interview with Vanhelga.
What´s the name of your band? Vanhelga.
How was the band formed? By 145188 (Ottosson) back in 2001.
Can you tell about your band? We play music without any boundaries. We play what we feel like and don't give a fuck about other people's opinions. We see our music as art and not work therefor we use some very controversial methods while recording/doing live gigs.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Gabrielson, vocals, from Stockholm. Ejnarsson, guitars, from Linköping. Ottosson, Bass and vocals, from Umeå. Ludde, drums, from Åkarp. We are spread out all over fucking Sweden.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To fuck everything label-related. And with label I mean categories like "black metal" etc. I detest labels, it just limits the creativity.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? No.
Where was your first gig? Don't remember. Maybe in Stockholm at club Medusa.
Where was the latest gig? In Finland at a festival.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Ottosson writes 99% of all the songs. Ejnarsson write one or two songs sometimes. Gabrielson is responsible for all lyrics except for the old albums. Ottosson wrote those lyrics.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? What a fucking question. It must be me (Ottosson).
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? As I said earlier I don't believe in genres so we are in NO GENRE. Good thing is that we create art that we stand for and are proud of. Also the drugs and self-mutilation are positive things. The only bad thing is when we have to wait before and after shows. It really sucks sitting and waiting for hours.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We did not pick any style. They are about life and death.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Own material. Only did two covers.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they?
We made many albums. Here is a list (copied from metal-archives.com).
Enslaved by Go Demo 2009
Mortem Illuminate Mea Full-length 2010
Disembowel the Illusion Demo 2010
The Ensemble of Dark Desire Split 2010
The End of Reason EP 2010
Ångest EP 2011
Höst Full-length 2012 1 (77%)
Sommar EP 2013
Längtan Full-length 2014 1 (60%)
LPT EP 2014
Urban Negativist Split 2015
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yeah there are plenty, just search "vanhelga" and you will find them all.
How old are you?/What got you started in music? Myself are 29 years old. I played music since I was a child and it have always been a part of my life. It's the only reason I am alive.
At what age did you start playing? Don't know maybe 8 years old.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? With this band 25+ but we have been in other bands and stood on stages since we were 15.
What year was the band started? 2001.
Best/worst gig you've played? All gigs are special in their own way.
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? Kings of Black Metal in Germany in April.
Where have you played from then till now? Tour in Sweden. Tour in Germany. Finland.
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? Dissection.
Is it always the same songs live? No.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? All of them.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Biggest this far was in Germany.
How big crowds do you usually play for? 100-500 people.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? The release of "Urban Negativism". A four-way split with our brothers in Ofdrykkja, Psychonaut 4 and In Luna. We will also do a few live shows in different countries. We have a lot planned but I am not allowed to say at this point.
Where do you usually play? Wherever we get a gig.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Cutting ourselves, drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
What are your goals with your music? To create art.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? When I was about 8 years old.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Older.
What are your sources of inspiration? It depends. Of course there are old bands that are inspiring, like, for me personally, dissection, old metallica, old megadeth and so on. But when writing songs it depends. Sometimes it is inspired by rituals that involves self-mutilations other times it can be inspired by a state of mind created by drugs.
What's the first step when making a new song? It also depends. Sometimes I come up with riffs when I watch TV, other times while playing videogames, other times while cutting, other times while taking drugs. Sometimes by just picking up the guitar and do some tunes.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I don't care about it. The important thing is that our message and art reaches the audience.
What would be your dreams for the band? That we kill ourselves on stage.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Dissection (they also avoid labels so), thrash metal, some burzum.
What do you hold most dear? Nothing.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? That life continues to exist.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Nothing really, maybe cutting myself too deep so I have to go off stage.
Have you been part of any other projects? Yes a death metal band called "bring your own knife". It was my first band and I was very young. We released one CD, I think you can buy it at CDON.com or GINZA.se or some amazon.com.
Have you been in any other bands? Yes, read above. Also I was session bassist for LifeLover before the demise of B.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I am so mentally sick that I can't work.
What would you do if there was no music? Not live.
How important are your fans? Very important. Without them there would be no Vanhelga.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? A girl once licked all my scars after a show.
How often do you rehearse? 2-3 times per year.
Where do you rehearse? Linköping.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Aftermath and Svartsint ömhet.
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Dissection.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? We don't try to make a living out of our music we just want to create art.
Do you have any webpages?
https://www.facebook.com/vanhelgaoffi...
http://www.vanhelga.bandcamp.com
http://vanhelga.bigcartel.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/vanhelga
https://myspace.com/vanhelga218
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Follow your own path and don't give a fuck about what other people say or think about your art.
Describe your show, visually and musically Total chaos.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? I have no idea about the musicindustry. I don't care about it and I don't follow it. All I know from when we have played at different venues is that bands nowadays mostly are copycats of previous bands that have already did the exact same thing 20 years ago. That is pathetic to me. And also most people in the "black metal genre" call themselves satanists and put on corpsepaint and blood but to them it's just a fucking show with no meaning. Just theatre. That is also very pathetic.
What advice would you like to give other bands? Be yourselves.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? The biggest obstacle I personally had a long time ago was to find a label that was willing to work with me and release our art. There are so many bands today and labels get 100+ demo's each week and it is very hard to get "signed".
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? The waiting. There is a lot of waiting before and after the gig. But it is worth it, especially if you have some drugs to entertain yourself with.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Kings of black metal in Germany. You should be there because it will be total chaos and a show that nobody every will forget. We don't do regular shows.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence Melancholy.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Wierd fucking question. I play all instruments but I guess a triangle is pretty crappy.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Don't know. Maybe in Germany when our guitarist started fighting with our singer.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? Cutting ourselves, drinking alcohol, taking drugs.
Do you have anything to add? Hail Satan! Fuck you all!