Denmark’s Anubis Gate performed recently at ProgPower Europe 2012 following the release earlier in the year of their self-titled album, their 5th since 2001. While there, Andrew Doherty met Kim Olesen, guitarist and band member since the beginning. An interview was set up as a result. Here it is:
AN: Hello again Kim! Congratulations on your band’s performance at ProgPower and on your gripping album “Anubis Gate”, and thank you for agreeing to answer some questions about your band. I had a look at your web site and your sound is described as a “stylistic conglomeration of classic 80’s heavy metal, a more epic 90’s ambience and a dark progressiveness of our days” and “metal with beautiful soundscapes, cool riffing and a clear and powerful vocal performance”. I would say that this understates the modern melodies in your music, especially on your new album. Where do you want to be right now with your “soundscapes”, to use your own word?
KO: Hi Andrew, thanks for featuring us, and being so nice at ProgPower 🙂
Regarding the soundscapes you could say I’m never where I want to be, truth be told, because I’m always hearing sounds in my head that never come to fruition. But while in search of that sound within I happen to find so many other cool sounds and ideas that go into the melting pot that Anubis Gate is. I guess that inside my head the ultimate Anubis Gate album lurks, and while travelling on the journey towards that, what we find along the way is what comes out on record.
AN: One thing which struck me personally about the “Anubis Gate” album is the contrast between light and dark. Taking its opening track “Holding Back Tomorrow”, it opens up and re-appears in quite a sinister way, yet there’s real warmth in the hooky “fly me to the sun” chorus. Is this light / dark distinction something that you as a band aimed to cultivate?
KO: Juxtaposing light and shade is something that we do a lot. We didn’t set out to do it it but I guess the dynamics of the writers just make it happen. We like it but it’s not that conscious. It’s not as black and white as I just stated but often Jesper will bring the shade and I will bring the light. Sometimes it’s the opposite of course but Jesper and I have always had this yin-yan like quality to the way we worked together. This was also important when we recently were on the lookout for Jesper’s replacement. Someone I can yin-yan with.
AN: I felt a different ambiance on your previous two albums “Andromeda Unchained” (2007) and “The Detached” (2009) compared to “Anubis Gate”. If your albums were compared to food, “Andomeda Unchained” would be dark and intense, where “Anubis Gate” would be milk chocolate! I cannot imagine such a darkly atmospheric track like “The White Storm through my Mind” appearing on “Anubis Gate”. What ambiance were you looking for on “Andromeda Unchained” and this track in particular?
KO: Quite true, these albums really are a different kettle of fish. In reality the “feel” an album ends up having is not something we plan on in advance. Before starting an album we talk about “it could be fun if we went in such and such direction”. But as soon as we get going all those plans are bombed to to the ground, because we have discovered that the only thing that has ever worked for us is to do what we are inspired to do. As soon as we force it, we simply can’t write music. So as developing musicians and developing human beings, how an album ends up being is a snapshot of where we were at that particular period.
AN: The new album seems to be more about developing integrated song structures than experimenting with sounds. Your previous two albums are strong on samples, and “Pyramids” on “The Detached” features Arabic instruments. Has your vision changed towards your compositions?
KO: Probably yes. The thing that happened was that “The Detached” was our take on “the mother of all concept albums”. So a lot of energy on that album went into making the story and music fit together. While this gives the incentive to go out on a limb and do things that normally would be seen as maybe a bit over the top, making a concept album like that is also a bit constricting. So I guess that on the self-titled album we just wanted to have the freedom to write a bunch of good songs. Perhaps even with the word songs as the key factor. But, again, it was not a conscious decision. It just turned out to be a very song-based album. It’s funny how we made our most, dare I say, beautiful album, right after our most experimental and darkly complex album. Kind of like a pendulum swinging to the other side.
AN: “Anubis Gate” – is the choice of title a statement of “hey, this is us” and not so much a band covering a concept or story in an objective way?
