Daniel Josephy: Greetings from Costa Rica! I hope that you are doing fine. There’s a new Borknagar record coming up. When can we expect to see it in stores? Will there be an ultra limited signed digi-book with LP version or something like that hehe? (I would love that to be honest).
Øystein Garnes Brun: No date is set yet, but we are heading for an early autumn release. There will definitely be a limited version of the album. Which format I don't know yet.
D: How do you produce an album? Do you have some rough sketches of the songs and then everyone somehow contributes? Or how is it?
Ø: I write most of the basic melodies and arrangements. I make pre-productions in my home studio and send the material to the other guy's when I feel ready. Even though I make the main frames, musically speaking, I always leaves allot of space for the others to bloom and do their things...
D: What made you change labels?
Ø: Different reasons. But mainly because Indie Recordings came up with allot better offer in the overall and due to that fact that we know the guy's and wanted to be a part of this great Norwegian label. On the other hand our cooperation with Century Media was basically worn out somehow; we didn't feel the urge to work with that label anymore.
D: Can we expect more concerts now that there’s a new album coming up? Maybe at least a Scandinavian tour? I know that Borknagar is definitely not the touring type of band, do you think this affects album sales? Or are you content with not touring? The problem is a lot of us Borknagar fanboys would love to see you tour more hehe….
Ø: We have already confirmed Wacken this year and there might be some more shows as well. I don't think we going to do a huge tour this year, but there will definitely be some more selected shows. Yeah, we would probably have sold allot more albums if we where constantly touring, that's just the scene works. Even though, Century Media was always really surprised by the band as we really sold well in spite of the fact that we don't tour much. We were by far the best selling band on the label that originated from the black metal scene. Doing that without touring is very seldom. To me that prove that if the music is good enough, you don't need to go on the road for ages to push some albums.
D: You mentioned that you were going back to a rougher sound. Will this be more like Garm or Simen era? Does this mean that the progressive elements will be gone altogether?
Ø: Yeah, we are heading a little bit back to the musical core of the band but of course there is still a sense of progression. The new album will be very much focused, sharpened and no circling about so to speak. There will be some progressive elements, as usual, but the way we always have done it. So I really think that the ones that liked us back in the late '90's will adore the new album. At least I do that myself….
D: Will Vintersorg be singing only rough/Black vocals? Or will he be singing clear vocals too?
Ø: Yes and yes!
D: Also, how do you actually pronounce Vintersorg? Or how does Andreas pronounce it? Oh and how do you pronounce Borknagar?
Ø: All this depends on language and dialect. But Andreas says something like "Wintersorj" when it comes to Vintersorg. As for Borknagar, I simply say "Borknagar"… I don't know how to explain it otherwise… haha!
D: Will Lars be singing lead in some tracks of the new album as well?
Ø: Don't know yet. Might very well happen, at least some backing vocals.
D: How is Lars’ child? I thought that what happened in the last concert was quite ironic. Was it weird or difficult playing without the keyboards? Did you like that sound? Or did you feel that there was definitely something missing?
Ø: Last time I checked everything was fine with the little family. Of course, we missed him on the stage. Always a good fellow to have on the stage both musically and personally. Well, we have actually done a tour without synth before, been there done that, so it was not a huge problem. We just had to play a little bit faster and focus more on the metal side of things…haha!
D: There have been some rumours lately that Simen may be a guest in the new album. The fans are going crazy with this, we’d actually love to hear Simen as a guest in the new album. Can you please confirm or deny this?
Ø: I can neither confirm nor deny this at this point. But we keep in touch, he is a good friend.
D: This new album features one actual new member, Dave Kinkade. What made you or the band choose him? Who gets to decide on that? The whole band, or just you? How can Dave manage to be in Arsis and Borknagar at the same time? Oh, and does he speak Norwegian?
Ø: Dave was by far the best candidate, as simple as that. Also we spoke on the phone regularly for a couple of months and realised that we shared much the same attitude regarding music in general. The decision where made by all of us, but the initiative came from me. About Arsis vs. Borknagar I don't think that is a problem for Dave. We don't tour much, so as long as he can join us for the recording sessions and do some shows from time to time it's all OK. Nope, he does not speak Norwegian- but I am sure he will soon as he plans to move to Norway… haha!
D: Erik only left the band for a short period of time, and even though he played in “Origin” he did not return as an actual member until now. Why did he become a full member again?
Ø: Even though he officially quit the band some years ago, but he has lurked in the shadows of the band since then. When he felt empowered to join the band again it was the most natural choice to add him as a full time member. Basically I never think he really quit the band, I think he just needed some time off...
D: What do you think of his new basses? They’re nice, aren’t they?
Ø: The basses are great and they sound really great as well. Jens and I are planning to get our own costume made guitars. It's just a matter of time.
D: What incited Jens to leave the band and then come back four years later? Has he somehow influenced the band, musically speaking? How does it feel to have him back again?
Ø: Good to have him back. As with the rest of the guy's, Jens' way of playing guitar definitely colour the picture so to speak. Jens and I have very different way of playing, but that make our sound just broader and more interesting.
D: Asgeir suddenly and surprisingly left the band. Before that he had been collecting lots of Borknagar live material. At one moment the release of the DVD seemed imminent… but he then quit the band. Did he keep all the collected material or can we hope to see some Borknagar DVD soon? I would personally love that, amongst many other fans, believe me.
Ø: It was not a surprise for the rest of the band so to speak. Making a DVD should still be very possible. We have allot of material but at the time being it is more a matter of priorities. We are all very busy, musically and on the private side of life. So for the moment we choose to focus and work with the new material. Working on old material is always something that I find a bit boring to be quite honestly. But I am sure we'll make a DVD sometime in the future.
