Morten Veland - Sirenia
Interview by Miriam "NocturnalConcerto"
Transcription, editing by Lindz Riot
I don't know to start to introduce this interview, I don't want to write the usual and expectable things about such a legend like Morten Veland, every goth metal head knows the past and his musical projects. When I received this call from Norway, after the first attempt gone wrong, I was really nervous (not like the other times but worse) because I was afraid that this time might be not happen again, I picked up the receiver and the first sensation that I felt this aura of cold and mystery. Maybe I was really influnced by his reputation. But in end of the games, believe me, Morten is really such enjoyable and sunny person. So, after this personal introduction hope you enjoy this long chat about the new Sirenia's album "The Enigma of Life".
First of all thank you for this interview Morten. So the "Enigma of Life" is coming out on the 21st of January, how did this album develop and when was it you started to compose lyrics for it?
I first started working on it about 2 years ago. At that time I was still working on our previous album "The 13th Floor". I was in the last few processes of putting that album together. I am one of those people that always has new musical ideas developing in my head. So I have to start working through them or put them down or else I may forget them. So I think all in all I’ve been working with the song material for this album for about 2 years now. It was a really nice process this time with writing because we had a stable line up through out that time,so there was no big changes that would take the focus away from working on it. In the past since we had line up changes with finding a new singer it was sometimes difficult to carry on and focus on what we were creating. It’s honestly not a good thing for any band to go through that. So from the very beginning, when I started focusing the first ideas for this album, I was confident in the fact that Ailyn was going to be the singer for this album and I could create everything perfectly to fit her voice. With the previous album, it was a different situation. Most of the album was already composed when Ailyn came into the band. I made a few changes to adapt some of the songs to better fit her voice. She has a great voice span and it gave me quite the scale of possibilities to work with. I had a lot of variation for the melodies at my disposal. So I never had to worry about that when I was composing any of the pieces. Thoughts like "Will the new singer be able to sing this? Will the idea work or not ?"never crossed my mind. This time everything was more relaxed and I could work closely with Ailyn for all the vocal parts. This was a great experience and I think this band structure was really helpful because it was a really positive thing through out the whole process.
So it was in one word ‘perfect’ ?
Yah, absolutely. It was for sure very positive. It’s something that also reflected in the end result. I think we were able to take everything we had on "The 13th Floor" and improve it with this new release. Especially with all the vocal work, we were able to work with the new line up and it made it a great process.
So for the first time I see you have opted from the older colors of album artwork to warmer colours. Why was this decision made?
Well, for the cover artwork of the new album, I find it a bit difficult to tell much about it because it’s actually the work of the designer. What we usually do is send the designer our songs and lyrics and then they listen to it and get a feel for what to create as a visual. So what we have for our cover art is pretty much the vision of the designer. Then we just have to say that we "like this visual or maybe you can make some edits to fit what we are going for as a band". But we are happy with the results of the way the art work turned out. We also think that the cover really reflected a lot of what you will hear in this album.
So who is the art designer of this cover?
His name is Gustavo Savez.
Oh ok, I know that he has made a lot of cover albums for artists such as Kamelot and more..
Yah,that’s true. He’s been working with a lot of different bands and a lot of upcoming bands lately.
I’ve seen the cover and there’s a woman on the cover. What do you believe the cover represents and is trying to express?
We’ve had a woman on all of our album covers and for me it represents the most important element of Sirenia’s music, which is the female vocals. And the name Sirenia is based on the Sirens from Greek Mythology. So it’s natural for us to have this element on our cover and most likely it will also be the future of Sirenia.
I know that is very personal for you to talk about the lyrics being the main composer of all it but I wanted to ask you if you could talk a little bit about the lyrics you are about to release? And what is your favourite song on the album?
