I was going through some old IF interviews recently, some interesting comments in these for sure.
An interview with Jesper from 1997, post-TJR and pre-Whoracle
www.chroniclesofchaos.com
"Bands change but that is required to keep it fresh and innovative at times. We have changed our music from the sound we were doing four years ago, but it has been natural for us. Some bands change to keep up with what is going on at the moment and they will never succeed in the long run because they keep having to change to be accepted."
Interesting that even as far back as when TJR was released Jesper was already defending the change in sound. Bizarre, actually, considering only LS and Sub had been released at that point. I can't help but think his final line here prophesises what In Flames ultimately became, though.
"I think people are drawn to In Flames because of our diversity. As well, our fans, or people that may know us, know that they are going to get something different with each release and not have us repeat the same song styles. I think from looking at our music and career from this point, we have not stagnated ourselves."
This quote is pretty strange as well considering, again, they'd only released LS, Sub and TJR at this point. With LS and Sub really just being demos. Just shows how much attention In Flames had gotten even by 1997. Honestly this is the kind of quote you'd expect to see in an interview from 2006 or something, not 1997.
An interview with Jesper from 1998, after Whoracle's release
www.chroniclesofchaos.com
"In terms of new material, we have written a couple of new songs and I think one of them is the best song we have ever written. It sounds like "Moonshield Part 2" or "Gyroscope Part 2". It is a very good song."
I have no idea what song he's talking about here. I can't think of any song on Colony that sounds like Gyroscope or Moonshield part 2. Pallars Anders Visa is the closest, I guess, but I don't get the feeling he was talking about that. I wonder if this song was just dropped in the end?
"We want to maybe try a bit more clearer vocals. Not in the same vein as Amorphis, because I think if you can't sing normal then don't do it 'cause it sounds pathetic."
Ain't that the truth.
"I like the whole feel of [Whoracle], but as most musicians will point out about their efforts, I am not 100% happy with the production. It was good, but could have been better."
Interesting as Whoracle production is often brought up as being a little off. With that said, I'd like to know what 1998 Jesper would make of ASOP's production, as seemingly he had no problem with that mess.
"[Whoracle] was a very quick record for us to assemble. But there were problems first off. I had a writing block for sometime and I didn't know what we were going to do. No ideas were coming to me and I was worried. I didn't write for almost a whole year, though I had written the song "Episode 666" (off _Whoracle_). Then at the start of 1997 I had started to write material and then it all just poured out. To go from total blackness to a new album in less than four weeks. It just came out all at once."
Pretty damn impressive that all of Whoracle except Episode 666 was created in four weeks. It also suggests that, regardless of songwriting credits, Jesper was basically responsible for the majority of Whoracle from a songwriting perspective.
"I am not in Hammerfall. They are a real band now and I have no part in the band. They had real problems with people thinking it was a side-project of In Flames."
Did not realise people thought this. Strange considering Hammerfall and In Flames are poles apart musically.
An interview with Bjorn from 2000, after Clayman's release
www.chroniclesofchaos.com
"While the band does have a very faithful following, a lot of fans of the band feel very passionate about the work on _The Jester Race_ and think that much of In Flames' new work is just a continuation of that, not really breaking from that mold. About those comments from fans, Gelotte answers: "Let people think what they want. Some people even want us to go back and record another album like _Lunar Strain_. Why should we do that? That would be like living in the past. We are getting older now and are being influenced by many different things these days."
Lol, it's funny to me that even back then people were wanting them to go back to da rootz. They'd have to wait another 23 years for that (Foregone \m/)
"[Clayman] It was all pretty much done within the time frame of a month. It was very fast and it felt so good to be able to go into the studio inspired and get it all done so quickly."
Seems that they do their best work when it gets done quickly. Siren Charms excepted, obviously.
"We used to be very lazy, but this time around it was the total opposite."
And look at the end result, an amazing instrumental effort. A shame they went back to being lazy. 'Used to', yeah, that didn't last.
Another interview with Bjorn from 2000, after Clayman's release
"ID: Clayman. Just actually got a copy.
Björn: Actually, I'm sitting here with a copy, the first printed one. I didn't even get to look at the lyrics yet. Should be interesting reading them tonight.
ID: Does Anders just write the lyrics without telling anyone about them?
Björn: He never tells anybody, not even press, about the lyrics.
ID: Oh."
lmao, I love how for some reason the interviewer seems quite offended/baffled by this.
"ID: Some people accuse Colony of having one constant tempo, but Clayman is very dynamic in comparison."
Just find this an odd question... what people accused Colony of this?
"ID: Do you think that Clayman is going to be harder to reproduce live?
Björn: I think we always try to make the songs possible to play. We are not a studio band, we are a live band these days. We try to make the songs to sound good live, but I don't think it will be hard to reproduce this live."
And yet you never seem to get the OFTW solo right.
"ID: It's my favorite song on the album. So, other than In Flames, what do you guys do. Do you have day jobs or families?
Björn: Actually, I work in a music store in Gothenburg. An instument store, not a cd store.
ID: Cool.
