Katatonia Interview at HAMMERFEST II

Starting off the day, PrimalNoise sat down with guitarist, Anders Nyström, of KATATONIA. A swedish metal band who have been going strong since they formed in 1991.

A former doom metal band with screaming vocals, Katatonia softened themselves to a more clean sound, vocally. This quintet strive with an urgency to achieve their own goals. Anders talks to us about life on a tour bus, influences, sound changes, and the joys of festivalism!

KATATONIA: Anders Nyström

PrimalNoise: First of all, how are you doing?
Anders: Yeah, I'm good. We had a show in London last night though...

PrimalNoise: Yeah, we were told you were all sleeping until just before interviews! Are the rest of the band all sleeping?
Anders: Yeah..! We all come during night time, so everyone's sleeping on the bus together. Twenty guys... *makes snoring noises*

PrimalNoise: *laugh* I bet the smell is good...!
Anders: *laughs* ahhhh! You wouldn't want to be on the bus in the morning, I can tell you!

PrimalNoise: What's it like then, travelling on a bus together.
Anders: Uh, WELL... it's alot of... hmm... I mean, when you're touring, one hour is live. One hour is on stage. That leaves 23 hours to do... what else? Sleep, and sleep alot, you know? We get around while sleeping. For me that's something I really appreciate because I have a son, back home, a new one. And i didn't get much sleep when i left there at all... I mean... I was DEAD. So i actually appreciate sleeping, a lot right now. I probably try to sleep like... 12 hours, if i can help it!

PrimalNoise: Yeah. just sleep the whole day!
Anders: Yeah! Sleep my day away. That's what you do, and then you drive to a new place, watch some movies... Yeah, you watch a lot of movies, that's what you do! Some of the guys, they go out and drink a lot. I try not to, and keep it down because if i'm too hungover, i'm not able to play very well, and then the fans will complain and in the picture we'll be all *makes a face* So, whatever makes us get through the day.

PrimalNoise: So, How's your UK tour going so far? How have the audiences been?
Anders: Yeah, we're in the middle of it now. Performance wise, it's going GREAT. I mean, we've played Manchester, Nottingham and London, so far. We didn't manage to sell out Manchester or Nottingham but London, was Sold out. The 5 shows previous in Mainland europe was all sold out, we were a little bit spoiled with that. But it's going good. It's going down well out here, and we'll definitely be back here because I think we need to work the UK a lot. we need to get back out here more often, play, work it, come back so we don't just... lose what we've just built up, so we're happy to do that now. I couldn't be happier than just sitting here right now and talking to you guys. It's what we need to do!

PrimalNoise: A lot of International bands do say that the UK is one of the hardest countries TO break, actually.
Anders: Yeah, I feel it's hard to break. But we're determined to break it! *beams* It's what we have in our minds right now. Work it definitely. It will take longer. I mean, in the past we've been here like every third year, or something? So we're gonna be back here EVERY year from now on. We need to do that.

PrimalNoise: Yeah that's good, so people can remember your name and say "Oh we saw them!", kinda thing?
Anders: Yeah, exactly! Keep coming back, playing new songs, you know ... keep it fresh!

PrimalNoise: Speaking of songs, what kind of set are you gonna be playing at Hammerfest?
Anders: Unfortunately, we only have 45 minutes. That's not a lot. It goes like THAT *snaps fingers* So we will probably focus on doing as many songs from the NEW album, because that's what we're promoting right now. Maybe some old songs too, but I dunno... maybe 6 new songs.

PrimalNoise: Your latest album 'Night Is The New Day' is quite deep and soulful sounding; What was the inspiration behind this album?
Anders: I think the inspiration has been the same as it always has been. Inspiration is always simple, we just want to make stuff that's dark, heavy music. That's the whole formula of the band the whole time. But then we always try to make the next album BETTER. It has to top the last one and if we don't succeed with that... we kind of see that as a failure... and we don't wanna have a failure in our discography. So we would rather just take our time to make sure it DOES succeed it, or at least what WE think succeeds it. So this one took a little longer to make, because we were very happy with the last one. We felt actually it was quite hard to top it, so it's taken a couple of years doing that. Now we're confident we have. But everyone is different! It's all about taste. If you guys don't think so, I won't get grumpy. It's fine, but as long as WE feel that, then we're ready to go out again. Start it all over.

