Peter Iwers: Yeah. Iron Maiden is one of our favorite bands. I was out in the crowd until the second time the power was cut off. I figured it was better to leave in case something happened. If I went to see a show to see a band and their power was cut off 3 or 4 times, I'd be pissed. Doesn't matter what the reason was.
Do you have a timetable for the next album?
It's done and recorded. Everything is done. We're just waiting for a record label in the US. We don't have one right now. The release date is February. We have a new producer. Daniel Bergstrand recorded the vocals and drums. Me, Jesper and Bjorn recorded our stuff ourselves in Gothenburg. Right now we don't have a record company. It originally was supposed to be out in October, but some things changed that we don't have any control over.
What are you favorite and least favorite things about the US?
I like touring here. My favorite things is that the people are really open to our music and it's easy to talk to basically anybody. People are very open and I like that. The downside is that there are some rules here that are really stupid. There are contradictions. You're allowed to carry a gun, but you're not allowed to show the middle finger on TV. I have a hard time understanding things like that.
What was your reaction to Hurricane Katrina?
We played in New Orleans many times. It's horrible when stuff like this happens. It's even more horrible to see some people exploit it. Bad stuff is happening all over the world, and unless it happens in your own backyard or a place you can relate to, a lot of people don't seem to care. That's the only good thing that could come out of something like this, that next time it happens on the other side of the world people will care. The same thing happened with the tsunami. It happened in Thailand, where a lot of Swedish people travel to. Therefore people were much more aware. It's a shame, because you should be aware of everything terrible that happens in the world. If there's anything good that comes out of this, people might pay attention next time something bad happens in Africa, for instance.
Is there anyplace you haven't played live that you'd like to?
There are many. Africa for one. We've never been to Russia. We'd like to try to go to South America next year. We've had stuff planned there in the past but it's always been cancelled. We always like to go new places and break new ground.
Is the metal scene as strong as ever in Sweden?
Yeah. Most of Europe is. It's more noticeable for us in Sweden, but it's growing everywhere. In America it's been huge for some time. Germany has always been a good metal country. It's growing bigger and getting more accepted in our part of the world.
A lot of American bands seem to be influenced by In Flames' sound now.
That's what I'm told. A lot of my friends tell me stuff like this. It's a hard thing to grasp for us. It's nice that they say it. It's music. We borrow from each other and that's what it's all about. Bands influence each other to make new sounds.
Do the sound of your songs evolve from the studio to the stage?
No. What we try to do is write songs that we will be able to perform live. People sometimes wonder why we don't play more stuff from the early albums. It's because the songs weren't written for a live situation. These days whatever we write in the studio we have to be able to perform live.