Björn: Yeah, I get to work with all these nice guitars and stuff, and try the new, latest stuff, which is really cool for me. And I meet a lot of people really interested in music, so it's great for me. Also it's relaxation, instead of just playing music, you get to talk other kinds of music with other people. Everything from pop music to the darkest gore metal. For me, everything is really cool. Daniel is working as a teacher somewhere, teaching Latin and Italian or something like that. Peter is going to have another kid soon. He has a wife and a kid, so he is pretty happy with that. He is really a family man. Anders has Studio Fredman. He has his hands full. Jesper has a family, with a couple dogs and a girlfriend. Well, he has just one dog now. And a big apartment, just writing music all day."
Some cool background on what Bjorn was doing as a normal job back then, although I assume he left that job quite soon afterwards.
"Bjorn: And we have all sorts of music, it's not all Swedish music. It's maybe mainly not Swedish music. But it's the same stuff that's popular over here, excuse me for saying crap. I can't really stand it. You know "Cryyying." Too much.
ID: Boy bands?
Björn: Well, I wouldn't say that about boy bands.
ID: Well, the Backstreet Boys are my secret love that I don't tell anyone about.[Seems you just told the world, Kevin. --Jamie]
Björn: Yeah! That's the same with us! We rarely speak about it, but we listen to that stuff. The songs are really well written, and the choruses are excellent."
I will always respect somebody showing their love for the Backstreet Boys.
"ID: On to the scandalous question. Why is the Clayman release party postponed?
Björn: Release party, postponed?
ID: Yes, I read it on the website.
Björn: It's postponed now? I didn't know that. Ahh, shit. Maybe I should call home. I didn't know that.
ID: I'm sorry.
Björn: Nah nah, it's alright. It's good that someone tells me."
Something about this exchange just cracks me up. Even back then Bjorn was the last to know.
"ID: So, what music are you really into these days. Where do you find inspiration?
Björn: Well, it's hard. I like everything. If it's the Backstreet Boys, or Slipknot, which I find very interesting. I listen to Meshuggah. I listen to everything. I think it's important to maintain a diversity; to get a healthy perspective on music. I mean, Jesper listens to everything from power metal to brutal death metal; he loves Macabre. He really enjoys some Britney Spears songs. I mean everything. Anders is a great fan of Tea Party and Tool. We listen to a lot of different things. You shouldn't be afraid of listening to different stuff, or we might produce the same album all the time. I know people who say "Oh, I only listen to my own albums" of their own."
Firstly, Bjorn utterly destroying he and Jesper's underground credibility. Secondly, I'm sure there was an interview recently where it was stated Bjorn listens to nothing new anymore, only old stuff he likes. Pretty sad that he went from being so open-minded here to just listening to the same stuff. Might explain why his riffs and solos sound so utterly uninspired and recycled these days, though. He had it right back then.
An interview with Daniel from 2003, after Reroute's release
www.darkside.ru
"Tell me something about the new album that you're writing at the moment. How do the new songs sound like? Will the new stuff be a development of what you did on "Reroute To Remain" or will there be another dramatic turn?
You'll still hear that it's In Flames. Some people say there are drastic changes from "Clayman" (2000) to "Reroute To Remain", but I don't really see it. Nevertheless, it's up to them to judge. We now have 13 songs for the new album, there will be a couple of really fast songs and also some really groovy and heavy and aggressive stuff. It's still In Flames, it's still melodic, but we try to experiment, as we always do, just to make it interesting for ourselves."
Hard disagree there, Daniel.
"Do you have a title for the new album? As far as I understand, "The Tuborg Sessions" is the working title…
It's just a misunderstanding. Tuborg is a Danish beer, and we had a lot of Danish beer, so that's why we called it "Tuborg Sessions". There's nothing serious about it, it was just for fun, but then they wrote in newspapers that this is the working title of the new record. (laughs)"
Lol, imagine actually believing the album would be called "The Tuborg Sessions". Would have been quite epic tbf, but still.
"What is the song "Dismiss The Cynics" about?
It's not me writing the lyrics, but from the title I can guess that it's against narrow-minded people. Narrow-minded when it comes to music and to everything."
Should have just called it "Old Fans - Just Fuck Off and Die".
"More about session musicians - you had Kee Marcello (Europe) doing one guitar solo on "Colony" (1999). How did you get to know him? Do you like Europe?
That was Fredrik Nordstrom, our old producer, who met him in a bar. And Fredrik knew that Jesper (Stromblad, guitar) is a really big fan of Kee. So we invited him to the studio and Jesper didn't know it. When he came to the studio, Kee was there playing guitar, so Jesper was totally stunned! (laughs) That was the thing was we did for Jesper. And Kee is a really good guitar player."
Cool little story that I didn't know.
"What's your impression about their latest album "St. Anger"? Have you heard it?
I heard two songs and I think it sucks! (laughs) Not really, but I have to listen to it more. The sound is weird."
Your first answer was correct, Daniel.
"Nuclear Blast decided to use your version of Metallica's "Eye Of The Beholder" for their "Tribute To The Four Horsemen", but this recording is nearly nine years old. Why didn't you do something new for this tribute?
