Glittertind
Date: 20 December 2013
MM - Hey great to meet you, how's 2013 been for you?
BE - Hey! Great to meet you too! 2013 has been a really exciting year. It has mostly revolved around “Djevelsvart”. The first six months we did our final touches on the records, and the last part have mostly been promoting it. The album has been really well received, which is very exciting. The year has basically been lots of hard work, but lots of fun as well!
MM - Could you give me a brief history of the band?
BE - Glittertind started out as a one man project. Torbjørn, our singer, guitarist and songwriter, wanted to make punk covers of old traditional Norwegian songs. The inspiration was mainly taken from the grand, collective histories Norwegians have told themselves. The lyrics revolved around themes such as the story of what Norway is, the great conflicts between authority and submission, between Christianity and Asatro (the belief in Norse gods), what language to speak, between neo-liberalism and socialism and so on. The red thread on these earlier albums has been the search for meaning and coherence. After our previous album “Landkjenning” Torbjørn and Geirmund, who joined on that album, decided to take the music to the live scene. Me and three other guys joined the band, and after several live shows we began writing “Djevelsvart”.
MM - Your new album has had some brilliant reviews, was it an easy process writing the new album and what influenced you the most?
BE - I would not say it has been easy writing this album. We started in 2010, and spent three years in the studio. Three years is a long time to work on 40 minutes, but on the other hand it has been very inspiring working this thoroughly with music. Most of the time was spent working on details to create the perfect sound for each song.
Part of the inspiration for the lyrical concept of “Djevelsvart” derives from writers who by the end of the 19th century said something about what it means to be a modern human being. The writers had to relate to the fact that religion lost its power of explanation concerning man and the world, the alienation in the factory work, and the growth of the big cities. From being members of communities with close ties, they now found themselves to be aliens among aliens. Gradually, the individual has been left to itself to carry the responsibility of answering the question: Who am I?
Musically this album is very eclectic. We include many different elements in our music, the most obvious ones being folk music, punk and heavy metal. Our producer is also working as a composer for movies and tv, which brings a completely different dimension to our expression. Through him we have included everything from romantic orchestral parts, gregorian chant, contemporary classical music as well as modern electronic elements. The sum off all these different styles is one of the things that make us a bit different from other bands.
MM - The album artwork is stunning, did you guys have much in put into it?
BE - Thank you! The artist, Linda Røed, is a very good friend of us. We gave her some of the lyrics from the album, and what she made fitted the concept of the album perfectly.
MM - Plans for 2014, such as festivals etc?
BE - In 2014 we plan to play as much as possible live. We have already been booked to Inferno festival in Oslo, and Blastfest in Bergen. We are currently planning a tour here in Norway, but we hope to have some gigs out in Europe as well. In addition to all the live shows, we will start writing songs for our next album. Hopefully, it won’t take three years this time.
MM - What would you say has been your biggest highlight so far as a musician?
BE - That must be the first time we played live. We had only been releasing records for several years before we decided to play the songs live. We were very nervous, and the audience was curious if we could cut it live. The show went great and the audience was amazing. A great experience!
MM - What are you listening to on your ipod at the moment?
BE - I listen to a lot of thing, but there are two artists that I really like now. The first one is The Ocean. I love their newest album “Pelalgial”. It is both hard and has really good melodies. The second one is Avishai Cohen. He is an amazing jazz bassist that blends middle-eastern folk music with jazz. It is very good when you need to relax.
MM - Best and worst things about touring?
BE - The best thing is to be able to meet new people and play in front of your fans. The worst is probably waiting for sound check.
MM - Any final words for your fans and our readers?
BE - First a thank you to all the people that are reading this, also a big thanks to all the people that support us by listening to our music . We hope to see you on the road soon!
Interview by: Seb Di Gatto