Interview With Jocke Göthberg
Interview By Anders Sandvall
Thanks to Regain Records for the promo pictures of the band
Here is an interview with Jocke Göthberg from Dimension Zero about the follow up album to
masterpiece ”Silent Night Fever”. I also spoke to Jocke about the member changes in the band, and
what the band is planning for the future.
What do you think about your debut album “Silent Night Fever”
today?
It’s too slow! Haha! Well it’s a bit static to me now sound wise but the
songs are still great. But you can really tell that Daniel has been an important source on
the new one. The old stuff is more melodic if you compare it to the new one.
What was the response from the press on the debut? Have you read any reviews?
I’ve read a lot of reviews and 95% of them have been awesome really. That album
really seemed to hit at the right time cause everyone were very positive about it. So the
press have been really nice…this far, we’ll see what they think about this one.
How was the response from the fans?
Same thing there really, most of them seemed to like it very much, especially in Japan
and Korea where the response was unbelievable! In Korea we had people chasing after our
bus and so on. Totally unreal.
How did the gigs in Japan go? Why did you choose Japan as a first gig place?
We didn’t choose that actually - it just became that way. Well, it was a totally
crazy idea to do our first gig ever in Tokyo but I don’t think that we thought about
it much until 5 minutes before we were going to enter the stage. That feeling was not of
this world. I almost didn’t get up on stage because it dawned on me just then exactly
what I was doing in that very moment. But for a first gig it was great, we have one or two
songs from that gig on the re-release of “Penetrations…”. Overall the gigs
in Japan went well. We were sort of trying our way towards to be a live act.
What kind of response did you get from the fans when you played live?
As I mentioned before it was awesome! They even sang along with some of the lyrics! And
they can hardly speak English to begin with so it was strange. In Japan the crowd really
seem to be totally into the bands they go and listen to compared to Sweden where some
people go to a show, get pissed, pass out and miss the band.
Have you done any more live gigs besides the ones in Japan and Gothenburg?
We did the 2000 Decibel festival in May and in August we did the Party-San festival in
Germany. And Korea of course, but that’s it. We will definitively do more shows on
this album.
Why did you guys do so few gigs on the debut? Why only one gig in Sweden?
Two gigs in Sweden. Well, all pieces of the puzzle didn’t really fit so therefore
we couldn’t do more shows, but as I said before we will do more shows this time. In
Sweden its hard to get gigs really cause the interest doesn’t seem to be so big for
smaller acts like us.
Why did you choose to do a version of “Helter Skelter” by the Beatles on
the Japan press? You have really managed to get it to sound like a song you’ve
written.
First of all it’s a great song. Second, we heard immediately what we could do with
it when we analyzed it and I really think that it’s a cool cover version. The thing
with covers to me is that either you should copy it straight of or make it sound like its
one of your own songs. Since the original is not a Death-metal song the choice for us was
natural. This song will also be on the re-release of “Penetrations…”
What are the bonus tracks on the Japanese version of “This is Hell”?
It’s a song we wrote in the studio, just for fun, called “Hellmet”.
It’s not a song that is compatible with the rest of the material so you wont miss
anything important.
How many copies have you sold of the debut?
I don’t have any certain numbers but I think it's around 15,000 copies. I could be
dead wrong also; it can be more or less. Anyway, it's way more than I expected it to sell
so I’m satisfied.
You have taken away all the guitar solos on the debut. Have you done the same on the
new album?
Almost. We have a few things, which could be interpreted as solos to some people, but
to me it’s more like melody lines. No Yngwie Malmsteen stuff, I can assure you.
Do you think that the follow up is going to sell more?
Yes, I do because more people know us now.
Four became five when Daniel joined the band in Asia. How did he end up with the
rest of you? Has he played in any bands before?
He was a friend of us before he joined and we were talking about getting a second
guitarist early on after the recording of “SNF” and he was the natural choice.
Daniel was, and is in PATHOS.
How does the cooperation work with your label Regain Records?
Good. They have done a good job on “SNF” and time shall tell if they will do
the same with “This is Hell”.
How long did it take to write and record the debut?
About 3-4 months to write it and 2 weeks to record.
Why did you choose to call the new album “This is Hell”? Does it mean
anything special to you?