PrimalNoise: A lot of bands, when making a new album; pick a particular theme for each album. So is it just whatever comes to your mind at the time, or is it just a collection of songs you wrote over a period of time.
Anders: Yeah, i mean... we don't really do concept albums, but basically, then again all our albums are pretty much summed together by being catatonic. I dunno, that's just what we like to think, y'know? That's what they should involve. We do kinda focus on the bleek stuff. It's what we like to do with the music and lyrics. But it doesn't mean that. We always get the questions like are we on prozac or on anti-depressants, are we depressed and all that. NO. We are not! Because we have Katatonia. That works as like a therapy for us. I would tell my doctor! I don't need it! I have Katatonia. You take that away from me and THEN I'll be on prozac! *laughs*

PrimalNoise: Katatonia's sound has changed since it's conception, quite drastically, what brought about this change in style?
Anders: Basically we felt it was the need to progress with all the bands as musicians and the vocals. And we're not 16 anymore. When we started out, we were 16, and we were totally buried in the death metal thing. Which made my heart go "boom boom boom boom" kinda thing. But when we found out that Jonas... he actually has a beautiful voice, and we thought why not go with that and incorporate it into our songwriting, because the growling that we had in ours songs, which is such a long time ago now it's kinda limiting you in a way. I mean, when people listen to Katatonia now, they listen to his vocal talent. That's what's conducting the song. A lot of people ask, do you think you'll go back to your old sound? No, because we're not that depserate. We feel better to go forwards, only. So, who knows what the next album will sound like. I don't know yet. It's exciting stuff. We're not looking back; we're looking ahead.

PrimalNoise: You've got several studio albums out now - are there any you're particularly proud of, or a favourite, and why?
Anders: I would say probably the last one. I mean it took a long time to make it, it took the band three months in a studio - you know BORING and when we were finally done with it, i felt such a relief. A HUGE relief like "Oh my god, It's OUT there" and i was so nervous about the reaction. I'm very sensitive to critics. I used to go to work with it all the time back in the day. I mean, back in the day with the death metal sound, I didn't care at all. Anybody could come up to me and say like "What the hell did you do?!" But now it's like "Oh really? You think so?" I dunno... but thankfully, we actually haven't seen a bad review yet. Good for my conscience.

PrimalNoise: Who are you all time favourite artists or biggest influences?
Anders: Musically, I would say... In the past when we started out, we had a few bands that are STILL important because without them, we wouldn't be here. Bands like Bathory, Paradise Lost, Fields of Nephilim, stuff like that, and we still love those bands. But they're also taking interest from singer/songwriters life Jeff Buckley. There's just a lot of them that have been really important that I consider all-time classic musicians. And then from that, it involved into movies. I'm not going to list off all the movies right now, but I get very influenced by watching movies. You know, I saw that movie 'The Road' the other day. EPIC movie. WOW what a big movie. And i got really inspired by that. I felt music going while i was watching the movie and thinking "Ahhh i need to do something!" So that's really inspiring, watching movies. And reading books as well.

PrimalNoise: Are there any current bands that you would recommend to your fans or that you find particularly good?
Anders: Ahh! There's probably a lot! I'm so bad at remembering off the top of my head, uhh.. Let's see... There's actually an American band which I think get WAY too little recognition; They're called Daylight Dies. They're VERY good! They're not only friends of mine, but I think they're very underrated. They don't get enough exposure, and they have beautiful guitar melodies. I used to say "If you weren't like really known, i would just rip you guys off" and they were all "awww..." I mean, i would take all their melodies. hahahaha. So, you know... there's a lot of bands. Also I still love a lot of the hard and extreme stuff; I love Behemoth, they're great. When I saw them live it was like "WOW, what a fucking machine on stage!". They're a great band. There's a lot of music I think is cool. It doesn't necessarily have to be Katatonia style. I'm an open-minded guy. I like everything. There's one band I have to see called 'Heathen' - they're a thrash metal band from America that I used to listen to when I was really young and was all "Boom boom" on the walkman. I never thought I'd get to see them and they're playing here! I'm happy. (note: Heathen cancelled their Euro tour and didn't play Hammerfest II in the end)

PrimalNoise: If you were on a desert island and you could only take 3 music albums - what would they be?
Anders: 3 albums? Oh, Oh, I forgot about a big influence of mine - The Cure. Probably one of the biggest influences we had in Katatonia! It has to be my favourite album, which is: 'Disintigration' Album. That's probably my all time number 1, essential, importante album. Sooo, I'd have to bring that one, and I love the'Elizium' album by Fields of Nephilim. I can't do without it. I've been listening to it so much, for years. It's not like a cheap, gothic type music... It's more beautiful than that. It just goes BEYOND that. And, uhhh.... that's two mellow albums, so i have to choose something rock like... Ah! I'll take "Gothic" by Paradise Lost.

PrimalNoise: Any bands here at Hammerfest that you're particularly looking forward to?
Anders: Heathen! Heathen, yeah! *all excited*

PrimalNoise: *laughing* So what are you planning for the future... what have you got lined up?
Anders: Busy, busy! Just continue what we're doing. We are probably have the whole year maxed out with touring. It's crazy, but really fun, you know? We can make it through it. It's like, you need to get your head into it, you know what i mean? I'm really looking forward to the summer festivals. That's the most fun. You see all these bands and it's like "Ohh I want to see that band!", No you can't, you've got to play! "But ohhh, I want to see them!" *laughs* So it's fun, and meeting all the bands is really what makes the thing fun when you're touring; the bands I'm interacting with. It's fun. Also, going to America and south America.

PrimalNoise: Thank you very much!
Anders: Thank YOU

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