Anata

Anata is a death metal band that was formed -93 in Varberg, Sweden. Today Anata's music can be described as progressive yet brutal death metal with melodic elements.

interview with Conny on 13-01-2004

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Ok, My name is Conny Pettersson, drummer of Anata. Born in Varberg Sweden in 1977.

So how does it feel, the new album unleashed on the masses?
It feels truly great. The reviews so far have been more than amazing even in the biggest metal magazines all over the world. So we can’t wait to hear the reactions from the people and to go on tour.

How would you describe your music to a deaf person?
Oh, this is hard because I’m not good at sign language. But I would probably wave my arms up and down very fast and then start to run, looking angry and furious. Or maybe I would paint three paintings: one of a brutal war machine, one of a beautiful landscape and one of a mathematical problem.

Was it hard to record? What problems did you got and how were they solved? Did you learn something new in the studio?
Well, it was a very rough time to record this one. Since we all live far away from the studio and have full time jobs or studies, most of the recording took place by night. This means hardly any sleep at all and this led to very bad health. Andreas also suffered from an injury to his left hand incurred by too much practise. Some guitar equipment broke down on top of it, so it was all but smooth sailing. It's a miracle that you can't tell from listening to the album. We did learn a lot of stuff but it was hard to do anything about it. For example it was bad to record in a studio so far away and it was stupid to record by night.

Do you improvise when recording or just follow the patterns you all agreed?
We don’t improvise at all. The album is 100% finished before we record it.

So why changed labels? What do you expect from a label?
By the time Anata signed with SOM it was the best alternative and things were pretty cool during the first years. But when Dreams of death and dismay got really good reviews but although was very hard to find in stores, we realized that things could have been better. This among other things, quite numerous, made us decide not to continue with SOM. And from a label we expect that they keep what they promise and act professional. Also that they care to distribute the album and arrange tours.

How much sweat do you give for the band? What liquir is best to avoid dehydration? And how do you keep in shape?
I give pretty much all I have for Anata when it comes to practise and to buy drums and other equipment. Well, the best drink in the world is beer. And on second place probably coffee. So to avoid dehydration you have to take a Whiskey or some Vodka in between. Well, all I have to do is play drums to stay in shape. It’s more like a sport to play Death metal than a music genre. And then sex is a very good way to stay in shape also. It seems to have worked for me anyway.

Why do you make complex songs? Not afraid to loose yourself in the songs?
No, we are not afraid to loose ourselves in the songs. We may play complex music but we do it in a structured way. We could make much more complex songs if we wanted to but we try to keep it simple. And we are not really trying to make complex songs. We make smart music for the smart audience.

Is your music for chairlistening or going nuts in the pit?
I think it’s for both.

How do you react when people talk passionate about your songs? Do you reward them?
We don’t have anything to reward them with but we really appreciate it. It’s always fun to hear that people like our music.

Is there a song from another band that is your absolute alltime favorit? Try to explain why.
Oh, this is a really hard question. But I guess I choose “Symbolic” with Death. It’s heavy, fast and technical at the same time. And I love when Gene Hoglan starts to play on his double bass drums in the chorus. It’s a very cool song.

How close are you with Eternal Lies? How close is the scene in Sweden? Do you help eachother as much as possible?
Are you aware of that I’m the drummer of Eternal Lies also? But we are all very close with Eternal Lies. We celebrate birthdays together, partying or just hang out. The main riff man of Eternal Lies Björn is pretty much the guitar techinician for Anata. He is very good with the guitar and helps us out whenever there is a problem. And Björn, me, and the rest of Anata also have a side project called RotInjected. That’s how I got to be the drummer of Anata. When the old drummer decided to leave Anata it was quite natural for me to take his place.

Some of you are also active in side projects. Do you have that much time? Are you busy with music 24/7?
Well, as I said before Anata and Björn from Eternal Lies have RotInjected as a side project. And I also play in another band called Aggressive Serpent. No, I don’t have much time to do anything else. Not anymore. We all have full day jobs or studies so we are pretty busy with our music in our free time.

What kind of work do you do in your spare time to get the bills paid? Is there something you graduated for? What is your dreamjob?
I have not made much money from playing drums yet. Only a little so I work full time at Sweden’s biggest Nuclear power plant as a Control room technician. I like this job very much but the dream job would be to be able to play drums for a living.

I’ve graduated as some kind Bachelor of science.

Where did you dream about when you were a kid? What did you wanna become?
I don’t really remember if I had any dreams. I mean any real dreams. When I was three years old I wanted to be the guy who was driving the ambulance. And when I was nine I was very much into wrestling. So I didn’t have any dreams about becoming a rockstar until I got 15.

Do you have children? Think they (will) understand your music when they are young? Ever wrote some nusery tunes to get them asleep?
No, none of the guys I play with have children. I hope they will understand our music and appreciate it. They better, or else...

What can we expect from Anata in the future? What is the goal for the band?
You can expect another album in the future and to see us on tour. And that is our goal for the moment. To tour and to make more music.

What are you hoping for people will say about you in five years?
That we are a band that are slaves to no style but our own and that we have developed death metal even more.

As a deeply gratitude for this intie are you gonna send me the first two albums?
No way punk!

Last rites?
Ok, check out ”Under a stone with no inscription”, release date is 19:th of January and we hope to see you on tour. Thanks for the interview.
/Conny