Samir : Present yourself to the audience.

Ok... my name is Fredrik Schälin. I play the guitar and do the lead vocals in a progressive death metal band from Sweden... and the band is called Anata.

Samir : What is the reason to choice "ANATA " as name of your band ? And what do you mean?

It doesn't really mean anything special. it's just the name of the band and our music. we chose it because it was rather... neutral. instead of something like "satanic butchery" if you get what I mean.

Samir : When was the first time you played guitar and what was your feeling?

I started playing my dad's acoustic guitar, and that was 17 years ago. the feeling? can't remember... I probably tried to copy some Kiss song.

Samir : What was your feeling in the first time you were in stage?

Hmm can't remember really... I was probably pretty nervous. the first time I played live I was in a cover band. we played hard rock covers... like Europe, Bon Jovi etc...yep, this was in the eighties

Samir : What kinds of music you used to listen to before metal?

Man, I started to listen to metal at eight. bands like kiss and twisted sister. I wasn't really into music before that.

Samir : Like chuck schuldiner, he was fan of them too.

Haha, can you imagine that! i think there was a lot of kids who were impressed by Kiss because of their make-up and all that, I doubt that all these black metal bands would have come up with the make-up idea if not for Kiss.

Samir : When and were was your first meeting with the other members of the band?

We started the band in -93 and i'm the only founding member still in the band.
the others joined in 96, 97 and 2001. but there was a guy at school who was wearing black clothes and an inverted cross around his neck. so I knew we had something in common. this guy was mattias svensson, the first anata guitarist.

Samir : Do you listen to any current death metal for inspiration?

And he knew some other guys etc...

Samir : Let's talk about your songwriting .what's the kinds of your lyrics?

I write about my life, my feelings, how I reflect on things that I experience. only personal stuff.

Samir : Are you following any death metal band's rules !!

Nah we try to be as open-minded as possible. that is part of the idea with anata. not to obey any rules of what is suitable and not in death metal. i don't even think it's important to be called a death metal band. we're musicians, nothing more, nothing less.

Samir : If you 'll be invited to playing here in morocco, do you accepte about this invitation?

It would definitely be nice! but as always, it's a quistion of economics. you rarely become a millionaire from playing death metal.

Samir : What do you think about chuck schuldiner ,as a metalhead ,and a human being?

Don't know much about his thoughts, but I admire him pretty much as a guitarist, singer and a songwriter. definitely.

Samir : What are your three favorite ever metal records?

Morbid angel first. then it's harder.but I do like bal-sagoth, carcass, pestilence and nile.and also more recent bands, such as decapitated and psycroptic.it's hard to rate these in a certain order of importance.

Samir : Have you ever heard some things about the arabic scene ?

Nope, not really. tell me!

Samir : Is there any evolution in the next album?

Faster and slower... haha.more varied maybe. we've developed our way of using melodies... deeper.

Samir : If you could play in a band with one other metal musician of note, who would it be and why?

Sorry, I have no idea. If I had a choice, I would still choose to be in Anata.

Samir : What do you think about metal music, and what is your experience with it?

Hmmm... I love metal music. And I love other types of music as well. I think that one of the ideas behind death metal was being rebellious and free-thinking... but I think that was a little lost somewhere along the way. I think that sometimes death metal is a bit too conservative these days

Samir : If you could tour the world with any band, who would it be ?

I don't know man... there are som many.The Beatles maybe.

Samir : What kind of instruments do you play, and why?

I play the guitar... because I didn't get to play the drums in my first band.

Samir : What would be the festival of your dreams ?

I don't know, Wacken open air maybe.

Samir : You will play this year at "neurotic death fest"., so what do you think about it ? And what will your feeling when you will play with bands like "avulsed" and "psycroptic" ? And what do you think about this step for your band ?

Man, we've done 25 dates already with Psycroptic! We're good friends.And you know we toured with Dismember in late -04. We were the main support, and Psycroptic were like playing before us. but the festival...It'll be nice playing there of course. But they're fucking great!

Samir : What was the favorite band you toured with?

Hm... I don't know... Psycroptic or Dismember. Or Decapitated, I don't know! All great guys.

Samir : What kind of festivals have you played ?

Hm... not many really that you may have heard of. Fuck the Commerce maybe, in Germany.But we're also playing in the US in May, on Maryland death fest with Vital Remains, Necrophagist and again, Dismember.

Samir : Anything in Conclusion?

Thanks for your time, and thanks for supporting Anata! To the people who are yet unfamiliar with the band and our music, please visit our website at www.anata.se

Samir : Thank you, Mr.Fredrik , for all of your time ,what's ur last word ?

Check out the new album, called The Conductor's Departure. It will be released on the 12th of June on Earache records.

The members

Fredrik Schälin - Lead vocals, guitar
Henrik Drake - Bass guitar
Andreas Allenmark - Guitar, backing vocals
Conny Pettersson - Drums

Discography

The Infernal Depths Of Hatred 1998
WAR Vol II (Album cover) 1999
Dreams Of Death And Dismay 2001
Under A Stone With No Inscription 2004
The Conductor's Departure 2006

Links

www.anata.se
http://www.earache.com/bands/anata/videos/player.html