Rock My Monkey: Hello, you are listening to the Rock My Monkey netcast on RockMyMonkey.com. Today we are speaking with Tommy of the band Aeon. How are you doing today, Tommy?
Tommy Dahlström: I’m fine, thanks. How are you?
Rock My Monkey: What song off of this new cd do you think has the chance of being this band’s Ace Of Spades, the song that fans demand for decades to come?
Tommy Dahlström: Wow, that’s a pretty hard question. I like so many songs on the new album. But right now my favorite song has to be “There Will Be No Heaven For Me”. I really enjoy that one.
Rock My Monkey: In today’s day and age, what do you think makes Aeon unique in the death metal scene, and what do you offer fans that no other death metal band does today?
Tommy Dahlström: I think our fans can hear that we are still hungry to make some really good and fast and brutal music. I know that when you get tired of making music and just do it for the money, you can hear that in the music. But I think our fans know that we’re still hungry for doing the best we can.
Rock My Monkey: I noticed that this cd had a much more, a much crisper sound, a much more clear sound. Do you think a good part of that was because of Dan Swanö doing the mastering?
Tommy Dahlström: He actually did some pretty cool stuff, but we worked very good together. He had some new ideas, and we had ideas. I mean, we didn’t want to have the sound like we had on The Bleeding Force album, because we thought that the sound of Bleeding Force was pretty boring actually after a while. So we needed an album with a much bigger and fatter sound than-with the help of Dan I think we achieved that.
Rock My Monkey: Is there any plans for a video single for this release?
Tommy Dahlström: Not right now.
Rock My Monkey: No?
Tommy Dahlström: I’ll have to ask Metal Blade about that.
Rock My Monkey: Okay. Now, I notice that you guys did launch a YouTube channel where you put some video footage of the recording sessions. Is there any chance of any further stuff being announced like that, like maybe some live footage? (audio drops) With the recording sessions, you guys announced, released some video footage of the recording sessions through YouTube. Is there any chance of maybe some live footage being announced there for the people that have not been able to see you live?
Tommy Dahlström: Of course. I have a lot of live stuff. I have a lot of live videos from touring with Cannibal Corpse, and I will make sure they will post it on YouTube. I also have a lot of stuff to post from the studio when we made the album. So I think there will be a lot of new videos on YouTube.
Rock My Monkey: Now, the band recently announced the addition of bassist Max Carlberg. How did you find him, and how is he working out so far?
Tommy Dahlström: We find him-we live in a pretty small town. We were just looking for another bass player, and we heard that he was a great bass player, so we checked him out. And he was awesome at the bass. We hired him right away. He made a song on the new album, actually. So he has done a great job so far.
Rock My Monkey: How did the band get the attention of Metal Blade Records for this release?
Tommy Dahlström: After the tour we did with Cannibal Corpse we just tried to send Brian Slagel a mail, and he was very happy when he read the mail, and answered us quickly. Our lawyers worked with Metal Blade lawyers, and then we just had a deal for 2 records. I think when we did the tour with Cannibal Corpse, a lot of people just knew our names, because we were pretty much an unknown band before the tour. So I think that helped us a lot.
Rock My Monkey: Speaking of Cannibal Corpse, Alex Webster had some extremely flattering things to say about your band. How does that make you feel, and how much of a fan of Cannibal Corpse are you?
Tommy Dahlström: Well, I-we all in the band grew up listening to Cannibal Corpse, so when we saw what he said about us, it made us feel very proud. That’s a big thing for us. That’s a huge thing for us knowing that Alex Webster likes us so much that he do. I mean, it’s a kind of, he’s like a hero to us.
Rock My Monkey: The band had to pull out of the Metal Blade 25th Anniversary U.S. tour recently, and it was said that that was due to scheduling conflicts with your drummer. Do you see this conflict becoming more of a problem in the future?
Tommy Dahlström: Actually, yeah, I think so, because if he choose-I think he already showed us he puts Aeon in second place, and not in first place. And I don’t like that. Basically I think we have to find ourselves a new drummer. So if there are any drummers that hears this and want to play with Aeon, they should contact us right away.
