you can find here (in french) or you can click here to read a google translation of the interview.
thanks!
moosie
thanks!
moosie
new Dark Tranquillity interview (Niklas Sundin)
- Thread starter mooserider
- Start date
rahvin
keeper of the flame
disregard the google translation, it's ridiculous. i'll do one right now since for some reason the meeting i had to attend to has vanished.
Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral
we are children of god
rahvin
keeper of the flame
here's my (dull and unimaginative - blame the lack of sleep) translation for the non-french speakers:
-------
dark tranquillity can be called veterans of the melodic death scene. at a time when this style's popularity is peaking, and to ease the wait until the next album, it seemed appropriate to put out a little compilation record. exposures is a double-cd collecting b-sides, demos, and live tracks. a nice gift for fans, no doubt. and another gift is this interview with niklas sundin, dark tranquillity's guitarist.
q: would you say that exposures is more like a rare tracks compilation coupled with a bonus live disc, or the other way around?
a: i think that the first disc, with rare and unreleased songs, is going to be to the liking of more listeners than the live bit. therefore for me it's clearly a b-sides album with a bonus live cd.
q: are there songs on this record that you would have liked to see on a "regular" release?
a: absolutely. static and no one are amongst my favourite dark tranquillity songs of all time. i had voted for them to be included on the respective albums, but since there are six of us in the band, we can't always have our personal desires satisfied. many people who have heard exposures are surprised by the quality of the songs featured on it. this is therefore obviously not a collection of bits and pieces that were just not good enough to appear on a real dark tranquillity album [laughs]
q: as a rule, how many songs do you record that do not make it to the final release?
a: it depends on the record. at times, we happen to end up using everything we have recorded in studio, while at other times we have two or three titles in excess. nothing is really predictable or decided beforehand. if a song is complete by the time we enter the studio, we record it. for the mind's i we had sixteen songs, which led us to come out straight away with an ep with part of the songs that were not kept for the actual album. for the gallery, on the other hand, we had that exact number of titles and we put them all out on the record.
q: has it been hard to agree on which songs to include? how do you come to a decision in case of disagreement?
a: they're dramatic choices due to the multitude of points of view that the six band members can have. what makes our choice difficult is that there is a huge number of factors that contribute to the quality of a record. it doesn't matter to us to have a record crammed full of eighty minutes of music: we want to have good dynamics, and that the songs flow one after the other in a smooth way. in the majority of cases, we resort to voting in order to exclude any songs we're not all sure we want to include on a record
q: how would you describe dark tranquillity's musical evolution since the very beginning?
a: i don't think it's our place as a band to say it. i prefer to leave this to fans and journalists. it's next to impossible to be objective about one's own songs, and it's extremely hard to say something about our evolution from one album to the next.
q: which dark tranquillity record would you recommend to someone who wants to approach the band?
a: if i had to recommend an album to someone i would tell him not to just download a few of our songs at random! i would go for damage done, since it's our latest record and the one that's most representative of how we are now. it's a combination of all the other records. but actually everything depends on everyone's musical tastes. haven or projector could be appropriate for those who are not accustomed to listen to the most extreme acts.
q: did you happen to suffer as a consequence of the popularity of the album the gallery?
a: very good question. i think that the choice of word is a bit too strong, but there is some truth in it, as there in fact are people who have been disappointed by our every subsequent release. but if we would make some "back to the roots" record, the fans who like the more evolved and risky records would feel disappointed as well. and if we put out some new weird stuff, certain fans will likewise feel skeptical. it depends on the individual and we have nothing against having a very diverse public.
q: which dark tranquillity record do you think the band should have done better?
a. i don't know. all our records have their qualities and flaws and i have to admit i never listened to them with this question in mind; that's why it's going to be difficult to answer! according to my point of view, our records are archives reflecting our ambitions and skills at that moment of our career. nothing more, nothing less. of course i could tell you that the sound on skydancer is bad and not powerful enough, but that's the way things used to work at that time. bands hardly ever recorded for more than a week, and we had no experienced producer back then. it's useless to ask oneself how this or that song would have sounded if we had changed a few details.
q: in a recent interview with anders friden he said he's sorry that the swedish underground is not a tight-knit community anymore. do you agree?
a: yes and no. on the one hand, there was some magic in that scene fifteen or sixteen years ago. we were a very tight community. it's easy to be nostalgic about those blessed times, but it must be said that it's not important anymore. music takes up so much of our time already, that i'm not very preoccupied about belonging to a certain scene and having a special connection with certain bands or not. in any case, in my opinion as in anders', there is no more underground in the traditional sense.
q: in your opinion, what is it that makes melodic death metal so popular nowadays?
a: like every other band we hope that the popularity we are experiencing right now is due to the quality of our music. i can't speak for all bands, but i think that our nieche is the link between 80's heavy metal, death, extreme metal, and the most accessible kind of metal. for some people we're too mellow, for others we're too hard; but for most of them we're exactly what they need!
