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There ain't no sitting in the
'dog house' for these guys, with the release of their third and finest
album to date in the form of 'III', we catch up with guitarist Micke to
find out more about these Swedish Melodic Metallers ...
MM - Hi guys, how are you feeling right now and how are things going with the
promotion of the new album?
Micke
- Hi Barry,
everything's great! Finally the beautiful autumn has settled...I love this
time of year! There's a lot of interviews, radio shows and some tv stuff
being done at the moment and we just got our video for the song "Glass
Jar" out. You can check it out at YouTube.
MM - Would you
like to start by introducing the band members to our readers and tell us
how you all came together as a band?
Micke
- There's Hea
Andersson on vocals, Figge Danielsson on bass, Tuka Boman on drums and me,
Micke Dahlqvist on the guitar. We got together back in ´99, starting off
as a cover band. But I had some ideas for a couple of songs and asked if
they were interested in playing them. They all agreed and soon thereafter
Dogpound was born. We didn't even start to rehearse a cover repertoire, we
decided to drop that idea and do only original songs instead.
We recorded
a couple of demos and had a tremendous response from a lot of labels. But
the one we chose showed up to be crap ... we signed the contract, and then
the label disappeared. Didn't answer e-mail, phone call, nothing. And we
were under that contract for a year ... when finally that year had passed,
we recorded a new demo and sent it around, positive response once again,
but nothing that we felt was the right label to sign for.
We had been in
contact with Lion Music for a couple of years by now and Lasse Mattson,
the president, liked us but had at the time no plans to sign any new
bands. So when we recorded what was to be our fourth and last demo in Ola
Sonmarks studio, (the guy that mixed and co - produced out previous two
albums, "The Hellbum" & "A Night In The Gutter" an amazing guy!) he did it
for free by the way, as he believed very much in what we did, we sent it
exclusively to Lasse, he liked what he heard once again and offered us a
deal right away, and the rest is history!
MM - Where did
the name Dogpound originally come from and what does it represent to you?
Micke - Back in our
demo days, when we had recorded the first one consisting of 2 songs,
"Bleed", which surfaced on "The Hellbum" and an unreleased song called
"Live My Way", we had to come up with a band name. We had some ideas
tossed back and forth, and all of a sudden Figge blurted out "How about
Dogpound?" We all said ok, but also said that we should come up with
something better when we get to the first album.
Now, three albums later,
we still haven't come up with anything! It didn't represent anything at
all in the beginning, it was just a name to put on the cd cover, but as
time has passed we've made a mark in the hard rock world and it would be
pretty stupid to change it now! People know now days what to expect from
the music when they hear the name, assumed that they know of us at all! :)
MM - The new
album ‘III’ sees a change in the bands overall sound, was this intentional
or do you see this as a natural progression within the band?
Micke - When "A
Night In The Gutter" was released we had been waiting for the mix to be
done for 6 months due to reasons we didn't have any power over. It wasn't
anybody's fault, just a streak of bad luck. We decided to go for a garage
band kinda sound on "A.N.T.I.G.", but when it after all that time it
finally was released, we felt the sound didn't work as well as we'd
initially had thought.
So we all said that on the next album, we'll have a
more traditional metal kind of sound and that the songs should be a bit
more on the heavy side too. So when I started out writing for what would
become "III", I went for a heavier, darker style than earlier. But I would
say it's equally much natural progression. We're all metalheads and have
been so since forever, so future records are more likely to be in the
style of "III", maybe even a bit heavier ... we'll just have to wait and
see, time will tell! But the chance for the style of happy-go-lucky songs
like "P.P.F." and "Dreamworld" on "A.N.T.I.G" will surface in the future
are pretty slim ... well, it won't happen!
MM - How long
did it take for the new album to be created from first initial conception
to the finished product, and how many songs did you have to write before
you came up with the final tracklisting on the album?
Micke - I wrote the
first song in January of 2005 and the mix was done in January of 2006, so
a year almost to the day from start to finish. We started the recording
process in late September ´06 so by then I had written 24 or 25 songs. We
tried out most of them in rehearsal, some of them didn't even make it that
far because I thought it would be a waste of time for the other guys to
learn the tunes since I thought they sucked anyway!
It's a quick process
to decide which songs make the album and which don't, it's all done by gut
reaction, it has to have the right feel to it. It's a bit risky, cause
you'll never know if or when you have the #1 hit single on your hands, but
it's the way it's always have worked and so it will continue! Out of the
ten leftover songs there's one that we might use on the next record or a
future compilation or something like that, the other ones are in the trash
can.
