Ill Literature: I have so much to ask you about your current projects, I don't know where to start! Why is it that you feel the need to dabble with so many different projects of various musical styles? Why not focus on one or two projects and bring in all the influences you use for your other projects?
Dan Swanö: Tough question. I'm always searching for new ways of expressing myself musically. I tried out a lot of mixtures in Edge Of Sanity. We went from a pure "Melodies are banned!!" death metal band to a "Something Metal" band. I was bored with the fact of just writing the same songs over and over again. But when I wanted to take the "Sacrificed" style one step further the guys refused. They hated the drum machine on that one, and at the time I was desperate to get rid of all the gothic influences I had in me. This set off the Second Coming of the "project thing". I mean, I have had a zillion projects before Edge of Sanity, in fact, E.O.S. was just another project, but we got signed before we could end it all in a nice way. Some of my friends were screwing a new girl every weekend and they got some kinda kick out of the freshness and they kinda fed off the "hot emotions" that there is in a temporary relationship, pretty much based upon sex. I had the same thing coming out of setting up new projects and kinda reaped the harvest of 3-4-5 musicians being push together in a rehearsal room, writing a bunch of songs, playing them to death and maybe record a demo, and when the magic was gone we split or I ended it by not showing up or not calling, etc. Looking back I think I would have preferred what my friends were up to girl-wise, but since I never looked the right way, or said the right things for one-night stands this pretty much was my "revenge".
IL: Looking back, how do you feel about your solo album, Moontower? I thought it was, and is, a spectacular piece of work. Are you still satisfied with the end result or do you notice "flaws" when you listen to it now?
DS: I like it. It's pretty unusual for me to still like my "babies" a year after their birth. But the fact is that I have never been as satisfied with any other record this far.
IL: Is there anything you would have done differently on it were you to do it over again?
DS: There is nothing I would like to change. I worked like a maniac with all the tiny little details everywhere and mixed it like fifteen hundred and thirty six times. It kinda rocks....
IL: Are you planning to release another solo album under your name?
DS: Well, it all depends...Unicorn is back together now and I will spend the next year's "freedays" working with our next album(s). I have to feel "ready" for another solo album, not just "do one " because people are asking for it. Moontower was born out of a lot of bad happenings in my life a few years back. All that made that album the way it is in me and it grew with my sorrows, it's hard to explain... but now I am a happy dude again and I feel like writing and recording more positive music... not necessarily "happy love songs" but music with a little bit more "light" in them. Moontower is without a doubt the darkest album I've done this far. To me the "Edge of Sanity satanic era" is as evil as "Spice Girls" compared to the darkness I had in me during that recording. I must "feel something" to make a new "Dan Swanö" album... Never say never, but right now It feels like something for the future
IL: What direction do you think you might take the music?
DS: Right before I came up with the brilliant idea to reform Unicorn I had some ideas about a theme album, one huge track, more like a second Crimson album. I haven't really scrapped that idea, the problem is that I want the music where I use my real name (Dan Swanö, that is) to be magic to me. To lock myself up in the studio and just write and record metal will not necessarily produce material that will qualify for the use of my birth name, get it? And yet another one-man project...oh, no...we'll see.
IL: Would you use both clean and growling vocals on it?
DS: If I feel that there is a use for it I will definitely throw some stuff in, but I hope to be able to write music that is powerful enough without the use of growling vocals the next time. Like I said, I have no idea of what the next album will sound like, if there is one!
IL: Hmm... I was about to ask you when you hoped to start working on the album?
DS: I am not sure. I must see where Unicorn is going this time. If it goes to where I want it, I will need NO OTHER PROJECTS in my life anymore. Unicorn is everything I need and all these projects have been a substitute for the lack of Unicorn-ism the last 10 years. I am a prog head. Period!
IL: It's been a couple of years now since you decided to leave Edge of Sanity. Do you miss being a part of the band?
DS: No, definitely not. I am very happy without that band.
IL: Do you still keep in contact with the band and their musical endeavors?
