Q&A with Spitfire

The Norwegian four-piece Spitfire released ‘Burning Your Shadows’ back in May on Rob Mules Records. Now, just hours since they returned to Norwegian soil, after a successful headliner-gig at the German festival Motorrock, they sit down with us to have a chat on what’s in store for Spitfire in the nearby future. For those of you who have lived under a rock the past months, Spitfire is going to release a new track called ‘Spitfire’ Friday 24 August.

Who is Spitfire, and what is the story behind your band name?

Spitfire are four guys with a common passion for music. We’ve been through lots of ups and downs together, but maybe that’s a story for later. We think that the definition of Spitfire, which is an outspoken person, or a person with a fierce temper, really suits the band. 

Spitfire will release a second track ‘FireEater’ on Rob Mules Records this Friday. Back in May ‘Burning You Shadows’ came out. In short, can you tell us how those tracks came about from start to finish?

Where ‘Burning Your Shadows’ is a snappy little rocker with a get-to-the-point arrangement, ‘FireEater’ is more of an epic song. On this one we did not want to leave out any of the original ideas for the track. We always jam some riffs, and experiment with the vocals. When we hit the studio everything was pretty much settled.

You recorded at Conclave/Earshot Studios in Bergen. What is the story behind it?

We wanted a little more metal/dirty sound, and the guys in Bergen really know their shit. We knew the studio from their work with Shag and Audrey Horne, so we wanted to try them out. And we are really happy with how it sounded!

What’s in store for Spitfire the coming year? Any tours planned? Maybe a new album will see the light of day?

We’ve just returned from a festival in Germany, and we are doing a show at a new local venue this fall. We are mainly focusing on writing new material, but we’ve already booked shows and festivals for next year. 2019 will be exiting.

Can you tell us about your influences, bands you like?

Obviously all the classic hard rock and metal bands, Sabbath, Motörhead, NWOBHM, thrash, southern rock … then some odd bands – check out the mixtape we made for you!

And to the last question. We are dying to know: How was it touring with the legendary Doro Pesch?

Awesome, just awesome! Doro, the band and the entire crew is super-nice, and everything is very professional. They have been doing this forever, and still do 200+ concerts every year. Some of the guys in the crew have been touring for 40 years with some of the biggest acts. The stories they could tell was hilarious! Doro is known everywhere in Europe, and it was packed in every venue. And the crowd loved us too, so it was just amazing!

Visit Spitfire on Facebook, and check out ‘Burning Your Shadows’ on Spotify.

Band photo by Thor Lillestøl

And have a look at this cool cat! Listen to Spitfire’s mixtape – 15 of their favorite tracks!

Vederkast releases ‘Yearning’!

Digital release: 17 Aug 2018

Vederkast are:
Paul-René Aronsen – vocals and bass
Finn Fodstad – guitars and backing vocals
Sindre Bakland – guitars
Magnus Tornensis – drums and percussion

Produced by Yngvar Mehus & Vederkast
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Yngvar Mehus at GRStudios
Guitars, bass and drums recorded at Bleik Samfunnshus
Additional backing vocals by Yngvar Mehus

Cover art by Marni Kruse

Q&A with Vederkast

Vederkast will be launching their sophomore album And In The Abyss They Sleep on Rob Mules Records Nov 16th. In this regard we let Magnus Tornensis walk us through the process of recording their upcoming release. He also gave an insight into their mysterious band name, plus more cool stuff.

Who is Vederkast, and what is the story behind your band name?

We are four quite different individuals that happen to create music that we all find interesting and fun to play. Paul Aronsen on vocals and bass, Finn Fodstad on guitar and backing vocals, Sindre Bakland on guitar, and myself playing the drums.

The word Vederkast originated hundreds of years ago, and is connected to myth and superstition from the northern part of Norway. It was believed that if you upset the mystical people living underground, they could curse you for doing so. This was referred to as a Vederkast. We thought the word itself had a nice sound to it, and the mystical and dark background also fit the band’s sound, so that’s how it came about. It is also a word that is practically non-existent in today’s language so that makes it easier to locate us on the internet, which is obviously an advantage.

Your album is titled And In The Abyss They Sleep and consists of nine tracks. In short, how did it came about?

Regarding the music, we had the basic song structures down beforehand, but a good portion of it was either written or re-written in the studio while we recorded. This was a really challenging and fun way to work, and everyone pushed themselves and each other to be creative and effective. The fact that we recorded live meant that the entire take had to feel good for everyone, and with a lot of changes being made and new parts being added constantly it made the whole band stay very focused.

