Sweden-based Dogpound is back with III. An interesting work of melodic Metal with great guitar solos, III is becoming a popular release from the Lion Music label. Guitarist Micke Dahlqvist spoke with Metal Express Radio about the recording
Metal Express Radio:
Explain the recording process for III.
Micke Dahlqvist:
In January 2002, I wrote the first songs of what eventually would become III. ”Glass Jar” was the first one I came up with, and the writing process continued to August of 2007. During this time, as soon as I got a couple of songs done, I sent them to the other guys to get an initial reaction from them and then we met to rehearse. Then one day in the studio, it’s Tuka (Boman) who starts it all off by doing the drums. It’s him playing and either Hea (Andersson, vocals) or me engineering. When he’s done it’s my turn to do the rythmn guitars. At this phase, I do about 80% of them just so Figge (Danielsson) can come and do the bass; he likes to have the guitars there to play to. When the bass is done, Hea gets going with the vocals, at the same time I record leads and additional overdubs. The last thing is the background vocals; both arranging and re-recording. All other arrangements are done before we start recording, but the background vocals are done after the rest of the tracks. Then we took all the recorded tracks to Peter Tägtgren for the mix. This time I recorded the guitars on two tracks simultaneously, one from the microphone on my amp, and one going directly from the guitar to track. So all in all from the first note written to the day the mix was done, it took about two years.
MER:
How is III different from your other two discs?
Micke Dahlqvist:
First of all the sound is a bit heavier. This was a decision we took after A Night In The Gutter was done … to become a bit more Metal, so this affected the way I wrote the songs too. The fact that we have matured since the last album is another step in the natural progression of the band, I guess. The songwriting is a lot better; more focused. I wrote about 25 songs this time around from which we picked the 14 that are on the album. We chose what songs to use by gut reaction, and maybe one of the songs that went into the trash can was the big #1 single … we’ll never know! But, these 14 tracks are the ones we felt represented where Dogpound are at the moment so hopefully we chose right!
MER:
While a Swedish band, your sound is different from that from a lot of your contemporaries. Why is this?
Micke Dahlqvist:
Hmm … that’s a tricky one. You say that we are different, others say that we have a typical Swedish sound … so it’s a matter of opinion. But, I agree with you! The plan we set out has never been that we must be melodic, it’s just the way it turned out. Sure, we’ve always had the vocal melodies in focus and they’re written in a way to be catchy, but the thing I believe separates us from a lot of other bands is that we use 7-string guitars and 5 or 6-string bass guitars and we sound “down-tuned” because of that. We all listen to everything from Jazz to Death Metal with emphasis on Metal, so that has to rub off in one way or the other! I find most of the bands we’re compared to to be on the softer, more slick side of Melodic Rock. We’ve always done things in our own stubborn little way, not always a good thing I must admit.
MER:
Any touring plans?
Micke Dahlqvist:
None at the moment. We’ve had a couple of offers, but nothing interesting enough. We all have our families and have to support them firsthand; the artist part has to come in second. We can’t risk that our families become homeless just because we want to go out on the road. For us to get our asses on tour, there has to be some, not a lot, money involved so that we still can pay our bills when we get home. We’re all in our early thirties, if we were 18 and lived with our parents, it would be a totally different story! But, if the right offer comes along, we’d love to do it. We’ve made a couple of friends out there during the years, and it would be awesome to meet them … and someday it will happen, I promise you.
MER:
Who are your main influences?
Micke Dahlqvist:
My main influences are the mish-mash of music! Favorite bands for me are Black Sabbath/Ozzy, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Iron Maiden, and Jethro Tull. Other bands I really like are Alter Bridge, Soilwork, and Devin Townsend amazes me with every album he releases. Breaking Benjamins album Phobia is awesome, All That Remains is another great band, and hundreds of other bands. The list would be endless!
MER:
How do you create a unique sound while still being true to the classic music you love?
Micke Dahlqvist:
I don’t know! I’ve never really thought about it that way. When I write the songs, what comes out is what you hear on the album! I’m glad you say we have a unique sound, then half the war is won, so to say. A lot of times when I read reviews and we’re being compared to this and that, it’s often bands that I’ve never heard! For instance, when The Hellbum was released, we were often compared to Harem Scarem, and at that time I had never heard them. After the tenth time I read that there was similarities to them I had to check them out. I had heard the name, but at the time I thought they were just another Guns ‘N Roses clone so I never bothered. I bought their album, Weight Of The World, and was blown away! Now I’ve got just about every album they’ve released. I’ve read comparisons this time around to them also, and to other bands that I don’t really see the similarities with, often bands in the softer Melodic Rock field, but it’s all in the ear of the beholder I guess.
MER:
What is the story behind ”Rain Must Fall?”
Micke Dahlqvist:
In the middle of the writing for III, my girlfriend told me that she was pregnant and man, that was happy news! So I set out to write a lullaby kinda song for my unborn child. Just trying to say that tough times will come and you have to endure whatever bad thing life will throw at you … to be strong and not give up when life’s rough on you. Not the typical lyrics for a lullaby, but what the hell. In May she came, our daughter. She’s five and a half months now and she loves the song, always smiling when she hears it! At first the song had a huge arrangement with orchestral percussion and a cello quartet, but I found that the version with the grand piano and vocals had the best emotional value, so to speak. Up close and personal!
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