Pain Of Salvation have released four amazing albums so far. Their latest work “Remedy Lane” is a prog-metal masterpiece! Let’s see what Kristoffer Gildenlöw, the band’s bass player, told us about the tour with Dream Theater, his band and why he believes that he is a lucky person...
First of all congratulations on “Remedy Lane”! It is for sure one of the best albums for 2002!! You’re back from a tour with Dream Theater. Well, how do you feel now that the tour is over? Which countries did you visit? Are there any plans for a new tour?
K: The tour was great. Everything was well organized and the spirit was high throughout the whole crew. We also got good contact with the guys in Dream Theater. 18 gigs in Western Europe and lots of buss traveling. We went with a “nightliner” which is a buss suited to live on; with beds, TV and stereo. Over the tour, I wrote a tour diary too. At the moment, we’re rehearsing for a musical which we’ll participate in for the next two months. After that, we’re looking at festivals and smaller gigs this summer and hopefully another tour of some sort by coming Autumn.
Let me ask you about the new album now. What exactly do you mean with the title “Remedy Lane”? Is there a story behind it?
K: “Remedy” is sort of “healing”. Getting well and reinforce. This is the path to become whole again. The road of cleaning up, both physically and psychically.
Can you tell us some things about the lyrics? And, if you can, describe the story from one song to give us a hint.
K: The story is a bit complex and sometimes hidden away, not to be too clear and certain. The whole album is a concept album and a self-lived biography. I cannot pick one song to explain, they all stick together.
Whose idea was it to call the band Pain Of Salvation? Do you want to deliver a message to the people with this name?
K: Daniel, the singer, the songwriter and the founder of the band. Before I joined, they’d been looking for a new name for quite some time. I think is kind of stumbled over this and found it suitable. The meaning of the name is not religious at all (Salvation Army etc.) but it does give a message. There’s something good in every bad. Sometimes when you want something, you have to pay the prize. The prize is the “pain” of the achievement (the salvation).
Well, I think that you’re the youngest in the band right? Do you believe that you are lucky to be in a band like PoS? Tell us… how did you manage to get in the band?
K: I was lucky and fortunate to get into this band. As the younger brother of Daniel, I’ve been watching the grow and develop their own style and music. As the former bass player dropped off, I was asked to join as a stand in for a gig. They though it was working and later on I was asked to join the band full time. Since then, I’ve been developing my bass playing very much and I’ve learned so much about music. I was actually not supposed to work with music at all, but as I joined PoS, I found it too fun to let go. And here I am. Being the youngest was only a problem in the beginning as I was only 16 years old. Now we’ve all passed the line of what is young and old. We just don’t care about that anymore, let’s play!
I believe Pain Of Salvation are growing bigger and bigger with every new album. What do you think? Do you believe that this is just the beginning?
K: We are hoping that we’ll spread and be a bigger name on the musical floor. Too bad, the progressive genre is very small and we have to sell a lot more albums before we can live of our music. Now, we all have different kind of work on the side to be able to get around. But we’re hoping and we’re fighting.
And now we go on with the “weird questions”!!! I will give you 5 colors, and you will tell me the albums you associate with them.
K: a) Black: Metallica’s black album: Maybe even Spinal Tap’s “Smell the Glove”.
b) White: Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”.
c) Blue: Dive “Where the River Turns to See”.
d) Red: Dalbello “Whore”.
e) Grey: Jaco Pastorius “Jaco”.
Now this is mostly based on the colors of the albums but if I would connect an album with a color, I see the cover. I don’t see the colors in music actually.
Which are those songs which get you bored right way and make you fall asleep?!! And those tracks that you can’t help but head-bang all the time?!!
K: Ravel – “Bolero”. This is the only song that really makes me bored. 13 minutes of the same thing. Otherwise when I get irritated by songs I turn them off. That list goes quite a bit longer. Also the head banging list is hard to determent. I never have any favorites about anything, no films, no food, no color etc. I’m a mood person and always do what I feel like doing at the moment. If I feel like something calm, I put on something calm and the other way around.
If your wife were selling your half album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself how would you react?
