Mörkemen is one of those bands that you just can't put your finger on. With no genre to place them under, it is simply good music that all metal heads will enjoy....
LS: Good day and thank you for your time in doing
this interview. Hope all is well over there in beautiful Norway.
H: All is great :) Lots going on...
LS: From what I know so far, Mörkemen was started
by you back in 2003.
Could you give me a run down on a brief history of
the band in the beginning?
H: Indeed I can :) The band was formed with one
intention...to simply play in a band with no ambition, except to have fun...you
know, Friday rehearsals / parties :)
Formed by me and Dolgar of Gehenna, we decided on Mörkemen
as it refers to darkness in many ways...
We tried out a lot of people to join the band, but
it took us 6 years to get a stable, working band. And summer in 2009, we got a
drummer who made it possible for us to expand our repetoir...and thus the saga
really begins !
LS: Finally around 2009 things started to come
together and you had released a few demos and even played live a couple of
times.
Tell me a bit about the early days of live shows...
what kind of crowd were you playing for...what kind of reaction did you get from them?
(Maybe some first time listeners)
H: We released 3 demos and one of them we entered
in a demo contest which landed us a nice 3 place...and we only played 4 shows.
Besides family and friends, there was both first time listeners and some
who always showed up :) And people reacted very positive... Actually our first
demo release party was sold out :)
LS: Was it 2010 that you guys released your first EP " HEKSAKUNST "?
How did the fans take to this new album?
Is it still available anywhere these days and if so where?
H: Yeah, we released the EP in winter 2010 on all
your standard digital stores adn locally at record stores. It sold ok locally
and the stores told us to get a record or distribution deal because our EP sold
quit fast...To get it nowadays one has to order from us :) Not sure how many are
left though...
LS: As I read, you originally had planned on
touring for the EP yet changed your minds and decided to work on your first full
length album.Why did you not tour? Did you feel that working on
a full length would make your time more well spent?
H: Well, the idea was to tour the west coast of
Norway to promote the EP and the band in general and to get ourselves stage
time. Then we got an offer from Indie Distribution who wanted us in their
catalogue and spread it around. However, at the time we given the oppertunity to
record a whole album for free, and we agreed to make an album instead...
To promote an album is better then just an EP, and we got to make many more and
much stronger songs :) So the 13 months we spent in studio was well worth the 12
months making and rehearsing 12 songs...
LS: These days you guys are still working on
releasing the full length and plan to have it ready to go sometime this year
(2013) What can you tell us about this album?
From what I know, it will have a totally different sound then your early material.
Do you have a name picked out yet for this album and who will be releasing it?
H: It may be in 2013, we´ll see. But I can tell you
that our debut album is by far our strongest songs yet. As I said it took us 2
years to make and record it. We wanted it to be slightly dirtier sound wise, but
with the punch our music needs...
The debut album is named Gravbrev (meaning letters
from the tomb) and the cover is being made by a good friend of ours...
LS: Recently you guys brought it Jan-Terje Ivebakk on keyboards.
You didn't have keyboards on your older material....or did you?
How did it come about that Terje got this position and if there was no prior
keyboard use in other material, what made you decide to add that touch to your music now?
H: Well, we have always had choirs, but done by us.
On the album we even brought in a female vocalist on 1 song and used keyboards
for choirs and piano and symphonics (even it is just one chello and one violin)
We also incorporated more effects this time. The decision to bring keyboard into
he band was actually everybody. I made an suggestion to get ourselves a
witch-choir with 3 women singing...and we did...and it worked out really
great...but it proved being an issue when trying to assemble everybody and plan
out live shows, and there is an economic side to having 3 extra people in a
band...So, we opted for keyboards, as we realized that with keyboard we could
keep the choir sound and we could incorporate other elements into our darkness
:) Jan Terje was asked to try out because he is a good friend of mine as he
played in Forlorn in the early days...
LS: I am a bit confused. The very first song I ever
heard by you guys was "Vargtimen " I would watch that video over and over again.
It is great!
So this song is off your "Heksakunst." EP and
your newer music will sound similar....although the song " Dødssynd " sounds a
lot more heavy. Straighten this out for me....What will your new music sound
like?
H: Like nothing else, hehehe...No, the music on the
album is dynamic, so we have slow, fast, melodic, punchy but all with
head banging in mind :)
LS: In the video for "Dødssynd " you guys wear
corpse paint.. Is that going to still apply to Mörkemen?
H: No, hehe, it was not meant to be standard corpse
paint. Thing is that on our release party for Heksakunst we wanted to do
something special, so we decided to dress ass dead men of power...like dead
priest, lawyer, etc...and we had a rehearsal with stage outfits and my
girlfriend filmed it with an iPhone, and I made a video of it...mostly for fun
to check out the video program...and it looked cool, so I put it on youtube :)
But it is too extreme for us...So we only did the one show and has since only
performed in all black clothes...But we are still trying to find our «image»
LS: I still can't put my finger on it, how would
you describe your music...I mean it wont be for the black metal lover but it may
be a bit too heavy for the typical old school heavy metal lover.
H: That is exactly our greatest problem...we have
big problems defining our music style...we blend blackish guitars blended with
metallica-ish guitars. We use choirs as a part of the sound and it is very
melodic. We have not found one genre we feel comfortable with...And we agree
with your statement...but we see we attract many different people at our
shows...all people in all ages...so it is really difficult to
say...
LS: You'll be playing live on June 29th
at Helgåfestivalen in Norway.
For those that is not familiar with this, is this a
club? What kind of bands will be playing that night...ect...
H: Its a festival a couple of miles outside of
Stavanger. It consists of music from all genres...and is a yearly thing. Its our
debut at a festival and we really look forward to playing outside at night :)
LS: What happens after the release of your debut
full length? Possible touring or maybe start up on new material...?
H: Giging and touring for sure...we have been
working so long on the album that we need to play it live...
LS: Does Mörkemen have any long term goals in
mind...where would you like to see the band in say 10 years?
H: Well, I would like to see the band in the same
spirit as today, with the same goals as today...to have fun and doing what we
love with no regards to standards...I see us still recording and playing live,
but as we also bought a recording studio we hope they both will co-exist and
consist of fun :)
LS: Aside from releasing your new album and your
upcoming show, what are your immediate plans? Any other shows you'd like to
mention?
H: We are playing at another local venue, but has
not set a date yet...other than that we will try to put together a tour along
the west coast of Norway and perhaps in the big cities...
LS: No offense meant here, but you guys all seem to
be older mature men. (Not teenagers) I know Terje has kids and wife or long time
girlfriend. What about the rest of you and does this cause any problems as far
as time you guys have to work on music or possibly go on long time
tours?
H: hehe, none taken :) But yes, we are all in the
prime of our lives and it works like hell. It has never been a big problem
throughout the years, for us to take the time we see necessary to make music :)
We also do other things together like golfing and going to hockey games and even
travel on vacations together...not everybody all the time, but still...We have
magnificent chemistry in the band and a strong bond between us all...
LS: This is more along the lines of a personal
question. In the beginning (Back when you were a kid) What do you think it was
that made you decide that playing in a band was something you would like to do
and at what age?
H: I started my first band when I was 13, and it
was death metal...but my inspiration for doing so was Metallica...and even
though I am a guitar player, it was Cliff Burton who inspired me most to become a
musician...his attitude onstage and awesome playing was intoxicating :)
LS: You are the vocalist in the band. Do you play
any instruments at all?
Would you like to take a minute to introduce the
rest of the band and there part in the band?
H: Hell yeah :) I play mainly guitar and keyboards.
I write all the lyrics and make most of the music together with Jan Egil Haugrud
and Kent Håkon Olsen. But everybody puts their touch on the songs...The 1
version of a song always changes a little and sounds stronger and better when
its recording time. Jan Petter and Ådne Eidheim bring strong opinions and comes
with riffs and ideas. They also do backing vocals along with Jan Egil Haugrud.
LS: Your lyrics are in Norwegian...at least the
songs I have heard are.
Is there any plan of having any songs sung in
English on your upcoming album ?
H: No, the Norwegian aspect is a big part of our
sound, as it is completely natural for me to write as I think and speak...I do
not write in the official Norwegian, but as I talk...as is my dialect...For me
its important to be true to oneself and to the music instead of worrying about
reaching out to billions of people...But when I do use a different language, I
prefer Latin and Old Norse as they provide something to our
music...
Would you write a song in Mandarin or Spanish
simply because they are the largest languages in the world ?
LS: I don't speak such good Norwegian any more but
I do understand it for the most part when I hear it. For those who don't
understand it, can you explain at least the theme of your music and what you
sing about? Where do your lyrics come from?
H: I write about darkness in all forms...both the
darkness in everyday lives and the darkness from religion, folklore and
fantasy...It can be typical metal stuff as demons, witches and trolls and as
common as moral, capitalism and religion.
LS: Well, we have come to the end and I would once
again like to thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing the new album.
Now I would like to give you the chance to say whatever it is that maybe we
didn't speak about or just some simple words to the readers?
H: No, thank you for taking the time to check us
out and for promoting us on your sites :)
I think we covered it all, hehe :) We all feel we have done a kick ass job
with the album, so I hope people will spend some
minutes of their time to check it out, and hopefully come see us live if we are
near bye ! :)
You can find Mörkemen on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/morkemen
You can check out the two songs I mentioned during
the interview here.
http://youtu.be/4aRP8aAEhiY
http://youtu.be/fXWP_y_-dKw
this interview. Hope all is well over there in beautiful Norway.
