IN FLAMES - Backstage Interview Berlin Columbia Halle 29.10.2014

Details

Sandra: You’re on a big tour right now with lots of good bands: Papa Roach, Wovenwar & While She Sleeps – how is that going so far? 

Daniel: It’s going great, we have an awesome time and we are happy to be out on the road again, because we had a break for over a year. That is actually the longest break we ever had, so we’ve been really eager to go on the road again. We love this. This is why we started a band, so we enjoy every moment of it, definitely.  

Sandra: And how is it going with the supporting bands, do you guys get along well? 

Daniel: Yeah, it’s awesome. We’ve met some of the Wovenwar guys before from the “As I lay dying time” and we toured together several times. We know the Papa Roach guys a little bit as well so we are all good friends.  

Sandra: Sounds awesome. The concert in Leipzig was completely sold out. Is there a difference between the German audience and the audiences from other countries? 

Daniel: I don’t know. I don’t think so. It was more different back in the days. It seems that it’s kind of similar all over the place. I don’t know whether it has to do with YouTube and the globalization in general but maybe we still have some older guys in the audience in Germany, as well as the younger kids. I say kids, but you know what I mean. And I mean we’ve been touring Germany since we started this band and we have a really loyal fan base over here and they still seem to follow us. We still kept some fans, so we are happy. 

Sandra: That’s great! Well, let us talk about your new album “Siren Charms”. It’s actually your 11th album already. It is again in a new style. How do you always manage to reinvent yourselves and come up with all these ideas? 

Daniel: I don’t know. We just do what we want to do and this is how we turned out. I think one thing is that we never write songs while we are on the road, while we are touring. So, that makes it sound more different. For example the last album before “Siren Charms” was recorded in 2011 I think and this we wrote in 2013, so we haven’t written any music in two and a half years. So of course it sounds different. I think other bands write songs while they are on the road and then they start writing straight after they finished an album. The time in between is not that long. That’s what I am thinking. Also we try to work in a different way every single time we record an album. We never want to repeat anything at all. We want to try something new even if it comes to how we put the mics and the drums. That’s why we change studios and producers and stuff like that.  

Sandra: So you said that you are always changing things, so that is basically what you do, you just change studios and stuff and try something new there? 

Daniel: Yeah I mean we did eleven albums but you don’t do that many albums. You want to try new stuff every time, you don’t want to waste time repeating yourself. 

Sandra: Yeah, obviously. Who mainly had the new ideas for the new album? Is it all of you guys together or is it someone in particular? 

Daniel: Björn writes all the riffs or bits and pieces of songs and then he grabs them and puts them together. Basically. But he writes all the songs and then we build it, like lego kind of thing.  

Sandra: And then each person just adds whatever they want? 

Daniel: Yeah I mean we all have suggestions. We talk about it and then we agree or disagree but finally we agree to something. Obviously.  

Sandra: You guys are actually being considered as “experimental” and probably also lost a couple fans because of the style changes. How do you deal with that? 

Daniel: I don’t think we care because we do this for our own sake and we do songs that we enjoy to play and that we can stand behind. I think the day you start to write songs that you think people would like then it’s dangerous, because you can not please everyone. It’s impossible. It’s a cliché but we do what we want to do. This is why we are very grateful that we have such loyal fans who stick with us. I think you’ll lose fans whatever you do. I don’t think we lose more fans than any other bands, but I think we actually managed to pick up a lot of new fans instead. But it’s a bonus if people like it. We do this for our own sake. We are very grateful that people do like it. 

Sandra: In general the band is going through constant changes – new band members, new logos, new styles, how were your experiences of the changes since you joined the band in 1997? 

Daniel: When it comes to members, it was only Niclas who came to the band, so that wasn’t a big difference. Otherwise I don’t know. I don’t see it for me who is in that bubble. I don’t see these changes as obvious as you might do so I don’t know. There are no real plans behind it. We don’t really have a strategic plan to do these changes. It’s a natural thing I guess.  

Sandra: Fair enough. Originally it was Jesper’s idea to let InFlames sound like the guitar style of Iron Maiden and Death Metal. Who decides that stuff since he left the band in 2010?  

Daniel: I think actually all these albums we’ve made before 2010 decided how InFlames should sound like because I think the trademark is still melodic metal music even though some of the harmonies have shifted from guitar to vocals or to electronics but it will always be a very melodic band. You can’t really erase the legacy and you will always see that red line and you still do I guess so... and it’s nothing you just decide “This is how InFlames should sound like”. I think it’s also a lot in the fingers of who is playing the instrument. If five other guys would play our songs it would sound totally different even though it’s InFlames songs. So it’s a lot more in the musician’s fingers than you might think.  

Sandra: Would you say that there is someone who is pushing the band and kind of leading it? Or is it just all of you guys together?  

Daniel: I think we have a goal and we are all very decisive and want to push this as far as we can but Anders, since he is the frontman, he is like a leader because he has to be more or less since he is the vocalist and the frontman. But we all want to go the same way. 

Sandra: Jesper left the band back then because of alcohol problems, how did the band personally cope with that? 

Daniel: I think we all saw it coming. He left out for several tours and Niclas stepped in for him before Niclas was actually a real member and helped us out. I think we all knew that eventually this would happen so it didn’t really come as a big shock for us. We were kind of prepared even though it was a tragic thing of course but as a band I don’t think we suffered that much.  

Sandra: Is there something already planned for the future? Any project plans maybe with other artists?  

Daniel: No, it’s way too early for that actually. We are going to record a live DVD of the Gothenburg (Göteburg) show on this tour, that will be released before Christmas. So that’s something to look forward to. Otherwise we just try to tour as much as possible for this album now for a couple years.  

Sandra: Sounds good. That’s it. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview.