How do you feel now you returned to discography with Dial's first album?

I feel happy and proud that we've managed to pull this thing off and that we got way much more than what we bargained for. DIAL was never meant to become this big... well, we never aimed for it but it was always welcome of course *smile*.

Can you tell us a few things about the starting of the band? What was the very first spark for your cooperation with L. Hegt and R.V.D. Meer?

LiLo and Rommert had just gotten kicked out of their former band, Cirrha Niva in the summer of 2003. Since LiLo and I are married, this was of course a natural connection, but Lilo and Rommert had also grown attached on a musical level during the time in CN. They had always aimed for the same styles and ideas. So we kept contact after their departure and we had a very good contact with Rommert and his family on a personal level as well. Then one thing led to another and we started to jam a bit and work out ideas while being at each others places (we live pretty far away from each other, so this only happened occasionally).

LiLo and Rommert wanted to keep on making music together and I liked to make music as well and needed another musical out-put than PoS for some of my ideas. So that's how we started actually, and then the snowball started rolling from there.

You three seem to have fairly different profiles and backgrounds. What is the thing that connects you and how easily is to communicate ideas among you?

I think good music is what connects us actually. We have all different backgrounds, both musically and personally but we all have a very wide taste of music and also a wide taste of other artistic medias, such as movies, books etc. So there is a connection there.

Then we write the music pretty individual and bring it to the band. There's where we shape it and make it DIAL-songs, where everyone starts to pull and push and form the songs.

What is the aim of the band? Do you think that acts and actors should redefine their aims in different stages and if so, now you have released "Synchronized" do you feel the need to revise them?

Our intention with DIAL was (and is) to make music that we like without any compromises. That's also a reason why we went on and recorded the alum first, without having any record label behind us. We wanted it to turn out exactly the way we wanted it, without anyone demanding or asking us to change anything. Then, once it was done, we send it around as a finished product with the words "take it or leave it".

Our idea is also to be able to mix and add any type of music or influence without the idea that we have to make a certain kind of music. We've never tried to create our own music or own style, quite the contrary actually, we take, steal and borrow from everything we see fit. Then we work with each song individually, making what is best for that specific song. That way we never get stuck in a specific way of thinking or arranging songs or what instruments to use.

Of course, you're entitled to change your goals as you go. Our first intention was to make the music for our selves and if someone liked it... sure, great!! If not, at least we'd have an album that we like and that we are proud of.

But as soon as you get public, people start to expect something from you. You get demands, desires, wishes and pressures to make something even better the next time. At this moment, we're still aiming for making our own music, the way we like it and when we like it – directly from our harts and souls.

How do you feel about the response of the audience and the press so far?

So far it's been mainly positive reviews. Even if they admit that they don't like or understand the music, they still can't deny that it's not bad. Some people have surely showed disappointment as they thought that I would form a second PoS or something. But those were never my intentions and those were never the intentions of DIAL. It is still too early to say if the album is selling well, but the interviews keep coming in and the response through e-mails and messages on our MySpace page is overwhelming.

Over the years with PoS, you kind of get used to getting the attentions. You make a new album and you kind of take for granted that people will like and appreciate it and that you'll get a lot of attention. Quickly you kind of forget that you actually have to put down some effort to deserve that kind of attention.

That's all coming back now with DIAL. The whole idea that people from the other side of the globe sends you a message to tell you that they've bought the album and they like it. That's so wonderful and it can really make your day. These songs that you have (of course worked hard for but...) had along with you for so long, is suddenly heard and appreciated by others. People whom you've never meet or heard from before. This is an awesome feeling in deed.

How seriously should a musician take into account such response? It could also be expressed with another example; how should he take into account extreme types of feedback, either positive, or negative?

Well, over the years, we/I have received lots of different feed back from people all around the world. Sometimes by mail, sometimes face to face. It's always been hard for me to get around the more extreme reactions. Some of them being so positive that you just can't believe it and others being so bad that you can't even take it seriously anymore. I can just imagine what kind of reactions come to the really big bands and artists. I mean, they probably get people ready to die for them as well as people ready to kill them. Now, that might really freak me out. I hope I can stay down-to-earth and be able to communicate with people and fans on a personal level.

I can't resist asking you about Pain of Salvation. Do you think that your Pain of Salvation past is somehow present in the Dial music?

Sure! I mean, I grew up with PoS (being a brother and all) and I played in the band for eleven years, bringing it up to the point where they are now. So, yeah, my way of thinking about music and creating music has definitely been influenced by that and I'm surely taking some of it with me to the DIAL sound.

Would you like to remove every POS aspect in order to do something completely different or it is a part of you that can't be hidden?

I am who I am. I have always been so. No matter how I try to change my self, I always get back to the way I was. So, I'll always go on writing music based on what I know and who I am. I could maybe try to do something different that wouldn't be me, but I could never do something I didn't like just a little bit.

Though Pain of Salvation's music is multi-layered and varied, compared to Dial, do you believe that Dial is more personal music, closer to the listener himself?

Maybe not more personal to the listener, but more personal to me in deed (talking about my own songs and lyrics, that is) and to the others in the band. I also think that the DIAL songs may be easier to handle and grasp for more people than the complexity of the PoS music.

What was the contribution of Devon Graves to the overall result of "Synchronized" apart from producing it? I mean did he any interventions and suggestions on the songs?

Devon was very involved during the recording process actually. Not only by picking sounds, microphones, preamps etc. etc. but he always had suggestions on how to improve certain parts. Then we talked about it and decided which way to go. He was also very hard and determined to get the right take and was very observant for small flaws. He also helped out with lyrics which felt great as he's from the US and we're actually writing and singing in his language. So he could correct certain things and help improve the way we'd sing it and get rid of accents etc. He also changed almost the whole melody for "Wish it Away" when he made it "his own" (as asked for). Finally we ended up mixing the album together he and I to get the exact feeling of it.

"Synchronized" took you to be concluded almost three years. Do you believe that now you are ready to shorten the time and release something new?

It's always like that actually. I mean, from when PoS started to make music, to when we actually recorded our first album, we had been playing those songs for several years as well. Composed new material; stopped playing the old material etc. etc. It's actually the time between two albums which is the time you can count when you wonder how much time you need to make a new album. I have no idea of when we'll start recording a new album.

We do have some new material but at this moment we're focusing on getting ‘Synchronized' up and running. It actually all depends on how well this album will be received by the audience. If they really like it and want more, I guess we'll start getting new material together pretty soon. If it goes slow, I guess we'll start looking into other options and time frames for the follow-up. One thing is clear though, we will always make our music the way we like it and the way we want to hear it.

Dear Kristoffer, thanks a lot for your interview. I wish you all the best with Dial.

Peace! Kris