Interview With Joacim Cans
Intro and interview by Luxi Lahtinen
Interview photos taken by Humberto Sanchez
What is it called when a bunch of famous musicians from
well known and appreciated
metal bands let their creative juices flow and keep their passion burning in order to
achieve some goal together? Perhaps īA Heavy Metal super groupī? I guess thatīs a descriptive
enough common word for this anyway and Joacim Cans, the vocalist of HammerFall, can
rightfully be proud of the line-up for his first solo album titled Beyond the
Gates. Along with Joacim, there are musical contributions from no less than Mat Sinner from Primal
Fear, Jeff Waters from Annihilator, David Chastain from CJSS, Mark Zonder from
HammerFall,
“Metal” Mike Chlasciak from the Halford band, etc.
I met Joacim here in Helsinki at Hotel Radisson Plaza on March 2nd after spending a
long and rather stressful day at my work. I was therefore lucky and glad
to see him so excited
and full of energy to talk about his first solo album Beyond the Gates along with other interesting
and thought-provoking things as well...
Hereīs what I got, so get yourself comfortable and please enjoy reading...
“Beyond the Gates of HammerFall”
First off, congratulations for making a strong debut solo album.
Thank you very much for your kind words...!!
I was listening to it 3-4 yesterday and I was
really impressed with what I heard. Itīs just a really HEAVY album all in all!!
Also, Iīm impressed by the strong line-up you have for this album. Thereīs guys from
such bands as Primal Fear, Fates Warning, the Halford band, and
Annihilator who
have contributed the songs on it one way or the other...
Well, Jeff (Waters) isnīt actually playing on the album. He wrote the last song on the
album, that ballad song (“Forever Ends”). I got that song from
Jeff. I had
only two guitar players on this record; one of them is Stefan Elmgren from
HammerFall and
the other is “Metal” Mike Chlasciak from the Halford band. So Jeff is not
actually playing on the record. I think thereīs been going around a few rumors lately
that Jeff would also play on the album, but the fact is he just wrote one song for this
album and thatīs all. He doesnīt play on this record at all.
And Jeff sent you this particular song on either a tape or CD?
Yes, the thing is that this was the only song I didnīt have anything to do with. I got
it, it already had all the musical parts in it, all the lyrics ready, everything was
there. I said that as the song is so good, I really need to have it on the album, too.
Do you kind of feel that you are fortunate that you were able to work with so many
talented players for this album?
Absolutely... absolutely!! I must say that I wanted to have like a base of musicians
that are like, well, first of all, comparable to each other and then they bring... well,
letīs take that movie called “X-men”, for instance. They have different people
in that movie; one of them has this vision and you have that Wolverine guy and everyone
brings in something īuniqueī into that movie, yīknow. And since I wanted to have a
dark, heavier, like semi-progressive, but still melodic metal album compared to
HammerFall. I needed to have a person that could bring in some progressiveness into the
music without making it too complicated, yīknow. Like the guitar parts, for example. My
first thought about that kind of person was Mark Zonder (Fates Warning), who else could
have it been? And he hasnīt bothered me, but asked me for a long time like:
“Whatever you are gonna do in the future, count me in...”. It was actually very
easy for me to ask from Mark whether he might be interested in this type of project and he
was like: “Yeah, sure... no problem man at all...!!”.
And then I wanted to have a bass player that could have more kind of a īrockīnīroll
grooveī in his playing style and who could have been better choice for that position than
Matt Sinner (Primal Fear), to deliver something like that. I asked him on tour and he said
the same thing as Mark did: “Yes, of course!! Usually I donīt do this, but as you
asked it from me in the first place, letīs do it...!!”.
As for guitar players, I wanted to have two different types of players. On one side is
Stefan who is more like a īthinking guyī, kind of like saying to himself while composing
something for a song: “Ok, first Iīll take this note and I will hold it like for 40
seconds and then Iīll move on to another note... perfect!”. And then Mike... He just
comes there, he plugs his guitar in and starts playing.
And he just let it go...
Yeah, he just let it go. And out of the combination of all these people became this
album. And yes, itīs a solo album, but still thereīs a band behind it after all.
What was, or were, the most demanding thing(s) to make this album as far as
the songs are concerned? Was it hard to make songs “click” with
one another
both style-wise and concept-wise as well?
