April 6th, 2009 at 6:23am by Baconstrip
Seriously? Yeah, seriously. I met up with Klas Ideberg of Darkane, during their tour with Soilwork and Daylight Dies, and we talked all about nekkid Swedish guys, ABBA, and women’s hosiery.
We also talked about their new album Demonic Art, their unreleased DVD Layers of Live, and 80′s power metal. Wow, this interview still sounds pretty gay! I assure you, Klas is more like Skwisgaar Skwigelf- from the Swedish accent to the long blond hair, than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. He even said “Grandpa’s Guitars” when I was checking the sound on my DVR. Yuss!! But luckily for me, I’m way too young to be a G-milf. I’m not even a milf yet!
YOUR NAME AND YOUR JOB?
My name is Klas [Ideberg] and I play guitar for Darkane.
BECAUSE YOU ARE FROM HELSINGBORG [SWEDEN], HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC DIFFER FROM STOCKHOLM OR GOTHENBURG METAL BANDS?
Well, to begin with, the Stockholm scene may be, it’s hard to say, but maybe the scene in Stockholm is more death metal oriented, I guess. But I can’t see, well, I’m not listening to that many Stockholm bands lately. So I can’t say very much how it differs. But with the Gothenburg sound, it differs pretty much because we don’t have the happy sounding stuff, as the Gothenburg music scene has… Well, we’ve been around for so long, so I guess you can’t say that we’re influenced by it. Because I think we are pretty much apart from that scene, especially if you compare us to In Flames or The Haunted or stuff like that. Of course some stuff reminds you about The Haunted, like the very thrashy stuff, but I don’t think we’re at all like In Flames or stuff like that. And maybe it’s a little more complex songs as well, that we do, that the Gothenburg scene maybe don’t do. It’s hard to say.
A LITTLE MORE TECHNICAL, MAYBE?
A little bit more technical, maybe.
OK, SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE TOUR, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?
I’m looking forward to a little bit of warmth. Warm weather down in Florida. [Laughs]
AND BESIDES BEING INTERVIEWED, OF COURSE!
Of course! Of course! Besides being interviewed by you. Well, the gigs, of course. Other than that, a bit of fun. But mainly the gigs. This is the first real tour for the new album Demonic Art, so it’ll be good to see how people react to it. Because it was recently released, like a couple of days ago, in the states. It’s going to be interesting to see how that will be. And how the audience will like the new songs, the new album.
AND YOU ACTUALLY JUMPED AHEAD ALREADY, THAT WAS MY NEXT QUESTION. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM DEMONIC ART.
Yes,the new album is kind of like a mix between all the other albums that we’ve done. Looking at it now, maybe it’s a little bit more faster than we thought it was going to be, so it’s a lot of fast songs. Maybe next time we’ll do a little bit more of the slow stuff, I think. Because that’s what we actually wanted to do from the start, to mix the heavy stuff with the fast stuff, and the complex things. So it became a little bit faster than we aimed it to be. But, that’s the way it turned out and we’re happy with it.
COOL. AND WHAT ABOUT THE COVER ARTWORK? WITH THE DUDE HANGING UPSIDE DOWN?
We used the same guy as we did on the last album because we love his kind of artwork. From the start, we didn’t think he was going to be able to do it, but he was more than happy in doing it. And we were happy and he had some finished ideas already that we were like, Oh we want that one! The last cover art of the last album was already done, the whole thing. But for this album it was like a half finished sketch. So we were kind like, we want that thing, and stuff like that. We had a little bit more influence on the cover art for this new album. But he’s a great guy, definitely!
OK, BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO ASK ABOUT POSING AS NAKED MARIONETTES, SINCE THAT WAS ALREADY DONE ON YOUR LAST ALBUM, CARE TO ELABORATE ON THAT ONE?
[Laughing]
I WOULD LOOVE TO HEAR THIS!
What should I say?
WELL, THAT WASN’T ON THE COVER, THAT WAS INSIDE, RIGHT?
Yeah! It was inside! That was a crazy idea that Fredrik [Segerfalk] had, who was doing the artwork. He was like, “I would like you to be naked.” And we said, No way dude! So it ended up with us being dressed in fucking women’s socks and stuff like that. But it could hardly be seen.
YOU MEAN PANTYHOSE?
Yes. Kind of like that. I don’t know what it really was, but something like that. And he made us do pretty strange poses. It was a pain in the ass doing it, and it was cold as hell. Dude.
THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF SHRINKAGE?
[Laughs] Yeah, we weren’t that proud, at that moment.
SO NOT A SHINING MOMENT?
No! But it was pretty fun doing it, actually. It was a pain in the ass, but it was pretty fun… But we didn’t want to do it on the new album.
SO DID YOU GUYS KIND OF GIVE EACH OTHER WEIRD LOOKS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS? LIKE THE “I’VE SEEN YOU NAKED” LOOK?