KO: A lot of things happened after “The Detached”. Our old record label went bankrupt. Taking with them in the region of £8000 in unpaid royaltees (they hadn’t paid us a penny since 2007). Add to that the fact we could not, and still can’t, get the download versions taken off iTunes, Spotify etc, which means that the sales of those albums are an ongoing theft of royalties from us, since they probably get paid to the former owners of Locomotive Records. And in the midst of recording the album (actually after all the music had been recorded) our singer at that time Jacob Hansen had to leave the band. So we were without a contract, broke, robbed of a lot of money and we had just lost our vocalist. Fortunately we had another amazing vocalist within our ranks. The album title is a statement about survival. Us, cut to the bone, creating a beautiful album against all odds.
AN: Some bands stick to the same essential song structure. Although you have a recognisable style, I sense that you try different structures on your new album. It’s as if on tracks like “Oh My Precious Life” and “World in a Dome” you are looking for something different with a dramatic edge. Was this the plan?
KO: Yeah, playing with song structures is a very creative process and often reveals a lot of possibilities within a track which we then act upon. Often a track can change to the point where almost nothing of the original composition remains. “Options” (from “The Detached”) went through over 40 different versions before being finished. And some of those versions were radical changes from the previous version.
AN: “Circumstanced”, the final track on “Anubis Gate”, has a particularly epic quality and is constructed as if you have superimposed layer upon layer. How did you build up this track and complete it after first coming up with the idea?
KO: The initial idea with that song was to make an epic that went against what progmetal epics usually are. You know, the usual Dream Theater style epic with a long guitar/keyboard unison solo etc etc. As a great admirer of Genesis I thought it could be fun to make a long song-based epic that started in one tempo and ended in another. Kind of like the song “Domino” from Invisible Touch. And we love doing things like making the vocal melody of one section (in this case the chorus of the first slow part) fit onto another piece of music. It makes us all work hard when challenged with such ideas. I really think Henrik outdid himself on that last part of the track. Really the birth of that song was me happening to find the synth sound from the start of the song. The “whale song like” sound. I just found the sound so moving.
AN: “Holding Back Tomorrow” and “Golden Days” are commercial tracks. I know you’ve released “Golden Days” as a single. With a bit of editing “Holding Back Tomorrow” could be hit single material. Is this something you have considered or are interested in?
KO: Sure, we actually did that with “Golden Days”. We made a short version and did a video for it http://youtu.be/_ravGcKto3I Live we do a sort of crossover between the two versions because we found out that the long version was just too long. And to make it a bit more interesting it’s not just an edit version but contains elements not used in the album version. I do think that the single version is the better of the two. We released it as an iTunes single coupled with a cover of the Nik Kershaw song “Wouldn’t It Be Good”. Making edited versions are actually a lot of fun because you have to decide what’s essential to the song. We also did a short version of “The Final Overture” from the album “Andromeda Unchained”.
AN: How do you reconcile the commercial sound of “Anubis Gate”, assuming you agree with that interpretation of course, with some of its powerfully gloomy lyrics?
KO: Touching again upon the “light and shade” thing that we like doing here. It’s like old folk songs dealing with the apocalypse but seemingly, when taken from the music alone, it’s in another world. A good sixties example would be “Bad Moon Rising”. A very happy song on the surface but dealing with the end of the world when you read the lyrics.
AN: I see that you had a different combination of composers and lyricists for your “Anubis Gate” album. With such a combination, how did you manage to bring all the ideas and personalities together and still maintain a continuity of theme and style within the album?
KO: It doesn’t seem to be a problem for us. It think we are very tough in our “quality control”. A lot of ideas end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak. We take a lot of inspirations from things like Pink Floyd like keyboards or King Crimson interlocking guitars etc… Anything goes as long it fits within the framework of melodic metal. This is also the reason we span all the way from “Golden Days”, which is really modern hard rock, to a song like “Telltale Eyes” which draws from our love of the first Testament albums. We love everything from Pretty Maids to Slayer. And outside metal we listen to so much, seemingly not even closely related to metal but somehow we can bring those things in. I think it’s because after all we do not kid ourself trying to do a blues song or other silly stuff. We focus on what fits the vocals of the song. And I think that sets us a bit apart from other bands where the vocals often seem to be an afterthought to the guitar riffs. A common line through it all is, I think, our love of melancholic 80’s pop music, like Ultravox, Aha etc. This shows in our melody lines, and beneath great vocal lines you have the freedom to do so much musically.
