sTEvE hAcKETT ON MIKAEL ÅKERfELdT

“I first became aware of Mikael through the stuff he did with Steven Wilson. It seemed quite radical, and I thought, ‘Hmm, interesting voice.’ I wasn’t really aware of his death metal background at the time, but I picked that up latterly – I suspect that’s only part of the picture with him.

Most of us concentrate all our efforts on something that can broadly be called a genre, whether that’s progressive music or death metal. But

I’m interested in the way things can develop and the way you can transcend the limitation of genres, and I think he is too.

I get the feeling that Mikael considers himself more of a guitarist than a singer. The rest of us, while we note that he plays excellent guitar, there’s a uniqueness to his voice – a depth and a soul. It’s a voice that can sing death metal, but also a voice that can sing ballads and do all this other stuff.

He’s a multifaceted character with tremendous capabilities.

Mikael helped out on my Genesis revisited project, where he sang some of Supper’s ready. But I would love to collaborate with him again in the future because I think he’s absolutely terrific. I haven’t mentioned anything to him but I think something original would be good. He’s a big fan of the classic period of Genesis, and I’m getting interested in the area he’s working on. Once you start putting focus on each other’s things, interesting things can come out of it.”