Yeah, yeah, of course! But we’ve all seen each other naked anyways, so it’s no big deal.
UM, OK?
Yeah, we always enjoy seeing each other naked! [Laughing]
WOW. OK. THIS IS GOING IN A DIRECTION I DIDN’T FORESEE.
Yeah, you shouldn’t have asked!
SO YOU JUST HANG OUT ON THE BUS NAKED ALL THE TIME?
Sure, yeah!
PLAY CARDS NAKED?
Yeah! The Soilwork guys always do.
EVER THOUGHT OF PLAYING A SHOW NAKED?
Um, no. Never. I almost played naked in Japan one time, with my other band Terror 2000. But I choose to wear shorts.
I THINK IT WAS PETER [WILDOER] WHO SAID THAT YOU GUYS HAVE TYPICAL DARKANE BAD LUCK. WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THAT?
Typical Darkane bad luck is normally our equipment that doesn’t work, or me being rolled in a wheelchair.
OK, WHY?
Because I used to have a split disc in my back. So when we played in Israel, a couple years back, I used the wheelchair to go around. But I didn’t think that was going to get worse, but eventually it did become worse. So I was stuck in my hotel room for a whole day while the other guys were seeing the sites and stuff like that. So that’s some of the mishaps we’ve had. But we have loads of mishaps.
LIKE A STUDIO GETTING FLOODED?
Yeah, yeah. Actually, I thought this tour was starting very bad. The usual Darkane bad luck, Because when we came to Newark Airport, our gear wasn’t there. So we were like, Oh shit! It’s all gone, we’re going to have to wait for a week until it arrives! But fortunately, it had already come there. It got there before us. We were lucky this time. So, so far it’s been going really good. But we don’t press [our luck]. It might happen very soon.
WHY WAS THERE SUCH A BIG DELAY BETWEEN DEMONIC ART’S EUROPEAN DEBUT AND IT’S AMERICAN DEBUT?
I really don’t know. It was all up to the record company. Yeah, it was like, two or three months before. I really don’t know why. I guess that Nuclear Blast in America has a lot of releases, I guess. But I really don’t know. This is what they did. This tour has been booked since September, I think, so I don’t know why they waited.
WHAT WILL FANS SEE ON YOUR DVD LAYERS OF LIVE? TELL ME ABOUT IT.
Well, to start with, it’s going to be full live coverage from Helsingborg, with our old singer. So there’s loads of extra stuff from the album recordings, from touring, and stuff like that. It’s going to be something like four hours total. The gig is like one hour fifteen minutes, and it’s two and a half hours at least of extras and bonuses.
JUST YOU GUYS, BEING NAKED ON YOUR TOUR BUS? FOR TWO WHOLE HOURS?
Oh, totally! But unfortunately, we don’t know when it’s going to be released yet. Nuclear Blast didn’t want to release it before Demonic Art came out. So we’ll see what’s going to happen. If they don’t want to release it, we’ll release it ourselves somehow.
BUT IT WILL HAVE TWO HOURS OF NAKED SWEDISH GUYS JUST HANGING OUT?
Oh, yeah! Definitely! So all you girls should definitely buy it!
WHAT GIRLS? THAT LISTEN TO METAL?
Some do!
YEAH, AND THEY USUALLY LOOK LIKE THE GUYS THAT LISTEN TO METAL. NO OFFENSE, BUT SERIOUSLY!
Yeah, we’ll see.
ALRIGHT. SO, WHAT’S GOING ON WITH SOME OF THE BAND MEMBER’S SIDE PROJECTS, LIKE TERROR 2000 AND DEFACED?
Right now, Terror 2000, I don’t know. Me and Bjorn [“Speed” Strid of Soilwork] have talked a little bit about another album, but we’ll see. We need to have the time to do it. When we do Terror 2000, it’s all about fun, no pressure or anything. So we’ll see when we have the time. But it’s always fun doing Terror 2000 albums. They’re done pretty quick and it’s all about fun. And defaced, I don’t know. The last album was released in late July? But, none of us in the band has actually received the album. And the record company has chosen not to answer our mail or our phone calls. We don’t know anything. And we still haven’t gotten the money that we should have.
THAT’S SHITTY! YOU SHOULD BEAT THEM UP! I’LL HELP!
[Laughs] Oh yeah?
ABSOLUTELY! SO, IS ACCEPT NOT THE GREATEST METAL BAND OF ALL TIME?
Oh yeah! I used to love Accept, actually! Fuck yeah.
TELL ME ALL ABOUT THE 80′S POWER METAL BAND ACCEPT. PLEASE DO!
I actually saw the for the first time in 1986, I think it was The Russian Roulette Tour. It was my first concert ever, I was 13 or 14.
OK, SO YOU WERE 13 OR 14, AND IT WAS 22 YEARS AGO?
Yeah, I’m old.
