Founded back in 2004, Netherbird are an excitingly dark combination between Scandinavian underground black metal and death metal, tangled with some goth, symphonic and other influences. Today, I had an insightful talk with Johan, lead singer and founding member of the Swedish band! Have a great read! ;)
pdn: Greetings Johan!
pdn: Greetings Johan!
Please tell me a bit about the time you got the
idea to lay the grounds of a band. In your official biography, you guys stated
that you had no intention to have limitations regarding the line-up. Why was
that specified, was the stability of it in any way uncertain to begin with? And
then, some changes did indeed occur with time.
Johan: Hey Laura, hope all is well!
When I,
Grim and Bizmark founded Netherbird in 2004 we all had previous experiences
from working with bands, and it often tends to become a situation where
different people want to achieve different things and in the end start opposing
against each other. The result is that so much energy is put into the internal
affairs of the band resulting in little or no creativity end up being used to
actually write and record music. So we initially agreed that we would only
focus on writing music and then we would get people to join us on a session
basis for recordings and so on. So for the first 6 years or so we actually only
met to write and to record music.
With the
passing of time we ended up with a line up anyway, mainly to make it possible
to rehearse and to play live shows. In hindsight I actually regret that, we did
the same types of compromises that we first set out not to do. We learned a
lot, but it also meant that a number of musicians that joined the band never
really got a chance to become a full part of it despite our best intentions. We
still had the “old” mind-set of a band with session members even when people
joined as full members. So we had our fair share of conflict and strains like
most bands. Perhaps it had to be like that for a while, most bands know how it
is. We still have managed to stay creative but the recordings have taken way to
much time in my opinion.
So after
the final gig of 2014, our 10th year anniversary show, we decided to end the
band in its current form. We are now working to find a form where we will have
a core line-up of members and then we then have friends joining as session
members for recordings and for live shows. It is not set in stone, but this way
I hope to allow for creativity both for recordings and for the live situation.
Perhaps I am just impossible to work with really, that could be another reason
for having to have this set up.
pdn: What or who are/were your main influences?
Knowing you also nurture a passion for visual arts and literature, and guessing
they could have something to do with this question, please do share your
favourite poets, artists, movies.
Johan: I write the
lyrics for Netherbird and despite being a fan of underground black/death metal
my lyrics tend to be quite different from most (not all) music coming from that
sector. So I guess one could say I am not so influenced by the extreme metal
genres when it comes to the lyrics but rather my biggest influence is things I
see and read. I want to reflect and ponder upon our existence, so most of my
scribbles are just that: thoughts about life, death, passion, loss, belief and
lack there of. I write my lyrics following a pattern where I set a title for a
song based on the demo track, and then I write the lyrics to explain the title
to myself… I try to elaborate the images and thoughts it invokes… like a flow
of thought. Sounds perhaps a bit more poetic that it really is, it is a painful
and tough process but it is how it is done in my case. I also try my best to
keep the lyrics open, non descriptive, to allow for the listener to form their
own interpretation. So the listener finding their “truth” in my words when
hearing the same song as I heard when I wrote the words creates the songs, when
it works the way I want it to.
I have to
many favourites to list, but some people have really influenced me lately. The
late and great Christopher Hitchens, one of the greatest thinkers of our time.
He is absolutely essential reading for any free thinker. When it comes to more
classic literature I would urge people to read Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov and
Michail Bulgakov. All masters in their own right!
As for art
I think the Swedish master Marcus Larson has created some of the most
impressive and strong paintings of all time. We used one of his motifs on the
cover of “The Ferocious Tides Of Fate” and the title is my own interpretation
of what I felt when I saw his painting. Another token of how different forms of
art “communicates” even long after the creator is gone. His legacy lives on and
nurtures our art and us.
pdn: What does your 'composing ritual' look like? Do
you have a special custom for these occasions?
Johan: These days
me and Bizmark tend to collaborate quite closely, so he is the main composer
writing riffs on guitar and then we create the arrangement of the songs
together. Sometimes he has prepared riffs or outlines of songs, sometimes he
writes them ad hoc as we sit down together. Then I take the songs to elaborate
on lyrics and he continues to fine tune riffs and forth in parallel. Then we do
the final arrangement including the lyrics in the studio as we record. The rest
of the band are involved at certain points also in order to provide their
feedback and ideas, so it is a collaborative journey. Bizmark and me flesh out
most of an album out in two weeks. It is the recording of the final thing that
tends to take (too) long. So we constantly try to make the process quicker
since the riffs are always the best first time you play them, every iteration
that follows kills part of it in my opinion. So in time I am sure we will be
able to write and record a full album in less than a month. That way it would
be new songs also for us, not just the listeners.
pdn: If you could share the stage with any artist,
dead or alive, who would you choose?
Johan: Easy,
Quorthon of Bathory.
pdn: Netherbird
kind of creates transparency between the borders of death and black metal, and
with some added elements, even; you like to 'mix and match', clearly. Is there
any other genre you could think about including in an upcoming project?
Johan: All in the
band share a profound appreciation of the Scandinavian black and death metal
underground. We all think that the most innovative and interesting extreme
metal was recorded somewhere between 1989-1994. So it is very natural for us to
drink from that well of influences in what we do. But back then bands were not
so afraid to incorporate other influences as bands are today. If you listen to
a band like Unanimated, their first two albums have a rich depth of influences.
So we try to stay as open minded and unrestrained as some bands were back then.
So we add what ever feels natural, I would guess more heavy metal and also
alternative rock will surface in our future creations. As long as it is honest
and dark, I will be confident to say it is Netherbird.
pdn: Do you have a 'best' and 'worst' memory from
the history of the band so far? Any near-future plans, prospects of a tour,
maybe?
Johan: As I am
writing this, summer 2015, Netherbird is currently on hiatus. We have finished
our first tenure of ten years of underground recording and touring. Currently
we are looking into how we could make it interesting and rewarding to keep the
band going for another 10 years. Having a band these days is costly and it
takes an enormous amount of hard work. So if we return we do that in order to
fulfil new goals, and that would mean recording better albums and play shows
that will be something that both our fans and we will be thrilled about for
years.
There are
of course bad memories and tough situations when you run a band for more than
10 years, but I try not to let that get to me and I do not dwell to much on
them really. It is not important from the greater perspective. Lows are needed
in order to fully appreciate the highs.
The best
memories is with out a doubt the powerful moment when we meet our fans at good
gigs, both from the stage and afterwards. That is the pure essence of why I am
doing this and I think the rest of the band agrees on this. We would like more
such moments, and that is why we now look into how we can make that happen in a
way we feel is befitting both our fans and us.
pdn: Thank you, Johan! Is there anything you would
like to add for your fans out there?
Johan: Thank you
for the interview Laura, and thanks to YOU for reading it. If you are into
melodic black/death metal, do yourself and us a favour by listening to our
music. You can download all we ever recorded for free at http://netherbird.bandcamp.com (just enter $0). Our CD:s
and vinyl is available worldwide so check your favourite store.
Make sure
to also visit http://www.facebook.com/netherbird where we post most news relevant
about the band. Our eternal home in the shadows is www.netherbird.com.
Thanks, keep supporting the underground metal scene.
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