K: I’d sell her collection as it’s far more valuable…
Thanx very much for the interview. I wish the best for PoS. Add anything you want before we close…
K: Thank you! I also want to thank fans and listeners in Greece. You’ve always showed your appreciation since the first album. We’ll get to Greece as soon as we can, trust us. Keep on rocking and be nice to each other! Peace!
K: The tour was great. Everything was well organized and the spirit was high throughout the whole crew. We also got good contact with the guys in Dream Theater. 18 gigs in Western Europe and lots of buss traveling. We went with a “nightliner” which is a buss suited to live on; with beds, TV and stereo. Over the tour, I wrote a tour diary too. At the moment, we’re rehearsing for a musical which we’ll participate in for the next two months. After that, we’re looking at festivals and smaller gigs this summer and hopefully another tour of some sort by coming Autumn.
Let me ask you about the new album now. What exactly do you mean with the title “Remedy Lane”? Is there a story behind it?
K: “Remedy” is sort of “healing”. Getting well and reinforce. This is the path to become whole again. The road of cleaning up, both physically and psychically.
Can you tell us some things about the lyrics? And, if you can, describe the story from one song to give us a hint.
K: The story is a bit complex and sometimes hidden away, not to be too clear and certain. The whole album is a concept album and a self-lived biography. I cannot pick one song to explain, they all stick together.
Whose idea was it to call the band Pain Of Salvation? Do you want to deliver a message to the people with this name?
K: Daniel, the singer, the songwriter and the founder of the band. Before I joined, they’d been looking for a new name for quite some time. I think is kind of stumbled over this and found it suitable. The meaning of the name is not religious at all (Salvation Army etc.) but it does give a message. There’s something good in every bad. Sometimes when you want something, you have to pay the prize. The prize is the “pain” of the achievement (the salvation).
Well, I think that you’re the youngest in the band right? Do you believe that you are lucky to be in a band like PoS? Tell us… how did you manage to get in the band?
K: I was lucky and fortunate to get into this band. As the younger brother of Daniel, I’ve been watching the grow and develop their own style and music. As the former bass player dropped off, I was asked to join as a stand in for a gig. They though it was working and later on I was asked to join the band full time. Since then, I’ve been developing my bass playing very much and I’ve learned so much about music. I was actually not supposed to work with music at all, but as I joined PoS, I found it too fun to let go. And here I am. Being the youngest was only a problem in the beginning as I was only 16 years old. Now we’ve all passed the line of what is young and old. We just don’t care about that anymore, let’s play!
I believe Pain Of Salvation are growing bigger and bigger with every new album. What do you think? Do you believe that this is just the beginning?
K: We are hoping that we’ll spread and be a bigger name on the musical floor. Too bad, the progressive genre is very small and we have to sell a lot more albums before we can live of our music. Now, we all have different kind of work on the side to be able to get around. But we’re hoping and we’re fighting.
And now we go on with the “weird questions”!!! I will give you 5 colors, and you will tell me the albums you associate with them.
K: a) Black: Metallica’s black album: Maybe even Spinal Tap’s “Smell the Glove”.
b) White: Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”.
c) Blue: Dive “Where the River Turns to See”.
d) Red: Dalbello “Whore”.
e) Grey: Jaco Pastorius “Jaco”.
Now this is mostly based on the colors of the albums but if I would connect an album with a color, I see the cover. I don’t see the colors in music actually.
Which are those songs which get you bored right way and make you fall asleep?!! And those tracks that you can’t help but head-bang all the time?!!
K: Ravel – “Bolero”. This is the only song that really makes me bored. 13 minutes of the same thing. Otherwise when I get irritated by songs I turn them off. That list goes quite a bit longer. Also the head banging list is hard to determent. I never have any favorites about anything, no films, no food, no color etc. I’m a mood person and always do what I feel like doing at the moment. If I feel like something calm, I put on something calm and the other way around.
If your wife were selling your half album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself how would you react?
K: I’d sell her collection as it’s far more valuable…
Thanx very much for the interview. I wish the best for PoS. Add anything you want before we close…
K: Thank you! I also want to thank fans and listeners in Greece. You’ve always showed your appreciation since the first album. We’ll get to Greece as soon as we can, trust us. Keep on rocking and be nice to each other! Peace!