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Asking Questions
An interview with Oystein G. Brun of
Borknagar
By Bob
Ignizio |
Since their debut self titled album was released in
1995, Borknagar have been expanding the boundaries of heavy metal both
musically and lyrically. Over the ensuing years, the band went through the
usual line-up changes, with only guitarist and principal songwriter Oystein
G. Brun remaining a constant. By 2000, however, the current line-up was in
place with Vintersorg on vocals, Asgeir Mickelson on drums, and Lars
Nedland on keyboards (bass player Tyr recently left the group, and Asgeir
handled the bass parts on the new album). On their latest CD, the aptly
titled ‘Epic’, the band is once again pushing the limits of heavy music,
mixing some of the most brutal and heavy riffing you’ll find anywhere with
calm, folk-influenced passages. I recently had a chance to speak with
Oystein by phone, and here’s what was said.
Utter Trash: How would you say the new album differs
from ‘Empiricism’, how have you progressed?
Oystein G. Brun: What we have tried to achieve on
this new album is to expand the musical expression on this album. That’s
been the keyword for the new album. When I started to write the album, on
the one hand I wanted to have it more brutal than before, and on the other
hand to have it more slow and atmospheric and everything in between. It’s
basically more developed.
UT: Do you think “black metal” is the right
description for Borknagar?
OB: I’ve never been too fond of the term black
metal. I’ve always tried to make music that goes beyond these terms like
black metal or death metal or whatever. I just want to make my own music.
We are not a black metal band or a death metal band. We’re a mix of
everything.
UT: Over the years, you’ve had a number of people come
in and out of the band. Does that get frustrating to you, or do you see it
as more of a positive thing with new blood bringing new ideas and new
energy?
OB: It’s both. Of course when you lose a member it’s
always a setback. In the past we’ve had to cancel tours because of people
leaving. But I’m very satisfied with the line-up we have now. The four of
us have a very good musical and personal chemistry. And we wouldn’t have
this situation or line-up if we hadn’t had all the changes. What doesn’t
kill us makes us stronger. At the time when people are leaving it’s always
frustrating, but at the end of the day it’s cool.
UT: Have you found a permanent bass player to replace
Tyr yet?
OB: Not really. We have thought about using session
members actually. As I said before, the four of us right now have very good
chemistry and we don’t want to rock the boat. We just want to keep it like
that. So we’ll see what happens with live shows and touring in the future.
UT: On this album, the lyrics are pretty deep. The
one song, “Traveller”, you talk about the secrets of the universe being
found in numbers. Was that inspired at all by the movie ‘Pi’?
OB: I saw that movie actually. It’s generally more
about philosophic talk and different philosophic perspectives. I find it
very interesting. I’m kind of a person who’s always kind of searching in my
life generally speaking. I read a lot of science books and I love to watch
Discover on TV and stuff like that. Lyrically we’re not trying to push
something on people. We’re more on the level of questioning, to ask
questions.
UT: Do you write most of the lyrics yourself?
OB: On the album it’s quite mixed. I wrote lyrics
for 5 of the songs, Vintersorg has done 3 of the songs and Lars Nedland has
done 3. It’s a combination of all the guys, really. The only one who
hasn’t contributed lyrically on this album is Aesgir.
UT: Despite the fact that you’re the only original
member, is the band a full collaboration, or do you sort of decide what’s
going to get done.
OB: Well, I try to be democratic. I don’t want to be
a dictator. I want to stimulate the other guys to use their creativity and
contribute musically to the band. There’s a lot of great resources in those
guys, they’re great musicians. So I try to involve the guys as far as
possible. But of course I’ve been the musical spine of this band for all
these years. I write all the music, basic harmonies and arrangements. And
I do kind of pre-production stuff. But then we get to the arranging process
where I try to involve all the guys as much as possible. Arranging the
songs is a big part of the process of making the album. Writing the album
takes me maybe three months, but arranging the songs may take half a year.
So the process of arranging the songs is a huge part.
UT: What are your plans for a U.S. tour for this
album?
OB: We don’t have any concrete plans, but we’d
definitely like to go back to the states. At some point, sure.
UT: With bands like Dimmu Borgin getting more popular,
do you think the time is right for Borknagar to break through to a wider
audience?
OB: I don’t think too much about that, really,
because that’s not my driving force. I don’t do this because I want to be a
rock star. If you got a chance to sell more records and tour and maybe get
some money for it, it would be great, of course, but it’s not my driving
force.
UT: With Vintersorg, you have a fantastic vocalist in
the band. He can do everything from the death metal vocals to very melodic
singing. Have you thought of maybe doing an something where you just focus
on his melodic side?
OB: We have some ideas we’ve been playing around with
for quite a few years to do an acoustic album. An album which is really
relaxed with acoustic guitars and that kind of thing. If we’re going to do
that, I think appropriately you’d just do melodic vocals. We’ll definitely
do it at some point I think.
UT: What’s your idea of success for Borknagar? Have
you achieved it already, or are there still goals you’d like to reach?
OB: My ultimate goal with the band is just to make
more music. That’s my driving force. Maybe it sounds a little naïve, but
to me it’s just about playing guitar, making music in my home studio. The
creative process. Of course I’m really proud of what we’ve done. We’ve
done U.S. tours, several European tours. But I’m totally satisfied. For
me, it’s about making music. I just want to improve as a musical writer and
make better music. That’s it, basically. Everything else is just a
consequence of that.
UT: Your music is pretty complex. When you’re at home
listening to stuff, do you tend to go for similarly complex music, or do you
occasionally throw on some old school thrash or punk music?
OB: I’m quite eclectic when it comes to music. 60%
of my record collection is old death metal from the early nineties. And I
love classical music. There’s just something about it that just appeals a
lot to me. But I listen to all kinds of music, really. I actually listen
to pop and rock on the radio. I try to experience and educate myself within
all musical fields. Just try to have an open mind, basically. If you’re
going to be a composer, you have to have an open mind. If you’re stuck in
one kind of music, I think your ability to write music will be limited
somehow.
UT: When you’re not doing music, what are you doing?
OB: I have a job besides, and I have studies going
right now. I have a family and a child of 2 ½ years. I have plenty of
things to do. Sometimes I’ll just sit at home and play X-Box games.
UT: Anything else you want to say?
OB: Check out the album, and I hope that some people
in the U.S. will like it.
Visit the Borknagar
website.
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