It’s always a hard time for me to find what to say regarding the music and the lyrics. I think that I always put my heart and soul, 110% into everything I write. For example, we have 12 songs plus some bonus tracks being released and I think maybe I was composing between 30 and 40 songs for this album. I picked out the songs that I thought were the best and I continued to work with them. So it’s like all 12 songs for me are my favourites. I feel that they all have earned their right to be on the album. It’s difficult to pick a favourite because each song has a different quality to it.
I read through the track list and I noticed a song called "Obscura Realidad" as a bonus track. Is it sung in Spanish?
Yes,it’s a song in Spanish. Actually we have a song on the album called "This Darkness" and "Obscura Realidad" is a Spanish version of this song. Ailyn translated the lyrics into Spanish and then we recorded this version. It’s supposed to be included as bonus tracks for the albums. We recorded all together 7 bonus tracks for this time and I think they will be included. Depending on where the album is released there will be a different bonus track included on that version of the album.
Yes it’s on the European Digi-pack version.
Yah "Obscura Realidad" and there’s an acoustic version are on there as well.
Now I don’t remember the right name of it but I know there is an acoustic version.
Ok probably then (laughs). We also did a Spanish version of the song called "The Enigma of Life" our title track to the album. We did some acoustic songs and there are a lot of different bonus songs all together. We included this but I know the all songs will be available for the fans.
Now I’m going to ask you were there be a single out and will you release a music video?
The single we will make a downloadable for "The End of It All". I do not know the exact date for the release on this download. I would guess that it would probably be by the end of the month. And we also just got back from Gothenburg, Sweden. We were there this weekend to do a photo shoot and record a music video for "The End of It All". So now our team has to do all the post production and editing for the video. But I think that the video will be ready in about a month or so.
Sirenia has been active since 2001, what has the balance of schedules been like over the years from touring activity and recording material?
When it comes to recording and writing material that is an on going process as you know. I always get new ideas I am always composing music as you know. So whenever I go on tour there’s always music in my head. Whenever I come back from touring the first thing I do is go into my studio and start recording some of the ideas that I don’t forget anything. Whenever I’m not on tour, I’m spending time in my studio. Music is my biggest passion in life, so when I’m not traveling around I’m there. Music is always part of my life,almost everyday through out the year.
Sirenia has already released 4 albums,including the upcoming one that make it 5. Have you ever had it in mind to record and release a live DVD?
Yah it’s something that we have been thinking about for quite some time now. I feel the time is about right now for us to do a Sirenia live DVD. Before, whenever we wanted to do a live DVD, I wanted it to be something special. We wanted to present something really unique to the fans. We didn’t want to put out something easy and thrown together last minute. We’ve been waiting for the right time, idea and opportunity to make a DVD due to this factor. So maybe we are thinking 2011 will be the year that we are able to make something like this happen. It would be cool and hopefully a project that we can put into light very soon.
Me too! So I can buy it too, like the new album obviously.
(Laughs)
What is the next project for you guys right now?
Well, we started last week with interviews to promote the album and I guess we will be doing that until the end of December. Then after that we will start touring as soon as possible. At the moment we are also looking into different touring opportunities. We are motivated to come back to the stage in support of the new album and hopefully it will be recognized. We are VERY eager to tour again. Some dates are already confirmed and some dates and events we are still working on. But we will keep everyone informed on our website about our upcoming tour. Fans will know where we will be and when.
Do you think that this year or next you will make it out to Italy?
I believe that in part of our tour we will be visiting Milan, so I hope that this time we will come by Italy again. I think that there is a good possibility that we will make it to Italy. We are ready to play everywhere in the world (laughs). It’s just about getting the offers from the promoters and that if these different countries want to bring Sirenia there. Usually when everything is settled then we can come and play.
So we are at the end of our interview and I really would like to thank you for your time here with me today.
Yes, my pleasure
Would you mind saying a few words to our webzine?
I would like to say cheers to all the Sirenia fans in Italy and that we really hope to see all of you soon on tour. Thank you so very much!
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