Among the many “retro” hard & heavy albums of our time, there’s a handful which really stands out due to their music quality & their efficient melodies. The Dagger did release a superb debut album – full of 70s & 80s music. Grande Rock had a chat with one of the band’s founding members & songwriters, the bassist Tobias Cristiansson so as to find out more about The Dagger and the band’s further music plans… do read below for more…
Hey Tobias… how are things over there? It may have taken you a while to release your debut but it’s a killer one! Kudos!
T: Hi Thanos and all the Grande Rock readers. Things are good in Stockholm, it’s nice and sunny right now. Yeah, it took a while to get the album out, but finally it’s here and we are very satisfied with the result.
Hence, do tell us… how did you decide to form this band back in 2009? You see it’s weird for a bunch of extreme metalheads to form a classic rock/hard rock act.
T: It was after Dismember was put on hold that Fred and David just by coincidence started to talk about starting to play classic heavy metal, David mentioned that to me and I was of course in for that too. We are all a bunch of heavy metal freaks and I have always dreamt of playing in such a band. I guess its surprising to many that these death metal guys are starting to play hard rock music all of a sudden, but for me it comes very natural since I have always had that side in me and I played in a heavy metal band in the 90s – a band that just did one demo tape and never got anywhere…
How can death metal music be combined with classic rock/hard rock? I guess it’s hard not to worship acts like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Dio, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc. when you are a teenager, right?
T: Musically I think its hard to combine death meal with hard rock, except for throwing in some melodies and riffs here and there inspired by heavy metal just like Dismember always did. All of us in the band grew up listening to the classic heavy metal bands and then continued to explore the harder and faster territory within the metal genre. But its with the old classic bands that everything starts. I think it would have been obvious if we would have formed another death metal band, instead we´re creating something new and fresh for us as musicians.
And why did it take you almost 5 years to release your debut album? Which were those incidents that held you back?
T: First we just wanted to jam and have fun and try out all these new ideas in the rehearsal room, then it took us such a long time to finally find the correct voice for The Dagger. The actual time recording of the album stretched out quite long too. It was hard to find time to lay down the final touches to the album, fixing the cover etc.
The singer Jani Kataja (Sideburn, Mangrove) joined you later in 2012. Was it another reason for taking it back till the music puzzle was complete?
T: We know a lot of people that plays metal here in Stockholm, but finding a singer with the right capacity for this kind of music seemed almost impossible. So it took us many years before we got hold of Jani Kataja. He fits perfectly with us, he have no clue about death metal or any kind of modern metal at all. His influences are from the great vocalists of the 70s.
And the name The Dagger… how did it come about?
T: It came through a suggestion from Nicke Andersson. We wanted to have strong name that is easy to remember, and that’s not easy to find these days when everything is already used. First we were called just Dagger and we released a 7” single, but when it was time for the full-length album our manager convinced us to add “The Dagger” to avoid us getting sued by other bands with that name. But as far as I know there are not many bands that have used that name before, maybe its just two heavy metal bands that have been called Dagger before. Anyway, we think the name sounds hard hitting and direct.
I’d like you to give us a hint about each track…
T: “Ahead of You All”: David wrote this one, it’s a classic metal song with edgy riffs and a sing-along chorus. It has a really beautiful middle section inspired by classical music. David is a die-hard classical music fan and he has tons of classical albums at home. A great opening track with an explosive intro.
“Call of 9”: I did the music to this one. Inspired by Riot and Rainbow, I wanted to do something simple and direct up-tempo. I am really satisfied with the main riff in this song.
“Ballad of an Old Man”: I did the music. I wanted to write a ballad and this one turned out to be one of our favorites on the album. I love the atmosphere in this song, its very beautiful. David did a fantastic slide guitar solo here as well.
“Skygazer”: David’s song. Classic old hard rocking vibe here, great chorus and a very nice middle section.
“Electric Dawn”: This is Fred’s song. Very hard heavy metal with razor sharp riffs. Robert Pehrsson did a great solo here. I love the end section with that great melody.
“1978”: David and I did this one. I love this song, it’s just so simple and effective and catchy and with great vocal melodies. Please check out the video we did for this one, it turned out really awesome and classy.
