I had the opportunity to talk with the new OPETH Keyboarder Per Wiberg before the show in Vienna on December 17th, 2005. The conversation was really funny and relaxed because of the cool atmosphere in the Szene Club. Per presented a lot of interesting answers and did a few jokes - a very communicative dialogue partner.

live pictures of the show in Vienna by Janine Pichler

Leo: Ghost Reveries is the first album you played in OPETH. Is it difficult to play such long and difficult songs?
Per: I don’t think that the length of the songs is the difficult part, it is more to try to fit in a band that has been going on for so long, you don’t want to ruin a good thing, you know, hehe! So I would say it is not like technical difficulties, it is more to try to find the right approach and the right sounds.

Leo: Which bands did you play in before OPETH?
Per: The only band that I played in that had been to Austria was a band called Spiritual Beggars and apart from that I played in lots of different bands in Sweden; all kinds of music really and I’ve been working as session musician since the late eighties.

Leo: After a few months playing concerts with OPETH, what do you think is the special thing about this band?
Per: Well, I have always liked them because they don’t seem to be that concerned about fitting in to a genre really, because there are so many influences in this band and that’s always interesting cause then you know that you can always take something to step further ahead with every release. There are no rules and that’s cool!

Leo: You never thought about composing songs for the mainstream to have bigger success?
Per: No, I think the thing with this band is like they’ve always written music for their own amusement; so to speak it’s like: you can’t think a lot about or try to make music that you hope that people would like. If you make music that you like yourself and you’re proud of it, that’s fine and all you can do really.

Leo: Do you think the new album is much different to the other ones?
Per: No, not much different, it certain got the elements that have always been there, there are maybe some courts that struck their way to the OPETH song writing. I wouldn’t say it is much different especially since they’d done the Damnation album which is maybe the most different one in the OPETH discography.

Leo: Which band would you like to tour with? Do you have an influence on the supports?
Per: There are lots of bands you like to tour with, because they are good people! When you spend so much time touring, it is always fun to have a few people around you spending a good time. So to me it doesn’t matter that much musically what’s on the bill; of course I understand the fact that people who come to the show wouldn’t be so happy if we brought a Techno band opening up – they would not like to tour with us anyway…but when I go to gigs, I always enjoy a little bit of diversity, it is no fun if every band sounds the same. Since I started playing with the band, it has been all kinds of different bands from Death Metal to Progressive Rock.

Leo: Do you like diversity when you listen to music at home?
Per: I listen to all kinds of stuff!

Leo: What was the first LP you bought?
Per: Destroyer by KISS!

Leo: Is vinyl better than CDs?
Per: No! LPs are so hard to carry around if you want to listen to music on the road, but it was more fun when you bought LPs, it is a cooler format for the artwork, you can do a lot more fun stuff with the cover; but I always liked CDs because it is easier - and nowadays you don’t even need to buy CDs, you buy it online.

Leo: What’s your opinion about the internet? Is it a chance for smaller bands?
Per: In general I would say that internet is a good thing! It makes it easier for young bands to promote themselves and all promotional work is much easier like it was ten years ago. I hope real fans buy the CDs as originals; it is up to the people themselves to decide what they are going to do. Right now, nobody seems to know how the future of music will look like, how to make music and promote it, but the CD will be around for a couple of a few more years, I think it will not be only online or whatever electronic way of purchasing music; a lot of people like the fact that you go into a store and buy a physical piece of art.

Leo: Some say, that a band should split up after three albums, because they’ve said and done everything. How long will OPETH play music in studio and on stage?
Per: I don’t know! It is a tough one…I mean, it is like as long as everybody is enjoying it. All guys in the band will continue playing music for the rest of their lives although it may not be in OPETH. Music is such an important thing for everyone in the band, so that, if the band ends, they would not throw their guitars away and do something else. That will be the case. It is hard to say, everything can happen, the tour is pretty exhausting scheduled, especially for Mikael being father.

