INTERVIEW WITH JOAKIM ANTMANY OF "LIK"
Interview conducted by senior editor James Benson
How did you first get into music?
Music has always been a huge part of my childhood. My father was a bass player and listened to a lot of Kiss and my mother was a huge Alice Cooper and David Bowie fan. So there was always some rock playing in the background when I was growing up.
What’s the story behind your band/artist name?
Our band is called Lik. That means corpse in Swedish. And since we are swedes and playing Swedish death metal, we thought it was very fitting.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
For me what got me into metal was early Metallica. That got me really hooked and was a doorway sort of, to more aggressive stuff.
Can you describe your sound in three words?
Intense, Chainsaw, and groove.
What’s your songwriting process like? Do you start with lyrics or melody?
Someone in the band comes up with an idea, and then we try it out in the rehearsal space. If it works out, we continue to work on it until, most often, it gets thrown away. But sometimes it gets that good that it fits on a record.
Which song of yours means the most to you and why?
Hard question. It’s like choosing your favorite child. Hehe.
But my favorite song to play live is a song called The Deranged. It’s a slower song that really gets the audience grooving and head banging.
Love it!
How do you decide which songs make it onto an album?
We usually start by writing 3-4 songs that fit for an album and then we go from there by thinking of what kind of song that compliments the other four to make an album with good dynamics.
Do you have any unusual rituals when recording or performing?
I don’t know about unusual, but we like to track all the basics, drums, rhythm guitar and bass live, all together. We almost never use any clicks when recording so all is recorded by feeling.
If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
I don’t know. Maybe Devin Townsend. He is such an amazing artist and a very talented musician. That would be very inspiring I think.
What’s been your most memorable live show experience?
We played at a German festival called PartySan. It was like 12:00. So very early!
But the whole freakin festival was there. Thousands of people screaming and cheering!
And when we left the stage to collect our merch, everything was sold out.
I’ll never forget that gig!
What’s the weirdest or funniest thing that’s happened on tour?
Well we had a gig in Münich on our last tour. And literally 10 min after the last tone of our last song ALOT of people, dressed in only their leather underwear rushed through the doors.
The whole club turned into a fetish club in just 10 min. That was pretty weird. Haha.
How do you keep up the energy during a long tour?
The boring answer is sleep and don’t drink and party every day.
What’s been the biggest challenge in your music career?
Balancing the everyday life at home, supporting my wife and being out on the road. But I am very fortunate that my wife is very supportive of me.
How do you stay connected with your fans?
These days with social media and all that it’s not hard to stay connected with your fans. We try to express how grateful we are for all the positive feedback we get from our wonderful fans!
If your music were a movie soundtrack, what kind of film would it be?
Definitely a horror movie! Death metal and a good 80s horror movie go hand in hand!
What’s on your personal playlist right now?
Since I play death metal so much, I rarely listen to it. I listened to a lot of Devin Townsend and a Norwegian electronic band called Röyksopp right now. But that changes all the time.
Do you have any hidden talents outside of music?
I build a lot with Lego and create my own dioramas and builds. That creative side of it is just wonderful.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Hard to say. I have never had any other urge to be something else than a musician. So maybe something else that has to do with music. A music producer or something.