{"id":4939,"date":"2012-02-04T10:37:56","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T23:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=4939"},"modified":"2012-02-04T13:32:16","modified_gmt":"2012-02-04T02:32:16","slug":"vidar-landa-of-kvelertak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/02\/vidar-landa-of-kvelertak\/","title":{"rendered":"Vidar Landa of Kvelertak"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>“We\u2019re really looking forward to finally seeing them and coming over, we\u2019ve had a month off so we\u2019re definitely stoked and really full of energy.\u00a0 We\u2019re just really ready to come and play so it\u2019s going to be really good.”<\/p>\n

From Bio: Kvelertak shamelessly draw inspiration from every corner of something that could fit into their idea of good hard-hitting and catchy rock’n’roll. Regardless of genre, but always truthful to the basic idea of the band; good songs performed with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of their punk-rock pioneers. Unlike the majority of heavier bands they sing in their native language \u2013 adding even more character to their already unique sound.<\/p>\n

Coming to Australia for Soundwave, we called Norway, and spoke to Kvelertak guitarist Vidar about the band, their live shows, and just when we can expect some new material.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re heading out here for Soundwave, your first time to Australia, have you been given any indication of what to expect?<\/strong>
\nNot really, nice weather, right now there\u2019s Winter and snow in Norway and so we\u2019re definitely looking forward to some sun.\u00a0 We know that we have a lot of fans down there, ever since the record came out, people have been approaching us on email and facebook, as far as I know the record\u2019s been doing pretty good, so we\u2019re really happy to finally come over and play.\u00a0 It was a real bummer when they cancelled the Soundwave Revolution but luckily we get to play the real Soundwave.<\/p>\n

For those that haven\u2019t seen you perform live, explain to our readers what a Kvelertak live set entails\u2026<\/strong>
\nJust a lot of bare chested men with a lot of testosterone, beards and just heavy music.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty simple and primitive.<\/p>\n

How much fun is it having 3 guitarists in the band?<\/strong>
\nOh it\u2019s the most fun band I\u2019ve ever played in, well actually it\u2019s the only real band I\u2019ve played in.\u00a0 Usually when a band records they layer the guitars but we had the opportunity to bring that sound of wall out live, plus all our songs is based around three guitars with a lot of harmonies.<\/p>\n

Your debut album was released in 2010 to rave reviews, how have you felt the reaction has been?<\/strong>
\nOh it\u2019s been great, we didn\u2019t really know what to expect as it\u2019s our first record ever for every one of us and the reception was just overwhelming, from Norway and Europe and then the US and Australia, so we didn\u2019t really know what to expect at all, so it\u2019s kind of been a roller coaster ride ever since the record came out.<\/p>\n

What was the decision behind recording the album in your native language?<\/strong>
\nActually at the beginning we had lyrics in both, we tried to have songs with both English and Norwegian lyrics just for fun, but we stopped with that pretty early, it\u2019s just for Erlend the singer it\u2019s natural for him to write lyrics in Norwegian and sing and express himself in Norwegian.\u00a0 It\u2019s also been in both punk and Black Metal bands, it\u2019s always been a tradition to sing in Norwegian, so it came pretty natural for us to do it that way.\u00a0 We never thought about singing in English or anything like that.<\/p>\n

How do you feel that fans connect to it even though they more than likely can\u2019t understand what is being said?<\/strong>
\nYeah definitely, and I don\u2019t think the language matters in that way, in Norway people don\u2019t really know what we\u2019re singing about either, but we wrote in the sleeve of the cover of the booklet, we write a line or two and you can read what the song is about, so yeah so most people have an idea what the songs are about and I think that\u2019s enough for a lot of people outside of Norway, especially in the US maybe, they find it really exotic that the lyrics on the first album is about Norse mythology and stuff like that.<\/p>\n

Your music is based mostly about Norse \/ Viking folklore, is this a theme that you think you will continue using?<\/strong>
\nNo, that was for the first album, or at least the lyrics I\u2019ve seen so far will have a different theme, but I don\u2019t really know how it\u2019s going to turn out, but there is definitely not going to be a lot of songs about Odin and Thor all over again.<\/p>\n

I believe late last year you\u2019d started work on a new album, how is that progressing?<\/strong>
\nYeah, we started to rehearse again as we had a month or a couple of weeks off to rehearse again, so we rehearsed two new songs and there\u2019s a couple of new songs that we\u2019ve been writing since we got home, so we\u2019re going to start to rehearse again very soon, so hopefully we\u2019ll start recording the new album in September this year, but because we\u2019ve been so busy touring we haven\u2019t really had any time to sit down and rehearse new songs.\u00a0 We might be playing two new songs in Australia actually, hmm\u2026
\nWhen do you think we\u2019ll get to hear the end result?<\/strong>
\nI can\u2019t really see anything being out before January next year, so you\u2019ll need to wait another year.<\/p>\n

It seems you\u2019ve been on tour pretty much since the album has been released, when are you planning on coming off the road?<\/strong>
\nWe came back home from the last European tour in December, since then we\u2019ve only had a couple of weeks off, I would say now is the time we have more than a couple of weeks off.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve basically been on the road for 18 months or so.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your support slot with Foo Fighters and how that came about\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah, I think it was in November of 2010, we saw a picture on the web that Dave Grohl was holding up our record and there was some YouTube clip where he\u2019s going through some records but there\u2019s no sound so you can\u2019t really hear what he\u2019s saying, but we saw that at least he had our record, that was a bit weird and cool.\u00a0 Half a year later, they announced they were doing a big stadium show in Norway and we were the only Norwegian band that he knew and liked, so he basically asked us through his management or booking if we would be the direct support for the Norwegian gig which we didn\u2019t really have to think about ha ha.<\/p>\n

How was the show regarded, are you guys big over there?<\/strong>
\nUm, yeah, I mean, we\u2019re not like pop huge but for a rock and metal band it\u2019s pretty big.\u00a0 Our record was in the top charts for almost half a year which is pretty good, but we\u2019re not selling millions of records.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also doing side shows with Mastodon and Gojira, do you find that when it\u2019s your show you can take a different approach as you\u2019re not fighting to get people\u2019s attention at a festival?<\/strong>
\nWe try not to, but there\u2019s definitely a different vibe from doing a festival, especially the bigger festival stages and doing an intimate club show, but like from our side you would see the same energy and the same show, but there\u2019s definitely some different vibe from play an indoor show than playing an outdoor festival stage.\u00a0 I think that it\u2019s maybe more than the audience react different to us.<\/p>\n

Are you looking forward to catching anyone on the bill?<\/strong>
\nMostly the bands we\u2019re doing the sideshows with, I haven\u2019t really, I checked the line up but I kind of forget, but I see there\u2019s a lot of bands like Limp Bizkit, I\u2019ve seen that there\u2019s a lot of bands I don\u2019t care about at all, but bands like Mastodon and Gojira I\u2019m excited to see.<\/p>\n

Lastly, do you have a message for your Australian fans that are excited to see you?<\/strong>
\nJust that we\u2019re really looking forward to finally seeing them and coming over, we\u2019ve had a month off so we\u2019re definitely stoked and really full of energy.\u00a0 We\u2019re just really ready to come and play so it\u2019s going to be really good.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Oslo, Norway<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Erlend Hjelvik (lead vocal), Bjarte Lund Rolland (guitar), Maciek Ofstad (guitar), Vidar Landa (guitar), Marvin Nygaard (bass), Kjetil Gjermundr\u00f8d (drummer)<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/kvelertak.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Kvelertak (Riot! Entertainment – 2010)<\/p>\n

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