MM - Are there
any songs that didn’t make the album ready for inclusion on the next?
Micke - As I
mentioned in the previous question, they're all in the trash can except
for one which is a fast song, faster than we've ever played before, where
Tuka brought out his double bass drum kit and we really thrashed away! It
felt kinda cool, but it didn't fit the album. At the moment I have 6 new
songs done for the next album, and plenty more will be written before it's
time to start recording. I liked to be in the position where you could
choose what songs should be on the album, instead of being forced to
record all the material you have and not be 100% satisfied with what's on
the album. Not that I feel that we have released crap songs previous to
"III", it's just that it feels so much more thought through and focused,
and it has shown in the response we've got so far that the extra effort
put in this time paid off.
MM - Talking
more about the songwriting for a moment, obviously if you wrote all of
your lyrics in Swedish you would have a more limited audience. Do you
write in English or do you translate your work once it's written?
Micke - Rock music
in Swedish ... yuck! I think it sounds so lame! There's a lot of Swedish
artists doing that, even metal acts, and it just doesn't cut it for
me ... except for one band called LOK...real heavy/hard core styled band
with a lot of humor ... at least in my mind their lyrics was fun! But for
me, it's unthinkable to write in any other language than English.
Of
course there are limits in my English, preventing me from expressing
myself in the way I want to from time to time, but with a good English
dictionary you can get far! And I'm sure that there's parts of the lyrics
on our albums that make absolutely no sense to a person with English as
their mother tongue, and hey, I'm sorry for that! But there's no other
language for rock in my book. So to answer your question, Yep, I write in
English but I think in Swedish so from time to time it can be quite funny
to try to translate the Swedish thoughts into English lyrics! :)
MM - How does
the song writing and music composition work in the band, is it music first
then lyrics or the other way around? Which is your preferred method of
working?
Micke - It always
(at least so far!) starts with me recording demos in my studio at home,
doing a complete demo of the song with drums, bass and all that. Then I
send cd's to the rest of the band (since we live in different parts of
Sweden it's the easiest way) so they can check them out and learn them and
once in a while we get together a play them and see if it's album material
or not.
The lyrics always come in the last. I need as complete a background as
possible to write the lyrics to, so I get a feel in the lyrics
that fit the overall telling of the song. I've never tried to do it the
other way around though ... interesting! I've written songs for almost 20
years and I've never started out with the lyrics ... maybe it's time to
change the concept ... :) But if the next Dogpound album sounds like
Engelbert Humperdinck just because you gave me the idea to change my
method of writing, I will blame you!! ;)
MM - What has
been the general reaction from the fans and media to the new album?
Micke - Overall,
surprisingly positive so far. We've had the best reviews in our career so
far and it feels damn good! It's always tough to release a new album and
wait for the initial reactions to surface. We've had rather good response
on the previous discs, and it's obvious that you want to outdo what's been
said before about the earlier albums, but you'll never know what to expect
until the judges out there in the world has let us know their verdict. The
fans that we are in contact with has praised "III" as the best album we've
done so far too so it's happy days in the pound!
MM - What are
you favourite tracks from the new CD? If you had only one chance to turn
people on to Dogpound, which song would you have them listen to, to get a
feel for what you guys are all about?
Micke
- That's not
fair of you! :) Just one song ... tough one! But I'd probably pick "Blind",
as it has all the "trademarks", the big chorus, heavy guitars ... but "Born
A Winner" would work as wel l... and "Human Hologram" ... and .... let's do it
this way: if you're curious about what Dogpound sound like, check us out
at www.myspace.com/dogpoundsweden and take a listen to the soundclips! :)
Here's my
personal top 3 of "III": (no pun intended ... !)
Born A
Winner
Blind
Not Welcome
Here
And this is
the list for today ... it will probably change in 10 minutes!
MM - Would
you like to tell us a few thoughts or stories behind some of the songs off
the new album?
Micke
- I guess you
mean the lyrics ... I'm not too fond of doing that since I feel that the
lyrics are in the eye of the beholder, free to interpret in any possible
way you want to! I tried to explain the lyrical content of my songs in the
past, not with Dogpound but with other bands, and the result has often
been "What? Is that what it's about? I thought it was about this and
that ..." But I'll give it a shot here ... :)
"Human
Hologram" deals with my fascination of the fact that so many people
blindly live their lives by the word and rules made up by someone
else ..."Not Welcome Here" is about another day at the office of St.