AN: Speaking of composers and contributors, you’ve lost two key band members in the last year or so in Jacob Hansen and Jesper M Jensen. What impact has the departure of these members had on the band, and the direction it will take in the future?
KO: Sure, because everyone has their individual styles of writing. And in a band like ours where we all contribute (also Morten who despite not having many writing credits is often the one to step in when things are not “metal” enough) changing a band member has an impact. And Jesper’s style of riffing is pretty unique. Just listen to “The Reformation Show”, which is just so Jesper. This is also why when we searched for his replacement we not only had to find a good player but someone who could bring something special to the table. Not something like Jesper, but something equally unique. So this will of course show on the next album. I like to think that Anubis Gate is a case of “the sum being larger than the parts” and with new man Michael Bodin in the band it’s exciting to see what will happen to our music now, because the things Henrik and I will write will interact with Michael’s stuff, and the sum of the new parts will be different. But since Henrik and I are still who we are we will of course not change beyond recognition. Jesper does have a couple of things on the next album too though.
AN: Metal melodies and dark lyrics are very common in metal from Denmark and Sweden. My wife echoed a thought I have when listening to your music when she said that at times you sound like Mercenary. Do you feel that Anubis Gate is part of any Scandinavian school of metal music?
KO: I’d have to say no to this, as we draw much of our inspirations from metal which is not Scandinavian, with seventies prog bands and melancholic pop thrown in. That’s not a slight on bands like Mercenary who are our friends (and a fantastic band) BUT there is so much fantastic Scandinavian metal. Katatonia is just out of this world. Man would we love to tour with them 😉
AN: Until ProgPower Europe 2012, you hadn’t performed live since 2009. Was there a period of isolation? Why was there such a gap?
KO: The period where Jacob was the lead vocalist was a troubled one as far as live performances go. We were all just so busy (Henrik and me being very active in cover bands and Jacob running his studio) that it was almost impossible for us to even get the band together for a photo shoot, let alone serious rehearsals. So it’s not like we didn’t want to play live, it was just near impossible. We only ever did one show with him. And since we spend such an incredible amount of time creating the albums we tend to get caught up in our own little bubble, ignoring the outside world. I guess we are really the composing geeks of metal with all the positive and negative things this brings along as far as presence to the outside world is concerned.
AN: If getting the whole band was so difficult how do you create your music then?
KO: Internet is the short answer. We all write anything from very small sections to almost complete songs. Then I collect everything and like a jigsaw puzzle stitch things together finding out what is still missing for a song. Then someone may do some extra stuff to go on top of the rough song. A piece may be replaced by something else, a section may change key to make it different in relation to the rest of the song. Or even more radical changes. Really there are no holy cows. When we were on the last day of mixing “Andromeda Unchained” Jacob and I decided that “The End Of Millennium Road” didn’t really have a chorus so we wrote and recorded one during the last hours of mixing. That just shows how everything may change if needed. This process has so many advantages over writing in rehearsal where you have a tendency to finish off too fast and go for a beer haha.
AN: What prompted you to take part in ProgPower Europe this year?
KO: Since we now “only” have four diaries that have to fit together, live performances have suddenly become a possibility again. And I guess we’ve missed it. It’s nice being in a dressing room together, sharing a beer after a rehearsal etc etc… So I sent a mail to the ProgPower organisation since I thought that would be a good opportunity to play for some of our European fans, and it turned out they had been thinking of getting us too, so things just went from there. We did a warm up gig in Denmark too and since we now have put a lot of energy into rehearsals (and preparing the backing tracks with all the keyboards etc) we are not going to let it slip away, so we’ll be doing more live work.
AN: I hope you enjoyed ProgPower as much as I did! On a professional level, what did you get out of being there?
KO: Oh we did indeed I think that the important things were that we are showing that we are indeed a live band and just not a studio project. But equally important was feeling the love and enthusiasm from the fans. When we remain in the aforementioned bubble we never see them and talk to them and it was just a fantastic and heart warming experience to actually meet a lot of people who love our music. Really, we were genuinely touched. And I might add, Progpower is just so nice and special an event. There is nothing as friendly as that, and I hope we will return one day.