“Dogs of Warning”: Fred’s song. Very heavy and slow pounding. This is an early song for us from 2009. It’s very fun to play and it has a cool drum and bass feature in the end. Great vocals from Jani.
“Nocturnal Triumph”: This is my song. I wanted to make a real rocking song inspired by UFO and ZZ-Top. Nicke Andersson is doing a guest solo here. I love the half tempo Queen-like chorus.
“Inside the Monolithic Dome”: David did the music. Inspired by MSG, it’s very melodic and dramatic. I love Janis vocals here, he managed to do something different from what he is used to and it turned out great.
“Dark Cloud”: Made by David, Fred and Tyrant. We released this as a 7” in 2013 but in a different version. This is one of the songs that the guys from Century Media got hooked. It’s our shortest song with a shout along chorus. We wanted to finish the album with a fast song.
A thing that makes a big sense when listening to the album is the refined & melodious guitar solos ala 70s… you see nowadays we hardly hear any kind of solo in the modern releases… it was sooo rejuvenating for me!
T: That’s David’s style, he just love Blackmore, Schenker and David Murray. I guess you will not hear too much tapping or sweeps solos in The Dagger. It’s more rooted in the blues rock tradition. I love David’s style of solos ever since the early Dismember days, he really have a character in his playing and a special sound.
I read that you recorded the album at Gutterview Recorders Studio, which is owned by your drummer Fred Estby and Nicke Andersson. Nicke was one of the first guys who dropped death metal for the sake of rock & roll music almost 20 years ago! I guess his help was valuable in every aspect.
T: Well, Nicke owns some of the equipment in the studio they have, but he was not at all involved in the recording of The Dagger album. Yes, he really did a dramatic change back in the days but I personally think that if you listen to Entombed’s “To Ride” album and the first Hellacopters album, you can really hear the connection in the music and the production.
You released a video for “1978” and a lyric video for “Ahead of You All” a while ago. Will you release another vide? One for “The Ballad of the Old Man” would have been great, I think!
T: The video for “Ahead…” is more like a promotional video, and we were not involved in the making of that one, but the one we did for “1978” turned out great! We are really satisfied with that one, it was filmed with a super expensive camera and directed by a guy called Stefan Jansson, thumbs up to him. It would of course be great to do another video for this album and I think “Ballad…” is a strong track, and maybe it could attract more women to our fan base, haha! I’m not sure if we have any budget left to do another video though. But yes, it would be cool to do that one.
What about any live gigs? Will you hit the road anytime soon?
T: We did a release show here in Stockholm just when the album came out. It turned out great with lots of people and a good vibe. We have some offers coming at us and so far we have one confirmed gig, it’s a metal cruise from Sweden to Finland called The Close-Up Boat. We hope that we can come out and play a lot more in the future, we´re awaiting some good offers. So I hope you all can catch us live later on.
If I’m not mistaken it was only a little time ago that you signed with Century Media in order to release your debut. You were free fishing here & there all this time, huh? How did the cooperation with Century Media occur?
T: I know some of the guys on that label since my other band Grave is there. We had some other options but it turned out that Century Media would be the best for us. We recorded a demo that our manager helped to spread and it was through that demo that we got Century Media interested. We are happy to be with such a big and strong label.
Do you believe that classic rock/hard rock music is coming back “full force” again? We see various “neo-retro” movements in our time and people seem to like ‘em… what’s your say?
T: Hard to say what’s going to be the next big thing. Ghost turned out to have great success and so did Graveyard. But today there is loads of bands doing some type of retro rock/metal. Luckily I think The Dagger stands out from all other band’s because we have a different approach, we are not just doing one style of heavy metal, you can find a little bit of everything in there, fast and slow songs, 70s or 80s style and even a ballad. Some of the other bands around are just doing one or the other. And our aim is not to just be retro, we are just playing the kind of music that we love.
T: Hi Thanos and all the Grande Rock readers. Things are good in Stockholm, it’s nice and sunny right now. Yeah, it took a while to get the album out, but finally it’s here and we are very satisfied with the result.
Hence, do tell us… how did you decide to form this band back in 2009? You see it’s weird for a bunch of extreme metalheads to form a classic rock/hard rock act.
