackstar Series One, but is there anything else about your live rig we don't know about?
"I use a buffer pedal made by a guy who runs a Swedish company called Sound Of Silence www.soundofsilence.se. He analysed my setup and advised me to switch out all my cables. He also advised that the cable that goes from the amp to the wah pedal shouldn't necessarily be a guitar cable because it can colour the sound, it's better to sue a line cable. The buffer pedal boosts the sigal that's lost through the cable length. In A/B testing all this did makes a difference. IF you use EMG active pickups you don't really did it but the buffer pedal can compensate. He also does tricks with wireless packs – puts a little chip in the belt pack that can compensate the sound if you're losing a little low end. It's pretty theory behind it all – I think I'm turning into Eric Johnson!"
Looking back on your journey as a player so far, do you have any advice to others?
"I think it's a good thing to be inspired by many different players but to inevitably find your own tone. When I was younger I listened to a lot of players but now I spend most of my time playing and improvising over chord changes I've recorded. I think that can be very useful. Also, I used to work out solos note for note – that's always a good thing if you want to learn new techniques and add more variation to your own playing."
If you weren't a guitar player what do you think you'd be doing for a living?
"Maybe I'd be a singer! Normal job? I've done a lot of shity jobs. I've been a construction worker, I've cleaned up after dead people… I don't want to go back to anything like that. Maybe I'd be working in a studio – close to music. Actually, I'd be a guitar tech. I've done it once before. One show with Dokken when [Europe guitarist] John Norum was in the band."
You're from the same town in Sweden as John aren't you?
"Yes, Upplands Väsby. I don't live there anymore though. I've written some material on John's solo albums and did some touring with him in the mid nineties. We jammed a lot back in the day. He has a great style, he was influential on me when I was a kid. He has great tone and his new solo album is cool – more seventies-influenced and bluesy."
You're obviously a player that works hard at developing your technique. Can you pinpoint when you've had breakthroughs over the years?
"I practised a lot between the age of 15 and 18 – six to eight hours a day. When I was 15 I dropped out of school to work at a factory to earn the money for my first Marshall amp. I played and Played and at 19 I joined a band called Talisman and learned a lot from them because they were older and had played with guys like Yngwie. Around 1998-2000 I started to mature as a player too, it wasn't just about playing fast. But it's an ongoing process – there's always something new to learn."
When you first joined Opeth, a lot of people may have seen you as a shredder. But there's a lot more to you than that as Mikael has said. Do you think people have realised that now?
"Yes and if you listen to Watershed there isn't that much shredding. It's a couple of runs – I had to squeeze something in! [laughs] But I hope people see that I try to be diverse. On the solos from Burden, for example, it's more of a vintage approach – Gilmour, Knopfler, early Blackmore. I try to play what's right for the song rather than getting in as much shred as possible to impress people. Shredding is fun but you have to be tasteful."
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Jörgen Hellström (19 May 2010)
FC: Are you satisfied with the 20th anniversary tour?
M: Extremely satisfied! All of the shows was sold out. I think the Royal Albert Hall had a few minimum seats left but it was advertised as sold out, and I certainly didn’t see any gaps in there. It was packed! Really, that just made this little trek extra memorable. We wanted to celebrate 20 years, the original plan was to have some minor party in a cellar pub or something. But those plans escalated somewhat and next thing we know, we’re going on stage at the Albert Hall.
FC: Besides playing Blackwater Park, how did you choose the songs?
M: Basically we wanted to make chronological set for the 2nd one. And we picked some of the more obscure songs that we hadn’t played in a long time as well as some of the songs we know are popular, like “The moor”. It’s a song that we’ve played here and there but I personally have never been quite happy with out execution, so it’s been shelved over and over again. Now we picked it up and made a real nice new version of it I think. “Advent” felt like it got a rejuvenation with this line up, but “Forest of October” sounded virtually the same as I could remember it sounded in 1992.
FC: Many fans wanted “Black Rose immortal”…how close was it?
M: Close. I listened to the song a couple of times and just felt there were too many loose ends, too many parts I didn’t really like anymore, and it would have felt awkward playing something like that. It had been decided we’re going to play that song actually, but with the above reasons plus the fact that I don’t think a lot of people would have recognized it, or even liked it if we’d played it. We changed our minds. I think it’s a little bit of a gimmick that song. It’s “popular” because it’s our longest track, not because it’s all that great. But, I never say never. I think this line up had a tendency to breathe new life into old shit like that. We’ve done it on several occasions, so maybe it would work for this piece as well. However, “Advent” represented the “Morningrise” record better, and we all loved playing it.
FC: Were there any plans of getting ex-members to play at the anniversary-gigs?
M: Not really. There are reasons some of the past guys aren’t in the band anymore, some of which are quite delicate and it’s not a case of us calling eachother up saying “Hey buddy, haven’t talked to ya in 10 years, fancy playing an old song with us?”. I am on good terms with everyone from the past personally, but I don’t hang out with anyone other than Peter on occasion and have a very sporadic contact with Anders and Lopez. Peter had back problems on the night of the Stockholm show and couldn’t come. We didn’t really talk to any of the other guys and they didn’t call us, but we did put them all up on the guest list in case they’d drop by incognito. Some might have been there but I don’t really know.
FC: You got some critic at Cirkus for the ending…people thought that you were coming out again and waited for some 15 minutes before the lights were turned on. Comments?
M: Haha, I don’t really know. We went to the dressing room and heard everyone cheering. We’re on the verge of coming out again, but someone didn’t want to do it which is fair enough. We’d played close to 3 hours already, encores felt a bit over the top. Normally we always do an encore, but our normal set is just short of 2 hours, so there’s a difference. We didn’t even have a planned song for it as we’re set from the get go that we’d play the set without any extra songs.
FC: When can we expect the DVD to be released?
M: I have no idea. I’m going to the UK to edit the footage in a few days, and we’re already working on some of the artwork. Yet I don’t know when we’ll have it released. I’ve seen a rough cut of the first set and obviously it looks amazing. Anything would look amazing in the Royal Albert hall of course.
FC: How would you describe Opeth development over the past 20 years?
M: I think we’ve stuck to our original guns in a way. I still think you can trace todays Opeth sound right back to the first record and recognize it is the same band. Yet I’d have to say I have personally developed more of an interest in experimentation and is demanding that everyone has a open mind to what we do. That in turn requires a constant intake of new influences and development. Luckily, everyone in the band are absolute music geeks and we listen to music, discuss music, diss music, praise music more than any other band on the planet I believe. We learn from eachother. Opeth started as a band with a couple of guys with similar musical interests and ended, so to speak, with a bunch of guys with completely different musical interests, yet the fusion of our musical ideas and personalities makes it kinda swing sometimes. I mean Per is virtually a blues/rock musician, Axe started as a marching drummer, Mendez went from black metal to tango, Fredrik has been a shredder for 20 years and I’m just a bum.
