DATE OF INTERVIEW:

VULTURE INDUSTRIES

7th March 2009

BJØRNAR E. NILSEN

METAL DISCOVERY: There’s a fairly eclectic mix of influences on your MySpace page including...

BJØRNAR E. NILSEN: It comes more natural, and it’s just what we listen to and like. We have quite a wide scope of different influences individually in the band, so it’s just what’s working around in your head and works for you. I’m guessing it’s not only music that’s influencing us; it’s also life and everything in between. My personal favourite is Tom Waits and Devil Doll.

(Bjørnar E. Nilsen on the fallacy inherent in having a genre called 'progressive')

"I guess that, basically, progressive being a genre at all is a bit of a paradox because, as long as it’s progressive, you can’t term it properly."

Kyrre Teigen, Eivind Huse and Bjørnar E. Nilsen backstage at the Underworld, London, 7th March 2009

Photograph copyright © 2009 Mark Holmes - www.metal-discovery.com

Interview & Photography by Mark Holmes

PART 2

PART 2

[at this point, drums are being sound checked a few metres away so we decide to relocate backstage in Vulture Industries dressing room to finish the interview]

MD: …yeah, there’s a fairly eclectic mix of influences including the likes of My Dying Bride; Camel; Devin Townsend; Tom Waits - how would you say those manifest in your music? Do you consciously try to combine those styles or does that come more naturally as a subconscious thing?

MD: I can hear a lot of Tom Waits in your music.

BN: Yeah, there definitely is some, yeah.

MD: I can hear a bit of Green Carnation in there too - maybe just in ‘Grim Apparitions’ I think, the final song on the album. Are they an influence at all?

BN: Not a very big one but I loved ‘Light of Day, Day of Darkness’.

MD: ‘Grim Apparitions’ reminds me a little bit of that - it’s the phrasing of the vocals.

BN: Yeah, I haven’t heard that comparison before but when you say it, yeah. There’s definitely something there.

MD: You have a very experimental metal sound - do you make conscious attempts to be different when composing music, or does it just come out to be very progressive?

BN: We just do what we want and go along with what feels right. And if it feels right, it’s okay. We try to be as boundary-less as possible basically.

MD: You describe your music as progressive, what does the term progressive mean to you in terms of music?

BN: Progressive means new and different. There’s a lot of progressive power metal out there that’s more like regressive, I guess!

MD: Yeah! I’ve not heard that term used in music before; that’s quite good actually! The ‘reg-metal’ scene! I guess when you get bands like Dream Theater, and clones of Dream Theater, who call themselves progressive, and even bands that sound like Pink Floyd and say hey, we’re progressive, but Pink Floyd progressed something but what are they progressing? They just sound like a band that was once labelled as prog because they were.

BN: And I guess that, basically, progressive being a genre at all is a bit of a paradox because, as long as it’s progressive, you can’t term it properly.

MD: You kind of mentioned this earlier, but what non-musical influences do you have when composing music?

BN: Walking is often a very good stimulant to get new ideas. I often take out my…I have this record function on my cell phone so if I get any good ideas I’ll sing them into the cell phone. And then I’ll have a plan to listen to it and work something out from it later on…but I never do! So I have tons of material on my cell phone! One day, I will!

MD: If you ever get writer’s block then just get your cell phone out and you’ll have a whole album on there!

BN: Yeah! [laughs]

MD: I’ve read you describing a Vulture Industries live show as having a theatrical element - what form does that take, and do you have any kind of theatrical experience outside of music?

BN: It’s basically trying to express the lyrics body-wise and like with the whole show. It’s not like we’ve put lots of choreography into it but we try to make the live performance represent the lyric, and represent atmosphere of the songs as best as possible and, since we have a bit of a strange sound, the live show turns out a but strange!

MD: Marvellous!

BN: And I have some theatrical experience. I’ve been in a couple of drama groups and also did one or two shitty short movies.

MD: Oh really? What are the titles of those so anybody reading this who might want to check them out?

BN: I don’t really remember…er…no, I’m not sure. But it’s short films and I guess they’re only shown in Norway.

MD: Maybe they’re on the imdb.com - might be worth checking out!

BN: No, I don’t think so! No way! [laughs]

MD: I understand you wear a suit onstage - is that symbolic for anything in particular or do you simply just enjoy wearing a suit onstage?

BN: Er, I guess that was his idea [points over to Eivind Huse]. We started off playing in suits and then we got a deal from our local tailor - we got them free, so…It’s not really a symbolic thing, it just felt more right since we have theatrics in the music. It felt more right to do something different than to do the standard metal stuff and play with nails and black leather.

MD: What or who is your inspiration for incorporating such theatrics in your stage show?

BN: I guess it was mostly my idea to do these things so I would say my theatrical experience from before, and also Tom Waits because he has a different kind of live show. And also Devil Doll, which is my other favourite.

MD: If you had an unrestricted budget, what’s your vision of a dream stage show for Vulture Industries? How theatrical would you take the stage show?

BN: It would be a big stage with a big white sheet on the back, and lights on the back of the sheet, and lots of actors doing shadow acting behind the stage while we were playing. That would be great!

MD: Cool! With Vulture Industries members playing in other bands too, would you describe this band as a side project or do you not really think about that and just get together to make music?

BN: We don’t really think about it too much but it’s basically the main project for the main band for all of us, because the other projects aren’t touring as much. Both he [points to Eivind Huse] and Øyvind are in Sulphur and they’re mostly just doing albums and playing in Bergen. And me with Black Hole Generator, it’s mostly a studio band really. I don’t have time to do so many bands that are touring.

MD: Are there ever any conflicts between the different bands schedules or do you find it fairly easy to fit everything around each other?

BN: Fairly easy. There’s some problems with our drummer from time to time because he’s also playing in Malice In Wonderland which is a glam rock band and they’re often doing big festivals and stuff in Finland. They obviously like glam rock in Finland.

MD: Does he dress up in sparkly, kind of silvery clothing and big platform shoes?!

BN: No, not so bad, but he looks a lot more feminine when he is playing with them! [laughs]

MD: Lots of makeup?

BN: Yeah, yeah!