Hi Jan, thanks a lot for agreeing to do this interview!
First of all, the question of all questions: When will the next Sanctum record be released?
Believe it or not: This spring. I have stated so many times when the CD is going to be released and then stuff came in the way.
But now I'm sure it will happen. The 21st century Sanctum will sound different, but I think our listeners will not have any difficulties to follow our new path.
Will Lena and Marika - the "female half" of Sanctum - be involved in the second album?
Marika left the band several years ago because she couldn't continue to play the cello. There was something wrong with her so she couldn't go on playing at all. That is very sad and I so badly wished that she would still be in the band.
Lena has left the band because of lack of time and devotion. She felt that she couldn't give Sanctum what it needed. This is also sad but we all in the band agree on that we must have fun and the will to create something as long as we're working together.
So the line up for Sanctum right now is me, Palle and Ulrika. There is one more member on its way into the band. I'm really excited to see what that will bring to the sound and expression.
The collected works of one of your older projects, The November Commandment, were released a while ago. Can you tell us a bit about the project? How would you characterize the band, and what are your emotions when you think of it?
Hmm... it's mixed feelings. A kind of love/hate relation. I have had this love for sounds as long as I can remember and I early discovered that electronically generated sounds were very interesting. This lead to me starting to play around with some gear. Now I could be nostalgic and tell stories about my first Atari and sampler that compared to today's equipment is crap. But at that time it wasn't, it was so much fun working with and after all something came out of it. Anyway, Nov Com consisted of four members - Andreas, Ola, Palle and me. And I and Palle are still working in different projects. I think with Nov Com we tried to go our own path in our music - that didn't always succeed but we had that intention. You can surely see influences from bands that we listened to at that time. I remember I had an intention to create electronic music with the feeling that ordinary "rock bands" had. I didn't like the static thing that the genre at the time produced. And I think I still stick to that dislike. However, I'm very fascinated of monotony nowadays, but I see a big distinction between 'static' and 'monotone'. It was with Nov Com that I really got started with writing music and performing. This was in 1987, and musically I was trying to find my way of expression. It was slowly defined but it was first when we decided that Nov Com had had it's time and we put Nov Com to rest I felt like I had found my way. It was around this period (1994) that Sanctum was formed. The Nov Com period was certainly important for me, without it I would not stand were I stand today. And I also think that Nov Com made a difference in some parts of the scene at the time. The Nov Com CD that you're referring to was released in 1999 and was called "A Motorised Mind". When the thought was brought up by the label, I thought it was fun to have the Nov Com time documented on a CD.
What was your vision or concept for the Mago CD "Definition of Raw Moments from a Different Perspective"? And have you achieved what you wanted to?
It took a while to crystallize my vision. I wanted to create music that is warm, slow and filled with a lot of emotions. But the project started off in a different direction, with the intention to make music that could be placed in a dance genre. If you have listened to the CD you know that the beat slowed down a lot. It's nothing for the dance floor ;) I had to do that to reach the feeling that evolved in my mind.
I try to be free from sticking to a special genre or style. I try to take the path that the vision needs, it may take a while to find the way but it is worth it. The end result becomes so much better if you use the elements that suites best. I guess you can see that in my previous works, even though I always work within the electronic field I try to explore its boundaries.
It is very difficult to verbalize my concept for the CD and there is different concepts for one album, for example there is one for the sound and one for the over all emotional spirit of the album. And my concepts are different from how the listener interprets the music I guess. I can never control that fully. And I don't want to do that either. I think that is the interesting part, that music creates its own meaning and concept for each listener.
What are you currently working on?
Right now I'm quite busy. My main focus is on finishing the new Sanctum album. I'm very excited about that and it feels very good to see how it evolves. I'm very happy that we're finally seeing an end for this album. From time to time it has been a struggle, and frustrating for me that it has taken such a long time. During the years that have passed since Lupus in Fabula, the 10" picture vinyl and the live CD, Sanctum has evolved and changed. It will be interesting to see how the audience react to it. I must admit that I'm a little bit nervous about that. But I know that I have to make this CD for me and not for anyone else, and so far I'm very pleased.
I'm also working on music for a dance performance. It is for a dance group called Agnes that I have been working with several times.
I enjoy this collaboration very much. It gives me very much to share the creative process to create something that involves several dimensions, like dance, lyrics and music.
And I'm doing a little collaboration with the Swedish band Soap Box for their new CD, that will be great fun.
In earlier interviews, you said that Sanctum was not a Christian band. In your opinion, what is the difference between "a Christian band" and "Christians in a band"?
Hmm... if I was to decide I would say that there should not be any difference. I would like music to be music and used to tell something or create emotions. I'm very much against genres in any form. I get questions from time to time if Sanctum or any other band of mine is Christian or not. Then I wonder why I get that question. Often I think people ask to check if it is alright to listen to the music. That is insane. Or the person is just so lazy that he or she can't judge if it is something that he or she can relate to and make something out of.
So let's stop the Christian band thing and work on how to make people independent and strong enough to judge on their own what to listen to.
I personally enjoyed the Azure Skies CD very much. Will there ever be more material from Azure Skies, your collaboration with Mental Destruction?
There definitely will, I hung out with Samuel Durling on Christmas day and we talked a lot about what to do next with Azure Skies.
What would the "(musical) project of your dreams" be like?
To work with people that are as devoted to music and to creating something as I am. So luckily I'm almost in that position.
Any thoughts about the problem of file-sharing that you'd like to share with us?
That's a tricky one. On the one hand I like the idea that people can share music so easily, this means that you can listen to good music that you couldn't do if this option didn't exist. For example I want as many people that appreciate my music to be able to listen to it. But on the other hand, I would like artists to get something back for all the struggle it takes to make good music. I'm thinking of bands that don't have any major record label behind them and hardly get anything back for their work. I don't think people think about this when they download music. For their enjoyment someone has spent a lot of creativity, time and money, and I think that everyone who does that deserves something back.
But then again, like I said before. It is cool that people can find and listen to music that they enjoy. It's tricky.
Thanks for your answers...
No problem, it's fun.
Interview by Patrick Maiwald; January 2004