Metalfan: Hello! First of all let me ask you why Nightingale? What does this moniker mean?
Dan: It just sounded so cool. The word “Night” is very goth and I felt that the album I would write (The Breathing Shadow) would be both dark and light and Nightingale represented that for me at the time. I know there are many bands with this name, but I don’t care really. Good names are always taken.

Metalfan: You are well known as a musician as well as a producer. What of these two postures suites you the most?
Dan: I consider myself more of a songwriter than a musician and a producer. I like to mix records, not necessarily produce them. I am quite a horrible coach and this is what being a producer really means.

Metalfan: When it comes to music, you have proven to be very versatile. I mean Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Unicorn and Moontower (to mention some of your bands/projects). Some of them are very aggressive, other plain melodic and melancholic. Where do you feel better and why? What is your favorite?
Dan: I am a man of many moods and emotions and I am happy to have found a way to get rid of the overflow. I write music after my moods and Edge Of Sanity was an excellent way to channel all the teenage frustration and anger, and Unicorn was perfect for experiencing with various genres within one. I love music that has two levels, one very catchy and “easy” and then with a depth. I have no style prefer over the other, but I am not a metalhead if that is what you think. I rather listen to Richard Marx than Cannibal Corpse

Metalfan: You said that “your debut album is the result of a disillusioned studio engineer being locked up in his studio”. Can you give me more details about it?
Dan: I had worked my ass off for years and years to get the kind of equipment I always fantasized about having to do my own stuff, but I just never found the time to sit down there and do my own stuff. So I had to book a week for myself and just indulge myself in all the hardcore gear I had bought and not really learned how to use. It was a great time. I really connected with myself as a songwriter and player in that week. The album feels more like a demo than a record, since all songs were written and recorded chronologically, but it contains some really strong melodies and hooks.

Metalfan: How do you think this album would have sound if it would benefit of real drum parts and a month spent recording it?
Dan: There are real drums on Nightfall Overture, half of The Dreamreader, The instrumental song, Alone? and Eye for an eye, so I think that drummachiner stuff kind of works still for me. The guitar sound is weird but works in the mix for some strange reason. I think the album would have been killed if I had the time for 2nd thoughts. I tend to write, record, listen and scrap it, listen again and love it and resurrect...

Metalfan: In what way was Dag, your brother, involved in the making of your next opus, The Closing Chronicles?
Dan: I was mentally devastated after touring Germany with Edge of Sanity and needed to do another album because the 1st one sold better than expected. I had a few ideas lying around but most of them felt weak. I called up Dag, whom I hadn’t really worked with professionally side by side with at that point. We hit it off better than expected (Working with your 10 year old brother doesn’t necessarily have to be a fruitful thing...) and wrote and arranged some classic shit together. I mean we played the whole album live in the US. That was awesome!!!

Metalfan: Why did you take such a radical turn from a gothic influenced metal to a metal with many progressive arrangements? And then again, why were you disillusioned again :)?
Dan: I am always confused . I wanted Nightingale to be my scattered project where pretty much anything goes. I wanted it to be flavoured after what I was into at the moment, and around this time I listened a lot to late 70 early 80 pop rock like Foreigner and Gamma. I had just bought a synthesizer with lots of vintage sounds in it and I was dead tired of Goth. I stole some unfinished Unicorn songs and that gave the album a kick in the symphonic direction.

Metalfan: Do you still believe I is your strongest and most inspired album so far? What are your arguments?
Dan: Nope. I believe I to have some really cool moments and the overall vibe is dark and cool. The sound is scheisse and my singing is below par. I would love to re-record most of that album with Tom on drums and Erik on Bass. Might happen one day.

Metalfan: You worked in a music shop for a while (I was about to write an instrumental shop, thinking about you selling instruments). Was it difficult for you to stay away from music or, at least, from the making of it?
Dan: I still work 3 days a week at this shop and it keeps me sane and gives me incredible deals. I have pretty much the same prices like endorsers on most stuff I want, and that is a real treat for a gearslut like myself. I don’t like the idea of having to mix records to buy food and pay the bills. I wanna mix because I want to.

Metalfan:  Sometimes, by reading the lyrics you make, I cannot tell for sure whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. So, what’s it going to be?
Dan: I am the biggest pessimist you ever knew!! I try to be a little bit more positive, but I was born with a slight “low” of “happy fluid” in me but I make sure to have people in my life to cheer me up, like my lovely girlfriend or me. And massive amounts of candy work too :)

Metalfan:  Now allow me to take a step towards the present day and ask you about your latest release, White Darkness. How was the feedback it received so far? Are you happy with the way it’s turned out?
Dan: The feedback and the turn out are amazing. I worked my ass off for a year with that album, but only with the vocals and the mix. My brother did a good job writing this one. It’s a pleasure to have done it and I am immensely proud of it.

Metalfan: What does White Darkness really mean? What is the concept behind this album?
Dan: It’s about a state of mind that most people go through. I used to visit the White Darkness frequently before I met my girlfriend. It’s a “place” where you don’t care about anything or anyone and just go inside your own mind and feel nothing. Like a low fat depression-light ;) and it sounds cool!!!

