Interview with Vintersorg done by Patrick on 7-15-14

Here  is  another  new  interview  with  the  great  Vintersorg's  MR.V   if you  haven't  had  time to  check  out  and  buy  the  new  cd  "Naturalb"  through  the   great   label  "Napalm Records.
Enjoy  the  interview  and  stay  tuned  for  new  reviews,interviews   soon.









Interview   with  Mr  V.  Vocals  and  guitars,Bass  and  Keyboards  for  Vintersorg   done   by  Patrick



 1.Hello Mr V.  how  are  things  going  with  you  these  days?  please  introduce  yourself  to   the  readers




Mr V: I’m fine. I’m actually having a vaction from my day time job as a teacher and now I’m writing new music, building some stuff to my house and spend a lot of time with my family. I’m one of the two guys behind Vintersorg and I’m also involved with Borknagar, Cronian, Waterclime……a music addictJ





2.What  gave  you  the  idea  to  create  Vintersorg?You  started  the  band  in  1994  did  you  think  it  would  still  be going  after  all  these  years?  Also  how  do  you feel  the  sound/music  has  changed  over  the  years?




Mr V: What I wanted to do was to mix the harsh elements for Black metal with acoustic guitars, with clear vocals and some good portion of Scandinavian folk music. That’s the foundation of Vintersorg, but as musicians and humans we like to evolve and therefor every album has a bit of a new “take” on the mixture. I didn’t really think about how long we would proceed as I started this band as a one-man-band type of thing. But as I said above…I’m addicted to music, especially to write and record..so I think it’ll be a very long trip. The music has gone through some changes as we like to explore new musical grounds, some albums are a bit more progressive than others but I think we’ve found a nice balance between all the elements now.





3.Vintersorg  is  getting  ready  to   release  the  new  cd  "Naturbal"How   long  did it  take  to  write  the  songs  for  this  release?




Mr V: It took my maybe a month or so to do the framework but as we record, mix and master at my own studio we add and take stuff off during that whole process. So, the finished album is a result of that process and we like to keep it like that, to keep it open until the very end. We’re open minded guys and live by our passion and on an emotional basis when it comes to the music we create, therefore it’s so nice to have it all in our hands until the finish line.



4.Where  do  you   draw  inspiration   for  the  lyrics ?Do  you  usually  write  the  lyrics  first  or  the  music?


Mr V: I always write about the relation between Man and Nature in one way or another in Vintersorg. Just finding a new angle to it every time and “new” topics in that area to ponder about and write down for the lyrical content. This time I wrote the lyrics first as  it’s a concept album. This is part III in our “four-element-cycle” and this album is concerning “FIRE”.



5.Are  you   thinking  about  making  any  video's  for this  release or  do  you  like  making  video's?  Is  their a  certain  song{s}   you  would  like to  make  a  video  for?



Mr V: We’ve already don a video for a track called “Lågornas rov” (The Flames Prey) and you’ll find that on here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34D_Tq46z2o



6.How  has  the   response  been  from  the  fans?What  about  the  press?



Mr V: It’s been very positive so far and we try to interact with the audience as much as apossibel through our FB-site. The over all impression is that people really like the album as much as we do and that’s just great fuel for us for the next album. Media seems also to enjoy it as the reviews have been very good and that’s of course also niceJ




7.Has  Vintersorg   ever  played  live   or  is  this  strictly  a  studio  only band ?



Mr V: We did a lot of touring back in the beginning of this Millenium but recent years we’ve not been a live act. We’re only two guys, I have huge problems to get time off from my day time job, as well as Mattias. ( the other guy). I’ve also a family with kids, dog and you name it…so the whole thing with touring is just too hard to make it happened as least for the moment. 




8.When  did u  first  become  interested  in   singing?  Who  are  some  of  your  favorite  singers? Do  you   do  anything  special  to  keep  your  voice/throat healthy  when  recording?



Mr V: From the beginning I did some singing at my own while writing songs etc. Then when I started to play the more harsh metal I just did growls and that was something that I was satisfied with. But at the side I did some “clear voice” singing with other bands and after some time I just thought it was time to really do that type of singing in  the music I wrote myself. I don’t have any great tip to get your voice in good shape but the ordinary tip of drinking a lot of water is of course basics. Keep it moist and not dry.



9.Mr  V  you  also  handle  the  guitars  for  the   band  when  did  you  first become  interested  in playing  the  guitars?Are  you  self-taught  or  did  you  take  lessons  when  first  learning?



Mr V: I learned it by myself..those endless hour of practicing and playing around with chords and how to really get the tone that I wanted. But it was all just plain fun and when you have that type of experience it’s not a “drag” it’s just something that your mind want to do out of joy. I see that as teacher all the time, when the student is interested in a subject it’s a self-going process. I guess I was like 7-8 years when I first started to strum on my grandfather’s guitar.




10.Who  are  some  of  your  favorite/influences  for  the  guitars?


Mr V: I don’t have any actually, I have in my youth listen to some guitar music and back then I always loved Steve Vai due to his extraordinary style and there’s if course guitarists in band I like. Mick Box for example in Uriah Heep, very simple playing style but with a lot of emotion.



11.Are  their  any  instruments  you  haven't  learned  yet  that  you  would  like  to  soon?



Mr V: Probabaly…but I’m so occupied with all the bands I’m involved with and all other things in life that calls for my attention, so at the moment I just try to inject as much as possible time and effort in what I have at the table.



12.You  live  in  the  great  country  of Sweden  what  is  your  opinion  of  Sweden's   metal  scene?



Mr V: It’s vast I guess you could say. I mean we’re a small country when it comes to habitants and there are so many bands around.



13.Who  are  your  all- time   favorite  bands  from  Sweden?Are  their  any  new  bands  you   feel  the  readers  should  watch  out  for?


Mr V: I don’t have any specific but I think some of the Swedish bands have been pioneers in their genre like Bathory, Entombed, Unleashed and so on.



14.Thank  you  for  taking   the  time  to   fill  this   interview   out. Do  you   have  any final  words  for   the  readers?



Mr V: Nah..just check out the new album, it’s a great adventure I think but it may take you some spinns until you really get hold of the whole thing as it’s many details.