Ida Haukland Interview December 3, 2014. Singer and bassist for progressive metal band Triosphere.
Ida Haukland Interview
– What’s new in the world of Ida Haukland?
Ida Haukland – The fact that we have a new record out is pretty ground-shifting news in my world. We’ve been working on this album for several years, and the last year has been pretty intense with getting all the material completely finished, recorded and mixed. And right in the middle of all this we have been auditioning new drummers and thankfully found an amazingly perfect guy in Kenneth Tårneby. So right now it’s a mixed feeling of immense relief that the album is actually done and out, receiving amazing reviews, a feeling of being on our toes to plan for the absolutely best possible promotion of this album and the band, and a feeling of sheer excitement for what the next year will bring!
– How was it recording Triosphere’s new album the Heart of the Matter?
Oh, that was a long process as we had to record in bits and pieces. The drums and vocals were done in a professional studio, but the rest was done by us, and that amount to about 90% of the album compared to the work with the drums and vocals, hehe. The sound on each song that you hear on the album is rarely just a couple of guitars, bass, drums and vocals, but often a “construction” of several layers of harmonizing rhythm and melody guitars, some orchestration or keyboard, and vocals, so it’s often quite intricate. For instance, in the chorus for “My Fortress” there are actually 3 different harmonizing patterns in the rhythm guitars and a guitar-melody underneath the vocals. You cannot really hear it distinctly, but blended correctly you get that special, rich sound that’s on the album.
– Where did the idea for the album artwork come from?
The cover artwork was done by the very talented Katell Anna Vivier. She presented the design after she and I had talked about the lyrical content on the album, and why we had chosen the title “the heart of the matter”. The design was in other words a result of her own interpretations and without any artistic directions from us. We really could not have been more happy with the result!
– During a year how many shows do you do on average and how crazy does the schedules get?
The schedule does not get nearly as crazy as we would like, haha! An average tour is about 20 shows, and we rarely do more than two tours a year in addition to some festivals. But we would have loved to play much more for sure!
– Could you describe some of your earliest influences in life and in music?
One of the earliest and by far most important influences/inspirations for me was “Anthem to the Welkin at Dusk” by Emperor. It really opened my eyes to how music can be intricate and extreme, yet at the same time melodic and with great hooks. I really love that album. And as the years went by I kind of went in the opposite direction, and discovered the great grooves and voices of the 70’s and 80’s heavy rock bands, and perhaps more than anything Rainbow’s “Long Live Rock n’ Roll” and Whitesnake’s “1987”. In the early 2000’s I heard Ayreon’s “Into the Electric Castle” and I was just blown away by the diversity, the atmosphere and the passion and skills of all the singers. I believe all these albums above have put their permanent “mark” in the right hemisphere of my brain, hehe.
– How important is it for a musician in this generation to spend time on social media?
Well, we always talk about that we should become better at that, so I just have to say that it’s quite important, haha! But seriously, social media are achieving increasingly strong positions in all parts of our society, in particular the cultural ones. Even the national news broadcastings are referring to Facebook-statements of this or that public person (which I think is completely insane, by the way). Nowadays it seems that everything needs to be “happening” all the time, the public must constantly be fed with something new to keep their interest and attention on something. It’s almost like we’re living in a generation of informational ADD, haha. So interacting with the public on a regular basis through social media is definitely one of several important factors to build attention around the band and the music.
– Producing great music videos is it more important now than it has ever been?
Ehm, honestly I would say it was far more important in the 80’s and early 90’s with the role that MTV then played in “telling” people what was popular right there and then.
Still, it is obviously a valuable way to promote the band also in our time as it means increased visibility, people sharing it from YouTube, etc. But I don’t think the music-videos need to be “great” to serve a good purpose. They should definitely not show you off as amateurs either! But you can reach a heck of a lot of new listeners with what we’ve done so far; much more simple lyric-videos. Of course, presenting an awesome video means awesome presentations of the band, and consequently a better shot at catching the public’s interest. And if you can also present an interesting and even original image, well, then you have a fast-track to get even more fans (Babymetal, Slipknot, a million goth-bands, and perhaps the pioneer of them all: Kiss!).
So videos are definitely important, but do not necessarily need to be great to reach new fans. But it helps, hehe!
– What could we find interesting in your music collection at home?
Hehe, you can find a bit of everything I think. Extreme metal, classic metal, hard rock, rock, rare bands and well known bands, and classical music. The classical albums are perhaps the most interesting if you’re looking for something less “ordinary” (I could mention Arvo Pärt “De Profundis” and “String Quartet in F Major” by Maurice Ravel).
– Could you describe what goes on in a day in your life as a musician on tour?
Well, first of all I get up late, haha. Then get into the venue, get settled in and check out the daily itinerary to see when we need to be where. In the hours prior to a show, almost every day is spent a little differently: Some days we have to arrange for a trip to a music store to get various supplies, some days we can go sightseeing, some days I take time for a work-out and other days the hours just disappear while hanging out at the venue, planning things, going through stuff in a song, doing an interview or such.
Next to the actual show, the best part of the day is meeting up with the people in the audience after the show! After talking to many cool and inspiring new people, we eventually draw back stage and talk about today’s show, what went good and bad and how we can try to improve things to the next day. Finally, it’s off to the tour bus and drive to the next place. Awesome!
– Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now?
Oh wow… well, if it keeps developing and progressing in the same speed as it has done for the last 100 years, I think it’s safe to say that I can’t POSSIBLY imagine what it will turn into, haha! If you traveled back to 1914 and played Dimmu Borgir to anyone, I’m sure they would think the End had come and gone and then come again, haha!
Hope you enjoyed the interview with Ida Haukland.