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Interviews : At The Gates – ”We’re not writing new songs.” (An interview with Tomas Lindberg)

By on October 29, 2012

At The Gates – Tomas Lindberg

Swedish heavy metal pioneers At The Gates will this year join the ranks of Nasum by touring Australia for the first time in 2012, after a career or more than two decades. At The Gates are legendary within the metal community, sparking up interest for new bands and directly influencing movements within the death metal genre.

The group is notorious for its on-again-off-again career, but have been going strong after re-forming in 2007 for live shows. Metal Obsession talks to vocalist and founding member Toman Lindberg.

Metal Obsession: Hey Tomas, obviously we’re speaking in regard to your well-publicised debut Australian tour – how does it feel to be coming out for the first time?

Tomas Lindberg: This is the first time coming to Australia with this project, I have toured with other projects of course but with this one it’s the first time, yeah – it feels good.

MO: You guys have been around since the 1990s, have you had the chance to come to Australia before?

TL: We had the opportunity to come out before the band split up for the first time and again in 2008, but things were hectic then and we just couldn’t manage the trip, but I have heard a lot of good things about Australia from friends and other bands. So it will be good to get out there.

MO:  I understand you have a full-time job, what makes you keep on going with the band?

TL: Well, I just like to keep busy, you know, I get more tired doing nothing. I get more tired when I’m not doing anything – sometimes I think I might like to sit around at home and do nothing, but I do a full week’s work, two rehearsals on Friday and I just want to sit at home. But if there is a good band playing on the weekend –  you go and you get more energy.

MO: Do you prefer your life now, or would you rather be playing full-time?

TL: There’s been times that I supported myself and family from just being a musician. It’s pretty harsh sometimes but good when one pay check arrives. Then you have to hassle record companies to get paid from somewhere else, then you have got to tour to pay bills and then there’s doing stuff for the wrong reasons. At least for me, I’m not saying other people, but there are dangers.

MO: How do you mean?

TL: I’m saying if you stat having a professional career in music, it’s not saying it happens to all of them, but living off music there are dangers.  You say yes to stuff you shouldn’t have done if you didn’t have to.

MO: Like what?

TL: Tours, you know, you’ll be called on to tour when you’re feeling tired or uninspired just to pay bills. People will be asking you to do recordings when you don’t really want to do it.

MO: So it kills the artistic element of music?

TL: Exactly, if you have a full-time job that pays the bills – I can only speak for myself – but it means I only do stuff I really want to do and feel inspired about doing.

MO: Well, speaking of feeling inspired – are you guys writing at the moment?

TL: We are not writing new songs.

MO: Why not?

TL: Well, basically, it’s one of those things where we have reformed for live purposes only and saying that, we said 2008 was our last shows – now it’s 2012 and we’re still doing shows -so I learned to keep my mouth shut about things like that. If something happens, it happens, but we are not writing.

MO: Do you think you will in the future?

TL: Basically, it’s a thing where people have perceptions about what the new record should be and probably their own thoughts about us doing it.  Since we haven’t done it since 1995, it’s harder for us to do a new recording than if the band hadn’t existed for so much time. There are so many preconceptions of what we would come out with. As soon as there’s preconceptions there’s a possibility for disappointment.

It’s quite hard to compete with other people’s expectations. When we were recording it was because of the need to express ourselves as a unit and didn’t care at the time.

MO: I guess that makes more sense. Speaking of creativity, Sweden is notorious for producing amazing artists – what is it about that place?

TL: You have a scene, a lot of cities have different scenes, but a lot of bands will focus on that scene’s style. Sweden is what you would call a safe country. We have a pretty good welfare system, there is actually spare time in which to create good music, you are untroubled. We have a pretty good life here, actually, there’s time to go to rehearsals and money to pay for rehearsals.

MO: It sounds like a good life! Well, time’s getting close – do you think there’s anything left to achieve that you haven’t already, do you have any goals left?

TL: There’s always new stuff, when there’s not new stuff to explore or achieve – you should call it quits, you know? I mean, what we do every night now might not be re-inventing the wheel or something, but we’re with new people every night  – it’s such an overwhelming experience, when we play live now it’s s a kick. When you feel you’ve done enough, it happens instantly – it’s time to move onto something else. There’s always new stuff to try with other people.

 

Make sure to catch AT THE GATES on their upcoming Australia. This will be the first and perhaps only time you’ll ever see the band perform in Australia.

Wednesday 31 October The HiFi Brisbane 18+
With The Fevered +  In Death

Tickets from www.thehifi.com.au or 1300 The HIFI & Moshtix outlets including Kill The Music, Butterbeats CBD & Valley, Gooble Warming and Atlantis Music Southport

Thursday 1 November Metro Theatre Sydney 18+

With Katabasis +  As Silence Breaks

Tickets from Ticketek on 132 849 or ticketek.com.au and Metro Theatre Box Office 02 9550 3666 metrotheatre.com.au

Friday 2 November Billboard Melbourne 18+
With Be’Lakor + Eye of the Enemy

Tickets from Ticketek on 132 849 or ticketek.com.au, Moshtix on 1300 438 849, www.moshtix.com.au and Moshtix outlets including Polyester Records and Fist2Face 03 9095 7911

Saturday 3 November Capitol Perth 18+

With I Am Eternal +  Befallen

Tickets from Moshtix on 1300 438 849 or www.moshtix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, Star Surf, Planet Video, Mills or 78′s.

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