We didn't wanna be on the album, because we didn't wanna do a metal cover. And we said, "Please don't use this song, because it's so old, and only one current member of In Flames is playing on it." If a kid buys the album and gets excited about In Flames, it's not fair, because that's not how we sound today. We didn't wanna be on the album, and that's not something we are behind."
Fair comment.
An Interview with Anders from 2004, about a month before the release of STYE
ultimatemetal.com
"How are you?
A:Uh, great, nothing to complain, what about you?
I have a cold at the moment, but okay.
A:Not that good. Well, okay then"
Lol, what a strange and awkward start to an interview. Why include this?
"I even know some people who claim that you changed your style just to reach a wider audience!
A: No, that's bullshit! We didn't change the sound that much, it's just a progression that started and we go on with it. You can't compose songs just to please people, no way."
We didn't change sound that much. Yeah, OK.
"Talking about your upcoming tour now. I guess it's quite hard after so many albums to choose songs to play live. How many of the older ones do you actually choose?...like from the first albums like Jester Race or Whoracle?
A:We hear it from all fans "please, play something from Jester Race and Whoracle and Colony or whatever" but we learned over the years that we write our music, our songs, from live-perspective, all songs from Soundtrack To Your Escape we're able to play live, and they will sound good live. The songs from the Jester Race - we were young, we were like trying to get everything into one song, all tons of melodies at the same time, different guitarlines and so on. They will sound totally crap and weak and that's why we don't play those songs live. And when it comes to choose songs - yeah, its harder and harder for every album, you need to play songs from the new album, you want to present the new album and that's why we have to kick out some old stuff. It's really hard which ones we will choose or which are not supposed to be in there, but we have to make it interesting and challenging for us so it feels good to play the songs; it shouldn't be like we have to play them, because the audience will see that we are forcing ourselves I guess - we want to be happy, but it's harder and harder every time, of course."
What a giant mass of nonsense. You hear from all the fans that they want you to play some stuff from the classic albums, and you ignore them. Well done. Colony was only five years old at this point as well, fuck me. That'd be like saying nowadays "people ask us to play Siren Charms Battles and I, the Mask or whatever but fuck that, those albums are old". As for TJR stuff sounding "totally crap and weak" live, just fuck off with that. If that was the case you'd have had nobody coming to your shows between 1996 and 2002. At least he comes close to admitting the truth when he mentions "forcing" themselves to play older songs. Because the truth is, simply, that he and probably Bjorn just didn't want to. Nothing to do with them being "totally crap and weak". What a dense thing to say. As if your clean vocals don't sound "crap and weak" every time you attempt them. Really funny to hear him talk about STYE songs being so good to play live. Yeah, that's why you ended up playing barely any of them regularly over the years. One of the most neglected albums in terms of songs played live. Obviously didn't work out as he expected.
"Could you ever imagine to record an album on which you'll go back to the roots?
A:Why? We have all the roots with us, why do we have to go back to the roots? If you're a band and you say "Ah, we need to go back to the roots", then you lost something along the way, there's no point. We exist for ten years now and we can't write the same songs again and we don't want to do."
Ah, the good old rootz. If only he could go forward in time and hear Foregone. Then he'd realise how wrong he is.
An interview with Anders & Peter from 2004, 6 days before the release of STYE
www.chroniclesofchaos.com
"CoC: As far as choosing Daniel Bergstrand to produce the new record -- why use him again this time round?
PI: We were very comfortable with working with him the last time. He was very dedicated to what we were doing and he did a very good job. Why change a good recipe?"
Hmmm... not sure Reroute's production counts as "doing a good job" but yeah, OK.
"CoC: As you grew more popular after _The Jester Race_, In Flames obviously drew a lot of criticism with people saying that you were repeating yourselves and that you had grown boring. Was the departure of _Soundtrack to Your Escape_ a reaction to that?
AF: We've been around for a long time and we've learned a lot from our experiences. From the first album we have been growing as a band. In the beginning we didn't really know how to play live, we weren't such good songwriters, but we pushed everything we had into In Flames. We don't regret anything, but I think that it's important to move forward and it's important not to repeat yourselves."
'We weren't such good songwriters' - fucking bullshit. Imagine being stupid enough to even say that, considering how awesome TJR and Whoracle are. Not to mention, we weren't such good songwriters? Who is we, Anders? It isn't you, as you didn't write any of the songs, so this is basically taking a shot at Jesper, Glenn and Bjorn. Both an incorrect and offensive statement, frankly. But yeah, sure, Bottled and F(r)iend, far superior songwriting to anything off the old albums. So much better.
"CoC: Any last words, guys?
AF: Buy _Soundtrack to Your Escape_. You will not be disappointed."
Narrator: They were disappointed.
An interview with Anders from 2006, just before Come Clarity's release
www.chroniclesofchaos.com
"CoC: After so many years of working with essentially the same group of people, has the temptation ever arisen to use another producer or go to a completely different studio?
AF: I think it's always good to have an outside opinion, and this time around we did do things slightly differently. I would like someday to have a different producer all the way and see what they can do with the music. Not to have them change it, but just to see what they can bring to the table and what sort of perspective they can bring to things."
Ten years later, every song co-written by Howard Benson and co.
"CoC: Who would be your dream producer to use?
AF: <pauses>
CoC: Bob Rock?