FC: I´ve heard something about a soloalbum from you. If so, what can we expect and when?
M: Those rumours however true they might be are exaggerated. I said that I “wanted” to do a solo album at some point. I have absolutely no pressure on my shoulders for this and noone should expect anything anytime soon. I’m working on a few projects right now but it’s hard for me to make priorities cause I am super interested in them all. The solo thing is one of them, yes.
FC: How´s the songwriting proceeding for the new album? And when do you think it will be out?
M: It’s going “good”. I’ve written a long piece and one short piece neither of which are ready. The long one sounds good, but I think I will edit a lot of the good stuff out and just leave the amazing stuff in there. It’s getting increasingly more difficult to impress myself and my mind is just in a blur right now. I don’t know what I want it to be. The stuff that’s “keeper” stuff is however quite magnificent if I may say so myself, haha!
FC: How do you manage to keep up the high quality in your songwriting? What are your current influences?
M: By kicking my own ass and deleting, deleting. You kinda know right away whether you love something or not. You might try to fool yourself for some time. Pretending it’s “good enough”. However, “good enough” does not cut it for me. I love music too much to have it being lukewarm. It needs to be steaming hot for me. Can’t say everyone will agree, but I won’t have the Opeth logo on something that is not super-duper foxy!
FC: A Legend just died, Ronnie James Dio. What did he mean to you? Any comments?
M: He died yesterday, and I’m gutted! What can I say? It sucks! He’s been there all my life, ever since I was a child. He’s someone I feel I know much better than I really do. I met him once and it just made me love him more. I’m extremely infatuated with music and some of the people that made me realize that this is my “calling”. As for singers, RJD belonged to that school of rock that is not around anymore. They are a dying breed and I fucking hate it. I cling to them like a leech. Dio was probably one of the most important rock musicians in my life and I am extremely sad. I had to call up all my friends with similar relations to him and just get it out. I still can’t believe it, I will never accept it fully. I’ll pretend he’s still alive, and even though I know he’s gone, there’s no harm in pretending he’s still there doing whatever he’s doing.
FC: You recently closed your much appreciated MySpace-profile and all other incoming channels. Many fans feel concerned...Do we have to be worried?
M: Well, there are no reasons to worry regarding my commitment to the band or to our fans. It just got a bit out of hand and too much work for me. I felt I was spending too much time in front of the computer, taking time away from what i really should be doing which is work on music. There was a few people who just logged on to take the piss and insult me, and they are everywhere, but that's not the reason why I closed it down. It was just too much of a distraction for me. A part of me also want to rebel in small way against how web-based music has become lately. I mean, I have yet to accept the CD as a musical format, I'm still with my vinyls. Downloading and using the internet as your only platform to promote yourself is a necessary evil to me. I'm a progressive musician but very regressive when it comes to how it should be handled. Mainly because it is such an integral part of my life. I want it to be around and with the way things are going I think music as a form of expression will be watered down to shit, eurovision, tv docus and some stupid cellphone signal "hit". People are waving the "metal is bigger than that" card I guess, but metal has also been watered down and become to comfortable. I can't have it and I want to play as little part contributing to the downfall of music as possible. Even though I too am "smart" enough to realize how great of a promotion tool the internet really is. We have a few websites and they display the info needed, like shows and everything, but overall I've lost some interest in promoting the band through that forum. I just want to make sure we deliver the good in terms of the quality of our music and the packaging.
The Fan club thanks Mikael for taking the time to answer the questions and we´re wishing him and the band a great summer!
M: Extremely satisfied! All of the shows was sold out. I think the Royal Albert Hall had a few minimum seats left but it was advertised as sold out, and I certainly didn’t see any gaps in there. It was packed! Really, that just made this little trek extra memorable. We wanted to celebrate 20 years, the original plan was to have some minor party in a cellar pub or something. But those plans escalated somewhat and next thing we know, we’re going on stage at the Albert Hall.
FC: Besides playing Blackwater Park, how did you choose the songs?
M: Basically we wanted to make chronological set for the 2nd one. And we picked some of the more obscure songs that we hadn’t played in a long time as well as some of the songs we know are popular, like “The moor”. It’s a song that we’ve played here and there but I personally have never been quite happy with out execution, so it’s been shelved over and over again. Now we picked it up and made a real nice new version of it I think. “Advent” felt like it got a rejuvenation with this line up, but “Forest of October” sounded virtually the same as I could remember it sounded in 1992.
FC: Many fans wanted “Black Rose immortal”…how close was it?
M: Close. I listened to the song a couple of times and just felt there were too many loose ends, too many parts I didn’t really like anymore, and it would have felt awkward playing something like that. It had been decided we’re going to play that song actually, but with the above reasons plus the fact that I don’t think a lot of people would have recognized it, or even liked it if we’d played it. We changed our minds. I think it’s a little bit of a gimmick that song. It’s “popular” because it’s our longest track, not because it’s all that great. But, I never say never. I think this line up had a tendency to breathe new life into old shit like that. We’ve done it on several occasions, so maybe it would work for this piece as well. However, “Advent” represented the “Morningrise” record better, and we all loved playing it.
FC: Were there any plans of getting ex-members to play at the anniversary-gigs?
M: Not really. There are reasons some of the past guys aren’t in the band anymore, some of which are quite delicate and it’s not a case of us calling eachother up saying “Hey buddy, haven’t talked to ya in 10 years, fancy playing an old song with us?”. I am on good terms with everyone from the past personally, but I don’t hang out with anyone other than Peter on occasion and have a very sporadic contact with Anders and Lopez. Peter had back problems on the night of the Stockholm show and couldn’t come. We didn’t really talk to any of the other guys and they didn’t call us, but we did put them all up on the guest list in case they’d drop by incognito. Some might have been there but I don’t really know.
FC: You got some critic at Cirkus for the ending…people thought that you were coming out again and waited for some 15 minutes before the lights were turned on. Comments?
M: Haha, I don’t really know. We went to the dressing room and heard everyone cheering. We’re on the verge of coming out again, but someone didn’t want to do it which is fair enough. We’d played close to 3 hours already, encores felt a bit over the top. Normally we always do an encore, but our normal set is just short of 2 hours, so there’s a difference. We didn’t even have a planned song for it as we’re set from the get go that we’d play the set without any extra songs.