H: All is great :) Lots going on...
LS: From what I know so far, Mörkemen was started
by you back in 2003.
Could you give me a run down on a brief history of
the band in the beginning?
H: Indeed I can :) The band was formed with one
intention...to simply play in a band with no ambition, except to have fun...you
know, Friday rehearsals / parties :)
Formed by me and Dolgar of Gehenna, we decided on Mörkemen
as it refers to darkness in many ways...
We tried out a lot of people to join the band, but
it took us 6 years to get a stable, working band. And summer in 2009, we got a
drummer who made it possible for us to expand our repetoir...and thus the saga
really begins !
LS: Finally around 2009 things started to come
together and you had released a few demos and even played live a couple of
times.
Tell me a bit about the early days of live shows...
what kind of crowd were you playing for...what kind of reaction did you get from them?
(Maybe some first time listeners)
H: We released 3 demos and one of them we entered
in a demo contest which landed us a nice 3 place...and we only played 4 shows.
Besides family and friends, there was both first time listeners and some
who always showed up :) And people reacted very positive... Actually our first
demo release party was sold out :)
LS: Was it 2010 that you guys released your first EP " HEKSAKUNST "?
How did the fans take to this new album?
Is it still available anywhere these days and if so where?
H: Yeah, we released the EP in winter 2010 on all
your standard digital stores adn locally at record stores. It sold ok locally
and the stores told us to get a record or distribution deal because our EP sold
quit fast...To get it nowadays one has to order from us :) Not sure how many are
left though...
LS: As I read, you originally had planned on
touring for the EP yet changed your minds and decided to work on your first full
length album.Why did you not tour? Did you feel that working on
a full length would make your time more well spent?
H: Well, the idea was to tour the west coast of
Norway to promote the EP and the band in general and to get ourselves stage
time. Then we got an offer from Indie Distribution who wanted us in their
catalogue and spread it around. However, at the time we given the oppertunity to
record a whole album for free, and we agreed to make an album instead...
To promote an album is better then just an EP, and we got to make many more and
much stronger songs :) So the 13 months we spent in studio was well worth the 12
months making and rehearsing 12 songs...
LS: These days you guys are still working on
releasing the full length and plan to have it ready to go sometime this year
(2013) What can you tell us about this album?
From what I know, it will have a totally different sound then your early material.
Do you have a name picked out yet for this album and who will be releasing it?
H: It may be in 2013, we´ll see. But I can tell you
that our debut album is by far our strongest songs yet. As I said it took us 2
years to make and record it. We wanted it to be slightly dirtier sound wise, but
with the punch our music needs...
The debut album is named Gravbrev (meaning letters
from the tomb) and the cover is being made by a good friend of ours...
LS: Recently you guys brought it Jan-Terje Ivebakk on keyboards.
You didn't have keyboards on your older material....or did you?
How did it come about that Terje got this position and if there was no prior
keyboard use in other material, what made you decide to add that touch to your music now?
H: Well, we have always had choirs, but done by us.
On the album we even brought in a female vocalist on 1 song and used keyboards
for choirs and piano and symphonics (even it is just one chello and one violin)
We also incorporated more effects this time. The decision to bring keyboard into
he band was actually everybody. I made an suggestion to get ourselves a
witch-choir with 3 women singing...and we did...and it worked out really
great...but it proved being an issue when trying to assemble everybody and plan
out live shows, and there is an economic side to having 3 extra people in a
band...So, we opted for keyboards, as we realized that with keyboard we could
keep the choir sound and we could incorporate other elements into our darkness
:) Jan Terje was asked to try out because he is a good friend of mine as he
played in Forlorn in the early days...
LS: I am a bit confused. The very first song I ever
heard by you guys was "Vargtimen " I would watch that video over and over again.
It is great!
So this song is off your "Heksakunst." EP and
your newer music will sound similar....although the song " Dødssynd " sounds a
lot more heavy. Straighten this out for me....What will your new music sound
like?
H: Like nothing else, hehehe...No, the music on the
album is dynamic, so we have slow, fast, melodic, punchy but all with
head banging in mind :)
LS: In the video for "Dødssynd " you guys wear
corpse paint.. Is that going to still apply to Mörkemen?
H: No, hehe, it was not meant to be standard corpse
paint. Thing is that on our release party for Heksakunst we wanted to do
something special, so we decided to dress ass dead men of power...like dead
priest, lawyer, etc...and we had a rehearsal with stage outfits and my
girlfriend filmed it with an iPhone, and I made a video of it...mostly for fun
to check out the video program...and it looked cool, so I put it on youtube :)
But it is too extreme for us...So we only did the one show and has since only
performed in all black clothes...But we are still trying to find our «image»
LS: I still can't put my finger on it, how would
you describe your music...I mean it wont be for the black metal lover but it may
be a bit too heavy for the typical old school heavy metal lover.