I never actually see it like that way that the songs should īclickī, like you put it,
together to each other because when I sat down and made a plan for the whole album, I
decided immediately that I didnīt want to have 10 different īprojectsī. I wanted to
have a real band feeling around this album to back me up. Then I invited many different
song writers to write songs for the album with me. And in order to not make all the songs
stand out from each other, sounding more like a compilation album - I mean, thatīs why I
wanted to have a band to make the whole album to sound like a whole piece. So I was never
really nervous about how this album would have turned out musically. Of course when I
heard the song “Dreams” for the first time, I listened to it and it sounded like
a Pop-Hard Rock song and I went like: “Uh-huh... what am I supposed to do with this
song...?!”. Then I started thinking: “Ok... if we add some guitars over that
part, making it to sound like Genesis in 1975...”, like a semi-progressive thing in
the middle and it worked even though some songs are far away from each other musically.
If you could look back
and think about the album from the beginning up to
the mixing and mastering of the album - did you notice that the more you
progressed and developed ideas, the more you wanted to strive for
some kind of perfection, to find the
very best elements and avoid any compromises as much as possible?
I think I went into a gut feeling most of the time. I was listening to the stuff I got
and I started to work with like the vocal lines and I felt at some point that it didnīt
work as I could not come up with anything good. I said: “No, Iīm sorry, but I cannot
use this song...” because I really needed to get a feeling for this song and also a
feeling to be able to work with it. I mean, I got 12 songs from David Chastain alone and
just used one of them for this record.
12 songs? Thatīs quite a lot from him...
12 songs... yeah, I mean, ideas for songs! But you know, that guy does write a lot of
stuff. Same with Matt Sinner, he got 8 or 9 songs, I think and used two of them for the
album. One was fantastic, but it was like a very traditional Power Metal type of song and
I was too afraid to do that because maybe it would have been too close to some
HammerFall stuff and that was a big īno-noī for this direction I wanted the songs to go toward on
BEYOND THE GATES. Then obviously the only question in every interview would have been:
“Why did you do it...?”. Like why did you do it an album that sounds exactly
like HammerFall? Itīs very important that it didnīt make it for this album and I really
satisfied I made this decision even if the song was great and all that, yīknow.
Could you say what songs on BEYOND THE GATES represent the style
of how you wanted
this album to sound in the first place? Do you have any faves?
Usually I cannot pick up any songs as my fave songs as it actually takes time to find
your own favorite songs from any albums you do, but I can give you one song that pleases
me very much and itīs the track no. 6 on BEYOND THE GATES; the song is called “The
Key”. Itīs got a choir of kids and that song is basically so different from other
songs on the album. Itīs so massive, itīs like a big...like a train coming and then it
comes down to the middle with this snare drum, a īmarching drumī part and it goes like
punching you in the face into the solo section. That song at the very moment is my
favorite song from this album.
Could you even claim to be absolutely 100% satisfied with the whole result,
with other songs on it, too?
Absolutely!! Thereīs just no question about that...
...even with the mixing and mastering process went well without any dramatic setbacks or anything?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, things happen during the mixing. We actually had to move the
mixing of the album from Sweden to Germany and that was something that interrupted the
finalizing of the record a little.
What happened then?
Well, the room we were mixing this album at, didnīt really work for mixing. So Charlie
couldnīt get it to sound the way he wanted in the first place. He had to go down to the
Blind Guardian studio (“Twilight Studios”) to finalize it. And I couldnīt go
with him because I simply didnīt have time to do it. So that was a little weird, but we
sent files and I checked them all out and I told him: “Raise this, lower this part,
etc.” and in the end it turned out pretty massive, I must say.
About the ending song on the album...
In my opinion, the heaviest songs on the album are the opening track “Fields of
Yesterday”, “Back to Hell”, the title track “Beyond the Gates”
and “Signs”. Therefore, I also happen to consider them as my favorites
on the album. Then thereīs a song called “Forever Ends”, which is the last song
on the album and is totally different from the rest of the content on BEYOND THE GATES.
Donīt get upset or mad at me or anything, but in my opinion itīs nearly a Robin Williams
type of ballad song which really creates a huge contrast to the rest songs on your album.
