The second Daniel Lioneye album, Vol II. will be released April 27 on The End Records. I chatted with Daniel Lioneye front man and HIM lead guitarist, Linde, when HIM stopped in St. Louis 4/7. Linde kindly answered my questions and filled us in on the latest with Daniel Lioneye.
Lisa: What’s coming up with Daniel Lioneye?
Linde: Vol. II is coming out the 27th of this month.
Lisa: The lineup has changed…
Linde: Yeah, my friend Bolton is on drums this time. He’s a very good metal drummer. He does the double bass. I play the guitar and bass and I do the vocals, and Burton is on keys. Mige did help me with the lyrics, so he’s kind of involved too.
Lisa: What is it like for you going between your position with HIM to the spotlight with Daniel Lioneye?
Linde: I don’t know. Let’s see how it goes. (Laughter) We’re planning to do some live shows as well at some point maybe, so it looks like we’re going to be busy. I’m touring with HIM now until summer, and then we’re doing festivals and then maybe more touring after that as well, and trying to squeeze some Daniel Lioneye shows in there between some of them maybe.
Lisa: That would be great. What is your creative process like as far as the difference in the music you play with HIM and the music with Daniel Lioneye?
Linde: Well, it’s pretty different. In HIM Ville basically comes with the skeleton of the song and we go to our practice place, jam on it, and try a million different things until everyone’s happy. With Daniel Lioneye, on this album I had written some of the riffs when I was 13 and some when I was 20. It is pretty personal to me, so in that sense it’s very different. It’s also technically a little bit more demanding.
Lisa: How much input do you have with the Daniel Lioneye artwork for merchandise and the albums?
Linde: The drummer, Bolton, his big brother is a graphic designer and we’ve been designing the shirts and stuff with him together. First, The End Records wanted t-shirts especially for them and then we can do our own merch if we want to, so we’re probably going to do some more crazy stuff.
Lisa: There are many different aspects to the creative outlet with Daniel Lioneye for you.
Linde: Yes, it’s nice, you know. It’s like, no pressure what so ever. HIM has become such a big band already and people are expecting us to be a certain way and blah, blah, blah. With Daniel Lioneye, I don’t have to care. I can just, you know, if you don’t like it, fuck off.
Lisa: It’s nice that you have that opportunity to do your own thing and not have that added pressure.
Linde: Yeah, it is and it’s also feeding the HIM stuff as well. It’s always nice to try different stuff and get something out of it.
Lisa: There has been a lot of buzz online about the two singles from Vol II.
Linde: Yes, “Euro shaman “and “I Have Never Wanted to Be Number One.”
Lisa: People are really enjoying them and excited about the album.
Linde: I hope so. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Many thanks to Linde for his time!
Daniel Lioneye Vol. II in stores April 27 and can be pre-ordered at http://www.theomegaorder.com/DANIEL-LIONEYE
