ANDERS FRIDÉN Jokes That IN FLAMES Found New Bassist LIAM WILSON On TINDER

At last weekend's Summer Breeze festival in Dinkelsbühl, Germany, IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridénspoke to EMP about the recent departure of bassist Bryce Paul and addition of Liam Wilson (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN). Regarding the reason for the bassist switch, Anders said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Bryce] wanted to focus on family. And we're still good friends, so there's no bad blood whatsoever. And we were extremely lucky to find this young, beautiful man on Tinder," he added, referring to Liam. "Bass Tinder."

Asked if it was "a no-brainer" for him to join IN FLAMES, Liam said: "A little bit. Yeah. At first I was a little hesitant. I've kind of been in a very Clark Kent mindset lately, and to kind of all of a sudden put on the Superman suit again was a little, let's see if it fits. But yeah, as soon as I got out on stage and met these guys… I think the most apprehension was just 'cause, you know, new people, new situation. But once we played, it was, like, 'Oh, okay, this feels…' You know, this shoe fits."

Anders added: "He was a hero coming in, saving us. Our first show was Athens, and up until that point, we had not been in a rehearsal situation together. So he rehearsed on his own back home and we met on stage. So, obviously, hanging out backstage before, but not playing-wise… But we're professionals."

Asked if he was nervous performing with IN FLAMES for the first time without any rehearsals, Liam said: "A little bit. Yeah. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. It was more apprehension. I felt comfortable with it, but the live thing is different than at home in my basement with headphones, for sure. But it was also exciting, and I trusted these guys. They all made me feel like there's no way this isn't gonna work, so just go have fun."

Fridén, for his part, said that he wasn't nervous "at all" at IN FLAMES' first show with Liam. "I know he's a great player, so that's not the problem, really," Anders explained. "It's more about [all of us] hanging out. We are on stage one hour, one and a half hour. And it's about the other hours of the day. And [it's been a] super fit. So it's awesome."

Wilson made his live debut with IN FLAMES on June 7 at the Release Athens 2023 festival in Athens, Greece.

In a June 2017 interview with YesterdazeNews, IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte was asked how Bryce joined the band following the departure of longtime bassist Peter Iwers. Gelotte said: "Well, so, Håkan [Skoger], a really good friend of ours, came in and did the bass on the U.K. run we did, and then we did a European run after that. But family life didn't work with what we do. We're away a lot, and he wasn't ready for that, or his family took a decision that he couldn't do this. And it sucked, obviously, but that's something that we respect — family goes first, always. So when we were going over to the U.S. for the Rock On The Range and all those festivals, we needed to have somebody from the U.S., because there was no time to get a visa [for the new bassist]. We had our visas, but we needed to have somebody from the U.S. And Joe [Rickard], our drummer [at the time] — he's been with us since we recorded [the 2016 IN FLAMES album] 'Battles' — he said he has this friend in Nashville that he's played a lot with and he's awesome, and maybe he should try. He got the songs, he started rehearsing, we met him in Nashville for two days and then we started the tour."

Iwers quit IN FLAMES in November 2016, saying that he was leaving the band "to pursue other endeavors."

During a recent appearance on Doc Coyle's (GOD FORBID, BAD WOLVES) "The Ex Man" podcast, Fridén was asked if he and Gelotte are "tough to be in a band" with, considering all the lineup changes they've gone through over the years. Anders responded: "Yeah, maybe. That could be. Who knows? I'm very determined. know what I want. I know what to do. But I'm not always right. But I think there are different points in life. And things happen. We never fired anyone. It's just the way it is. That's a question for someone else, I guess. But I know what I want. I wanna take this band here, and then I go for that. I don't know how to answer [that question], really."

IN FLAMES' latest album, "Foregone", was released in February via Nuclear Blast. According to a press release, the LP "combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of their landmark records with the seasoned songwriting of their postmodern era."

"Foregone" was the second IN FLAMES album with Paul and drummer Tanner Wayne, the first with ex-MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick, and the third with Grammy-winning producer Howard Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, THREE DAYS GRACE). Mike Plotnikoff (ALL THAT REMAINS, WARBRINGER) engineered at Benson's West Valley Recording Studios. Joe Rickard (10 YEARS, STARSET, DIAMANTE),who played drums for IN FLAMES from 2016 through 2019, handled mixing duties.