En marge de la
sortie du nouvel album « Under a stone with no inscription » et surtout après une
absence prolongée du groupe, je me suis intéressé à ANATA et plus précisément à
leur nouvelle recrue derrière les fûts.
 VS : Hey Conny I know you're a new
member in ANATA's line-up but let's start with a little introduction about the band and
the past release ? How did you join them ?
Conny : Anata started out as some type of thrash/death project in -93 and the
music has indeed changed during the years. Since the first album "The Infernal depths
of hatred" the music has moved further into the brutal direction, meaning the US
death metal style. Which can clearly be heard on "Dreams of death and dismay".
Telling from what other people have to say, Anata has always been innovative. So I guess
this might be one of the things that tell us from the rest. Anyway, as you maybe know, I
handle the drums in "Eternal Lies" also and one day guitarist Björn from
Eternal Lies and I formed a side project called "RotInjected". We needed a
brutal singer and the only guy who could sing as we wanted was Fredrik Schälin from
Anata. I gave him a call and invited him to our rehearsal room. And after hearing our
material he wanted to join us. After a while also Henrik and Andreas from Anata joined
RotInjected. So when drummer Robert left Anata it was quite obvious that the they asked me
to fill in for him.
VS : Was it easy to join a band like ANATA while they already have two killing
albums released ? I guess that was a great opportunity for you but did you find your place
easily. I mean that’s difficult sometimes to be the new member in a confirmed band
even when you’re a good musician and friend with the other members…
Conny : It really was a great opportunity for me, to be able to play with them,
and to be a part of their music felt awesome. I understand what you mean but to be honest
it was no problem at all. The guys in Anata were very happy about me being in the band so
I’ve always felt more than welcome. And I think I found my place immediately. It was
quite easy to learn the two past albums and the new material for "Under a stone with
no inscription" suited my style perfectly. And the riffs that Fredrik write are
really challenging and fun to work with. So it has been and still is all pure pleasure to
be in Anata.
VS : When you say “it was easy to learn the two past albums”do you mean
that Robert, the early drummer, was less good than you are ? (got you!)
Conny : Oh come on man, don't do this to me. I didn't mean to brag. He was an
excellent drummer but to be honest I'm much better. (Ha ha, got you back) :) I suggest you
listen to the albums and decide for yourself. OK, fair enough?
VS : You’re talking about Fredrik’s riffs but tell us about the
ANATA’s writing process. Do you guys have built the music around the guitars and did
you personally take part during the composition of the new album ? Do you think
you’ve bring some fresh blood in the ANATA’s music ?
Conny : Well, Fredrik write like 95% of the riffs so the music is basically
written around the guitar riffs. And he know what he want the drums to sound like pretty
much also. So it's really challenging for me to try and create what he wants. Wich
sometimes is not easy, belive me. Only four songs were written for "Under a
stone..." when I joined, so I have been a part of the music writting since then. The
fresh blood I brought to this album was that Fredrik was able to try ideas that never was
possible before with the old drummer. For example very fast bass drumming wich have never
been heard before in Anata's music.
VS : Well I actualy have the two ANATA’s past albums on my desk I’ll let you
know if you’re better or not (hé hé).
Conny : OK, please do that :)
VS : So Fredrik wrote most of the music. I guess we can say he’s the leader
of the band. Don’t the other members feel a little frustrated because of this ?
I’m trying to imagine how it can be annoying when someone tells you what to play and
don’t let you compose what you want ? How can you write some materials without
kicking Fredrik’s ass sometimes ?
Conny : Well, it's all really simple. None of us have better ideas than Fredrik.
And he would be more than happy if someone could contribute with riffs. And if some of us
would come up with some nice riffs, Fredrik would probably write some more and turn it
into a great song. "Under the debris" and "Any kind of magic or
miracle" are examples of this, as Andreas and Henrik wrote some riffs for these
songs. I think that because of Fredrik's talent for making music, he takes away all the
pressure from the other members to write. We have enough songs and they are very good. And
the songs keep coming. So there is really no reason to get frustrated here. I feel I'm in
a very good position already knowing how great our next album will be.
