Interview

ProgPower USA XV Interviews: PAIN OF SALVATION Talks “Holy Diver” Acoustic Cover And How Recording An Album Changes You

Several hours before their performance of the “Remedy Lane” album at ProgPower USA XV in Atlanta, GA on September 12th, Pain of Salvation was in a kind of limbo of nervousness. Some of their equipment had been mistakenly flown elsewhere while they had been flying to the states, a broken snare drum disaster was narrowly averted by one of their Johnny-on-the-spot sponsors who personally made a trip to Guitar Center for them, and frontman Daniel Gildenlöw was in a cool-headed but obvious state of conflicted anticipation. It was hardly “the right time” to do an interview with the band. Nevertheless, Gildenlöw and guitarist/vocalist Ragnar Zolberg generously agreed to take ten minutes with MetalUnderground.com’s Frank Serafine to open up about their situation.

With an acoustic album to be released following two raw and polarizing “Road Salt” albums, Gildenlöw’s recent medical triumph over flesh-eating bacteria, and a North American tour now under way, it is a time of great change for the band. Among other things, the tall tag-team twosome of Zolberg and Gildenlöw revealed that the band had worked up a very special version of Dio’s classic “Holy Diver” for the acoustic album. Gildenlöw also discussed how putting his experiences into song changes his own recollection of those experiences over time as they become “the album.”

Frank Serafine (Progressivity_In_All): You beat a streptococcal infection, a skin infection, on your back. It took a long time and it was awesome to see you in the photos from Sweden Rock just revived and full of life after it. Have your experiences while in that situation affected or had an influence on new Pain of Salvation music at all?

Daniel Gildenlow: I don’t know yet. I haven’t written much. I have written music, but I wouldn’t say it’s affected the writing at all, yeah.

Frank: Ahh! Well, were you able to do anything for Pain of Salvation while you were recovering?

Ragnar Zolberg: He kept alive! For starters! (laughs) That was quite good for the band!

(everyone laughs)

Daniel: Yeah! (laughs heartily) I brought the guitar in at the start. I was still having these delusional ideas that I would be able to get well enough soon enough to make the tours that were planned, first with Transatlantic and then with the Bahamas cruise thing.

Frank: Progressive Nation at Sea.

Daniel: I think that the doctors, at that point, didn’t want to break the illusion for me. Once I woke up from the surgery where they removed big chunks of my back, I was like, “So I have a tour in three weeks. Will I be okay to do the tour in time?” They’re like, “Well… We’ll take it one step at a time.”

Ragnar: With a question mark there! (laughs)

Daniel: It was like four months later where I knew “ahhh, that was the stupidest question ever!” (laughs) I had all these intentions that I would be able to. I had someone bring the guitar so I could practice the songs and practice guitar. It never happened.

Ragnar: He just ended up taking a lot of pictures of it.

Daniel: That’s why I did that. That was the the only thing I could use the guitar for -- taking pictures of the guitar as a patient.

Frank: So the new acoustic album is coming out, entitled “Falling Home,” as you’ve revealed. Could you tell us a little bit about the making of the album and what the songs sound like in your mind?

Daniel: The whole album was just supposed to be a bridge between one real album and another real album, because we had an offer to make this acoustic show in Leipzig, Germany. We figured, “Oh, well, if we’re doing this show, we should record it and just put it on an album while we’re starting on a new album.” And then the recording was all screwed up because they didn’t record all of the channels and the recording was just unusable.

Then, we had already started picturing the idea of having this acoustic album, so we figured “let’s record it instead… at home.” That dragged out and it became very much a real album, I would say. It’s rearranged material sort of in the same vein as “12:5”, but much more dry, closed, and warm-sounding. We have a very interesting rendition of “Holy Diver” in there -- it’s one of my favorite tracks. All of it is acoustic.

Frank: That’s going to be really interesting! For the upcoming tour, will you be playing songs from “Falling Home,” the rearranged versions? Or will you be doing a different set list?

Daniel: Not that we talked about it, but I don’t think so. We had some ideas a long time ago where we would have an acoustic section of every show. Maybe for the European shows. It’s too difficult. When we’re touring Europe, we can bring our stuff and all of our technicians and what we have. We have to strip everything down very much here. As much as this is a tour, it’s still a fly-in tour. I think we just need a whole second setup of gear. Lots of acoustic instruments, standing-up bass…

For the tour, we did. We actually built an entire living room with bookshelves, couches, tables… We had all of the keyboard stuff mounted into a stand-up piano.

Frank: Ah, Steven Wilson does something like that -- that’s a nice touch! (For evidence, see here - it was mounted into a rolltop desk organizer, but I was close enough, right?)

Daniel: When did he do that?

Frank: For the tour just following “The Incident” tour, I believe.

Daniel: I have no idea what that is.

