"Anders is a very nice guy; it was good working with him, especially for me as a singer because he is a singer too."

Andy Dörner frontman of Caliban shares his thoughts on In Flames frontman, Anders Fridén and working with the legend while he was helping to produce the band's latest effort, The Opposite From Within.  An amazing project you can definitely tell Anders' had something to do with. With its growing popularity, the world is getting caught up in the wave of NWOSHM which works out well for this unbelievably wonderful and talented band. One thing can be said about this band is that they excel at blending hardcore and melody as they lead the the pack of Germany's emerging metalcore scene. Join me in my conversation as Dörner discusses a plethora of subjects: who he's a fan of musically speaking, the concept of the album's artwork, the band's first experience in Canada, working with the band Heaven Shall Burn and....

Karma:  First I’d like to say thank you for doing the interview.

Andy: Thank you! You’re welcome. [Smiles]

Karma:  The name “Caliban” is a Shakespearean character from The Tempest.

Andy: [Smiles] The Tempest, right.

Karma: What made you chose the name for the band?

Andy: Our guitar player came up with the name because he was reading The Tempest at the time and we were looking for a new name because we hated our old one…

Karma: Never Again

Andy: Right, Never Again, Yeah. We read the character description of Caliban, like he’s a demon, he’s a slave and Prospero and his story, so we all liked the name and we choose it.

Karma: Why did you not like the name Never Again?

Andy: It sounds like mourning again and it was the style of our music at the time… [waves hand and smiles] we just didn’t like it… it was so, not good! [Laughs]

Karma: How’s the tour going so far, even though it just started?

Andy: So far so good, it’s the first day today [in the States]. [Yesterday] was our first date in Canada; it was our first time there.

Karma: How was that?

Andy: It was good!  Those guys were waiting for so long [to see us play] for five years now and they were always writing in our guestbook, ‘Come to Canada, we’re waiting!’ We wanted to go, but no U.S. band want to go to Canada because it’s so hard to get there so we didn’t have a chance to get there [before this tour]. It was very good, fun, and we want to go there soon, again if we headline or something. Detroit was good yesterday, not the best show though. We had better shows on the last tour but it was good.

Karma: Was that because the lack of people in the venue?

Andy: Yeah, the club was a little strange, I think.

Karma: Where did play again?

Andy: I-Rock, it was a nice club. I don’t know…it was, okay!

Karma: How will this tour compare to others?

Andy: It’s all a little bit bigger, the clubs are.

Karma: As in your previous tour?

Andy: Yeah, I hope we can reach more new people. God Forbid is a metal band, so we are mixed – hardcore/metal band so I think it will be good.

Karma:  Is it better for you this go round financially re: working visa etc? I mean I know it can be a little costly to bring you over.

Andy: Yeah, we got the working permit for one year and now its [expiring]; we will need to get a new one for next time so we can just tour at one time. We are playing shows in Europe too but I hope that we can come back very soon. But I don’t think we are coming back this year. I hope so, we can. I just don’t think there’s [enough] time. I hope we can. [Smiles]

Karma:  [Smiles] Well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed!

Andy: Yeah! [Laughs]

Karma: You were just talking about this ever so briefly; please describe the sound of Caliban to new listener.

Andy: I think it’s a good mix between heavy parts, mosh parts, and clean melodic parts. It’s a little bit like Killswitch or Chimaira a little bit. [Stops himself] It’s hard and melodic.

Karma:  How did it happen that you did Split Program, a split album with Heaven Shall Burn?

Andy: Why? Oh, because we’re label mates, we were label mates, now they are on Century Media/Abacus, Roadrunner/Abacus. It was just because we were label mates; friends and we played a lot of shows together in the past so we thought about doing this. We’re doing another one…

Karma: Right.

Andy: We already recorded right before this tour. I finished my vocals and I think it comes out in Europe in May or June but I’m not sure.

Karma: Of course the release date will be later here, correct.

Andy:  I think so, it’s a contract and friendship thing with our old label [Lifeforce Records]

Karma:  For The Opposite From Within, your latest release, how did Anders [Fridén of In Flames] come to produce the album?

Andy: It was [the decision of] our management because we have the same management in Germany. Our management was talking to Anders about music stuff and they were talking about us, that we wanted to do a new record and Anders asked if we already had a producer. We didn’t have one so he asked if he could produce it. [Wide smile crosses his face] “Sure! Sure!! Let’s do it” We were very happy about that!

Karma:  I’m sure you were!

Andy: Yeah! [Laughs] But he has no time for a new one but Adam [Dutkiewitcz] from Killswitch Engage will do it.

Karma: Oh, awesome!

Andy: It’s not 100% fixed it’s 99%! [Smiles]

Karma: Speaking of Adam, he did your t-shirts; I take it that you started that relationship when you toured with them in Japan?

Andy: Yeah we toured together for five days and we toured with them and Shadows Fall and Killswitch, Extreme The Dojo Tour, and we met before on some shows we played together, like Hellfest… Now that was fucking great time! [Laughs] It was just crazy!! It was unbelievable.

Karma: How was it recording the album in Sweden?