DS: I have been in touch with them again. They are still playing death metal, that's all I know. There's no real connection between me and the rest of the guys, never was never will be. We're too different individuals. They are "let's party and the punk rockers" and I am the "prog rock perfectionist from hell"! No match! I am in charge of putting together a 10 year anniversary CD with Edge of Sanity. I am currently digging through the archives to find the master tapes of all the recordings we did, in order to make the overall sound quality "CD-ish". I have never enjoyed being a part of any band except for Unicorn. I am kinda old-fashioned when it comes to bands, and bonds. If I play in a band, I can imagine living in a house in the middle of nowhere just rehearsing and recording eating potatoes and air. But I never had the "social" thing working with any other band than Unicorn. That's why I am so glad that we're back together again. Not that we're going to live in a house or anything like that, just being a "member" again is great. But I am not going to make music together with anyone who does the same things that I do. The guys of Unicorn are very different from me. Anders is the classically trained musician who knows a lot about arrangements and stuff. Peter is the "street level" guy. He's playing in cover bands and stuff. He's the bass player nowadays and I have taken over the keyboard spot, as well as the drum and lead vocals spot (Play live!!??? Don't think so!!) Anyway...
IL: Not to sound rude, but back to Edge of Sanity... how are they doing these days?
DS: Personally I think they are a lot better than they used to be a few years back. We only hung out because we were in a band. The other four were kind of a gang, always sticking with each other. I never really got into that stuff. So I guess they're basically the same. Getting drunk every weekend, having boring jobs, fishing, having 1,546 new projects, etc.
IL: Will they be releasing anything anytime soon and if so, have you heard it?
DS: I spoke to Boss the other day and he told me that Cryptic didn't sell that good. He also asked me to rejoin and I kinda said "No!!!" forever and ever... I hope they can come up with a stronger and more melodic album than the previous one, or else they're pretty much doomed I think. Now you might think I am an asshole who believes that I am the cool guy here, but I believed that I was doomed the day I quit the band. And by the way, Moontower hasn't sold that bloody good either.
IL: You mentioned that you were planning to work on a ten year anniversary Edge of Sanity album soon. Why do you feel the need to do this as you are no longer in the band?
DS: I am still very much a part of Edge of Sanity. Thus far they have made one album without me and people don't seem to like it, some say it "doesn't count" so for me Edge of Sanity died when I left and they formed a new band with the same name and a new vocalist playing totally different music than when I was with them. We did death metal with something unique about it, they do it without the "unique-factor". It might satisfy some older fans but most of them "stay with me" when it comes to what they like and stuff.
IL: What songs will be featured on the anniversary album? Any new material?
DS: Here's a pretty rough track listing but it might change. There's some new stuff, some old - but it's all unique!!
(* previously unreleased stuff)
DISRUPTING THE INHABITANTS*
from the 1989 Euthanasia demo remixed
IMMORTAL SOULS
from the 1990 Immortal Rehearsals remastered
MAZE OF EXISTENCE
from the 1990 Kur-Nu-Gi-A demo remixed
THE DEAD
from the 1990 "The Dead" promo remixed
ANGEL OF DISTRESS
from the 1991 Nothing But Death Remains LP remixed
EVERLASTING
from the 1991 "Dead But Dreaming" promo remastered
A CURFEW FOR THE DAMNED
from the 1992 Unorthodox LP remixed
KILL THE POLICE* and HUMAN ABERRATION
from the 1992 Unorthodox session remastered
WHEN ALL IS SAID (remix)* and BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES (First version)
from the 1992 When All Is Said unreleased EP remastered
ELEGY*, EVIL BREEDS EVIL* and DARKDAY (1st version)
from the 1992 The Spectral Sorrows demo remastered
THE MASQUE (edit)
from the 1993 The Spectral Sorrows LP remixed/edited
PERNICIOUS ANGUISH (Stockholm death metal version)
(Also on Japan version of Nothing But Death Remains)
from the 1993 The Spectral Sorrows LP session remastered
UNTIL ETERNITY ENDS (1999 Vocal version)
from the 1994 Until Eternity Ends Mini album remixed/re-recorded
SONG OF SIRENS (The 1999 "The way it was supposed to sound" version)
from the 1994 Purgatory Afterglow LP remixed/edited/fucked up
CRIMINALLY INSANE
from the 1995 Tribute To Slayer album remastered
MURDER. DIVIDED
from the 1996 Crimson session remastered
I WANNA GO HOME
from the 1996 "Tribute to Sator" remastered
BURN THE SUN
from the 1997 Infernal LP remastered
MOONSHINE
from the 1997 Infernal session remastered (If I find it!!!)
