IN FLAMES Frontman: 'I Don't Think Anybody Can Sound Like We Sound'

Jackie Smit of Chronicles of Chaos recently conducted an interview with IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Chronicles of Chaos: "Come Clarity" had been confirmed as being completed as far back as July, yet it's only being released some nine months later. What was behind the delay?

Anders Fridén: "We didn't have a deal in the States, because we were in the process of changing from Nuclear Blast to another label. That happened because we didn't feel like the relationship was working out anymore. We were touring a lot, but kids weren't able to find our albums in the stores, and we tried for many albums to get this problem resolved, but nothing happened. Don't get me wrong — we're very happy with Nuclear Blast in Europe, but we needed something different for the States. So we ended up with Ferret Records. They convinced us that they had the best plan for us and that they were going to be able to do the best job for us, and it seems like it's going to be great. That's why it took some time, because we didn't want to release the album in Europe and then have to have our fans in the States wait for however long to get it there."

Chronicles of Chaos: So the problems that you had with Nuclear Blast in the States, was that just down to their ability to distribute your stuff effectively?

Anders Fridén: "It was a lot of things that I don't want to get into now, but what I will say is that there were people there who were doing stupid stuff that just made us wonder what we were doing there. You know, if people aren't interested in selling records then they should not be doing this job. We want to sell records. Our main goal is ultimately to have a good time and enjoy ourselves, but we want to feel good about what we're doing as well. If we weren't interested in selling records, we'd be recording our music in a basement somewhere and passing the tape around to our friends."

Chronicles of Chaos: What made Ferret Records an attractive option then, because I can imagine that given the extent to which your profile was raised after "Soundtrack to Your Escape", labels must have been clamouring over themselves to sign you guys?

Anders Fridén: "Yeah, that did happen. But it was important to us that we have control over what we do and that no label can come in and tell us what to do. We don't listen to what people tell us to do. Labels know how to do promotion and we know how to do music, and we need control over that process. I think it's a struggling time for a lot of majors. They're searching desperately for the next big thing, not knowing whether they might fail along the way. Ferret just said the right things, and I think that they have an ear to the underground, which is very important to us. That's where we came from and I believe that's where we are still. Our roots are important, and from that point of view, they are the perfect link for us."

Chronicles of Chaos: What do you think of the music press?

Anders Fridén: "I don't think anything bad about journalists. We need them and they need us, you know? And I don't blame them when an article comes out and maybe I don't sound like such a cool guy. I think that a lot of things that are said and quoted come from the band members and it's their responsibility to make sure that they're not saying anything they shouldn't be. A lot of bands tend to love the press while they're doing well, and they hate them when something bad gets said about them and people turn on them. They always blame the press and some people just love to say certain things so that they can be seen as being rebellious. And when that goes wrong, then they blame the press and they say that they were misquoted. That's their fault, and no one else's. Personally, I've never had any problems with any of the press. I've been misquoted sometimes, but it's never been anything serious. Sometimes you shake your head at a review, like when people were saying that we were going 'nu-metal' with 'Reroute to Remain', or when they say that now you sound like this or now you're sounding like that band. We're just doing our own thing. We're not trying to sound American. We're Swedish. We've been around for a long time and we've been doing this same thing since we began. The musical climate might change, but we don't. Sure we don't do the same album every time, but we're still IN FLAMES every time. We are on our own path somewhere. And it's hard to be original. A lot of people try to do it and they fail, but I don't think that there's another band who sound like IN FLAMES. No doubt about it. I don't think anybody can sound like we sound."

Read the entire interiew at ChroniclesOfChaos.com.