Katatonia’s Anders Nyström Loves the Conveniences of Touring in the US
Sweden's Katatonia are hauling doom metal across this great country of ours while on tour with Opeth. Noisecreep caught up with guitarist Anders Nyström, who along with singer Jonas Renske, is in the death metal band Bloodbath with Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, for all you metal trivia fans! Nyström was enjoying the trek, which wraps next month, and he seemed to really love the States, since it's unified by one language, one currency and a single Internet connectivity plan.
Were you looking forward to any favorite spots or cities on this tour with Opeth?
New York, Los Angeles, yeah the usual main places. But the venues are so cool and packed on this tour that we're looking forward to almost every city. Our days and schedules may look repetitive, but each place and each night is a new experience: meeting new crowds and facing different climates.
How were the headliner performances? Was there any method to selecting the cities that received, or that will receive, the special 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' show?
No, it was really simple as we're filling all the days off on the Opeth tour with our own headlining side shows, so it's all based on where we are at the time. We're playing real small clubs compared to the venues [we play] with Opeth, so these shows are way more intimate and sweaty. Lots of fun too!
Watch 'Day and Then the Shade' From Katatonia
Are there many differences between touring the US and touring back home in Europe?
The crowds aren't that different to Europe. Well, there's no language barrier over here. You cross many states, but it's still only one country, with one language. In Europe, you can drive a couple of hours in each direction and you have an entire new country, culture and language, and in general, the English is pretty poor over there. Same with the currency, which is a hassle when it's not Euros, opposed to your dollar. Hell, even the WiFi/Internet plans are impossible as they are bound to each country only. I love that you can setup your Internet plan here in the US with one provider and you're set to roam! If I have to summon up the US in one word, it has to be XXL!
What does Katatonia have on the horizon that you can share?
We're doing a last anniversary tour in Scandinavia and a couple of winter festivals, but after that, it's all about the making of our next album. We're already hard at work with the writing and we can't wait to get back home to complete the process and start the recordings, so you can expect a new album to be released sometime in 2012.
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