in flames
It ' s the same with playing shows , you know . If you start feeling like it ' s a drag and a bit boring and you don ' t really get that fire any more , that ' s when I think that you should quit . You have bad days sometimes but that doesn ' t mean anything . You get that in every job .
Has touring become easier or harder over the years ?
Technically speaking , I don ' t have to do anything . I get a mic before I go on stage and that ' s it . So I really can ' t complain .
So that has definitely become easier compared to the earlier days .
These days you have to tour so much more because bands just don ' t sell that many albums any more and there ' s only so many shows that people can go to so everybody ' s just out trying to catch people ' s attention . So that ' s definitely a tough change but touring itself hasn ' t become harder . We have a great crew that we ' ve worked with for a really long time now and the people who are in the band right now really want to be in this band as well . Things are just smooth now . Like a clockwork .
Considering that you ' ve all got families . How do you manage to handle touring and family responsibilities ?
I think that ' s definitely easier today because of technology and the internet . There ' s things like Skype today so I could just be in the tour bus on the highway somewhere and still be able to talk to my kids at home instead of waiting for a fucking payphone at some truck stop like it was in the early days . The internet has definitely helped !
But then again the kids have their own daily routine that they have to follow as well . We try to keep it as normal as possible but you miss them of course . Of course I also have a wonderful second half who ' s taking care of everything .
The thing with all of that is that no one can tell you how to do it . You and your family have to figure it out yourself but I do believe that we ' re handling it quite well .
Your music video for “ The Truth ” shows a child being ' rescued ' by other children from being stuck behind a computer screen . Is this your general view on technology or do you believe that it can be beneficial as well ?
I think it ' s really beneficial ! I think we have to adapt to the situation that we have . Anything can be used in a good way if used correctly . Parents see their kids playing video games and start being worried wondering what the fuck their kids are doing and try to get them to stop doing it and I think that ' s completely wrong ! You should be part of your children '' s interest and you can ' t just question everything all the time . If their kids played football all day their parents would be super proud but if they play computer games they ' ll get really angry but you never know . Their kids might make this their job one day in one way or another . I just think we should be careful not to lose our humanity to technology . As long as we ' re still people it ' s going to be fine .
Social media is a different thing for me , though . Ever since it has become such a big part of our daily routine I feel like there ' s a much less friendly climate between all of us . People have Instagram to show that they ' re on a nice vacation or just how good their life might be and we write and comment and everyone thinks they ' re some kind of fucking internet police . Everyone know better than the other and stuff like that . People are people and we need real interaction . To hide behind a nickname to write some bad stuff is a step backwards not forwards . That ' s the other side of technology .
Words by Niklas Benedum
184 www . eliteonlinemag . com