a taste of chaos

with Björn Gelotte of In Flames on Tue 1st Dec 2009

With Björn Gelotte guitarist of Swedish melodic death metallers In Flames currently in the UK for the European leg of the Taste Of Chaos Tour until the end of the week, eGigs managed to get a quick word with him for a few minutes before the opening concert in Glasgow on Friday.

How's the Taste Of Chaos tour going?
Well, so far it's been really good, we've just done a couple of dates leading up to the Taste Of Chaos, today is the first show, so it's going to be a lot of fun.

What time are you on stage tonight?
I think 8.10pm or 8.30pm, we've been here (in Glasgow) since yesterday. The bus is parked right outside, it's fairly small, so we're just going to stay on our nice bus instead.

You've played in front of Scottish audiences before?
Oh yeah, yeah, I loved those other ones (laughs). I'm always looking forward to it, the UK is always really cool to play in. It's a lot of fun because there's a lot of energy in the crowd, and this package will definitely bring a lot of that out. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Last time I spoke to you was just before your Download performance, how did you enjoy that?
It was a while ago now. Usually festivals are either hit or miss, but most of the festivals that we've done in the last couple of years have been really good, because we've had more time to play, so we can make it a bit for both us and the audience. Also, production wise, we can do a little bit more. Download was in the middle of a lot of festivals we did and it worked out well with the other ones. It as good, the UK is special, it's one of the few festivals that we've done over here. We've done one other one, I can't remember what that was called, But, it was raining all the time, and the weather was shitty. That sort of brings down the mood about, but Download was nice.

Any plans to do any more next year?
Festivals? no, we have no plans. We just want to finish off this touring cycle and maybe do a few shows, I know we have something planned for Asia in January. But, we've got to write the new album, so, we're kind of busy.

'Sense Of Purpose' won a Swedish grammy, have you started on another grammy winning album yet?
No, we haven't really started. Just a little bits and pieces here and there. We don't really think about winning stuff like that. You want to make an album that you are really proud of, that you can actually enjoy listening to, and playing the songs a thousand times, that's the best mark of quality I think. Then if other people like it, I think that's nice, but mostly it's just a bonus. Especially when it comes to stuff like grammys, if it's a jury then it doesn't really that much. But, if it's actually voted by the audience, people that go to concerts, and stuff like that, then it's very important for them to recognise what they've done.

So how long does it take for you to make an album, how long did 'Sense Of Purpose' take to make?
It usually takes us, say, about a month and a half in the studio. We're usually pretty quick once we set the dates for the recording in the studio. It takes a little while to get all the material together. We like being in the studio, not as much as being on tour. But, we like listening to it grow. We never go in with, like, we want to have this and this. This drum, and this guitar sound. We just start from scratch, no reference material, we just go in there. That's the beauty of it, because it will sound like In Flames either way, it's just that we never know in what shapes it's going to be.

Have you met all the bands on the Taste Of Chaos tour already?
Some of the guys I haven't met yet, it's going to be the first time. We toured with Killswitch numerous times, we've done many, many shows with those guys, really cool guys. we always have a lot of fun. We have a lot in common musically as well, so there's a lot to talk about when we want to. So far, we've just met the guys, they came in yesterday too, and we've just said hello, but we will definitely hang out. I haven't met Every Time You Die yet, I've only read about these guys, and I might have seen them at a festival or two. I think they're really cool guys, some of our crew guys know them, and they've said a lot of good things about them, so I'm looking forward to that. Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster are a new acquittance for me totally. I don't think I've even heard of them before, but any band on this tour must have made an impression to be here, so I think they're going to be pretty good.

We haven't done a Taste Of Chaos tour before, but we like the idea of doing it because if it's an annual festival tour it's a package with a good vibe. There a lot of packages out there, but this way is pretty cool, I think we can share the stage,and people get a lot of bands for their money. As soon as we get to mainland Europe after UK, we're going to do the headlining.

Are you looking forward to headlining the Scandinavian dates?
Fuck yeah! It's going to be awesome. Those shows are really big and we have some opportunities to create a really cool, and very big show. That's going to be really, really cool on our home, between 5 and 10,000 people.

You're on the bill with Dead By April in Scandinavia have you met them before?
Yeah, I know some of the guys in the band. I only heard them from the radio really, because they've had a couple of radio hits. The guys that I know are really cool, nice guys, and it should be fun touring with them. I've never toured with them before, I've just seen them a little bit live, so, it's going to be interesting.

Do you get time off for Christmas?
Yeah, the tour ends on the 16th or 17th and then we head home over Christmas and New Year's and then just a short stretch in Asia, Japan, and a few countries around there. Then it's time off for writing. It's been a good 18 months of touring.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my family.

...and what are you looking forward to getting at Christmas?
There's a bunch of things. I'm looking forward to the new 30 Seconds To Mars album, and I've actually got some really good presents already. I got to see Muse, I went to Copenhagen and saw them, one of the best shows I've ever seen.

How about new bands, what have you been listening to that you'd recommend?
One band that we actually had on tour with us, that I thought was really cool, very technical, maybe a little too technical for my tastes sometimes, is a band called Sybreed. A really good live band, a four piece, it's a bit technical and very modern. The guys are so cool, that when you listen to it you can tell they give it all they got, and it's got some layers in there, and they're really amazing. I think you should check it out. It's kind of Soilwork like.

That's my time up have a good gig tonight.
Oh, thanks we sure will, bye bye.

Björn Gelotte

article by: Scott Williams

published: 01/12/2009 09:43



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