A cool interview, Anders for once pretending to give a shit which is nice.
Widely considered to be the breakthrough jewel in the crown of the In Flames back catalogue
Not sure about that. I'd argue TJR is the breakthrough in terms of the band gaining significant underground traction, and Come Clarity was the one that really propelled them into the mainstream consciousness for a brief time. Clayman is an amazing album but I don't know if I'd call it a breakthrough album.
"We thought why not celebrate for a change? It wasn’t about going back to change anything"
Except you did.
And it was by far the easiest recording I’ve ever done. Just go in, drink a few beers and sing a bit!
Well, that part makes sense.
“It had been remastered before, a couple of times I guess."
? What does Bjorn mean by this? The album has been re-issued in the past but to my knowledge it's never been remastered until now.
So it was about adding value
You did not.
"I think BMTH are a great band. They’ve definitely gone from one place to another, and they’ve done it really well.
oh, Anders. I'm trying to hold myself back, but you make it so difficult.
"For the new recordings, it was important to do it right.
And yet...
"I use a lot of metaphors, which feel dark and sad but I think people can turn them into their own. Finding your own interpretations can help the music live with you for a longer time, which is what I prefer to making it obvious and direct.
Lol, what? Has he looked at his current lyrics? They couldn't be any more obvious or direct.
OFTW:
"Again, it just happened, I didn’t really think much about it at the time. Jesper [Strömblad, guitarist, In Flames founder and former member] added some really cool stuff to the verse and pre-chorus.
Precisely what modern IF are missing. Bjorn creates a solid base but the magic comes from Jesper's tweaks and additions. Bjorn really should let Broderick add some of his own touches to their new stuff, rather than trying to do everything himself.
... As The Future Repeats Today:
Björn: “We used to play this but haven’t done it many years.
? They played this a handful of times during the Clayman era and that was it. Bjorn is not remembering correctly. It
should have been played a lot more though.
I look at a title like …As The Future Repeats Today and think, ‘Holy shit, did I write that?!’”
Yes, we all think that nowadays. How did we go from ATFRT to YOU RIPPED DA HEART OUT, YOU RIPPED DA HEART OUT OF MEEE
Clayman:
So it was a lot of fun to re-record, this is how we play them live. A bit rougher and maybe a little faster, less polished than the original because it was never meant to be. It’s more like a there and then. I was almost half my age back then. It was a different outlook on how I wanted the music to sound or what me and Jesper wanted to achieve together.
I don't understand this. Bjorn is saying as he's matured as an artist he's wanted his music to be less polished? I have no idea what he means by saying the original "was never meant to be" polished. Also baffling for him to say that he prefers their music to be faster when taking their current output, especially Siren Charms, into account. SOAPF is almost exclusively mid-tempo - the same for Battles & ITM. Long story short, he's either just talking total shit here or very confused.
We didn’t know how we’d play these songs live but that shit takes time. We’re still not there
20 years since the album is released and you're "still not there" in knowing how you want to play them live? What is he talking about?
Chris Broderick was there in spirit. He plays these songs live and he’s quite a decent guitarist!”
Let him contribute to some of your music then!
"On Clayman, we were still adding shit. So you can’t always play everything the same live, which is why I prefer working quickly in the studio and sound close to what we are like live.
Translation: I am lazy.
I don’t like using guitars on tracks and all that shit – I mean, we do have a click track, drum loops and keyboards – but a guitar should be played by a guitar player.”
Vocals should be sung by vocalist too - Bjorn has conveniently left out the vocal backing tracks in his analysis
I didn’t really have a vocal technique, I learned about my vocal style much later in my career. It was more about doing the songs justice.”
I would like Anders to elaborate on this. What vocal style and when exactly does he think he learned it?
Brush the Dust Away:
Bjorn: We played it a few times at the beginning but it feels like it’s now been 15 years or something.
I think he's wrong again here. I don't recall this song ever being played live, nor seeing it on any setlist. If it was then it would have been an obscure show on the original Clayman tour, at best. No way they've played it since then and I'm not convinced they have ever actually played it live. Setlist.fm says this song has never been played live, and it has World of Promises, Minus and other obscure songs logged, so... I'm calling BS.
Anders: “I can’t remember shit about this song. Honestly, I have zero memory of it being made.
alright that made me laugh. At least he's honest.
I know we’ve tried to play it live but I’m not sure if we actually did.
Not even sure what this means - I assume that they rehearsed it but weren't feeling it, but the way Anders phrased it is like they attempted to play it on a set and fucked it up so hard they had to abandon it midway through.
"We don’t try to write singles, we try to write an album. Every song has its own dynamic, feel and place within the song order.
Yeah, tracks like TCP, Through Oblivion and The Truth, totally fitting into the song order on their respective albums and absolutely not penned as single tracks. Sure.
We don’t have any leftovers, we can’t release a B-side album because it doesn’t exist!
We know that this isn't true, because Jesper already revealed they did a cover on ASOP that has never seen the light of day.
Suburban Me:
Björn: “This is another fun song to play but Chris Amott [who guested on the song's solo] kicks pretty much everyone else’s ass when it comes guitar – and that kinda ruins the song for me because there’s no way I can play it!
I'm sure you could if you actually tried.
Anders: “This is another one I don’t remember at all.
This makes me more sad than amused
Another Day in Quicksand:
"The structure is very different, it’s more like one of our instrumental tracks from the earlier days – even though it’s got vocals on there, you can almost tell it was more of a guitar-driven demo to begin with. So vocals got added to something that could have been instrumental, but it turned out really well.
Uh... alright. Never got a "instrumental with vocals added" vibe from this one, but if you say so, Bjorn.
Bjorn: "Back then, I’d be in one corner writing my stuff, Jesper in the other corner and Anders working somewhere too. We’d get our shit done and meet up in the mix, so to speak. Now it’s more about keeping doors open for each other and seeing where the energy is needed. We didn’t really do it back then, which is probably why we ended up with a song like this.”
A song like this? You mean a good one?
I enjoyed reading the interview but these two have become experts at talking total nonsense
as long as they're happy, I guess.
