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Heavy New York // Heilung // Interview — Transcript

by Heavy New York · 3,774 words · 509 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:08[Music]
0:18what's up everybody it's alex from heavy
0:21New York we are at the hotel outside
0:22Webster Hall and we are here with the
0:25entirety of high lung thank you guys so
0:27much welcome to the USA thank you thank
0:31you so much it's our first time in the
0:34US with with this project and we feel so
0:37amazingly welcome here has been an
0:40amazing tour that's awesome yeah so
0:42you're touring in the US now let's just
0:43get that out of the way like just how
0:44was the experience been from what I
0:46heard at the Friday show that like the
0:47line was around the block security was
0:49telling me that like that was the
0:50longest line they've ever seen I mean
0:52how has touring in the USA been so it's
0:56completely sold out the entire - and and
1:00we you know that the the reception we
1:04got we didn't know what to expect right
1:06so so it's been so warm and we really
1:10love that people show up in their
1:12interests and and sing along on these
1:15old lyrics that has been an amazing
1:18experience for us we really would like
1:19to come back of course always welcome
1:22back yeah one thing I find so unique
1:25about how long is your use of spoken
1:27word and incorporating many different
1:28cultures and you know many different
1:30like the Bronze Age and the Iron Age do
1:32you look for inspiration when it comes
1:35to writing music or was this like a
1:37preconceived idea for how long
1:38to always incorporate elements of
1:40history and culture like well we're all
1:44history enthusiasts and with all the
1:48reenactments we were in contact with it
1:50from the start as well oh and yeah I
1:54mean like also like me personally I'm
1:57working a lot with with shamanism but
2:00not just stealing it from like the
2:02indigenous cultures here or like from
2:04South America but I really always tried
2:06to you know like find the old
2:08pre-christian European roots and of
2:10course that that leads to you know
2:13lyrics that are written on rune stones
2:15or like interesting what I'm one thing I
2:18find unique is does that determine by
2:21examining history and many different
2:23cultures that determine the outcome of
2:24the music itself as well yeah yeah it
2:31does I mean we we start out with with
2:34inspiration from Iron Age and old
2:37ancient Scandinavian the cultures ruin
2:41amulets and ruins inscripted on spare
2:44shafts and we take inspiration from from
2:47this old lyrics and also nature is a big
2:51part plays a big role in the way that we
2:53are composing the music because nature
2:55has always been there and it's so much
2:57melody and rhythms in the sounds you
3:01hear around you in a silent day in the
3:04forest or on the mountains so so that's
3:08the two main inspirational sources for
3:10for Highlands compositions and then of
3:14course kaya has been working for for
3:16many many years with ancient Norse
3:18poetry most of it is is found and some
3:23is newly composed but but yeah do you
3:26have anything to add okay yeah yeah
3:29don't worry about the noise the mic
3:30cancels that out okay yeah yeah now one
3:33thing I was really cursed about with
3:34your new album booth was there a
3:36preconceived idea on what culture and
3:38what historical time period you wanted
3:41to incorporate or did you have some
3:42music written down and be like okay this
3:45is what we want to write about and sing
3:46about when we produce the first album
3:53off near we we over produced basically
3:56so there was a couple of songs that
3:58couldn't fit on the album and that was
4:01basically like the soil for for food as
4:04well but it was also important for us
4:06off near is a very very masculine album
4:08very tough you know and for food that it
4:10was it was important for us to to make a
4:12counter part like a balanced part so
4:15while on off there is a lot of like
4:17inscriptions from spear shafts or
4:19whatever a lot of warrior stuff we have
4:21been in food that we have a lot of
4:22female
4:25lyrics that are taken from the old sagas
4:27wherewhere where the vulvas like the
4:31holy women are speaking or stuff like
4:34that so thanks what people maybe have a
4:37better understanding of fula if they
4:38were to listen to the two records
4:40previously or could does futher kind of
4:42stand out a little bit more in your
4:44catalog I think it's it's about the
4:46feeling right because like we we don't
4:48we don't give translations because
4:50sometimes it's very difficult to
4:52translate the languages but I think it's
4:56it's really about feeling it's it's very
4:58difficult to a project logically you
5:00know but but like really like dive into
5:02it close your eyes and that will give
5:05you a very good intuitive understanding
5:07of the of the whole thing mm-hmm could
5:09the music be open to interpretation or
5:12is the goal of Highland to kind of maybe
5:13inform the listener kind of give them a
5:16lesson in the historical periods that
5:18you write about well you know the
5:23majority of our audience maybe do not
5:26understand the lyrics even ask I also
5:29says the the the lyrics is even up to
5:32debate what it actually meets right so
5:34of course there's a lot of
5:36interpretation in how you experience the
5:38music music is already always been
5:40experienced as a unique thing from the
5:43person listening to it and people can
5:46get these images themselves and even it
5:49can bring to healing which is also a big
5:51purpose of our music and that can be
5:53unique to the person spectating it right
5:55and and and so so but about I think I
5:59think in general people seems to be
6:02placed in the same space when they're
6:05listening to our music somehow and it
6:07doesn't matter where you're from I think
