SOURCE – You’ve released two singles to date. Do you believe this helps people prepare for what they’ll hear on the full record, and did you do this to reestablish the presence of the band after so many years between records?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – Yes to both. I think the singles gives the listeners a taste of what the album will be about musically, but also try to hit a spot where the songs are catchy enough for new listeners, as well as please our long time fans, but also save a bit of the more proggy stuff for the album. Both the songs are easily digestible (I think) than some of the other stuff on the album, so I think to pull listeners in, the singles have to be catchy groovy, melodic, and I think both of the songs manage to have those elements. We also released singles to build up momentum for the album release, and since it’s been a while since we released any new music (2019), we have to let people now that we still exist!
SOURCE – Speaking of your new album. It’s called Dream Chaser and is out June 21th. The third album often is the most difficult for bands. How are you feeling a few weeks pre release date?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – We feel pretty good about this album. Our first single “Don’t Look Up” already managed to get the more views on YouTube within a few weeks (80k views) than “Apollo”, which has been out for 5 years and has now about 70k views. So that was a great start for the new album. We also like all the songs on the album. Although it is 38 minutes in length, and some might consider that short in the world of prog, we felt that it doesn’t have to be longer than that, becuase when we hear through the album it’s tempting to start it all over and listen again. And I think that’s a good thing.
Also there’s so much music out there now, that sometimes it can be hard to listen through a 50 minute album if the songs aren’t all good. But I do believe all the songs are all great on this album.
SOURCE – One of my personal favorite songs is, Oslo Syndrome. Is there anything you can tell about that song, like how did it come to be?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – Yes that song came about with a guitar riff I had written, which was completely different than the Oslo Syndrome beginning riff. I sent the riff to our keyboard player Nicolay, and he fooled around with the riff and eventually came up with the riffs on “Oslo Syndrome”. And then he wrote the whole song basically. So the riffs are his, based on some sketches that we didn’t end up using. Geirmund wrote the lyrics and the vocal melody.
SOURCE – For this album, you worked with Adam Noble. How was the experience this time around?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – It was fantastic, we’re so happy he wanted to work with us, and he really nailed the mixes. This album sounds so much better than our previous albums all thanks to him. He was very quick with mixing them, taking feedback and sending new versions very fast. Also he’s a very cool and easy-going guy to work with. Nicolay sent rough mixes to him so he would get an idea of how we wanted it to sound, what the different levels of the instruments would be in the mix, vocal effects, and so forth. And he really understood all of that and really came through!
SOURCE – If you had to choose two song from each album for a retrospective setlist, which would you choose?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – Personally I would choose “Wasteland” and “Para” from Solar Storm, “Digital Waste” and “The Takedown” from Universal Chaos, and from the new album “Presence” and “The Tormented” probably. I know the others would have completely different opinions, but I really like the heavy stuff we have so I’m gonna go with that.
SOURCE – Several artists have recently been talking about issues with streaming services and losing money, while others have been defending it. What are your thoughts on this evolution of the music industry?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – This is a hard one for me. While it’s great that music is so accessible, that it can reach people all around the world, the downside is of course the amount of money artists gets per stream. It’s so low that you’d have to get millions of streams to even make a little money. If artists would get paid way more in royalties, I think it would be great. But so far it’s not looking like that. I’m hoping for some kind of way that artists could sell their records via blockchain or crypto or something so that when people buy the album, the money goes directly to the artists. But not sure if that’s going to happen. But for me, doing this isn’t really about the money. It’s more about connecting with people who like it. Just knowing that what you create means something to someone else is very powerful to me. And playing live, watching the crowd, feeling the energy, gives a lot of meaning to my life. I’ve long dismissed the idea that this is going to make me a lot of money. I’d rather have a job, make money there and have this as a passion project and a goal in life, rather than striving to make it a full time job with very low income. Although if somehow we would be able to do it full time and make a living out of it, that would be a dream come true.
SOURCE – You often hear about musicians who seem to have a special connection to their instrument. Do you feel the same way? Do you have a favorite instrument?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – Absolutely. When you’ve spent a lot of time, and I mean thousands of hours on an instrument, you grow attached to it. If you go for periods without it, you can start to feel a bit hollow inside, perhaps a little down. An instrument can really give you so much joy that when you’re without, you feel that something is missing in your life. I have that connection with the electric guitar, but also with the piano to an extent. It feels so great to play the guitar!
SOURCE – Anyone you’d wish to collaborate with in the future?
Petter Walter Hallaråker (Guitar) – Have been thinking about it! A great female guest vocalist for instance would be awesome to have on a song or two, like Emilie Nicolas for instance. Wouldn’t mind a solo from Guthrie Govan there either. Besides that I haven’t really thought of anyone.
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