Black Book Lodge

Interview date

18 Septembre 2014

Interviewer

dominique

I N T E R V I E W

Interview Trygve Borelli Lund (Bass, by email)


Hi guys, Thank you for this great first album and for giving a little bit of your time to the French webzine “Aux Portes Du Metal”.

Can you tell us more about the band and its music for our readers who don’t know Black Book Lodge yet? The group composition was slightly modified between initial recordings and the recent international release. What are the reasons for these changes?

Yeah what a mess, right? Jakob recorded the drums and was a big part of the creative process in general. We hooked up with another drummer because Ronny and I thought we would become a much better band if we rehearsed several times a week and played lots of small shitty gigs. And Jakob simply didn't have the time, since he was in another band back then. But we needed to get Jakob back because you can't change an ingredient and expect the same magic to happen. We sound like we do, because it is the three of us. We also experimented with an extra guitar player, but again... it kind of messed with the dynamic within the group. Black Book Lodge's sound is very much Ronny's style of guitar playing... phrasing, choice of notes etc... So we ditched the "dual axe" thing. Cool story, eh?

"Tûndra" is only the first album of the group. As none of you look like a teenager, I guess you had previous musical experience before you joined Black Book Lodge. Could you tell us about your respective past and about the events that made the creation of Black Book Lodge possible?

Jakob and I have played in several metal and rock outfits. Released albums and that whole ordeal. Ronny has done mellow stuff which was really cool and interesting... and Black Book Lodge is pretty much a fusion of the heavy thing and the mellow, eerie stuff. It's pretty simple, actually.

Musically speaking, what are your sources of inspiration, from classic great names as well as from emerging bands?

We haven't deliberately tried to emulate a certain sound. My philosophy is that you cannot control what inspires you. The human brain is a soggy, filthy sponge and you just absorb all kinds of weird stuff... good and bad. I know Ronny and I have mad love for old Megadeth stuff... but I don't know if you can hear it in our music. But I think our appreciation for great melodic riffs and good songwriting comes from bands like that. We just play it a lot slower... but then we get compared to stoner rock, but personally that stuff bores me to tears. Not literally... but almost.

Do you have the time to listen to new releases from the metal scene in general and from the stoner and prog scene in particular?

Yeah, absolutely. But it's difficult to keep up with all that stuff. But I still love checking out new stuff and get excited about it. Who doesn't? Lately, I've been listening to the latest Triptykon album. It's beautiful.

Your progressive stoner seems to come from very different musical genres such as rock, folk and even blues. Are these influences important for your creativity?

Indeed they are. Just listening to a large variety of music in general is important for all of us. And I do agree that you can hear it in our music. But you definitely need the contrasts, baby.

In my review, I said that what was really surprising when repeatedly hearing Tûndra was the impression of maturity that is emerging from the album. In your opinion, what makes such a difference between your first album and the first album of any standard young band?

That's an interesting observation. I do think that younger bands can be surprisingly mature... whatever that means. But yeah... I'm glad that we've been able to start from scratch at this point in our lives. I like the fact that our debut album is such a strong and focused effort. It's a great foundation in regards to how we want our sound to evolve.

How was the creation process within the band for "Tûndra"? Did you all participate to the writing and the composition? Did you use jam session during this creation period or were titles fully defined before recording?

Ronny went nuts in Cubase and just started writing stuff. Then he'd send files to me, so I could learn the songs and write bass parts. The songs did tend to get altered here and there after having rehearsed them together. But it's very much Ronny's vision and then Jakob and I would make suggestions arrangement-wise. Jakob and Ronny created the drum parts together and I pretty much messed with my bass parts on my own, since no one else gives a fuck about that ha-ha.

The album’s art and cover is wonderful (namely the ITunes booklet). Was it important for the group to offer a visual material that was as good as the musical material?

Absolutely. We just wanted something that wasn't cheesy... no skulls, fire, dragons or typical stoner rock stuff with detailed drawings of bearded men and naked chicks. Thus we ended up with a beautiful series of photographs which we thought complemented the music well.

The Scandinavian metal scene seems to have an incredible tank of talented bands in all possible metal styles. Is it difficult for a new band to find its place in this crowded environment?

I don't really know. Honestly, we are not very aware of that. And it's a very deliberate thing. I've previously been in bands where I've felt absolutely burned out after a couple of years because I get so tired of that environment. I just want to play bass in a cool band, be a part of an interesting creative process and all that crap about hanging out with the right people etc. doesn't interest me at all. If people like our music... then great. But if they don't, it doesn't really matter to me. Maybe it seems overly anti-social, but I don't think it's healthy for a so-called "artist" to worry about that shit.

What do you think of the Danish metal scene in particular? Are there some very attractive groups to follow?

I think there are lots of super talented people and a bunch of cool bands. I don't feel comfortable about singling any of them out, because then the others will get pissed hehe.

Do you have a final message for our French readers?

Hey guys - check out our music and buy a vinyl for your old lady. Drop by our facebook page for updates. Stay healthy.


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