Pain, the industrial metal project founded by Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Peter Tägtgren, requires no introduction. However, here's some background: Peter, who enjoyed success with his death metal band Hypocrisy, had ideas that didn't quite fit the band's style, leading to the creation of Pain. The project debuted in 1997 with its self-titled album. After eight long years, Pain finally released its ninth studio album, I Am, in May 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records. The album features powerful lyrics, rich arrangements, solid melodies, and relentless energy – all of which translate into intense live performances. Peter Tägtgren has a distinguished history in music. He is the mastermind behind the legendary death metal band Hypocrisy, was co-creator and songwriter for the project Lindemann (together with Rammstein's singer Till Lindemann), which includes the albums Skills In Pills and Frau und Mann, and is the owner of Abyss Studio in Sweden. At his studio, he has produced many world-renowned metal bands and albums, including Amon Amarth, Amorphis, Celtic Frost, Dark Funeral, Destruction, Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Joe Lynn Turner, Marduk, Possessed, Sabaton, and Septicflesh. We had the opportunity to meet the legendary Peter Tägtgren just before Pain's show in Ljubljana, and it turned out to be a friendly and engaging conversation. And now - time for more PAIN...

Interview with: Peter Tägtgren
Conducted by: Tomaz, Jerneja
Edited by: Jerneja

Tomaz: Hello and welcome back to Slovenia, Peter. Pain's latest album, I Am, was released last May; how do you feel about it today?
Peter: Actually, for once, I'm happy, haha, you know, with the album. It seems that people like it. It's a little bit more up-tempo if compared to the previous album and other stuff.

Jerneja: I have to say that I like the title or philosophy of the album. I am - the emphasis is on "being", not being this or that but simply being.
Peter: Exactly! It was actually my manager who told me to call it I Am. He said: "This is what you are, on this album, right now...". So, I did it - alongside my son, who wrote two songs for it.

Jerneja: However, it is easier said than done. A person is embedded in a society that constantly expects something from them. The album's message inspires not giving in to any external pressure and/or expectations regarding one's own existence.
Peter: Yeah, that's basically it. I just want to be. This is what you get. This is what I Am right now, or a year ago, haha.

Tomaz: Almost every song has a right-to-the-point message. You certainly don't hide behind the words...
Peter: No, I'm very direct sometimes. Sometimes there are double meanings, but that's just to fuck with you guys. Does it mean this or that? That's up to you to decide.

Tomaz: Are all of the songs from the personal experience or point of view?
Peter: It could also be from another person. I could be singing "I Am", but it can be about somebody else talking about things, so it doesn't have to be me personally. It can be me as a second-hand, or as they call it. You speak through another person.

Jerneja: One of the songs, "My Angel," features a guest singer named Cécile Siméone. I Googled her and found out she's a French TV host. She's not a singer in any band or anything like that...
Peter: Yeah, you know, everybody goes after someone famous in music, and I did the opposite. Of course, she was famous when we did it also. She said that she would like to sing a little bit. It was actually through my friend, who is a photographer and lives in France. Over the weekend, while hanging out with him, I played him a song. I said that I'd need somebody to sing it with me. He said he knew someone - a TV girl who would like to sing, so I was OK to try. I didn't know how famous she was. I didn't know anything until afterwards.

Jerneja: Did you at least inquire about her singing abilities?
Peter: Nope, nothing. So, we sat in some building with a laptop. We were trying out different things, and, in the end, it turned out really great.

Tomaz: Considering I Am is already Pain's ninth album, do you still consider Pain a project or a proper band?
Peter: That's hard to say. Every time that I write an album, it's like an adventure. Let's put it this way - it's a band but a very adventurous one. I'm trying to seek and do different things all the time. Every Pain's album doesn't sound the same if you listen to them. I'm constantly trying to evolve, get better, try different things, and so on. It's a big experiment for me. With Hypocrisy, I know exactly where I want to be. I don't want to go outside from where we are.

Tomaz: Although you experimented with Hypocrisy, too...
Peter: Maybe a few times, but it wasn't a big deal. With the Catch 22 album, I mainly experimented with my singing or the drums' sound, but in the end, it was still Hypocrisy. For the people, it was like: "What the fuck is this?" With Pain, on the other side, I can write almost anything, from this rough loop kind of things to tuned-down guitars or maybe no guitars at all. It doesn't really matter to me - it's an open book for everything.

