Daniel Palmqvist - The Murder of My Sweet

December 3rd 2009

2010 débutera trés fort avec la sortie de « Divanity », premier album du groupe suédois "The Murder Of My Sweet" qui paraîtra chez Frontiers Records. Aprés une arrivée trés remarquée dans les charts suedois, de leur single « bleed me dry » à la 14ieme place, nous étions curieux de nous entretenir avec Daniel Palmqvist, guitariste du groupe pour connaître les secrets d'une telle réussite.

Fab : Tell us a little bit about the story of the band.
Daniel Palmqvist: Well, it was Daniel Flores' (Drums) little baby, he has this idea of making this type of band, and he has me involved, since we've been working together on previous projects. And after a little bit of a false start, we got the line-up together, and thank God Daniel found Angelica (Rylin, lead vocals) who is the perfect singer for this project. So, that's how it started. We had a lot of time for this album, a couple of years. Now, it finally comes together and will be released in late January 2010. We're really looking forward to it, we're happy about the album.

Fab: What is your musical background?
Daniel: Well, me and Daniel met younger at the music school, so I have done music previously. I've played with different bands but this is probably the biggest thing I've done so far, it's like a new start, a new level. We've done our first couple of gigs in Sweden and that's been a lot of fun and an awesome experience.

Fab: And there's a good reaction, especially on MySpace.
Daniel: Yeah, exactly. I mean, it doesn't really matter if you have one billion MySpace friends, everybody can do that. But really few have a lot of people that are keep coming back to our page, and a lot of time, they get involved really, with fan sites from different parts of the world. A lot of people are devoting time and energy for the band, you know, the people who take time to write, say hi, or email us…it means a lot to us. It is a powerful tool I mean, we really feel we have good connection with our fans and the people who really care.

Fab : The band's name is inspired by the 1944 movie " Murder, My Sweet ". It was just for the title or also for the vibe of the movie ?
Daniel: I guess it was more Daniel's idea. The vibe of the band is definitely inspired by movies, a little bit of the "film noir" vibe to it. I mean, we're huge movie fans, we like that poise in music when you can actually see a little movie playing in your head when you hear the songs. We get that little vibe from, you know, a cinematic quality, that's an important part of what we do.

Fab : How was the genesis of DIVANITY ?
Daniel: Daniel is the producer and the main force behind it as he's doing most of the music. That's of course his creation and we all contribute with melodies and lyrics, and with our own personal experiences and personalities. And I guess I'm the guy who stands for the metal part in it, you know, still trying to find the balance. But I'm more of the hard-rock guy (laughter). But what I think is cool with our band, is that there's something in it for both the metal fans and the music lovers in general. Good songs, good melodies, good arrangements that people can appreciate. You don't have to be like the die-hard metal fan to appreciate it. But there's a lot of stuff that the metal fans will like as well. I think (our music) appeals to wide range of people.

Fab : As the record title is a mix of Divine & Vanity, is it for you another way to interpret good vs evil ?
Daniel: There's definitely the element of duality in it. When this idea came out, it felt right, everybody loved it. Sounds like a good title (laughter).

Fab : The single " Bleed Me Dry " was released on November 13th with a launch party at the ROQ CLUB in Stockholm, your hometown. How was the audience response ?
Daniel: It was really positive, it was a really fun evening. A lot of people showed up, we got a great response from that audience. Yeah, it was a really positive experience.

Fab: It gave you a need for touring.
Daniel: Yeah, that's definitely part of the plan, but nothing has been determined yet.

Fab : Have you a accurate release date for the album ?
Daniel: January 29th was the last one I've got. I think that's decided now (smiling).

Fab : How did you end up with FRONTIERS Records ?
Daniel: We've tried for quite a while, you know, and have discussions with record labels. Frontiers Records were the guys who came up with a good offer and really believed in us, a serious commitment. It was kind of natural. They give us good support so far and we're very happy to have signed with Frontiers Records. You know, in this times (laughter), we really appreciate that.

Fab : The overall artwork for the album, as the band's logo, is really beautiful. Who's responsible for that?
Daniel: I think it was Daniel & Angelica who worked with the management for ideas for the cover. Also the guy who did it is very talented, name's Mathias Norén. It's really beautiful work, and I think it is the best I've seen in bands, so far. Everybody was really involved, of course with the music production, the look of the band, images that capture very well the band.

Fab : I also like a lot the rain effects on your official website.
Daniel: A good old friend of mine, Mikael Weidenhag. It took some pictures and work from Mathias, and made up something of his own, add his personal touch to it for the website. A very talented guy. He very well captured the vibe we're looking forward, the concept of what the band is about. It's an important step, to get that, the website…

Fab : Are you gonna stay in this cinematic landscape, close to the Black Dahlia Murder vibe ?
Daniel: I guess it's such a big part of us, we like this genre, I think that it's a path we want to follow, but future directions…you never know what the future holds in store. I mean, we're happy with the album, and we'll try to keep developing ourselves but we'll keep this element of course.

Fab : Tough question. According to you, what makes you different than bands like Within Temptation, Evanescence ? Or is it more just influences?
Daniel: Well, we like all those bands, they're great. But I think the best way…well, the album's not out yet, but we'll find our own niche, our own vibe that is very different from those bands. Vocally, we'll find our audience too.

Fab : A show in Paris will be planned ?
Daniel: I don't know yet, not for the moment. But of course, we're wanna tour next year and it would be great to play in Paris, such a beautiful city. We'd love to come here and play. I wish I would have time to taste French "cuisine" (laughter).

Fab : A last Word ?
Daniel: Buy the album! (laughter). We really hope that the French audience will like the album, it's gonna be very interesting to see how it will be received in France. And of course, we will love to come here and meet our future French fans.