ColdDarkNord posted this long-arse old interview with Dan over on the Swano forum (thanks man 
), and there were a few Katatonia-related things (TD era) in it which I didn't know, so thought those of you who don't frequent the Swano forum would like to see it. So, here it is (from ILL LITERATURE):
IL: Another band I was pleasantly surprised to discover you'll be helping out is Katatonia. You'll be playing all the drums on their upcoming album. How did this come about and why did their original drummer (and vocalist) Jonas Renkse decide to step down from the kit?
DS: I had a call from Blackheim one night and they were in deep shit in Sunlight studios. They had spent like 10 days doing nothing. First up was Renkse, he couldn't play with the click track they had recorded the scratch tracks with so they called for a studio drummer who Skogsberg (Tomas, producer) used to work with in the past but after two days of trying to get behind the first fill they decided to let him go. I volunteered and was asked to join in at Sunlight. Since I only play drums with a click track in my headphones nowadays it was a piece of cake to nail like 11 tracks in one day. The beats were very basic and I believe that no one will ever catch what problems the other drummers were facing because it sounds like so easy but I know that "beginners" with click track can have severe problems letting something else run their "internal clock".
IL: What does Katatonia's new material sound like and were you involved in the band's song-writing process?
DS: Oh no. The songs were ready. I had a tape with all of them with a drum machine and I learned them on the train there and in the studio right before the takes.
IL: Is Mikael Akerfeldt helping out again too?
DS: Yeah. Mike is doing all the harmonica on the album. Sorry. Bad jokes tend to occur around the sixteenth question... Mike produced the vocals again. He's the master of that. If you liked the last album you'll fucking freak out when you hear this. The second track on my advance tape is the best track they ever did. With a proper backing that song could take them to fucking billboard without an inch of a sellout!
IL: You also played drums (and some keyboards) on the latest Diabolical Masquerade (Blackheim's black metal side-project) album Nightwork. Tell us how that came about.
DS: Well... I did the first two as well, so I guess it was the natural way to go to let me do the third as well. I guess Blackheim enjoys my company and I believe that we create something really unique once we bang our heads together, locked up in a tower or down the cellar, doesn't matter.
IL: What do you think of your performance on the album?
DS: I like what I've done to it! The drumming is fine by me and the keyboard "riffs" that I wrote and co-wrote turned out excellent for being put together and recorded on the spot!
IL: Did you have a good time producing the album?
DS: Yeah. I took the whole April of last year and spent 14 days with Blackheim and 14 with Moontower... one of the better months of my life this far!
Now run on over to the Swano forum and read the whole thing, damn it!
), and there were a few Katatonia-related things (TD era) in it which I didn't know, so thought those of you who don't frequent the Swano forum would like to see it. So, here it is (from ILL LITERATURE):IL: Another band I was pleasantly surprised to discover you'll be helping out is Katatonia. You'll be playing all the drums on their upcoming album. How did this come about and why did their original drummer (and vocalist) Jonas Renkse decide to step down from the kit?
DS: I had a call from Blackheim one night and they were in deep shit in Sunlight studios. They had spent like 10 days doing nothing. First up was Renkse, he couldn't play with the click track they had recorded the scratch tracks with so they called for a studio drummer who Skogsberg (Tomas, producer) used to work with in the past but after two days of trying to get behind the first fill they decided to let him go. I volunteered and was asked to join in at Sunlight. Since I only play drums with a click track in my headphones nowadays it was a piece of cake to nail like 11 tracks in one day. The beats were very basic and I believe that no one will ever catch what problems the other drummers were facing because it sounds like so easy but I know that "beginners" with click track can have severe problems letting something else run their "internal clock".
IL: What does Katatonia's new material sound like and were you involved in the band's song-writing process?
DS: Oh no. The songs were ready. I had a tape with all of them with a drum machine and I learned them on the train there and in the studio right before the takes.
IL: Is Mikael Akerfeldt helping out again too?
DS: Yeah. Mike is doing all the harmonica on the album. Sorry. Bad jokes tend to occur around the sixteenth question... Mike produced the vocals again. He's the master of that. If you liked the last album you'll fucking freak out when you hear this. The second track on my advance tape is the best track they ever did. With a proper backing that song could take them to fucking billboard without an inch of a sellout!
IL: You also played drums (and some keyboards) on the latest Diabolical Masquerade (Blackheim's black metal side-project) album Nightwork. Tell us how that came about.
DS: Well... I did the first two as well, so I guess it was the natural way to go to let me do the third as well. I guess Blackheim enjoys my company and I believe that we create something really unique once we bang our heads together, locked up in a tower or down the cellar, doesn't matter.
IL: What do you think of your performance on the album?
DS: I like what I've done to it! The drumming is fine by me and the keyboard "riffs" that I wrote and co-wrote turned out excellent for being put together and recorded on the spot!
IL: Did you have a good time producing the album?
DS: Yeah. I took the whole April of last year and spent 14 days with Blackheim and 14 with Moontower... one of the better months of my life this far!
Now run on over to the Swano forum and read the whole thing, damn it!
Right away!! Thanks!
