NATTEFROST INTERVIEW BY "BURNING BLACK MAGAZINE" NOVEMBER 2005
First
I would like to thank you for giving us this interview and congratulations
for your ten years as Nattefrost!! Can you tell us about these 10 years?
I
wanted to do something special this time for Nattefrost and it’s also easier
now adays with the internet being available, so I contacted a few labels and got
a positive respons from Nulll Records in Belgium for including "Slaget som
varede evigt" on their compilation CD “From the Nulll void”. But I also
wanted the whole album (De som sejrede...) to be released. Nulll had quite a
schedule so that would take some time they told me. A few weeks later I was
finding an ad on the internet that asked for my kind of music for a forthcoming
compilation CD and my opinion is that compilation CD’s are good for promoting
your future albums, so I sent them (Nothingness Records) “Mod Lindisfarne”
and they loved it. They added that they would like to release a full album of
Nattefrost if possible. I said yes and they did.
“Vejen
til Asgård” is a 6 track EP (28 mins) also containing a music video for the
track ”Norrøn”. Nothingness Records wanted a bit more than just the 28 mins
and I had in mind that I could do a little music video, just for the fun of it
really. My good friend mentioned before, Claus Lynglund helped me a lot making
the video. Over the last 10 and especially 2 years the Nattefrost fan base has
grown very much.
Why
did you decide to change your band name from I
Nattens Mørke to Nattefrost? I understand Nattefrost means “Night Frost”…What
does I Nattens Mørke mean?
“I
Nattens Mørke” means ”In the darkness of the night” and I think the name
is too long and doesn’t sound too good either. Maybe too much metal like, I
didn’t want that for Nattefrost since I’ve always had the interest in
electronic music.
The
project of the former vocalist-guitarist of Carpathian Forest is also called
Nattefrost... but your band is considerably older… Has this situation brought
you difficulties? Have you ever considered taking legal actions against this guy?
It
doesn’t really mean anything to me. He can have his project and I can have
mine. The only annoying thing is when the young so called black metal fans tell
me that I am not the true Nattefrost. I consider them narrow minded and nothing
for me at all.
I
don’t know much about the music of the Norwegian Nattefrost, I’ve seen his
titles and those I can’t take very serious.
What
is Nattefrost doing nowadays?
I
am doing lots of stuff for Nattefrost. Since "De som
sejrede..." I’ve never
been busier with Nattefrost. I am talking to a Dutch label about releasing the
next album which will be entitled “Opslugt af drømme og længsel” (Absorbed
by dreams and yearning). I have only possitive things to say about Nothingness
Recs, but I want to move on a bit with Nattefrost and the Dutch label (Groove
Unlimited) seems to be a lot bigger and can promote my music even more.
The
new album will hopefully be available in the early months of 2006. I’ve
already finished a lot of it. I’ve added some small, but new elements to the
music which you won’t find in any other Nattefrost tracks. I think it’s
important not to do the same thing over again. I can guarantee you though,
it’ll sound very much like Nattefrost. Lots of dreamy, atmospheric tracks.
Also some symphonic elements and still very electronic.
I
use drum machines on some of the tracks as well, but never too dominating.
Let’s talk
about “De Som Sejrede…” This work sounds really dark and desolating in some passages… and seems
to have a special tendency towards war…
Is this a conceptual album? Can you tell us briefly about the concept behind
each song?
We
could probably call this a homage to the vikings. Well I'd rather see the tracks
as a whole, cause I think it could be described as a journey or a story.. I am
very inspired by what happened in the ancient Germanic countries and that's what
the tracks are about. It's not easy to describe it cause it's a special feeling
I have. It's not like a religion, it's just how we are born and brought up. But
of course "I krig" refers to the vikings fighting and defending
themselves and our country. Mod Lindisfarne is of course based on the men who
attacked and destroyed the Lindisfarne cluster back in the year 793. It's a
powerful album inspired by the powerful vikings and Germanic culture.
Why
do you think this kind of music is so appreciated by Metal worshipers…
especially the Black Metal adorers? … Like Vinterriket which has become some
kind of cult band for the Black Metal-heads, and in some way, it has opened this
underworld to the electronic music…
I
don’t know really. I think the listeners find similar atmospheres in the music.
I must admit I don’t know Vinerriket’s music so well. I’ve heard a track
but I can’t remember much of it, it sounded like a mixture of metal and
electronic music as far as I reckon so I won’t say more about it.