6:09that's the beauty of it you bring in
6:11multiple cultures and I think by doing
6:13that you bring multiple people together
6:15and I think by incorporating multiple
6:17multiple cultures you kind of in a way
6:19hi lung makes their own culture I know
6:22now one thing I find unique is you know
6:24even though I wasn't at the show Friday
6:26I've seen thousands of videos I've been
6:28on social media and everybody posting it
6:30seems like watching you live it's gonna
6:32be a very different experience than
6:33simply listening to the album but is
6:35there maybe a similar energy or a
6:37similar creative process into your live
6:40performances as you are when you're
6:42songwriting or songwriting it's it's a
6:46lot of spiritual work as well right you
6:48know like in in the studio I often go
6:50into trance and then like crisps records
6:53me for like half an hour and then clips
6:55out small pieces of it while the live
6:59performance is an actual ritual you know
7:02that we start with the smudging and it
7:04has an opening it has a middle part it
7:07even has a sacrifice and it has an
7:09ending so it's kind of there as well in
7:13the album but when we are on stage they
7:16did it's much more you can experience it
7:19much deeper yeah how to say because like
7:22when you listen to the album you only
7:24have the acoustics so but when we start
7:26the performance or when we start to
7:29ritual it starts with a smell and you
7:31also have the optics and yeah I feel
7:34like a concert for any band it it's not
7:36just listening to the music but I feel
7:38like all five senses are actually you
7:41know felt and incorporated into it yeah
7:44and it should also be a very physical
7:47experience to attend a high long ritual
7:50because you we have an amazing sound
7:52engineer who makes the audio very very
7:54you can feel the beating of the drums
7:57it's not only something you hear but
7:59it's also a physical experience and of
8:01course also our warriors are jumping
8:04into the crowd you will walk away from
8:06the concert with black smeared on your
8:09body and and the feeling of the drums in
8:13your body so I would say it's compared
8:15to your listening at something at home
8:16being there live is of course always a
8:19different and more physical experience
8:21yeah would you say people because
8:23there's some bands you know I see them
8:24live they're just as good live as they
8:26are on the album and you know I get a
8:27fairly similar experience but do you
8:29think people may have a better
8:30understanding of what high lung is after
8:32seeing you live yeah definitely
8:36for sure yeah
8:38now the way that you present yourselves
8:40on stage is just truly remarkable again
8:43the visual aesthetic I think is just as
8:44unique as the sonic aesthetic when
8:47you're on stage are you portraying a
8:49character that is outside of who you are
8:51or is this ritual maybe an extension of
8:54who you are personally I would say it's
8:57it's both like what I wear on stage I
9:01exclusively wear it for for rituals so I
9:04never wear it just you know for a party
9:06or whatever and that also leads to the
9:08point that the moment the moment I get
9:11into it the moment I get the the body
9:13paint on and the fringes and everything
9:15it changes me it turns me into someone
9:18else which is kind of me as well but at
9:20the same time it's not mm-hm and that I
9:23kind of asked this before but like do
9:25you think you kind of go into that same
9:26mode when you get into songwriting mode
9:28because I feel like when you're in a
9:30studio you know everything is very
9:31dictated everything is kind of placed
9:33together but so we always freak out at
9:38our own studio that we build ourselves
9:41for the purpose of music to actually
9:43create a framework that is you know not
9:45the typical on the clock recording
9:49schedule and stuff so that is our Popple
9:52so we consider our studio as the purple
9:55where we create and there we can go
9:57freely into to whatever mood we wish to
10:00when we are on stage that is where we
10:03break that bubble and let people in and
10:05also want to say for the live shows it's
10:09you know it's not only the band on stage
10:12that is creating the atmosphere everyone
10:14in the room including the audience and
10:17the guy that's standing in the door
10:18everyone is making that evening what it
10:21is and that is unique every time right
10:23so so so so I don't see you know the
10:27character or the other mindset we are
10:30putting ourselves into would be the same
10:33when we make the music as when we were
10:36performing life you know reminds me I
10:39don't know if you heard of the
10:40industrial artist Arthur and Punisher
10:42but he builds all of his own equipment
10:44so every instrument he brings onstage is
10:46a one guy and he just has all these
10:48builds
10:49zone console and everything so all the
10:51notes everything is from him so I feel
10:52like high lung has a similar aesthetic
10:55into what you do now one thing I've
10:58always thought that your music was also
11:00very experimental like I feel like if
11:02you look at the periodic table of metal
11:04and rock subgenres I can't place you
11:06guys anywhere there's Fulk there's
11:08traditional music there's Industrial
11:10incorporated in it I think it's when it
11:12comes to making music it has to be easy
11:14to also experiment with your sound and
11:15try new things as well right we made our
11:19own genre so we call it amplified
11:22history and that is literally if you
11:24take a history book and put it into a
11:26metal amplifier or whatever amplifier
11:28that is what we would get so I also
11:32think it's very interesting to work with
11:33that with the tribal aspects of the
11:36music so for as long as people were
11:39existing on the planet and being able to
11:42hit two rocks together or hit a piece of
11:44wood on a rock or whatever they've been