q: what's the best audience dark tranquillity has played for? and do you like small venues or festivals better?
a: the best audience? hard to say, but japan is usually absolutely amazing, like italy and mexico, but for those countries it depends on the venue. in general i prefer small venues due to the intimacy feeling. big festivals can be interesting as well. it all depends on the atmosphere. what i don't like in festivals is that the very strict schedule often prevents from doing a proper check on sound and equipment. as a consequence, risks of technical problems are multiplied as compared to a normal show.
q: can you give us some news on the new album? at what stage are you on? what can we expect from the band?
a: we've just finished recording it. we're busy with mastering, choosing the artwork and the tracklist. there are still many things to do before it can be declared finished. nevertheless, we have the whole summer to fine-tune it, so we're not running late. as for surprises, you just wait and see [laughs].
(april, 26, 2004)
-------
-------
dark tranquillity can be called veterans of the melodic death scene. at a time when this style's popularity is peaking, and to ease the wait until the next album, it seemed appropriate to put out a little compilation record. exposures is a double-cd collecting b-sides, demos, and live tracks. a nice gift for fans, no doubt. and another gift is this interview with niklas sundin, dark tranquillity's guitarist.
q: would you say that exposures is more like a rare tracks compilation coupled with a bonus live disc, or the other way around?
a: i think that the first disc, with rare and unreleased songs, is going to be to the liking of more listeners than the live bit. therefore for me it's clearly a b-sides album with a bonus live cd.
q: are there songs on this record that you would have liked to see on a "regular" release?
a: absolutely. static and no one are amongst my favourite dark tranquillity songs of all time. i had voted for them to be included on the respective albums, but since there are six of us in the band, we can't always have our personal desires satisfied. many people who have heard exposures are surprised by the quality of the songs featured on it. this is therefore obviously not a collection of bits and pieces that were just not good enough to appear on a real dark tranquillity album [laughs]
q: as a rule, how many songs do you record that do not make it to the final release?
a: it depends on the record. at times, we happen to end up using everything we have recorded in studio, while at other times we have two or three titles in excess. nothing is really predictable or decided beforehand. if a song is complete by the time we enter the studio, we record it. for the mind's i we had sixteen songs, which led us to come out straight away with an ep with part of the songs that were not kept for the actual album. for the gallery, on the other hand, we had that exact number of titles and we put them all out on the record.
q: has it been hard to agree on which songs to include? how do you come to a decision in case of disagreement?
a: they're dramatic choices due to the multitude of points of view that the six band members can have. what makes our choice difficult is that there is a huge number of factors that contribute to the quality of a record. it doesn't matter to us to have a record crammed full of eighty minutes of music: we want to have good dynamics, and that the songs flow one after the other in a smooth way. in the majority of cases, we resort to voting in order to exclude any songs we're not all sure we want to include on a record
q: how would you describe dark tranquillity's musical evolution since the very beginning?
a: i don't think it's our place as a band to say it. i prefer to leave this to fans and journalists. it's next to impossible to be objective about one's own songs, and it's extremely hard to say something about our evolution from one album to the next.
q: which dark tranquillity record would you recommend to someone who wants to approach the band?
a: if i had to recommend an album to someone i would tell him not to just download a few of our songs at random! i would go for damage done, since it's our latest record and the one that's most representative of how we are now. it's a combination of all the other records. but actually everything depends on everyone's musical tastes. haven or projector could be appropriate for those who are not accustomed to listen to the most extreme acts.
q: did you happen to suffer as a consequence of the popularity of the album the gallery?
a: very good question. i think that the choice of word is a bit too strong, but there is some truth in it, as there in fact are people who have been disappointed by our every subsequent release. but if we would make some "back to the roots" record, the fans who like the more evolved and risky records would feel disappointed as well. and if we put out some new weird stuff, certain fans will likewise feel skeptical. it depends on the individual and we have nothing against having a very diverse public.
q: which dark tranquillity record do you think the band should have done better?
a. i don't know. all our records have their qualities and flaws and i have to admit i never listened to them with this question in mind; that's why it's going to be difficult to answer! according to my point of view, our records are archives reflecting our ambitions and skills at that moment of our career. nothing more, nothing less. of course i could tell you that the sound on skydancer is bad and not powerful enough, but that's the way things used to work at that time. bands hardly ever recorded for more than a week, and we had no experienced producer back then. it's useless to ask oneself how this or that song would have sounded if we had changed a few details.
q: in a recent interview with anders friden he said he's sorry that the swedish underground is not a tight-knit community anymore. do you agree?
a: yes and no. on the one hand, there was some magic in that scene fifteen or sixteen years ago. we were a very tight community. it's easy to be nostalgic about those blessed times, but it must be said that it's not important anymore. music takes up so much of our time already, that i'm not very preoccupied about belonging to a certain scene and having a special connection with certain bands or not. in any case, in my opinion as in anders', there is no more underground in the traditional sense.
