IN FLAMES

The Gothenburg Hit Factory

-I wonder how do you find an inner peace, how do you relax during those long tours? It must be hard to stay away from your homes and families for so long.
It is obvious that being away from family is something difficult. But when we're on the road the gusy from the band are your family. I probably know: Jesper, Anders, Peter and Daniel better than my brothers and sisters. But not only tours are quite hard expereince. It's also a difficult thing to return to everyday reality. It is hard to get started: wash dishes and do all those normal things, because you've got used to the fact that you do not need to do them. But they are important, because it is something that allows you to stay on the ground. You feel that you are an ordinary person, it is very important,

-Aren't you afraid that someone may not stand the pressure. In autumn 2006 Jesper already took a break and during one tour was replaced by Niclas Engelin.
There's always such a risk. We plays a lot of shows. There aren't too many other bands that are playing as much as we do. This is our way of functioning for more than 10 years. I hope that the day when someone says: I have to quit playing live will never come. Because it probably would be the end of IN FLAMES. Maybe we could live without the concerts, but it's very difficult to imagine such a situation.

-Do you remember any extreme situation that has happened during those long tours?
I think that we are lucky ones. There were only a few unpleasant incidents. I remember that when we played at Roskilde, it was the same year, or a year later after someone died at the show. I remember that Anders was very worried. When he saw that something was happening he stopped singing and asked the audience to help people who have fallen. Fortunately, nothing serious didn't happened. We know the stories about how people are going to the scene and shooting. But this something you don't think about every day. When you're going out to play, you simply want to have fun.

-How does it feel to play in such a country as the United Arab Emirates. Is Dubai the strangest place that we had to chance to play?
To tell the truth it was not as strange as we expected. it's muslim country, but it looks like a modern western one. In some ways this is crazy. I think that it is a question of money. If you have them you can do there whatever you want. In United States we played at the places which were much more strange than Dubai. For example Salt Lake City, where everyone is either a Mormon or Jehovah's witness. We played there with straight edge bands. When I ordered pizza and a few beers I was almost lynched by these guys.

-To finish with the live shows. Didn't you think about - as a surprise for fans - playing drums on one or two tracks from the albums which were recrded with you as a drummer?
No. What I played on The Jester Race and "Whoracle" was the peak of my capabilities. I was never really drummer and no one was happier than me when we found Daniel. This is a great drummer and it is a pleasure to see him playing on this instrument. Sometimes, when I'm drunk I can play a simple things just for fun, but that's all.

-Let's get back to strange places. Do you remember the weirdest place, where your symbol the JESTER HEAD appeared. Maybe it was the tattoo on sexy blonde's breast?
I saw our logo tattooed on nearly all parts of the body. This is super. It shows how improtant IN FLAMES's music is for our fans. We are very proud of that. I saw also our symbol painted on cars, people are doing figures, for example, of wood or stone. It shows that they really appreciate IN FLAMES.

-Do you have any contacts with former IN FLAMES musicians. Do you know what's up with Johan Larsson and Glenn Ljungstrom?
I didn't meet Johan for many years, but few years ago I met him in the U.S., and since then we have a contact. A trip to the United States was the reason for his departure from the band. I didn't see also Glenn for a long time, but we played a special charity concert in Gothenburg, and for this occasion he played with us a few tracks. Unfortunately, after this event I didn't see him again.

-Now, I' d like to provoke you a little. Don;t you fee partly responsible for the invasion of the metalcore melodeath mediocre bands, which lists IN FLAMES as the main source of their inspiration?
He .. he .. Responsible? No I don't feel that way. I think that I rather feel influential. It always makes us proud. If someone feels the need so strong that under the influence of our music, starts to play similar sound it makes us proud. The only important thing, which I often repeat is that as long as those bands are trying to add something special to the music that they play, as long it makes sense. We did the same. We found the music that we like. And then we changed it a little bit. We've mixed it with some other elements and what we've got is IN FLAMES.

-You've already won Swedish Grammis prize for three times. Even a member of the Swedish government said that IF is one of the export goods from which Sweden can be proud. This must be something that makes you a little conceited.
This is cool. Especially this last statement by swedish minister. Because all the poeple who have the power in Sweden, don't give a damn about metal music, These words mean that someone noticed what we do. And when it comes to awards we do not care about them, when they're given by the choice of the jury. But awards, which are awarded by the public are important to me, because it's the audience who loves music, buy CDs and comes to concerts and their respect is really important.

Line Up:
Anders Fridén - Vocals
Jesper Strömblad - Guitar
Björn Gelotte - Guitar
Peter Iwers - Bass
Daniel Svensson - Drums

Discography:
Lunar Strain (1994)
The Jester Race (1996)
Whoracle (1997)
Colony (1999)
Clayman (2000)
The Tokyo Showdown (live 2001)
Reroute To Remain (2002)
Soundtrack To Your Escape (2004)
Used & Abused - In LIVE We Trust (DVD 2005)
Come Clarity (2006)
A Sense of Purpose (2008)