| Interview with Daniel Svensson of InFlames
by Darien Lomeli
SOTU - Shoreline Amphitheater Mountain View, Ca. 6pm interview. Location: Back stage.
I was fortunate to check out this years "Sounds of the Underground." With last year's SOTU going off with a bang and hearing all kinds of positive reports, I made it a point to check out this years show.
What I enjoyed about this show is it takes place in the second stage area. I can do with out the bleacher seats primarily because they separate you from the people you paid money to see. I'm not into that. I like intimacy. I enjoy having the option of going up front if I want to. This crowd was much more tolerable than "Ozzfest" were; there are just too many people for words. At this show you had some room to breathe.
With the usual fare of merchandise booths selling everything from CD's, shirts, clothing, and way over-priced food and beer, you know you're in corporate hell when your shelling out 8 bucks for a beer! Gotta love it.
Along with the merchandise booths are the signing booths so fans can meet and greet with their favorite band members and get their merch signed. I feel it is important, if not a duty, for bands to be accessible to the fans that essentially support them. The connection between fan and artist is a memorable one. On that note, I speak from experience.
The weather was mild and pleasant. Nothing like the crazy heat wave we have endured. Being that this show is a fairly long one, extreme heat can put a damper on the festivities. With an impressive line up including Black Dahlia Murder, Behemoth, Cannibal Corpse and Gwar, I was pretty excited to get the day started.
While in the photo pit shooting pictures of Gwar, I now realize it is 5:30pm and time to meet with InFlames's tour manger. As I emerge from the photo pit drenched in pink and green Gwar paint, I thought it was funny conducting an interview looking like something that came out of a really bad 80's slasher flick. Regardless, the show must go on and a journalist has to do what a journalist has to do. My appearance wasn't the most professional looking, but I had a job to do!
My interview took place backstage with the familiar humming sound of the ever present tour bus. With the motors running and in the back ground the sounds of Cannibal Corpse taking the stage, me and Daniel sat down on a bench and exchanged pleasantries. His tour manger supplied us with a couple of bottles of Corona to get the interview off to a start. We clink glasses and begin.
YMM: How long have you been with InFlames?
Daniel: Since the beginning of 1998, but the band was formed in 1992 with a lot of line up changes. In the beginning, it was a side project band. It took a couple of years before it became a real band. When I joined in 1998, we really tried to give it a shot and tour as much as possible. We've basically been touring in the states since 1999.
YMM: What other bands were you in before InFlames?
Daniel: I was in a band called Sacrilege. We released two albums on a small independent label.
YMM: Being on tour with InFlames, how many trips to America have you had?
Daniel: This is our third US tour this year. We might come back in December to do a short tour and probably another one early next year. I mean I can't even count how many times we've been here.
YMM: Do you like it here?
Daniel: Yeah. It's different from Europe. It's really more convenient here, easier to get stuff. It's kind of similar in a way. People are a little more open minded here than in Sweden. We're a little bit more shy and introverted..until we drink beer.
YMM: Before "Come Clarity" came out at least one member of the band spoke about creating the "perfect album." What do you feel needs to be added, changed, or improved to make the perfect InFlames album?
Daniel: That's a hard question. I mean, when we accomplish our goal to make the perfect album, then there's no point doing another one cause you can't beat that. It feels like were still going to reach it to make the perfect album.
YMM: What's the deal with the word perfect? I mean, being perfect is an unachievable goal right?
Daniel: If you have an unachievable goal, if you reach out there it's still good. We're an ambitious band and we want to do the perfect album. We have done 8 really good albums.
YMM: Do you consider yourselves more of a live band or a studio band or pretty even?
Daniel: We're a live band.
YMM: What makes you a live band?
Daniel: We're tight and we always give a hundred percent. We always have good light shows and productions. We try to give our fans something extra. That's basically why we play in front of people. Me, myself, it's kind of boring when your in the recording process; it's just retakes. The touring is the reward after you finish your albums.
YMM: I've noticed many online photos of InFlames shows in Europe. Most of them include pyrotechnics and big productions. Will American audiences get to witness the European version of an InFlames show in the States?
Daniel: I hope sometime. We're not allowed to use pyro because of the Great White thing. It's really hard to get permits. It's easier for us to do a big production in Europe, but it cost more money as well. For this show, we have special LED lights. You can program them, but they're expensive as shit. We don't want to lose money while we are touring cause we still have to pay bills and stuff. But hopefully we'll bring the production overseas.
YMM: What is your favorite cut from the new CD?
Daniel: I would have to say "Take This Life." It's the fastest song we have ever done, but it still has all the ingredients that an InFlames song should have. A mix between melodies and aggressiveness. That kind of sums the album up.
YMM: On a personal note, you guys have so many excellent songs and everyone has their "favorite" InFlames song, but I want to know when are you going to include "Swim" in your set list.
Daniel: It's an impossible question. We played it a couple of times on the US tour this year. It's so hard to do a set list. We try to come up with one that everyone will agree with, but it's hard sometimes. I mean we have 8 albums that's like 200 songs. We only get 40 minutes so that's only 8 songs so we have to promote the new album. When we do headlining shows we play a lot of older stuff as well. It's hard to please everyone. As you say, most of our songs are good anyway.
YMM: So tell me a little bit about yourself? How old are you and what kind of music are you into?
Daniel: I'm 28. When I started playing music I listened to mostly death metal from the Florida scene. Now I try to listen to all kinds of music. I stay open minded. I don't think of music in genres..music is music.
YMM: What are you guys doing now?
Daniel: Playing poker for a couple of hours, doing interviews, having dinner, kicking back.
YMM: Are you married?
Daniel: Yeah, married with two kids. One is 3 years, the other 8 months. It's hard but I'm really grateful I have an understanding with my wife. It's really hard, but after this tour I'll have 2 months off which will be great, spend some quality time.
YMM: It's really great to see a band like InFlames get the attention of metal fans in the US. You guys have been doing this for sometime. What is a goal you want to accomplish?
Daniel: To be the biggest band of the planet. Like I said before, we aim high and work hard to achieve our goals. We haven't had any down periods in our career. We didn't grow huge overnight. We have been working for this to reach this standard. I think it's hard for European bands to break in the US. It's easier if you're American. I think we have reached a decent level, but you can always play in front of more people and that's what we're aiming for.
Contributing to this interview: Frankie Swa and Ken Bedene.
You can find out more about InFlames at the following websites:
www.inflames.com
www.myspace.com/inflames |
