Hello, how are things at the moment?
Thank you, I am doing really well. It's great to have the album
finished and out in the shops. The mixing process of "Njord" was quite
long and took a lot of strength and sleep-less nights. The first thing I
did was to go for a long run through the forest. What a relief, what a
great moment.
Before 2009 your last release was back in 2006. Come this year though
and you guys seem to have gone into overdrive with a double CD/DVD "We Came
with the Northern Winds - En Saga I Belgia" released in February, then the
EP Destiny and then a new album "Njord" out last month. To your fans it
must seem like Christmas, why has so much been released this year?
You are right, hehe. Lot's of things going on this year. We've been
extremely busy. However, this time we needed much longer than with earlier
productions. We started to compose in 2007, and we had planned to release
the album in 2008, however we just built a complete new studio from the
ground as we had to leave the one we had rented before. Moreover, we were
forced to renew the complete studio equipment and recording system after
moving into the new studio. This took about at least a year. In the middle
of all this, we had to produce our DVD, which is a "monster" project of
six hours playing time. Of course we had troubles finding a new bass
player and drummer, as our two former members decided to concentrate on
their other jobs. Nick Barker, who was our drummer for a while,
unfortunately had to step back from metal and music business during a
difficult period of time in his life. We suddenly had a phone call from
England, in which he was terribly sorry to tell us about some serious
personal problems he had. It is quite difficult to find a new drummer,
especially because he or she has to be able to play the songs by Leaves'
Eyes, Atrocity and my solo project. However, we needed to get through
these extremely busy and hard times to get a new perspective on things,
and to settle down. Since the first demo recordings for "Njord" we have
been able to achieve goals that we thought back in 2007 would be quite
impossible. The hardest thing was to mix the orchestra, which we recorded
in Minsk,Whiterussia (edit:- part of Belarus), consisting of 40 instruments.The writing and composing process was not that complicated. In the end we had 18 songs,
which is really a lot for one production. However, all songs can be heard on our EP "My Destiny", or on the album "Njord".
With regards to We Came with the "Northern Winds - En Saga I Belgia" it
includes a documentary and a lot of live material, could you take us
through what is on it?
It was a way for us to say thankyou to our friends and fans. All in
all there's 6 hours of entertainment on the DVD. Concerning the
documentary "We Came with the Northern Winds" we've been collecting film
material for years. It was just a matter of time and money, due to the
fact that we took care of the whole production by ourselves, in our own
studio. I've been around for 15 years, and Alex, Matze, and Tosso have
been around for 20years! In my opinion it was about time to release a
documentation about our work, experience and the characters in the band.
"We Came with the Northern Winds" is an invitation to get under the skin
of Leaves' Eyes. It even ran in some German cinemas. It was amazing to see
my family on such a big screen, moreover, to see the fans from all over
the world! Hey, maybe you will see yourself on the DVD, by the way.
Concerning "En Saga i Belgia" we had a drakkar built especially for the
show. Our "mastermind" Stefan Liebhauser needed about two years from the
first drawings to the last stroke of painting on the ship. He was the one
who had the hardest job. The screen in the back served as natural
surroundings for the show, and the drakkar. We even went to Norway to
film the natural surroundings I grew up in. MFVF in Wieze was the perfect
place for us to record our DVD "En Saga i Belgia". We had built a Viking
ship in natural size just for this special show and we needed a stage huge
enough to set it up. Phil, the promotor and founder of the festival, was
happy about the idea and prepared everything for us to feel confident on
stage, moreover, to set up such a huge technically difficult production.
We even had snow during one of our ballads.and lots of explosions! I've
played in Wieze a number of times, and I really love the atmosphere and
the great audience appearing at the festival.
You use quite a lot of Viking imagery and themes, even as going as far as
to giving away Viking ships with special editions of Njord and having the
Viking boat on stage, which I must say is pretty awesome. Nothing of
course unusual about combing metal and battle imagery or even Vikings but
what does it bring to your sound that is different to say other similarly
influenced bands like Amon Amarth or Ensiferum?
The main reason why we differ from other bands is, firstly, the fact
that we have a broad concept behind every album we do. I feel that our
music deserves a special well-written and interesting concept, and I want
to travel through time and space. For me history has always been extremely
interesting. As I left my home country Norway after 20 years and moved to
Germany 12 years ago, I had more books about the Vikings with me than
clothes and shoes. Yes, I am still searching for interesting books.
