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Interview Pain

Peter Tägtgren on Radio Metal Peter Tägtgren works a lot! He’s the frontman of Pain, Hypocrisy and he produced many metal bands. Enjoy our recent video of Peter, in Lyon. Pain played with Nightwish in the beginning of april. Our video during 15 minutes. Interview conducted by Seb on 2008-04-10 in Lyon (France) You can see our 2 vidéos on the following links: Vidéo Part 1 Vidéo Part 2 Official PAIN Website: www.myspace.com/officialpain

Interview :

Radio Metal : First of all, how are you and how is this tour with Nightwish going?

Peter Tägtgren : It’s good, I’m just tired – walked off from the stage and took a shower. But it’s really good, the tour is fantastic, totally crazy. France is so far the best country. .

You said tonight that Lyon is probably the best audience in France. Do you say that every night or is it true?

I’ve been doing it in Paris, because it was like that, it was the best. Then in Strasbourg it got even better, and now Lyon is even better. So we’re like wow. .

Pain has got its own musical sound, but this sound mixes different influences. With which bands did you discover electronic sounds in metal?

I think it started with Fear Factory, on their second album. At the same time Rammstein came out with their first album. I grew up with Jean-Michel Jarre, my dad was a crazy fan of him, and my dad also built synthesizers and stuff like that when I was young, so I always heard electronic music. But I always wanted to play metal. .

What do you think about Nine Inch Nails, for example?

I like the first album, but I didn’t listen too much to it, to be honest. It’s nothing I really listen to normally. .

You’re one of the only musicians of the metal scene who plays all the instruments in his band. Did some people help you and give you their opinion when you composed, or do you do everything alone, without any criticism from the outside?

I try to listen to my brother and some other friends I usually play to, but usually I try to follow my heart. If I think it’s good, I just go for it. But I also play to my brother and people around me to get some criticism, because it’s good to have other people saying stuff. .

Is it not hard to hear criticism from the outside? After all, you’re a kind of metal myth…

Yeah, but it’s good. That’s how you learn. It’s very good to get criticism about stuff. In Hypocrisy we always listen to the fans. It’s very important to make sure that you, who are making the stuff, are happy, and that the fans are happy too. .

Would a more experimental record be possible with Pain or are you going to keep this sound close to classic metal?

I think so, I think I’m done experimenting with Pain. I think I’ve found my way now. It’s going to be more industrial on the next album, though. But it will always be AC/DC drums with Pantera guitars and melodies on keyboards. .

You used to do cover songs – Play Dead is a cover from Björk on Psalms of Extinction. Is it easier to transform a song from an artist you really like?

Björk is very “different”. For me it was really a big challenge to do it, see if I could do it. When I started with it I thought I could never make it, but when it was done I thought it wasn’t too bad. That’s what I put it on the album, to get a different kind of vibe. .

Is it easier for you to compose a more melodic, more pop than death metal music, or is it different?

It’s different things for different tastes. With Hypocrisy we got more brutal on “Virus”, because I have more aggression in my head, and I can put that into Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy will always be more brutal. .

It’s more brutal, but the lyrics are still very dark. You speak a lot of death, for example. You have a song called Computer God. Are you afraid of technology taking over?

It could be, I’ve no idea. It’s just a fantasy I had in my head. You see so many movies about it, Terminator and stuff like that, all the machines taking over. It was just a different topic for me to write about. But of course it could happen. .

Are you forced to neglect your other activities because of the success of Pain?

No. This year it’s Pain, next year it’s Hypocrisy. But do you mean like bands or friends? .

I mean all the things around the music. Now you play with Pain, in front of 5 or 6 000 people, with Hypocrisy it’s more like 5 or 600. It’s not the same feeling, but it could be better to play with Pain and Nightwish.

It’s really great, even if we don’t attract people, Nightwish do. But we get a good response from the crowds and it could build up for us to go up with a big band. But it’s also always great to play in clubs, when it’s warm and sweaty. .

