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T:
Thank you. It
has been also quite a surprise to be honest, taking into account that we
haven’t had your previous releases and didn’t know what to expect. T:
Even if you had heard the previous offerings, maybe you would still not
have expected “Blues From Hellah”. I don’t know. I believe it to be
a little different from a lot of the music that are on offer, including
our own... What
is the response from the press and the fans so far? T:
With the exception of the Keeper of the Lucifer Was site, mostly really,
really, overwhelmingly positive. Since
some people are not familiar with the band, would you like to introduce it
to us? T: The band debuted in 1970 and disbanded in 1976, without any studio-recorded legacy. We belonged to the limited scene of progressive bands in Norway at that time. We played original material but also a few covers. Uriah Heep, (considered very progressive in 1970/71) Jethro Tull, Colosseum etc. The original Lucifer Was Mk. I line-up were two basses, drums, two guitars and organ. Three of us were also handling vocals. Then a change came in 1972, when the line-up became bass, drums, organ, guitar and two flautists who also doubled on saxes. One of the flautists, Dag Stenseng, handled lead vocals, while the other flautist, Anders Sevaldson, and myself also did some vocals. Both versions of the band had Einar Bruu on bass and Kai Frilseth on drums. The entire Mk II version, with the exception of the keyboard player, re-united in 1996 for some live work and also released the CD “Underground And Beyond” in 1997. The follow-up, “In Anadi’s Bower,” was out in 2000. This record featured an expanded version of the group including two mellotron-players. And now, “Blues From Hellah”, with an even more expanded line-up, including two basses again, mellotron, a string quartet and quite some other stuff. What
I find unique is that the band, despite playing this mixture of dark
blues-rock makes the listening quite distinct. I guess that one who
listens to the album won’t have troubles recognizing the group in the
future. What contributed to that? T:
A lot of praise has to go to our producer Rolf Kjernet, as we built a good
75% of the album on an already mixed two-track master tape recorded and
mixed down without vocals twenty years ago. The drums, bass, keyboards,
background vocals and guitars were there. We transferred the two-track
master onto 48-track machinery and added Jon Ruder’s vocals, the string
quartet, flutes, etc. I overdubbed some of the guitar parts from the days
of old, to get a fatter sound, but still making it sound like one guitar.
For both “Armworth” and “Za Za Banshee” we had the original
analogue 24-track to work with. I think Rolf did a marvelous job blending
the old two-track master seamlessly with all the new music that was added.
Also the bits and pieces of mellotron are new digital recordings. When it
comes to being recognisable in the future, I’m sure we will be, even if
the next one will be a more up-tempo work. I am also currently working in
the studio with the recording of another really Grande project called
“The Crown Of Creation”. The band name for the rock part of this quite
big scale piece are “Raphael”. This is suite written for a
chamber-orchestra with 29 musicians plus recorder, solo violin and
metallish rock. The classical orchestration is done in collaboration with
a present day composer that refuses to die: Dagfinn Koch. He is also the
man behind the arrangements for the string quartet on “Blues From
Hellah”. Well, this was straying away a bit, but since we were talking
strings... and recognition in the future... There will be something from
the bad guy, Lucifer (Was), and something from the good guy, Raphael... Tell
us about yours and the band’s musical roots and influences. It seems
that you must be something like a musical mixer that combines many sorts
of sounds. T:
Bassman Einar Bruu and me grew up together, and we were competitive in
buying the most exciting and rare records we could lay our hands on in the
specialists-shops. We have been record collectors for years, and I think both of us hold Muddy Waters’ psychedelic progressive 1968
blues album “Electric Mud” among our all time favourites. Also Black
Sabbaths 1st album, Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland” and
“Mothers Of Inventions’” “Freak Out” and “We’re Only In It
For The Money” are desert island choices. Among our most regarded
goodies are things from the period 1966/67 to 1972/1973. That includes the
Vertigo Swirl-catalogue (Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Gravy Train,
Catapilla, Gentle Giant, Gracious etc.) Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream,
Mothers Of Invention/Zappa, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Willy Dixon,
Edgar Broughton Band (Wasa Wasa). We were also influenced by the blues
boom 1968-70, including Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Paul
Butterfields Bluesband to name a few. And US and UK garage/psychedelia of
the late sixties are great fun and exciting. The first wave of heavy stuff
like Bloodrock, Sir Lord Baltimore, Cactus and Mountain scores high. The
list may go on forever. Producer Rolf Kjernet gets high on beer, Deep
Purple and Moody Blues. Neither Genesis nor Yes have been my cup of tea,
but most of the others in the band are great admirers of these monsters.