Moreover, I was lucky to visit York's Viking Museum last week-end. I will
always stay Norwegian in my heart. This feeling became even more intense
after I became a mum in 2003. I think that's a natural process. I travel
to the north as often as possible. Before we retire, we will return for
good! I just can't live without my family and the amazing, impressive
fjords and mountains, and the more intense seasonings' changes. Norwegian
nature will always play the most important role for me in my artistic
work. Secondly, I grew up with heavy metal (e.g. Black Sabbath/Ozzy) on
one side, and classical music (e.g. Grieg, Tchaikovsky) on the other
side, so when I formed my ex-band Theatre of Tragedy together with the
lead male singer back in 1994, it was clear to me what my music should
sound like: bombastic, romatic, heavy, and it must include contrasting
elements. Leaves' Eyes is not at all a Viking-metal band, although my
lyrics and concepts are based on Viking's history. We mix metal, probably
gothic metal, with real classical music, and even folk instruments, and
then we have contained the "beauty and the beast" image from my early days
with Theatre of Tragedy, wit main focus on the soprano female voice. I am
still sticking to my roots, but there's a continuous progression in me and
the band with every album.
A lot of Leaves' Eyes are also in the metal band Atrocity, does it ever
become a little competitive or confusing in devoting time, trying to
juggle roles or making a distinction between the two bands?
Not at all. There's always somebody in the studio, composing music in
one recording room, or mixing (mostly Alex) in the other bigger recording
room. We mostly concentrate on one album, and when that is finished and
Alex' hands "in the mix" so to speak, the rest of us continues composing
music for the next album, either it is Leaves' Eyes, Atrocity or my solo
project. My third solo album is in the mix right now, by the way, and will
be released in the beginning of 2010. At the moment I am...to be
honest...drowning in promotion, so there's little time for me left to sit
and compose in the recording room. Today, Thorsten (guitars) is here,
recording guitars for the next (fourth!) Leaves' Eyes album already.
Mostly a song comes into existence through an idea of Thorsten (guitars),
who is the main composer in Leaves' Eyes. Sometimes I also have a
song-idea which I record and then the other guitarists join in with their
ideas. We work on each song until we all are 100% (or more!) satisfied.
Each song needs to reach its own identity and authencity to reach out to
the audience with its special athmosphere and sound.
I understand that the band is currently on an acoustic tour of Germany, how does
your music translate after being characteristically big and grandiose on
record?
We just finished the acoustic tour. Now, I am really looking forward
to play the album live "in a bigger production", to see how the audience
respond to the new material. Personally, I take care that I can do the
vocals I've recorded in the studio properly live on a stage, too. That's
immensely important to me. If the budget is fine, we will play with an
orchestra, or even a choir, however, when this is not possible, we'll have
the files running along to the live performance, like most bands do, even
Nightwish. What I love doing, though, is playing acoustic shows with no
technical support - just the guitar and myself, like we will do in Wieze
at the Metal Female Voices festival next week-end.
You'll be out on tour again in Germany and Europe in November with
Atrocity on the bill as well, plus, Sirenia, Elis and Stream of Passion.
How do you feel about the upcoming tour and what can fans expect? I
understand the Atrocity set should be interesting.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that Atrocity will bring along their dancers -
they are awesome. It's a pity I can't really find a role for them in my
Leaves' eyes show, hehe! I am really looking forward to the up-coming
tour! We will, as you correctly stated, tour Europe in November, and maybe
the US in December or spring 2010. For 2010 we have planned two extended
tours, and probably a South-American one. Please check out our tour-dates
news on our homepage - they are confirmed now. Hope to see you there!
Moving on to your latest album "Njord" it's been received well and has done
well in various charts, how would you describe it in sound and style in
the context of albums Leaves' Eyes has done in the past?
