Daniel Palmqvist has just released his debut instrumental 'A Landscape Made From Dreams'. The album showcases a young talented guitarist that is more concerned with melody and taste rather than blowing a million notes into a bar, yet Daniel can wail with the best of them. We caught up with Daniel to find out more about the making of the album, his influences, gear preferences and future plans.

Daniel, many thanks for agreeing to this interview.
You´re welcome.

A Landscape Made Of Dreams is a very refreshing instrumental album, with a lot of melody and thought into the backing textures. What led to you making an album that is not 100% shred to the wall?
Well, that type of albums has never really appealed to me. I’m a big fan of good guitar playing, and I can get very impressed by someone who has a great technique, but if the song and the melodies aren’t equally good I loose interest pretty fast. I really tried to listen to some shred type albums when I was younger cause all my guitarist friends did, but I couldn’t force myself to like it, haha. To me good playing in the context of good music is so much more interesting. To me, there isn’t that much difference between instrumental music and music with vocals. It’s about having strong melodies and interesting arrangements. Of course, it’s all a matter of personal taste. 

How do you normally go about writing a song?
I would say there isn’t just one way to do it for me. Sometimes when I get a riff or a melody in my head I make a quick demo on the computer and just jam over it and se were that idea leads me. Other times I might get inspiration from a movie, a quote from a book or just a certain type of feeling I want to convey to the listener. Then I usually just sit with an acoustic guitar and try to find a melody or a chord progression that reflects that “mood”, in lack of a better word to describe it. Lately I’ve had some nice melodies popping up in my head while I’m driving my car. Then I usually sing the melody and record it on my cell phone so I won’t forget it. A bit dangerous perhaps, but art can be risky business, haha…

Where did the inspiration for the music on the album come from?
From all the different styles of music I’ve listened to over the years. I’m a firm believer of trying to expose oneself to a lot of different styles of music, and that everything you listen to eventually will “come out”, one way or another.

What do you want to achieve with this album and do you feel you accomplished it?
I felt that I wanted to make an album with good songs that could appeal to both musicians and non-musicians alike. It’s a guitar album, so of course I wanted to have lots of cool guitar playing on there, but the songs and the overall production was the number one priority. My producer, Daniel Flores, shared this vision, and I think that we succeeded. I’m very happy with the album. But as always there’s room for improvement. I always aim for the next level.

Did the actual writing for the album come together quickly?
Yes, I must say it did. Two songs where already written, Riddle Me This and Moment Of Clarity, and the rest came together pretty fast. I collaborated with my producer/drummer Daniel Flores on Truffle Shuffle and the title track, with Per Nilsson on Devils’s Dance and Carte Blanche and with Richard Tham on Song For Pongo. I had some basic ideas and melodies for these songs, but it’s so easy to get stuck when you’re writing on your own. It was a great help to write with these talented musicians and I feel it also expanded my vocabulary as a composer.

You have a great case of supporting musicians on the album, how did you get involved with them and what did they add to the album?
I’ve worked with Daniel Flores on many projects in the past, and besides from being a great drummer he’s also an experienced producer/arranger so he was a big help in the making this album, on many levels. Andreas Olsson is a friend of mine and he played great bass guitar on the first two songs we recorded. Johann Niemann is an excellent all-round bass player and long-time friend. Also, considering he’s Daniel Flores band member in Minds Eye he was just the obvious choice to play bass on the rest of the tracks. They work really well together from playing together for such a long time.

As far as the keyboard soloists are concerned I’m very proud to have Kaspar Dahlqvist, Johannes Stöle and Andreas Lindahl as guests on the album. I’ve heard Kaspar and Andreas with various bands and projects in the past and Johannes and I are good friends and also band mates in Orange Crush. As soloists they all have their own personal playing styles and they add their own little flavour to the songs.