FC: When can we expect the DVD to be released?
M: I have no idea. I’m going to the UK to edit the footage in a few days, and we’re already working on some of the artwork. Yet I don’t know when we’ll have it released. I’ve seen a rough cut of the first set and obviously it looks amazing. Anything would look amazing in the Royal Albert hall of course.
FC: How would you describe Opeth development over the past 20 years?
M: I think we’ve stuck to our original guns in a way. I still think you can trace todays Opeth sound right back to the first record and recognize it is the same band. Yet I’d have to say I have personally developed more of an interest in experimentation and is demanding that everyone has a open mind to what we do. That in turn requires a constant intake of new influences and development. Luckily, everyone in the band are absolute music geeks and we listen to music, discuss music, diss music, praise music more than any other band on the planet I believe. We learn from eachother. Opeth started as a band with a couple of guys with similar musical interests and ended, so to speak, with a bunch of guys with completely different musical interests, yet the fusion of our musical ideas and personalities makes it kinda swing sometimes. I mean Per is virtually a blues/rock musician, Axe started as a marching drummer, Mendez went from black metal to tango, Fredrik has been a shredder for 20 years and I’m just a bum.
FC: I´ve heard something about a soloalbum from you. If so, what can we expect and when?
M: Those rumours however true they might be are exaggerated. I said that I “wanted” to do a solo album at some point. I have absolutely no pressure on my shoulders for this and noone should expect anything anytime soon. I’m working on a few projects right now but it’s hard for me to make priorities cause I am super interested in them all. The solo thing is one of them, yes.
FC: How´s the songwriting proceeding for the new album? And when do you think it will be out?
M: It’s going “good”. I’ve written a long piece and one short piece neither of which are ready. The long one sounds good, but I think I will edit a lot of the good stuff out and just leave the amazing stuff in there. It’s getting increasingly more difficult to impress myself and my mind is just in a blur right now. I don’t know what I want it to be. The stuff that’s “keeper” stuff is however quite magnificent if I may say so myself, haha!
FC: How do you manage to keep up the high quality in your songwriting? What are your current influences?
M: By kicking my own ass and deleting, deleting. You kinda know right away whether you love something or not. You might try to fool yourself for some time. Pretending it’s “good enough”. However, “good enough” does not cut it for me. I love music too much to have it being lukewarm. It needs to be steaming hot for me. Can’t say everyone will agree, but I won’t have the Opeth logo on something that is not super-duper foxy!
FC: A Legend just died, Ronnie James Dio. What did he mean to you? Any comments?
M: He died yesterday, and I’m gutted! What can I say? It sucks! He’s been there all my life, ever since I was a child. He’s someone I feel I know much better than I really do. I met him once and it just made me love him more. I’m extremely infatuated with music and some of the people that made me realize that this is my “calling”. As for singers, RJD belonged to that school of rock that is not around anymore. They are a dying breed and I fucking hate it. I cling to them like a leech. Dio was probably one of the most important rock musicians in my life and I am extremely sad. I had to call up all my friends with similar relations to him and just get it out. I still can’t believe it, I will never accept it fully. I’ll pretend he’s still alive, and even though I know he’s gone, there’s no harm in pretending he’s still there doing whatever he’s doing.
FC: You recently closed your much appreciated MySpace-profile and all other incoming channels. Many fans feel concerned...Do we have to be worried?
M: Well, there are no reasons to worry regarding my commitment to the band or to our fans. It just got a bit out of hand and too much work for me. I felt I was spending too much time in front of the computer, taking time away from what i really should be doing which is work on music. There was a few people who just logged on to take the piss and insult me, and they are everywhere, but that's not the reason why I closed it down. It was just too much of a distraction for me. A part of me also want to rebel in small way against how web-based music has become lately. I mean, I have yet to accept the CD as a musical format, I'm still with my vinyls. Downloading and using the internet as your only platform to promote yourself is a necessary evil to me. I'm a progressive musician but very regressive when it comes to how it should be handled. Mainly because it is such an integral part of my life. I want it to be around and with the way things are going I think music as a form of expression will be watered down to shit, eurovision, tv docus and some stupid cellphone signal "hit". People are waving the "metal is bigger than that" card I guess, but metal has also been watered down and become to comfortable. I can't have it and I want to play as little part contributing to the downfall of music as possible. Even though I too am "smart" enough to realize how great of a promotion tool the internet really is. We have a few websites and they display the info needed, like shows and everything, but overall I've lost some interest in promoting the band through that forum. I just want to make sure we deliver the good in terms of the quality of our music and the packaging.
The Fan club thanks Mikael for taking the time to answer the questions and we´re wishing him and the band a great summer!
Monday, 3 May 2010
Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Aleksandr Lézy (03 May 2010)
Time goes really fast. These guys released Watershed two years ago, and now the band is celebrating its twentieth birthday! On this occasion, Opeth went on a special tour with six dates all around the world and a mandatory stop in the old French capital. At the Bataclan, namely, a few hours before the show, the striking and joyful (side of him we didn't know) Mikael Åkerfeldt talked to us, unfortunately too shortly because of a lack of time, about this anniversary and a career rewarded by great success.
Progressia : What state of mind are you in 30 minutes before the show? Do you or the band have some kind of ritual before going on stage?
Mikael Åkerfeldt : We don't really have a ritual per se. Everybody is doing whatever they want, hang out ... some people tend to sleep. I usually warm up my voice like an hour before the show, singing in some toilet, not for the resonance but so I can be alone. (laughs) I also play guitar and warm my fingers up. We sometimes talk and play funny music to be in a good mood. I wouldn't call it rituals. I feel calm for tonight. I was nervous for the first show, not so much about the performance, but because I wanted to see if everything worked: we have so many new members in the crew working with us, new pedalboards, a show with two sets, a pause and a meet and greet.
Did you change the order of the setlist after the first show in Essen?
No, there are only six shows so we are sticking to a first half with the Blackwater Park record, and a second half which is a chronological show, starting with songs from the first record and ending with songs of the last one.
You seem pretty confident, smiling more than the last time we met, two years ago, for the Watershed promo campaign, why?
I can't remember if there was something on my mind ... (laughs) Maybe I had a toothache because I had to go have my tooth fixed in Brussels for a root canal filling. Most of the time, I'm smiling !
What are the different musical or human evolutions that you, your compositions or the band have been through during the last 20 years?