"Njord" was, like every album, recorded in our own studio
"Mastersound", and it was produced by my husband and singer in the band,
Alexander. Alexander did a fantastic job as an engineer. He is the one who
had the most sleepless nights, installing the new recording system on our
new studio computers, and being responsible for the mix, as already
mentioned above. We spent all our money on this production, however, there
are three perfectionists in the band, and we are artists that give 110%
into our art. Everything we do comes from the heart! : "Njord" has a power
to it that even is more intense than any previous production I've been
part of. Technically, we constantly have new ideas and aims. We have our
own studio and therefore we have the oppertunity to specialize in
technical tasks concerning album and DVD productions. "Njord" has even a
more bombastic but delicate sound that "Vinland Saga", because techniques
allows it. Moreover, the classical recordings done in this huge formation
is something we hadn't done at least to this extent on the previous
albums. We met the director of Lingua Mortis, Victor Smolski, at a Leaves'
Eyes/Rage concert in Greece in 2007 and we talked to him about having his
orchestra playing on the album. From the very start, Alex said we need a
real 40-person orchestra, and we need a 25-people choir to make the album
sound bombastic, impressive and authentic. Viktor did a fantastic job. The
classical parts were recorded in Minsk and sent as sound files to our
studio. I am so proud of my bandmembers that we achieved this goal
together! The feedback of the album "Njord" has been absolutely amazing.
Many journalists and fans have already pointed out that they believe and
hope that 2009 will be the beginning of a wonderful journey for Leaves'
Eyes. I hope the universe hears this!
It seems there's something accessible about Leaves' Eyes style that
appeals to a large number of people, maybe even not just metal fans - the
new album got a review in the UK from the BBC.
The BBC - I really didn't know! Have to tell my bandmembers straight
away (thanx for the information!). Well, I think there is something for
everybody, for every ear, or heart, in our art. There are people who buy
our albums because they love Viking history and mythology, or classical
music and soundtracks, or female voices, or gothic metal.or maybe
everything. Some people get our albums because of our ballads, or the fact
that I sing in 8 languages.
It seems that in Germany, and indeed Europe you are a popular band,
getting into the charts and in general rock and metal seems well liked
much more so than in the UK. I know that you did well in the UK rock and
metal charts as well but even so I've still often wondered, do we have
crap taste in music by comparison to the rest of Europe?
I never had this question before.Well, to be honest, I've had the experience of being hanged, beheaded and whipped by some persons in the UK music press
even when the rest of the universe said "BRAVO, EXCELLENT, OUTSTANDING".
However, with "Njord" we seem to have impressed you.finally! Thank you, by
the way, I sleep better at night now ;-)
The UK audience have, to strictly underline this, ALWAYS been absolutely supporting and fantastic!
You yourself appeared in UK extreme metal band Cradle of Filth's
album title track for Nymphetamine back in 2004, any chances of further
collaborations in the future? Also, is Dani really that short?
I love "Nymphetamine" - it turned out just perfect, exactly how Dani
and myself wanted it. That decision was taken over one phone call. They
had asked a couple of other female singers but they weren't exactly what
they had been looking for, I guess. I recorded the vocals at our own
Mastersound Studio and sent the files to England. I called up Dani and he
was amazed. Two weeks later we shot the video for "Nymphetamine" in
London's dungeons. We really had a good time - Dani is a real gentlemen.
At least he was to me. We even got nominated for the Grammy in L.A. a few
weeks later. Motörhead won it, though... Dani is not that short...I
think...I thought, at least, after a few glasses of red-wine at the video
shoot...
There's a number of projects and other bands around Leaves' Eyes, not only
Atrocity but you have your solo work, bass player Alla is in a couple of
other bands and so on, after the tour in November is the onus going to
continue on work with Leaves' Eyes or will there be a break after the
massive output of this year?
No breaks are planned. My solo album is almost finished, the next
Leaves' Eyes album is in progression..there will be another Atrocity album
featuring Alex' sister Yasmin Krull in the mix by Christmas. Moreover, we
have lots of tours coming up.
Between the band members the body of work has included pop, rock, death
metal, goth, can we expect maybe more experimentation within the band?
The fourth Leaves' eyes album will be a folk-inspired album, more
like a side project, however, still very Leaves' Eyes. We plan to release
it in the Autumn next year.
Many thanks for the interview, and have a great tour in November and I
hope the rest of the acoustic tour goes well. I thought I'd close by
asking what comes next for Leaves' Eyes? Maybe a gig on an actual Viking
boat in the English channel?
Please find somebody who can make this dream come true - that's an
amazing idea! I would do it immediately (any rich sponsors out there,
looking for a real, live Viking-adventure experience?)! Coming up next is
our acoustic show in Wieze next week-end. Hope to see you there!