It means something to me yes, since I write all the lyrics. To me, hell is right here
right now; it’s a state of mind to me. I mean that none of us living humans have been
to heaven or hell so therefore I believe that heaven and hell is something within our
minds. For me hell is the state I’m in when I write my lyrics because I’m not
happy when I write.
Daniel and Glenn have done most of the music this time, why has Jesper done so
little?
Jesper was touring his ass of with In Flames, so he didn’t have any time to write a lot
of material for DZ. He wrote one song for the new album but he will write a lot more for
the next album.
How does the music and lyric writing in Dimension Zero work? Daniel and Glenn do all
the music and you do the lyrics?
For this album it was like that yes, with the exception that Jesper wrote one song and
we all did the arrangements together. That’s the way we work and it seems to be
successful.
Are there any lyrics on the album that you’re especially satisfied with?
I’m satisfied with them all but if I am forced to choose I really like “Blood
on the Streets” because it describes the state of not always belong to this world.
Are the lyrics about anything special this time?
It's basically the same theme as the last album, I still have a lot of anguish to get
out of my system so that’s the way it goes. The lyrics are very personal and about
death and anguish.
Once again there’s only a second between the songs, why have you chosen to do
that again?
So you don’t like that? I think its ideal for our music; it should be like being
hit in the face with a sledgehammer. It’s very effective.
Why have you chosen to use Phlat Planet Studios again?
We wanted to explore if Anders could do something else to our sound and he could so we
are satisfied. Also we choose Phlat Planet because it was in Gothenburg and since it was
in between IF tours it was the easiest way. But the next album will be recorded somewhere
else, enough is enough.
This year you are going to re-release “Penetrations >From the Lost World”
with a bonus track and a live track. Why do you do that? Have you run out of the original
cd?
The original wasn’t worth the money you had to pay for it in the shops (close to
full price for 12 minutes of music) and because it hasn’t been in print since 1997.
So it was time to make it worth the money. Now its over 40 minutes long and has 2
unreleased studiotrax and 5 livetrax from Japan besides the original mcd. Also people have
been asking for it.
Are you content with the cover on the new album?
Oh yeah! Once again Niklas Sundin has interpreted my ideas in a great way. And once
again the poster boy is me. The cover is based on the lyrics just like on the previous
album.
Are you going to do a real tour worldwide this time? If so, when?
We will tour more this time, absolutely. We don’t know exactly when yet but we
will do a European tour soon to start with. Then we’ll see about USA and Japan, that
would be great. But worldwide sounds a bit much…
Why has Glenn left the band? Are you looking for any replacement?
Glenn didn’t leave the band; he was kicked out because he wasn’t prepared to
make any sacrifices for the band. We have a few people, which we are considering. We will
let you know in time through our new website which went online September
22nd.
How would you like to describe what kind of music Dimension Zero plays?
Thrash/Death metal with some melodies.
I think that “This is Hell” feels more worked through and varied than the
debut, even though the debut is a masterpiece. How do you comment on that?
It is more worked through since we all have been involved in the arrangements.
It’s also more like a band album because we have been playing live since the
recording of “SNF” and that has been an important factor to the new album. Also,
Daniel has been writing a lot of the material this time so that’s also something that
contributes to the variation. The new album has a harder approach meaning that it’s
faster and more brutal. And that could be because we wanted to try and see if we could
make the previous album look pale in comparison, and I think we did. Thanks for the
masterpiece line!
Do you have any bands or projects besides Dimension Zero?
I have a couple of bands/projects but nothing serious meaning that we don’t have
any record deals. I have to play different styles of music or else I’m not complete
as a human being.
What do you think of the Swedish metal/hardrock scene? We have a lot of bands right
now. Do you have any favourite bands?
It’s so huge that I’ve lost track the recent years. I guess I’m not so
familiar with many of the new bands around; you can’t keep up with everything you
know. I still like the bands that have been around for a while such as NAGLFAR, MARDUK,
DEFLESHED, ENTOMBED, NASUM and more.
Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Metal-Rules.com?
Yeah, thanks for your interest and see you soon!
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
No problems, thanks!
Band Website: www.dimensionzero.org
Label Website: www.regainrecords.com