So you made it more suitable for this specific tour ?
I mean , all of our songs come out a bit more aggressive live than they do on the albums . Just because there ' s an audience there and brings a whole different kind of energy to it than when you ' re in the studio in front of a dead mic or an amp , you know ? I just think it makes more sense if everyone hears the later material and then goes searching for the heavy roots .
You know , I ' d really like us to be some sort of “ gateway ” band for people who are just discovering this entire world of heavy music because I had a lot of these bands growing up . I remember Iron Maiden was my gateway into heavier stuff ... and then I got into Thrash music , and then I got into Speed Metal , then Death Metal and so on and that opened up a whole new world for me .
Have your own inspirations or influences changed with time ?
I mean , of course you discover new bands and things all the time and there ' s tonnes of new stuff that I really like but I don ' t know if they influenced me like the ones I ' ve listened to in the early days . I ' m still interested in stuff , though . I read magazines or go to a record store to search for new stuff but that ' s more the actual music nerd in me , rather than the guy who writes music for In Flames . I mean I love bands like Alice In Chains , Nine Inch Nails or Tool But I don ' t think that these bands are within the sound of In Flames . It ' s always been that mixture of the classics that we were listening to back then . But I am pretty sure that it ' s happening subconsciously . I mean the music that you listen to before you go into the rehearsal room will influence what you write that day . It ' s inevitable !
What was it like working with [ Howard ] Benson on the album ? You stated that this is the first time you let someone in on the creative process of the album .
Well ... we still had a solid idea of what we wanted the record to sound like but we had to let go off the guard that we always had . We never let anyone into our music . Record companies , producers , whatever . NOBODY apart from the band had a say in the writing process . We ' ve definitely worked with some amazing people before but with Benson it was slightly different . For example he wanted to hear demos of all of our songs but he said from the very beginning : “ I don ' t want to change you guys . I just want to make you better !” So when we played him the demos he had a few points here and there but he would still let us do our songs and our music . It would always be just small , technical things . His team was very good as well . They made things really easy .
In your own words : What makes your new album “ Battles ” different than your last record “ Siren Charms ”?
I think it has more warmth . There ' s more riffing in it and it ' s more guitar orientated than Siren Charms along with the more up-tempo parts . All of the individual parts shine through a lot more . I also feel like “ Battles ” has bigger choruses . It just fits to where we are as a band at the moment . It has all the elements of our older stuff but it definitely feels warmer compared to Siren Charms . Probably because “ Battles ” was recorded in sunny California whereas “ Siren Charms ” was recorded in Berlin in November so it sounds a lot colder sonically which was great at the time because that ' s what we wanted . I was happy with how “ Siren Charms ” turned out . It was necessary but we tried to do something else this time .
Being in a band for almost 30 years now , is there anything you would ' ve done differently in retrospect ?
I don ' t think so . I mean I surpassed all of my goals and dreams , you know ? I didn ' t even think that I would be in a band for so long . Definitely not in a band that created all of these albums . I don ' t want to change anything . I think that ' s just a waste of energy . I think that you live with the decisions you make and I mean , sure , we could be a bigger band but we could definitely also be a smaller band . Fuck it , you know ? We had a great ride and I ' m super pleased with where we are now . We still enjoy it . That ' s the beauty of everything . I still LOVE what we do . For me this was a hobby that turned into a job and I ' d rather do that for my whole life than go back for a single week .
I ' m aware of that whole talk about old In Flames vs . new In Flames or whatever and I sort of get it . But if we released the same album over and over again I don ' t think we would be here . We strived to do something a little bit new all the time but at the same keep what is the essence of In Flames and that ' s the melody . We always tried to go for good melodies . We just ended up in a different costume . A different production , maybe . But that constant search for something new and something that will challenge yourself . That ' s what ' s been keeping this whole machine running throughout the years .
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