I always thought there has been changes on every album so far, slight or drastic sometimes like what we did with the Damnation album. My Arms Your Hearse was different from what we had done before. When you hear the second set which is the chronological one, I think you can still tell it's the same band. Dan Swanö, one of our earliest producers [Editor's note: producer of Orchid and Morningrise], came to the show in Essen. He was amazed because the sound was the same and he could still recognize the vibe from the earliest songs, which was still there. He really liked the way we kept the same sound despite 15 years of writing new material. A lot of things evolved like the clean vocals and all the influences that we have taken from outside, music that we listened, and line-up changes. Our music has just grown. I must have learned something during these years. (laughs) I was more shy back in the days.
Do you think it is the best way to get successful after a few releases, when the band is more mature so it helps avoiding some kind of explosion that could occur in the early years?
Possibly, but it's hard to tell. I can't really compare it to anything else because that's all I know. It was probably better on a personal level, that we kept our feet on the ground. We were a small underground band and then we made the Blackwater Park album …
Could we say that Katatonia and Opeth are twin bands, since you have similar evolutions?
We have pretty similar tastes, but we also have many differences when it comes to music. There are some parts of their music I would love on my own records and there are other things I don't like at all, like drum beats. I don't like them at all and I keep telling them. (laughs) We get along very well, we just know each other so well on a personal and on a musical level! When I write a song, I kind of know if Jonas [Editor's note : Renkse, Katatonia's vocalist] will like it or not and it's the same for him.
How do you currently see music in general?
That's a difficult question … I don't think we've looked at what's going on now as much as what happened twenty / thirthy years ago. I tend to find older music more interesting for some reason. Maybe it's because I missed it before...I was too young to hear it when it was released. Literaly, when I put on a new record, it just doesn't do much for me. I try to find new bands that I like, though.
Progressia : What state of mind are you in 30 minutes before the show? Do you or the band have some kind of ritual before going on stage?
Mikael Åkerfeldt : We don't really have a ritual per se. Everybody is doing whatever they want, hang out ... some people tend to sleep. I usually warm up my voice like an hour before the show, singing in some toilet, not for the resonance but so I can be alone. (laughs) I also play guitar and warm my fingers up. We sometimes talk and play funny music to be in a good mood. I wouldn't call it rituals. I feel calm for tonight. I was nervous for the first show, not so much about the performance, but because I wanted to see if everything worked: we have so many new members in the crew working with us, new pedalboards, a show with two sets, a pause and a meet and greet.
Did you change the order of the setlist after the first show in Essen?
No, there are only six shows so we are sticking to a first half with the Blackwater Park record, and a second half which is a chronological show, starting with songs from the first record and ending with songs of the last one.
You seem pretty confident, smiling more than the last time we met, two years ago, for the Watershed promo campaign, why?
I can't remember if there was something on my mind ... (laughs) Maybe I had a toothache because I had to go have my tooth fixed in Brussels for a root canal filling. Most of the time, I'm smiling !
What are the different musical or human evolutions that you, your compositions or the band have been through during the last 20 years?
I always thought there has been changes on every album so far, slight or drastic sometimes like what we did with the Damnation album. My Arms Your Hearse was different from what we had done before. When you hear the second set which is the chronological one, I think you can still tell it's the same band. Dan Swanö, one of our earliest producers [Editor's note: producer of Orchid and Morningrise], came to the show in Essen. He was amazed because the sound was the same and he could still recognize the vibe from the earliest songs, which was still there. He really liked the way we kept the same sound despite 15 years of writing new material. A lot of things evolved like the clean vocals and all the influences that we have taken from outside, music that we listened, and line-up changes. Our music has just grown. I must have learned something during these years. (laughs) I was more shy back in the days.
Do you think it is the best way to get successful after a few releases, when the band is more mature so it helps avoiding some kind of explosion that could occur in the early years?
Possibly, but it's hard to tell. I can't really compare it to anything else because that's all I know. It was probably better on a personal level, that we kept our feet on the ground. We were a small underground band and then we made the Blackwater Park album …
Could we say that Katatonia and Opeth are twin bands, since you have similar evolutions?
We have pretty similar tastes, but we also have many differences when it comes to music. There are some parts of their music I would love on my own records and there are other things I don't like at all, like drum beats. I don't like them at all and I keep telling them. (laughs) We get along very well, we just know each other so well on a personal and on a musical level! When I write a song, I kind of know if Jonas [Editor's note : Renkse, Katatonia's vocalist] will like it or not and it's the same for him.
How do you currently see music in general?
That's a difficult question … I don't think we've looked at what's going on now as much as what happened twenty / thirthy years ago. I tend to find older music more interesting for some reason. Maybe it's because I missed it before...I was too young to hear it when it was released. Literaly, when I put on a new record, it just doesn't do much for me. I try to find new bands that I like, though.
Fredrik Åkesson / Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Kyle Moore (03 May 2010)
I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Frederik after Opeth’s 20th anniversary show in New York City. While I was told I’d only be seeing Frederik, Martin was also in the room hanging out, and a couple minutes in, Mikael walked in to answer some questions too!
Kyle Moore: I’m here with Frederik and Martin from Opeth, and I only have a few minutes with them so I’ll keep this quick. What prompted you guys to do this special 20th anniversary tour?
Fredrik Åkesson: Well it was as good idea because, there was talk about doing a Blackwater Park show, and then also Mike said “well it’s 20 years anniversary so we should do something special. Let play these long, a few select shows for the die-hard fans. I don’t think it was meant in this big way from the beginning, but uh, that’s just the way it turned out. Demand, there was huge demand.
Is it really exciting that you guys can fill a 3000 seat theater now, 20 years into your career?
FA: Absolutely. I’ve only been in the band for 3 years ya know, since I joined the band, in a way the popularity has increased even more, in a way. Not because of me, I’m not saying that, but you can see the last time we played here, it was with Dream Theater, we played two days but…dunno, it’s fantastic. Maybe its because we do these few shows, it draws more people of course people travel farther to see these shows.
KM: So ordinarily, you’d be doing slightly smaller venues?
FA: Yeah, I think around a couple thousand here in New York at least.
You guys have kind of reached an artistic and commercial pinnacle you’re your newest album WATERSHED. Now you have this song “The Throat of Winter” which is now on a video game soundtrack. What does this mean for the future of Opeth, now that you have reached this whole other audience of people?
FA: [Looking to Mikael] Maybe you wanna answer that one…It’s cool to be in video game, I think the songs very different than Mike wrote. I mean, of course it makes more people to know about the band, that’s good.
What about the Spanish guitar kind of outro that you…was that you playing, at the end?
FA: Yep.
What inspired that, how did that fit into the song?