BLEED YOU DRY
from the 1998 Cryptic LP remixed (I hope I will get to remix it)
MOTHER
from the 1998 Tribute To Danzig remastered
"yet untitled track with me and Robban Karlsson on Vocs"
from the 1996 Crimson session with 1999 vocs re-recorded/remastered
IL: So you do a duet with current Edge of Sanity vocalist, Robban Karlsson? How does that sound?
DS: What the duet sounds like? Well the track kinda sucks, but I'll spice it up a bit. It's not completed yet!
IL: Let's discuss some of your current projects now. Relapse Records was supposed to release your Karaboudjan MCD ages ago, but never did. What happened with the deal? Why were they unable to unleash the product?
DS: The deal was pretty open. I sent them the master, they mastered it, then I think the guy who cared the most for it quit the label and it kinda died.
IL: Are there still plans to release the material?
DS: I hope to release it myself one day. Some other labels have been informed as well, we'll see.
IL: Do you feel that maybe Karaboudjan is no longer a top priority since the songs are old and all the hype surrounding the band has diminished?
DS: Karaboudjan have never been near top-priority. One year ago we recorded the basic track for what should've been a full-length CD, but since Relapse dropped the release of the mini it all died. The basic tracks are excellent and I might record it for people in its rough form someday!
IL: And for those who aren't familiar with Karaboudjan, please describe the craziness of the music.
DS: Well people... K-jan was a project I had with myself a long time ago. I was pissed off at the fact that the other guys re-started Pan-Thy-Monium without me and I wanted to give the world my version of PTM. It turned out to be far too wacky to be compared to PTM so I sampled some cartoon stuff and called it Karaboudjan. It's hard to describe it. It's instrumental fusion/doom/prog with distorted bass guitars instead of rhythm guitars. Wacky Moog sounds, saxophones, strange lead guitar work (courtesy of my brother Dag) and strange samples.
IL: How are things coming along with your semi-solo project Nightingale?
DS: Nightingale is very fine, thank you.
IL: Have you completed the band's third album I yet?
DS: I have just finished the lyrics and it's turning out cool. It's pushed aside a bit by the Unicorn thing.
IL: How does the music sound and who else is involved in the project?
DS: My brother Tom Nouga (a.k.a. Dag) has written half the material alone and we have collaborated on a few songs as well. You can't really tell the difference because we write very similarly when it comes to the hard rock-kinda music.
IL: How does the new material compare/contrast to the first two releases?
DS: The material for this new album is sounding a bit like The Closing Chronicles. There is really nothing left from the gothic-oriented sound of The Breathing Shadow. There are less "added" keyboards on this one. Either they "rule" the track or there are no keyboards. The sounds we use are mainly a great B3 sample and strings. It'll be the first record of three, story wise, so I tried to make the music more "early", more the way I would have done it like in 1991.
IL: Any new surprises we should be expecting to hear?
DS: Yeah! The frequent use of banjo is gonna make you go berzerk -- Not really... There's nothing special about the instrumentation. Just a bunch of good songs properly performed and produced. The sound is smashing, by far the best ever coming out of my studio!
IL: Tell us about your Nightingale partner in crime, Tom Nouga. How did you two meet?
DS: Well...He was there when I first came home to our house. He is my ten year older brother, and he's given me an invaluable musical ground to stand upon. This is the first time we play together seriously. He helped me out with Pan-Thy-Monium and Unicorn a long time ago and he also co-produced the second Nightingale album, but then I was pretty much done with all the tracks and so. What can I tell you about him, well, he's 36 years old, we look very alike. He's an excellent guitar player with a very personal and unique style. He also delivers fat bass lines and complex keyboard patterns. He's a decent drummer and once upon a time he was a cool saxophone player, but I think he skipped that now
IL: What other band(s) has he played in?
DS: He's played with bands like Original, Printz Nilssons Dagbok, Jungfru Hög, Tectyl, The Fordz (Our first project together back in 1978) and now he's back in the rehearsal room with Tom Nouga + band.
IL: Is it easy to collaborate with him?
