Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.43 03/03)
excerpts from an interview with Stefan Dimle (Bass)
Me and Reine were invited to play some gigs with the Swedish female folksinger Turid. As we were in a big need of a keyboardplayer and a drummer, it was a natural choise for us to ask Johan Wallén who we knew was a tremendous keyboardplayer. He suggested Huxflux as a natural choice. We knew both of them from the time when Landberk and their band Ägg were touring together. Both of them are huge Turid fans so no persuasion was needed. After the last concert with Turid we all felt that it was not fair to bring the band to an end so we decided to continue with some of our own compositions. We did a gig as an instrumental band on a TV show just before we invited Petronella to the band. Her presence fullfilled the vision of the band. Ricard was not the initiator of the band but he is today a driving force and a incredible sound engineer. He recorded the "Timeloss" album in our rehearsal house. The mixing was done by Janne Hansson at the Atlantis studio in Stockholm.
How has been the general feedback concerning your music and the album so far?
As Paatos’ music can be described as music between genres, we have been ready to receive both negative and positive feedback. Some listeners, especially rock journalists in Sweden, find the undefined style most disturbing; others are more open to it. We have received both horrible and overwhelmingly positive reviews - most positive though - but almost no one is indifferent which we think is a good sign.
The musical influences of Paatos ranges from progressive rock, folk, jazz to artists like Björk, Portishead, Sigur Rós. How do you manage to keep all this together for the typical Paatos sound?
We are not making any special effort to create a typical Paatos sound. The only effort is to create the music we like, but as we all have varying influences - both individual and collectively - the music will end up as a mix of all these influences. The major thing that unifies us is the openness to many influences and a willingness to try and incorporate it in our music. I would lie if I said that were not influenced by movies.With Landberk people often compared us with different soundtrack composers. Not many people outside Sweden know that Paatos has been performing newly written music for the silent film "Nosferatu". It was meant as short brief pause for us, but we gave 100% of ourself and the performance was very succesful. Hopefully can we do this show abroad in the future.
The album "Timeloss" is just 40 minutes long, the length of a normal LP in the 70s. Was your main focus to record just those songs, which have musically matured enough for being on the album, instead of using filler material for the CD?
40 minutes is a nice format and it was the right length for this album. Because all members of Paatos are writing music we never are out of material. We are already writing music for a new album apart from the material that didn’t make it on "Timeloss". The next album will maybe be longer if suits the material.
Is there a big difference between the songs played live and in the studio? I'm especially thinking about "Quits", where you had additional guest musicans?
The live versions will never be the same as the album versions. We have left a lot of space for improvisations in all the songs and we all enjoy taking advantage of that. This really helps us to keep the material fresh and preventing us from getting fed up with it. On the gigs we have done so far we have had a couple of guests. At a gig in October both Micke Sörensen and Jonas Wall joined us. Apart from the improvisation on "Quits", Jonas played David Wilczewskis parts on flute and clarinet. On the last gig an Iraqi violinist called Fares, who gave the music a whole different mood, joined us. It was very exciting. But when we don’t have any guests we try to make it on our own and it usually works out all right. "Quits" is especially interesting to play live, because of the programmed parts that we then mainly play live. The end of the song is, of course, a dream for us who love improvised music.
At the end of September you played together with Opeth, which are musically quite different to Paatos. How were you received by their fans?
We played together at a rock club in Stockholm with three other bands of different styles, so it was quite a mixed crowd. As Opeth is a very interesting and groundbreaking band I think their audience is quite open to different musical expressions. As a matter of fact we have received a lot of mail and entries on our website guestbook from people saying they discovered Paatos through Opeth. The boarders between music is sometimes more vague than one might expect. One of the main goals with Paatos has been from the start to reach audiences with as different preferences as possible. The public radio of Sweden recorded the entire gig and it will be broadcasted the 11th of February. I guess you can track it down on internet as well. Please contact: nenne.zetterberg@sr.se or check the website: www.sr.se/p3/live.
Are there any plans or invitations to play outside of Sweden?
We have been invited to play in Japan this May and we are looking for opportunities to visit other countries as well, but nothing have yet been decided. So, anyone who reads this can feel free to contact our management for gigs on a club or festival near you! The 13th and 14th of April will we open Porcupine Tree in Gothenburg and Stockholm
Who had the idea of the beautiful optical presentation, the layout of the CD?
We had a hard time finding the right cover for Timeloss. We tried a couple of ideas before I found a box filled with pictures taken by a deceased woman - she died while we where recording the album. All the members loved the pictures and the idea of the album being a house where a picture of a room represents the all songs suddenly appeared. Those pictures where complemented by the band member photos taken by Anna-Lotta Elg and then the layout was finished by Ozzie. We have recorded a new version of the song “Hypnotique” and later on there will be a video shot in a house similar to the house we have used for the sleeve.
How do you manage to get a deal with Stockholm Records, which seems to be, regarding the other artists on this label, a major label?
I can tell that the audience and the musicindustry in Sweden still are in a state of shock! Stockholm Records is a Universal Music owned company and they have many famous artists in their stable. For me it was a very natural choise though the staff at Stockholm Records are big fans of progressive music. Our A&R has his walls filled with posters of Gong and Magma. I know that they will let other Universal offices around the world listen to Paatos and through their channels distribute Paatos worldwide. If they succeed is written in the stars but it can be worth calling your local Universal office and appeal for a Paatos release.
Now for something completely different. What's the current status of Landberk. Has the band been disbanded or is there still a chance for another album?
The focus is now on Paaots and as long as we overflow with inspiration. “ They are beautiful” was the very last song we wrote with Landberk. I think it was in 1997. For me was Paatos the natural step after Landberk. Some kind of legacy. I hope Paatos can fill the gap that Landberk left.
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 2003