VINTERSORG INTERVIEW

I have absolutely no idea what those Norwegian and Swedish musicians put in their water ... but whatever it is, I wouldn't mind having some of it myself. VINTERSORG is one of those bands that just breaks down and transcends all boundaries for what music is supposed to sound like. Much like their fellow mindsetters in Arcturus, Ulver and Solefald, VINTERSORG sets forth on a journey to challenge the listener with what can only be described as progressive black/folk metal ... Mr. Vintersorg takes it upon himself to reply to our questions;

Interview by Claus Jensen

1) Let's start by talking about the business. You've been with Napalm Records for lots of years now. Isn't it about time to move on to something bigger or are you happy with where you are?

"We're very satisfied how the relation between Napalm and us has been in the past and also at a current state, and we kind of have grown together. I mean we started to spread our visions to the masses through them, and they have grown quite a lot since the day we signed the deal with them. And it feels like they take our art seriously and don't try to interfere with the artistic direction, to make us more commercial or whatever. TFB is the last album on the contract, so right now I don't know how the situation will be in the future..we'll see what happens."

2) Your band is made up of musicians who are all busy with a billion other projects and bands - how do you find time to focus on all of it, and what's the most important one for you?

"I don't have priorities when it comes to which band I put most energy in, but of course there's periodical priorities, when you're working on an album with one band, that one is in focus. But I have zillions of musical ideas that constantly what's to break the boundaries from the interior to the exterior reality, it's more like I have to stop myself not doing too much parallel cause its quite consuming and can really burn you dry of energy and capacity. But still it's hard to stop this creative flow, so I try to balance it out, doing other stuff…but often they tend to include things that are connected to the art…hehehehe…but for the moment I think that I've found a nice harmony between all the bands and projects. I have so many sides of my musical identity that I want to explore, but all that can't fit in one band; it would be the most schizophrenic band ever heard of…hehehehe."

3) You originally started out as a black metal band with lots of folk Influences. Nowadays it's hard to label you that close. It's not like the folk and the black parts have disappeared, but so much more is happening in the music now. How did this "change" come about?

"The folk and the black metal essences are still very present if you ask me, but they've been approached from maybe a little bit different angle. This is something that has been very natural to us and we haven't really reflected upon it that much, the music directs itself and we just follow our hearts completing that mission. It's not some conscious step or strategy that we've taken. We're just two guys that want to increase our musical craft in every aspect of it, and then just recording the same type albums wouldn't make any sense, at least not from my vista. We're very serious with our art and don't just do this cause we want to make cool songs, it's a need that we have, to express our feelings though a musical medium, and therefore we can never compromise with what we feel. It would ruin our souls; we're artists and not entertainers if you understand me here. And I never try to label our music an any direction; it would be very hard as we have so many contrasts and a vast spectrum of genres in our music."

4) There's a lot of bands now playing the sort of folk-black style that you once were one of the creators of - what do you feel about that today?

"It's great. I don't know if they (the newer bands) have taken influence from the songs that we've recorded and released, and if they have it's nice. Still I feel that every band should follow their own path and try to figure out what they want to achieve with their music and then try to synthesize the music to that awareness. I nearly only listen to pioneers, and then it doesn't matter in what genre it has its forum, as long as I think it's good music. For me it's just dull and boring to listen to the type of music that I've heard 1000 times before…I like to experience something fresh, dive into the minds of some really challenging composer and see if it's something for me to listen to, and I must say that internet is a good canal to search though. So, to conclude: I'm flattered but still like people to really try to find their own sound and craft."

5) With Vintersorg's latest direction I think it's going to be hard to see bands come out and "copying" it (at least compared to the somewhat simpler folk/black). Is this an aim for you - creating something unique that just can't be copied?