So that makes me ask, whatīs the story behind that song and why did you
use it?
Well, thatīs why I put it in the end. First of all, I like the song so much that I
wanted to use it for BEYOND THE GATES. Then I realized that picking up a song like this I
needed to be very careful where I put it on the album. If I had put it like as track no.
3, people would have probably hung me. But as I put it in the very end of the album, kind
of as a īgood-byeī song and then the album stops. I still think that the chorus in that
song is still very powerful. But I know that people are still gonna ask me about that song
a lot. But like I already said to you, the song was way too good to leave unused for this
album.
Still, like I already mentioned earlier, I think the contrast is damn huge compared
to the rest of the songs on the album, though...
Yeah, I realize that, but you need to keep in your mind itīs a ballad song, so I think
itīs kind of unnecessary to compare it to the rest of the songs. And we wanted to do it,
well not too soft, but not to add any loud guitars to it either. We kind of wanted to keep
it pure the way it is there on the album, yīknow.
Cans vs. Hammerfall
Compared to your main band HammerFall, I have to say there is actually a
difference between your solo project and HammerFall musically...
Thank you very much by saying so!! I hope that people could be open-minded and not
compare this band to HammerFall at all even if thatīs the first thing they probably will
do of course because since Iīm doing most of the melodic parts for the HammerFall
songs,
you are gonna hear similarities. Itīs just unavoidable...!! On the other hand a structure
of the songs, the way we open the album with, I mean, the orchestra parts being as loud as
the guitars, they are something we could never do with HammerFall, for instance. And that
was my biggest fear that people would not get an idea what my solo project is supposed to
be all about. They all listen to it, itīs metal, itīs Joacim from HammerFall
singing, so
a-ha, it must sound like HammerFall.
I guess that can only be their headache if they are going to draw assumptions
like the one you just spit out. They should be more open-minded and realistic about the
album in the first place, I think...
But itīs sad that not everyone is realistic. As it is, a lot of people are very
narrow-minded, yīknow.
I know. But how would you personally describe this kind of style that BEYOND THE
GATES represents?
Thatīs a tough question. Well, I would call it just metal...
Like calling it traditional metal with a modern vibe? Yīknow, thereīs always a
bunch of people who would like to get some sort of an advance view from a guy whoīs a
part of some record and as this is your own solo band, I was wondering whether you could be
somehow be a bit more specific to describe this album by a few words at least...
Alright, I know what you mean. But yeah, thereīs lots of traditional metal on
BEYOND
THE GATES, but I still would say that thereīs a big mixture of what happened in the early
ī80s right up to this day. Thereīs like some riffing part going on on the album that
didnīt happen in the ī80s. Thatīs why I wanted to work with a guy like Jeff Waters for
example as he wrote the last song on the album, that ballad (“Forever Ends”). I
didnīt get any of his real rhythms or riffs for the album that he normally is known for.
But to answer to your question, the album is dark, semi-progressive and melodic Heavy
Metal.
Thatīs quite a fitting description to it actually, I think...
Yeah, I agree. It is dark by its atmosphere. I wanted to have a dark touch to it with
the cover, with the lyrics, everything...
Is there actually any chance that this solo project of yours might even have some
effect on the next HammerFall album musically?
Nah, I donīt think so. I mean, HammerFall is HammerFall. It stands for something. We
have done four studio albums thus far, 3 world tours and people that buy our albums, come
to see us on gigs. They wanna hear HammerFall, they donīt wanna hear anything else. And
thatīs one of the reasons why I did this album in the first place in order to be able to
go outside of boundaries. Like I wanted to have kidsī choir here and loud keyboards there
for BEYOND THE GATES. But with HammerFall itīs like: No, no, no... We have to stay in
between... with these two boundaries you know what Iīm saying. But of course you can do a
lot of things inside there as well even if you cannot really do some of those īextra
little thingsī that I wanted to have on an album.
Thatīs what solo projects are for...
Yeah, exactly!
When you started thinking of the stuff for your first solo album, were you like,
letīs just say, listening to any old-school British Heavy Metal stuff that kind of worked
out for you as īan extra fuelī, kind of giving you an idea how you wanted this album to
sound like eventually?