And if Pain keeps getting bigger, are you going to stop your other activities?

No, I’ll always do the things I’ve always done. More brutal music on one side, and more industrial stuff on the other. .

With Hypocrisy we were used to having a new album every other year, if not every year. Virus was released three years ago. When can we expect a new album?

We think it will be out in April next year. So one year. .

Have you already composed?

Yeah, Mikael has five songs done. I have a lot of riffs but I haven’t put them together to form songs. But there’s a lot of material. .

I heard there was a possibility that Catch 22 would be re-recorded.

The vocals are re-recorded, and the drums are changed a little bit. We did it for the fans, for those who didn’t like the original Catch 22. Now it sounds more like Hypocrisy, for those who didn’t like it. I personally liked it the way it was, but it’s good, when you’re in a band, when you want all your albums to be good, and not one that’s not so good. .

Will it be Horgh who will play drums on this album?

No, it’s the same drums, but a different sound. My vocals are also more bloodbath style. I’m sure people will be happy about it. .

Immortal has reformed and the new album is on the way. Horgh must be pretty busy right now. Does it change anything for Hypocrisy?

We just come up with a schedule, so Immortal is doing that while I’m doing Pain, and we can meet together when it’s time to do Hypocrisy. It’s also for Horgh that it’s gonna take a while, because they’re recording the new album in June, or something like that. It’s good that it doesn’t crash. What can we expect for the new album? Is it going to be brutal?

The fast songs are going to be as fast as we can. Then there will be mid songs, and slow songs. Maybe we’ll kind of make it more simple, but still brutal. .

And with Horgh, brutal means very, very brutal!

Yeah, exactly! .

You’re also known for producing most of the Scandinavian extreme bands, which means a lot of mythical albums. What are your best memories of this period, and the band with whom you had the best time?

I had a really good time with actually everybody. You always have a good time when you record something, because the band works much better, more relaxed. We had so much fun with so many bands, it’s hard to say which one was the best. It was always good times. .

You are closed friends with Marduk because you toured with them. It’s always good times, but there’s maybe a band which is more fun, like maybe Dark Funeral, Marduk…

You become very good friends with the bands you record. It’s just about having good times and trying to have the best of them. .

Have you some memories about this period that are funny or special?

About Marduk, for example, they always bring 5 litres of vodka the first day they come to the studio and we drink it and end up pissed. The next day we just lay around watching TV. And then the third day we start working. It’s a ritual. .

You’ve left the Abbey Studios under the care of your brother. You’ve said you only wanted to produce bands you really felt like producing, like Celtic Frost two years ago. How is it like to produce Celtic Frost, especially for an album that has been so acclaimed?

It was a lot of pressure. Not only on me, but also on the band. It was a tough job, but it was good times. I’m very proud of the album, for me it’s an inspiration for brutal music. .

Was it like a teenage dream?

Yeah, absolutely. .

Are there still many bands you’d like to produce that would be a dream for you? Slayer or Deicide, for example?

Something like that, exactly! That would be great. .

If somebody told you you can produce the band of your dream, which one would it be?

I don’t know. Maybe Slayer if they do a good album. Rammstein would be nice as well. There are so many bands I would like to do, but sky is the limit! .

Were you bored of your typical Swedish black metal sound? Did you stop for that reason?

No, it was just too many bands coming in all the time in the studio. At the end you become a robot. I didn’t want to do that. That’s really why I had to stop. Now I only do a few things. .

You used to have this black metal project, The Abyss, which released two very good Swedish black metal albums. Is this project over?

Yeah, it was over right when we released the album. It was turning Hypocrisy into black metal. We had so many black metal riffs and didn’t know what to do with them. So we decided to do something different and do another band for that. .

Is there any chance to see The Abyss reform for a festival or something?

No, I don’t think so. .

This is a fan question: did you play drums on the two Abyss albums? If so, your level is very impressive for a guitarist/singer!

Actually I’m not a guitarist, I’m a drummer. I started with a drum kit at the age of nine.

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