And it’s not possible to pass The Beatles by, and the favourites are
“White Album” and “Abbey Road”. The
name of the band and the general first impression (e.g. songs’ titles)
can be misleading for a new listener, who might take you for a black metal group. It
has happened in the past with Demon, which has been a misinterpreted band.
How come you have chosen this style? T: That came natural from the beginning. In the early 70’s, bands with names like Black Sabbath, Black Widow, Bloodrock represented a style and a sound. But it was not categorised into black, death, doom, speed or anything-else metal. Such terms were not invented yet. It was the new sound, approach and looks of the underground, even if, for instance, Sabbath had hit singles. We worshipped Sabbath and the really heavy groups, like Leslie West’s Mountain, the first Free album, the first Led Zeppelin LP. And we considered King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant as well as Family to belong to the same underground environment. The music we liked most was a sort of doom-metal based on blues excecuted by heavy distorted guitar/bass riffs played in unison, screaming vocals and so forth. Both Zeppelin and Free strayed away from this path after one or two albums. But none of these bands ever presented themselves with any satanistic leanings or likewise. Jimmy Page was a mysterian in a cabin and the crosses Sabbath wore were not upside down, except for the cross on the debut album, but I guess that was the work of the sleeve-designer Keith... In fact, to me, the lyrical content of Sab’s “Master Of Reality” is among the most openly religious (God/Christ that is) I’ve ever read/heard in a rock’n roll context. So, we were living in that very heavy bubble of steel. Innocent, but dead serious. I think King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” more or less is the sum of all these group’s sounds. Is there a specific meaning behind the Tarot cards in the booklet of the CD? T: I am very much into the mystics, the evolution of religions, philosophies, various beliefs and magic. Still I think I will hand this question over to our cover-designer… Susanne Koch’s comment: “When I designed the booklet I was listening to the songs of “Blues From Hellah” to get a feeling for the music, to get it under my skin, so to speak. To me, the melodies and the lyrics both speak of the battle that every upstanding person fights to live and die righteously. The tarot cards have been used for centuries to glimpse a part of the soul and of this battle. This is why I wanted to use them for this cover. The motives have been chosen to illustrate the feeling or atmosphere of each song”. Would you like to comment a bit on the lyrics and what inspired them? T:
...well, the lyrics are printed in the booklet, and the inspiration for
the lyrics are... beyond borders and gates, getting in touch with it and
write it down. “Blues From Hellah” is not a concept album, but quite a
lot of the content are experienced and some are in the tradition of
telling a story.
T: Yeah, I got married and have three children as a result of this album. Our producer had drafted a girl in to do background vocals on the tune “Old In Eden”. Something just clicked between her and me, and we got married in 1987, after having a son. Now we have one more son and a daughter as well. But, as it happened, we never used my-to-become-wife’s vocals on the song. The reason was that I wrote new lyrics in 2001, and, well, I found it appropriate that the lead and background-vocals were singing the same words. But she is still on the record, playing the tuba on “Lucilla’s Gone”. She did that in late 2003, almost 20 years after showing up in the Oslo-studio to do her vocal-part. The wife’s great. The recording of this one was a toll-taking affair as it has taken place over so many years and locations. A whole lot of it was first recorded in 1984 and intended to become my solo-album, titled “Planned In Blue”. The material was written between 1977 and 1983. Gary Moore, Jeff Healy etc. had not started the heavy blues-revival yet, so “Hellah” was blues a few years ahead of that. The inspiration was more Peter Green of the original Fleetwood Mac and Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe-era. After finalising a mix it was shelved. I kept working on the material and also used some of it live. The
cover in Captain Beyond’s “Armworth” blew my brains out! It’s
impressive, but how come you chose to make the cover in such a non-popular
and non-commercial band/song? T:
I was given the Captain Beyond CD, their 1st one, and when I
heard “Armworth” for the first time it was just like I heard something
I knew well. The new arrangement as we recorded it, just ran out of my
head and to my hands and fingers like I was bleeding. It changed the
original song of 1:48 length into a full blown piece with a proper intro,
some riffs, a theme, guitar solo etc. of 5:00 minutes length. I think the
way it turned out is organic and logical. Do you distinguish any new groups that worth listening to? T:
How new? 6 months, 1 or 5 years? I’ve been around long enough to
consider Dream Theatre as a fairly new group, I like them. Ayreon,
Symphony X, After Forever, some of Lana Lane (Secrets Of Astrology), I
like symphonic progmetal. Nu-metal is not my bag apart from some
fascinating images and the energy. Are you satisfied with your new record company? T: Oh yeah. The record’s out and the formalities are in good order. Tell
us about your tour plans. Is there a European tour coming on?
