SOURCE – The Head That Wears The Crown is the latest Madder Mortem album, coming out six years after Marrow. How do you feel the songwriting and recording sessions went for this set of material – and did the prolonged down time due to the global pandemic allow you and the
band to really dig deeper into the finer details of this record?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – The Head that Wears the Crown is the name of the second single from the album. The title of the album is “Old Eyes, New Heart”.
It was a long road from start to finish. We wrote a lot of music right before the pandemic and had kind of the base for a new album. But then Covid happened and the whole country shut down. There were new laws that made gathering the group impossible, so we went on and made a preproduction from our homes and such. When time came to do the actual recording we had a lot of problems along the way. It was almost comical at some point. When one guitarist got rid of bronchitis the other one got bitten in the finger by a dog… and so came the inconveniences running along to make life and the album hard to do. So it’s safe to say that the pandemic prolonged the downtime.
And when the pandemic blew over, and we could start up again, Agnete and BPs father passed away. Which naturally stopped the process with mixing the album. That being said, when BP sat down to mix the album after the loss, things went fast! Jakob was such a great supporter of us and our music, and it felt natural to dedicate this album to his memory.
SOURCE – You recently released the video for Towers. How do you feel the video shoot went, any interesting stories to tell about the process?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – We worked together with Patrick Scantlebury, who also is a former guitarist of Madder Mortem. Patrick has a unique way of seeing things, and he knows us well. So working with him was kind of a dream team. He got great freedom to do what he wanted with the song and we got to say, we are very pleased with the results.
The shoot itself was demanding. We are getting old hehe
It was a lot of work to make the set, and the whole band had to contribute to get it done. A big shout out to Odal Rockeklubb and NOMCK for lending us the space to get this done! Thank you!
SOURCE – How would you assess the career development so far for the group? What would you like to see take place or check off personally in bucket list fashion as goals/accomplishments that would make you feel like you are making strides as artists?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – As musicians and persons, we have grown and matured over the years, which I think is really coming through in our music. At the same time, we are still respecting our younger selves, and the music they made. We would have liked to tour more, and play more abroad than we have ended up doing, so hopefully this can change in the future. A trip outside Europe would have been really nice to do.
SOURCE – What do you remember about the time period when you were releasing Howl Of The Underdogs?
Mads Solås (Drums) – I remember it feeling weird in the beginning, with the cameras in the rehearsal-space and everything. But Randy the director and Blake the camera guy were really good at creating a comfortable atmosphere, and at knowing when to ask questions and when to take a step back. We pretty soon became less self-conscious and more relaxed about being filmed, as I remember. (Though I for sure still had some red-light-fever during the interview-bits.)
The movie became much more personal and “up close” than I had imagined when we started out, but I think the result was a good, and very honest documentary. Randy M. Salo is a very talented director/filmmaker, in my opinion.
For my part, the making of HOTU was at times both uncomfortable and painful, but also kind of cathartic in a way. It is a movie that deals with darkness and difficulties, but hopefully people like it. And if someone out there can watch it and maybe feel a little bit inspired, and less alone with their struggles it would be awesome.
SOURCE – What are your thoughts regarding AI and its potential effects down the line when it comes to the music industry?
Tormod Langøien Moseng (Bass) – For bands like us I do not think it would have an immediate negative effect. Maybe it would be positive as it can help more people discover more unknown bands. Hopefully people still will like to go out and experience live shows, which is way harder for the AI to do. For people who write music for other media, I’m afraid it will have a huge impact. As music created by an AI would be a much cheaper option, real people will be priced out of the marked.
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – AI is coming, that is for sure. In some ways it could be beneficial, but when it comes to music, it’s kind of sad to see how it is used. I don’t think that AI could do what we do, make music and honest lyrics.
SOURCE – What worries you most about the world that we live in today? Where do you think people need to put more effort/concentration on to make our lives that much better for the future?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – The most frightening part is that we make big differences between people. Polarising opinions and of course we don’t want to see the truth when we’re handed it. The big political issues are of course difficult to address in this format. But we hope people could get better at seeing past their differences and finding new and old ways to unite.
SOURCE – What do you feel that Madder Mortem’s legacy is, now with over 27 years under your belts?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – Our legacy is probably for others to decide, but I hope we will be remembered as a band that wrote good honest music. The band that always believed in the music they made, and who never took what their music meant to others for granted.
SOURCE – What’s next for Madder Mortem?
Anders Langberg (Guitar) – Next is playing our new album live as much as possible A tour would be great for us, we’ve got a lot of friends we would like to see again soon!
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