No, no... I just had everything in me already and I just needed to get it out. I donīt
listen to that much metal at home because like you are already involved with it so heavily
with your band, it feels like getting an overdose of it sometimes. Thatīs why I try to
find some other types of music that are more like īrelaxingī to listen to. I think I
listen to more of an extreme type of music in my car like System of a Down, a band that I
hated a couple of years ago...
In your car?
Yeah, because I realized one day that they actually have some really good stuff. I
think the aggression like they produce through their music, sounds great. I also listen to
one of my favorite bands from Finland, Finntroll, just because I have lots of interest
that kind of a very unique sounding stuff and I have open ears for different types of
stuff in general. Like kind of asking from myself: “What are they doing? Ok,
wow...!!”. You can actually mix an accordion with an electric guitar... cool!!
Nothing is impossible...
Karaoke versions for the Japanese fans...
Did you manage to record any extra material during the sessions for this album that
could be included for some special editions of the album or anything - like for a Japanese
edition?
Iīm gonna give them karaoke versions of the songs... (*laughs*)
Sounds like a... (eh!), īgreat planī, ha-ha!!
Yeah, ha-hah-hah...!! But seriously again, I planned to use one of the songs as a bonus
track, but when we were done, I realized there are no bonus tracks on this recording!!
Taking one song out and calling it a bonus recording, would mean that the song wasnīt
good enough to be on the album. So I decided eventually that everyone is going to get the
same album with the same songs on it. For the Japanese, Iīll give them their karaoke
versions and thatīs it.
I also kind of like to bet that you have also given a chance to some of your closest and
best friends to hear some songs off from the album in advance, so what kind of comments
they have given to you about the songs on BEYOND THE GATES?
I simply didnīt have time for that kind of thing because the journalists came like the
day before the last day of the recording of the vocals. We had like 12-14 journalists
listening to the album, so none of my friends got to hear anything from this album in
advance.
What about some of those feedback and stuff they gave to you after the pre-listening
session of the album?
The majority of those journalists said more or less the same thing as you did just
almost recently. Like: “Wow... we expected something closer to HammerFall
stuff, but
this is different...”. I have to confess that I was really nervous when I played the
album for them for the first time.
Was it easy to sort out the final order for the songs on the album?
For example - what song could be
a starter song, what song would end the album, and how the rest of the songs would find
their place there somewhere in between?
The track listing was a little problem for me. I actually had a discussion with Charlie
Bauerfeind about the final order because I didnīt wanna put the 4th song (“Back to
Hell” that is) where it is today on the album. I wanted to have that in the very end
of the album. But he said to me: “You know what? You wanna make a horror
inspired
album, right?!”. I just responded to him: “Sure...!”. Then he relied back
to me: “Then you have to give out a little rougher songs for the beginning of the
album and then, take it down...!!”. I said: “Nah, Iīm not really so sure about
that...”. I wanted to give it more fast songs for the beginning and then take it down
and bring it up later again. We had a big discussion about that and he won in the end
eventually. But I can see his point now. His point made sense, so to speak. I just had a
little bit more vision about it as wholeness. But yīknow, sorting out a track list for an
album is always damn difficult. Itīs actually really, really damn hard... At first I did
not wanna have the opening track that I now have there on BEYOND THE GATES. That song was
for me like the 2nd song, but in the very same breath I need to say that I didnīt have an
obvious first song. But then we I thought about it a bit more, I was listening to the
songs on it around and then when I heard “Fields of Yesterday” a couple of times
more, I realized itīs got a long instrumental intro, but itīs still a perfect song to
open up the album.
I think the first impression of an album is always very important, so picking up
that particular song as an opening tune of the whole album, should tell more than loud
enough that this is NOT HammerFall...
Yes, exactly, exactly... On my webpage there was a girl who checked out that song on
the Noise Recordsī homepage, but she was like: “Uuuh... this sounds exactly like
HammerFall...!!”. I was like: “Wow, what the song she was listening in the first
place...?!”. (*laughs*) That was funny. Funny people do exist, I guess, ha-ha! As I
said, (*uh!*), never mind...
How do you think this album will be welcomed amongst the Heavy Metal
fans? What kind of expectations you have about BEYOND THE GATES?
