Ihsahn: No, I think it was a one off. We ended up doing more shows than we initially set out to do. I think we are all very pleased with having done them, but I don’t think any of us see any need to do it again.
Were you gratified with the success of the shows and all the people that came out to see Emperor?
I’m not very much in touch with the scene, so to speak. I keep to my studio and my guitars and do my thing. So I was really pleasantly surprised by the following we apparently still have. Previously in the U.S. we played in some suburbs of New York, and this time we played at a sold out B.B. Kings in the middle of Times Square, twice.
You’re only 32 years old now, and your success with Emperor came at a really young age. As you look back, did you have difficulty dealing with it at all?
I think everybody has the impression that we had sudden fame, but it was very slow and the progression was gradual. The biggest surprise in Emperor’s career, for me, was seeing the live crowds that we played for recently. It seems that Emperor has become much bigger in the years that we didn’t play. The whole Emperor thing lives life on its own. The back catalog keeps selling and selling, which is a pleasant surprise. The downside of starting out that early was that the first two Emperor albums have gotten to certain stages. It’s kind of irritating as a musician, because you feel like you better yourself all the time, but people still rave about the things I did when I was 16 or 17. I don’t feel I’m past my peak. I feel that as a musician my peak is yet to come, and I don’t feel my career is over with my second full-length solo album.
Is it also frustrating the people will always tie together Norwegian black metal and all the crimes and church burnings that occurred during that era?
That has changed a lot. I used to care, but now I don’t care any more. It’s such a long time ago. Of course it had an impact on where we ended up, because it was something more than music. It reflected on the believability and the whole image and messages. The other downside of getting attention when you’re 16 or 17 is that everything is on the internet, so things you said when you were a teenager you get confronted with when you’re over 30. Having done this for over half my life now, with all the stupid things I have said and gotten away with, people make up their minds about what I’m about or not about, regardless of what I say. It doesn’t really matter if I put the truth out there, people have a tendency to go with their own truths. That’s just the way it is. You have to try to be as true as possible to yourself and not get mixed up with what everybody else thinks.
What kind of music do you listen to for pleasure these days?
I prefer other things than metal, unless it’s a really good album. For the most part I choose other forms of music. I don’t think in such technical terms as when I listen to extreme metal. I’m in work mode then. My musical taste is based around good music. That’s all I can say, really.
You have a three year old and a new baby. Would you object if they wanted to be in an extreme metal band someday?
I think the most important thing is that they have a passion about something, regardless of what that is. For their sake I hope they enjoy music because otherwise they could have a traumatic childhood.