T: It was after Dismember was put on hold that Fred and David just by coincidence started to talk about starting to play classic heavy metal, David mentioned that to me and I was of course in for that too. We are all a bunch of heavy metal freaks and I have always dreamt of playing in such a band. I guess its surprising to many that these death metal guys are starting to play hard rock music all of a sudden, but for me it comes very natural since I have always had that side in me and I played in a heavy metal band in the 90s – a band that just did one demo tape and never got anywhere…
How can death metal music be combined with classic rock/hard rock? I guess it’s hard not to worship acts like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Dio, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc. when you are a teenager, right?
T: Musically I think its hard to combine death meal with hard rock, except for throwing in some melodies and riffs here and there inspired by heavy metal just like Dismember always did. All of us in the band grew up listening to the classic heavy metal bands and then continued to explore the harder and faster territory within the metal genre. But its with the old classic bands that everything starts. I think it would have been obvious if we would have formed another death metal band, instead we´re creating something new and fresh for us as musicians.
And why did it take you almost 5 years to release your debut album? Which were those incidents that held you back?
T: First we just wanted to jam and have fun and try out all these new ideas in the rehearsal room, then it took us such a long time to finally find the correct voice for The Dagger. The actual time recording of the album stretched out quite long too. It was hard to find time to lay down the final touches to the album, fixing the cover etc.
The singer Jani Kataja (Sideburn, Mangrove) joined you later in 2012. Was it another reason for taking it back till the music puzzle was complete?
T: We know a lot of people that plays metal here in Stockholm, but finding a singer with the right capacity for this kind of music seemed almost impossible. So it took us many years before we got hold of Jani Kataja. He fits perfectly with us, he have no clue about death metal or any kind of modern metal at all. His influences are from the great vocalists of the 70s.
And the name The Dagger… how did it come about?
T: It came through a suggestion from Nicke Andersson. We wanted to have strong name that is easy to remember, and that’s not easy to find these days when everything is already used. First we were called just Dagger and we released a 7” single, but when it was time for the full-length album our manager convinced us to add “The Dagger” to avoid us getting sued by other bands with that name. But as far as I know there are not many bands that have used that name before, maybe its just two heavy metal bands that have been called Dagger before. Anyway, we think the name sounds hard hitting and direct.
I’d like you to give us a hint about each track…
T: “Ahead of You All”: David wrote this one, it’s a classic metal song with edgy riffs and a sing-along chorus. It has a really beautiful middle section inspired by classical music. David is a die-hard classical music fan and he has tons of classical albums at home. A great opening track with an explosive intro.
“Call of 9”: I did the music to this one. Inspired by Riot and Rainbow, I wanted to do something simple and direct up-tempo. I am really satisfied with the main riff in this song.
“Ballad of an Old Man”: I did the music. I wanted to write a ballad and this one turned out to be one of our favorites on the album. I love the atmosphere in this song, its very beautiful. David did a fantastic slide guitar solo here as well.
“Skygazer”: David’s song. Classic old hard rocking vibe here, great chorus and a very nice middle section.
“Electric Dawn”: This is Fred’s song. Very hard heavy metal with razor sharp riffs. Robert Pehrsson did a great solo here. I love the end section with that great melody.
“1978”: David and I did this one. I love this song, it’s just so simple and effective and catchy and with great vocal melodies. Please check out the video we did for this one, it turned out really awesome and classy.
“Dogs of Warning”: Fred’s song. Very heavy and slow pounding. This is an early song for us from 2009. It’s very fun to play and it has a cool drum and bass feature in the end. Great vocals from Jani.
“Nocturnal Triumph”: This is my song. I wanted to make a real rocking song inspired by UFO and ZZ-Top. Nicke Andersson is doing a guest solo here. I love the half tempo Queen-like chorus.
“Inside the Monolithic Dome”: David did the music. Inspired by MSG, it’s very melodic and dramatic. I love Janis vocals here, he managed to do something different from what he is used to and it turned out great.