First of all, I hope that people would give it a fair chance. I hope they wouldnīt
judge it in advance by thinking because Iīm in the band, it sounds like HammerFall
without even hearing it. I want to give those people a try who donīt fancy
HammerFall -stuff that much. Just listen to it and do not judge it before you hear it. And I hope
that people would enjoy the album as much as I do even if I donīt want to listen to,
yīknow, my signing, myself. Sanctuary Records is putting a lot of promotion into it
because they are believing in the album and Iīm believing in it, so letīs just wait and
see what will happen...
Will this album come out in the U.S.A. at the same time like here in Europe? (19th
of April to be more precise)
Iīm, not sure... I am not really sure about it. I think so, though. They have got like a
priority release in the States and thatīs amazing īcoz I donīt think that we have ever
got that with HammerFall.
And what about Japan then?
In Japan... I have no idea when it will be released over there, but I assume a bit
later this year, however. I count on Charlie that heīs working with some karaoke versions
at the moment for a Japanese edition...
Joacim Cans - The Witchmaster
You also shot a promo video for a song called “Red Light” which is
supposed to be some sort of a īhorror/action videoī according to your own words? Is
there anything else youīd like share about it for our readers?
That video is about witch-hunt. And my role in it is to be a īWitchmasterī. Or Iīm
accused for witchcraft in the script of that video. Iīm getting tortured, they throw me
to the water and Iīm getting drowned. Then they burn me at stake, etc. We put it back to
the 14th century and we had lot of extra actors in it like 25 people or so who were all
working for this video clip - just being actors in it. The main idea behind in the script
is all about revenge. Same as in the song... A person is being accused for witchcraft and
eventually heīs getting burnt. But then he comes back and takes his revenge on the
righteous ones, or the evil ones. In this case the priest and the priestīs daughter will
get their revenge in this video. But the revenge takes no less than 700 hundred years to
get accomplished.
Is the actual script a product of your (sick) mind from start to finish?
No, almost the whole idea for this video came from the director of it.
And you contributed with some of your ideas what comes to the actual script of the
video?
A little here and a little there, yes...
Are you going to tour with the new band... or play any metal fests or anything?
Maybe we wonīt be touring with this band, but we will do some festivals, however.
And starting when actually?
In 22nd of May we will do a festival back in my home country Sweden; it is called 2000
Decibel Festival and we will headline in Saturday.
Is that festival basically for more traditional sounding Heavy Metal bands or?
No, itīs for every kind of metal bands - from Death Metal to Power Metal and so on,
but itīs only for Swedish metal bands, though. But since Iīm Swedish, I can come and they
really want to have us there. My other non-Swedish band mates Mat, Mark and Mike will fly
over to the festival and do this one-off show and then they will go back home.
Is this a big festival according to its size then?
No. Itīs kind of a small festival for maybe 500 people or so... Itīs still pretty
cool for us as a first shot, however.
Talking about Sanctuary Records for a moment, what kind deal do you actually have
with them with this solo project of yours? Was this deal made for just for this album or
maybe for some more?
The deal contains this album plus 2 after this.
And thatīs sort of an option deal for two more albums, I guess...
Yes, for two options.
And what next... for the future?
So tell me Joacim will there be any continuation for your solo band in the future,
probably with a whole different line-up?
I hope so. Now it really depends on the reactions of the people. If they like the album,
and even better, buy the album, then we will definitely move on and maybe after the next
HammerFall tour or even during the HammerFall tour, we start writing the next album. That
is the plan because I donīt like to call this band ījust as a projectī, yīknow because
this is my solo BAND. Iīm trying to make it work out alongside with HammerFall
as long as
it works. Of course HammerFall will be the main priority naturally, but I still wanna
focus a lot on this band as well. I hope to do a follow-up album to BEYOND THE GATES
because I have got some really good ideas already, he-he!!
So, if thereīs ever going to be some sort of continuation for this band, do you
wish to do it with the same line-up as well?
I think so, yeah...
And you might even try out some new song writers for a next possible release as
well...?
I think Iīm gonna stick to the ones who made the core of this album, those writers and
maybe try out some different writers, too. And there are some people I will definitely
work even more with on the next album.
So, whatīs your part precisely with this album in summa summarum? Of course itīs
obvious that you made all the main vocal parts for BEYOND THE GATES, but did you possibly
contribute some riff ideas and stuff for this album even by a chance?
