Welcome to The Right Talk, The Online Talk Show, where, The Right Hand Path talks to Individuals & Organisations alike from the World of Metal Music. Our Guest, Today, is Niklas Sundin of Dark Tranquillity, Laethora, who, is also, the Founder of the Design Studio, Cabin Fever Media.
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
The Right Hand Path: Greetings from The Right Hand Path here in India. Welcome to The Right Talk, how are things with you in Sweden?
Niklas Sundin: Things are fine, thanks! Good but busy.
The Right Hand Path: I’m glad that I’ve got an opportunity to talk to a Metal great like you! I first encountered Dark Tranquillity through the video of live performance of the song “Wonders At Your Feet” at the Gods of Metal festival in Italy. When I saw the video for the first time, I thought it was some obscure bunch of musicians playing at an ubiquitous Metal festival. This was in 2003, three years after I started listening to Metal. At that time, I was slowly but steadily coming to know about Metal, the musicians, the bands, etc. Dark Tranquillity and Niklas Sundin were Greek to me at that time. But, “Wonders At Your Feet” video left me spellbound, the music wasn’t like anything that I’d heard so far, it sounded like a blend of Western Classical and Metal.
What do you’ve to say about this and do you ever come across fans like me from far off lands like India, and how does it feel then?
Niklas Sundin: I remember that show; I think that it was the first time we played “The wonders at your feet” live, probably befor the “Haven” album was released. Italy has always been one of our favourite countries to play in, and this particular festival was one of the very best.
[Niklas Sundin – Live]
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
I’ve actually heard a lot of people saying that, that particular song was their introduction to D.T. It’s very catchy and easy to get into, so I definitely can see why.
It’s of course amazing to actually have people from all over the world listening to our music and feeling connected to it. There are so many talented bands who never get an audience beyond their friends and local scene, so we’re very fortunate in that regard.
We do get quite a lot of emails and general interest from India, and the response we had at our very first show in Hyderabad some weeks ago was amazing, so we’d be more than happy to come back. Great people and fantastic food!
The Right Hand Path: Let me quote the below-mentioned from your Website [http://www.niklassundin.com]
“Digital abode for graphic designer/musician Niklas Sundin. This site rose out of the need to have a central hub for my various projects, and will serve both as a portfolio showcase and as a news page.
Music related design projects will still be posted to http://www.cabinfevermedia.com on a regular basis, but this site will be updated more frequently with a more diverse array of content.
Member of Svenska Tecknare [Sweden’s Illustrator’s society]. Has throughout the years been featured in several prolific publications such as Cap & Design, EFX, Digital Photography + Design, Computer Arts and Tecknaren.”
Please Enlighten the Readers of The Right Hand Path with something about you, apart from the above-mentioned, that isn’t much known?
Niklas Sundin: Well, it’s hard to know what to add, really. In both music and design, I always thought that there’s no huge need for people to get under the skin of the creator.
[Niklas Sundin At Work]
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
The work should really be much more important than the person.
That’s why we’re pretty private in D.T. – we don’t want the music to be overshadowed by personal anecdotes and info on our favourite food or TV shows, ha ha! These things easily lead to idolizing and painting the image of the artist as a larger-than-life person, so we prefer to let the music/artwork do the talking.
The Right Hand Path: I want to talk about Niklas Sundin, both as an Individual and as a Creative Force, if I may say so. You’ve been a member of the Grammy nominated Metallers, Dark Tranquillity since 1989. You also play in Laethora and according to your Website have been Proudly Featured in Joel McIver’s book “The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists”, and like I mentioned in my previous question, Graphic Designer and Founder of Cabin Fever Media. Your Website’s “Related” box has a link to JJIM Studios; please tell us about it too. How did all these come about, what do you Look Forward to in all these and how do you Manage all this? Is being a multi-talented Individual, a Crown of Thorns for you? What’s your Take on all this?
Niklas Sundin: I don’t know…all this sounds a bit overwhelming. I really have no desire to make myself out to be some kind of creative genious or multi talented wizard. I like to play music and I like to draw, and I’m fortunate enough to be able to work with what I like most. If I had been doing something completely different for a living, I still would play my guitar and create artwork. There are a lot of people out there doing great work in different disciplines, so it always feels a bit weird when people try to make it sound like what I’m doing is that unusual. As for time management, it’s obviously very hard at times, but luckily I’m a bit of a workaholic and enjoy being busy. It’s all about planning. Sometimes I have to bring work with me on the road, and it’s not always easy trying to make good artwork in a tour bus surrounded by drunken maniacs, but on the other hand it provides an interesting perspective, ha ha!
The Right Hand Path: The Cabin Fever Media website [http://www.cabinfevermedia.com] has the below-mentioned to say about itself
[Source | http://www.cabinfevermedia.com]
“Cabin Fever Media is a Sweden-based design studio with primary focus on the music industry. Active since 1999, the company has produced over 200 album covers/layouts as well as countless designs for t-shirts, backdrops, stage sets and other assorted merchandise.”
With Cabin Fever Media, you work across diverse platforms from Print, Motion, Quill, Web and Miscellaneous, is the aim here to be something more than a Design Studio and instead be a Creative Force offering almost every possible Service to the Music Industry under one roof, since, Cabin Fever Media has been doing Stage Sets, Assorted Merchandise and Plans to Foray into Video Production and Animation as a larger part of Activities in Future?