FA: Mikaels’ riff inspired it, that’s beneath that solo. It was a Flamenco-ish type of riff, we just goofed around at Mikael’s house a bit with it, it felt cool to play more a bit like Al DeMiola style on it, on that particular part.
I know you mentioned that you’ve got the big new album that you guys are working on. What can we expect to hear, and when can we expect to hear it?
FA: Well I think what you can expect to hear is maybe a bit early, I only heard a little bit that Mikael has recorded back at his house, and it sounded very very cool, I think, very dark.
So would this be a transition away from what you guys were doing with Watershed, or even a deeper movement into that sound.
Mikael Åkerfeldt: Uh, don’t know yet! There’s a…I played a demo version, it’s a 10 minute demo now. He hasn’t heard all of it, by the time he heard it was like…
FA: Seven…
MA: But, there was some kind of traditional metal riffs that were good riffs, I think. But I think we’re gonna take those out, cuz they’re too traditional sounding. I think we wanna do something…different, you know? There was one riff I wrote that kinda set the tone for this song and I think, ultimately for the album, in a way, which was very different from anything we’ve done before. It’s just a riff, I guess, but it was really….something about it that just…feels like THAT’S what we should do, ya know what I mean?
You guys have never really written traditional metal though, so…
MA: You know, like…these riffs were good riffs and we could easily make Opeth songs out of it, but maybe it’s time to just…tweak out sound a little bit and go into new territories somewhat. I can’t say what the end result is gonna be for the whole album but for this song at least, I want it to be…different.
No album you’ve ever done has ever sounded the same…
MA: I don’t think so either, but they’ve been, I dunno...they’ve been…metal records. It’s really hard to explain, ya know it’s just that…this song I have higher aspirations than making it just a good Opeth song. I want it to set the tone, push us forward a little bit, as I said, go into new territories.
Mike, you made a joke at a show I was at some years ago saying something a long the lines of “we can’t shred for crap. If we could, we’d be rich.”
MA: We can now!
That’s what I was gonna say…
MA: [laughs]
Now you have Frederik, who can certainly shred. What else, Frederik, do you thin that you bring to Opeth’s table, not just because you have this very virtuosic, technical guitar ability…you can also sing too! I didn’t know you did backing vocals, but that was really cool…
FA: That’s maybe one thing [laughs] Actually it’s up to the listener to…tell that. I feel that I have a hard time talking about…myself, praise myself in a way. It’s up to the listener.
MA: …I can tell that we can…one of the things is actually his vocals. Now we finally can do, because with Per [Wilberg] singing too we can do some of those intricate vocal arrangements that we’ve done on past records that we’ve never been able to do before. Now we can perform…those types of parts live as well. But Frederik obviously…it’s a lot with his guitar playing that really fits the band. Me and him as a rhythm player are tight to the point like where our engineer, who did the WATERSHED record, he wanted like one of us to record the rhythms, because that’s generally how most metal bands do it these days to make it really tight. But I insisted that both of us play the rhythm parts, and he was…for me it’s just normal, like you have two guitars…two guitar players in the band, are supposed to be able to play the parts tight together, but in the studio that’s how most metal bands do but we just…shared all the guitar duties and it was, I think it added a nice…richer type of sound actually to the guitar playing. But there’s so many things about his guitar playing that…which is the reason why he’s in the band. Great solo, lead guitar playing, he’s a bluesy, nice feel type of player which he’s never been able to showcase in his previous bands I think, as much anyways, ya know? And great vocalist, great songwriter, and he’s very driven, which is nice. Playing with Peter in the last couple years was…he didn’t really contribute that much. To have Frederik come in and just…take charge was…refreshing.
I’ll do one more question and let you guys go, I’m sure y’all are tired. What is next for you guys, not just in terms of the new album? You guys kind of have unparalleled and unprecedented recognition, popularity, artistic…what’s the word I’m looking for…respect! Where else do you want to go? You guys are kind of at the top…
MA: I dunno. We’ve been around 20 years, ya know its…many of our dreams, so to speak, have been fulfilled. Everything for the last 5 years has been a bonus for us, if you know what I mean. But we still are quite excited of what we could do musically. We have a new lineup here that I think is great. With every lineup change that we’ve had we’ve always felt a bit rejuvenated. And that’s certainly the case now. This is the first album with Frederik, first album for Axe [Martin Axenrot.] We can probably do a few more good records and tours until it’s over, I think, but I don’t know what our goals would be so…just have a good time and ROCK!
KM: Rocking sounds good enough for me. Alright guys, thank you so much, I really appreciate your time. I had a wonderful time at your show, and I am looking forward to my 7th’s Opeth concert, whenever that would be!
Kyle Moore: I’m here with Frederik and Martin from Opeth, and I only have a few minutes with them so I’ll keep this quick. What prompted you guys to do this special 20th anniversary tour?
Fredrik Åkesson: Well it was as good idea because, there was talk about doing a Blackwater Park show, and then also Mike said “well it’s 20 years anniversary so we should do something special. Let play these long, a few select shows for the die-hard fans. I don’t think it was meant in this big way from the beginning, but uh, that’s just the way it turned out. Demand, there was huge demand.
Is it really exciting that you guys can fill a 3000 seat theater now, 20 years into your career?
FA: Absolutely. I’ve only been in the band for 3 years ya know, since I joined the band, in a way the popularity has increased even more, in a way. Not because of me, I’m not saying that, but you can see the last time we played here, it was with Dream Theater, we played two days but…dunno, it’s fantastic. Maybe its because we do these few shows, it draws more people of course people travel farther to see these shows.
KM: So ordinarily, you’d be doing slightly smaller venues?
FA: Yeah, I think around a couple thousand here in New York at least.
You guys have kind of reached an artistic and commercial pinnacle you’re your newest album WATERSHED. Now you have this song “The Throat of Winter” which is now on a video game soundtrack. What does this mean for the future of Opeth, now that you have reached this whole other audience of people?
FA: [Looking to Mikael] Maybe you wanna answer that one…It’s cool to be in video game, I think the songs very different than Mike wrote. I mean, of course it makes more people to know about the band, that’s good.
What about the Spanish guitar kind of outro that you…was that you playing, at the end?
FA: Yep.
What inspired that, how did that fit into the song?
FA: Mikaels’ riff inspired it, that’s beneath that solo. It was a Flamenco-ish type of riff, we just goofed around at Mikael’s house a bit with it, it felt cool to play more a bit like Al DeMiola style on it, on that particular part.
