Katatonia Interview with Jonas Renkse: A Brand New Day
Though it’s doubtful that when his band put out their first demo 18 years ago he envisioned them becoming one of melancholic European doom’s most influential acts, vocalist Jonas Renkse of Sweden‘s Katatonia nonetheless wears his legacy humbly. On the eve of the release of Night is the New Day (Peaceville), the singer is more concerned with picking out which new songs will make it into upcoming gigs than with resting on his laurels or indulging in any, “Gosh, wasn’t Tonight’s Decision badass?” nonsense.
And yes, Tonight’s Decision was badass.
A decade, four full-lengths and a live album later, however, Katatonia are still in the midst of their stylistic development. Capitalizing on 2006’s more aggressive The Great Cold Distance while at once melding gloomy heaviness with the sedate, gently depressive atmospherics for which the band has become known, Night is the New Day offers strength in both aspects at the same time it molds them into something new entirely. Something new and yet still definitively Katatonia.
Such the way of the record and the band as a whole. Continually changing and shifting the expectations of their fans, Katatonia has become an institution of quality songcraft and execution — thanks in no small part to the writing talents of Renkse and guitarist Anders Nystr?m, the two lone remaining original members. Renkse recently took some time out for a phoner to discuss Night is the New Day and the progression of the band, and The Obelisk is honored to feature that interview after the jump. Please enjoy.
Is it strange for you thinking of this as the eighth Katatonia album? Do you ever stop and think about what you?ve accomplished in your career and where you are at this point?
I don?t think we really thought in that way. For us, it was just important to start working on some new music and that was the main focus. If we were to think too much about where we are in the moment, that would make things more difficult than they already are (laughs). Also, focusing on the music for this album, once the ball started rolling, it was a creative journey. Maybe that wasn?t the answer to your question (laughs). No, we didn?t really think about those more profound things.
How was writing this one different coming off of The Great Cold Distance? You had a while between with the live record, but was the sound of that album a factor going into this one?
I think it?s a natural progression from The Great Cold Distance, but it?s been three years between the albums, and during this time we have probably matured as people and songwriters. You can hear there?s a difference, but I think it?s built upon the same foundation that we have established with the last few albums. Then we just want to take things further and try new things and not be afraid to try different paths. It?s all about the challenge for us. We try to do something different every time, not just repeating ourselves.
Peaceville sent me a stream of the album, and you can see the wave form of the song as it?s playing. It shows the differences between the softer and heavier parts, giving a weird idea of the structure. I wanted to get your sense of the balance of those two sides on this record.
It?s always about the dynamics, of course. To try to balance the light and the shade and everything that comes with. I think it?s a difficult thing to find the right parts that will intertwine with each other and make it listenable. It?s an ongoing process to find that, because we?re not just a band that makes heavy music, period. We always end up using a lot of atmosphere, but at the same time, we want to build our sound around what we have been known for in the past, the heavy riffs and everything. We?re just trying to find the equilibrium between the beautiful, more mellow parts, and the harsh parts, and make it sound natural and that it should be there. As I said, it?s an ongoing process. It?s difficult to master it, but it?s always entertaining to try.
How has that process changed over the years?
Basically, you could say that we get better at songwriting. These days for us it?s all about the songs and that?s where we want to be. And listening to other artists and bands, you can easily hear when something is being done so right. That is a spark, to hear that someone is doing something that matches in every part of the song. That?s where you want to be and that?s what you have to work for. Doing this album — I can say we?ve been working very hard on the songs to make them flow, adding stuff and taking away stuff all the time until the mixing of the album. We like to do spontaneous stuff in the studio, and also, there might be parts I was working on for a song that I might be super-happy with when I was working at home that just don?t work out in the studio. You can hear this part is not necessary anymore. Then you have to take it away. I think at some point you have to stop and say the song is finished, it?s not going to be any better in our hands. Then you move onto the next one and eventually you end up with an album. Then it?s up to the people to say if it?s good or not. I think what we have created with this album is at the height of our songwriting at the moment. I?m really happy with the result.
I was fortunate enough to see you guys in New York when you last came around. In listening to this album, it seems like any of these songs would work live. Is that something you think about when you?re putting the record together?
Not really. Some of the songs you can easily hear when you start working on it that this part is great for live, but not all of it. First of all, it has to work in the studio, then you have to be able to reproduce it live in some way. What you just said, that?s something I?ve been thinking about now that the album?s finished and I listen through it, that actually every song on the album has some kind of live quality to it, if it?s done right. It?s difficult to play live as well, but if we were to rehearse every song on this album, I think it would be playable in the live situation, because every song has certain qualities that I think would come through live in a good way.
