EO: You guys are one of the long standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music. Tell us about your musical journey.
DT: It started out of a mutual interest for different music. Me and my closest friends found ourselves drawn to extreme music at an early age and after being part of the then quite small underground scene for a couple of years we decided to take our influences, our frustration and our creativity to a band setting. So we bought instruments and started literally from scratch. So with only a huge respect for music but no actual training we just got started. And after a couple of years of practice we started recording demos and soon caught the attention of record companies. The scene in Sweden and Gothenburg at the time was really small and intense. All the metalheads in the city knew each other and pretty much everyone was in a band in some form. And what I remember most was how supportive we were of each other. There was never any rivalry or jealousy going on and I think that´s part of the reason why so many of those bands found their own sound and continue to do so to this day.
EO: “The Gallery, The Mind’s I and Projector” was often referred to as the masterpiece of the era. Any special memories associated with it?
DT: I think that with “The Galley” we found our sound. Up to that point we had been experimenting with pretty much anything that we could come up with or play well enough and when we changed line-ups right after “Skydancer” we felt like a new and much better band. And we were at an age where it´s pretty much impossible to question yourself. You just keep doing whatever comes to mind and that´s what will end up on the album. I´m not saying you cannot make music in your 30´s but that youthful innocence and lack of a bigger perspective is a privilege of youth. And at this point in our bands history we started touring the world and everything opened up for us. I think that experience made us grow up faster and having toured extensively for those three albums we had a new way of looking at our music not just from standing around in the rehearsal room but actually in front of people.
EO: If you wanted to rework on any one of your albums,which one would that be and why? Also what would be your favourite if asked pick one amongst your compositions as a band?
DT: I think there are songs here and there that would benefit from a bit of reworking but not an album as a whole. I consider everything to be a learning experience and I try not to have any regrets about the things we´ve done. As a favourite I would have to say The Gallery just because it was the first I sang on and the first album to feel real to us.
EO: We wish you all the best for your upcoming tour in Europe. Any new additions that you have planned?
DT: Actually that tour just got cancelled which was very sad and upsetting. The promoter who handled it screwed everything up to the point that we just couldn´t have made it happen. It´s our fault for trusting someone like that but we couldn´t have seen this coming. We are happy we decided to call it in time though because it would have been a disaster had we gone out under those circumstances. What it means though is that we can stay home and focus on finishing the new album which we are very excited about.
EO: Tell us about your recent tour to India. Any memorable instances from the concert that happened at Hyderabad that you could share with us?
DT: Our first time in India was nothing short of spectacular. We felt incredibly welcome and the whole experience could not have been greater. None of us had ever visited India before so we did not know what to expect at all. Fortunately we had a couple of days to really see the country and experience the culture, something we normally don´t have time for. The show and the crowd was amazing and we met alot of new friends. Also the beer and the food didn´t make it any worse 🙂
EO: You have been officially endorsed by ‘Steinberg’. How does it feel? How else do you plan on taking your band to the next level?
DT: We are very excited to be endorsed by a company like Steinberg. We have been using their products for pretty much all our career so this means a lot to us. This will do wonders for our upcoming record that we will be recording in our own studio that now has a lot of new cool stuff.
EO: .Do you plan for any sort of album release soon? Also a word of advice for all the metal heads out there? -The album will be out in late May if all goes according to plan and we hope it will. And then we would love to come back to India to perform some new stuff. And please support music, support artists in this weird climate to the best of your abilities. We are here for you. Thank you.