I know you mentioned that you’ve got the big new album that you guys are working on. What can we expect to hear, and when can we expect to hear it?
FA: Well I think what you can expect to hear is maybe a bit early, I only heard a little bit that Mikael has recorded back at his house, and it sounded very very cool, I think, very dark.
So would this be a transition away from what you guys were doing with Watershed, or even a deeper movement into that sound.
Mikael Åkerfeldt: Uh, don’t know yet! There’s a…I played a demo version, it’s a 10 minute demo now. He hasn’t heard all of it, by the time he heard it was like…
FA: Seven…
MA: But, there was some kind of traditional metal riffs that were good riffs, I think. But I think we’re gonna take those out, cuz they’re too traditional sounding. I think we wanna do something…different, you know? There was one riff I wrote that kinda set the tone for this song and I think, ultimately for the album, in a way, which was very different from anything we’ve done before. It’s just a riff, I guess, but it was really….something about it that just…feels like THAT’S what we should do, ya know what I mean?
You guys have never really written traditional metal though, so…
MA: You know, like…these riffs were good riffs and we could easily make Opeth songs out of it, but maybe it’s time to just…tweak out sound a little bit and go into new territories somewhat. I can’t say what the end result is gonna be for the whole album but for this song at least, I want it to be…different.
No album you’ve ever done has ever sounded the same…
MA: I don’t think so either, but they’ve been, I dunno...they’ve been…metal records. It’s really hard to explain, ya know it’s just that…this song I have higher aspirations than making it just a good Opeth song. I want it to set the tone, push us forward a little bit, as I said, go into new territories.
Mike, you made a joke at a show I was at some years ago saying something a long the lines of “we can’t shred for crap. If we could, we’d be rich.”
MA: We can now!
That’s what I was gonna say…
MA: [laughs]
Now you have Frederik, who can certainly shred. What else, Frederik, do you thin that you bring to Opeth’s table, not just because you have this very virtuosic, technical guitar ability…you can also sing too! I didn’t know you did backing vocals, but that was really cool…
FA: That’s maybe one thing [laughs] Actually it’s up to the listener to…tell that. I feel that I have a hard time talking about…myself, praise myself in a way. It’s up to the listener.
MA: …I can tell that we can…one of the things is actually his vocals. Now we finally can do, because with Per [Wilberg] singing too we can do some of those intricate vocal arrangements that we’ve done on past records that we’ve never been able to do before. Now we can perform…those types of parts live as well. But Frederik obviously…it’s a lot with his guitar playing that really fits the band. Me and him as a rhythm player are tight to the point like where our engineer, who did the WATERSHED record, he wanted like one of us to record the rhythms, because that’s generally how most metal bands do it these days to make it really tight. But I insisted that both of us play the rhythm parts, and he was…for me it’s just normal, like you have two guitars…two guitar players in the band, are supposed to be able to play the parts tight together, but in the studio that’s how most metal bands do but we just…shared all the guitar duties and it was, I think it added a nice…richer type of sound actually to the guitar playing. But there’s so many things about his guitar playing that…which is the reason why he’s in the band. Great solo, lead guitar playing, he’s a bluesy, nice feel type of player which he’s never been able to showcase in his previous bands I think, as much anyways, ya know? And great vocalist, great songwriter, and he’s very driven, which is nice. Playing with Peter in the last couple years was…he didn’t really contribute that much. To have Frederik come in and just…take charge was…refreshing.
I’ll do one more question and let you guys go, I’m sure y’all are tired. What is next for you guys, not just in terms of the new album? You guys kind of have unparalleled and unprecedented recognition, popularity, artistic…what’s the word I’m looking for…respect! Where else do you want to go? You guys are kind of at the top…
MA: I dunno. We’ve been around 20 years, ya know its…many of our dreams, so to speak, have been fulfilled. Everything for the last 5 years has been a bonus for us, if you know what I mean. But we still are quite excited of what we could do musically. We have a new lineup here that I think is great. With every lineup change that we’ve had we’ve always felt a bit rejuvenated. And that’s certainly the case now. This is the first album with Frederik, first album for Axe [Martin Axenrot.] We can probably do a few more good records and tours until it’s over, I think, but I don’t know what our goals would be so…just have a good time and ROCK!
KM: Rocking sounds good enough for me. Alright guys, thank you so much, I really appreciate your time. I had a wonderful time at your show, and I am looking forward to my 7th’s Opeth concert, whenever that would be!
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Fredrik Åkesson - French interview by Gyroscope (28 Mar 2010)
Opeth s'apprête à célébrer son vingtième anniversaire en beauté au cours d'une tournée évènementielle, l'Evolution XX Tour, qui passera par Paris le 3 avril prochain. A cette occasion, le guitariste Fredrik Akesson est revenu sur les trois dernières années passées au sein du groupe, la tournée en cours,et ce qui se profile pour l'avenir.
Ça te fait quoi quand tu réalises que 20 ans se sont écoulés depuis la formation d’Opeth?
C’est drôle à réaliser parce que, même si je ne suis pas dans le groupe depuis le début, 20 ans ça représente quand même un sacré bout de temps.
Tu as rejoint Opeth en 2007, quel est ton meilleur souvenir sur ces trois ans?
Oh il y en a tellement tu sais, c’est difficile à dire. Probablement un concert, il y en a eu vraiment des fantastiques, mais finalement il y en a tellement qui ont été extra, avec la foule en transe, non c’est vraiment difficile d’en citer un précisément. J’ai vraiment pris mon pied trop souvent en fait. (rires)
Et le pire?
La aussi, beaucoup beaucoup de choses. Même si nous en avons ris sur le coup, je dirais la fois où nous faisions un concert à Miami avec Dream Theater, une scène énorme. Le rideau que nous utilisions pour la mise en scène est tombé, et nous avons perdu Per et Martin de vue, ils étaient sous le rideau, nous de l’autre côté pendant 20 bonnes minutes. Au début on a été surpris, après on en a ri mais nous avons finalement réalisé qu’on aurait pu mourir. Ça peut sembler être une anecdote marrante, mais c’était effrayant.
Tu étais déjà fan d’Opeth avant de les rejoindre, mais aurais-tu imaginé un tel succès pour le groupe?
Non, pas vraiment, je me suis toujours focalisé avant tout sur la musique, comme tous les membres du groupe d’ailleurs. J’espérais que ça marcherait et je savais que ces mecs étaient bons avant même de les rejoindre, mais je ne m’attendais pas à cela non plus.
Peux tu me donner un adjectif qui décrit le mieux ton expérience au sein du groupe?
Un adjectif, je vais plutôt dire deux mots : inspiration et progrès.