Frank: It was a US tour -- I’m sorry, it was for their last album.

Daniel: So, year-wise?

Frank: Year-wise, it was… 2 years ago?

Daniel: 2 years ago? Alright. I just wanted to see if he was first or not! (laughs)

Frank: Oh, it totally doesn’t even matter!

Ragnar: If it was 2 years ago, the tour was two years ago, right? Was it? Uhh…

Daniel: Time flies!

Frank: I think it was two years ago.

Ragnar: He could be wrong, though! (laughs)

Daniel: Yes!

Frank: I could be! (laughs) I am sometimes!

Milton Mendonca (tour promoter): He usually is! (laughs)

Frank: So you guys have played ProgPower a couple of times. Are you really excited to get back on the stage to play Remedy Lane after so many years?

Ragnar: ...or?

Frank: Hmm?

Ragnar: It’s like “Are you really excited to play or…?”

Frank: Oh! Sorry! There was not an “or.” I was meaning your level of excitement. Is it ‘kind of excited,’ ‘really excited?’

Daniel: Right now, I’m basically stressed out, but first I was not at all looking forward to it. Out of fear, I might add, but I’ve been looking forward to it a lot. I think it’s going to be a very nice thing, but you’re asking me just a few hours before the show! (laughs) The stressy part of the day!

Frank: Oh, it’ll be nice and easy when you get on stage -- you stress, stress, stress, and then you get on stage and it’s all good!

Daniel: Yeah! That’s usually how it is. I can’t just take that for granted, though, because then the universe would prove me wrong. (laughs)

Frank: So I wanted to talk about Remedy Lane if that’s okay.

Daniel: Yeah.

Frank: I know it’s been a few years. Looking back on it from years afterward, have your own views of the album changed?

Daniel: Yes.

(band laughs)

Frank: In which ways, would you say?

Daniel: There are so many levels to that album. To any album, of course, but it’s a very intimate album from a content point of view and there’s a lot of autobiographical stuff there. So you have the influences going both ways. First of all, you’re taking an important section of your life and you’re turning it into an album, thinking that this will conserve, in a way, the experience, but it actually does the exact opposite -- it sort of takes the experience away from you. Because it turns into the album, and then after a while it gets difficult to relate to your own experiences because it has become the album in a way.

So, the album is reflecting on your own memories of your own life as well. Of course, like any album, you change your relationship to the album itself. Lots of thing you would have wanted to do differently in retrospect. Some things you just grow out of, I guess. There are parts of that album that I am not able to relate to today, to the same extent of what I did back then. Other things, I’ve noticed, I have realized that I actually do have a relation to, once I pick it up and start playing it again. I’m starting to enjoy things that I had no idea I would enjoy.

Frank: That’s a nice surprise.

Daniel: Yeah! Exactly. I think that goes with any album, right?

Ragnar: I was preparing the next answer on my phone, so I’m not paying attention… (laughs)

(everyone laughs)

Daniel: On your phone! (laughs)

Frank (to Ragnar): I actually do have questions for you, you know!

Ragnar: Thank god I’ve prepared then!

Frank: No kidding! (laughs)

Daniel: Can I read the answers?

Frank: If we tap phones, we can actually get the entire interview right here through bluetooth! Done!

Daniel: I have the answers. (takes Ragnar’s phone to “look at the answers") (laughs)

Frank (to Ragnar): You helped Pain of Salvation out by going on Progressive Nation At Sea with Clay [Withrow, Vangough guitarist], filling in. How was that show experience different than your experiences with your band, Sign?

Daniel (answering for Ragnar, looking at the phone): What he did was that he would “slide to unlock.” (Ragnar laughs) That just… I don’t know why that helped, but he “slid to unlock.” Did I do good?

Ragnar: Yeah! It was good!

(everyone laughs)

Frank: That’s a fantastic answer.

Milton Mendonca: I think the answer to that question was ‘34.’

Daniel: ...34? It’s “42!” (incredulous)

Frank: The answer is always “42,” Milton, get your shit straight!

Ragnar: Yeah, it’s “42!”

Frank: We just have to find what the question is!

Daniel: But that’s funny, because he’s got it on his phone!

(everyone laughs at the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy reference)

Ragnar: It was a haiku!

Daniel: Ahh!

Ragnar: I am kind of used to standing as a front-person on stage, so that part comes pretty natural, but to be standing there in his shoes (referring to Daniel) is something completely different, of course, because some of the people didn’t even know he wasn’t going to be there.

Frank: Right!

Ragnar: To them, it was like a shock. I was prepared to have tomatoes and eggs thrown at me! It was quite nerve-racking.

Frank: All the reviews I’ve read have said that it was amazing.

Pain Of Salvation and Vangough are currently on their North American tour, nearing Washington. A full list of tour dates can be found here.