I Found an old Katatonia interview in a old Mighty magazine, it's on danish, but I've tried to translate it as good as I can...
hope you like it
The darkminded-rockers, Swedish Katatonia is back with their 4th fantastic album - Tonight's Decision. Once again the listener is suprised by their longful, despairfilled melancholygy rock/metal, who not others than Katatonia can make! Katatonia's previous album Discouraged Ones warned the fan for the new time coming with 100% clean vocals and 11 tracks more inspired by the likes of Cure and Slowdive than Paradise Lost and Sisters Of Mercy! Singer Jonas Renkse explanes to Mighty's PME:
" We had expected people to be more sceptical, but the respons has been a lot better than we had expected. It seemed like people had developed like us and it seemed like a natural new step for us. Apperantly people had expected us to change both musicstyle and vocals, so that's positive!"
Does the new album Tonight's Decision take you a step further from Discouraged Ones?
"I'm very delighted with TD. It's a perfect album! I think the tracks are better than on DO and we've also worked more than ever with the music. There's more variation than on DO, which was more like "straigh ahead""
What's that bell you can hear ca. 1 min and 15 sek. in "Strained"? It sure sounds like a bell!
"Yeah actually I've noticed it. I think it's Dan(Swanö, drummer on TD) who hits the cymbal wrong. It sounds strange but we couldn't do anything to it"
During the last couple of years Jonas Renkse has become very hooked by the (specially) american songwriter style, and the track "this Punishment" is also very alike this style. Also their cover of Jeff Buckley's Nightmares By the Sea is an outcome of this hooking.
"Everyone in Katatonia is very hooked on Jeff Buckley. When we made the tracks to TD we bought his Skethes... and we listened to this album a lot those days, specially Nightmares By The Sea which we thought had a Katatonia vibe. Shortly before we recorded TD we decided to play a Jeff Buckley track, but not because we wanted it on the album. It became Nightmares and we used a drummachine. Under the mixing we jsut thought it was so good so we put it on the album".
Who wrote music/lyrics on TD?
"I wrote all the lyrics and Anders (Nyström) wrote nearly all the music. I contributed with some riffs, as example in Had to Leave where I wrote most. We do arrange all the tracks together. On Do I wrote whole numbers like Saw you Drown, but lately I haven't wrote that good music, so I've been concentrating on the lyrics(laughs)"
Lyrically TD is familar with DO, but it seems it's even darker....
"Yeah the lyrics is more personly and down on the earth on DO than before. Also the new lyrics. Yeah the new lyrics is actually a little darker maybe. I'm still inspired by the same stuff, but maybe I've seen darker on the things this time(laughs)
Have you ever heard of Palace Music and their album Viva Last Blues?
"Ehh yeah..."
Have their track Tonight's Decision(and hereafter) inspired you when chosing a title on your new album?
"Yeah, haha. Damn you got me there! You're the first to say it, and to be honest I didn't expect anyone to find out, haha! I'm a very big fan of Palace Music,so..."
Any plans for a tour?
"We don't have any to play the bass or the drums by now. But we do expect touring in Europe in October/Nowember as a warmup for a bigger band. Our management is currently working on it, but we don't know anything yet ( a week later Katatonia was annonced as support for Paradise Lost)"
Will you also play older stuff, or only the new songs?
"We are not quite sure about this. We have a little problem here, cos it will be very hard for me to sing the death stuff. I really don't want to destroy my voice, and I've had some problems with it before. When I've tried I often couldn't speak for days afterwards. But with both TD and DO we should have enough tracks to establish a complete setlist. It would also look stupid if Anders should sing all the old stuff and I should walk onstage and offstage all the time, so I think we're only going to play the newer stuff and maybe Day from Brave Murder Day."
There have been some rumours about Avantgarde music should release a box-complication with Dance of December soulds, Brave Murder Day and DO on picture-discs and a Katatonia belt?
"Yeah, I think they're working on that now, but I don't know how far they are with it. By the way I don't know wether TD is going to be released on vinyl. If Peaceville can sell 1000-1500 eks. they're going to do it, but that isn't sure. Further more Century Media USAis going to release Saw you Drawn MCD, Sounds of Decay MCD and Love of the Swan and Black Erotica which were on the Wrong again Rec. complication"
But nothing that haven't been released before?
"I'm afraid we don't have such things. Roberto from Avantgarde talks about a re-edition of For Funerals to Come... with a couple of bonus live tracks, but that's all. Oh, yes we also have 3 tracks which wasn't on TD, but it's up to Peaceville to decide what to do with them".
What's happening with your project October Tide? Gery Dawn was a masterpiece!
"October Tide doen's exist anymore. Peaceville aren't happy with us being signed with other bands on other record companies. That's the disadvantage with bigger Records com. You're signed like a person, not a band. Anders has demnded to keep his Diabolical Masquerade, and I think they let him do it"
If you should choose five Katatonia tracks which have meant the most for you and have been a pioneer, which would you the choose?
"Uhh, good question. From the first album I would choose Without God, because it's so legendary. But also Gateways of Bereavement, because it's my favourite track from that album. I really don't like that album anymore,but this is a track I still like. Then I would choose Brave from Brave Murder Day because it was the first track we wrote to that album, and it started the new sound we got on the album. Then there' I Break from DO because it's such a good opener. When hearing that track you really get the mood from the rest of the album. On the new I would choose Black Session, because it's the last track we wrote to the album, and because I think it's the direction we're going to take on the next album....