"No, it's never an aim in itself. We follow the visions that we've set out and try to be 100% true to that agenda, and the new album is just a nice proof of that allegiance, between mind and body. It's easy to say and think that you want to create something very special that suits your state of mind, but it's much more intricate to make a reality of it. But I think we have succeeded in that task and we'll proceed with that forging, I see us as emotional blacksmiths that try to merge our feelings into one glaring piece of metal. So we never try to make the music more complex or whatever, to avoid followers. "

6) When listening to your albums, and especially the new one, it seems like you're willing to bring any element into the music, no matter how "weird" it may be, as long as it brings something new and interesting to the music - is this correct?

"It's correct. When I write the songs I never think like, is this metal enough, can this part really be on a metal album. I mean we're not only metal, we're folk, prog, jazz..so I just incorporate the elements that best describe the vibe and intention with the song. And therefore I'm free when I compose, I'm not tied by some chain that can't be broken, even if the goal isn't to break the unwritten musical rules, it happens often that those are kind of stretched to their boundaries, but not for the purpose to do that. It's much vaster and important to us than that. And as long that we try to trace our visions and turn them into music, we feel that we're on safe grounds within ourselves, and don't care if metal part is followed by a groovy jazz part."

7) Are there any limitations as to how far to take the music of Vintersorg?

"It's hard to say. I mean it must be some form of threshold that separates Vintersorg from what I'm doing in the other bands that I'm involved with, otherwise it wouldn't be any point in doing other stuff that are beyond Vintersorg. I have so many musical needs, and in Borknagar I get a totally different emotional feedback that I do in Vinterosrg. So every band is very important. But as long as we still feel it's Vintersorg, I can't see that we really are restricted by any limits. Still we'll not turn into a radio pop band, such a direction is the opposite of what we have as a goal, so in that case it's a limit I guess…so you see it's actually both."

8) Could you imagine going even more into the jazz world or into the progressive metal world with Vintersorg, or would you have to change the name of the band then?

"I think we've several elements in our music that leans very much into other genres than metal, prog and jazz parts is something that you'll find on TFB. But it's done in a manner that it contributes to the other darker and harsher elements. But I'm very into progressive rock myself, and I think you'll fins a lot of that, not that we've copy any other band, it's more like the atmosphere and the structures. We've found something quite unique in my opinion and we'll continue to explore that in all its aspects. Still embraced by the Vintersorgian spirit."

9) A thing that I find a bit funny with bands like yourself, Arcturus or Solefald (just to name some of the most avantgarde black/prog metal bands), is that your lyrical concept is made up of really "intelligent" word-plays. Is it kind of like an unwritten law that if you make such complicated music, then the lyrics also has to be beyond the norm?

"Nahh..I don't know. What I personally think is, if you put your whole spirit and energy in trying to write the best music possible it make no sense then to just scrap down some quick words as lyrics to that, why not try to write the best possible of the both. For me the lyrics are an equal important part of the art as the music. But it has come clearly to me that not all think in that way. I just try to make a symbiosis of the both in the best possible way; it's as simple as that actually."

10) Steve Di Giorgio and Asgeir Mickelson are quite high profile musicians - what is it like working with them, and do they have as big a say in the music as you and Mattias have?

"It's just magic to work with such musical wizards. And we're very satisfied with their work and their effort, it's not often you come across such a commitment to the art itself. They just seem to love their craft and they just absorb us and make us write and perform our part even better. They come in into the process when the recording is about to begin, of course we send them pre-prod of the songs..but we've never heard their intentions before we actually is in the studio. They filter the music through their artistic EQ and there you have it…hehehehe…we have the greatest respect for them."

11) The music of Vintersorg has become very complex, and I would imagine that it's going to be difficult to reproduce in a live-setting. Will the band be playing live, and if yes, how much will you have to re-arrange it?

"We're doing shows and are booked for several festival this summer. I think we manage to reproduce the songs very good live. We have very skilled musicians with us then as well, but of course it's hard to pay attention to every single detail, but all in all I think we make justice to the songs."

12) Please finish this interview with whatever you'd like to say, that I didn't ask you about .

"I don't think I have something to say..hahahaha..check out the new album, it's an adventure."