Obsidian Claw: There’s a lot of back and forth with that project. We actually recorded the drums and guitars over a year ago. We have been waiting to do the vocals, the bass and the solos. The bass and solos are maybe a week of work, but with the vocals we need to do some lyrics and do some testing to get the right kind of vocals. We were hoping to do it when we got home from touring, but some sectors on the hard drive were messed up and we are looking into it now. I am hoping to finish that album before we start playing more shows with Keep Of Kalessin. My goal is to have that album out sometime this fall.
Headspin’s sound is different than the black metal of Keep Of Kalessin.
It’s thrash metal, almost a hybrid of the Coroner style of thrash metal and the Exodus style of thrash metal. It’s pretty technical at times, but there’s also a lot of downtempo and groovy stuff. People that have heard it think the riffing is amazing on it. I think it’s quite unique thrash metal. I can’t pinpoint a band that sounds just like it. Vyl, the drummer, wrote at least half the album. He also plays guitar on the album, so people will be able to hear what a great musician he is.
When you started getting into music, was it thrash or black metal that first caught your attention?
I listened to a lot of heavy metal and thrash metal. Very early on it was bands like Dire Straits when I was about 7 years old. When I was 9 or 10 I started listening to Iron Maiden and Metallica. It just got harder and harder. I went from thrash metal to death metal, then I was hooked on Norwegian black metal bands for a while.
How old were you when you started playing guitar?
Probably three or four years old. My father was a musician and we always had guitars lying around the house. He had this great Gibson Les Paul custom and I played with that. It wasn’t until the age of 9 when I really focused and started playing in bands and going to music school.
At what point did you start using the name Obsidian Claw?
That was when Keep Of Kalessin started. I took on the name because Obsidian Claw was inspired by fantasy stuff.
Are you able to make a living playing music, or do you have a day job?
I haven’t been working for a few years. I’ve been making a living off music. It’s starting to be good. We have also focused on saving. Instead of having big expenses, we try to limit them or invest the money into our future instead of taking a big salary. That means we buy our own band bus to get around here in Norway. With our own studio we are able to save a lot of money, and we are able to do production for other bands. I’m doing some music for commercials here and video clips. I’m also doing music for a documentary and other stuff like that. That’s how I’m able to survive. Keep Of Kalessin is growing.
Does your band make money by touring and selling merchandise or by selling CDs?
People think that a band like us is making a bunch of money. They use that as an excuse to download an album. But I can honestly say to you that we have never ever in the career of Keep Of Kalessin made a single dollar doing live shows. We get paid, but the expenses are always more than what we get for each show. We have been very fortunate to get money when we need it. I’ve been able to pony up money for tours. We make most of our money from CD sales. Downloading takes away so much money from the artists. It’s not the record companies it’s hurting the worst. It’s the artists, because they are the ones that need the money to continue and have the freedom to create music. A band at the level of Keep Of Kalessin can’t have a normal day to day job. It’s not doable. We need all the income we can get to continue to do this.
Do you make any money from the legal paid downloads from iTunes and other online sources?
I think that there aren’t that many people legally downloading metal music. I think metal people are either illegally downloading or buying the CD. I don’t see any money from legal downloads. Compared to CD sales you get so much less. The problem is there are so many levels that are going to get paid. The artist is left with almost nothing. Legal downloads are definitely better than illegal downloads, but right now it’s better to buy the physical product if you want to support the band.