AF: <laughs> No, maybe Rick Rubin. Terry Date would be cool too."
Poor Howard, not even in Anders' thoughts in 2006. Although I'm not sure how famous he was back then.
"AF: We'll always be In Flames no matter what happens. We can change songs here and there, but we will always be melodic and we will always be aggressive."
Eight years later, Siren Charms happened.
"CoC: What do you think of the music press?
AF: I don't think anything bad about journalists. We need them and they need us, you know? And I don't blame them when an article comes out and maybe I don't sound like such a cool guy. I think that a lot of things that are said and quoted come from the band members and it's their responsibility to make sure that they're not saying anything they shouldn't be. A lot of bands tend to love the press while they're doing well, and they hate them when something bad gets said about them and people turn on them. They always blame the press and some people just love to say certain things so that they can be seen as being rebellious. And when that goes wrong, then they blame the press and they say that they were misquoted. That's their fault, and no one else's. Personally, I've never had any problems with any of the press. I've been misquoted sometimes, but it's never been anything serious. Sometimes you shake your head at a review, like when people were saying that we were going nu metal with _Reroute to Remain_, or when they say that now you sound like this or now you're sounding like that band. We're just doing our own thing. We're not trying to sound American. We're Swedish. We've been around for a long time and we've been doing this same thing since we began. The musical climate might change, but we don't. Sure we don't do the same album every time, but we're still In Flames every time. We are on our own path somewhere. And it's hard to be original. A lot of people try to do it and they fail, but I don't think that there's another band who sound like In Flames. No doubt about it. I don't think anybody can sound like we sound."
Kind of a condescending take, honestly. Also "the musical climate might change, but we don't". Haha, good one m8.
"CoC: My next question is about Passengers, and I was wondering what's happening with that project now that your priorities with In Flames have obviously begun to take up a lot more of your time.
AF: Well, I've recorded vocals for about ten or twelve songs. I don't know how many of those will make it on to the next album, but it's really just a case of finding the time to do it. Right now In Flames takes up my time 24/7. And to be really honest, Passengers is more of a nice outlet for me to do things I can't do with In Flames and spend some time with my friends. We'll see whatever happens."
Sounds like a bunch of new Passenger stuff was recorded - demos, at the very least. A shame they'll likely never see the light of day.
An interview with Peter from 2008, just before the release of ASOP
www.darkside.ru
"Beside the title track, “The Mirror’s Truth” there will be three more songs on the single – “Eraser”, “Tilt“, “Abnegation”. What songs are these? Were they left out off the album and didn’t get on it?
Exactly. We wrote 16 songs for this record and only 12 were put on the album. But all songs were really good and they could be on the record as well. We just felt that they were good enough, but they couldn’t be on the record, cause it would be too long then. And moreover to sell a single to people with only one song it makes no sense at all. So we decided to put them on the Japanese version."
Firstly, TCP is the equivilent of 3 songs, so just remove that and replace with Eraser, Tilt and Abnegation. Make TCP a Japanese bonus. Problem solved. Secondly, I always find it odd that Eraser especially was recorded as part of the overall ASOP sessions. It sounds so different in terms of production and style.
"If you were to characterize “A Sense Of Purpose” in several words what words would you choose?
The very very diverse record. So that you can basically take all In Flames records so far and put them together and then you have “A Sense Of Purpose”. It’s a combination of everything."
Sorry Peter, but no.
"The new album will be also released in a limited edition? What bonus-track will there be?
(thinks) It will be the song … Well for me the song has just a working title, I mean that which we are going to use as a bonus track. I forgot the name of the song, but that will be a song – very good song by the way – that didn’t get either on the record, or to the EP. So there will be only one bonus – this song."
The mystery song that never saw the light of day. One assumes he isn't talking about the South Korean album version with the Alias remix, anyway.
"You have a joint project with one of your group mates - Jesper Strömblad - DJ Sellout & DJ Kaos.
Yeah! It’s just a DJ project. We travel around the world and play our favorite music. We are invited and we go and play. We’ve been to Greece, some places in America. We hang around, have a good time and show people our favorite music."
I would have liked to have seen this.
An Interview with Anders from 2019, after ITM release
empireextreme.com
I'm literally including this for one comment:
"I will never go back and do another ‘The Jester Race’ or ‘Whoracle’ or ‘Colony’ or ‘Clayman’. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be true to that album. That album is perfect in every way. If I try to go back 20 years and try to recreate something when I’m in a whole different state of mind, that wouldn’t do it justice. It would just only be bad."
Clayman 2020 has entered the chat.
Seriously... Clayman 2020 was released barely a year after he said this. Way to stick to your beliefs.
An interview with Jesper from 1997, post-TJR and pre-Whoracle
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 4/9/1997
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 4/9/1997
"Bands change but that is required to keep it fresh and innovative at times. We have changed our music from the sound we were doing four years ago, but it has been natural for us. Some bands change to keep up with what is going on at the moment and they will never succeed in the long run because they keep having to change to be accepted."
Interesting that even as far back as when TJR was released Jesper was already defending the change in sound. Bizarre, actually, considering only LS and Sub had been released at that point. I can't help but think his final line here prophesises what In Flames ultimately became, though.