“Dark Cloud”: Made by David, Fred and Tyrant. We released this as a 7” in 2013 but in a different version. This is one of the songs that the guys from Century Media got hooked. It’s our shortest song with a shout along chorus. We wanted to finish the album with a fast song.
A thing that makes a big sense when listening to the album is the refined & melodious guitar solos ala 70s… you see nowadays we hardly hear any kind of solo in the modern releases… it was sooo rejuvenating for me!
T: That’s David’s style, he just love Blackmore, Schenker and David Murray. I guess you will not hear too much tapping or sweeps solos in The Dagger. It’s more rooted in the blues rock tradition. I love David’s style of solos ever since the early Dismember days, he really have a character in his playing and a special sound.
I read that you recorded the album at Gutterview Recorders Studio, which is owned by your drummer Fred Estby and Nicke Andersson. Nicke was one of the first guys who dropped death metal for the sake of rock & roll music almost 20 years ago! I guess his help was valuable in every aspect.
T: Well, Nicke owns some of the equipment in the studio they have, but he was not at all involved in the recording of The Dagger album. Yes, he really did a dramatic change back in the days but I personally think that if you listen to Entombed’s “To Ride” album and the first Hellacopters album, you can really hear the connection in the music and the production.
You released a video for “1978” and a lyric video for “Ahead of You All” a while ago. Will you release another vide? One for “The Ballad of the Old Man” would have been great, I think!
T: The video for “Ahead…” is more like a promotional video, and we were not involved in the making of that one, but the one we did for “1978” turned out great! We are really satisfied with that one, it was filmed with a super expensive camera and directed by a guy called Stefan Jansson, thumbs up to him. It would of course be great to do another video for this album and I think “Ballad…” is a strong track, and maybe it could attract more women to our fan base, haha! I’m not sure if we have any budget left to do another video though. But yes, it would be cool to do that one.
What about any live gigs? Will you hit the road anytime soon?
T: We did a release show here in Stockholm just when the album came out. It turned out great with lots of people and a good vibe. We have some offers coming at us and so far we have one confirmed gig, it’s a metal cruise from Sweden to Finland called The Close-Up Boat. We hope that we can come out and play a lot more in the future, we´re awaiting some good offers. So I hope you all can catch us live later on.
If I’m not mistaken it was only a little time ago that you signed with Century Media in order to release your debut. You were free fishing here & there all this time, huh? How did the cooperation with Century Media occur?
T: I know some of the guys on that label since my other band Grave is there. We had some other options but it turned out that Century Media would be the best for us. We recorded a demo that our manager helped to spread and it was through that demo that we got Century Media interested. We are happy to be with such a big and strong label.
Do you believe that classic rock/hard rock music is coming back “full force” again? We see various “neo-retro” movements in our time and people seem to like ‘em… what’s your say?
T: Hard to say what’s going to be the next big thing. Ghost turned out to have great success and so did Graveyard. But today there is loads of bands doing some type of retro rock/metal. Luckily I think The Dagger stands out from all other band’s because we have a different approach, we are not just doing one style of heavy metal, you can find a little bit of everything in there, fast and slow songs, 70s or 80s style and even a ballad. Some of the other bands around are just doing one or the other. And our aim is not to just be retro, we are just playing the kind of music that we love.
What do you wish to achieve with The Dagger long-term?
T: World domination. Or just to keep on recording albums and doing lots of gigs would be fun. I’m really happy to have this album out now and I wish that we will do many gigs in support of this release. I always want to become better as a musician and songwriter and entertainer. I practice on my bass playing to become better. And I want The Dagger to grow and become better too.
Time for our “weird questions!!! How do you see the “free downloading issue” of our time? What a band or a label can do to change that thing?
T: You can clearly see a downward spiral since the introduction of downloading. People are not buying albums anymore which mean that bands have to tour more, so there will be more competition on the touring market. Kids can not afford to go to all of these shows which mean that all bands will be affected with less concert visitors. I don’t know what to do about it because the younger generation does not longer know what a record is, its just a file that you download. And with things like Spotify the artists makes very little money from that.
Are funding platforms like Kicksatrter, Indiegogo etc. the answer to the “free downloading culture” of the 21st century? What’s your say?