The song material is, if you ask us, as diverse as it is recognizable. We are always interested in exploring and mapping out a big musical landscape, and we feel that we have done that while maintaining a sound that we can call our own. You get the heavy riffs, deep drums and bass, proggy time signatures and song structures, as well as mellow moments where the melodies and harmonies are the key elements. We’ve also worked with some outstanding guest musicians – they really gave the songs that little something that we were after.

All of the songs on the album share a common theme regarding lyrics and the emotions that are conveyed through the music. It is not a concept album as such, because there’s not a specific plot developing throughout the record, but all the separate stories being told revolves around similar experiences, challenges and thoughts. Some of the lyrics are based on real events and some are not, but all of them address issues that affect people in different states of darkness, despair, and seemingly hopeless situations. That being said, there are some signs of better times ahead present too.

There was not really an initial plan to do this, it sort of just came to us as the music and lyrics were taking shape. There were some late night sessions following long days of recording that really opened our eyes to the direction the lyrics should take, so we first realised there was a «concept» to the lyrics while we were in the studio recording the album. It doesn’t feel right to give away too much of the meaning of each song, after all art should be open to interpret as one wishes. This is also the case for the band members since all of us see different stories unfolding in the same words, depending on who reads them and who wrote them.

Gutterommet Studios has recorded, mixed and mastered your album. What is the story behind it?

We worked with him (Yngvar Mehus) on our previous releases and when he wanted to do this album as well it was a no-brainer. We really like working with him and we feel that we are on the same page in regards to sound and what we want to do with the songs. We decided early on that we wanted to explore a completely different recording process than before, so we did not book a conventional studio for this recording. Instead we went to Bleik on the island Andøya and set up our own studio in the local community house. Sindre and Finn are both from the island, so it just made sense to go there and do it. Add to that a breathtaking scenery with the ocean and mountains, and you have the perfect place to be inspired and creative. The big hall has nice old woodboards on the walls and the natural reverb we got there was just amazing. In fact, all the reverb you hear on the drums are all natural from the actual room, no fancy plug-ins!

We wanted to record live with everyone playing together in the same room, and every song on the album was done that way. The fact that we used Kemper profiling for the guitars made it a lot easier to avoid things like mike bleed in the drums. That thing is great, we had all the guitar sounds we needed pre-made into that little box. So you can say that we used modern technology to record in an old-school way. That really paid off, because the album is so dynamic sounding, and the energy feels so good because we were all there playing and following each other’s vibe. So there’s kind of a 70s thing going on, along with more modern sounds, and we are very happy with it. Obviously some things were added later, but the main band takes were all live and we’re very proud of that.

Tell us about the album’s cover art?

Cover art of the single ‘Yearning’.

The man behind it is Marni Kruse. A young, talented guy from Faroe Islands. Magnus contacted him, and presented the idea behind the album. Luckily for us he wanted to contribute, and he painted everything based on the concept of the album. We also got a former band mate, Erlend Julian Jensen, to help us complete the designing process.

What’s in store for Vederkast the coming year? Any tours planned?

We definitely want to tour as much as possible in the time to come. A tour following the release of the record is currently being set up, and we hope to fill up the first half of 2019 with dates during this fall. We are at a stage where we do most of the work regarding booking ourselves and that makes it harder to get the band out to where we want it to be. We hope this will change and we are in contact with some interesting people at the time.

Can you tell us about your influences, bands you like?

We come from a diverse musical background and everyone brings something different to the table, which is the reason why it can be a challenge to categorize the music. We see that as a good thing, as we ourselves are not necessarily all that genre-focused when listening to music. If you get something out of listening to it, then it’s good music, no matter what genre it’s supposed to be.

That being said, we did have some musical references for inspiration when we first started out, like The Mars Volta, Tool and Pantera. The funny thing is that, as far as we know, neither of those bands have been mentioned in reviews or by fans, so it’s safe to say that we managed to not sound like them even if we have listened a lot to them. We listen to a lot of different music, and it regularly happens that someone in the band thinks of a band that someone else have never really listened to. That is also a big part of what makes the music sound the way it does.

To try to sum it up including genres we could say that Vederkast’s music is somewhere between rock and metal, somewhere between prog and stoner, somewhere between epic and in-your-face.

Thanks to Magnus for an insightful and cool interview. Keep a tab on www.robmulesrecords.com for more news on their forthcoming releases the coming weeks. Cover art and more info on And In The Abyss They Sleep will be published in August.

