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file under different metal
VAKA is the name of the project by former Dozer drummer Karl Daniel Lidén, of whom recently the cd “Kappa Delta Phi” was released. In many ways a remarkable record, and Lidén likes to talk about it a lot. We learn how the record was created, by what music he was inspired (not by Neurosis for a change) and what will happen next.
Text: Jan-Simon
Let me start by saying you have made a very intriguing record. Intriguing because of its sound but also because of its title. ‘Kappa Delta Phi’ – it sounds like the name of an American students’ fraternity. Can you tell us what it means?
Well thank you very much! I’m glad you like it. I choose the title “Kappa Delta Phi” for several reasons. First and foremost I wanted a title that didn’t “give away” how the record was going to sound. I didn’t want a title that was typical for this type of music (whatever that type now may be). Same goes for the album cover as well; my only real instruction to Peder (art guy) was “I don’t want the cover to tell how the music sounds”. But going back to the album title, I’m also a big fan of 80’s high school comedies with the whole ”nerds vs. jocks” thing, so yeah, I wanted to do a little nod to that as well. There’s even further nods with the track “Sigma Omega” and my mix studio being called “Tri-Lamb Studios”. Tri-Lamb is the fraternity of the nerds in the “Revenge Of The Nerds” series. So anyway, the title doesn’t really mean anything.
While we’re at it. ‘Vaka’ sounds Swedish and even means something in Swedish. “Vigil” or “wake” to be precise – if I looked it up correctly in the dictionary of course. Is it indeed Swedish or am I just looking for a meaning where there is none?
You are 100% correct. “Vaka” is a Swedish word and means “wake” or “to watch over”. I wanted something short, strong and which was impossible to fuck up spelling-wise. iTunes however managed to do the impossible, so on there I’m called “Vak-A”. I mean, you have to really put in effort to fuck up such a simple name as “Vaka”. Amazing, simply amazing.
How did this project start? I read on your website you started in 2005 and now the album is finished. Was it something you did in lost hours?
Well, the first time I actually placed my fingers on a piano and tried to play something was in 2005, so it wasn’t like I formed VAKA and then immediately started writing material for “Kappa Delta Phi”. The first songs I did was these kinda frail Sigur Rós type songs, which I’m sure I’d vomit all over if I heard today. I did a 5 song demo and one of those songs (“The Contortionist”) ended up on a compilation called “Walking With Ghosts”. That song was the only one of the five that was a bit more dark/evil sounding and which I still think is a pretty cool song. The rest however.. brrrr... Anyway, I started VAKA just to be able to channel some ideas I knew wouldn’t fit DOZER. I didn’t start writing material with an album in mind till maybe early 2007. Also, the album was done and mastered in May of 2008, but due to an incredible amount of label hassle (before hooking up with Murkhouse Recordings) it didn’t end up getting released till more than six months later. So it’s not really four years of hardcore writing/recording.
The tracks were recorded in five different studios over a long period. Was this because of all the people who contributed? It sounds like a planning nightmare.
Yeah, it was really frustrating at times trying to combine availability of the players I wanted with availability of a studio. And when there was time available there was just so much that needed to be done, so we had to work at a pretty fast pace.
Was it intended to be a sideproject while you were still in Dozer at that time?
Yeah, I didn’t plan on making VAKA my main thing. Actually, when I first started VAKA I didn’t have any plans on quitting DOZER. But anyway, just because I quit DOZER didn’t mean my desire to be creative vanished. When I quit DOZER I really felt this desire to prove to myself that I could create something on my own.
What strikes me most is the fact that here we have an album that is heavy, but has almost no guitars on it, at least not in a ‘normal’, prominent way. Was that something that just happened or was it planned like that from the start?
Haha, pretty much nothing was planned from the start. The album took on a whole other shape than I originally thought it would from when I started writing it. The only thing I knew from the start was I didn’t want to do a “regular” post-rock/metal album or whatever. I just wanted to branch out from a clean slate and do whatever I felt like. I wanted to create something I hadn’t heard before. As far as guitars go, I wanted to use the instruments available to me in sort of the same way an orchestra would. Not all instruments have to be playing at the same time, you know? I wanted to use whatever instrument I felt would emphasize a certain part or song in the right way. So for some songs that meant crushingly heavy guitars, and for some songs it meant there wouldn’t be any guitars at all. Take songs like “Sigma Omega”, “Somersaults” or “Like An Astronomer” for instance. To me, a guitar would just feel really out of place so I didn’t even bother trying it out.
I like the various keyboards on the album, especially the mellotron that you can hear almost in all the tracks. How did this find its way into the songs? Was it perhaps left in the studio by the guys from Abba?