Leo: Are you married? Is it easy to manage your time?
Per: I am not married, but I’ve had the same girlfriend for more than eight years, sometimes it is hard to be away…but this is what you do, I’m not going to complain about being on the road, because if you don’t like it, it is easy to just quit! Every line of work has its ups and downs, in 90 % it is ups, at least for me!

Leo: Are your parents proud of you?
Per: I hope so. I will ask them if we get back home for Christmas! Yes, I think so, because I wouldn’t have played music without them, so I hope they are; they are huge Jazz and Blues lovers and I have grown up with that kind of music – they supported me all the time.

Leo: Did you ever ask yourself, if all this promotional work and touring is worth it spending so much time?
Per: Yeah, when you step up on stage, it is worth it!

Leo: What is more important for you: cheering of the fans or being nominated for an award?
Per: I am not much for the award thing, of course it is fantastic that you get nominated for awards and stuff, but it doesn’t matter that much really. It is a jury from somewhere; it does not concern me that much. Being on stage is definitely the better thing for me.

Leo: On stage there’s a lot of action and head-banging. Did you ever have some troubles with your neck?
Per: Oh yes! I cure it with rest, stretching…we’ve done a hundred shows since mid-summer, it can be pretty exhausting physically, but if you take care of yourself, you’re going to be alright.

Leo: Imagine you drank too much – what do you do the day after?
Per: All of the guys have problems the day after, but I don’t have a special cure, the only thing we all do is like: ”Oh no! Why did I do drink this amount of alcohol?” and then we don’t drink…

Leo: Do you know anything about Austria?
Per: I have been here in Vienna for several times and most of the time it has been with bands, there is no time to look around that much, I have seen Schönbrunn, it was beautiful! I took a walk in that park, and I visited the big church called Stephansdom, that’s also interesting to see…that’s the only thing I had time to check out, it’s only a little bit.

Leo: If you had to express OPETH’s music with a painting, which colors and style would you choose?
Per: The new cover is pretty good, that suites the music. I would not say that I am not a very good painter, I am alright, but I do quite a lot of graphic work when I am not touring…I am not the best painter in the world, hehe!

Leo: Would you like to perform together with an orchestra?
Per: Yeah, maybe. I mean that can be done in so many different ways, this could be interesting, definitely.

Leo: What are your plans for the year 2006?
Per: The touring schedule is up until October next year. We will play a few festivals, but I’m not sure which ones are confirmed yet. Summer time usually means festival time, so I am pretty sure that there are a bunch of them, but I am not really sure which ones.

Leo: Which bands could be the next big thing?
Per: OPETH, hahahaha!

Leo: What’s your favorite album in 2005?
Per: All kinds of metal music…a metal album which I really like is an album called Unraveled by the band Confessor; the punk band The Bellgraves did an album called Red, White And Black which is really, really good; some friends of mine are in a band called Clutch, they did an fantastic album, and there are a few Death Metal bands, a sort of avant-garde band called SUNN and a band I don’t know the exact pronunciation (Khanate) - that’s extreme doom I would say, they used to have a band called Burning Witch before, a cool band as well.

Leo: Are there persons/idols you want to meet?
Per: I’m not that kind of guy, I’m not interested in meeting people really, I just like to listen to the music and that’s enough for me. I never understood how you do when you approach someone you had been listening to for your whole life or whatever; I mean what are you going to say and why, hm? I just want to listen to the music and have my own deception. You could read a book if you’re interested in what someone did, thoughts about the work and so on.

Leo: What do you expect from the show tonight?
Per: It is always fun to play and for me it’s fun to play everywhere, so of course it’s going to be fun to play here tonight, Austria seems to be, if you tour for a long time, there’s only one tour date and that’s it…we are ready for it and we will play really good tonight. I think back, the shows we’ve done in Austria were good ones and so I hope it will be a good one again.

Leo: What was your worst concert?
Per: That has to be a Beggars show, hehehe, many years ago!

Per was right and the show in the evening was excellent, a mixture of all albums highlighted by Deliverance and a surprising song from the first album, namely Under A Weeping Moon, which was presented with an overwhelming atmosphere. The band performed sensationally for 130 minutes and Mikael was a real entertainer this night - thanks for this interview and the music!