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Interview with
JONAS RENKSE
from
KATATONIA

(24th January, 2024)

Interview with Shaquira Hobbs and Dave Bruce

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Jonas Renkse

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“Absolutely mind-blowing performance” – Metal-rules.com

“The Fall of Hearts is full of both darkness and light, heaviness and softness, drama and understatement. It’s an album that is intricate with a lot of subtleties, but also a lot of accessibility.” – Loudwire

“Katatonia took to the stage… and just smashed it. From this exquisite warm up, one could tell that this was a night dedicated to the true art of making music…” – Heavy Mag

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Dave: Hi Jonas, how are you?
Jonas: Great thanks.

Dave: Meet Shaquira. She and I will be conducting the interview today
Shaquira: Hi Jonas. Nice to meet you.
Jonas: Nice to meet you both.

Shaquira: OK. Let’s start. How did the band come together?
Jonas: Well, we started out in 91, which is a long time ago now. We sounded pretty much different back then. Obviously we were super young, influenced by death metal and black metal, which was having a rise at the time. But over the years we have fine tuned our sound into something that we’re very happy with today. We have found a formula that works for us and we’ve carved sort of a little niche in the scene that we feel very comfortable with.

Shaquira: In over 30 years and 11 studio albums, you have embraced your evolution. How have the band navigated the concept of growing through rejuvenation while maintaining its essence?
Jonas: I think we always wanted to stay focused and have fresh ideas and keep the band pretty original, which set us a little bit apart from the rest of the bands doing similar stuff at the time. And we’ve always been very determined to sort of keep the originality, have a lot of emotion in the music rather than maybe aggressiveness or stuff like that. So I think it’s set us a little bit apart from a lot of other bands. And I think we have kept evolving in the same direction. Just making everything a little bit more fine tuned with every new release that we have.

Shaquira: The band is described as a vessel of deep emotion shrouded in Scandinavian despair. How does this emotional depth translate into your music and performances?
Jonas: The Scandinavian thing is obviously in Sweden, there’s a strong tradition of folk music, which I think have sort of influenced our music to a certain degree. It’s very dark and desolate, the kind of folk music that we have. Also the weather, obviously, could also play a part of the way we sound. And I mean, this probably is something that people will hear in our music, and also see maybe when we play live. I mean, we’re not a big sort of show band. We try to convey emotions rather than showing off or having explosions on stage, stuff like that. So that’s how we wanted to be. And that’s how we tried to sort of convey our concept of music. 

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Shaquira – And your latest album, Sky Void Of Stars which was released in 2023, can you describe its origin and evolution?
Jonas: It’s an album that was created during the Covid downturn, the downtime during the pandemic. And I think a lot of the energy in the songs comes from the fact that we couldn’t play live at the time. And it was something that we really wanted to go back to doing. But as everyone else, we were, you know…much left in the colon. We didn’t know what to expect from the next couple of years or even more than that. So I think the album is very, for a Katatonia record at least, it’s very energetic and live oriented, which I think suited us very well at this point. So the album is something that we’re touring right now. We are going to different parts of the world, just trying to recreate what’s on the album and turn it into a very good representation of what the album is all about. 

Shaquira: What are the signature tracks on the album, and which are your favorite to play? 
Jonas: For me, I think the first song, which is called Austerity, it starts off very direct and it sets the tone of the album. And it’s also a really nice song to start with live because it’s very happening and it’s fun to play. Also the song Birds, which I think is a bit of a nod to our past. It’s very straightforward, very live oriented. That’s another favorite to play.

Shaquira: Speaking about Birds, what was the inspiration behind the song and how it fits into Catatonia’s evolving music landscape? 
Jonas: Birds takes a bit of our older influences and we tried to put it into a new sort of framework, sort of merging with our contemporary, more contemporary sound. And I think the blend is perfect. So it’s very straightforward but it’s also very emotional. So it’s definitely a favorite. 

Shaquira: Soon you will return to Australia for the first headline tour in nearly a decade. That must feel special?
Jonas: Oh, it feels fantastic to be able to come over again. I think Australia, since the first time we came over, which is now a long time ago, has remained one of our favorite places to play. There’s always a great crowd, good vibes at the concerts. So we’re definitely looking forward to it greatly. 

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Shaquira – The upcoming tour includes Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. What are your expectations for these performances and how do you prepare for such an extensive tour?
Jonas: My expectations are pretty high because we’ve done it before and it’s always been a blast for us in the band and hopefully the audience has a blast as well. The thing with Australia is that there’s a lot of distance to cover when you come over and you’re going to play in different cities. You have to fly to every show which means early morning flights, that’s the kind of downside to it. But it’s something that we were more than willing to do because it’s very rewarding. Once you go back home, you still wanna do a few more shows and it’s something we always look back to with great memories. So it’s well worth it.