DS: It's a bit hard to really collaborate with him because we are so extremely alike. Either he's producing and I'm playing or the other way around. We both have distinct ideas of what we want to do. We're never really trying to change the other's ideas because I believe we both have great respect for each other's material.
IL: Another man who you have been doing a lot of collaborating with these days is Opeth vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt. Enlighten us about the traditional heavy metal project, Steel, you two worked on a couple of years ago. Did you ever release anything?
DS: Yeah. We released a 7" picture disc on Near Dark Productions called Heavy Metal Machine! It contains the title track and "Rock Tonite".
IL: Is the band still active and should we be expecting something from you guys soon?
DS: Steel is just a thing we came up with one day during the recording of Morningrise (Opeth's second opus) We were bored and Peter had gone home and Mike, Anders, and I had nothing to do so I suggested that we should go to the studio and soundcheck the drums some more. We jammed and recorded a stupid track "Guitars & Metal" that lasted for 1 minute. We had a laugh and we named the thing Steel and thought it would be forgotten the next minute. But one thing led to another and years before the return of the German Speed/Power Metal thing we recorded the demo that later was going to be the Steel 7".
IL: Please tell us who else is in the band and what part they play.
DS: I sing, or sound maybe... It's not very nice!!! Mike played guitar, Anders played drums, and Peter played the bass!
IL: Another band you and Mikael are working on together is Sörskogen. Are there plans to release anything or is it simply a just-for-fun side project you guys are toying with?
DS: Sörskogen is very much Mike's thing. I had just rebuilt my studio and needed to get some live action down there before I started to record my demos for what should later become Moontower. So I invited Mike to try some of his songs and that became "Mordet I Grottan" (The Murder in the Cave). I think Mike is taking it very seriously, it's very much his kind of "heart music".
IL: What does the music sound like?
DS: It's sounding a lot like early Camel mixed with early Genesis. Therefore we strived for a typical 70's sound with the muffled drums and the "dull-cotton bass" and Mellotrons, Moogs, etc. to match the music. It turned out great and people started asking for it. I always discuss the coolness factor of a whole album with that stuff, but now that Opeth's signed to Peaceville things are a bit harder. And now that I've started the giant Unicorn recreation project I will have no time left, I'm afraid! But I know it would rip!
IL: You recently inked a deal with Century Media to release a MCD of another one of your side projects, Bloodbath. How did this relationship with the label come about?
DS: Blackheim (Katatonia guitarist/mastermind) sent out a cassette to some labels and the first one to really be interested was Century Media USA so they got the deal!
IL: And why only a MCD?
DS: The vibe didn't last for more than three songs. First we recorded two songs and had some really outrageous killer takes going and I accidentally erased the recordings so we had to re-do it and then we added the third track. In many ways it turned out a lot better but the nerve from the original takes was missing. Since we realized it is impossible to re-create that spark of excitement we just went for total fun! IL: So only three songs will be on the effort?
DS: Yeah, it's three tracks: "Breeding Death", "Ominous Blood Vomit", and "Furnace Funeral". Mike (Opeth) and Jonas (Katatonia) wrote the words and we all wrote the music together.
IL: What is it's length?
DS: I think the total playing time is around 12 minutes.
IL: Give us some brief history about the project and tell the readers who else is in the band and what the music sounds like.
DS: I still remember when the guys from Katatonia started talking about their hobby project Bloodbath like 7 years ago. One day I felt this urge to play death metal again so I contacted my friends in Stockholm. By the time it was done the line up was: myself on drums, Mike/Opeth on vocs, Jonas (bass) and Blackheim (geetar) from Katatonia. Since we're all past death vocal masters we even did one verse where we split the lines for each of us... Mike won I can tell, that man is insane!!! The music is a perfect blend between Swedish and American death metal. I hear traces of early Edge Of Sanity (how strange!??) mixed with stuff like Morbid Angel, Dismember, Entombed, Cancer and some doomy shit as well.
IL: While on the topic of death metal, you have unleashed a second Infestdead full-length titled JesuSatan onto the unsuspecting masses. How does this album sound in comparison to the previous Hellfuck?
DS: JesuSatan is a lot more progressive than Hellfuck. I wanted to get away from the punk death we were doing in the past and compete a bit more with the real masters. Personally I think we kick most of "the majors" asses, but that is just my personal opinion. We've got more groove and structure yet maintain the pure brutal death vibe to it. Buy and listen!
