THE HAUNTED Frontman Discusses American Politics

Chad Bowar of About Heavy Metal recently conducted an interview with vocalist Peter Dolving of the Swedish metallers THE HAUNTED. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

About Heavy Metal: Did you approach the songwriting on "Versus" any differently than previous albums?

Peter Dolving: Yes, this time we acted as if we'd actually done this before. And lo and behold, it made a difference! Honestly though, I think confidence is important when it comes to doing this. For us, there's always been so many worries in the process. We figured out that we can't try making other people happy, it's our band, our music. We like it, and if you don't, fine, (screw) off.

About Heavy Metal: You worked with [producer] Tue Madsen again. What is it about his style that works so well for THE HAUNTED?

Peter Dolving: He doesn't try to produce us. And he's very down to earth. As a band, and everyone who's worked with us will testify, we are a weird group of people. Extremely opinionated, and very, very dry. I mean, we are often funny, but hedonistic lifestyles don't really go down real well for us somehow. Also we're ridiculously self sufficient. People who work with us find there's not a lot of room to breathe if you're the kind of dude who's looking for constant acknowledgement. We're sorta The Black Ops of metal. Are we socially handicapped? You bet. And that's perfectly fine for us. As far as Tue goes, he is as much a great psychologist as an amazing sound engineer, which is a perfect combination for us.

About Heavy Metal: What are your favorite and least favorite things about visiting the U.S.?

Peter Dolving: I think this needs to be clarified. We don't visit. We go to U.S. to work, OK? We work and pay taxes in the U.S. for what we do in the U.S. For me personally it's great because I get to see my family, half of them are rednecks from Oregon and Oklahoma. I was raised American, what can I say? We should just just get green cards instead of our work permits. It's a hassle that we keep having to take care of every album. It's not like we try to hide our opinions and you always know where to find us if you think that's important. But good and bad in the U.S.? I love the fact people are mostly friendly. I don't like the macho B.S. that a lot of American men have got going, that's just old veneer. But mostly there's a positive attitude that I can understand, no matter what mood I'm in. Sure, the occasional (jerk) crosses our path every once in a while, but mostly it's up to me as a person or us as a group to set the mood of the day.

About Heavy Metal: The U.S. presidential election is coming up soon. As someone who is not American, but has a strong interest in world affairs, what do you think the impact will be if McCain wins, and what will it be if Obama wins?

Peter Dolving: Wow, that's a really hard question. I think in most ways it won't really be that different. The reason is, of course, the fact that both dominating parties in the U.S. are simply two sides of the same coin. They're fundamentally capitalist and there's only so much you can do when you share the basic view of how things should be solved. There is of course a great deal of diversity in U.S. politics, but it doesn't get much attention in world media, hell, any media. I honestly don't think there's going to be that much of a change. The Wall Street crisis and the sudden Obama/McCain unity in the matter gives a good preview of this. Perhaps Obama could push a slightly more populist system on domestic politics, but I really don't know. I feel like U.S. democracy has lost all credibility, too many professional spinsters are pushing issues in D.C., and big money has too much influence for the system to function, at least to pass as a democracy.

About Heavy Metal: What's the biggest problem facing the world today?

Peter Dolving: Apathy and resignation amongst ordinary people is the biggest problem, without a doubt. Maybe not so much in countries like the Phillipines, Argentina or Poland, but definitely in the U.S., Europe and Australia. We need to start getting off our asses and act on what's going on, no matter what political views we sympathize with. We need to get up and go. You know, I think much of it has to do with a basic misconception that this means you have to lay your life to waste in getting organized and engaged. It's not like that. The cool thing with actual democracy is how it functions through tiny steps and wide participation. Watch the news, act as respectfully as your capacity allows you each new day. A little bit of care goes a long way. Apathy however, kills it.

Read the entire interview from About Heavy Metal.

Video footage of THE HAUNTED performing "Moronic Colossus" on October 2, 2008 at the Brewhouse in Gothenburg, Sweden can be viewed below.