Pete ...."You And Me" describes the relationship from hell. You fight all
the time about everything but still you don't wanna live without it ... And
the fun part about this one is that it's based on a true story! "Dead And
Gone" ... well just listen to it and you'll figure it out!
MM - What can
you tell us about the video for "Glass Jar" and did you have any input on
the concept?
Micke
- We set up
our gear in a storage room and just ran through it a couple of times ... It
took all day so it must have been quite a few times! The concept is all
Daniel Andersson, Heas brother that also have done all our covers.
Daniel's an extremely talented guy, and a true source of inspiration.
Always positive and full of ideas. He built the video loosely around the
songs lyrics which is about being trapped in a place where you don't want
to be, may it be a job, a relationship or on Mars ... hence the fly in the
jar!
MM - Are
there any plans to tour outside Sweden to promote the new album?
Micke - Not at the
moment. But if the right offer comes along I'll promise you that we'd love
to get on the road! The problem for us is that there has to be some money
involved ... if we take a couple of weeks off from work we don't make any
money and since we all have families to take care of, we couldn't possibly
take the risk that we'd put our kids, wives and dogs on the street just
because we want to do some touring ... so we're not asking for millions,
just enough to pay the bills when we get home!
We've had some offers but
it's the kind where "You pay for your travels, your food, your hotel and
you must bring your own gear and your own sound engineer. We will provide
a table where you can sell some merchandise after the show." That just
doesn't work for us. If you're eighteen years old and live with your
parents, then fine, you could do it ... but were in our early thirties and
much too comfortable in our way of living to live under such
circumstances! :)
MM - At what
age did you become interested in being a performer and what/who inspired
you to join a band?
Micke
- I was seven
years old and saw Ace Frehley of Kiss on TV doing his solo with the
smoking guitar and that stuff ... and I was totally amazed! All my friends
wanted to be firefighters, policemen, doctors ... I wanted to be Ace! So
from there on there was no turning back!
My dad bought me my first guitar
when I was 10 and here I am now! I joined my first band at 13, and there
has been quite a few since the, both amateur and on a professional level.
I've never had a "regular" job in my entire life, it has always been
something that has to do with me playing guitar or some other guitar
related job, teaching for instance. But when it comes to the time that we
decided to form Dogpound, I had thought about the concept for a couple of
years. Me and Figge was in a prog metal band where I was half of the
songwriting force, and I got fed up with that style after being active
doing gigs and albums for three years straight and I wanted to play music
with the focus on the song itself, not as much the composition as it
generally was in the prog outfit.
It was just to find the right guys to do
it with ... Figge was already there but a singer and a drummer ... I met with Hea back in '98 one night at the local bar, having a couple of pints
discussing the possibilities to form a cover band. We have known each
other for over 20 years now, but that cover band was the first band we had
together. We found a drummer and started doing gigs around Sweden. But the
drummer had to quit after a year due to military duties. And that was when
we found Tuka ... or he found us! However, he was the perfect guy for the
idea of playing heavy melodic rock that had been brewing in my head for
some time. And here we are today!
MM - What do
you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far as a band?
Micke - To have kept
the quality up on the records is one thing. So far the albums are getting
better and better both according to the fans, the press and ourselves. And
to get "III" released in Japan was great and to finally get a video
done ...
MM - Making a
living from music does not seem to be that 'easy' anymore as it was in the
past. How do you predict your future as a musician?
Micke - As I
mentioned before, I have never done anything else in my entire life and
I'll probably won't quit until the day I throw in the towel for good. Sure
it's tough from time to time and you have to think economically and save
on a good month so you can survive on a bad one. So my future as a
musician is at the moment at least planned to stay the same or even
better!
Everything I do with my guitar is work, may it be a studio job or
a gig or whatever, but Dogpound is pure passion. To be able to live on an
income from Dogpound would be the greatest thing in the world! But right
now there's almost no money involved, and the money we get we use to buy
new gear to our studio.
MM - The
internet has become a great new tool for bands in recent years, what are
your thoughts on this new media, for not only established bands but up and
coming ones?