T: I think so. Artists have to look in other directions to put out their music. For me personally I don’t see much good in this downloading thing. I use YouTube if I want to check out something new but that’s about it. I don’t even have Spotify or something similar. If I want to have an album I like to go to a record store and pay for it myself.
What has changed in today’s music industry and how do you see the “Views, tweets & Likes” mania of our time?!!
T: The things we talked about before, like the downloading, it has changed everything completely. Most kids do not listen to rock music like before, it’s more about people like Avicci, a guy with a lap-top waiving his arm in the air while cashing in millions. That’s not an artist or a star in my book anyway. But today everybody can be a star on the internet. (i.n.: Yeah, the ones that I love to call ass-stars!!! Hehehe!)
Imagine that you’re living in a post-apocalyptic world – like the one in “Walking Dead” What would you choose to be? A survivor – who fights every day for his life or a zombie who seeks out survivors to eat them and why?
T: Haha! I don’t know man! I’m not a fan of zombie movies. I think most people have a survivor instinct so I guess I would do my best to kill as many zombies as I could…
Which character from the “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
T: I don’t know what Game of Thrones is really, so I’m sorry but I can to answer that. All I know is that is a TV series, and I don’t watch TV series.
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife?
T: I don’t believe in hell or any afterlife. I am an atheist. I believe in science.
Imagine that your wife/girlfriend is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
T: Wow! She would never do that, she is too kind and she loves most of my records too.
I think we’ve done Tobias. Thx for the music! Any last words? Take care dude!
T: Thanks for this interview with many good questions, and some unexpected ones too. Make sure to check out our album and our video for “1978”, because it rocks! Cheers to everybody that supports good music!
T: World domination. Or just to keep on recording albums and doing lots of gigs would be fun. I’m really happy to have this album out now and I wish that we will do many gigs in support of this release. I always want to become better as a musician and songwriter and entertainer. I practice on my bass playing to become better. And I want The Dagger to grow and become better too.
Time for our “weird questions!!! How do you see the “free downloading issue” of our time? What a band or a label can do to change that thing?
T: You can clearly see a downward spiral since the introduction of downloading. People are not buying albums anymore which mean that bands have to tour more, so there will be more competition on the touring market. Kids can not afford to go to all of these shows which mean that all bands will be affected with less concert visitors. I don’t know what to do about it because the younger generation does not longer know what a record is, its just a file that you download. And with things like Spotify the artists makes very little money from that.
Are funding platforms like Kicksatrter, Indiegogo etc. the answer to the “free downloading culture” of the 21st century? What’s your say?
T: I think so. Artists have to look in other directions to put out their music. For me personally I don’t see much good in this downloading thing. I use YouTube if I want to check out something new but that’s about it. I don’t even have Spotify or something similar. If I want to have an album I like to go to a record store and pay for it myself.
What has changed in today’s music industry and how do you see the “Views, tweets & Likes” mania of our time?!!
T: The things we talked about before, like the downloading, it has changed everything completely. Most kids do not listen to rock music like before, it’s more about people like Avicci, a guy with a lap-top waiving his arm in the air while cashing in millions. That’s not an artist or a star in my book anyway. But today everybody can be a star on the internet. (i.n.: Yeah, the ones that I love to call ass-stars!!! Hehehe!)
Imagine that you’re living in a post-apocalyptic world – like the one in “Walking Dead” What would you choose to be? A survivor – who fights every day for his life or a zombie who seeks out survivors to eat them and why?
T: Haha! I don’t know man! I’m not a fan of zombie movies. I think most people have a survivor instinct so I guess I would do my best to kill as many zombies as I could…
Which character from the “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
T: I don’t know what Game of Thrones is really, so I’m sorry but I can to answer that. All I know is that is a TV series, and I don’t watch TV series.
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife?
T: I don’t believe in hell or any afterlife. I am an atheist. I believe in science.
Imagine that your wife/girlfriend is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
T: Wow! She would never do that, she is too kind and she loves most of my records too.
I think we’ve done Tobias. Thx for the music! Any last words? Take care dude!
T: Thanks for this interview with many good questions, and some unexpected ones too. Make sure to check out our album and our video for “1978”, because it rocks! Cheers to everybody that supports good music!