Dan Swanö: Tough question. I'm always searching for new ways of expressing myself musically. I tried out a lot of mixtures in Edge Of Sanity. We went from a pure "Melodies are banned!!" death metal band to a "Something Metal" band. I was bored with the fact of just writing the same songs over and over again. But when I wanted to take the "Sacrificed" style one step further the guys refused. They hated the drum machine on that one, and at the time I was desperate to get rid of all the gothic influences I had in me. This set off the Second Coming of the "project thing". I mean, I have had a zillion projects before Edge of Sanity, in fact, E.O.S. was just another project, but we got signed before we could end it all in a nice way. Some of my friends were screwing a new girl every weekend and they got some kinda kick out of the freshness and they kinda fed off the "hot emotions" that there is in a temporary relationship, pretty much based upon sex. I had the same thing coming out of setting up new projects and kinda reaped the harvest of 3-4-5 musicians being push together in a rehearsal room, writing a bunch of songs, playing them to death and maybe record a demo, and when the magic was gone we split or I ended it by not showing up or not calling, etc. Looking back I think I would have preferred what my friends were up to girl-wise, but since I never looked the right way, or said the right things for one-night stands this pretty much was my "revenge".
IL: Looking back, how do you feel about your solo album, Moontower? I thought it was, and is, a spectacular piece of work. Are you still satisfied with the end result or do you notice "flaws" when you listen to it now?
DS: I like it. It's pretty unusual for me to still like my "babies" a year after their birth. But the fact is that I have never been as satisfied with any other record this far.
IL: Is there anything you would have done differently on it were you to do it over again?
DS: There is nothing I would like to change. I worked like a maniac with all the tiny little details everywhere and mixed it like fifteen hundred and thirty six times. It kinda rocks....
IL: Are you planning to release another solo album under your name?
DS: Well, it all depends...Unicorn is back together now and I will spend the next year's "freedays" working with our next album(s). I have to feel "ready" for another solo album, not just "do one " because people are asking for it. Moontower was born out of a lot of bad happenings in my life a few years back. All that made that album the way it is in me and it grew with my sorrows, it's hard to explain... but now I am a happy dude again and I feel like writing and recording more positive music... not necessarily "happy love songs" but music with a little bit more "light" in them. Moontower is without a doubt the darkest album I've done this far. To me the "Edge of Sanity satanic era" is as evil as "Spice Girls" compared to the darkness I had in me during that recording. I must "feel something" to make a new "Dan Swanö" album... Never say never, but right now It feels like something for the future
IL: What direction do you think you might take the music?
DS: Right before I came up with the brilliant idea to reform Unicorn I had some ideas about a theme album, one huge track, more like a second Crimson album. I haven't really scrapped that idea, the problem is that I want the music where I use my real name (Dan Swanö, that is) to be magic to me. To lock myself up in the studio and just write and record metal will not necessarily produce material that will qualify for the use of my birth name, get it? And yet another one-man project...oh, no...we'll see.
IL: Would you use both clean and growling vocals on it?
DS: If I feel that there is a use for it I will definitely throw some stuff in, but I hope to be able to write music that is powerful enough without the use of growling vocals the next time. Like I said, I have no idea of what the next album will sound like, if there is one!
IL: Hmm... I was about to ask you when you hoped to start working on the album?
DS: I am not sure. I must see where Unicorn is going this time. If it goes to where I want it, I will need NO OTHER PROJECTS in my life anymore. Unicorn is everything I need and all these projects have been a substitute for the lack of Unicorn-ism the last 10 years. I am a prog head. Period!
IL: It's been a couple of years now since you decided to leave Edge of Sanity. Do you miss being a part of the band?
DS: No, definitely not. I am very happy without that band.
IL: Do you still keep in contact with the band and their musical endeavors?
