JONAS RENKSE Discusses KATATONIA's Split With ANDERS NYSTRÖM

Katatonia split with founding guitarist Anders Nyström earlier this year after founding the back with vocalist Jonas Renkse way back in 1991. It didn't seem like Nyström and Renkse saw eye to eye about things at the time of the split, considering the vast differences in their statements.

At the time, Renkse said the split was the best option "for everyone to thrive and move forward with their own creative preferences as well as personal schedules this has become the realistic option." However, Nyström's statement was a little more acrimonious as he noted "Katatonia could and should have been mutually laid to rest while exploiting the freedom to continue in any desirable direction under a new name. But with Jonas now regrouping with new members and navigating further in his own direction, I no longer need to wait and see which way the wind is blowing to enter that void and grab hold of what's been abandoned."

So what happened there? According to Renkse in a new interview with Metal Global, the split was a long time coming and wasn't a shock to either himself or Nyström.

"It's been on our radar for quite some time, and to us it wasn't really a surprise at all. It's unfortunate things like that happen. Obviously, it's something that — I mean, change, it happens to everything at some point. And this is just the way it is. But I usually think about it like I'm so happy that we had so much time together to do and create all these memories that we have that's connected to the band and the things that we have achieved. We had 30-plus years to do it, which is longer than most marriages probably.

"So, I try to look at it in a different light and try to see something positive coming out of it. So that's the way, for me, how I'm dealing with it. And the rest is just — I mean, I wanna continue making music. That's my drive and I'm still hungry for it. It's something that I invested so much time in my life to do it, and I'm in a place where I really like to be, so I just wanna go on."

Renkse also noted that being in a band is a lot of work, which seems to hint at some possible disagreements behind the scenes about how things should be run. Because why else would he bring that up?

"People probably don't understand or have the capacities to see what's going into being in a band because it's a lot of work. I mean, if someone goes to a concert and sees the band perform, and this includes me as well, because I'm still, when I'm seeing other bands perform, I'm thinking to myself, like, 'Wow, they have such a splendid life. They just go up there and play a show and that's it. And then they have a bottle of champagne waiting for them.' But it's not always like that. That's a rare occasion. But we do it because we love it, but it's definitely not easy."