Interview med Teloch fra Mayhem
Teloch
Covid-19 er stadig en ting, hvilket betyder, at mange musikere jo er tvunget til enten at kede sig, øve sig eller finde på noget helt tredje. Vi har fået os en snak med selveste Morten Bergeton Iversen, bedre kendt som Teloch fra legendariske Mayhem, om, hvad han får tiden til at gå med de her dage.
Daemon er ikke engang et år gammelt, og allerede nu kan jeg læse, at du og de andre medlemmer er i gang med nyt Mayhem-materiale. Kommer den inspiration fra, hvor godt Daemon blev modtaget, eller skyldes det, at der ikke er andet at lave som musiker nu pga. covid-19?
Vi startede på nogle ideer, men af en eller anden grund blev det hurtigt meget uinspireret. Planen var at bruge tiden her på at lave et nyt album, det ville jo være den perfekte tid, men jeg tror, Mayhem-forbandelsen ramte, og det hele gik i vasken.
Vi blev selvfølgelig inspirerede af, hvor godt albummet blev modtaget; det er ikke normalt, at det her band får gode anmeldelser. Det virker til, at alle Mayhem-albums skal ligge i et par år, før folk forstår, hvad det er, vi laver.
Du blev medlem af Mayhem, muligvis et af de mest berygtede bands, tilbage i 2011. Havde du nogen tvivl om at blive medlem dengang?
Ikke skyggen af tvivl. Jeg havde netop afsluttet mit tidligere medlemskab i God Seed og skulle bruge noget andet at lave. Det var også i den periode, at jeg indså, jeg ville prøve at være fuldtids musiker i stedet for hobbymusiker.
Hvis du tænker på, om jeg havde en tvivl pga. bandets ”historie”, så var der ingen. Jeg var allerede vant til kaos i mit liv fra andre bands og personlige forbindelser. Når det så er sagt, så er Mayhem helt sikkert det mest udfordrende band, jeg nogensinde har spillet med. Jeg tror, jeg er blevet 25 år ældre i de 10 år, jeg har spillet med dem! Det er bare fucking mentalt udmattende hele tiden.
Du skrev det forrige album, Esoteric Warfare, selv. Hvordan skete det præcist?
Jeg tog min guitar og skrev det.
Vi havde en måned i Budapest, hvor vi lånte en klub fra en god ven. Så vi satte alting op på scenen der og prøvede ideer af i den måned; jeg tror, vi optog seks sange. Men da vi kom hjem, tog vi en uges pause, hvor vi ikke lyttede til det, og så samlede vi det så op igen. Og det lød frygteligt, eller det syntes Hellhammer og jeg. Jeg kan faktisk ikke huske, hvad de andre syntes. Men vi to blev hurtigt enige om, at de sange var helt forkerte at udgive efter Ordo ad Chao-albummet. Derfor satte jeg mig ned for at skrive noget, der mindede mere om Blasphemers stil og en form for fortsættelse til Ordo ad Chao, men også et kip med hatten til de tidligere værker.
Du beskrev engang James Hetfield fra Metallica som en af dine helt store indflydelseskilder som guitarist. Synes du, man kan høre det blive reflekteret i din musik?
Ingen anelse; jeg kan i hvert fald ikke høre det.
Det virker til, du er blevet noget af en YouTube-stjerne under covid-19-karantænen. Kan du fortælle lidt om din kanal?
Jeg ville ikke selv sige en stjerne. Men jeg keder mig; jeg har nul inspiration i forhold til at skrive nyt materiale. Så lige nu handler det bare om at lave noget kreativt. Det er også godt at bygge en platform, til når vi begynder at turnere igen. Jeg har altid haft en plan om at lægge videoer fra vores turnéer på. Så lige nu er det en god tid til at lære platformen, lære hvordan man filmer, redigerer, og hvordan man bygger et publikum. Det er ret sjovt, fordi man får feedback med det samme på, hvad der virker og ikke virker. Selvfølgelig er det lidt sent, når man har uploadet en video, og du ser, den fejler, men så kan du i det mindste lære noget af det. Men én ting er sikkert: Det tager pisselang tid at være youtuber. Utroligt!
At være på tour med Mayhem må være ret intenst, hvis ikke decideret vanvittigt til tider. Hvad er det mest bizarre, du har oplevet i dine 10 år med bandet?
Vi taler aldrig om, hvad der sker på landevejen. Men du har ret: Bizarre ting sker hele tiden, selv nu, hvor vi ikke drikker så meget, som vi plejede. Der sker sindssyge ting, uanset om vi turnerer eller ej. Det er noget nyt lort hver uge; det er mentalt drænende.
I turnerede med De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas-albummet to år i træk for nogle år tilbage – et album, der bliver betragtet som et af de vigtigste black metal-album nogensinde. Var det nogensinde skræmmende at spille sange, som fansene er så passionerede omkring? Og hvordan føles det at være i et band, hvor de største sange er sange, man hverken har skrevet eller hjulpet med at skrive?
Det tænker jeg ikke over. For mig er det bare superfedt at spille sange fra mit favorit-black metal-album og det album, som fik mig til at interessere mig for black metal.
Jeg ved, Necrobutcher er kæmpe fan af Beastie Boys, og I har turneret med Gost, så jeg går ud fra, trods det faktum at I er Mayhem, at I lytter til andet end black metal?