DS: I have been in touch with them again. They are still playing death metal, that's all I know. There's no real connection between me and the rest of the guys, never was never will be. We're too different individuals. They are "let's party and the punk rockers" and I am the "prog rock perfectionist from hell"! No match! I am in charge of putting together a 10 year anniversary CD with Edge of Sanity. I am currently digging through the archives to find the master tapes of all the recordings we did, in order to make the overall sound quality "CD-ish". I have never enjoyed being a part of any band except for Unicorn. I am kinda old-fashioned when it comes to bands, and bonds. If I play in a band, I can imagine living in a house in the middle of nowhere just rehearsing and recording eating potatoes and air. But I never had the "social" thing working with any other band than Unicorn. That's why I am so glad that we're back together again. Not that we're going to live in a house or anything like that, just being a "member" again is great. But I am not going to make music together with anyone who does the same things that I do. The guys of Unicorn are very different from me. Anders is the classically trained musician who knows a lot about arrangements and stuff. Peter is the "street level" guy. He's playing in cover bands and stuff. He's the bass player nowadays and I have taken over the keyboard spot, as well as the drum and lead vocals spot (Play live!!??? Don't think so!!) Anyway...
IL: Not to sound rude, but back to Edge of Sanity... how are they doing these days?
DS: Personally I think they are a lot better than they used to be a few years back. We only hung out because we were in a band. The other four were kind of a gang, always sticking with each other. I never really got into that stuff. So I guess they're basically the same. Getting drunk every weekend, having boring jobs, fishing, having 1,546 new projects, etc.
IL: Will they be releasing anything anytime soon and if so, have you heard it?
DS: I spoke to Boss the other day and he told me that Cryptic didn't sell that good. He also asked me to rejoin and I kinda said "No!!!" forever and ever... I hope they can come up with a stronger and more melodic album than the previous one, or else they're pretty much doomed I think. Now you might think I am an asshole who believes that I am the cool guy here, but I believed that I was doomed the day I quit the band. And by the way, Moontower hasn't sold that bloody good either.
IL: You mentioned that you were planning to work on a ten year anniversary Edge of Sanity album soon. Why do you feel the need to do this as you are no longer in the band?
DS: I am still very much a part of Edge of Sanity. Thus far they have made one album without me and people don't seem to like it, some say it "doesn't count" so for me Edge of Sanity died when I left and they formed a new band with the same name and a new vocalist playing totally different music than when I was with them. We did death metal with something unique about it, they do it without the "unique-factor". It might satisfy some older fans but most of them "stay with me" when it comes to what they like and stuff.
IL: What songs will be featured on the anniversary album? Any new material?
DS: Here's a pretty rough track listing but it might change. There's some new stuff, some old - but it's all unique!!
(* previously unreleased stuff)
DISRUPTING THE INHABITANTS*
from the 1989 Euthanasia demo remixed
IMMORTAL SOULS
from the 1990 Immortal Rehearsals remastered
MAZE OF EXISTENCE
from the 1990 Kur-Nu-Gi-A demo remixed
THE DEAD
from the 1990 "The Dead" promo remixed
ANGEL OF DISTRESS
from the 1991 Nothing But Death Remains LP remixed
EVERLASTING
from the 1991 "Dead But Dreaming" promo remastered
A CURFEW FOR THE DAMNED
from the 1992 Unorthodox LP remixed
KILL THE POLICE* and HUMAN ABERRATION
from the 1992 Unorthodox session remastered
WHEN ALL IS SAID (remix)* and BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES (First version)
from the 1992 When All Is Said unreleased EP remastered
ELEGY*, EVIL BREEDS EVIL* and DARKDAY (1st version)
from the 1992 The Spectral Sorrows demo remastered
THE MASQUE (edit)
from the 1993 The Spectral Sorrows LP remixed/edited
PERNICIOUS ANGUISH (Stockholm death metal version)
(Also on Japan version of Nothing But Death Remains)
from the 1993 The Spectral Sorrows LP session remastered
UNTIL ETERNITY ENDS (1999 Vocal version)
from the 1994 Until Eternity Ends Mini album remixed/re-recorded
SONG OF SIRENS (The 1999 "The way it was supposed to sound" version)
from the 1994 Purgatory Afterglow LP remixed/edited/fucked up
CRIMINALLY INSANE
from the 1995 Tribute To Slayer album remastered
MURDER. DIVIDED
from the 1996 Crimson session remastered
I WANNA GO HOME
from the 1996 "Tribute to Sator" remastered
BURN THE SUN
from the 1997 Infernal LP remastered
MOONSHINE
from the 1997 Infernal session remastered (If I find it!!!)