Tu penses alors avoir atteint ton meilleur niveau avec Opeth?
Non, pas exactement, mon jeu de guitare a progressé c’est sûr, mais je pensais aussi à la façon d’écrire de Mickael quinterview Opethi est assez unique, ce concentré d’inspiration et cette ambiance qui est très cool.
Parlons maintenant du Evolution XX Tour. Comment avez-vous choisi la setlist pour la tournée?
Au départ on voulait mettre en avant un album, et en un sens c’est ce qu’on finit par faire sur la première moitié du concert, mais nous avons également décidé de jouer des morceaux de tous nos albums, chronologiquement.
Et pourquoi avoir choisi de jouer intégralement Blackwater Park pendant les concerts de votre tournée anniversaire?
Je ne sais pas vraiment, en fait j’ai même l’impression que peu de gens le savent. Enfin disons que cet album représente un tournant dans la carrière d’Opeth, je pense que c’est pour cela que l’idée a pris.
Quel est ton morceau préféré à jouer sur scène avec Opeth?
Ah c’est difficile, des fois j’en préfère un, des fois un autre, ça change tout le temps en fait. En ce moment c’est plutôt les chansons des deux premiers albums, les vieux morceaux. C’est assez intéressant de les rejouer maintenant.
Opeth a joué deux fois en 5 ans au Hellfest -toi une fois il me semble- mais vous êtes plutôt fidèles au festival. Peux-tu me dire ce que tu penses du fest?
Il me semble que j’y ai joué aussi une fois avec Arch Enemy, la première fois et je pense que c’est un festival qui se développe tous les ans, qui devient vraiment un évènement de plus en plus énorme.
D’accord, et vous prévoyez d’y retourner bientôt?
Disons que l’année prochaine on pense surtout s’atteler au nouvel album. On voudrait s’y mettre à la fin de l’année, après toute la tournée. Enfin on va faire un break, commencer à bosser sur du nouveau matériel, laisser Mickael écrire les nouvelles chansons. En fait quand je dis qu’on fait une pause, on ne se déconnecte pas totalement, finalement on reste quand même tous préoccupés par Opeth et ce qui va suivre.
Arch Enemy y rejoue cette année, as-tu toujours des contacts avec les membres du groupe?
Oui, oui, on discute parfois, j’ai parlé avec Mickael il y a quelques semaines.
As-tu facilement réussi à faire évoluer ton jeu entre Arch Enemy et Opeth?
Arch Enemy est un bon groupe, j’aimais particulièrement les trois premiers albums, et Doomsday Machine. Après au niveau du jeu de guitare, on est plus dans une musique thrash et métallique avec Arch Enemy. Opeth est plus varié dans les accords, le picking, tout ce qui est technique en général.
Le 3 avril Opeth va jouer à Paris dans le cadre du Evolution XX Tour, et le concert est complet. Penses-tu que les fans français sont fidèles au groupe?
Oui, absolument, les Français sont de vrais inconditionnels, ils aiment la musique et la soutiennent bien, j’aime la France pour ça.
Donc tu aimes jouer chez nous?
Complètement, j’ai joué très souvent à Paris, d’ailleurs je crois que c’est là-bas que j’ai fait un de mes premiers concerts. Sinon je suis allé dans deux-trois villes de provinces avec Opeth, Lille je crois, mais dernièrement c’était plutôt Paris. Et puis concernant le Evolution XX Tour, nous allons vraiment faire des énormes shows dans des grandes salles, dans le genre du Cirkus, à Stockholm, je ne sais pas si tu connais.
Non, je n’y suis jamais allée encore. Dernière question maintenant : Per Wiberg, le claviériste d’Opeth, joue aussi dans les Spiritual Beggars, j’ai entendu dire qu’ils comptaient s’atteler à un nouvel album, tu sais quelque chose?
Ah oui, il joue avec eux, et un nouvel album est prévu, je crois même qu’ils sont en train de l’enregistrer en ce moment. J’aime beaucoup ce qu’ils font d’ailleurs.
Moi aussi. Veux-tu ajouter un dernier mot pour conclure?
Et bien, j’espère que vous allez apprécier le concert à Paris, et après cela les nouveaux morceaux. A très bientôt!
Ça te fait quoi quand tu réalises que 20 ans se sont écoulés depuis la formation d’Opeth?
C’est drôle à réaliser parce que, même si je ne suis pas dans le groupe depuis le début, 20 ans ça représente quand même un sacré bout de temps.
Tu as rejoint Opeth en 2007, quel est ton meilleur souvenir sur ces trois ans?
Oh il y en a tellement tu sais, c’est difficile à dire. Probablement un concert, il y en a eu vraiment des fantastiques, mais finalement il y en a tellement qui ont été extra, avec la foule en transe, non c’est vraiment difficile d’en citer un précisément. J’ai vraiment pris mon pied trop souvent en fait. (rires)
Et le pire?
La aussi, beaucoup beaucoup de choses. Même si nous en avons ris sur le coup, je dirais la fois où nous faisions un concert à Miami avec Dream Theater, une scène énorme. Le rideau que nous utilisions pour la mise en scène est tombé, et nous avons perdu Per et Martin de vue, ils étaient sous le rideau, nous de l’autre côté pendant 20 bonnes minutes. Au début on a été surpris, après on en a ri mais nous avons finalement réalisé qu’on aurait pu mourir. Ça peut sembler être une anecdote marrante, mais c’était effrayant.
Tu étais déjà fan d’Opeth avant de les rejoindre, mais aurais-tu imaginé un tel succès pour le groupe?
Non, pas vraiment, je me suis toujours focalisé avant tout sur la musique, comme tous les membres du groupe d’ailleurs. J’espérais que ça marcherait et je savais que ces mecs étaient bons avant même de les rejoindre, mais je ne m’attendais pas à cela non plus.
Peux tu me donner un adjectif qui décrit le mieux ton expérience au sein du groupe?
Un adjectif, je vais plutôt dire deux mots : inspiration et progrès.
Tu penses alors avoir atteint ton meilleur niveau avec Opeth?
Non, pas exactement, mon jeu de guitare a progressé c’est sûr, mais je pensais aussi à la façon d’écrire de Mickael quinterview Opethi est assez unique, ce concentré d’inspiration et cette ambiance qui est très cool.
Parlons maintenant du Evolution XX Tour. Comment avez-vous choisi la setlist pour la tournée?
Au départ on voulait mettre en avant un album, et en un sens c’est ce qu’on finit par faire sur la première moitié du concert, mais nous avons également décidé de jouer des morceaux de tous nos albums, chronologiquement.