At this point, you have a back catalog that you know you can?t play everything. Is it difficult for you choosing which of the newer material you want to have represent the album live?
Yeah. I think that?s a bit of a struggle that we always go through, because everybody in the band has their own certain favorites on the album. Then you?re seeing the response from the people when the album is released, which songs they are expecting us to play live and which are their favorite songs in general. And you have to take everything into picture when you eventually have to choose four or five songs from this album. It?s a very strange situation, to nail it down to just four or five, but of course you can rehearse most of them and replace the songs, but I think it?s a mix between what do we think will work best in the live situation and what do people expect us to play, because of course we want people to be happy after a Katatonia gig, that we played the songs they wanted to hear the most.
I guess you?d have some idea from structuring the record too. Opening with ?Forsaker,? it just makes sense with that song in that spot.
The track order is super-important. I?m not sure if people actually think about that, how much effort we and other artists as well put in the track order. I think we did maybe 10 different track orders for this album, but this is the one we felt was perfect and represented the album in a good flow. But I think ?Forsaker? was always the opening track and we just rotated the other songs, like having ?Idle Blood? as song number three was something we were nervous about. But it was a good move, because songs like that you expect to have at the end of an album, but to have it very close to the beginning is giving people a feeling for what the album is all about, because it?s a very diverse album according to me. It?s varied and it?s got all kinds of different emotions in the songs. The songs are very different from each other. Having that song at number three, I hope it will give people a good feeling about the album when they start listening to it.
Do you worry about over-thinking it? 10 different track orders is a lot.
A little bit, yeah. I think the one that ended up on the album is one of the first track orders that we tried, but just to be safe, we wanted to try everything. Maybe it wasn?t 10, but eight or nine or something, because we already knew which should be the first song and which should be the last song. That was decided when it was written, we really felt this is the perfect closer. It was just between the first and the last that had to be rotated.
That was actually my next question, whether or not there was some significance to opening the album with ?Forsaker? and closing it with ?Departer.? Are those songs connected in theme or idea?
Not really. The titles are similar in a way, but that?s just coincidence, I think.
Do you ever have trouble, either writing or recording, putting yourself in the emotional mindset of the songs?
Not really, and that?s something I?m really happy about, because I think it would be easy to get distracted if I wasn?t able to put myself in the right mood and mindset, I would easily get distracted by other things and I think a lot of time in the studio would be destroyed, so to speak. If I come to the studio to sing and all of a sudden I?m not in the mood to sing and I have to wait until the next day to see if I?m in the right mood. I try to adapt to the situation and make the best out of it. I try to put the lights out and light up some cozy lights and try to get the feeling of the song as fast as possible and sing as much as possible and see where it ends up.
How was that for you on Night is the New Day? Was there something you did to put yourself in that place?
I just did what I said, the usual ritual for me to try and get in the mood and deliver what the song needs in terms of vocals. I go through the lyrics and I listen to the song and make maybe a few final changes, and then I?m ready to go and I sing until the song is done. Then I have a break and go on with the next one or go home and start again the next day, something like that.
You personally and the band, are you aware of fan expectations? Is there pressure to live up to the last record?
Yeah, I think that?s something we felt before the writing process started. Rightfully, people have high expectations, because I think The Great Cold Distance was a great album for Katatonia. We put some pressure on ourselves, of course, but seeing what other people expect is healthy in a way, because it makes you have to really concentrate and do your best. Of course, that?s something you want to do all the time, but I think it?s even better to have the pressure from outside as well. I think if we felt we wouldn?t be able to top the last album, we would still be writing these songs. But when we eventually started writing for this album, I think we immediately felt we had something going that would be on par with The Great Cold Distance, or even better. Now when I listen back to the new album, I think it?s better than The Great Cold Distance, but I have to say that is a favorite album for me. I think that?s a great Katatonia record.
Do you have plans for touring yet? Are you coming back to the US?
We?re planning a headlining tour of Europe in early spring, and as it looks now — this is not definite — I think we?re going to North America straight after the Europe tour, in April or something like that. Right now we?re going to support Porcupine Tree on a Scandinavian tour, then we?re going to England to support Paradise Lost on their UK leg of their European tour. It will be a lot of rehearsals for us and try to find songs we haven?t played from the back catalog, then early spring we will be ready to do both Europe and North America. It?s busy times ahead, which I really like.
Tags: Katatonia, Peaceville, Sweden
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