BORKNAGAR
Interview with Øystein Garnes Brun by Daniel Hinds
(conducted September 1999)
Never keen on fitting comfortably into pre-defined categories like 'black metal' or 'Viking metal,' Norway's Borknagar has chalked up three albums and a highly-respected reputation for producing unique, progressive music that is as extreme and brutal as it is epic and melodic. Formed and held together over the years by guitarist Øystein Garnes Brun, Borknagar has seen various members come and go, including members of Enslaved, Arcturus, Ulver, Immortal and Gorgoroth. Currently, the band is a trio, consisting of Øystein, vocalist Simen Hestnæs and guitarist Jens F. Ryland, and they just finished a U.S. tour (with the aid of Nick from Cradle of Filth behind the drumkit), opening for Emperor.
As the tour came to an end, the band did a press day from Century Media's offices and I had a chance to pick Øystein's brain about a thing or two…
You guys just finished up a US tour. How did it go? Quite cool, actually. At the end of the day, it turned out really good for us, I think. We had a couple of excellent shows and, in general, the shows were pretty good. We had some bad, of course, but generally good.
Did all the bands get along pretty good? Yeah, we had a really nice time.
Was this your first time playing in the U.S.? Yes, it was.
What was the biggest surprise for you about it? I don't know, I didn't really know what to expect, so I came over here pretty open-minded. I think the audience was quite good. Sometimes, we had problems with the audience during the intro music, because we're kind of atmospheric and the U.S. audience is tied up in this death metal stuff. That's fair enough, but I think I was expecting them to be a little bit more open-minded. [Øystein followed this with a qualifying statement that unfortunately got lost due to our poor phone connection--ed.]
Did you have any problems with Christian groups protesting the shows? Oh no, nothing like that.
Do you write while you're on the road? Not music, but I write some lyrics actually. I'm not that creative, just took some notes and stuff, so when I get home I can [work on them]. We wrote most of the next album before we left, so when we get home we'll probably start arranging the songs and write some more.
How is the new material shaping up compared to your previous work? Of course there will be some progression, but I think we'll keep the same mood, the same vibe so to speak. I think this new album will be a little bit more 'rock' maybe. For instance, we're going to use a little bit more of the grim vocals than we did on The Archaic Course. We have to go to the studio and see what it comes out like.
Do you have a studio and producer lined up yet? Yeah, we're going to go to The Abyss Studios with the guy from Hyprocrisy, Peter [Tatgren].
Have you found a permanent drummer or bassist yet? No, Simen is probably going to do the bass, at least on the albums in the future, as he is really enjoying playing the bass. I guess we'll leave it like that with the bass situation. When it comes to the drums, we're probably going to work with Nick [from Cradle of Filth], he suggested doing the new album with us. We'll see, I don't really know what's going to happen yet.
Could you explain a little bit about the title The Archaic Course? It's basically a following-up title to The Olden Domain, to give the audience the impression that we're keeping on with what we're doing. I think a lot of people expected us on The Archaic Course to completely sell-out, do something commercial and wimp out, so we wanted to kind of state the we're doing what we've always done and will keep on doing. Also, I think it's a perfect title to give people the idea about the whole approach of the band.
Do you have a title for the next record yet? Yeah, but we're a little bit unsure at the moment so I can't really say…
You mentioned that you've written some lyrics on the road and I was curious what it is that usually inspires you to write? I usually write lyrics when I feel relaxed and stuff. When we did all this driving by bus, I was just looking out at the desert when we drove from Texas to Arizona, I got a lot of ideas and just wrote things down. That's basically it, nothing too complicated.
Religious themes have always been a big part of metal lyrics over the years and I was wondering what your take on organized religion is. Your lyrics seem to deal a lot more with individual spirituality rather than any kind of socialized religion. My view on religion is that I really dislike all kinds of religion and organized beliefs. I see myself as kind of an extreme individualist and I think that is reflected in the lyrics as well. I think bands that always think about religion, that's fair enough and I respect that, but it's not my way of doing it. I want to avoid being any kind of preacher and just do my own thing. I don't want to tell people the 'right' and the 'wrong' way, I want to just have a pure form of art or something like that.
Most of the reviews I've seen of The Archaic Course have been really positive and I was wondering if you at all surprised by the success you guys have had? It's cool… I'm here at the offices of Century Media and we're getting to read a lot of reviews and stuff and a lot of it does seem very positive. It's flattering, of course, but at the end of the day if we get some bad reviews, I really don't think it's going to affect me. I just do my thing, as long as I feel comfortable with the music and the band, that's good enough for me.
When did you first get into music and start playing guitar? Well, I've listened to it all my life. My father was a great collector of music from the 70s, like Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, so I've always been around it. I didn't get my first guitar until I was fifteen-years-old. I listened to stuff like Maiden, Metallica, and eventually got into death metal and black metal, Bathory, Venom - stuff like that. But I've always been open-minded and listened to all kinds of music.
Did you have any lessons? No, I was self-taught. Actually, [laughs] my mother bought me a few hours of lessons, but it didn't really work out. I was too much into metal… [laughs]
Have you had pretty good luck from a business perspective? Yeah, but it seems like when we have to go tour, go to the studio or whatever, there is always some major problems we have to go through. But at the end of the day, we do pretty good. I've come to realize that this is a shitty business, but as long as we keep ourselves focused on what we're doing, we're okay.
Where do you tend to do the best, as far as album sales? I think it's Germany still. Mid-Europe seems to be the best - Germany, Italy, Austria, stuff like that.
Looking ahead, what do you hope you'll be doing ten years from now? I don't know… I hope to do some movie soundtracks, something like that. That's my big dream to make music for film, more that kind of thing. Of course, I hope to keep this band going, but I don't see myself playing black metal. I don't know really, I don't have any definite plans.
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