AN: On a personal note, you’re clearly someone who enjoys immersing yourself in the metal scene. What sort of music do you like to listen to yourself?
KO: Ouch, prepare yourself for a long list;-) As far as metal goes I love Iron Maiden (up to “Seventh Son”). The old Megadeth, Testament and Metallica albums. Old Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory. And the mid period Voivod albums are incredible. As far as newer metal it would be Rammstein and i’ve just discovered Katatonia who might just be the most important discovery to me in years. Non metal would be Genesis, Kraftwerk, King Crimson, and my big obsession The Beatles. And a lot of other things. Keane is big in my world right now, their new album is beautiful.
AN: It sounds as if you are a musician in great demand, playing as you do for Mercenary and Trendkill Method. Do you have any other side projects?
KO: Yeah I’ve been lucky to be in demand for my keyboard playing. I recently played on Ginger Wildheart’s “100%” album which reached number 9 in the British album charts (so that was quite a thrill). I did an album for Communic, one for The Arcane Order and a couple of albums for Fear My Thoughts as well as the bands you mention. Before Anubis Gate I played a lot of fusion jazz as a guitarist. I have a conservatoire degree in jazz guitar playing but once we were a couple of albums into Anubis Gate I decided that that was where I would put my creative energy. I play in 3 cover bands, which I really love doing. Apart from the money aspect I just love to play music, even if it’s “just” playing a Robbie Williams song …. and one shouldn’t deny the aspect of it that it’s a great way to keep your playing sharp. Gigging several times a week you can’t help staying sharp on your instrument.
A project I did do on the side though was producing Lance King’s solo album “A Moment In Chiros”. I played a lot on it and wrote some music as well. It’s a really good album.
AN: I’m particularly intrigued as to how you get involved with Trendkill Method, a Latvian band on a Singaporean label. How did that come about?
KO: Well they just mailed me, asking my price. I think they heard me on the Fear My Thoughts album “Hell Sweet Hell” but I’m not sure. I didn’t know that Jacob Hansen was going to mix the album and I’m not sure he even knew it was me on the keyboards so it was pretty funny when we found out.
AN: After the previous problems, where does Anubis Gate you stand with record labels now?
KO: Yeah, as mentioned we had/have a troubled money relationship with Locomotive. After “The Detached” we were at the end of our contract anyway so we made the self-titled album not even knowing if it was ever going to come out. But I knew that Nightmare had expressed interest in us before so I contacted Lance (head of Nightmare) and within a couple of hours we had settled a deal. We are just so happy to be on Nightmare. It’s an ethical company, and a company with real love for the music they put out. And we’d rather be on a label like that than on an exploitative one.
AN: With a relatively new line-up and an album release, what’s your immediate plan to take Anubis Gate, the band and the album, forward? Do have any more live shows lined up in the near future?
KO: Our booking agency Dedicated Booking is working on a couple of Danish shows right now. The short term goal is to integrate new man Michael Bodin into the band both as a writer and getting him ready for live performance. The album is halfway written by now and recordings are being done as we go along. We’ll be tracking drums next summer so we are looking at a late 2013 release.
AN: It’s evident from ProgPower that you’re live and well as a band. Have you discussed the way forward and made any decisions about the projects you want to undertake in the future?
KO: We really never plan further ahead than the next album. It won’t be like the self-titled album, we seem to have a slightly new twist to the music, and with Michael now contributing this will be more evident. This “taking projects one at a time” might be a failing of ours, but it’s what works. If we were to change anything it would probably be getting out of the studio to do gigs faster than after the self-titled album.
AN: To finish, is there anything you would like to say to readers of Ave Noctum ?
KO: If you made your way through my lengthy answers and all the way down here and have not heard our music I will of course now take the opportunity to plug it. QUICK, RUSH, BUY NOW 😉 you can order it on Amazon and if you use iTunes this is the link
https://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/anubis-gate/id464311438?l=da
We hope to do shows in Britain sometime in the future and see you all there.
AN: Whatever your future projects are, good luck with them. Thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions and sharing your world with us. It’s great to speak to you, Kim, and I very much look forward to seeing you again soon somewhere …
KO: Thanks again for having us here Andrew, and hope to see you somewhere too.
Interviewed by Andrew Doherty
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