In 2001 lots of people kept asking me if I was out of the band (TFK). Not that I know of, was my honest answer. The reason for this was, the fact that the extremely talented Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation joined the band for a couple of records and tours. At that time, I knew Roine wanted one more good vocalist in the band, but I thought that was just an idea he had. When that idea became reality I was mighty surprized and I was "mega" surprized when I heard it was Daniel. Before that we've actually met twice, once in Portugal and also one time in The States. I have to say my impression of Daniel and Pain of Salvation after these times, was that they were 5 angry guys with lots of integrity, you could hardly say hello without feeling awkward. Today it's another story. Last time I met the band, was at "The night of the Prog" festival in Loreley 2008. We had dinner together, played some music and had a blast.
During the tour of "Unfold the future", some people tried to point out, that we were not friends and that Daniel was gonna take my place in the band. I don't know where people get ideas like this from? To start with, the chance of Daniel quitting PoS for TFK back then, did'nt exist, since PoS was more or less his band. Well, the reason for all this was just as simple as this. Roine wanted to develop the vocal side of the band and he wanted a guy that could sing harmonies on top of me, in case we needed that. Since my vocal range is quite high, there were'nt that many options and Daniel was perfect for the job, with his skills on both guitar and keyboards and to tell you the truth, we got along very well and my memories from those tours ("Unfold the Future" and "Adam and Eve") are great.
The night before our first day off, during the "UTF" tour, I actually spent in the front of the bus, while the rest were asleep, chatting with D.G. Until then, he was a tensed, always on the guard, candy, pancakes and French Fries eating vegetarian, who slept all day. On that very morning, I guess between 3 o clock to 7-8 o clock (something), we parted on a Bowmore single malt (with a quite smokey touch) and some beers. I remember he said to me, he did'nt like whisky but it did'nt look that way to me. Anyway, It was during those hours I got to know Daniel a little bit better and that changed my view on him totally. We were talking about the schooldays, love, girlfriends, tour memories, music, life in general and all of a sudden my image of Daniel was gone. I don't know if it was my bad influence on him (the whisky), probably not? To me, the new Daniel, that emerged that morning, was/is a happy, generous and very nice lad. I would say the total opposite to most of the music of PoS, that is a little bit more dark and aggressive. The thing with Daniel that stands out the most, is definitely his level of energy, or sometimes no level of energy. It's like he has an on/off button hidden on him. When he's awake, he gives 110% in every second, every moment of the day. When he's asleep, he's dead for 12-14 hours. That's the Daniel I got to know. I was thinking I was gonna end this little blog with Daniel becoming Dwayne?! but that's another story.
During the tour of "Unfold the future", some people tried to point out, that we were not friends and that Daniel was gonna take my place in the band. I don't know where people get ideas like this from? To start with, the chance of Daniel quitting PoS for TFK back then, did'nt exist, since PoS was more or less his band. Well, the reason for all this was just as simple as this. Roine wanted to develop the vocal side of the band and he wanted a guy that could sing harmonies on top of me, in case we needed that. Since my vocal range is quite high, there were'nt that many options and Daniel was perfect for the job, with his skills on both guitar and keyboards and to tell you the truth, we got along very well and my memories from those tours ("Unfold the Future" and "Adam and Eve") are great.
The night before our first day off, during the "UTF" tour, I actually spent in the front of the bus, while the rest were asleep, chatting with D.G. Until then, he was a tensed, always on the guard, candy, pancakes and French Fries eating vegetarian, who slept all day. On that very morning, I guess between 3 o clock to 7-8 o clock (something), we parted on a Bowmore single malt (with a quite smokey touch) and some beers. I remember he said to me, he did'nt like whisky but it did'nt look that way to me. Anyway, It was during those hours I got to know Daniel a little bit better and that changed my view on him totally. We were talking about the schooldays, love, girlfriends, tour memories, music, life in general and all of a sudden my image of Daniel was gone. I don't know if it was my bad influence on him (the whisky), probably not? To me, the new Daniel, that emerged that morning, was/is a happy, generous and very nice lad. I would say the total opposite to most of the music of PoS, that is a little bit more dark and aggressive. The thing with Daniel that stands out the most, is definitely his level of energy, or sometimes no level of energy. It's like he has an on/off button hidden on him. When he's awake, he gives 110% in every second, every moment of the day. When he's asleep, he's dead for 12-14 hours. That's the Daniel I got to know. I was thinking I was gonna end this little blog with Daniel becoming Dwayne?! but that's another story.