Listen to Vederkast on Spotify

Visit their Facebook page.

Photos by Yngvar Mehus and Vederkast

 

Endolith – ‘Rex’!

Endolith is set to release a track from their forthcoming album coming out this October. The single ‘Rex’ will be released digitally on Rob Mules Records June 29! Endolith is a Norwegian extreme metal band with no fear of branching out. Expect to be surprised and get ready to bang your head.

Cover art by Erling Malm

Veislakt – new album this September!

‘Sandnes Undergrunn Circus & Kabaret’

Release date: 7 Sept 2018

Track listing:

  1. Sandnes Undergrunn Circus & Kabaret
  2. Alle Mann Alle
  3. Franz, Frank & Han Andre
  4. Klovnene
  5. Øynene
  6. Blod I Manesjen
  7. Lyse Dagen
  8. Skammen
  9. To Alkoholiserte Russere
  10. Tro & Håp
  11. Inferno

Cover art by Good Things Design

Art of Deception – ‘Dark Psychosis’!

It’s dark, it’s indeed psychotic – it’s the new single from Art of Deception titled ‘Dark Psychosis’. Coming out June 15 on Rob Mules Records!

Hailing from their forthcoming album ‘Path of Trees’ (out June 22), Art of Deception is ready to give you another taste of the new breed of Norwegian death metal! Already released ‘Lysjakt’ they’re now gearing up for one of the most promising releases coming out his year – all genres included. Lend your ears (and bleed) to this new single – a great cardio workout before the album comes out a week later.

Follow Art of Deception here.

Cover art by Gustavo Sazes.

 

 

Annual Rock Show in Oslo!

Rob Mules Records are bringing their new concept Annual Rock Show to Krøsset/Oslo. October 27 five stellar bands are ready to blow your minds: Razorbats, Veislakt, Art of Deception, Ohmwork and Tonic Breed!

Find out more and buy tickets now! Follow this link.

Q&A with Phandrom

We have conducted an interview with the lead singer of Phandrom, Terje Storvig. They will release their debut album on Friday, titled ‘Victims of the Sea’. Read on to find out what Terje had to say about the new album, the history of the band name, and more.

Who is Phandrom, and what is the story behind your band name?

Phandrom consists of; guitar player Hallgeir Pedersen, bass player Odd-Erling Simensen, drummer Bjoern Ivar Aslaksen and singer Terje Storvig. We play our own material, exclusively. We needed an original band name. We found that no one is called Phandrom, and the name derives from the story of a successful salesman from Finnmark, whose name we dare not to mention, because we don’t want to be haunted by a ghost. He lived 150 years ago, and several people have witnessed his ghost.

Your album is titled ‘Victims of the Sea’ and consists of six tracks. In short, give a presentation of each track: how it came about, lyrics etc.

‘Victims Of The Sea’ is the title track of the album, and also the first one. What you hear at the beginning is the sound of real, heavy rain weather, recorded outside by Severin Lyngstad. Then comes a smooth Bach-inspired intro, before the whole band breaks into a heavy, middle-tempo energetic groove. The story is about getting lost at sea, caught between huge waves and a halestorm. Who or what is that dark shadow mentioned? It might be metaphoric, if you want.

The second track ‘Stay’ is a bit faster, with an aggressive, yet melodic guitar-riff and a pumping groove that builds up to the verse. The melody is low and calm, but builds slowly up to an aggressive shout when that guitar-riff returns. It’s a song about people who don’t dare to follow their own dreams, but instead; they are stuck to a strong and unfair leader or system for the rest of their lives, only because they don’t dare to run away. The only light in their lives is the light at the other side of the tunnel, and we all know what that means.

‘Spark In The Dark’ is the third track, and it’s loaded with a lot of positive energy. When you have chaos in your life, and everything seems dark – suddenly the sun begins to shine, and everything’s fine. That is a real spark in the dark. It’s a fast song, with a lot of different modes in it. Some people say this song sounds a bit like a cross between Van Halen and Iron Maiden.

The fourth song is ‘The Gift’. The groove is slow, dark and vicious. The lyrics: Some people are born with a special gift, thus they are in the position to use it in a good or bad way against other people. If you’re supersticious, it could be dangerous, or not.

‘The Enlightenment’ is the fastest song on the album, and when we play it live it’s sometimes extremely fast. It’s a song about the infinite universe. Will someone write to us from a different world? Maybe we are not alone? Could there be forms of life like ours on other planets? – Some big questions in the song. A bit inspired by the late Steven Hawking.