Niklas Sundin: Well, it’s always interesting to be able to offer the whole package so to say, and the best projects are usually the ones where I can do not only the front cover of an album but also t-shirts, backdrops and whatever else the band might need.
[Source | http://www.cabinfevermedia.com]
This differs a lot between projects of course; sometimes a band or label only have the need for one illustration, and sometimes they require a lot more. Hopefully I’ll be involved much more in music videos in the future; there are some very interesting projects and ideas coming up for this year.
[Arch Enemy [Sweden] 2003 Anthems Of Rebellion CD Artwork Layout]
[At The Gates 2008 Poster Backdrop Artwork]
[MOD Dragonland 150x150]
[MOD Skyfall 150x150]
[MOD Winterfallen 150x150]
[Kerozene [Sweden] – Logo, Identity, Band Photos]
[Melodic Metal from Denmark. Cover Artwork [for CD] of “Architect Of Lies” by Cabin Fever Media.]
http://www.mercenary.dk
[Brutal Death Metal from Mexico. Cover Artwork [for CD] of “Storm Of Annihilation” by Cabin Fever Media]
http://www.evilheart.com
[Brutal Death Metal from Denmark. Cover Artwork [for CD] of “In Skinless Form” by Cabin Fever Media]
http://www.usipian.dk
[Sources | http://www.niklassundin.com & http://www.cabinfevermedia.com]
The Right Hand Path: Tell us something about how Dark Tranquillity and Laethora work? It’s been a long time since you’re in Dark Tranquillity and if I’m not wrong, earlier you were in Hammerfall. What has prompted your simultaneous move into other Bands, what is that you look forward when you ponder on Lyrical Themes, Music Composition as a Band Member and what do the Band Members think of you as a Musician? Is there a benchmark that you want to set; will Dark Tranquillity always remain your Prime band? I must say that I haven’t listened a lot of Dark Tranquillity’s music, but what’s your view of the response that your 2010 release “We Are The Void” and Laethora’s “The Light In Which We All Burn” released by The End Records in 2010?
Niklas Sundin: Ha ha, yes, I was in Hammerfall for the first 2-3 years – not a lot of people know that. Back then, it was mainly a small thing we did for fun, playing live once every year at a local rock contest. Dark tranquillity will always be the main concern as it’s the band that has been around for 21 years and has a life of its own. Playing in Laethora is very rewarding, as it allows me to explore different playing styles and techniques and also to experiment with darker and more extreme music.
[Debut album of Laethora, featuring ten songs of intense and original death/grind. This is the extremely hard-to-get European edition of the CD, released in 2007 by Osmose Productions.]
http://www.laethora.com
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
That said, compared to most musicians of our age, the D.T. members have always been very focused on our main band. It’s not uncommon for people to have played in 10-15 different bands throughout the years, but most of the D.T. guys have only played in this band or 1-2 small side projects.
I have no idea what the band members think of me as a musician, ha ha! D.T. isn’t really based on musicial perfection; neither me or the other guitarist are any shredders, and while we’re all decent musicians we’re far from being virtuosos.
The Right Hand Path: You also do Illustrations and Sketches, Assorted Drawings/Paintings, using Natural Media? Can you explain what is meant by Natural Media according to you? Please also share how the “Gadus Morhua” sketchbooks released in 2003 and 2005 come about and also the album cover art of Indian Thrash Metal band Kryptos’ album “Spiral Ascent” done by you? Do you Plan to Exhibit your Works?
Niklas Sundin: Well, “natural media” simply means non-digital stuff. The real thing so to say – pencils, brushes, charcoal. As with most illustrators, this is what I love the most even if the computer is an invaluable tool as well.
As for the “Gadus Morhua” books, they were a result of lots of people seeing me drawing in my sketchbooks while on tour and travelling and saying that they’d love to see them collected in book format.
[Gadus Morhua By Niklas Sundin]
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
It’s mainly a fun thing for myself. Instead of writing a diary or making travel notes, I draw – and each little sketch can bring back memories of the particular time and situation they were created. Also, around that time, most people came to me for very digital looking artwork, as that was the popular style of the time, so I wanted to show that I actually can do things the traditional way as well.
[Niklas Sundin – Moleskine]
[Niklas Sundin 1992 Pencil Drawing]
[Niklas Sundin – Oldie]
[Niklas Sundin – Snigel]
[Source | http://www.niklassundin.com]
Kryptos is a great band – they supported us at the Hyderabad show and I think they definitely have potential to grow much bigger outside of India. The process for their cover artwork was very straightforward: They simply mailed me and we started working on it.
[Kryptos – Spiral Ascent – By Niklas Sundin]
http://www.kryptosindia.com
[Source | The Right Hand Path’s Archives]
The Right Hand Path: It’s been a Pleasure for me to Talk to you and I hope it has been the same for You. Would you like to say anything to the Readers of The Right Hand Path and the Legion of your Fans in India and abroad?
Niklas Sundin: Well, thanks for the interview and of course thanks to all D.T. supporters reading this. We certainly hope to come back to India as soon as possible, so see you there! Cheers!