VS : Well that’s a fact. I’ve listen the album and I’ve already
review it. I have to admit “Under a stone with no inscription” is awesome. (God
I hate to be kind like that with bands!!!)
Conny : I appreciate that you like the album and I look forward to see the
review, but I was referring to next album.
VS : To go on about this album. What did you have in mind when you’ve start
recordings. Is ANATA the kinda band who need to be very prepared or did you change some
parts at last minutes ? Are you the kind of band which always what to change détails or
are the tracks written for good when you put a foot in studio ?
Conny : We were very prepared for this recording. And we knew at least up to 99%
how we wanted it to sound like when we entered the studio. We did some last changes before
recording. Adjusted some tempos and things like that. So you can say that the tracks are
written for good before entering the studio. We don’t leave anything for chance.
VS : A perfectly organised machine… Don’t you think your music is less
spontaneous because of this ? Could you imagine a live recording in studio as an
experience to get a raw vibe or is that completely odd in the idea you guys have about
your music ?
Conny : No it’s not less spontaneous because Fredrik is still pretty
spontaneous when he writes the songs. Of course some changes are made sometimes but he
often works on with his original ideas. We do intend to make the next album a bit more
rough and with a little heavier production with a more punch to the sound. But a live
studio recording is not really what we had in mind. But we know how to play live. We
rehearse several times a week but when we record we don’t leave anything for chance
as I said before. But we would love to record a live album.
VS : ANATA has always been labeled as a technical death metal band. Daniel
Montgrain from MARTYR told me in a recent interview he prefer to talk about emotional
music instead of technical one. Are you agree with this ? Do you compose your music as a
language ? What kind of emotion do you want to transmit with it and especially in the
upcoming album ?
Conny : don’t know if I prefer to talk about emotional music before
technical. But we think it’s more important that the music is emotional than
technical. And we like emotional music a lot in Anata. Emotional music that I listen to is
Wasp, The Doors, Katatonia and Opeth for example. The emotions you can find in our music
are mainly fear, anger, sadness and frustration. But the main thing we try to do is to
write good music.
VS : A lot of people use to think brutalest bands are also the angryest ones ?
What’s your opinion about this ? Do you think people are playing or listening this
kindda music to turn down their internal demons ? Where this anger come from ? And finaly
don’t you think these bands you’ve just told me about are too emotional and can
turn weak listeners really depressed or maybe worse ? Is there a frontier between music
and life ?
I don’t think you need to be angry to play this kind of music. And your
choice of music doesn’t have anything to do with your feelings I think. At least
I’m not angry, I just got a lot of energy to get rid of. And my bandmates are the
happiest bunch of people I know, at least sometimes. Maybe it helps to destroy your inner
demons if you listen to metal. I don’t know where the anger comes from. It’s
healthy to be angry and people find different ways to deal with it. The lyrics on
“Under a stone…” are written by Fredrik and it deals with his inner demons
and frustration. And this is his way to gets the anger and frustration out of his system.
But he is not an angry person at all. Well, I don’t know if it is the music that get
the weak people depressed. Because when I listen to emotional music I feel better.
Speaking for myself, music is my life. But I also have a life which is not music: my work,
my friends and my family.
VS : Go back on the album. As usual you’ve recorded it at StudioMega
studios. Tell us more about this place. How long did it take to record the album ? Why
don’t choose the famous swedish ones like Sunlight, Abyss or Soundlab ? Is that
because you are from the north of Sweden or are you too greed to pay such a big cost for a
recording… hé hé
Conny : Studiomega is the studio in which all Anata recordings were done. Also my
other band Eternal Lies and the side project that Anata and Eternal Lies have together,
named RotInjected, have recorded there. So we know the guys there pretty well and as it
has worked just fine so far… and the price is affordable. So there was no need for a
change. We live in the south of Sweden on the west coast just 80 kilometers from
Gothenburg so we have plenty of studios to choose from. But we are too greedy to try
anything else :)
It took about three months with mix and mastering to complete the album. The drums was
recorded within 10 hours. The guitars and bass were recorded mostly during late nights and
weekends. Because Henrik (bass) and Andreas (guitar) are full time students and had to go
to school everyday. And Fredrik got himself a new job in the beginning of the recording
and had to drive about 100 kilometers every day to get from his work to the studio. And
then of course 100 kilometers back to work again early in the morning. So the planning for
the recording time could have been a lot better and then also Andreas hurt his arm and
some guitar equipment broke down so it was a living hell to record. And this obviously led
to that everything took longer time than planned. But we are very happy with the result.