D: If I’m not mistaken Asgeir usually makes the covers of the albums. Now that he has left, who is in charge of that? What can we look forward to in the artwork?
Ø: Marcelo HVC (MySpace) is our new guy on design. He is really a visual wizard and has already started to work on design for the new album. We have got some scratches and it looks fantastic. Right now it's more a matter of choosing which way to go. I can't really say more than that it going to look great!
D: The last album “Origin,” was for me really good even though it was a bit too short. What incited you to do this acoustic album? It has also received very diverse critics, what do you think of that?
Ø: Since the very start of the band I have always had an idea about doing an acoustic album and so we did with ORIGIN. When I started out with BORKNAGAR I wrote all the music on acoustic guitar and in fact I still do that. So to close up a musical chapter I felt more or less obligated towards myself to do an acoustic album. And it turned out as a very good album I think, so I am glad we did it. To keep it a little bit too short was fully intentional from our side.
Yeah, the reactions were very diverse but I was surprised how much good response we actually got. Being a metal band and doing an acoustic album will always make some fans kinda displeased. I once did an interview with one journalist from Germany after the release of ORIGIN and he started the whole interview with the phrase "I am a metal-head from Germany and I don't like the album....why did you do it?". That's kinda sweet isn't it? Haha!
D: Definitely hahaha, his loss anyhow.
D: Borknagar (amongst other bands) has always taught people to respect and love nature. What do you think of the climate crisis?
Ø: The whole matter is just a sad story I think, that mankind have come to this point- actually destroying our own future. But on the other hand I think nature will survive and recoup, the only ones we are killing in a grand scale is ourselves. Mankind tends to think that we are the planet and everything is about us, I think that is a self-delusion in which may lead us to our downfall. At some point in history we have lost the connection with nature, we don't see us selves as a part of the natural chain but something above. Therefore I have a very critical, almost aggressive attitude towards Christianity and monotheistic religions in general. All that crap has made us believe that we are here to rule the planet and that the planet is just for us to exploit.
D: I agree, I’ve always promoted love for nature, but it’s quite hard when you’re in a Catholic and close-minded country like mine.
D: Any funny Norsk phrases that you care to tell us?
Ø: "Alt er jævlig til det motsatte er bevist!" (All shit is it to the opposite is proven!) - Asgeir Mickelson
D: Hahahaha! Do you go to lots of concerts in Norge (Norway)? Which living or dead artist would you like to see? What are some bands that you’ve been listening to lately?
Ø: No, I very seldom go to concerts. It doesn't really interest me. The only band I find worth checking out live is Pink Floyd and a few others. Lately I have been listening to the latest album from Porcupine Tree. It's a really great band!
D: If you could have some living or dead person participate as a guest in the new Borknagar album, who will it be and why?
Ø: I would love to see David Gilmore doing some guitar work on our albums...that would be absolutely great! If that would happen I think I just could have retired… haha!
D: What do you think of the new Enslaved album? Do you see Ivar every now and then?
Ø: Average, so I don't really understand the fuzz. To me the album sounds more like a demo production wise and musically speaking kind of boring. And where the fuck is all the progressive elements people are speaking about?
Well I see Ivar from time to time but I have not had any contact with him the last 10 years or so. He is a good guy but we separated ways many years ago.
D: Why is the official web-page never updated?
Ø: Seems like MySpace is the thing right now. We'll re-route the official site to our MySpace site.
D: A forum member (Azzor 1911) asks: “There were concerts of Borknagar back in 1996, rumour has it that Vortex did the vocals. I'd like some more information about Borknagar's live performances in the early days. Is it true that there were shows all the way back in 1996, maybe even a European tour? Because there's a video floating around of a gig in Amsterdam. And if there was, why didn't Garm handle the vocals?
Ø: Hmm.... as far as I remember we did a European tour with In Flames in 1997, a tour with Cradle of Filth in 1998 and then we did a tour with Emperor in the States back in 1999. I think the Amsterdam show you are referring to is from the tour with Cradle of Filth. Actually I think it was the very first show of that tour and it turned out terrible. Justin (that did the drums on that tour) played so many mistakes that we just had to leave the stage. We did not do any shows in 1996, as Garm refused to do anything live.
D: Back to me, do you think that your other projects and the ones of other members of the band have influenced Borknagar in some way? How do you feel working with Andreas in both Borknagar and Cronian? Would you like to be a guest in the next Vintersorg album?
Ø: Yeah to a certain degree of course, but I think that also goes the other way. Doing different musical projects is to me just empowering. And I think that the same goes for the rest of the guy's. There should be no limit when it comes to one’s personal musical urges and visions. That is totally against the BORK- philosophy so to speak...
D: The Molested reissues are finally coming, what can we expect?
Ø: Musical violence I would say. MOLESTED was a very obscure and dark band musically. I still find the music quite cool actually; it's so primitive and brutal. But I am still impressed by the crazy riffs/song writing from that time and the passion we actually put into that band. Everything was so intense and real somehow.
The album and the m-CD we put out in the mid nineties will be released both on vinyl (on Galgenstrang) and an exclusive CD (Ars Magna) with all the material included. A really nice package! And the vinyls are really great also….
D: Well I think that’s it, thank you very much for answering the questions! I can’t wait for the new release! Ha det bra!
Ø: Thanx for the support bro! We won't let you down with the new album, be sure!
Answered by Øystein G. Brun, March 2009
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