Micke
- I think that
all in all the Internet is a great tool. Back in the day when all mail was
delivered by the postman, it was tough to be an unknown band trying to
make it, it's a lot easier to get recognition these days. All
correspondence is so much easier to handle and you can upload tracks for
all the world to hear ... So I think it's 99% positive ... The last percent is
the illegal downloading. I guess it's a small price to pay in a way, but
more about this in the next question ... :)
MM - In the
past the scene suffered from over-priced releases, poor production and
albums containing as many filler tracks as killer cuts. Do you think the
new pressures of illegal downloading might actually help re-focus the
industry into putting out higher quality packages containing no fillers
and with better production?
Micke
- I believe
it's the opposite. The more the illegal downloads take over the market,
the less money the (smaller) record companies can pour in. So the effect
of that is cheaper productions ... of course bands like Metallica and other
giants don't have a problem in the same way as a band like ours have. We
depend upon the sales to make a new album next year. If we don't sell
enough, the record company won't do another one. No one want to lose their
money, it's pretty obvious.
If an album shall contain better songs and
better production it's up to the band ... at least on our level! I
discovered that "III" was on the internet two days before it's
release ... it's flattering in a way that someone bothered to upload an
album by the little insignificant band Dogpound, but at the same time it's
destructive for the band ... but what to do? As long as the record industry
consists of the greedy bastards that rule it now, there's no change in
sight.
All their strength is put into nailing the downloaders (heard about
a 24 year old single mom in USA that got a $1.2 million fine for uploading
24 songs ... madness.) instead of attacking the real problem. Themselves.
Here in Sweden an album costs about £13 ... that's too much. Lower the price
and sell more records. And start looking for good bands, not the easy to
hype in the media kind of bands that make on album and the disappear into
oblivion ...
MM - What one
thing would you personally like to see change within the industry, either
from a musician or fan point of view?
Micke
- Lower the
prices on cd's ... that would solve a lot. Both as a fan and as a musician!
:)
MM - Outside
of the environment of the band do you ever get the chance to catch other
bands performing in your local area? How supportive of live music is your
local scene?
Micke - I work all
the time so I rarely get to go on concerts, unfortunately. I love doing it
so it bothers me a lot that I don't have the time. I watch a lot of live
DVD's, it's not even close to the real thing, but it's close enough! I
have collected quite a few over the years and the latest is a disc with
Gentle Giant ... incredible band! There's not a lot going on in Sweden
considering how many good bands there are around here.
It's always been
tough for a Swedish rock band to make it here. Take a band like Arch Enemy
for instance, they're huge in Japan, sell a lot of records in the rest of
Europe and are on the verge of making it in USA. Here they have hardly
ever done a gig ... There's an expression here in Sweden: You can't be a
prophet in your own country, I don't know if it makes any sense in English, but maybe you get my point anyway ... ! :)
MM - What
would you say your motto in life would be?
Micke
- Live your
life. To lay one day on your deathbed having regrets over that you should
have done this and that, taken the chances in life and not have done so,
well, it's too late. And that must be the crappiest way to leave this
earth. So therefore it's just a matter of time before Dogpound goes out on
the road to kick some butt! I am certain it would be the most amazing time
of my life ... If I'm wrong, at least we gave it a shot and that's what
counts! Life is a series of opportunities and you have to catch as many as
you can while you're here ...
MM - I have a
fun question for you now - if one day you were involved in a freak
accident and became a new breed of superhero, what would your name be,
what would be your special power and what would your costume look like?
Micke
- Have you
ever heard the song "Superhero" by Stephen Lynch? It's on the record with
the same name ... just listen to it. I'd be the first one in the audience
interaction part at the end of the song ... :)
MM - Finally
thanks for taking time out to do this interview, is there anything that I
didn’t ask you were expecting? Perhaps a question that I haven’t asked but
for which you already had an answer prepared for maybe?
Micke - I never
prepare anything! :) I just want to take the opportunity to thank you so
very much Barry, for taking your time to do this interview and especially
for the awesome review you gave "III". And to you who reads this, in case
you've never heard of us, check us out for some sound clips at
www.myspace.com/dogpoundsweden and for you that have check it out anyway
for the latest news on what's going on in the pound! And don't forget do
drop a line in our forum at
www.dogpound.da.ru
Cheers,
Micke/Dogpound
MM - We'd like to thank Micke for taking the time out to chat with us
today and wish him and the rest of the band every success with their new
album. If you haven't already checked it out make sure you do
because it's a corker of a release.
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