"I think people are drawn to In Flames because of our diversity. As well, our fans, or people that may know us, know that they are going to get something different with each release and not have us repeat the same song styles. I think from looking at our music and career from this point, we have not stagnated ourselves."
This quote is pretty strange as well considering, again, they'd only released LS, Sub and TJR at this point. With LS and Sub really just being demos. Just shows how much attention In Flames had gotten even by 1997. Honestly this is the kind of quote you'd expect to see in an interview from 2006 or something, not 1997.
An interview with Jesper from 1998, after Whoracle's release
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 3/10/1998
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 3/10/1998
"In terms of new material, we have written a couple of new songs and I think one of them is the best song we have ever written. It sounds like "Moonshield Part 2" or "Gyroscope Part 2". It is a very good song."
I have no idea what song he's talking about here. I can't think of any song on Colony that sounds like Gyroscope or Moonshield part 2. Pallars Anders Visa is the closest, I guess, but I don't get the feeling he was talking about that. I wonder if this song was just dropped in the end?
"We want to maybe try a bit more clearer vocals. Not in the same vein as Amorphis, because I think if you can't sing normal then don't do it 'cause it sounds pathetic."
Ain't that the truth.
"I like the whole feel of [Whoracle], but as most musicians will point out about their efforts, I am not 100% happy with the production. It was good, but could have been better."
Interesting as Whoracle production is often brought up as being a little off. With that said, I'd like to know what 1998 Jesper would make of ASOP's production, as seemingly he had no problem with that mess.
"[Whoracle] was a very quick record for us to assemble. But there were problems first off. I had a writing block for sometime and I didn't know what we were going to do. No ideas were coming to me and I was worried. I didn't write for almost a whole year, though I had written the song "Episode 666" (off _Whoracle_). Then at the start of 1997 I had started to write material and then it all just poured out. To go from total blackness to a new album in less than four weeks. It just came out all at once."
Pretty damn impressive that all of Whoracle except Episode 666 was created in four weeks. It also suggests that, regardless of songwriting credits, Jesper was basically responsible for the majority of Whoracle from a songwriting perspective.
"I am not in Hammerfall. They are a real band now and I have no part in the band. They had real problems with people thinking it was a side-project of In Flames."
Did not realise people thought this. Strange considering Hammerfall and In Flames are poles apart musically.
An interview with Bjorn from 2000, after Clayman's release
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 8/12/2000
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 8/12/2000
"While the band does have a very faithful following, a lot of fans of the band feel very passionate about the work on _The Jester Race_ and think that much of In Flames' new work is just a continuation of that, not really breaking from that mold. About those comments from fans, Gelotte answers: "Let people think what they want. Some people even want us to go back and record another album like _Lunar Strain_. Why should we do that? That would be like living in the past. We are getting older now and are being influenced by many different things these days."
Lol, it's funny to me that even back then people were wanting them to go back to da rootz. They'd have to wait another 23 years for that (Foregone \m/)
"[Clayman] It was all pretty much done within the time frame of a month. It was very fast and it felt so good to be able to go into the studio inspired and get it all done so quickly."
Seems that they do their best work when it gets done quickly. Siren Charms excepted, obviously.
"We used to be very lazy, but this time around it was the total opposite."
And look at the end result, an amazing instrumental effort. A shame they went back to being lazy. 'Used to', yeah, that didn't last.
Another interview with Bjorn from 2000, after Clayman's release
"ID: Clayman. Just actually got a copy.
Björn: Actually, I'm sitting here with a copy, the first printed one. I didn't even get to look at the lyrics yet. Should be interesting reading them tonight.
ID: Does Anders just write the lyrics without telling anyone about them?
Björn: He never tells anybody, not even press, about the lyrics.
ID: Oh."
lmao, I love how for some reason the interviewer seems quite offended/baffled by this.
"ID: Some people accuse Colony of having one constant tempo, but Clayman is very dynamic in comparison."
Just find this an odd question... what people accused Colony of this?
"ID: Do you think that Clayman is going to be harder to reproduce live?
Björn: I think we always try to make the songs possible to play. We are not a studio band, we are a live band these days. We try to make the songs to sound good live, but I don't think it will be hard to reproduce this live."
And yet you never seem to get the OFTW solo right.
"ID: It's my favorite song on the album. So, other than In Flames, what do you guys do. Do you have day jobs or families?
Björn: Actually, I work in a music store in Gothenburg. An instument store, not a cd store.
ID: Cool.
Björn: Yeah, I get to work with all these nice guitars and stuff, and try the new, latest stuff, which is really cool for me. And I meet a lot of people really interested in music, so it's great for me. Also it's relaxation, instead of just playing music, you get to talk other kinds of music with other people. Everything from pop music to the darkest gore metal. For me, everything is really cool. Daniel is working as a teacher somewhere, teaching Latin and Italian or something like that. Peter is going to have another kid soon. He has a wife and a kid, so he is pretty happy with that. He is really a family man. Anders has Studio Fredman. He has his hands full. Jesper has a family, with a couple dogs and a girlfriend. Well, he has just one dog now. And a big apartment, just writing music all day."
