Interviews

MR: First of all, congratulations on the success of your debut album Dragon Slayer. It was on many best of the year and surprise of the year lists for last year’s releases on several websites (including ours). We here at Metal Reviews are big fans.

Peter: Thank you !!

MR: Having just recently heard your new album (85 / 100 score at Metal Reviews). I was wondering how the band has managed to release 2 excellent albums in less than a year? Were there tracks left over from the Dragon Slayer sessions or is the band constantly writing?

Peter: Dragon Slayer was actually recorded from January 7:th 2001 to March 12:th 2001, so we have had a lot of time to make new songs for the Evilized album. Maybe it's strange to record an album one year before the release.. but we had some unclear things with the record deal which we sorted out first. During this period after the recordings and the release we had a lot of time making new songs. No "left over" tracks from Dragon Slayer were used on Evilized.

MR: Dream Evil has several members who are well established in the music business. How did the band come about and did some of the members know each other before joining the band?

Peter: I first met Fredrik in 1992 when he played with his cover band "Snakeskin Cowboys" and I played with a Heavy Metal band called "Acheron" at the same club in Gothenburg... We didn't exactly become friends after that, but we got to know each other a bit.. Me and Niklas played in the same cover band since 1993.
During Hammerfall’s recordings of "Glory to the Brave", my good friend Joacim Cans called me up and asked me if me and Niklas were able to come down to Studio Fredman to do some backing vocals. This was in 1997, and is where Fredrik meets Niklas for the first time. So when Fredrik and Gus formed the band in 1999, Fredrik asked Niklas to become the singer and Niklas asked me to join in as the bass player. Fredrik knew Snowy from before and asked him to join...

MR: . Is it hard for the band having guitarist Gus G. also involved with so many other bands (Firewind, Mystic Prophecy etc.)? Are there scheduling problems as far as touring and recording sessions?

Peter: Firewind and Mystic Prophecy haven't had any live gigs yet??... as I understand.. And Gus recorded the last Firewind album when Dream Evil had a break from gigs and recordings.. So up to now, there hasn't been any problems at all.

MR: I think that although your music has a fresh sound, its roots are firmly planted in the 80’s style of Heavy Metal. I notice influences from bands such as Accept and Scorpions and in fact, I think there’s a big Scorpions influence on the new album, Evilized. What are your thoughts on this?

Peter: Snowy has a bigger influence in the song writing on Evilized. Snowy as well as Gus, are big Scorpion fans, so maybe that's why. Snowy didn't join Dream Evil until all songs for Dragon Slayer were written.

MR: What other bands have a big influence on the creation of the Dream Evil sound? Are there a few that may surprise some?

Peter: I don't know if I can surprise you so much.. but Niklas has his influences in the early metal of the 60's to the 80's so there's a lot of influences from 60's and 70's bands like Led Zepelin and the Doors and stuff like that. As well as we have influences from 80's bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche, Accept and AC/DC.

MR: . Who is the principle songwriter for the band and do songs start out as ideas or melodies first or are they built around guitar riffs?

Peter: We are all songwriters in the band, there is no particular one who makes all the songs.. And the songs are made both ways. I mostly make a riff and work on a melody from the riff. Niklas works the other way around which makes us a very good song writing team. We like to write songs together.

MR: Why did Fred Nordstrom decide to form his own band after a very successful career as a producer?

Peter: Like I said before, he played in the band "Snakeskin Cowboys" for a long time before he put it aside for the Studio. But as a musician, you can't put it away for too long... It's like a urge growing inside of you.. You need to make music of your own. So I guess that's why he "needed" to form Dream Evil.

MR: Does he still plan to keep producing albums for other bands as well as devote his time to Dream Evil?

Peter: Yes, Dream Evil isn't a full time job (yet), so for now he can work with producing, almost as much as he has done before. Except for the breaks he has to take for our tours and recordings.. But that doesn't take all our time, yet.

MR: Why did Fred decide to do Melodic Heavy Metal instead of Death Metal like some of the bands he produces? (In Flames for example).

Peter: This is the music that he really likes, what his ears like to listen to. He is a good producer of Death Metal but he is as good a producer for Melodic Metal as well.

MR: . Besides Gus G., are any other members of the band involved with other bands/projects?

Peter: Snowy works with his other project "Notre Dame" and me and Niklas still play in our cover band "The Jerico Brothers" sometimes.

MR: Are the 5 current members totally committed to this band? Do you forsee any problems if the band’s career starts to take off as far as Fred’s or Gus’ many other projects outside of Dream Evil?

Peter: We are all committed 100% to Dream Evil. I'm not so much concerned about the other projects if the Dream Evil dream will take off.. I'm more concerned about what me, Niklas and Fredrik are going to do with out day time jobs if that will happen. But that's a question to deal with if the time comes.

MR: The style of your songs gives Dream Evil a very “familiar” sound. What is it about Dream Evil that you feel is unique and sets you apart from so many other bands playing Melodic Heavy Metal?

Peter: I don't listen to too many other bands nowadays. The music I write comes from me and not from any other band, I can't answer for any of the other guys in the band but that's what I feel anyway. I hope that the music we write, which is the music that I love, also can bring a true feeling of Heavy Metal to the ones who listen to it.

MR: How were the sales of Dragon Slayer and were you surprised by the response it got?

Peter: The only statistics we've got so far is for the period April - June and that was quite good. I'm really looking forward to see the statistics for the next six months.. this statistic will show how the sales been.. I don't think the first 2 1/2 month tells you so much for a debut band. We were very positively surprised by the good reviews we got for Dragon Slayer.

MR: What kind of feedback are you getting about the new album, Evilized which has just been released?

Peter: Since Evilized is still so new, I haven't read too many reviews yet, but it looks good so far! A lot of positive feedback in the fan mail. A lot of fans say that they think it's much better than Dragon Slayer. Some people say that it's a bit heavier.

MR: . I find Evilized to be more melodic (but still heavy) and also a lot more focused as far as the songwriting and song styles whereas Dragon Slayer had many different styles of songs. What are your thoughts on this and was there a conscious effort to make a more melodic album this time?

Peter: I don't think we intended Evilized to become more melodic, it's just the way the songs turned out to be. Niklas’ vocals have a big impact on the melodic side of course and maybe the way he sings on Evilized makes it more melodic.. We didn't say "Lets make this more melodic than Dragon Slayer" when we started to write...

MR: Are there any tour plans in the works for the band and will you be playing any of the big summer festivals in Europe this year?

Peter: We're going on tour now with Hammerfall. Nine shows in Germany and 6 shows in Scandinavia and maybe we're going back to Japan on a small tour in June. That's all I know at this point.

MR: What has been your best live experience so far with regards to the venue and crowd response?

Peter: Club Quattro in Tokyo. Those Japanese fans were totally crazy.. That was a great live experience. The whole tour in Japan was a great experience and we really hope that we can come back in June.

MR: Any last words for our readers and your fans out there?

Peter: I hope to see you all when we're performing somewhere this year.. And of course I hope for you all to become Evilized !!

MR: I thank you very much for your time and best of luck with Dream Evil!

Peter: Thank you, and good luck to you with www.metalreviews.com.

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