I’M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU HOW OLD I WAS IN 1986. I WAS YOUNGER, I’LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
Let me guess, you were two?
UM, YEAH, I WAS THREE. YOU’RE NOT OLD, THOUGH. ANYWAYS, YOU DID A COVER OF ACCEPT’S “RESTLESS & WILD” RIGHT?
Yeah, yeah we did. It’s a good song, that’s why we did it. It turned out to be crap, though.
OK. WHAT IS ONE THING THAT PISSES YOU OFF MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE? BAND RELATED OR NOT?
The worst thing I know is ignorant people and stuck up people. That’s the worst thing. Or snots. I hate snots! I hardly come across snobby people, but when I do meet them, I hate it. I have to go away, or otherwise bad things will happen to them. I don’t hit people, but I’d like to. So that’s probably the thing that irritates me the most, stuck up people.
WHAT IS A DUMB SONG THAT GETS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD ALL THE TIME? I ASK THIS ONLY BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I HAVE A SLAUGHTER SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD. IT’S BEEN STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR WEEKS.
[Laughs] Slaughter?
YEAH. “FLY TO THE ANGELS” IT’S GREAT!
I haven’t had one of those in quite a while. But, yeah, the songs that do get stuck in my head are not the kinds of songs that I listen to or like. It’s the things that you maybe hear on the radio, and I rarely listen to the radio. But I do hear some stupid stuff, and it’s stuck in your mind, like it’s fucking pierced into your brain because it so bad. But somehow it gets stuck, I don’t know why. But I can’t come up with a title or anything. Well, maybe now, lately, it’s been a lot of ABBA, I don’t know why. Like “Dancing Queen” and stuff like that. But that’s good stuff, I think. I don’t listen to it, but it’s good stuff.
WELL, IT IS SWEDEN’S MOST POPULAR EXPORT.
Yeah.
ARE YOU, YOURSELF, A DANCING QUEEN?
When I’m very drunk, I am.
SO MAYBE LATER? LET ME KNOW! I’LL BE THERE. OH, THIS IS FUN! NAKED GUYS AND DANCING QUEENS! I JUST GOT THE TITLE FOR THIS INTERVIEW!
[Laughing] That’s a good one!
SO, TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DARKANE. SOMETHING DORKY?
[Long pause] I really can’t come up with anything.
EVERYONE’S A DORK IN SOME WAY.
Of course, I have lots of those things. Um, can I come back to you with that?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE HOME?
When I’m home, well, when I do have time, which I don’t have a lot of because I have a daughter to take care of.
HOW OLD IS YOUR DAUGHTER?
Three years old. So she takes up much of my time. Hmm, what do I do that’s geeky?
OBVIOUSLY, YOU’RE JUST WAAY TOO COOL TO BE ANSWERING THIS QUESTION!
No, no! I would love to answer that question if only I could come up with something.
DO YOU DO CROSSWORDS? DO YOU SEW? DO YOU PLAY HOCKEY? DO YOU LIKE SPORTS? DO YOU READ A LOT?
I read a lot! I do. All kinds of different stuff. Like right now, I am reading the Barack Obama autobiography, “Dreams from My Father” I think it’s called. Because I love reading biographies and stuff. I’m not interested in politics at all. But I read a lot, when I have time. I love reading. So that’s the geek.
OK, MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE EVER.
[Long pause again]
YOU CAN’T BE EXHUDING COOLNESS ALL THE TIME!
No, no! I was thinking! I got a lot of embarrassing moments. Um, fuck. I have to ask the other guys, they have loads of stories.
SO GO GET ONE!
[Indecipherable Swedish speaking between Klas and Christofer Malmstrom, guitar]
Klas: Sorry, I just can’t think of one.
THAT’S ALRIGHT, YOU’RE JUST COOL 24/7.
Klas: Yeah, of course!
Christopher: Klas is the perfect guy! He doesn’t do anything that makes you laugh or anything.
[Disembodied Voice from a bunk]: He’s actually the most boring guy I’ve ever met!
[Laughing] WHO SAID THAT? WHO CALLED YOU BORING?
[Disembodied Voice]: I was just kidding. He’s well behaved!
Klas: I’m very well behaved, most of the time.
[Disembodied Voice]: He never does anything bad.
UNLESS HE GETS DRUNK AND TURNS INTO A DANCING QUEEN.
Klas: Yeah, yeah, I do that! Definitely!
[[Disembodied Voice]: Especially with craft beer! He’s a gentleman!
Klas: [Laughing] Yeah, I used to be a gentleman! Those were old times.
[Disembodied Voice]: Old times is good times!
Klas: That’s the slogan! Old Times Is Good Times!
INDEED, IT IS! WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME! I’LL BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR A DANCING QUEEN LATER!
Klas: Thanks! Anytime!
Note to readers: I never did figure out who that disembodied voice belonged to 
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