Interview with: Dark Tranquillity

I conducted this interview with Sundin via email, that's why it's so short.

1. I noticed a huge change in DT's sound between "Skydancer" and "Of Chaos and Eternal Night." Were there any additional reasons besides the line up change that contributed to this?

I think the major reason was the line-up change, which gave us a new guitarist and vocalist, but the change of studio probably contributed a lot as well. Also, "..CHAOS.." was recorded one and a half year after the debut album, and we developed quite a bit as musicians during that period.

2. How do you do the songs with female vocals live?

Mikael performs the clear vocals himself, so that's usually no problem.

3. Do you do "Insanity's Crescendo" and "Mine is the Grandeur..." since Henriksson plays the acoustic guitar on those songs?

Hmm...I don't think we've ever played "Mine is the grandeur..." live, but "Insanity's.." is as regular feature in our setlist. The reason why martin played the acoustic parts on those tracks is that he had written them in the first place.

4. How come you haven't toured in the U.S.?

We still haven't received any decent proposals. Getting a tour properly arranged is a true nightmare, and since we prefer to spend our time rehearsing and making songs rather than involving ourselves more than nessecary in the business side of things, it's taking time. OSMOSE have been working on a US tour for a couple of years now.

5. Do you know how many copies "the Mind's I" has sold in Europe? And in the U.S.?

Let's see...I think it has reached something like 30-35 000 copies in Europe now. As for the US, I don't know.

6. Does it bother you that you are a relatively obscure band while the Spice Girls and Korn get all kinds of (unwarranted) recognition?

Not at all. It's perfectly understandable since their music are commercially viable. We've never aimed for mass recognition or getting to be a "famous" band whatsoever...Naturally, we'd like to sell enough albums to keep the band alive, but the value of a band isn't related to sales figures. Even in metal music, most of the biggest bands are wankers.

7. Can you describe a live show for the unlucky fans (like me) who will probably never get to see you perform live?

We're not different to any other band, I guess. We try to put a lot ofenergy and intensity in our live performances, and often it works out really well. There's a video available now, with live footage from our last tour. I don't know the prize, but feel free to write to OSMOSE USA rayshele@hotmail.com ) and ask for more information.

8. Did Henriksson originally play guitar and then switch to bass? If so, why?

He's a bass player since day one, but he's a very skilled guitarist as well. His playing style has often been compared to having a third guitar in the band, so I can see the reason for this question.

9. I loved the part of "Tongues" where Mikael goes 'On account of their brightness, I made friends with the word and the moon...' Do you think you'll do that kind of passionate singing on the new record?

I hope so; that's one of my fave vocal parts as well, and I can imagine such a singing style fitting on several songs for the new album. We'll see what happens.

10. Do you have any idea what the new record will sound like?

It'll be pretty different from what we've done before, that's all I can say.

11. Do you have any say in where the Osmose World Domination Package will tour?

Not at all. People often ask why we don't play a certain city or country, but we have no influence on the touring schedule whatsoever. The tour promoter decides which gigs to play, and then come up with a proposal to the label. On a package tour like this (six bands in total), it wouldn't work for each band to have individual suggestions. Also, there are always some last-minute changes to the original plans which obviously make people upset. Last year, we got a couple of angry mails from some fans in Holland that had been waiting outside a club for a billed D.T.-show. We hadn't heard a word about this supposed gig.

12. Are there any touring plans to support the new album?

It's way too early to say. Probably, the album will be out by the end of the year, and perhaps there will be some touring shortly afterwards.

13. What's the name of the new album?

We don't have a single song title finished yet, so I have no clue.

THIS IS PART TWO:

1. I know that you are very fluent in English (better than most Americans) but haven't you ever wanted to write lyrics in Swedish?

Not really. English is the international rock/metal language, so to say, and so far I haven't seen a single band in this genre singing in their native language while retaining at least some degree of diginity. Some of the attempts, mainly from feeble black metal bands, have been so pathetic that the lyricists should be severly beaten and get a spik-clad dictionary thrust through their asses!

2. Does Mikael Stanne still play guitar? Does he contribute to the melodies and songwriting as opposed to lyric writting?

He play some acoustic guitar at home, but he don't write any riffs that we use as such. He didn't come up with much material even in his guitarplaying-days; I think one or two of the riffs on "SKYDANCER" are his. However, he'll be contributing with an entire song that he wrote himself on the next album, and people will probably be surprised about that one...

3. Have you ever taken guitar lessons? How long have you guys (Johansson and Henriksson included) been playing guitar/bass?

As far as I know, none of us have taken any lessons. We're all self taught. We have about 10 years of experience on our instruments, but we're not virtously minded at all (some people seem to think we are) and almost never practice.

4. How much do you guys get per cd? (You deserve every cent and more!)

I don't see any point of getting into business details in an interview like this, but generally speaking, bands get paid much less money than what people think. We're satisfied with our deal, though.

5. How does Dark Tranquillity usually write a song? Do lyrics come before music and do you usually write riffs and then apply them to the lyrics?

The music always comes first, but Mikael usually have a few lines and verses lying around that he then arranges to fit the riffs and the structure of the song.

6. How the hell does Mikael get that great distorted sound out of his voice box?!? Does he have some sort of special technique?

Ha ha, no it's only iron lungs and a large dose of alcohol in his system that's responsible for his voice. Apart from the usual reverb, there are no effects on the vocals.

7. Have you ever played shows with At the Gates, In Flames, Ablaze My Sorrow or any other well known Gothenberg based bands? If so, who and how were the shows?

Ablaze my sorrow lives in the north of Sweden, about 1000 kilometres form here if I'm not mistaken, but we've played several times with A.T.G., IN FLAMES, and the bands the members previously played in. Gigs were more common around '91-'92, where we played with most of the leading UG acts in Sweden. Nowadays, we play live perhaps once a year, excluding tours.

8. What do you think of Opeth?

I've only heard two minutes of their music (the opening track on their last album), but it was pretty impressive.

9. What do you think of Metallica's latest album "Reload" (a.k.a. Recyled)?

It's nothing that interests me at all, but that album is pretty solid in its own right. Very harmless and predictable, but nevertheless pretty entertaining at times.

10. Any additional comments or little interesting facts about Dark Tranquillity?

Well, we're currently in the studio recording our fourth full length album, which we hope to have out by the end of the year. Feel free to check it out. Cheers!