SOURCE – It would be a perfect way of kicking the interview off by asking about how The Day We Left Earth got started out in the first place – Could you shed some light on the history of the band for readers?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Hey! So, TDWLE has been an idea I’ve had for a pretty long time actually. I wanted to make something that was fun, interesting and exciting. I was working with pop and rock in Norwegian industry for years. When Covid hit, everything just got closed down and it gave me time to stop and reflect for a while on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go next. My dad has always been listening to rock/metal, so I kinda grew up on that. I heard Nightwish before I heard Britney Spears I think. Felt like the perfect time to embark on a new adventure, an adventure that took me back to my roots.
Simen (producer) and I have had so many conversations over the years about how we often feel rock/metal music seems somewhat stuck in the past.
And just to clarify, that doesn’t mean that we’re saying every metal band is “bad”. There’s some seriously amazing bands about now, like Sleep Token, I Prevail, Falling In Reverse etc. But it kinda feels like they “surfaced” just recently. At least in terms of industry recognition and how “big” they are. This creates waves we’re so excited about. This genre needs fresh ideas. There’s too many bands that is hard stuck on Marshall guitar amps, recording drums the same way they always have and then gate keeping what it means to be a metal band.
I guess we wanted to see if we could push those boundaries and ideas forward. All this was definetly what sparked the idea and what is “The Day We Left Earth” to us and how it started.
SOURCE – You released a large number of singles before the album. How important do you think are singles in this era in comparison to full length releases?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Well, the industry is built around singles now. I would argue that the world is built for that too. It may be that the “metal industry” is a bit behind here in how it thinks, but its just a matter of time before everyone is focusing on singles. Whether you like it or not.
Attention spans is on an all time low. Pair that with Spotify being the leading platform for artists in general, you get a very fast paced industry. You need to constantly release music to keep audiences engaged, while also take algorythms and the attention spans of the world into acount. Double all of this if you are a new artist building your platform and audience. We are “unfortunately” living in a TikTok world.
Albums just has a harder time existing in that picture if that makes sense. With that said, albums will always have it’s place somewhat. But it needs to be the right time to do so. It costs alot of money to do an album and it also takes alot of time to make. Back in the day you did 2 years working on an album, release it, 2 years on the road give or take. Imagine releasing just one album in a time period of 4 years today. That just simply dosent work anymore (Unless you already have a big sized audience, then you can do whatever you want, haha). So the answer would be that singles is the way to go for most artists/bands today.
SOURCE – With the current sad state of the music industry, how do you determine expectations for an album?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – I actually don’t think the music industry is in a sad state. Obviously we’re having a problem with roylaties. Spotify payments is just awful. There’s no proper excuse for that either. Sure, I get that Spotify needs to make money etc etc etc. But it doesn’t change the fact that there would be no music if artists didn’t make em. Would be so much Spotify then would it. But other than that, I think we’re in a great place for music.
I mean everyone can pick up a microphone or a guitar today, and they all have a chance of being heard. That is beautiful. People make there own playlists that spans from pop, folk to hardcore metal. All in the same playlist. I don’t think there’s any other time in music’s history where that’s been as easy as it is now for a consumer. And ultimately, it’s about the consumer, not us.
But I think we still have a long way to go before we’re close to a “perfect” system of sorts. It has alot of problems, for sure, and artists is getting fucked (feel free to censor) but I’m hopeful for the future.
In terms of expectations for an album, I’m not really sure what you mean. Like how the audience expects an album sort thing?
Cause if so I don’t concern myself too much with that. We need to make what we’re passionate about making. The second we do something else, the music will be worse for it.
SOURCE – How do you feel the songwriting and recording sessions went for this set of material – were there any specific challenges, obstacles, or surprises that came up during the process to Release Self Titled debut album?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Well, I guess the biggest obstacle really was that we weren’t really writing an album. We were writing singles. To me, this album is a “mixtape” of sorts. We have basically been writing weekly for 2 years now. Every song was a single to us. It was never with the intent of an album, to be completely honest. But because there’s still alot of media outlets and I guess metal fans that holds on to albums, it made sense to pair it together and showcase what TDWLE is to the world in an album format.
On top of that, we’ve been breaking ground and doing quite well this year. That is obviously amazing and we are so greateful for all that is to come, but it also puts preassure on you to keep working, constantly.
Time has been our biggest enemy for sure. Trying to make sure that you don’t put out anything your not completely excited about, while also not spending half a year on it can be quite diffecult, haha. But I feel like we succeeded to the best of our ability. And we’re just getting started.
I also want to add here that I’m not saying that we’re never gonna do a proper album. We definetly want to do that, at some point. But not now.
SOURCE – Nowadays in every album the person responsible for the sound production is strongly mentioned especially when he is a known one. How important do you think is the producer to the sound of a band?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Rightfully so. Producers is highly important, and have not gotten the credit they deserve in the past. But it obviously depends on the band/artist and the project.
A producer can more or less define and make the sound of a song, or they can have opinons, and play somewhat of a “supervisor” kinda role. In most cases in modern music though, the producer is the one behind “the wheel” so to speak.
In my case, my producer is just as much apart of the band and the music is I am. TDWLE would not be the same without it’s producer. Just like it would not be the same without me.
SOURCE – “Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge said in September 2022 that 100,000 tracks were being added to music platforms every day.” [Resource: https://www.billboard.com/] How does that affect the music industry? And how does it make you feel as an artist?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – You know, back in the day the labels controlled alot of the marked. So getting your music released was hard. You got a record deal meant that you could get your music out there and be heard. Now it’s somewhat reversed?
Meaning that getting your music out there is very easy now. However, because there’s sooooo muuuuuch music being released every day, its hard to get it heard. All in all, I think it’s a good thing that some people in suits can’t gatekeep and control what music should be popular and not anymore.
A 16 year old bedroom producer can make a song now, release it and go viral the next day. That’s an incridible thing. But to be honest with you, I wish there was some kinda of filtering or control mechanism to all the noise. Cause there’s sure alot of noise today. I don’t know what the answer to that is, but yeah. Just some thoughts.
SOURCE – When you think about the concept of success, what does that word mean to you as far as being a musician – and has that definition changed from your initial years getting into the business versus today?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Success is an interesting word today for sure. We talk about that in the studio sometimes actually. Defining what success in the music industry is these days is actually kinda hard?
I mean I see “big pop stars” in Norway being on TV and talking about they’re success. Maybe having like 150-200k monthly listeners -ish. Which is almost our numbers. At the same time I see a swedish band “noone`s” really heard of in terms of major “success” sitting there with 1 million monthly listeners on spotify?
I mean selling records was always the indicator. Now it’s hard to say to be honest. But to me success as an aritst has definetly shifted in terms of what my goals are. We want to build a platform. Make the music we want. And connect with our audience. If we are able to do that without worrying about paying our bills, then I have succeeded.
SOURCE – Is there anything else you have going on you would like to mention?
Martin Bjerke (Vocals) – Thank you for the chat and the support! We appreiciate it. And to the followers of ours that is reading this: Thank you. I really mean that. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing us to pursue this dream.
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