Dark Tranquility interview

(Originally from 4/25/04)

Dark Tranquility is one of the founding bands of the new and popular melodic death metal genre. They have been around for nearly 15 years, and continue to pursue their visions and musical direction. Guitarist Niklas Sundin has graciously donated some of his time to discuss the future and past of Dark Tranquility...

For those who are unfamiliar with Dark Tranquility, can you tell us a little about how the band got started?

Niklas: I guess that our founding steps don't differ that much from any other band; we were a couple of kids hanging out and listening to music and eventually deciding to try to learn how to play by ourselves. We're probably a bit different in that D.T. was the first band for all of us. Some of the members had less than a week of playing experience when we started out, so as you can imagine, it took a while before things began sounding good.

Dark Tranquility has been around for almost 15 years now. Do you find it gets any harder to write original music after so many years?

Not really; we've been playing together for so long and know each other very well, so it's seldom hard to write songs. We're very pedantic and tend to re-arrange things over and over again until we're 100% satisfied, but that's the way we want to work, so it's not a disadvantage.

What kind of effects and guitar gear do you use on your albums?

I'm probably among the most clueless guitarists there is, since I'm not at all interested in the equipment aspects of playing. I never pay much attention to what specific brands or gear that is used in different situations, but I've came to the conclusion that Gibson guitars is right for me. In studio, I use my Les Paul standard or my Les Paul Gothic most of the time.

Do you have a favorite Dark Tranquility album? Favorite song?

Not really - after having spent so much time with the songs in the rehearsal room, in the studio and onstage, you tend to think that all of them can be pretty tedious, ha ha. My fave D.T. stuff is always the material that we're working on at the given time, since it's still being shaped and therefore is fresh and exciting.

Who are the musicians/bands that have inspired you the most?

When we started out, there were a couple of bands, such as Kreator, Merciless (SWE), Sabbat (UK) and Helloween, that were huge inspirational sources. They definately played an important role in us deciding to form a band and try to create our own music. These days, we listen to lots of different music from all styles and genres, and it'd be way more difficult to name any specific artists or bands that motivate us.

Do you have a favorite guitarist or biggest musical influence?

Not really...As boring as it probably sounds, I tend to listen to music as a whole rather than focusing on what the guitarist is doing. I've never been into shredding or traditional guitar-hero playing and I don't really have a fave musician or "hero".

If you could form a dream band of any musicians, living or dead, who would be in it and why?

This is one of those questions that are impossible to give a good reply to. I think I'd go for something generally silly and unexpected, groping totally people from totally different schools of music together, just to see what would come out of it.

What can we possibly expect to see in the future for Dark Tranquility?

We just finished recording our seventh full-length album, which will be out after the summer. In addition, we'll have a double CD of rare and previously unreleased material entitled "Exposures - in retrospect and denial" released next month. As if this wasn't enough, our 2nd and 3rd album will be re-released later this year, featuring lots of bonus material and re-designed booklets.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians and metal bands?

Let's see....apart from the obvious, that you should practice really hard and do your best to create something of your own instead of ripping your influences off, I think it's vital that musicians are patient. I have the impression that a lot of new bands get disappointed if they don't recieve any record label interest after the first demo, but a decade or so ago, you often had to spend 4-5 years of self-promotion and refining your skills before getting signed. This had the advantage of weeding a lot of non-dedicated bands out. Today, so many bands release albums way before they're ready for it, which only oversaturates the marke. Also, it's important to have realistic goals. Most metal bands, even the bigger ones that frequently engage in worldwide touring, have regular jobs to support themselves and don't earn many cents on their music, so if you're in it for the money you might as well get out right away, ha ha!

I would like to thank Niklas Sundin for agreeing to this interview, as well as the rest of Dark Tranquility. The new double CD Exposures - in Retrospect and Denial is scheduled for a May 31st release. You can visit the official Dark Tranquility website here - www.darktranquility.com.