Do you have any favourite tracks on the album, and if so why?
I like all the songs for different reasons. They’re kind of my babies in a way, haha. But Moment Of Clarity, If Things Were Different and the title track are my favourites right now. Tomorrow I might like some other songs more…

How long have you been playing guitar and who were your primary influences when starting out?
I’ve been playing since I was ten, so that’s twenty-one years. Although I didn’t get a real teacher until I was 12 when I started to study for Johnny Ohlin (Nation, Dionysus). Johnny was a huge inspiration for me, and he’s still one of my favourite players. Also he got me to listen to players like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Lukather and Reb Beach, which definitely helped to shape my sound. Good role models are very important when you start out. And as I kid I listened a lot to my parents music. They had tapes with The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Abba among others, which also had a big impact on me. I didn’t realize that until much later.

Do any of those early influences still hold a place in your inspiration?
Yes, every one of them, although my taste has of course expanded a bit over the years. I later got into more jazz and fusion players, like Allan Holdsworth, Pat Metheney and Scott Henderson to name a few, but I’m still a “rocker at heart”, haha. 

There are some great tones on the album, what equipment did you use and what would you say is the key piece of gear that helps gets the Palmqvist tone?
Thank you very much! Well, I guess it’s a combination of things. I would like to believe that a big part of my sound is in my hands. And I think that’s a really important point to make (especially to younger players who’s just starting out that might read this). When I was studying at MI I was always impressed with how great some of the teachers would sound (for example Scott Henderson, Brett Garsed or Allan Hinds), even when they were plugged into a really shitty amp. They always sounded like themselves. Their sound is in their hands, to the biggest part at least.

But of course, good gear helps. One important piece of gear is my amp. It’s a Tommy Folkesson modified Marshall and it has a really nice warm distortion sound. Having good, well-adjusted guitars is also important. Other than that I don’t know. I used a shure 57 mic and a marshall speaker cabinet along with my amp. No “secret” effect pedals or tricks. What comes out of the amp is what gets recorded…

What do you look for in a guitar when buying a new one?
It’s several different things. The tone and feel is the most important thing of course, but also the way it looks, I must admit. If I didn’t like the way it look I probably wouldn’t pick it up in the first place, haha. I’ve got a lot of different types of guitars, but I mostly play strat type of guitars (some fenders, some custom built), and I’ve found that the lighter the instrument is, the better it sounds (in my experience). Also, the way the guitar sounds acoustically is very important. Pickups and other hardware are easy to change (and I usually modify them quite a bit), and if the guitar resonates well and sound good unplugged it will most likely be a good instrument.

Your website has a lot of cool features, I see you do lessons, how long have you been teaching and how many students do you have?
I’ve been teaching for about seven years now. For the moment I teach full time, so I have around 50 students. All different ages, from small children to adults .

What do you feel you get personally from teaching?
If the student really wants to learn and is open to what I’m teaching it can be very rewarding job. It’s great to be able to help someone get musical experiences and to help them to improve and find their identity as a player. Also it makes me think a little bit extra about my own playing, and how I actually think and practice when I try to explain things to my students. I’ve found I don’t always practice what I preach, haha.

Are you involved with any band projects?
Yes. I’m currently working with a new band project with Daniel Flores, Johan Niemann and vocalist Maria Rådsten. The style will be contemporary melodic metal in the style of Evanescense and Within Temptation. Heavy riffs and catchy melodies. Really cool stuff in my opinion.

I’m also working with singer/keyboardist Johannes Stole in the band Orange Crush. That band is more in the style of pop/rock. We hope to find the time to finish our debut album in the near future.

Also, I recently recorded some guest guitars for an upcoming album with the progressive/metal band Pedestrians Of Blue. They’ve really made a great album, so keep your eyes open for that release.

What do you have planned for 2006 and beyond?
To keep on working with the bands and projects I’m involved with. I’m also writing for another solo album, and the ideas I have so far feels really good.

Many thanks for your time.
Thank you!



Web Links

Official Daniel Palmqvist website