BLEED YOU DRY
from the 1998 Cryptic LP remixed (I hope I will get to remix it)
MOTHER
from the 1998 Tribute To Danzig remastered
"yet untitled track with me and Robban Karlsson on Vocs"
from the 1996 Crimson session with 1999 vocs re-recorded/remastered
IL: So you do a duet with current Edge of Sanity vocalist, Robban Karlsson? How does that sound?
DS: What the duet sounds like? Well the track kinda sucks, but I'll spice it up a bit. It's not completed yet!
IL: Let's discuss some of your current projects now. Relapse Records was supposed to release your Karaboudjan MCD ages ago, but never did. What happened with the deal? Why were they unable to unleash the product?
DS: The deal was pretty open. I sent them the master, they mastered it, then I think the guy who cared the most for it quit the label and it kinda died.
IL: Are there still plans to release the material?
DS: I hope to release it myself one day. Some other labels have been informed as well, we'll see.
IL: Do you feel that maybe Karaboudjan is no longer a top priority since the songs are old and all the hype surrounding the band has diminished?
DS: Karaboudjan have never been near top-priority. One year ago we recorded the basic track for what should've been a full-length CD, but since Relapse dropped the release of the mini it all died. The basic tracks are excellent and I might record it for people in its rough form someday!
IL: And for those who aren't familiar with Karaboudjan, please describe the craziness of the music.
DS: Well people... K-jan was a project I had with myself a long time ago. I was pissed off at the fact that the other guys re-started Pan-Thy-Monium without me and I wanted to give the world my version of PTM. It turned out to be far too wacky to be compared to PTM so I sampled some cartoon stuff and called it Karaboudjan. It's hard to describe it. It's instrumental fusion/doom/prog with distorted bass guitars instead of rhythm guitars. Wacky Moog sounds, saxophones, strange lead guitar work (courtesy of my brother Dag) and strange samples.
IL: How are things coming along with your semi-solo project Nightingale?
DS: Nightingale is very fine, thank you.
IL: Have you completed the band's third album I yet?
DS: I have just finished the lyrics and it's turning out cool. It's pushed aside a bit by the Unicorn thing.
IL: How does the music sound and who else is involved in the project?
DS: My brother Tom Nouga (a.k.a. Dag) has written half the material alone and we have collaborated on a few songs as well. You can't really tell the difference because we write very similarly when it comes to the hard rock-kinda music.
IL: How does the new material compare/contrast to the first two releases?
DS: The material for this new album is sounding a bit like The Closing Chronicles. There is really nothing left from the gothic-oriented sound of The Breathing Shadow. There are less "added" keyboards on this one. Either they "rule" the track or there are no keyboards. The sounds we use are mainly a great B3 sample and strings. It'll be the first record of three, story wise, so I tried to make the music more "early", more the way I would have done it like in 1991.
IL: Any new surprises we should be expecting to hear?
DS: Yeah! The frequent use of banjo is gonna make you go berzerk -- Not really... There's nothing special about the instrumentation. Just a bunch of good songs properly performed and produced. The sound is smashing, by far the best ever coming out of my studio!
IL: Tell us about your Nightingale partner in crime, Tom Nouga. How did you two meet?
DS: Well...He was there when I first came home to our house. He is my ten year older brother, and he's given me an invaluable musical ground to stand upon. This is the first time we play together seriously. He helped me out with Pan-Thy-Monium and Unicorn a long time ago and he also co-produced the second Nightingale album, but then I was pretty much done with all the tracks and so. What can I tell you about him, well, he's 36 years old, we look very alike. He's an excellent guitar player with a very personal and unique style. He also delivers fat bass lines and complex keyboard patterns. He's a decent drummer and once upon a time he was a cool saxophone player, but I think he skipped that now
IL: What other band(s) has he played in?
DS: He's played with bands like Original, Printz Nilssons Dagbok, Jungfru Hög, Tectyl, The Fordz (Our first project together back in 1978) and now he's back in the rehearsal room with Tom Nouga + band.
IL: Is it easy to collaborate with him?
DS: It's a bit hard to really collaborate with him because we are so extremely alike. Either he's producing and I'm playing or the other way around. We both have distinct ideas of what we want to do. We're never really trying to change the other's ideas because I believe we both have great respect for each other's material.