Metalfan:  Do you have the kindness of describing each track on White Darkness in a few words?
Dan: The Fields of Life is a great opening track and a real rocker! I love to sing it and even though the lyrics are a little bit odd to sing now, I like how they turned out.
Trial and error is a cool, pretty Rush-inspired track that took a bit of work to get right. But once it rocked it rocked hard!!!
One Way Ticket is a song that I put together from ideas from my brothers past and a chorus I wrote around the time we did the Nightfall Overture album. I like the darkness of this song. Epic rock at its peak!!!
Reasons is probably the most Nightingale-ish track. There is the positive vibe off the “happier” elements of “...Closing...” and “Alive Again” and the darkness of the 1st and “I”.
Wounded Soul is another “baby” of mine. I rescued it from the vaults of Swanö Senior and gave it a new part at the end. It’s a lovely track that has a “trollish”vibe. Very Swedish folk music. Loved it the first time I heard like 25 years ago....
Hideaway is the premier for an “outside” writer. The drummer Tom gave me and my brother a song to “treat how we wanted” and both me and Dag gave it a good twist, but all the basic ingredients are Tom’s and he good a full writing credit. A more metal/grungy song. A fan fave and a kick ass livetrack!!!
To My Inspiration is another old track that I have loved since I was a child. My brother wrote a lot of kicking songs in his early twenties. You bastard!!!  A nice, drumless, ballad about losing the inspiration, the spark that gets you going in your creative outlets. I still quite haven’t found it, but I am working on it!!
White Darkness is of course the title track and the most progrocking song on the album. I didn´t know what to expect from this track. I had my doubts in rehearsals but after taking a few riffs out of it, it turned out great. I love the piano/vocal sections.
Belief is Nightingale’s first anti-religion song and has caused quite a stir with some of our fans!! I love the shuffle style song and it was almost scrapped from the record, but I didn´t give in an edited together the perfect shuffle and Voilá. A kick ass song!!!
Trust rounds off the album in a dark groovy 70´s vibe. One of three lyrics from Erik the bass player. He will most likely be the sole lyricist in the future. I hate lyrics!!!

Metalfan:  You’ve been in this industry for a long while now. As a producer, what is your opinion towards other producers? To name only a few, what do you think about
Thomas Skogsberg
Dan: Made quite an impact back in 1989 with his guitar sound and dry and fat productions. I still love the ferocity of Left Hand Path, but then it all turned too hollow and weird. Nice guy.
Harris Johns
Dan: Classic dude. Met him once in Berlin. I love his work with Hobbs Angel of Death.
 Jim Morris
Dan: Don’t know about this guy. I am more of a Scott Burns-man myself.
and Peter Tagtgren, Fredrik Nordstrom, Daniel Bergstrand (new)?
Dan: The great trio of metal. I also like Jens from Fascination Street. He does some great stuff and so does Pelle @ Studio Underground. Fredman’s guitarsound kicks ass lately.

Metalfan: What happens with your other bands/projects? Do you have any future plans with them?
Dan: I work my ass off with the Second Sky album right now, trying to get that one ready without compromises. I am working a little bit on a cover Mini CD that will be the bonus offering for the Odyssey re-release on Vic records sometime next year (???). It will be shocking metal-renditions of 80’s hit list classics!!! Beware!!

Metalfan:  By looking at the actual metal scene, are you satisfied with the way it is? Do you like any of the new bands?
Dan: I think it’s all about writing a good song. I get to hear some of the new stuff thru my 14 year old son and I think there are some new bands with some cool hooks here and there. The most “modern” band I totally worship is Alter Bridge.

Metalfan:  How do you feel about death metal? Some of the older bands, both European and American, are still active (Unleashed, Grave, Dismember, Entombed, Gorefest, Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, etc.). Have you had the chance to listen to their latest opuses and if yes, do you think it is good that they keep on playing?
Not really. I normally just check out their productions to see if there are any tricks I can steal ;). I mix a promo with Ed Warby from Gorefests new project Hail Of Bullets. Classy death with my old hero Martin Van Drunen on vocals!!

Metalfan:  Do you know Ingmar Bergman died a few days ago? Have you had the chance of watching any of his movies?
Dan: Not really. I fell asleep during Fanny and Alexander once. I think you have to see some of them eventually though. Maybe when I am old...

Metalfan: Now, before saying goodbye and thanking you this interview, let me propose you a quick quiz:

• Darkness or light? Both, in a nice balance
• Aggressive or melodic? Both, in a nice balance
• Plus or minus? Division....
• Black or white? Doesn’t matter. Or does it, Michael Jackson
• American or European death metal? Both, in a nice balance
• IFK Goteborg or Malmo FF? Sport sucks
• In Flames or Soilwork? Soilwork
• Yes or Genesis? Genesis

Metalfan: The final words are yours!
Dan: Thanx for a great interview.
Thanx for your support!!
Rock on!