Et pourquoi avoir choisi de jouer intégralement Blackwater Park pendant les concerts de votre tournée anniversaire?
Je ne sais pas vraiment, en fait j’ai même l’impression que peu de gens le savent. Enfin disons que cet album représente un tournant dans la carrière d’Opeth, je pense que c’est pour cela que l’idée a pris.
Quel est ton morceau préféré à jouer sur scène avec Opeth?
Ah c’est difficile, des fois j’en préfère un, des fois un autre, ça change tout le temps en fait. En ce moment c’est plutôt les chansons des deux premiers albums, les vieux morceaux. C’est assez intéressant de les rejouer maintenant.
Opeth a joué deux fois en 5 ans au Hellfest -toi une fois il me semble- mais vous êtes plutôt fidèles au festival. Peux-tu me dire ce que tu penses du fest?
Il me semble que j’y ai joué aussi une fois avec Arch Enemy, la première fois et je pense que c’est un festival qui se développe tous les ans, qui devient vraiment un évènement de plus en plus énorme.
D’accord, et vous prévoyez d’y retourner bientôt?
Disons que l’année prochaine on pense surtout s’atteler au nouvel album. On voudrait s’y mettre à la fin de l’année, après toute la tournée. Enfin on va faire un break, commencer à bosser sur du nouveau matériel, laisser Mickael écrire les nouvelles chansons. En fait quand je dis qu’on fait une pause, on ne se déconnecte pas totalement, finalement on reste quand même tous préoccupés par Opeth et ce qui va suivre.
Arch Enemy y rejoue cette année, as-tu toujours des contacts avec les membres du groupe?
Oui, oui, on discute parfois, j’ai parlé avec Mickael il y a quelques semaines.
As-tu facilement réussi à faire évoluer ton jeu entre Arch Enemy et Opeth?
Arch Enemy est un bon groupe, j’aimais particulièrement les trois premiers albums, et Doomsday Machine. Après au niveau du jeu de guitare, on est plus dans une musique thrash et métallique avec Arch Enemy. Opeth est plus varié dans les accords, le picking, tout ce qui est technique en général.
Le 3 avril Opeth va jouer à Paris dans le cadre du Evolution XX Tour, et le concert est complet. Penses-tu que les fans français sont fidèles au groupe?
Oui, absolument, les Français sont de vrais inconditionnels, ils aiment la musique et la soutiennent bien, j’aime la France pour ça.
Donc tu aimes jouer chez nous?
Complètement, j’ai joué très souvent à Paris, d’ailleurs je crois que c’est là-bas que j’ai fait un de mes premiers concerts. Sinon je suis allé dans deux-trois villes de provinces avec Opeth, Lille je crois, mais dernièrement c’était plutôt Paris. Et puis concernant le Evolution XX Tour, nous allons vraiment faire des énormes shows dans des grandes salles, dans le genre du Cirkus, à Stockholm, je ne sais pas si tu connais.
Non, je n’y suis jamais allée encore. Dernière question maintenant : Per Wiberg, le claviériste d’Opeth, joue aussi dans les Spiritual Beggars, j’ai entendu dire qu’ils comptaient s’atteler à un nouvel album, tu sais quelque chose?
Ah oui, il joue avec eux, et un nouvel album est prévu, je crois même qu’ils sont en train de l’enregistrer en ce moment. J’aime beaucoup ce qu’ils font d’ailleurs.
Moi aussi. Veux-tu ajouter un dernier mot pour conclure?
Et bien, j’espère que vous allez apprécier le concert à Paris, et après cela les nouveaux morceaux. A très bientôt!
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Mikael Åkerfeldt talk about recording the song "The Throat Of Winter" (30 Jan 2010)
"I just finished and approved the mastering of a new song I wrote called ‘The throat of Winter’. I wrote it for that game, ‘God of war’ that we're supposed to be included in, or however that works. Is it a digital album? I don't know how that shit works, but it's done anyways. Hell, I'm still with my turntables (got 3 of them) and right now I'm playing a Aussie original of ‘High voltage’ by AC/DC.
"Song is very odd, it's good I think, or for my taste it is, but even I can understand it's very....odd! Produced and recorded it from scratch and I'm happy with the sound if I may say so myself. Fred laid down a killer acoustic solo and Per laid down an amazing twiddly tweet moog solo. It's not a very metal song, I'm saving up for that..later.....yet it's got a metal ‘mentality’, or what I remember metal used to do to me. I can feel it, even though it's not a ‘metal’ song per definition. Anyways, if you hear it I hope you like it.
"Me and Fred went to Namm for a few days and it was fun fun FUN! Did some signing session and a Q&A for PRS guitars. My signature guitar looked and felt amazing! Loved the neck of it! It was only a prototype so some adjustments will be made, but overall I'm fucking blown away by it. Fred liked it too very much and it seemed to attrack a lot of interest! The PRS people were real nice to us as always and I got to meet some nice people I hadn't met before. We might have had a few drinks too many but we had to do something to cope with the jetlag which was overwhelming. Looks like we might be going to the Frankfurt Musikmesse as well, right before those anniversary shows we're doing in March/April.
"OK, people...I'm off again. Even though we're off the road I feel busier than ever. I'm hyper and I've got a billion projects in the air it feels like.... Hope you're all good."
"Song is very odd, it's good I think, or for my taste it is, but even I can understand it's very....odd! Produced and recorded it from scratch and I'm happy with the sound if I may say so myself. Fred laid down a killer acoustic solo and Per laid down an amazing twiddly tweet moog solo. It's not a very metal song, I'm saving up for that..later.....yet it's got a metal ‘mentality’, or what I remember metal used to do to me. I can feel it, even though it's not a ‘metal’ song per definition. Anyways, if you hear it I hope you like it.
"Me and Fred went to Namm for a few days and it was fun fun FUN! Did some signing session and a Q&A for PRS guitars. My signature guitar looked and felt amazing! Loved the neck of it! It was only a prototype so some adjustments will be made, but overall I'm fucking blown away by it. Fred liked it too very much and it seemed to attrack a lot of interest! The PRS people were real nice to us as always and I got to meet some nice people I hadn't met before. We might have had a few drinks too many but we had to do something to cope with the jetlag which was overwhelming. Looks like we might be going to the Frankfurt Musikmesse as well, right before those anniversary shows we're doing in March/April.
"OK, people...I'm off again. Even though we're off the road I feel busier than ever. I'm hyper and I've got a billion projects in the air it feels like.... Hope you're all good."
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