Some cool background on what Bjorn was doing as a normal job back then, although I assume he left that job quite soon afterwards.
"Bjorn: And we have all sorts of music, it's not all Swedish music. It's maybe mainly not Swedish music. But it's the same stuff that's popular over here, excuse me for saying crap. I can't really stand it. You know "Cryyying." Too much.
ID: Boy bands?
Björn: Well, I wouldn't say that about boy bands.
ID: Well, the Backstreet Boys are my secret love that I don't tell anyone about.[Seems you just told the world, Kevin. --Jamie]
Björn: Yeah! That's the same with us! We rarely speak about it, but we listen to that stuff. The songs are really well written, and the choruses are excellent."
I will always respect somebody showing their love for the Backstreet Boys.
"ID: On to the scandalous question. Why is the Clayman release party postponed?
Björn: Release party, postponed?
ID: Yes, I read it on the website.
Björn: It's postponed now? I didn't know that. Ahh, shit. Maybe I should call home. I didn't know that.
ID: I'm sorry.
Björn: Nah nah, it's alright. It's good that someone tells me."
Something about this exchange just cracks me up. Even back then Bjorn was the last to know.
"ID: So, what music are you really into these days. Where do you find inspiration?
Björn: Well, it's hard. I like everything. If it's the Backstreet Boys, or Slipknot, which I find very interesting. I listen to Meshuggah. I listen to everything. I think it's important to maintain a diversity; to get a healthy perspective on music. I mean, Jesper listens to everything from power metal to brutal death metal; he loves Macabre. He really enjoys some Britney Spears songs. I mean everything. Anders is a great fan of Tea Party and Tool. We listen to a lot of different things. You shouldn't be afraid of listening to different stuff, or we might produce the same album all the time. I know people who say "Oh, I only listen to my own albums" of their own."
Firstly, Bjorn utterly destroying he and Jesper's underground credibility. Secondly, I'm sure there was an interview recently where it was stated Bjorn listens to nothing new anymore, only old stuff he likes. Pretty sad that he went from being so open-minded here to just listening to the same stuff. Might explain why his riffs and solos sound so utterly uninspired and recycled these days, though. He had it right back then.
An interview with Daniel from 2003, after Reroute's release
Интервью с In Flames
Общепризнанные основатели Новой волны шведского death metal продолжают пожинать плоды успеха своего диска 2002 года 'Reroute To Remain'. Нынешний год ознаменовался для шведов очередным выступлением на немецком фестивале Wacken Open Air. Незадолго до их шоу сцене фестиваля мне выдалась...
You'll still hear that it's In Flames. Some people say there are drastic changes from "Clayman" (2000) to "Reroute To Remain", but I don't really see it. Nevertheless, it's up to them to judge. We now have 13 songs for the new album, there will be a couple of really fast songs and also some really groovy and heavy and aggressive stuff. It's still In Flames, it's still melodic, but we try to experiment, as we always do, just to make it interesting for ourselves."
Hard disagree there, Daniel.
"Do you have a title for the new album? As far as I understand, "The Tuborg Sessions" is the working title…
It's just a misunderstanding. Tuborg is a Danish beer, and we had a lot of Danish beer, so that's why we called it "Tuborg Sessions". There's nothing serious about it, it was just for fun, but then they wrote in newspapers that this is the working title of the new record. (laughs)"
Lol, imagine actually believing the album would be called "The Tuborg Sessions". Would have been quite epic tbf, but still.
"What is the song "Dismiss The Cynics" about?
It's not me writing the lyrics, but from the title I can guess that it's against narrow-minded people. Narrow-minded when it comes to music and to everything."
Should have just called it "Old Fans - Just Fuck Off and Die".
"More about session musicians - you had Kee Marcello (Europe) doing one guitar solo on "Colony" (1999). How did you get to know him? Do you like Europe?
That was Fredrik Nordstrom, our old producer, who met him in a bar. And Fredrik knew that Jesper (Stromblad, guitar) is a really big fan of Kee. So we invited him to the studio and Jesper didn't know it. When he came to the studio, Kee was there playing guitar, so Jesper was totally stunned! (laughs) That was the thing was we did for Jesper. And Kee is a really good guitar player."
Cool little story that I didn't know.
"What's your impression about their latest album "St. Anger"? Have you heard it?
I heard two songs and I think it sucks! (laughs) Not really, but I have to listen to it more. The sound is weird."
Your first answer was correct, Daniel.
"Nuclear Blast decided to use your version of Metallica's "Eye Of The Beholder" for their "Tribute To The Four Horsemen", but this recording is nearly nine years old. Why didn't you do something new for this tribute?
We didn't wanna be on the album, because we didn't wanna do a metal cover. And we said, "Please don't use this song, because it's so old, and only one current member of In Flames is playing on it." If a kid buys the album and gets excited about In Flames, it's not fair, because that's not how we sound today. We didn't wanna be on the album, and that's not something we are behind."
Fair comment.
An Interview with Anders from 2004, about a month before the release of STYE
Interview with Anders of In Flames (done last week)
This phone interview with the vocalist Anders Fridén of In Flames was done by Alexa Kasparek on February 18th, 2004. In Flames have been one of the founding fathers for the melodic death metal scene from Sweden. With their last album "Reroute To Remain" the band started experimenting more with...
ultimatemetal.com
"How are you?
