Translation Backstage-Interview Amaranthe at Lido Berlin 4 April 2014 - Part two Interview Amaranthe

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Sandra: On “The Nexus” you guys have a song called “Electroheart”. Its chorus reminded us a little bit of ABBA. Are you guys aware of that? Have you heard someone making that connection before?

Jake: I actually don’t remember that I heard a specific song been called ABBA before but I heard us being called ABBA before.

Olof: Yeah I definitely heard it before , people have mentioned it sometimes but I think while we have the ABBA stuff in our blood, I don’t think that we were in that song particularly influenced by ABBA. But of chourse since I have to claim responsibility for that chorus, my influence was probably Techno-bands from the 90s that were probably influenced by ABBA because it’s very much like a 90 revival/dance song pretty much. This is why some guys in the band were like: “Really? Should we really do this?” I think now when we play live today it works very well.

Sandra: Is there going to be a similar song like this one on the new album?

Jake: We can not say that. Then it’s not a surprise! But there will be songs on the next album !

Olof: You are not supposed to say that!

Sandra: No shit! I’m looking forward to that.
You guys are currently touring all over Europe. Thetechnical demandsof yourmusic are veryhigh.How long do you have toprepareyourselfbeforeyou goon tour?

Jake: For a real tour it’s actually couple of months. Yeah to get all the transportation, the crew… the technique, to gather all the information from all the venues and compare that to the demands, change stuff that they don’t have. That has to be rent or that needs to be fixed or we can not play at this venue or play at another and everything so for a European tour or an U.S. tour at least three months preparations.

Sandra: Do you have a ritual before you enter the stage? Maybe something you guys always do?

Jake: We change clothes! *Everyone is laughing*

Elize: Change clothes! Usually if I am lucky I have this routine to go to sleep actually. Like one hour between 7 and 8.

Sandra: How long is that before you go onto stage?

Elize: 1 hour 45 minutes or 1 and a half hours from when I wake up.

Sandra: And you guys? Anything you like doing before you enter the stage?

Olof: Well for me it’s always try to warm up as much as possible. Sometimes I start early in the day with the guitar play. Typically I might be playing for 1 and a half hours or something like that but if I can then I could play for like three hours, it helps me to play much better on the actual shows. So that’s my number 1 thing.

Jake: On this tour I’ve actually been trying to play like 30 minutes of video games. I have so much other stuff to think about the whole day so I need something to clear my head, just think about something completely different. So when I turn the computer off I can focus on the show.

Is there any partying going on after anAmaranthegigor is everyone hidinginhis bunktodraw strengthfor the nextconcert?

Olof: I guess the audience will actually go to another club after they’ve been to our concerts. *Everyone is laughing*

Elize: I think actually everyone is getting into a party mood that’s what I have experienced. From what I see people are getting really hyped because the music is pretty up[beat] except for me of course because I never drink alcohol. I actually go to bed around like 3. It’s still pretty late because it takes a while to get out of all the adrenaline, the focus and you know…everything that happened. It’s very hard to just go straight to bed. That is for me at least pretty impossible.

Olof: I mean absolutely there is some stuff going on but it used to be a lot more for everybody 1 and a half or 2 years ago.

Sandra: And now you guys are just getting kind of tired?

Olof: No not really it’s just more that we’ve been touring so much that if you do that all the time, then you are gonna be totally screwed.

Sandra: Yeah I can see that, especially with her voice.

Olof: Yeah definitely, if you are a vocalist then it’s a 100 times worse.

Jake: If she parties like the other guys then her voice will be fucked up. *Everyone is laughing*

Elize: We don’t hear each other so much. They’ve been good. Play low music…

Olof: Most of the time!

Elize: I usually sleep with ear plugs so I don’t hear much. Actually…just to correct myself… I go to sleep between 3 or 4am. I try to.

Sandra: On May 23^rd you guys are playing on the Metal Svenskan 2014. Old school bands such as Saxon, Helloween and Kreator will be there as well. Is there something connecting you to these bands? Do you maybe listen to their music or even own their music?

Jake: Absolutely. Now Helloween for example is not what it used to be, it’s only one member left of the original line-up but if Helloween hadn’t existed I would’ve never started singing.

Olof: I discovered Helloween quite late. There are a lot of old school bands that I like but not some bands in particular. Helloween make some really good songs but most discovered them long before I did. But it’s a great band for sure.

Sandra: And what about Kreator or Saxon?

Olof: I didn’t listen to them so much when I was growing up but nowadays I’ve seen them a million times on festivals . They are excellent, great great bands but I think I was more into like the melodic death metal and gothic when I was little.

Sandra: That actually leads me to my next question. What are you guys currently listening to? What do you love listening to before you enter the stage or also during the day?

Olof: Our new album! *Eveyone is laughing*

Olof: We actually have been listening to it quite a bit so we already started to get a bit tired of it . But when I’ve been writing music and we’ve been composing I’ve been personally listening to a lot of contemporary modern music . A lot of Pop music actually. I’ve been listening to the Top 40 U.S. charts every day for the last three months or something like that which I actually really really enjoy. There is a lot of good stuff out now actually. I don’t want to name any specific acts because then I will just get my ass kicked for referencing those acts but right not in the current music scene in Pop music there’s a lot of really cool music stuff going on actually.

Elize: I listen to Spotify actually. I think it’s fun to just listen to everything. I go into people’s playlists and listen to them. I experience all stuff all the time. On this tour I’ve been listening all the time actually to Lana Del Ray – Born to die.

Jake: I’ve been listening a lot to Smash Into Pieces and Death Deals actually. *Everyone is laughing*

Elize: Yeah especially before the show!

Olof: I can say for Jake that he’s been actually listening a lot to the music for Assasin’s Creek 4. Mainly.