Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

How is it that you started playing music? AC/DC struck my heart with "Thunderstruck" more than 20 years ago.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Cosy: drums/samples, Filip: guitars/samples, Jo: guitars and Kevin: bass. We're all around 40 years old.

Have you had other previous members? Joris took care of samples and synths in the beginning, but he moved out of the country and we took over his job ourselves.

Did you make music even when you were young? When I was 12 I made guitars our of wood, paper and fishing lines. Later my parents bought me a bass guitar.

Where are you from? Belgium.

What year did the band form? 2012.

What's your style of genre? Instrumental post/sludge/doom/ambient/black/drone.

What inspires you? Darkness, light, nature and the universe.

How often and where do you reherse? Twice a month at a complex solely made for rehearsals.

How have you developed since you started with the music? We all gained a lot of experience before we started out HMBSM. We don't develope like most bands who start out freshly. We just specialize our sound.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? We all do, but that's not interesting at all.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? At this moment we can perfectly take care of this ourselves.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Let's do some namedropping here. Our debut was released on CD through Consouling Sounds (AMENRA, THISQUIETARMY,...). The tape version was taken care of Tartarus Records (PRIMITIVE MAN, INTER ARMA,...). The LP edition is set to be released through Sick Man Getting Sick Records (SUN WORSHIP, RORCAL,...). Our main label Debemur Morti Productions (YEAR OF NO LIGHT, IN THE WOODS,...) will put out our next one on CD and LP. Without a good label a lot of work would be useless.

What made you decide to make this music? Simply: the love for low tuned and atmospheric music.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Guitarist Filip writes most music and as a band all will be perfectionized.

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? I need to be relax and knowing there's time for the creating process.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? From 16 tot 50.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Until our 2nd album will be out, we stick to the 3 songs we always play live. With a lenght for about 15 minutes per song there's not much room for variation.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? No. We aim at different places to avoid overkill.

What was your first gig like? It was the album release. We organised it in our rehearsal complex. The pace was packed and TREHA SEKTORI bedazzeled everyone. Good times.

What was your latest gig? Outside in the Austrian Alps on the Funkenflug summer solstice celebration. And exclusive ritual on the longest day of the year. It must be one of the most special events in this scene. Entrancing atmosphere and dito music by the likes of URFAUST, DARK BUDDHA RISING, DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT,...

Have you had to cancel a gig? No. But we are very carefull when accepting a show. All has to fit the picture. Therefor we had to decline about 30 shows now.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Again: western Europe. Due to our jobs we can't take days off and are limited in doing gigs. Tours are almost impossible. During the summer of 2016 we aim our arrows at England.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Since our releaseshow. The usual stuff: music & clothing.

Where can people buy your merchandise? At shows and online.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records nowadays? That's fine. A hard core will stay true to a physical format and more and more people pay for their downloads, so it's less harmess for the artists nowadays.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? I think the lowest point of this has been reached years ago. I have the feeling more and more people rather spend their money on physical formats again. Ofcourse the big days are over quite a while now. But actually we don't think much of this. We do this by heart and soul. In this genre there's no room financial good oppurtunities.

What do you think of my work? It's nice to you care about the scene and support it in your way. I run a blog myself: https://addergebroed.wordpress.com - Just for the love of writing. I'm not very fond of using the same 50 questions for each band. Ofcourse that's just my opinion, but I tend to pick 7-10 questions which are rather uncommon to ask.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Every bits help.

Do you have any role models or idols? No. In fact it's hard for me to believe people actually have idols. This looks rather strange to me. We are all humans with good and bad characteristics. To put it plastically: we all eat, shit, fuck, sleep,... No one is special. We all are special in our own ways. Adoration is unnecessairy. Respect is essential.

Why do you think that they exist? I guess some people are afraid of failure and mirror themselves to (unrealistic) portraits of idiols. In this world everything has to be perfect. The media brainwashes us and there a lot of social pressure. But I strongly believe in the benefit of learning from your own mistakes.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Both. I listen to music I like. Old and new. Today I've been listening to "Left hand path" from ENTOMBED and "Sol invictus" from FAITH NO MORE. There must be 25 years between both albums.

What have been your biggest obstacles? My work. I can't take days off, so touring has always been impossible. Bad commercial decisions like working with the wrong people and picking the wrong label. However, I always look it on the bright side: every downside has got an upside. Just flip the coin.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Don't think things will happen out of the blue: work hard. Besides good music you need a lot of discipline and devotion. And if you can't be passionate and follow your soul, don't expect success. Try to feel and enjoy the things you do with your band as friends. 

How do you get psyched for a gig? Our music is quite entrancing and without the right mindset we can't get into it. Before a show we need to find a relax place to get in the right mood.

Do you have any new material? Yes. Tomorrow we hit the studio for 10 days to record 4 long songs.

What are your web sites? Http://www.facebook.com/hemelbestormer, http://www.youtube.com/user/portaltotheuniverse and http//hemelbestormer.bandcamp.com.

How can people reach you? Through Bandcamp, Facebook and the mail address listed there.

What are your plans for the future? To record our second album, set up a release show and promote it through live shows for at least one year. Most likely two.

Do you have something to add? Thank you for the support. Good luck with your activities.