q: in your opinion, what is it that makes melodic death metal so popular nowadays?
a: like every other band we hope that the popularity we are experiencing right now is due to the quality of our music. i can't speak for all bands, but i think that our nieche is the link between 80's heavy metal, death, extreme metal, and the most accessible kind of metal. for some people we're too mellow, for others we're too hard; but for most of them we're exactly what they need!
q: what's the best audience dark tranquillity has played for? and do you like small venues or festivals better?
a: the best audience? hard to say, but japan is usually absolutely amazing, like italy and mexico, but for those countries it depends on the venue. in general i prefer small venues due to the intimacy feeling. big festivals can be interesting as well. it all depends on the atmosphere. what i don't like in festivals is that the very strict schedule often prevents from doing a proper check on sound and equipment. as a consequence, risks of technical problems are multiplied as compared to a normal show.
q: can you give us some news on the new album? at what stage are you on? what can we expect from the band?
a: we've just finished recording it. we're busy with mastering, choosing the artwork and the tracklist. there are still many things to do before it can be declared finished. nevertheless, we have the whole summer to fine-tune it, so we're not running late. as for surprises, you just wait and see [laughs].
(april, 26, 2004)
-------
Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral
we are children of god
rahvin
keeper of the flame
woah. the best that had happened so far in my career as a translator was someone complimenting my speed by email. i must admit i would have worked harder had i known people would start offering sex.Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral said:
Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral
we are children of god
That sir, was more than satisfactory.
Derrida would insist that no translation is correct, its the act of translating it at all that is important.
I'd agree with him there too.
Anyway... as for the sex... *evil laugh*
Derrida would insist that no translation is correct, its the act of translating it at all that is important.
I'd agree with him there too.
Anyway... as for the sex... *evil laugh*
rahvin
keeper of the flame
i'm a follower of hofstadter's guidelines when it comes to translation, as they appear in le ton beau de maraut. the best translations are most likely those that can reproduce the feelings experienced by the native speaker in the minds of the new readers. i'm sure this doesn't just apply to literary texts, but since i mostly get to translate scientific papers and columns about glaciers, i have to admit i haven't felt the motivation needed to delve deep into the art of conveying emotions in addition to mere content - provided they can even be separated - and i don't speak french nearly well enough to try anyway.Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral said:
Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral
we are children of god
"What is deconstruction? Nothing of course!"rahvin said:i'm a follower of hofstadter's guidelines when it comes to translation, as they appear in le ton beau de maraut. the best translations are most likely those that can reproduce the feelings experienced by the native speaker in the minds of the new readers. i'm sure this doesn't just apply to literary texts, but since i mostly get to translate scientific papers and columns about glaciers, i have to admit i haven't felt the motivation needed to delve deep into the art of conveying emotions in addition to mere content - provided they can even be separated - and i don't speak french nearly well enough to try anyway.
Derrida might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I do like deconstruction as a philosophy a great deal.
I am Nothing... too right.
Oppps... I digressed... excusez moi.
King Chaos
Pomeo Osoponeor
THANX R/-\HVIN That translation rules, as does the interview. Cheered me up it has
'Twas an insiteful read. In teresting to see that some of the B-sides are Niklas' favourite DT songs... this makes me crave Exposures even more than ever! thanks again Rahv and Moose!!!
That translation rules, as does the interview. Cheered me up it has 'Twas an insiteful read. In teresting to see that some of the B-sides are Niklas' favourite DT songs... this makes me crave Exposures even more than ever! thanks again Rahv and Moose!!!
Caelestia
rawr
Villain
Doctor BenQuillity
A most interesting interview. There were a couple of good questions I had never seen asked before, and had thought about asking them from the band this summer - thanks for sparing me from that.
A huge kiitos to Rahvin for the excellent translation.
-Villain
A huge kiitos to Rahvin for the excellent translation.
-Villain
Schwedentod
Member
But you have to admit the google translation is pretty damn funny Maybe it's just because I'm a language student/idiot, but I love inaccuracy of those computer translations. What else could produce a line like: Do you have evil to put agreement to you on the songs to be included? How do you slice in the event of dissension? 
Maybe it's just because I'm a language student/idiot, but I love inaccuracy of those computer translations. What else could produce a line like: Do you have evil to put agreement to you on the songs to be included? How do you slice in the event of dissension? 
Miolo
pie king
@nl: i agree. computer translations are one of the top three funniest things in the world. i still remember an icq page translated in italian, which made me laugh for about an hour.
computer translations are one of the top three funniest things in the world. i still remember an icq page translated in italian, which made me laugh for about an hour. 
Magrathean
worldbuilder
On TMI there are twelve tracks, and on ESA there are two (three if you count Archetype, but i don't think Niklas was thinking about that particular one; Zodijackyl is already on TMI), which makes fourteen (or fifteen). So what ever happened to the other song(s)? Or did Niklas miscalculate the number of songs they had at that time? Tranquillian, Villain or anybody with information?
Similar threads