Shaquira: Well, we’re definitely excited to see you. And lastly, from me, what’s your best tip for taking care of your vocals? 
Jonas: Sleeping is, that’s what I try to do. I mean, I try not to stay up too late when I’m on tour, even, you know, if you’re having a good time, having a bit of an after party, I think the best thing is to go to bed fairly early. So that’s my main tip.

Dave: What’s one thing about the music industry you would change?
Jonas: It might be considered backwards thinking and old school today but I really do miss the time when people, including myself, would buy albums instead of listening to streaming services. I mean, it’s very convenient. I use it as well. But I think there is a bit of magic missing going to a record shop on the day of the release of an album that you have been waiting for. That’s nothing that really tops that feeling. 

Dave: What’s the best thing about performing to a live audience? 
Jonas: The feeling of being in the moment, in the now, as opposed to being in the studio where you can go back and redo your performance if you’re not happy, you can take as much time as you want. In the live setting, there’s no regrets, you just have to go and I think that it creates some kind of freedom. I also like the direct touch with the crowd and seeing the reactions to whatever we’re doing. 

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Dave: What’s been the career highlight so far? Over 30 years, you must have a few, but what would you say sticks in your mind most? 
Jonas: As you say, there are a few highlights. Actually, it’s hard to say. I mean, I always bring up the first time we played in Mexico, because it was so overwhelming. This is now a long time ago, but it keeps sticking into my mind, because the crowd was much bigger than we expected. We were there for the first time, we were in that part of the world for the first time, and we had no idea what to expect. We played a gig for, you know, there were thousands of people even outside of the venue that couldn’t come in. So that was an eye-opener. Like we could really sense that, you know, our music is reaching places that we have never been to and we haven’t really thought about yet. So that was a very defining moment. 

Dave: Let’s finish off with just some quick answers for some quick questions. Favorite album.
Jonas: Wow. That’s super hard. It’s probably a band called Red House Painters. The album’s called Ocean Beach. How old? Cause I haven’t heard of them. I think it’s from 95, 96 something. Fantastic. Is that, are they local? No, they’re American. American band. But it’s not a metal album. It’s very, it’s acoustic singer songwriter stuff. 

Dave: Favorite artist.
Jonas: Well, it’s probably the same. The guy who was the leader of the Red House Painters band. His name is Mark Kozelek, I think he’s my favorite artist. He’s doing solo stuff and he’s also having a newer band called Sun Kil Moon. He’s very active. He’s playing and releasing albums too.

Dave: Favorite movie?
Jonas: I really love The Truman Show. Jim Carrey. Very good. 

Dave: Favorite place to visit.
Jonas: I love Greece. Yeah. And Melbourne is up there as well. It’s one of my favourite cities. 

Dave: Favourite venue to play?
Jonas: We played at a few really nice venues. We played the Shepherds Bush Empire in London, which I think was one of the very best. So I have to go with that. 

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Dave: Favorite food? 
Jonas: Lebanese food. 

Dave: Favorite drink. 
Jonas: Red wine. A good red … Merlot …  Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice.

Dave: Favorite person in history. 
Jonas: This is something I’ve never thought about probably. Wow. It’s super hard on the top, off the top of my head, you know.

Dave: You can say Dave.
Jonas: Yeah, Dave. That’ll do. 

Dave: Fantastic. I’ll put it down. And do you have tattoos? 
Jonas: Yeah, a few. 

Dave: What’s your favorite?
Jonas: I only have tattoos with text and probably my favorite is the one that says “always about to die”.

Dave: Where did that come from? 
Jonas: It’s a song by my favorite death metal band Autopsy. And I think it’s like a carpet DM for death metal crowd. 

Dave: So that’s it. Thanks for your time tonight. We enjoyed the chat.
Shaquira: Thanks Jonas
Jonas: Thank you both. 

Dave: We look forward to the tour. Hope you have a great time.
Jonas: I’m sure we will.

Dave: Goodbye
Shaquira: Goodbye
Jonas: Bye Bye

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Follow KATATONIA
Website – Instagram – Youtube
Twitter – Facebook – Spotify

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Press Release 1st September 2023 (below) HERE

DRW Entertainment & Metropolis Touring
Presents:
KATATONIA

TOUR DATES:

Friday 9 Feb – Sydney – The Metro
Saturday 10 Feb – Melbourne – Croxton Bandroom
Sunday 11 Feb – Brisbane – The Triffid
Monday 12 Feb – Adelaide – The Gov
Tuesday 13 Feb – Perth – Rosemount Hotel

Tickets on sale NOW
HERE and HERE

KATATONIA VIP MEET & GREET PACKAGES:

– KATATONIA  * VIP Entry (no need to queue)

– Exclusive Meet & Greet with KATATONIA

– Commemorative VIP Laminate

– 1 item signed by KATATONIA

– A photo with KATATONIA on your personal camera

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AMNPLIFY – DB