Andy: It was a great time! [Smiles] For me it was the best for me to record a CD. We stayed there for one month, we had something like an apartment and we stayed there for four weeks. It was awesome. We had a lot of fun there. Anders is a very nice guy; it was good working with him, especially for me as a singer because he is a singer too. I don’t know, I felt very good when I did the vocals. I don’t know, maybe because he is a vocalist too…

Karma:  How did you enlist the help of Andy Sneap (mixed and mastered Arch Enemy, Machine Head, Killswitch Engage) to mix the album? Was this also a decision of your management company?

Andy: Yeah, it was about the management too. They asked him if he wanted to do this and…

Karma: As they say, the rest they say is history…

Andy: Yes! [Laughs] We sent our record to him and he listened to it and said, “Yeah. Why not, I like it and I will do it.”

Karma:  What does the title of the album mean to you?

Andy: It’s another sentence for the demon inside but it was too simple, so we chose The Opposite From Within, the demon inside compares to my lyrics. Every time when I write something or when I think I do the right thing, I know it’s not the right thing but I do it anyway. It’s the opposite; my inner demons are doing it! [Laughs] But it’s wrong; it’s something like that, the music, the hard parts, the mosh parts, and the melodic stuff…the opposite.

Karma: As far as the cover of the album’s concerned, it appears the skull’s brain is exposed. What is the significance of that?

Andy: I don’t know...

Karma: Or did the artist do it?

Andy: Yeah, it was from the artist. He was supposed to do all of the artwork but we and Roadrunner didn’t like it, we just liked the skull that’s on the cover, so we just took that. He was very pissed about that! [Laughs] He was like…[moves head from side to side continuing to mimic bitching]. He wanted so much money and we said that it wasn’t possible; we don’t have that much money. We just bought the skull from him and did the rest of the artwork on our own.

Karma: I love “Certainty…Corpses Bleed Cold”.

Andy: Thank you. This song has clean vocals from the start. I like the song too; it’s very soft, right? [Chuckles]

Karma: Yeah!! I mean I love your vocals too on it.

Andy: Well, thanks.

Karma: What’s your favorite off Opposite?

Andy: One of my favorites is “My Little Secret” and I like “Beloved and Hatred” for sure.

Karma:  Do you think your song writing has changed since A Small Boy And A Grey Heaven to Opposite?

Andy: No, I don’t think it’s changed that much because I always write about daily life or impressions or dreams or heartache and stuff. Most of my lyrics depend on my ex-girlfriend. It still depends. I still write about her and sometimes about other stuff but it doesn’t change that much. It’s quite the same but there’s one song on there “100 Suns”

Karma: Oh, that’s the last song on the album.

Andy: Yeah, I think so. It’s about nuclear bombs and against nuclear war and stuff.

Karma:  Well what did you grow up listening to?

Andy: So much, I don’t know but one of my favorite bands now is Coheed and Cambria. I like Eighteen Visions [points to t-shirt] and It Dies Today. I like In Flames, Killswitch, I like Chimaira…so many bands. I listen to electronica, I listen to emo music, there’s so much.

Karma: For the most part you’re pretty much all over the board.

Andy: Yeah!

Karma: Who in Europe would you like to see get more exposure?

Andy: There’s a band from Belgium I always forget the name.

Karma: Andy, this is not the time to forget. [Chuckles]

Andy: Yeah I know I don’t know how I can do this. [We all laugh] Okay, let me think… [Pauses] It’s Face Tomorrow.

Karma: Okay.

Andy: I like them; they’re very good. I just got their new record [The Closer You Are] right before the tour. I love them.

Karma: I need to check them out!

Andy: Yeah.

Karma: Well here’s a Speed Round Questions for you. Spiritual or religious?

Andy: Spiritual.

Karma: If you could speak another language, other than German & English, which one would you choose?

Andy: Maybe Japanese! [Laughs]

Karma: Favorite color?

Andy: Black.

Karma: I guess one couldn’t have told that, right? [We laugh] If you could see your name on a marquee with anyone, who would your name appear next to?

Andy: We never played with Slipknot, just on a festival. A full tour would be great!

Karma: If you could go back in time, what would you change?

Andy: I’d go back to my 20’s and do some things different. [Laughs]

Karma: There you go! How about your first job?

Andy: I worked as printer before the band and it was my only job before. I’ve been doing the band [since] 1994, I started that job in ’97 and I finally quit the job in 2003 with my work. It was my only work. [Chuckles]

Karma: Well congratulations!

Andy: Thank you.

Karma: Favorite food.

Andy: Thai or Indian foods.

Karma: If you could take a bath with who would be your perfect bath mate?

Andy: [Laughs devilishly]

Sharita: Uh, oh!

Andy: There are a couple! My ex-girlfriend.

Karma: Now you have 3 CDs to round out your Bubble Bath Soundtrack.

Andy: Hmmm, Bubble Bath Soundtrack, Face Tomorrow…

Karma: And if you could ask this Speed Round of Questions of anyone, who would you like to answer them?

Andy: Patrick, our drummer! [Laughs hysterically]

Karma: Thank you for the interview, Andy!

Andy: Thank you, this was great... [Smiles]

Karma: Happy you enjoyed it!

I'd like to extend thanks Andy for the interview and to Marc and Stacy Buchanan at Abacus Recordings for setting it up.

Click here for photos of tonight's show

Here for 2006 interview with Andy