Hehe, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Mellotron string sound. It just sounds so melancholic and bleak. It’s physically impossible to play something cheerful on a Mellotron. And it just fits the music so perfectly. It really helps set the mood and tone of the record.
While listening to ‘Kappa Delta Phi’ I thought the sound sometimes resembled that of two bands: Nadja and Cop Shoot Cop. It could be me making these connections. Could you tell us what music has inspired you during the long process of making the record?
No, cause then you’ll notice where I’ve stolen everything from, haha. But all kidding aside, I know most people probably think it’s bands like NEUROSIS that’s been my main source of inspiration, but that’s pretty far from the truth. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love NEUROSIS and they’re one of my absolute favorite bands, but when it comes to creating my own music I really have no interest in copying what they (or any other band for that matter) are doing. As far as influences go, I try more to “emulate” a feeling or vibe rather than chord structures, harmonies and so on. Some sources of inspiration are composers/artists like Philip Glass, Danny Elfman (his “Serenada Schizophrana” album in particular is just amazing), John Carpenter, Piero Piccioni, Jan Johansson and so on. They sound nothing like VAKA, but they all share a sort of brooding melancholy/darkness that I feel is definitely present in VAKA. They are all also quite dramatic & dynamic. Looking back on “Kappa Delta Phi”, it’s quite a dramatic recording. Many large, bombastic gestures. Actually, movie scores in general is what I tend to listen to the most. Movie scores, or music that sounds like it’s a movie score. As far as bands go, I think bands like BLONDE REDHEAD, TEARS FOR FEARS (“The Hurting” first and foremost) and ZOMBI probably have had a way bigger influence on me as far as writing goes than other post-metal/rock/whatever type bands. But it’s the same thing there. It’s more the mood they project than the chords they play.
What is in store for you now that VAKA seems to be receiving top reviews all over the world? Will you continue to work as a audio engineer, or is a return to being an active musician likely?
It’s receiving top reviews all over the world? You are too kind. My audio engineering “career” is purely on a project basis. I’m not hired by a studio or anything. In today’s music climate, basically no studio is keeping an actual staff. I of course want to be a full time audio engineer but it feels more and more like an impossibility. Sadly. And as far as being an active musician, I have a few things on the horizon.. nothing I want to give away just yet - I don’t want to jinx it, but if everything goes as planned there’s cool stuff ahead.
Is there a chance VAKA will become more than a project, like a real band that makes records, does gigs etc. ?
A real band - no. I’m too much of a control freak for that when it comes to VAKA. Of course I always listen to ideas/suggestions from the musicians I collaborate with and I’m willing to try it out, so it’s not that I’m a glory whore or anything, but ultimately it comes down to that I’m quite harsh and critical and ultimately reject a lot of the stuff I write. I actually thought I had about 60-70% of the next VAKA album done, but upon recently reviewing it I threw about 80% of it in the bin. It was all good solid material, but at the same time it felt like I was already starting to repeat myself, and that’s probably my biggest fear - repeating/rehashing what I’ve already done. Pretty impossible to come up with 100% original ground breaking material all the time, but I want to at least try. So that’s probably the main reason it’ll never be a real band - I want to keep the friends I have. If you say “not good enough” eight or nine times out of ten, chances are people will get pretty sick of you. Fast. I do have to admit that I really miss the whole band experience though. Coming up with a riff/drum beat/whatever and then working together as a unit crafting a song. I really, really miss that. Also, when being a one-man show, it can get really frustrating sometimes and feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders since you have to do everything yourself, think of every little detail and have no one to bounce ideas with or that pushes onwards when maybe you’re not feeling up to it on that particular day. Sure, the musicians that contribute add their own ideas, but that’s almost more like a “spice”. The foundation/arrangement of the song is already done by the time it’s time for the others to put their sonic footprint on the material. Still, I absolutely don’t want to diminish their role in the album, I owe a great deal to them for making the album turn out as great as it did. It wouldn’t even be half the album it is without their contribution, and that’s not false modesty - it really wouldn’t.
As far as live performances go, I really don’t see it happening. The musicians I’d want to use in that scenario all live in different cities and either have families, work 24/7 or both. So just getting a rehearsal together would be the logistic equivalent of breaking into Fort Knox. And I don’t want to put on some half-assed performance. If VAKA ever sets foot on a stage it’s going to be crushingly heavy and intense. If it can’t be that, I rather not do it at all.
Thanks for the interview. Feel free to add any comments
Thank You! Buy the album - daddy needs a new pair of shoes. And stay in school.
http://www.vakamusic.net
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