A:Uh, great, nothing to complain, what about you?
I have a cold at the moment, but okay.
A:Not that good. Well, okay then"
Lol, what a strange and awkward start to an interview. Why include this?
"I even know some people who claim that you changed your style just to reach a wider audience!
A: No, that's bullshit! We didn't change the sound that much, it's just a progression that started and we go on with it. You can't compose songs just to please people, no way."
We didn't change sound that much. Yeah, OK.
"Talking about your upcoming tour now. I guess it's quite hard after so many albums to choose songs to play live. How many of the older ones do you actually choose?...like from the first albums like Jester Race or Whoracle?
A:We hear it from all fans "please, play something from Jester Race and Whoracle and Colony or whatever" but we learned over the years that we write our music, our songs, from live-perspective, all songs from Soundtrack To Your Escape we're able to play live, and they will sound good live. The songs from the Jester Race - we were young, we were like trying to get everything into one song, all tons of melodies at the same time, different guitarlines and so on. They will sound totally crap and weak and that's why we don't play those songs live. And when it comes to choose songs - yeah, its harder and harder for every album, you need to play songs from the new album, you want to present the new album and that's why we have to kick out some old stuff. It's really hard which ones we will choose or which are not supposed to be in there, but we have to make it interesting and challenging for us so it feels good to play the songs; it shouldn't be like we have to play them, because the audience will see that we are forcing ourselves I guess - we want to be happy, but it's harder and harder every time, of course."
What a giant mass of nonsense. You hear from all the fans that they want you to play some stuff from the classic albums, and you ignore them. Well done. Colony was only five years old at this point as well, fuck me. That'd be like saying nowadays "people ask us to play Siren Charms Battles and I, the Mask or whatever but fuck that, those albums are old". As for TJR stuff sounding "totally crap and weak" live, just fuck off with that. If that was the case you'd have had nobody coming to your shows between 1996 and 2002. At least he comes close to admitting the truth when he mentions "forcing" themselves to play older songs. Because the truth is, simply, that he and probably Bjorn just didn't want to. Nothing to do with them being "totally crap and weak". What a dense thing to say. As if your clean vocals don't sound "crap and weak" every time you attempt them. Really funny to hear him talk about STYE songs being so good to play live. Yeah, that's why you ended up playing barely any of them regularly over the years. One of the most neglected albums in terms of songs played live. Obviously didn't work out as he expected.
"Could you ever imagine to record an album on which you'll go back to the roots?
A:Why? We have all the roots with us, why do we have to go back to the roots? If you're a band and you say "Ah, we need to go back to the roots", then you lost something along the way, there's no point. We exist for ten years now and we can't write the same songs again and we don't want to do."
Ah, the good old rootz. If only he could go forward in time and hear Foregone. Then he'd realise how wrong he is.
An interview with Anders & Peter from 2004, 6 days before the release of STYE
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 3/23/2004
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 3/23/2004
"CoC: As far as choosing Daniel Bergstrand to produce the new record -- why use him again this time round?
PI: We were very comfortable with working with him the last time. He was very dedicated to what we were doing and he did a very good job. Why change a good recipe?"
Hmmm... not sure Reroute's production counts as "doing a good job" but yeah, OK.
"CoC: As you grew more popular after _The Jester Race_, In Flames obviously drew a lot of criticism with people saying that you were repeating yourselves and that you had grown boring. Was the departure of _Soundtrack to Your Escape_ a reaction to that?
AF: We've been around for a long time and we've learned a lot from our experiences. From the first album we have been growing as a band. In the beginning we didn't really know how to play live, we weren't such good songwriters, but we pushed everything we had into In Flames. We don't regret anything, but I think that it's important to move forward and it's important not to repeat yourselves."
'We weren't such good songwriters' - fucking bullshit. Imagine being stupid enough to even say that, considering how awesome TJR and Whoracle are. Not to mention, we weren't such good songwriters? Who is we, Anders? It isn't you, as you didn't write any of the songs, so this is basically taking a shot at Jesper, Glenn and Bjorn. Both an incorrect and offensive statement, frankly. But yeah, sure, Bottled and F(r)iend, far superior songwriting to anything off the old albums. So much better.
"CoC: Any last words, guys?
AF: Buy _Soundtrack to Your Escape_. You will not be disappointed."
Narrator: They were disappointed.
An interview with Anders from 2006, just before Come Clarity's release
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 1/9/2006
CoC : In Flames : Interview : 1/9/2006 : From playing alongside the likes of Motorhead and Judas Priest to slaying the main stage at Ozzfest, the last twenty four months have seen Sweden's premier melodic metal band scale heights that no one ever could have foreseen.
AF: I think it's always good to have an outside opinion, and this time around we did do things slightly differently. I would like someday to have a different producer all the way and see what they can do with the music. Not to have them change it, but just to see what they can bring to the table and what sort of perspective they can bring to things."
Ten years later, every song co-written by Howard Benson and co.
"CoC: Who would be your dream producer to use?