As you may see there's some strange things Jonas is talking about in this interview.... what's that talk about a Katatonia Belt?????and what about the Century Media release of SYD????
anyway I think it's a cool little interview
hope you like it
The darkminded-rockers, Swedish Katatonia is back with their 4th fantastic album - Tonight's Decision. Once again the listener is suprised by their longful, despairfilled melancholygy rock/metal, who not others than Katatonia can make! Katatonia's previous album Discouraged Ones warned the fan for the new time coming with 100% clean vocals and 11 tracks more inspired by the likes of Cure and Slowdive than Paradise Lost and Sisters Of Mercy! Singer Jonas Renkse explanes to Mighty's PME:
" We had expected people to be more sceptical, but the respons has been a lot better than we had expected. It seemed like people had developed like us and it seemed like a natural new step for us. Apperantly people had expected us to change both musicstyle and vocals, so that's positive!"
Does the new album Tonight's Decision take you a step further from Discouraged Ones?
"I'm very delighted with TD. It's a perfect album! I think the tracks are better than on DO and we've also worked more than ever with the music. There's more variation than on DO, which was more like "straigh ahead""
What's that bell you can hear ca. 1 min and 15 sek. in "Strained"? It sure sounds like a bell!
"Yeah actually I've noticed it. I think it's Dan(Swanö, drummer on TD) who hits the cymbal wrong. It sounds strange but we couldn't do anything to it"
During the last couple of years Jonas Renkse has become very hooked by the (specially) american songwriter style, and the track "this Punishment" is also very alike this style. Also their cover of Jeff Buckley's Nightmares By the Sea is an outcome of this hooking.
"Everyone in Katatonia is very hooked on Jeff Buckley. When we made the tracks to TD we bought his Skethes... and we listened to this album a lot those days, specially Nightmares By The Sea which we thought had a Katatonia vibe. Shortly before we recorded TD we decided to play a Jeff Buckley track, but not because we wanted it on the album. It became Nightmares and we used a drummachine. Under the mixing we jsut thought it was so good so we put it on the album".
Who wrote music/lyrics on TD?
"I wrote all the lyrics and Anders (Nyström) wrote nearly all the music. I contributed with some riffs, as example in Had to Leave where I wrote most. We do arrange all the tracks together. On Do I wrote whole numbers like Saw you Drown, but lately I haven't wrote that good music, so I've been concentrating on the lyrics(laughs)"
Lyrically TD is familar with DO, but it seems it's even darker....
"Yeah the lyrics is more personly and down on the earth on DO than before. Also the new lyrics. Yeah the new lyrics is actually a little darker maybe. I'm still inspired by the same stuff, but maybe I've seen darker on the things this time(laughs)
Have you ever heard of Palace Music and their album Viva Last Blues?
"Ehh yeah..."
Have their track Tonight's Decision(and hereafter) inspired you when chosing a title on your new album?
"Yeah, haha. Damn you got me there! You're the first to say it, and to be honest I didn't expect anyone to find out, haha! I'm a very big fan of Palace Music,so..."
Any plans for a tour?
"We don't have any to play the bass or the drums by now. But we do expect touring in Europe in October/Nowember as a warmup for a bigger band. Our management is currently working on it, but we don't know anything yet ( a week later Katatonia was annonced as support for Paradise Lost)"
Will you also play older stuff, or only the new songs?
"We are not quite sure about this. We have a little problem here, cos it will be very hard for me to sing the death stuff. I really don't want to destroy my voice, and I've had some problems with it before. When I've tried I often couldn't speak for days afterwards. But with both TD and DO we should have enough tracks to establish a complete setlist. It would also look stupid if Anders should sing all the old stuff and I should walk onstage and offstage all the time, so I think we're only going to play the newer stuff and maybe Day from Brave Murder Day."
There have been some rumours about Avantgarde music should release a box-complication with Dance of December soulds, Brave Murder Day and DO on picture-discs and a Katatonia belt?
"Yeah, I think they're working on that now, but I don't know how far they are with it. By the way I don't know wether TD is going to be released on vinyl. If Peaceville can sell 1000-1500 eks. they're going to do it, but that isn't sure. Further more Century Media USAis going to release Saw you Drawn MCD, Sounds of Decay MCD and Love of the Swan and Black Erotica which were on the Wrong again Rec. complication"
But nothing that haven't been released before?
"I'm afraid we don't have such things. Roberto from Avantgarde talks about a re-edition of For Funerals to Come... with a couple of bonus live tracks, but that's all. Oh, yes we also have 3 tracks which wasn't on TD, but it's up to Peaceville to decide what to do with them".
What's happening with your project October Tide? Gery Dawn was a masterpiece!
"October Tide doen's exist anymore. Peaceville aren't happy with us being signed with other bands on other record companies. That's the disadvantage with bigger Records com. You're signed like a person, not a band. Anders has demnded to keep his Diabolical Masquerade, and I think they let him do it"
If you should choose five Katatonia tracks which have meant the most for you and have been a pioneer, which would you the choose?
"Uhh, good question. From the first album I would choose Without God, because it's so legendary. But also Gateways of Bereavement, because it's my favourite track from that album. I really don't like that album anymore,but this is a track I still like. Then I would choose Brave from Brave Murder Day because it was the first track we wrote to that album, and it started the new sound we got on the album. Then there' I Break from DO because it's such a good opener. When hearing that track you really get the mood from the rest of the album. On the new I would choose Black Session, because it's the last track we wrote to the album, and because I think it's the direction we're going to take on the next album....
As you may see there's some strange things Jonas is talking about in this interview.... what's that talk about a Katatonia Belt?????and what about the Century Media release of SYD????
anyway I think it's a cool little interview