‘They All Had (Something From You)’ is the last and the longest song on the album. It’s almost like a heavy metal psalm. In this song we pay homage to the late great Ronnie James Dio, but it could as well be a homage to God himself; judge for yourself. It depends what you believe in. It’s also in homage to the ones who don’t reach for the greatest commercial goals, but they follow what they believe in. Their achievement could be groundbreaking and crucial for the lives and works of those who come after. But again; The listener has to judge for himself or herself.

Rainbow Studio has mixed and mastered your album. What is the story behind it?

Jan Erik Kongshaug from Rainbow Studio has a worldwide recognition for his musical productions, all the way back to the late sixties, and is considered to be one of the best studio engineers in the world. He has produced A-ha, Bertine Zetlitz, Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek, Hallgeir Pedersen Trio, Keith Jarret and many, many more during the years. We wanted an open, natural, vintage, big sounding album, and Hallgeir was convinced that Jan Erik Kongshaug would be the right one to achieve that, and in our opinions, he was right. Jan Erik is also a great guitar player, so he knows how to get the best out of the guitar, and all of the other instruments. Great balance and dynamic between instruments. We are very satisfied. He has done a fantastic job.

Tell us about the cover art? Who is Vegard Laupstad?

He is a great designing artist from Andøya, and according to himself, he was at his hitherto artistical peak, making the artwork design for us. It’s very easy to agree upon that. Each one of us in the band has the picture as background on our cell phones, iPads, computer screens etc. That shows how satisfied we are. We didn’t give him any restrictions. He heard the music, and got inspired to make this majestic picture, which shows a cross-section of the sea with a sinking fishing boat in it. We liked it immediately, and found it to fit the music perfectly. We have been communicating a lot, though. The picture was made surprisingly quick. He did a great job with the text part, too.

What’s in store for Phandrom the coming year? Any tours planned? New album in the horizon?

We have gig at Bankers Bar in Lakselv, Norway, Friday the 25th of May, actually the same as the release date of our album. Then we will do a private event at Fun Pub in Tromso, 23rd of June. We’re also in the planning of new tour dates for the autumn 2018. We got enough songs for a new album, and we’re playing many of them live already, so it’s gonna be exciting to do recording next time around. When or where, we don’t know yet. Possibly in 2019.

Can you tell us about your influences, bands you like?

I can refer to the mixtape, but there’s a lot more. We are very inspired by classical music, like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. When it comes to song structures, a lot of it comes from listening and playing through Bach pieces. Hallgeir has composed a lot of the material, and he often refers to Bach. There’s also the interacting of jazz in our music. We often surprise each other on stage with new spontaneous lines, words or breaks without losing the texture of the song. It’s very much fun. Bjoern Ivar is a huge fan of Elvis Presley, and can often be seen or heard playing Elvis-songs on his car-stereo, very loudly. He’s a very musical and tasteful drummer, with perfect pitch! He plays very loose and steadily at the same time, and any tempo is perfect for him. He is a big fan of Queensryche, but listens to all kinds of music, both new and old.

Odd-Erling and I have a side-project in Tromso, in witch we jam on A-ha- and Led Zeppelin-tunes. I get some vocal training from this. And in between that we come up with song ideas that sound very different from the two bands just mentioned. All of a sudden we play a couple of Bach-pieces together or a jazz-tune. He grooves all the time with very strong, great-sounding, melodic bass lines. We also play together in an artpop-band called Heimen. But our main interest is hard rock and heavy metal from the seventies and eighties, like Zeppelin, Sabbath, Dio, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Whitesnake etc. Most of those bands are a common denominator or all of us.

Hallgeir is the gathering force in Phandrom. He is an internationally acclaimed jazz-guitarist, but he is an even better heavy-metal-guitar player. As a player, he seems to have no limits. He is a real virtuoso on his instrument, with a very personal sound. He listens a lot to Kiss, Gary Moore, TNT, Dio, Wes Montgomery, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler and many others. He has a great musical oversight and energy – which makes it very inspiring for us to work together. It’s not work, really, it’s just fun. Even though it takes all of our spare time. It’s our lives.

That’s about it! Remember to check out this new groovy album on Friday! If you want to get your hands on the LP, go here!

Photo by Fredrik Ludvig Larsen

Visit Phandrom here.

At last, listen to Phandrom’s mixtape directly from the window below, or just find it yourself on Spotify! You choose, as long as you rock hard to Phandrom’s favourite songs!