T:
We are now assembling the musicians for rehearsals with the aim to do
live-work starting by the end of October. We have got a new flautist, a
witch. There are no current plans for a tour, but we would like to do some
European festivals next year. I
know that Lucifer Was’ story had many ups and downs. What would you
erase from that history? And what would you experience twice? T:
For me the biggest downs have been the times when there have been malice
and distrust within the ranks. The people I love the most are the people I
play with, and when bad blood and accusations, lack of respect for ones
work creeps in, it hurts. Some episodes also resulted in the years of
inactivity by the band. Experience twice? Do again? I just don’t know.
No, I really don’t know, but we must keep on doing what we are doing, do
more of it and that’s pretty similar to doing it all over again. What
are your expectations from this new album? T:
To get respected, rich and famous. And
some Weird Questions now, to relax somehow!!! If you were a God’s
messenger what would you tell Him to do for the good of humanity? T:
Well, as I represent two angels, the fallen archangel, Lucifer, and the
good archangel Raphael I have two answers. God threw Lucifer out of
heaven, so His message in this case is clear: Behave, do not overestimate
yourself, no one is greater than me, God, the almighty, the first mover,
the most high! But, as an imaginary Raphael, God may have pushed me down
Jacob’s ladder with the mission to come back with some advise for what
to do for the good of humanity. My advice would be: Live and let live,
leave and let leave. How
do you imagine that the music world could be, one thousand years from now?
And why? T:
Looking back one thousand years, some of us are still listening to music
written around that time, like for instance Abbess Hildegard of Bingen.
She was born late in the year thousand, and her gothic vocal music are
still available on CD. I believe the music and sounds still will be about
melody, rhythm, atmosphere and language. The same as it has been as long
as man were man and started banging the drum and the women. And they
started singing to that beat. The way music is consumed will for sure be
different, maybe not even the ears are necessary anymore, but the basic
principles of getting turned on to music are still the same.
Lennon-McCartney will be the Mozart, Frank Zappa the Stravinsky and Jimi
Hendrix the Lizt. Most of the pop consumer-music is totally forgotten, as
it never was meant to last. But heavy prog-rock, of course, along with
folk music, will survive. My guess is also that today’s progressive,
psychedelic and metal music most probably will have a slight retro-tag
attached to it in the year 3004. Yes, that’s exactly what I think. Which
is the most overrated band of all rock history according to your opinion? T:
This is an unpleasant one, but
heck, I’m also a fallen angel, so: Grateful Dead and U2. Sorry... (interviewers
note: I totally agree with the U2 choice!!) (webmaster’s note: Come on
guys… we all know that U2 is a great band!!) Imagine
that your wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy for
herself an expensive ring. How would you react? J T: I
don’t have to imagine that... I used to have 3000 rare LP’s and 1500
singles, most of them in picture sleeves. Now I only have CDs. Is
there anything you would like to answer to, but I didn’t ask you? T: I
think you have covered a lot of ground as it is. Thanx for asking. But, as Grande Rock’s Greek, before I go: I regard
“Phos” by Socrates (Drank The Conium) with Vangelis as top notch (interviewers
note: Hell Yeah!!!!). Also
most of the Aphrodite’s Child output are way up there (interviewers
note: My goodness!!! I love this guy!!). Thinking of a
truly great and innovative song: “End Of The World”! And since you
have come with me to the end of the world, listen: This is the eleventh
commandment for people that read stuff like these pages: “Go get Muddy
Waters’ 1968 hyper-electric blues album “Electric Mud”. It’s also
available on CD. And when so is done ask thy dealer to also put “Blues
From Hellah” in thy basket.” Amen. by Alex Savatianos |