I didnīt do any riffs for it at all! Thatīs why I invited song writers to do all that
kind of stuff for the album because if I did the riffing and things like that, it just
would turn out the way I wanted at all. Iīm only responsible for the vocal melodies and
the lyrics on this album. My trademark as a song writer is to create melodies and thatīs
it. I donīt wanna get into things that I cannot īhandleī that well, he!
You also have your own music publishing company. How is it coming along?
Itīs still pretty small company. I just signed a co-publishing deal with Warner, so
Iīm more or less like an A&R in my own company now. And they have all the legal parts
in the agreements; the promotion and they take care of basically īall the boring stuffī
nowadays. Itīs just a thing that when one day everything is over, I have something I can
make my living by. I hope it works... weīll see.
What about Warlord? I know you did all the vocals for their RISING OUT OF THE ASHES
nearly 2 years ago. Are you ever going to record with them again?
No, I donīt think they have any plans at all for another Warlord album. Itīs really
up to their guitar player if he wants to do anything in terms of Warlord. On the other
hand, I told Mark since he was playing in Warlord as well that I donīt have time to do it
any more. From now on Iīm focusing on HammerFall and on my solo album and thatīs it
because I simply donīt have time to do anything else. I donīt like the fact, not waste,
but you invest like 6 months of your life for recording an album and then label releases
it, but they donīt give a fuck at all afterwards. They just release it and hope it will
sell. That was a case with a Warlord album and I said: “No! Iīm not gonna do that
again...”.
“Soap operas” - good or bad entertainment?
Then as a last question Iīm just a curious to know have you been following this
great “soap opera” called Stratovarius lately...
(*laughs*)
... this “soap comedy” seems to be full of an unexpected and hilarious
action all the time that it makes it kind of hard to follow it if you even miss one week by
accident, heh! Mr. Tolkki just got stabbed by some guy in Spain last Sunday; did you hear
about that?
In every interview I called it myself as a “soap opera” just the same way
like you put it. Thereīs a lot of things going on in their webpage. Itīs very amusing to
read about it, but what happened in the Spain just recently, I mean that stabbing thing,
itīs gone too far. I know whatīs is like to be attacked. I was attacked by a guy who cut
me in the face.
Sorry for interrupting you, but did you manage to punch that guy in the face at all?
No, somehow he got out, I donīt know how he got out of the club. That was fuckinī
weird. Anyway, itīs just so sad, yīknow when they make it personal. If they donīt like
the music, why do they listen to it in the first place? I think they should turn the music
off then, itīs actually as simple as that. And in the end people should realize that
itīs all about the music. On the other hand, the way Timo is approaching people... (*in
this very part Joacim couldnīt hold it any longer, but burst into laughing...*)
... heīs approaching them quite an īuniqueī way, heh!
Yes, he does... (*laughs*) Iīm not sure if I would do it like that way as he does,
ha-ha!! As a member of HammerFall Iīm involved with, all of a sudden Anders was kicked
out from Stratovarius without even being a member of them in the first place. We all were
like: “Whatta HELL is going on?? Anders? Is he in Stratovarius now...?!”. And
the funny thing was I couldnīt reach him because he didnīt answer to his phone. Then I
finally got to speak to him and ask him straight a way: “Are you in Stratovarius
now...?!”. And he was like: “What the F...K?! Hell I am NOT...!!”. Then I
told him that his picture was already in Stratovariusī homepage and he became even more
confused about the whole thing, believe me... (*laughs*)
... and rumors keep on rolling around and thatīs it, I guess.
Yeah, there has been a lot of rumors when Anders so-called ījoinedī Stratovarius,
some of those rumors even told that I left HammerFall and I took Stefan with me, so
HammerFall was no more... and so on and so on.
Ok, I think our time is up. Thank you Joacim for speaking to Metal-Rules.com and if
you have anything to say to our readers, then go ahead...
As I said earlier, I hope that people will give this album a chance and well... Iīm
not going to tell them something like “Buy our album NOW!” or whatsoever, but
the more people may buy that album, the better they will have a chance to see us playing
in their country for sure. So give it a chance and stay metal!! Thank you very much!!
Joacim Cans official website
www.joacimcans.com