{"id":48606,"date":"2015-03-11T18:17:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T23:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=48606"},"modified":"2015-03-11T18:17:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T23:17:19","slug":"interview-with-mikael-stanne-of-dark-tranquillity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/interview-with-mikael-stanne-of-dark-tranquillity\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin DelPrince<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Over twenty years have passed since Melodic Death Metal pioneers Dark Tranquillity, from Gothenburg, Sweden, released their debut album, Skydancer<\/em>. Fast forward to 2015 and the band is busier than ever, having visited six continents for in support of their tenth album, Construct<\/em>, released in 2013. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven had the opportunity to speak with vocalist Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity at their recent tour stop in Cleveland, Ohio. <\/p>\n

\"Mikael<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: You\u2019re on the second North American leg of the Construct<\/em> tour, this time with Insomnium. How is the tour going so far? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: It\u2019s been fantastic. We\u2019ve been out for a bit over a week I think. Uhm\u2026 some fantastic shows. Some sold out shows. Some\u2026 just, in general, a really, really good time. We\u2019re with the Insomnium guys and we\u2019re happy to do a tour together. It\u2019s been really, really good. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: And I think I saw that by the time this tour is over, you will have played over 160 shows in support of this album. Is that right?<\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yeah. I just took a look at the back of our world tour t-shirt, and I almost fainted, realizing that yeah, we\u2019ve been doing this for a while. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: You have to have a couple of shirts, because they don\u2019t all fit on one shirt, right? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Niclas actually made it fit on one shirt. But it\u2019s only on the triple XL. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: (Laughs) Nice. Does anything stand out as a highlight from this tour? Any new cities that you always wanted to go to? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Oh wow. A few. Uh, we had a couple more shows in China. We played more in Tunisia. Uhm\u2026 Israel for the first time. We\u2019ve done a couple of new cities here [in the United States], way more in Canada. So yeah, it\u2019s been awesome. Just really, really good. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: On this last album, you had a bit of a lineup change and Martin Henriksson played bass on the record in addition to guitar. Do you think the band will continue as a five-piece? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: No. No, when we end this tour, we\u2019ve got to find a new bass player. Kind of start writing together. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: That would be quite a thing to come into a band like Dark Tranquillity that\u2019s been together for so long. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yeah, that\u2019s been our issue for the last two years. How do we find someone who will fit in and who can deal with us? [laughs]<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Although there was a lineup change, it\u2019s still four of the original five members plus Martin Br\u00e4ndstr\u00f6m on keyboards for the last 16 years. With so many high profile lineup changes in other bands, how have you managed to keep it together so well? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I don\u2019t know. I mean we did grow up together. And, uhm, we discovered music together. We\u2019ve been best friends since we were kids basically. So, uhm\u2026 so we have enormous respect for each other. Sometimes we\u2026 it\u2019s not like we hang out all the time together, but we do, you know? And we have a lot of fun together on tour. And we love writing together. And part of it is just fear of doing anything else, you know? This is something that instantly became huge, a huge deal in our lives. We were 14, 15, when we discovered music, and we started writing and playing together, and that became everything, you know? And especially when you\u2019re in that age, I think, you know, in your late teens, those are the formative years. It has really shaped all of our lives. It\u2019s impossible to even imagine doing anything else. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: I noticed the song-writing credit shows contributions from all members. I\u2019m sure that helps keep the peace in the band. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yeah, it\u2019s always better like that. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: And I think that tears a lot of bands apart on the other side. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Absolutely. We\u2019ve always said that we share everything we create. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: You were talking about your formative days when you were kids starting the band. Last year you re-released your debut album Skydancer<\/em>, the only album with you on guitar instead of vocals. You were very young when you recorded that album. How do you look back on that time? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: It was fantastic, but\u2026 and stressful and weird. And we had no idea what we were doing. I was 18 when we started recording the album. We really didn\u2019t know anything, but it was so exciting to finally be able to record an album, you know, and be in a proper studio and have things sound kind of good for the first time, you know? Instead of the old demos that we did. So it was really exciting. And I guess, right after that album, when I started singing, and we got Frederick on guitar, then we finally learned how to play properly. We almost became so much better. And that\u2019s when I felt that we started properly. We felt, you know, as you are in your early twenties, \u201cwe can do anything,\u201d you know? And, that was a fun time. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: The Skydancer<\/em> re-release also came out on vinyl and you\u2019ve had some other interesting vinyl releases like the Memory Construct 7\u201d single on the last tour and the Decibel Magazine flexi-vinyl. Are you a fan of vinyl yourself or is this just a matter of providing people what they want to buy? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I\u2019m definitely a fan. I love it. I mean, that\u2019s what I grew up listening to. And I\u2019m happy to see that there\u2019s a resurgence, you know? Like people are actually collecting and buying vinyl, and I do all the time. And it\u2019s cool. Yeah, all of our releases are on vinyl, as they should be. You know, it\u2019s great for collectors, and it\u2019s fun for us as well. It\u2019s something that we always pay extra attention to, and also our record label are big fans as well of that. So, it\u2019s very natural. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: I noticed that you\u2019ve had special covers for the vinyl editions as well. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Oh yeah. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: So aside from vinyl, what formats to do you use for listening to music? Obviously you can\u2019t take your vinyl on the road with you. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: No. I use a streaming service, WiMP. It\u2019s one that I\u2026 that I really like because it\u2019s super high quality. It\u2019s a Scandinavian service but it works here too. It\u2019s fantastic. I really love it. I discover a lot of new music through that service all the time, you know? That\u2019s something that I\u2019m really into. Just find a quiet place somewhere, put your earbuds in, and try to find new music that\u2019s related to other artists that you\u2019re into. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Do you find you\u2019re still able to still stick with listening to a whole album all the way through? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Oh, absolutely. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: A lot of people say that with streaming services, people are not listening to whole albums. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Nah. I can\u2019t do that. I don\u2019t listen to playlists. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: How does it feel to be credited as one of the founders of a genre of metal, Melodic Death Metal? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s hard to think of it that way. Of course, we are very proud of what we did when we were young. We set out to create original and unique music, and in a way, we succeeded. So of course I\u2019m really happy with that. I\u2019m glad that, you know, us and the other bands from Gothenburg, got a lot of attention because of it. And it\u2019s cool. I remember being annoyed and pissed off about it, you know, in the mid-90s, where we felt like… \u201cno, we\u2019re original. We want to be\u2026 we are different.\u201d But it was just, you know, lumping us together with In Flames and At the Gates, and all those other bands. We are so different, but nobody could see that. But I\u2019m glad I got over that, and now I can embrace it and enjoy it. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Do you embrace the term [Melodic Death Metal] now? I can see on the other hand, it kind of sets expectations, like, you\u2019ll always play one style of music<\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yeah, but I\u2019m okay with that. I think for me now it\u2019s \u2026 I think of it more or less as a quality \u2026 kind of seal approval kind of thing.
\nHardrock Haven: You\u2019re very energetic on stage with the headbanging and getting in people\u2019s faces and jumping off the stage. Who influenced you with their stage presence even if not necessarily the same kind of music you play? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I think it\u2019s probably Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates. I saw him with his first band, Grotesque. We were neighbors from when we grew up and he was a great friend. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: I saw that he was in your DVD that came out a few years back, talking about the old days. So that had to be kind of fun to see that band get back together after so many years. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Ahh, I\u2019m so happy for them. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: And now they\u2019re on Century Media with you. <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yep, I\u2019m ecstatic. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: And speaking of Century Media, you\u2019ve been with them a really long time now. And I think before the last album came out, you signed with them again. What do you like about working with Century Media? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I like that they\u2019re super honest. They\u2019re really good at what they do. They respect us. We respect them right back. They\u2019re big music fans, you know? Album geeks, just the way we are. They\u2019ve always allowed us to do pretty much whatever we want. We said to them early on that we\u2019d take care of all the stuff, you know, surrounding the album. We\u2019d do the artwork, the production, we record in our own studio, we do all that stuff. And you do your thing, which is put it on plastic and vinyl and release it. And that\u2019s what they do. And I think it\u2019s been working out great for us. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Well, after this tour you just have some one-off shows for the rest of the year. And then it\u2019s back to writing? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: Yeah, that\u2019s the plan, to get back to writing as soon as possible. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Well, anything else you\u2019d like to say for Dark Tranquillity fans who might be watching? <\/p>\n

Mikael Stanne: I\u2019m just really thankful for the fact that we\u2019re allowed to do this, year after year, and come back here, see a lot of great people, and have fantastic shows. We love it, so it\u2019s pretty cool. But we look forward to getting home and writing at home. Two and a half years of touring is a lot. <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: Thank you very much for your time.<\/p>\n

Visit the band online: http:\/\/www.darktranquillity.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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