interview with Sarpedon
Have any of you played in other bands? For the moment our drummer, Carl, is the most active – Kvalvaag, Astaroth, Troll. Daniel I. and Jimmy played with Carl in Urkraft, Carl and Daniel H were a short while in Dynasty of Darkness, Daniel H has played in Lithic/Nebular Secrets, and Trace Of Titans, as well.
How is it that you started playing music? I played trombone in a marching band from I was very little – then at 12/13 I heard Yngwie’s “Vengeance” on a Total Guitar magazine CD. From then on I was hooked.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? We might have some news in a while on this front – at the moment we are Carl Engstrøm – drums, Daniel Iversen – rhythm guitars, Daniel Hemstad – keys, Jimmy Lu – bass, Eirik P. Krokfjord – choirs/vox. and myself, Torgeir P. Krokfjord, on lead and rhythm guitars.
Did you make music even when you were young? Quite young, yeah – I think I wrote my first riff when I was 16-ish. I still remember that riff, and it’s actually quite good – but it was then followed by years of rather crappy songwriting before we’re hopefully back on track again now J
Where are you from? Most of us are from the Oslo area.
What year did the band form? To be honest I don’t remember exactly – my guess is it would be around 8-10 years since Carl, Eirik, and myself began jamming.
What's your style of genre? Progressive Power-Thrash-Heavy Metal? Or something like that?
What inspires you? The good and bad things in life.
How often and where do you rehearse? At the moment we don’t rehearse at all, as we’re working on keys, bass, and later vocals for our next album - but usually we rehearse once a week in an office building in Oslo.
How have you developed since you started with the music? A more mature and able guitar player and song writer, I hope.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I have a very exciting and challenging job as an investigative reporter at a national newspaper in Norway.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Yep, we might.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We may or may not – Inverse has been good to us and their boss, Jani, is a great guy, if we’re staying for a new album we haven’t decided yet but no bad words about them.
What made you decide to make this music? Good people, fucked up people, good experiences, fucked up experiences.
What are your songs about? War & Peace, mental health, religion, day to day struggles, love, the good and bad aspects of living.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Do you compose in a certain environment? I do about 85% of the writing – Daniel I. and Jimmy have done a little bit each for the next record. I write when I have time, basically. In between everything else – if I sit down thinking “now I’m going to write a song” it usually ends up crap – the best bits come from nowhere. I record a lot of riffs by singing them into the voice recorder on my phone, then work on them on the guitar and make songs out of them in a tablature program – then we jam on those songs and make them “our own” during rehearsals. Although I make most of the riffs/parts these jam sessions are crucial to make the songs sound authentic and “real” – especially Carl usually has a big influence on how the drums end up sounding. And Daniel H has done some amazing experimentation with the keys on the next album as well.
Have you done any covers live? We’ve done Nevermore – Heart Collector, which worked very well. A few years ago we did Conception – Roll the Fire, with Lasse from Circus Maximus on keys. That was also great, great fun. We actually did Alice Cooper – Hey Stoopid also, but that was indeed a stupid idea J
What language do you sing in? English.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? The least: very few. The most: 100-ish?
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We haven’t done very much live work with this line-up yet, only one gig before beginning to write new material – I suppose we will work mostly around one set for the next gigs, with some variation.
What was your latest gig? With Norwegian power metal band Ghost Avenue at the Gamla concert hall in Oslo last winter. Great fun!
Have you had to cancel a gig? Nope.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? At the moment we’re sold out – lots more to come with the completion of the new album! (I promise – buy buy buy buy!)
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? It’s life.
What do you think of my work? People like you are what makes the metal scene unique – very hard working, dedicated, writers putting in long hours without any payment. The heart and soul of heavy metal – that’s not bullshit, that’s the truth. Without volunteers writing, selling merch, organizing gigs, taking pictures, being roadies and techs, metal would be nothing.
Do you have any role models or idols? Guitar-wise my top 3 are Yngwie, Nuno Bettencourt, and Brian May.
Why do you think that they exist? They combine technique with intense musicality and creativity. And every note they play has a function – Yngwie’s biggest feat as a guitar player isn’t his speed, but it’s his tone and vibrato.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Ooooh – older bands for sure.
Do you have any new material? Lots! A new album is in the works as we speak – some teasers can be found on facebook.com/sarpedonnorway.
What are your web sites? Facebook.com/sarpedonnorway.
How can people reach you? Through the Facebook page, at sarpedonnorway AT gmail DOTT com (and through my Instagram account if they like - @krokfjord).
What are your plans for the future? New album and world domination!