VS : Wow that wasn’t an easy recording. You’re speaking about
RotInjected, could you tell us more about this project ? Is this band really different
from ANATA’s music ? Could you explain me why swedish musicians always have to play
in few bands at the same time. Is the swedish TV that bad to keep you guys always in
rehearsal rooms ? Where do you find time to have a private life ?
Conny : RotInjected sounds like a mix between Deicide, Cannibal Corpse and
Monstrosity. So it’s basically ultra brutal US death metal with no melodies. So
it’s not like Anata, but at the moment this project is put on hold in favour of Anata
and Eternal Lies. We simply don’t have the time at the moment, although we have
planned to release one album with RotInjected in the future. And maybe do some occasional
gigs. We got pretty good response after the demo, even Swedish radio played it. Did I
mention that I also have yet another band. It’s called Aggressive Serpent and sounds
a little like Slipknot. We have done a lot of gigs recently. I don’t know why we have
to play in several bands. But it’s not because the Swedish TV is bad. In my case I
think it’s because there are not enough drummers around here. So everybody wants me
in their band. But now I don’t have time for more bands. Maybe I can help a band to
record a demo. And my private life is very limited at the moment.
VS : Well ROTINJECTED seems to be my cup of tea. So you playing with a fourth band
? Aren’t you never fed up with all that ?
I know we’ve got some of our readers are musicians. Could you tell them the kindda
equipment you use ? Do make some change when you play with other bands than ANATA ?
Conny : Sometimes it feels like it's too much going on at the same time. Because
we are constantly rehearsing with each band for live perfomance and writing new material.
So I have a lot of things to remember and I have to create new drum riffs for the new
stuff. And because it's four different kinds of metal bands I play in, I have also created
different drum styles for each band. It helps to keep them seperated from each other, and
for the challenge of course. I use Tama Starclassic performer, Sabian Cymbals, Evans drum
heads and Vic Firth American classic drumsticks. I use same setup all the time in the
rehearsing room but I have made some rules about which things I'm allowed to play on or
not for each band. I have two bassdrums, five tom toms, one snare, four crashes, two
splashes, two China cymbals, two Hi-hats and two ride cymbals. For example I don't use my
second ride cymbal in Anata. Only in Eternal Lies.
VS : Now the most stupid question you’ll ever answer in an interview :
I’ve noticed there’s several pix of you on the ANATA’s website and
you’re topless on most of these. Are you showing your abdominals muscles because
you’re looking for a new girlfriend or is that a kindda ritual to never play with a
damn shirt ?
Conny : I agree. It was the most stupid question I have ever seen :) I usually
play the drums in my underwear because I get very warm when playing like a lunatic. At
least I have my pants on in the pics. And at first I did not like these pics but people
told me that they were all right. I look like this and I’ve got nothing to be ashamed
of.
VS : Before giving an end to this talk, could you tell us about the stuff
you’re listening these days. What’s your playlist ?
Conny : I listen to all kinds of music. The bands I listen to for the moment are
WASP, Death, Opeth, Katatonia, The Doors, Simon and Garfunkel, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath,
Ozzy, Judas Priest, Queen and Testament. But what I listen to varies a lot from week to
week.
VS : Thanks for the precious time you spent answering my questions.
Anything to add before going back to your drums ? Are we gonna see ANATA on the road
pretty soon ?
Conny : Anata is going to tour the UK between the 24th and 28th of February. And
we will hopefully do a European tour later. So keep your eyes open. And thank you for all
the nice questions, it was my pleasure. See ya!!!
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