Vi lytter faktisk allesammen primært til andre ting end black metal. Personligt har jeg ikke hørt noget nyt black metal i omkring 15 år, og jeg aner ikke, hvad der sker i miljøet. Jeg går altid tilbage til de klassikere, som var de første, jeg hørte. Så hvad lytter jeg til? Alt, der er godt, uanset genre.
Black metal virker til at være mere populær end nogensinde med så mange bands, der eksperimenterer og konstant ændrer genrens regler. Ser du det som en god ting?
Jeg anede ikke, det var populært de her dage. Det går vel imod alt det, som black metal handler om. Måske de skulle finde på et nyt navn som New Modern Black Metal? Fra et kreativt synspunkt er det godt, noget vokser, men jeg gætter på, det er vokset sig til noget andet end det, der var meningen.
Er black metal stadig relevant?
Har det nogensinde været det? Det er nok relevant for dem, der lytter til det, men det er jo ikke just musik, der ændrer verden. Jeg ved, det betyder meget for dem, der lytter til det, så det er jo godt nok.
Daemon is not even a year old, and yet I am reading that you and the other members are already working towards new Mayhem material. Is this inspiration coming from how well Daemon was received or the fact that due to Covid-19, there is not really anything else to do right now as a musician?
We started on some ideas, but quickly got very uninspired for some reason. The plan was to use this downtime to create a new album.
It would of course be the perfect time to do it, but I guess the Mayhem-curse hit and everything went to hell.
Of course, we were inspired by how well the previous album was received, not normal to get good reviews with this band. Seems all the Mayhem albums need some years in distance before people understand what we are doing.
You joined Mayhem back in 2011, arguably the most infamous band. Did you have any doubts about joining the band back then?
No doubts at all, I had just ended my previous commitment to God Seed and needed something else to do. This was also in a period where I figured I will try to be a musician full time, instead of a hobby.
If you mean I had any reservations because of the "story" there was none. I was already used to a bit chaos in my life from other bands and personal connections.
That said, Mayhem is the most challenging band I have ever played in, for sure. I think I have gotten 25 years older in the 10 years I have been with them! Just fucking mentally exhausted the whole time.
You wrote the previous record, Esoteric Warfare, all by yourself. How did that happen exactly?
I picked up my guitar and I wrote it.
We did have a session with everyone in Budapest for a month, where we borrowed a club from a good friend. So, we set up everything on the stage there and tried out ideas for a month's time, I think we recorded six songs. But we came home, had a weeklong break where we did not listen to it, then picked it up again. And it sounded awful, at least that's what Hellhammer and myself thought, don't remember what the rest of the guys meant about it. But the two of us quickly decided that those songs were completely wrong to release after the Ordo ad Chao album.
Hence, I sat down again to write something more in the vein of Blasphemers work and some kind of continuation of Ordo ad Chao and also a nod to all the previous albums.
You once cited James Hetfield of Metallica, to be one of your major influences as a guitar player - do you think that is reflected in your music?
I have no idea, not that I can hear myself at least.
It seems you have become quite the YouTube star during the whole Covid-19 lockdown, can you tell us about your channel?
I would not exactly call it a star. But I am bored, and I have zero inspiration to write any new stuff. So, for now it is just something creative to do. Also, it is good to build the platform until we start touring again. I always had this plan of putting up videos from touring on there. So right now, it is a good time to learn the platform and learn how to do all that filming and editing stuff and building a following. It is kinda funny because you get kinda instant feedback on what will work and not. Of course, it is kinda too late when you already uploaded a video and you see it fails, but you can at least learn something from it. But one thing is for sure: it takes shit tons of time to YouTube. Unbelievable
Touring with Mayhem must be pretty intense, if not downright crazy at times, what is the most bizare thing you've experienced in your ten years with the band?
We never talk about what happens on the road. But you are right, bizarre things happen all the time, even now when we are not drinking as heavy as we used to do. We don’t need to tour for fucked up things to happen. It’s some new bullshit going on every week. Mentally draining
You toured with De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas two years in a row, a few years back, an album that is considered one of the most important black metal records of all time. Was it, at any point, daunting to be up there and play songs that the fans are so passionate about? And how does it feel, to be in a band, where the biggest songs are songs you have not written or helped write?
I do not really think about things like that. To me it’s just very cool to play songs live from my favorite black metal album, and also the album that really got me into black metal.
I know that Necrobutcher is a huge Beastie Boys fan, and you have toured with Gost, so I take it that despite being Mayhem, that you listen to other things that black metal?
We all listen mostly to other things than black metal. Personally, I haven't listened to new black metal in about 15 years and I have no idea what's going on in the scene. I always go back to the classics when I first listen to it. So, what am I listening to? Anything that is good, no matter the genre.
Black metal seems to be more popular than ever before, with so many bands out there, experimenting and constantly changing the rules of the genre. Do you consider this a good thing?
I didn’t know that its popular these days, that goes against all that black metal is about actually. Maybe they should come up with a new name for the genre, like New Modern Black Metal? From a creative point of view, it’s good that something is growing, but I'm guessing its grown into something else than it was supposed to be.
Is black metal still relevant?
Has it ever been? It is probably relevant to the people that listen to it, but it is not world changing music exactly. I know it means a lot to the ones that listen to it, so that is good at least.