IL: Another man who you have been doing a lot of collaborating with these days is Opeth vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt. Enlighten us about the traditional heavy metal project, Steel, you two worked on a couple of years ago. Did you ever release anything?
DS: Yeah. We released a 7" picture disc on Near Dark Productions called Heavy Metal Machine! It contains the title track and "Rock Tonite".
IL: Is the band still active and should we be expecting something from you guys soon?
DS: Steel is just a thing we came up with one day during the recording of Morningrise (Opeth's second opus) We were bored and Peter had gone home and Mike, Anders, and I had nothing to do so I suggested that we should go to the studio and soundcheck the drums some more. We jammed and recorded a stupid track "Guitars & Metal" that lasted for 1 minute. We had a laugh and we named the thing Steel and thought it would be forgotten the next minute. But one thing led to another and years before the return of the German Speed/Power Metal thing we recorded the demo that later was going to be the Steel 7".
IL: Please tell us who else is in the band and what part they play.
DS: I sing, or sound maybe... It's not very nice!!! Mike played guitar, Anders played drums, and Peter played the bass!
IL: Another band you and Mikael are working on together is Sörskogen. Are there plans to release anything or is it simply a just-for-fun side project you guys are toying with?
DS: Sörskogen is very much Mike's thing. I had just rebuilt my studio and needed to get some live action down there before I started to record my demos for what should later become Moontower. So I invited Mike to try some of his songs and that became "Mordet I Grottan" (The Murder in the Cave). I think Mike is taking it very seriously, it's very much his kind of "heart music".
IL: What does the music sound like?
DS: It's sounding a lot like early Camel mixed with early Genesis. Therefore we strived for a typical 70's sound with the muffled drums and the "dull-cotton bass" and Mellotrons, Moogs, etc. to match the music. It turned out great and people started asking for it. I always discuss the coolness factor of a whole album with that stuff, but now that Opeth's signed to Peaceville things are a bit harder. And now that I've started the giant Unicorn recreation project I will have no time left, I'm afraid! But I know it would rip!
IL: You recently inked a deal with Century Media to release a MCD of another one of your side projects, Bloodbath. How did this relationship with the label come about?
DS: Blackheim (Katatonia guitarist/mastermind) sent out a cassette to some labels and the first one to really be interested was Century Media USA so they got the deal!
IL: And why only a MCD?
DS: The vibe didn't last for more than three songs. First we recorded two songs and had some really outrageous killer takes going and I accidentally erased the recordings so we had to re-do it and then we added the third track. In many ways it turned out a lot better but the nerve from the original takes was missing. Since we realized it is impossible to re-create that spark of excitement we just went for total fun! IL: So only three songs will be on the effort?
DS: Yeah, it's three tracks: "Breeding Death", "Ominous Blood Vomit", and "Furnace Funeral". Mike (Opeth) and Jonas (Katatonia) wrote the words and we all wrote the music together.
IL: What is it's length?
DS: I think the total playing time is around 12 minutes.
IL: Give us some brief history about the project and tell the readers who else is in the band and what the music sounds like.
DS: I still remember when the guys from Katatonia started talking about their hobby project Bloodbath like 7 years ago. One day I felt this urge to play death metal again so I contacted my friends in Stockholm. By the time it was done the line up was: myself on drums, Mike/Opeth on vocs, Jonas (bass) and Blackheim (geetar) from Katatonia. Since we're all past death vocal masters we even did one verse where we split the lines for each of us... Mike won I can tell, that man is insane!!! The music is a perfect blend between Swedish and American death metal. I hear traces of early Edge Of Sanity (how strange!??) mixed with stuff like Morbid Angel, Dismember, Entombed, Cancer and some doomy shit as well.
IL: While on the topic of death metal, you have unleashed a second Infestdead full-length titled JesuSatan onto the unsuspecting masses. How does this album sound in comparison to the previous Hellfuck?
DS: JesuSatan is a lot more progressive than Hellfuck. I wanted to get away from the punk death we were doing in the past and compete a bit more with the real masters. Personally I think we kick most of "the majors" asses, but that is just my personal opinion. We've got more groove and structure yet maintain the pure brutal death vibe to it. Buy and listen!