»Of course we want everybody to love the stuff we play.«

This interview was originally intended for Daylight Suffering. Made by Mårten Jacobsson in June-August 2002.

Now the time has come to Dream Evil. This intreview was made with bassplayer Peter Stålfors.
http://www.catchtherainbow.com/dioMarcho4H.rm
Mårre: Could you tell us about the band and what you have been doing before starting Dream Evil?

Peter: I've been playing together with Niklas (Isfeldt, vocals) in a cover band for the last eight years so we've known each other for quite a while. Snowy (Shaw, drums) has worked a lot with Notre Dame and of course before that King Diamond and Mercyful Fate and some other bands. Gus (G, guitars) has been playing with Mystic Prophecy and Firewind and Fredrik (Nordström, guitars/keyboards) played in a cover band called Snakeskin Cowboys before he concentrated on producing.  

 It was Fredrik who gathered the band because he knew us all a little bit. It all started when he was on a vacation in Greece where he met Gus. Fredrik then called Niklas which he heard singing backing vocals on the first two HammerFall albums, Niklas then called me and after making a demo with a drum machine Fredrik got Snowy to join in as well.

Mårre: You play a type of metal that is very common these days. What differs Dream Evil from the other bands in your genre?
 
Peter: I don't think it's the lyrics (laughs)... Well maybe the production and vocal lines differ a bit. I can't really say, I haven't heard so many Power Metal bands actually. Since we all are songwriters and we have such different influences I think it's a good mix of songs on the album.

Mårre: How does internet affect you? Do you feel that you would have sold more copies if it weren't for MP3:s?   Peter: Actually I don't think that MP3:s are a threat to a new band as ourselves, I actually think that it could be good for us. We're reaching out to people that maybe never would have heard about us at all. And if they really like the songs I believe that they will buy the album.
 
Mårre: Your band name feels very Dio inspired. Where does it come from?
 
Peter: A short answer - Dio!

 To tell you the story, it was like this. We sat in the studio and talked about the name of the band. And we just came up with really bad suggestions all the time. Then Fredrik saw a Dio album lying on a table - Dream Evil. Aha, that's a good name. And that's it.
 
Mårre: What are your biggest musical influences?
 
Peter: Well as I told you before we all have very different influences but I can answer for myself. I was a really big Iron Maiden fan in the 80's, the recordings they made up to Seventh Son were great. Queensrÿche were also great in the 80's and I've listened a lot to Soundgarden and Judas Priest of course, and many more. But these are the main influences for me.
 
Mårre: Could you describe the perfect Dream Evil concert?
 
Peter: A huge hall, filled with Dream Evil fans. A big stage, great soundengineers, great light and effect engineers. And the audience sings along with the songs so loud that it's hard to hear anything else!

Mårre: You have already been playing at Sweden Rock Festival, Wacken, and you are opening for Blind Guardian and are supposed to play in Japan. How is that possible for such a new band? You must have great promotors!

Peter: Well yes, Century Media is a great record company and has given us the opportunity to open for Blind Guardian. As it comes to the Japaneese gigs it, was the Japaneese record label King Records, which the album is released through in Japan, who made it possible for us to go there. So you can say that we're quite pleased with the promotion we're getting.

Mårre:. What do you do beside the music?

Peter: I work as a consultant at an IT company in Gothenburg. And at my spare time I enjoy writing music, hanging out with my friends. I also scubadive which I learned last summer, and that's really fun..

Mårre: How does the writing process work in the band? Do you lock yourselves in the studio, or do you write on the road or what?

Peter: It was different for all songs on the album, some of them were written together in the studio and some were written at home and brought to the studio there they were polished a bit. So we don't really have a recipe for writing songs. We have been talking about jamming a bit more in the rehearsalstudio when making songs for the next album, but nothing is decided yet. Me and Niklas work very well together, I make the riffs and he
makes the vocal lines and we give ideas to each other during the writing process so who knows how the songs will be written for the next album, only time will tell.

Mårre: Do you have any new material ready for the next record?

Peter: Yes, as we all are song writers in the band and we can't keep our fingers away from our guitars it's not so strange that we have loads of material for the coming album. Mainly a lot of riffs which has to be put together and arranged into songs, but we have some songs completed as well. We're planning on recording this new album in the beginning of next year.

Mårre: How does all the reviews of your material affect you? What means the most - a good or a bad review?

Peter: A good review gives a lot of strength to your self-confidence of course and is really nice to read when you're having a bad day. But a bad review is also good to read 'cause without them you wouldn't know what you must try to improve. So it's hard to say what means the most, I think they both mean a lot.

Mårre: Finally, what do you want to achieve with your music?
 
Peter: Of course we want everybody to love the stuff we play. That's the main goal. We really don't have any politics or that kind of stuff in our lyrics, so enjoy it,  that's the goal.

Check out www.dreamevil.se for some Heavy Metal in the night!