Does
Black Metal influence your music in some way?
No
not the least. I know what black metal is of course, I rarely listen to this
kind of music but in the early 90’s and mid 90’s I heard some of the
Scandinavian bands. When I listen to a black metal record it’s mostly by one
of the old Scandinavian bands Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Enslaved, Gehenna
and Mayhem. I can tell you what my influences are though. I am very influenced
by our Danish nature. Walking in the forests or by the sea is so inspiring. Also
sometimes browsing through the sounds of my synthesizers can inspire me to
create something. I know lots of people want artists to be inspired of other
artists but I am not inspired by any other musicians or bands. I know I play
music being a bit similar to certain artists but they don't inspire me to compose what
I do. Listening though is for me something totally different. I mean I like to
listen to other artists as well. Composing my own music is most important to me,
but I can mention a few artists in the same genre that I like, then it'll be
something like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre,
Robert Schröder, Ashra and a Danish band called Navigator, well some of my
really good friends even.
On
“Vejen Til Asgård” your music sounds much more inclined towards the
electronic… Why was that? Are you satisfied with this progression?
For
me all the music sounds very electronic, but we could probably say that Vejen
til Asgård is a bit more spacey in the sounds. There are more than 4 years
between the tracks from "Vejen til Asgård" and "De som
sejrede..." which was recorded in my old studio with that equipment. I did
build up the recent one and "Vejen til Asgård" was recorded with for
me newer equipment. I also see it as a relevant thing that I try to make my
music sound at least a bit different from each album, it's important not to
repeat yourself, you know. I love the sound of synthesizers, so it's very
natural, There are so many different sounds that you are able to create with
them, so it will never sound the same. I am very happy with that.
Personally
my favourite album of Nattefrost is "Vejen Til Asgård", because of
its mix of ambiances; “I En Svunden Tid”, “Norrøn” and “Vejen Til Asgård”
are my favourite tracks, especially “I En Svunden Tid” because of its
introspective, quite narcotic mood… Have you got a favourite album/song? Which
one? Why?
That's
a tough question. My favourite Nattefrost release is "Vejen til Asgård".
And my favourite tracks of all the Nattefrost tracks might be "Tårnets
krigere", "Vejen til Asgård" and of course some of the tracks
waiting to be released as the next album. I really feel that these tracks are
how I liked them to be.
I
understand you are involved into different musical entity called Carboneids…
Can you tell us about it? Is Carboneids connected with the sound or concept of
Nattefrost in some way?
Carboneids
is a 2 man band consisting of Claus Lynglund and I. We've released 2 albums
until now and a few singles and also 1 EP. The music is very electronic and is
sometimes a bit similar to Nattefrost, musically. Carboneids is hard to describe
but some fans have said it's a bit similar to what the band Kraftwerk does. It's
much more rhythmic and with vocoded vocals now and then, but also spacey dreamy
parts and slow themes, but happy and melancholical melodies and chord harmonies.
What
happened with Nattefrost Productions? Is this label still active?
I
must say that your research is really impressive. Nattefrost Productions still
exist yes and we mainly release our own music. We've released a compilation CD a
few years ago with different, mostly Danish electronica artists. Nattefrost
Productions will be connected to HZ Records, also from Denmark, this is the
label of the other half of Carboneids, Claus Lynglund. We will work together in
the future as HZ/NFP, it's easier, we're working extremely well together so
we've actually decided to do it that way. We won't be that active all the time
since our releases are mostly released by other and bigger record labels but for
Carboneids I think we'll release it ourselves.
Is
there any chance of re-releasing your previous (and very limited in quantity)
works?
No
I won't do that cause I am not satisfied enough to do so. I'd rather work on new
tracks, I hope the listener will appreciate that as well. But I have some other
interesting stuff. Unreleased material that I am quite ok with and some very
interesting remixes that different artists have done, those things could
probably make a CD in the future.
When
can we expect new material from Nattefrost? Will this release be under the same
label?
Hopefully
in the beginning of next year and hopefully on Groove Unlimited from Holland,
this will make it easier for the buyer to get it as well. There are some brilliant
artists who've released their music through them, the most known might be Jerome
Froese from the German band Tangerine Dream.
Thanks
again for your time and words… these last lines are all yours…
Thanks
for reading through this interview and I hope you'll enjoy the forthcoming
Nattefrost album, go check the official website http://www.nattefrost.dk
sometimes, I'll make sure to update when there's something important about my
music.