AF: <pauses>
CoC: Bob Rock?
AF: <laughs> No, maybe Rick Rubin. Terry Date would be cool too."
Poor Howard, not even in Anders' thoughts in 2006. Although I'm not sure how famous he was back then.
"AF: We'll always be In Flames no matter what happens. We can change songs here and there, but we will always be melodic and we will always be aggressive."
Eight years later, Siren Charms happened.
"CoC: What do you think of the music press?
AF: I don't think anything bad about journalists. We need them and they need us, you know? And I don't blame them when an article comes out and maybe I don't sound like such a cool guy. I think that a lot of things that are said and quoted come from the band members and it's their responsibility to make sure that they're not saying anything they shouldn't be. A lot of bands tend to love the press while they're doing well, and they hate them when something bad gets said about them and people turn on them. They always blame the press and some people just love to say certain things so that they can be seen as being rebellious. And when that goes wrong, then they blame the press and they say that they were misquoted. That's their fault, and no one else's. Personally, I've never had any problems with any of the press. I've been misquoted sometimes, but it's never been anything serious. Sometimes you shake your head at a review, like when people were saying that we were going nu metal with _Reroute to Remain_, or when they say that now you sound like this or now you're sounding like that band. We're just doing our own thing. We're not trying to sound American. We're Swedish. We've been around for a long time and we've been doing this same thing since we began. The musical climate might change, but we don't. Sure we don't do the same album every time, but we're still In Flames every time. We are on our own path somewhere. And it's hard to be original. A lot of people try to do it and they fail, but I don't think that there's another band who sound like In Flames. No doubt about it. I don't think anybody can sound like we sound."
Kind of a condescending take, honestly. Also "the musical climate might change, but we don't". Haha, good one m8.
"CoC: My next question is about Passengers, and I was wondering what's happening with that project now that your priorities with In Flames have obviously begun to take up a lot more of your time.
AF: Well, I've recorded vocals for about ten or twelve songs. I don't know how many of those will make it on to the next album, but it's really just a case of finding the time to do it. Right now In Flames takes up my time 24/7. And to be really honest, Passengers is more of a nice outlet for me to do things I can't do with In Flames and spend some time with my friends. We'll see whatever happens."
Sounds like a bunch of new Passenger stuff was recorded - demos, at the very least. A shame they'll likely never see the light of day.
An interview with Peter from 2008, just before the release of ASOP
Интервью с In Flames
Скажу сразу, что это интервью заставило меня всерьез обмозговать и, я бы даже сказала, пересмотреть свои взгляды как на музыкальную индустрию, в целом, так и на отдельных ее представителей, в частности. Не могу сказать, что это интервью было из ряда вон выходящим или каким-то особенным, но одна...
Exactly. We wrote 16 songs for this record and only 12 were put on the album. But all songs were really good and they could be on the record as well. We just felt that they were good enough, but they couldn’t be on the record, cause it would be too long then. And moreover to sell a single to people with only one song it makes no sense at all. So we decided to put them on the Japanese version."
Firstly, TCP is the equivilent of 3 songs, so just remove that and replace with Eraser, Tilt and Abnegation. Make TCP a Japanese bonus. Problem solved. Secondly, I always find it odd that Eraser especially was recorded as part of the overall ASOP sessions. It sounds so different in terms of production and style.
"If you were to characterize “A Sense Of Purpose” in several words what words would you choose?
The very very diverse record. So that you can basically take all In Flames records so far and put them together and then you have “A Sense Of Purpose”. It’s a combination of everything."
Sorry Peter, but no.
"The new album will be also released in a limited edition? What bonus-track will there be?
(thinks) It will be the song … Well for me the song has just a working title, I mean that which we are going to use as a bonus track. I forgot the name of the song, but that will be a song – very good song by the way – that didn’t get either on the record, or to the EP. So there will be only one bonus – this song."
The mystery song that never saw the light of day. One assumes he isn't talking about the South Korean album version with the Alias remix, anyway.
"You have a joint project with one of your group mates - Jesper Strömblad - DJ Sellout & DJ Kaos.
Yeah! It’s just a DJ project. We travel around the world and play our favorite music. We are invited and we go and play. We’ve been to Greece, some places in America. We hang around, have a good time and show people our favorite music."
I would have liked to have seen this.
An Interview with Anders from 2019, after ITM release
IN FLAMES' ANDERS FRIDÉN: 'I Will Never Go Back And Do Another 'The Jester Race' Or 'Whoracle''
IN FLAMES’ ANDERS FRIDÉN: ‘I Will Never Go Back And Do Another ‘The Jester Race’ Or ‘Whoracle” France’s United Rock Nations recently conducted an interview with frontman Anders Fridén of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by...
empireextreme.com
I'm literally including this for one comment:
"I will never go back and do another ‘The Jester Race’ or ‘Whoracle’ or ‘Colony’ or ‘Clayman’. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be true to that album. That album is perfect in every way. If I try to go back 20 years and try to recreate something when I’m in a whole different state of mind, that wouldn’t do it justice. It would just only be bad."
Clayman 2020 has entered the chat.
Seriously... Clayman 2020 was released barely a year after he said this. Way to stick to your beliefs.