Rock My Monkey: Interesting. Okay. Now, when will American fans get to see a full coast to coast tour for the band, then?
Tommy Dahlström: As quickly as possible. When he have solved the drummer issue, then we will try very hard to make a U.S. tour, because that’s our dream. We want to tour The States. I think people in The States really like. So we want to do a U.S. tour as quickly as possible.
Rock My Monkey: Cool. Cool. Now, when people do see you live, what can people expect from your live shows? Is it more of a stripped down kind of thing, or do you guys add any special lighting or video backdrop to make it more of a show?
Tommy Dahlström: No. We just usually make the music do the talking.
Rock My Monkey: Cool. Cool. Now, what do you think is more important in a live show? Getting the notes right, or making a memorable show?
Tommy Dahlström: Well, a little bit of both. I mean, if the kids in the audience doesn’t remember our show, that would really suck. (both laugh) All that we do is go out there and have fun, and have to have fun with everybody in the audience. That’s the only thing we want to do. Play and have fun.
Rock My Monkey: The band is very well known for having very anti-Christian lyrics. Do any of you guys actually subscribe to any religion, or are you guys just against all religions?
Tommy Dahlström: No. When you read the lyrics, it’s-the lyrics, it’s from my head, from my head only. I mean, I have had a lot of problems with, especially the Jehovahs for the past sixteen years. I was one night a Jehovah actually broke into my apartment throwing a bible at my head when I was asleep. I had to do-well, I had to do a lot of rough things that night. The police and the newspapers and everything like that came. From that day on I have been at war with the Jehovahs. I don’t like them, and they don’t like me, and that’s why I write about them in my lyrics.
Rock My Monkey: So you don’t have any specific religious affiliation at all then?
Tommy Dahlström: Well, if you compare a Christian to me, then I’m pretty much the opposite of a Christian.
Rock My Monkey: I’m not a Christian. I call myself a recovering Christian. I used to be a Christian, but I kind of started to notice a lot of questions they couldn’t answer. I think I’ve definitely moved beyond that myself, as well.
Tommy Dahlström: The thing that bothers me the most is that I don’t mind if people go to church and do what they do, and Jehovahs go to their Kingdom Halls and do what they do. But I hate when they are trying to sell and force other people their religion. I hate that. They should keep their stuff to themselves.
Rock My Monkey: Absolutely. Now, what would you say is the most annoying cliché in death metal today?
Tommy Dahlström: (laughs) I don’t know what. (laughs) I don’t have a good answer to that question.
Rock My Monkey: Before I ask my final question, is there anything you’d like to say to the fans of Aeon, or the readers of RockMyMonkey.com?
Tommy Dahlström: If you are supporting death metal, and you are a drummer interested in playing with us, send us an email. Fast.
Rock My Monkey: Cool. Alright. Well, I do have one final question. Every year we do choose one final question that we ask every single band from classic rock legends to the most extreme death metal bands at the end of every interview, partially to stump people, but also to see who wusses out and won’t answer. This year I’m asking people to look into their crystal ball and predict what political figure, world leader, musician, celebrity, anybody world wide famous, who do you think might die before the end of the year?
Tommy Dahlström: Who I think might die?
Rock My Monkey: Right. It’s commonly called a ‘death pool.’ Basically throughout the year you get people to predict who might die before the end of the year, and at the end of the year we see who actually predicted correctly. And it could be anybody world wide famous. It doesn’t have to be a musician.
Tommy Dahlström: Okay. Man. Wow. I don’t know, actually. We’ll say, let’s Osama Bin Laden then.
Rock My Monkey: Osama Bin Laden. Alright. Alright. Cool. I thank you very much for doing the interview. Anybody that’s listening to the audio version can go to RockMyMonkey.com for the full featured version with clickable links, readable text, and many more wonderful features. I’m asking people to click on the album cover above and below this interview to purchase Rise To Dominate by Aeon, and I do hope to see you guys up on tour in the Northwest sometime soon. Thank you very much for your time, Tommy.
