Stormfagel Interview

1. Can you update us with what is going on with the band these days?
1. Well, not so much actually. I'm working on the next album and because of the big delay with Eldvakt I've quite many songs ready.
Maybe only on a demo-stage but mixing shouldn't take to long. Hopefully, but not likely, the new album will be released during the winter 2011. At this time I don't even know who will release it but I'm considering doing it myself. I have no clue how to do it but hey, how difficult can it be?

2. How would you describe the musical style of the new album?
. I think it sounds like you expect a Stormfågel album to do. There are no bigger changes and if you've heard the other albums you'll recognize the sound. Maybe some songs are more "pop" then usually though... It's just more fun to do uptempo songs!
I guess Stormfågel falls under the Neofolk/Martial genre but I rather describe my sound as "Dark pop with a folkish touch". :)

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and concepts that you explore with the new album?
3. This album is more diverse then the others. Many of the lyrics are dealing with religion in different ways. I don't really know why I decided to use those lyrics or why the ones I wrote myself also came to deal with religion. It's not that I'm religious myself but I think I have a big wish to actually be religious. To have some kind of faith. To feel that there is a higher purpose in life and that there is someone watching over me. In this modern world we get more and more rootless. We've lost contact with nature, our ancestors and our history. I think we need something to fill those gaps. If it's religion we need I don't know but I do know that we need to find our way back to the old ways. Humans are starting to get really boring now a days....
But anyhow, the common topic is probably as always; the absent of God and the decline of mankind.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band's name?
4. A Stormfågel is actually just a big seagull living up in the cold and windy north.
I choose the name cause I wanted the music to be like that. I wanted SF to fly over the stormy sea of our society, observing the chaos, and then return and tell a story about what it had seen. This worked well on the first album which were more political but now when it's more and more "love" and "God" and other ridiculous emotions I don't know. But I wont change it, I like it!


5. Have you had any opportunities to do any shows, if so what are some of the best shows that the band has done so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
5. We haven't done any shows since 2007. I don't know why actually cause I really want to play live. There have been a couple of shows that have been cancelled and some where they just didn't could afford us. Not that we're expensive at all....
the best show for us so far must have been WGT 2007. A big crowd, a really nice old theatre, Éva in some kind of Transylvanias folkdress... It was awesome!


6. You where on Cold Meat Industries for a while and know you are on Steinklang how would you compare the two record labels?
6. That's really simple, Steinklang answers e-mails!
I like Roger, as a human, a lot and I'm thankful that he believed in Stormfågel and released two albums. But if there is one thing I'm allergic against then it's people that don't answers mails, text messages or phone calls. That's so nonchalant and I can't work with someone like that. For the record company I'm just one of many bands and I understand that. But for me, living and breathing Stormfågel 24/7, it's the only important thing in my life. So I really need that the persons I'm working with, labels or musicians, take it at serious as I am. But there is no hard feelings between CMI and SF. I love the guy and I'm thankful for what he did for me.
Now I'm on Steinklang and they are a couple of really nice guys and I think they did a great job with Eldvakt!

7. How has the new album been received so far by experimental/neo-folk fans worldwide?
7. I have no clue! I've read only a few reviews and they seems positive. I think Steinklang had some problems with sending out promos but they have fixed it now so hopefully there will be more reviews in future.

8. Do you have any side projects besides this band or is this a full time project?
8. Nothing serious. I've tried but everything I do turns out to sound like SF so then there is no point in having a side project...


9. Out off all the albums that you have put out so far, which one are you the most satisfied with?
9. Den nalkande stormen! That album recorded it self and were made in just a couple of weeks. Back then I didn't care so much how it sounded, I just recorded songs after songs and I had so much inside me that needed to get out.
Now I have higher expectations on myself and some of the fun has gone away. In the beginning there were more "punk attitude" to it.

10. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?
10. Now days I know more of what I'm doing. I can go round for days with an idea for a song in my head and then when the weekend comes I can sit down and realize it. I think the three albums all follows the same path or idea. There has been no bigger changes in the sound. Probably it will go on like that for a couple of albums. I'm quite satisfied with how SF has turned out. Maybe there will be even a little more...pop to it. Or pop is the wrong word, I want it to be more danceable!


11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
11. If I just check Spotify to see what I have been listening to today we have...Skinny Puppy, Leonard Cohen and Empire Of The Sun.
I have rediscovered a lot of the music I were listening to in my youth such as Nitzer Ebb, Killing Joke and Fields Of The Nephilim. But I'm also listening to a lo of Hip Hop. Early Wu-Tang Clan is more or less Industrial with a heavier beat and rap. The Streets are the best to get in the mode for a soccer game.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
12. Well, I read a lot. Al kind of books. I've just finished Les Bienveillantes by Jonathan Littell. 900 pages were a bit too much I must say...
I watch a lot of film also. I prefer European films. You know the kind, three hours black/white and no one says a word. They are more like...moving paintings then film. And then there is of course football! Or soccer for you... If you haven't stand among 30 000 or more and everybody sings/shouts the same simple song over and over again you haven't experienced mass psychosis at it's best!


13. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?
13. Cant think about anything right now... Thanks for a good interview!

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