Jerneja: Where do you feel more at home, with Pain or Hypocrisy?
Peter: Well, with Hypocrisy, I know where I am, while with Pain, I don't because the very next day, I could change my mind and do something else. With Hypocrisy, I'm very "home", but with Pain, it's an adventure, just like going into the jungle only with a knife and no glass of water and trying to survive two days.

Tomaz: How hard is it for you to go from the Hypocrisy to Pain mood? Two years ago, we saw you performing with Hypocrisy at summer festivals, and soon after, you were already touring with Pain...
Peter: There will also be a lot of Hypocrisy at festivals this summer, but I think we need to continue touring with Pain, too. There are still a lot of places we haven't been since the album came out, and we have to go everywhere. Going from Hypocrisy to Pain is actually pretty hard when it comes to vocals. When I finally figure out the vocals of singing clean, I have to go back to growl, and sometimes I forget how to growl. So, I need to practice a lot to return to the growling thing. It depends on how long it has been since I've played with Hypocrisy. If it has been too long, it takes me a while to get back into it. It's a different technique of singing. They are like night and day in singing.

Tomaz: And what do you prefer?
Peter: Well, Hypo is much easier. I could be sick on stage, and nobody would hear a difference but me. But, if I'm sick with Pain, I have a really hard time. I can sound like a teenager when starting to get hair under his armpits and mutating with voice, haha. Can you imagine being sick and singing all those vocal variations in Pain? When you have a bad day, you can have a really bad day.

Tomaz: Both of your bands, Pain and Hypocrisy, are one of the few "old ones" that stick with Nuclear Blast Records. What is the main reason?
Peter: Oh, it's because I had a contract. The last contract was for the I Am album, so now I'm free, and let's see, but I don't think of going back to Nuclear Blast Records. There's nobody at Nuclear Blast anymore who was there before. They changed so many people, and now I maybe know a handful of them, considering that I knew 50 or 60 people who worked there. Most of them just went different ways. Most likely, I will not sign with Nuclear Blast again. I guess that I'll look for something else. I already have some offers and stuff, so let's see.

Jerneja: So you are now in the phase of collecting and analysing offers?
Peter: I'm not in a hurry because I have nothing new to come out with yet. When I do, I'll have to start deciding on a label.

Tomaz: OK, let's go back to the album. I find the album cover quite "mental"...
Peter: It was done by Stefan "Heile" Heilemann, who did our last three and Lindemann's albums. I discovered him for the You Only Live Twice album, I think. I really liked him and wanted to do more things with him. Then, of course, Lindemann came, and we used him for Lindemann's stuff. He did the Coming Home album, too. I tell him to do whatever he wants, but for him, it's more or less my messed up mind, as you can see on the front cover. It's schizophrenic.

Jerneja: But he was well-familiar with the album before he started creating its cover...
Peter: Yeah, yeah, and when we were taking the photo session with him, we played the album back and forth all the time. It was a long time before the album came out, so he could have come up with his own ideas and things.

Tomaz: You also shoot some really interesting, in a way (good way!), "fucked up" video clips. How do you enjoy making videos?
Peter: Oh, I think it's a fun thing to do. You never know what you get. Sometimes, I have an idea, and usually, we find a director who's crazy enough and wants to do things. I'm very picky with the cutting and stuff, of course. Usually, the idea comes from the director, and as it goes along, there might be a few changes because there might be some things that I don't like. We get scripts and go through them, thinking it will be fun.

Tomaz: The first single and video you've released for this album was "Party In My Head". When I first saw it, I thought that there were some drunk people on the loose and somebody was filming that...
Peter: Haha, yeah, but somehow it still connects. It's a party going on, and - it's chaos, but still.

Tomaz: The video came out shortly after the Covid lockdown, and I think it's related to that...
Peter: Yeah, "Party In My Head" came out in 2021, and I think that at the time, it was related to Covid. You know, we were all locked up, and we couldn't do much about it, so yeah, it was. Nowadays, to me, it feels like we are all locked up in a society that is fucked up. There are still a lot of restrictions that you can feel as a human being, even in the western part of the world. I think it's a good song to block it up with all the bullshit because it still fits in. It's not only about the pandemic.

Jerneja: What's it like to be in a band with your son?
Peter: In the beginning, it was really weird, you know. He's now 26, but when we started playing live together, he was 14 or 15. At that time, I didn't take him with us on tours because I wanted to wait until he was 18. So, Coming Home tour was his first. He is still here; he even wrote a few songs for the new album.

