You already saw the first part of my interview with Master Morten Veland from Norway, where we talked about Sirenia’s newest album “The Seventh Life Path” now, here is the second part of it, where it all went more deep and personal and we talked about his lyrics, his view of life (and death), how to growl, and he replied the questions that many fans sent. Check out the first part here.
Great Morten, Now let’s talk about the lyrics…
1.-Your lyrics are really dark! Is your mind and life that dark too buddy? lol
Hehe Yes, at times. But not every day luckily… I mostly use the bad times as a source of inspiration to my lyrics. Writing is a good way to get some of the negative thoughts out of the system.
2.-You’re right, and I see that Death is a common topic in your lyrics… Have you ever had some experience next to death, or have you gone through the loss of a dear one?
Yes, Death is a quite common topic for me to write about, and more so in the last years. It is a subject that we all have to relate to, in one way or another. At the age of 37 I can already feel that Deaths breathes me down the neck. Hehe. A bit early some might say, but my lifestyle was never of the most healthy. At this point in life it is also obvious that I lost many people close to me.
3.-We have an idiom here: “bad weed never dies”. Well, it doesn’t make too sense in English though. Suicide is also an important topic in this album, for example in the promotional video for “Once my Light” we see a suicide…. did you write the story of the video yourself or somebody else did it?
It is a subject that I have written about in some of my songs. Unfortunately it is something that is way too common here in Scandinavia. The story of the video was written by the Icode team in Serbia, the crew who produced the video. But the story is also based on the lyrics in the song.
4.-Why have you never released the choir lyrics of your albums?
A lot of people is asking me about the choir lyrics. On the “At Sixes and Sevens” album I did not include the lyrics because I wanted them to be kind of a mystical element that people needed to crack their brains about. It created a lot of buzz and people were discussing what language it was, and how the words were etc, etc. So I decided to make it a tradition to leave out the choir lyrics from the cd booklet hehe.
5.-Morten, which one is the Seventh Path in Life?
Hehe, well, that’s for everyone to discover. I never felt comfortable explaining my work, as I feel that it removes all the mystery to it all. I always tried to write lyrics and titles that would open doors in the listeners’ imagination.
6.-Hehe i though i would get that kind of answer. Maybe you’ve heard this question before, but, what’s the matter with the number seven? lol
Hehe, Yes, believe me I have heard the question before. I think most journalists like to ask it, and I guess most fans are curious to know the answer. My answer to the question is that there is not just one answer, there are many...
Hhahahaha! You always leave us with the curiosity….
Hehe
7.-Sirenia will turn 15 years old soon, are you planning something to celebrate?
Yes, we will have our 15th anniversary next year. We have not yet come up with anything special to mark this event, but it is something that we think about. So we will see what the future will bring.
8.-I know you said in an interview that playing live with an orchestra is too mainstream today. So, since the choir plays an important role in Sirenia’s music have you though inviting the chorus for a live performance? I think that would be really special in the Sirenia’s format, and sounds like a plan to celebrate the 15th anniversary, lol, just kidding.
Playing live with choir choirs and an orchestra would be a killer experience for sure. But it would cost us a fortune, no doubt. A fortune that we don’t have. Hehe.
Hehe, i hope you can find a way to do it with some promoters in the future, i would love to see it! Please do it when i am rich and can fly to Europe anytime to see it, haha.
When you are rich maybe you can pay for it. Haha. Just joking.
Well, that’s an even better idea hahahah i will be considering it!
9.-With every album your growls technique gets better and better, can you explain how your technique is? And please give us some advices to the ones who want to try growls.
It is very difficult to teach people how to growl. It is a special kind of technique where you use your stomach more than the throat really. I think the only way to learn it is by trying, failing and discovering on your own. That’s how I learned it too once upon a time. In the start you will lose your voice for sure. As soon as the technique is right, the voice will remain.
We gotta keep on trying then, for example i can get really hard growls, but after a time it starts hurting…
Then you use the throat too much. The Power should come from the stomach, the throat only controls in a way.
10.-I see, i will find the way. Hey Morten did you know that your name almost mean “Death” in Spanish? See, Death in Spanish is “Muerte” and it sounds really similar to “Morten”.
Yes, I know. It’s similar in Portuguese, French, Italian and Latin also. Maybe in more languages even.
11.-Now let’s talk about Mortemia, are you planning something with this project? That would be great to hear new material from the band, I totally loved “Misere Mortem”!
I have more ideas and some songs for Mortemia, but the project has been on ice for a few years. There might come more from Mortemia in the future, but not very soon it seems. When I got some extra time on my hands and I feel in the Mortemia mood, something might happen on that front as well.
I will be eagerly waiting! Now i will end with some questions sent by fans…
12.-Rumor has it that it may be hard to work with you, are you too demanding?
I think that I demand way too little. If I would demand as much of people as I demand from myself, then I am sure that people would really hate me Hehe.
(I really died laughing with this answer)
13.-What kind of music are you trying now? You still listen to Lana Del Rey? She’s great!
I still listen to all kinds of music, all kinds of genres. Lana Del Rey has been one of my favorites over the last few years, I still listen to her every now and then.
14.-Will you play “Stille kom døden” live someday? That would be great!!
We have not played that song live until now. I do not consider it a typical live song, but we never know what we’ll do in the future. There’s always a possibility for everything.
15.-Why don’t you have a live bass player in Sirenia?
Bass players are a pain the ass, they only play mistakes, they charge huge amounts of money and they drink all my beers. Better off without them. Bass is not a real instrument anyway. Having bass on backing tracks is a better solution, it is free, it is always played correct, and my beers don’t disappear under my nose. I would recommend all the bands in the world to sack their bassplayers. Good riddance! Haha, just joking.
16.-What was that took you to making music at the beginning of your career?
I think I was 12 or 13 when heard Guns N’ Roses debut Album “Appetite for Destruction” for the first time. I immediately feel in love with the album, it was something different and unique for sure, something I never heard before. I was especially impressed with all the guitarwork and Slash at that point inspired me to become a guitarplayer. At the age of 14 I coul finally afford my first electric guitar and I pretty much dedicated my life to music from that point. A few months after that I formed a band with some schoolbuddies and the show was on. Music was now top priority in my life and I never looked back.
17.-Have you considered opening a twitter account for interacting with you?
Maybe in the future I will. So far I did not use social media, partly because I am a quite anti-social and partly because that will leave less time to make music.
I understand, i have always felt that, felt it in your body expression and else, but personally I would love to be able to interact with you in twitter too since I am a huge fan of you, so, please consider. Now i’ve ended with the questions, thank you very much and see you soon Morten!
Great! Bye, bye! Thanks!
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