H: That is exactly our greatest problem...we have
big problems defining our music style...we blend blackish guitars blended with
metallica-ish guitars. We use choirs as a part of the sound and it is very
melodic. We have not found one genre we feel comfortable with...And we agree
with your statement...but we see we attract many different people at our
shows...all people in all ages...so it is really difficult to
say...
LS: You'll be playing live on June 29th
at Helgåfestivalen in Norway.
For those that is not familiar with this, is this a
club? What kind of bands will be playing that night...ect...
H: Its a festival a couple of miles outside of
Stavanger. It consists of music from all genres...and is a yearly thing. Its our
debut at a festival and we really look forward to playing outside at night :)
LS: What happens after the release of your debut
full length? Possible touring or maybe start up on new material...?
H: Giging and touring for sure...we have been
working so long on the album that we need to play it live...
LS: Does Mörkemen have any long term goals in
mind...where would you like to see the band in say 10 years?
H: Well, I would like to see the band in the same
spirit as today, with the same goals as today...to have fun and doing what we
love with no regards to standards...I see us still recording and playing live,
but as we also bought a recording studio we hope they both will co-exist and
consist of fun :)
LS: Aside from releasing your new album and your
upcoming show, what are your immediate plans? Any other shows you'd like to
mention?
H: We are playing at another local venue, but has
not set a date yet...other than that we will try to put together a tour along
the west coast of Norway and perhaps in the big cities...
LS: No offense meant here, but you guys all seem to
be older mature men. (Not teenagers) I know Terje has kids and wife or long time
girlfriend. What about the rest of you and does this cause any problems as far
as time you guys have to work on music or possibly go on long time
tours?
H: hehe, none taken :) But yes, we are all in the
prime of our lives and it works like hell. It has never been a big problem
throughout the years, for us to take the time we see necessary to make music :)
We also do other things together like golfing and going to hockey games and even
travel on vacations together...not everybody all the time, but still...We have
magnificent chemistry in the band and a strong bond between us all...
LS: This is more along the lines of a personal
question. In the beginning (Back when you were a kid) What do you think it was
that made you decide that playing in a band was something you would like to do
and at what age?
H: I started my first band when I was 13, and it
was death metal...but my inspiration for doing so was Metallica...and even
though I am a guitar player, it was Cliff Burton who inspired me most to become a
musician...his attitude onstage and awesome playing was intoxicating :)
LS: You are the vocalist in the band. Do you play
any instruments at all?
Would you like to take a minute to introduce the
rest of the band and there part in the band?
H: Hell yeah :) I play mainly guitar and keyboards.
I write all the lyrics and make most of the music together with Jan Egil Haugrud
and Kent Håkon Olsen. But everybody puts their touch on the songs...The 1
version of a song always changes a little and sounds stronger and better when
its recording time. Jan Petter and Ådne Eidheim bring strong opinions and comes
with riffs and ideas. They also do backing vocals along with Jan Egil Haugrud.
LS: Your lyrics are in Norwegian...at least the
songs I have heard are.
Is there any plan of having any songs sung in
English on your upcoming album ?
H: No, the Norwegian aspect is a big part of our
sound, as it is completely natural for me to write as I think and speak...I do
not write in the official Norwegian, but as I talk...as is my dialect...For me
its important to be true to oneself and to the music instead of worrying about
reaching out to billions of people...But when I do use a different language, I
prefer Latin and Old Norse as they provide something to our
music...
Would you write a song in Mandarin or Spanish
simply because they are the largest languages in the world ?
LS: I don't speak such good Norwegian any more but
I do understand it for the most part when I hear it. For those who don't
understand it, can you explain at least the theme of your music and what you
sing about? Where do your lyrics come from?
H: I write about darkness in all forms...both the
darkness in everyday lives and the darkness from religion, folklore and
fantasy...It can be typical metal stuff as demons, witches and trolls and as
common as moral, capitalism and religion.
LS: Well, we have come to the end and I would once
again like to thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing the new album.
Now I would like to give you the chance to say whatever it is that maybe we
didn't speak about or just some simple words to the readers?
H: No, thank you for taking the time to check us
out and for promoting us on your sites :)
I think we covered it all, hehe :) We all feel we have done a kick ass job
with the album, so I hope people will spend some
minutes of their time to check it out, and hopefully come see us live if we are
near bye ! :)
You can find Mörkemen on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/morkemen
You can check out the two songs I mentioned during
the interview here.
http://youtu.be/4aRP8aAEhiY
http://youtu.be/fXWP_y_-dKw