Tomaz: So you are a proud father?
Peter: Oh yeah, that's for sure!

Tomaz: And what about Lindemann, the project you shared with Till Lindemann of Rammstein?
Peter: For me, it's over. His thing is now called Till Lindemann. It was a fun experience, but Till wasn't fun, and that's all I can say.

Jerneja: What about Hypocrisy? Is there any new material coming soon?
Peter: I started to write some stuff, and when I get home, I'll have a break from playing until May, so I'll have more time to sit down and write. Let's see what comes out first - Hypocrisy or Pain.

Jerneja: How do you decide which band you will compose for?
Peter: Usually, I sit and think, "I'm tired of doing this, so let's do that instead". Then, I concentrate on that band and start writing in my head because that's what I'm always doing. Then, I put it down on the guitar and computer and make a demo. It has to start in my head first. I also have to agree with myself about which band I want to start doing. Then, I start to inspire myself by that, and, hopefully, I come up with something in my head.

Tomaz: It is well known that you have also had a near-death experience. Namely and interestingly (given the album title), during the Dancing With The Dead album's recording, your heart stopped. What was that whole experience like for you?
Peter: I don't give a shit about that. The very next day, I was already sitting in this outside bathtub, you know, the wooden round one. It was minus 30 outside, and I was drinking vodka. So, fuck it. I wasn't ready yet to go, and that's how it is.

Tomaz: Was it a heart attack?
Peter: No, they think it was some kind of a stress-related bullshit.

Tomaz: You started playing with bands in the very early 90s...
Peter: No, I started in the 80s.

Tomaz: Yes, of course, you played with Malevolent Creation in the USA...
Peter: Well, I didn't play with Malevolent Creation. We only jammed together because their drummer never showed up. I was just helping out. I had other bands as well, even before I was in America. Ever since I remember, I've been in bands.

Jerneja: There's already a big gap between then and now... As a musician, do you prefer those times over nowadays?
Peter: It was certainly way more difficult to make a demo by yourself in the past. Now it's easier with the computer. You can just program the drums there and play with as much as you want. In the past, I had to jump behind the drums just for demos, to get somewhere, to get the song done in a demo version. I mean, today, technology helps everybody to write faster because it's so much easier with a laptop. I say it is a laptop production because you can make a whole album on that thing. Everything is chopped up, everything is perfect, everybody is using the same kick drum, the same snare because it comes in the program, but that's how it is. I mean, it works fine to write the songs with it, but then I put my son behind the drums in a big room to record it. For me, that's the difference. I use a lot of microphones for guitars instead of only using the plug-in. It feels warmer, and you can tell when there's a plug-in guitar amp in the high ends, and that, I don't like. You get everything more natural, from the microphone to the speaker.

Tomaz: And as for the audience - what was it like performing back then, and what is it like now?
Peter: Eh, it's the same shit. People enjoy the show and have a good time. Today, you can program the lights to follow the clip just like that, but in the past, it was just punk-rock, rock'n'roll - just go on the stage and play.

Tomaz: And you probably had a younger audience in the 90s...
Peter: Nah, actually, we have quite a lot of young ones. You know, new generations are coming all the time. We have kids in the crowd, we have people that are 15 or 20, and we have people that are 60 years old. We have a lot of different generations, and from what I see, we have really a lot of couples and girls. But that's Pain. With Hypocrisy, there are also a lot of different generations - you can see anything from 18 and up, but still, there are more old fans.

Jerneja: How much do you follow new bands/musicians and new music in general?
Peter: I don't really follow. I hear what's going on and what's not going on. Some bands are good, but some go in one ear and out the other. I think it's important to have new generations mix the old stuff with their stuff. That's how it has been since The Beatles until today. Fans of the band that's big want to play the same music, and after the first album, you start to inspire yourself with your own stuff. So, you change a little bit what you were trying to copy in the beginning, and also you try to find your own way.

Tomaz: But have you come across any bands lately that have impressed you and that you would recommend to your fans?
Peter: Nope, well, The Beatles! Nobody ever heard them, haha.

Jerneja: Thank you very much, Peter, for taking the time and even extending it. ;) Do you have any special message for your fans and everyone who will read this interview?
Peter: Yeah, just go with the flow.

Live photos by Tomaz

Pain links: Official Website, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Nuclear Blast Records