11:47creating rhythmic so suggestive Sugiyama
11:51was the word for that yeah yeah so you
11:54get into this trance-like state of mind
11:57with something that is repeating itself
12:00in the rhythmic for a long time and
12:02that's also what is amazingly
12:04interesting to you to work within a
12:06modern music aspect because of course
12:08trance and techno has been working with
12:10these elements for for many years now
12:12but to incorporate it in as you say a
12:16tribal or more focus
12:19scenery is it's very effective on us as
12:22well as the audience so we're we're
12:24totally flipping out as well as the
12:26audience when we're on stage with this
12:28because it's it is it is definitely
12:30putting us in a trance-like state of
12:32mind which is a lovely place to be and
12:34we lose ourselves in it yeah yeah I
12:38think they like like you can take it
12:40even further so so so humans have from
12:43early times always been imitating nature
12:46right
12:46whether you are placing buildings in
12:49accordance to some stars or you are
12:51placing yourself in cover on a
12:53mountainside or whatever everything has
12:55to work somehow together with nature and
12:58of course a lot of that in musics can
13:01can be traced through to actually
13:03imitate nature and and that is certainly
13:06also what we're doing many times the
13:08sounds we are starting from is an actual
13:10over a nature sound that we have
13:12recorded and then we play or imitate
13:14that in a particular natural element or
13:18even go with animalistic sounds and and
13:21imitate this and and I think that
13:24resonates deeply with any person on the
13:27planet because we all derived from a
13:28situation like that you say though what
13:32would you consider human nature to be a
13:34completely different type of nature than
13:36the nature that's around us or are we as
13:39humans nature my favorite one of my
13:40favorite artists is Jackson Pollock and
13:42he said I am nature so I was curious if
13:46maybe like just the nature of humanity
13:49is also something that kind of plays a
13:51role into how you look at nature around
13:53you I totally agree and like in old in
13:59old languages like that in really old
14:00language there there's not even the the
14:03split concept isn't there like human
14:05nature they see it as one right and like
14:09I I see it like that as well you know
14:10like that that we as as people we we we
14:14are a part of nature you know and like
14:16as such we we also behave right you know
14:19if we want or not yeah it seems like you
14:23take inspiration and I use the term
14:25inspiration for lack of better words but
14:27it almost seems like energy comes from
14:29both externally and internally
14:31from for you guys right yeah and I have
14:35a two more questions for you here comes
14:37the most difficult question I've asked
14:38every artist in every interview it's
14:40always the hardest I want all three of
14:42you to elaborate because I've noticed in
14:44food you have songs that are ten minutes
14:45I think there's one song that's like
14:46four and a half minutes so how do you
14:48know in the eyes of high lung how do you
14:50know when a song is done you first
14:53well if it hadn't been for Maria Chi and
14:57I would still sit and nerd the first
14:59album so so no music is never done yeah
15:04so when you make an album a song you
15:09eventually has to stop at one time
15:10because it's it's just it's the same as
15:13an image of where you are at that given
15:16time in your life and that image will
15:18stay like that but of course when that
15:20song is done you as a person or a human
15:23will keep on developing further down the
15:25line and you will always go back or
15:27maybe I could have done something better
15:29but but for me personally when I leave
15:31that I I look at it as a picture on the
15:34wall and and I look back at that time
15:37when we created and I get the same
15:38smells the same feeling and everything
15:41so I can I can enjoy that I would never
15:44be sad that I didn't do whatever to it
15:47because I didn't and so so for me yeah
15:52it's definitely just a picture and and
15:54yeah and a memory yeah well I completely
15:59agree with with a Christopher and yeah a
16:02song is a image of the time that it was
16:07created I totally agree but I also feel
16:10that there is there is some feeling like
16:14a spiritual element of it that becomes
16:19very clearly when you kind of it's hard
16:22to describe art right it's hard to
16:24describe where does it come from how did
16:27it begin how will it end it's a more
16:31like it's it's a it's a metaphysical
16:35mindset that you put yourself in that
16:38can definitely I definitely have a
16:40strong feeling with with the with the
16:43songs or the pieces that we're creating
16:44that
16:45they are when it's finished it's kind of
16:48you feel okay Wow okay that's that's the
16:50final tone let it ring out or so yeah
16:53yeah good question yeah it almost seems
16:55like not you know obviously we're all
16:57defined by the final composition of the
16:59music but it feels like also the process
17:01of how you get there is also what helps
17:03you develop an identity as well yeah and
17:05last but not least how do you know when
17:07a songs done it's usually me that that
17:11starts a song because like I come in
17:13with with some lyrics and you know from
17:16a spiritual view it's like the song is
17:21an entity you know like a person and I I
17:24give that person to do the two of them
17:27and then they start adding rhythm adding
17:29adding melody and that is like the dress
17:31of the person that it is like Chris said
17:34you could always go on dressing could
17:36put another embroidery on a different
17:38hat or whatever but for me it's the core
17:41of it it's already perfect the moment I
17:43open my mouth and we yeah out of all the
17:48bands I've interviewed I think this was
17:49the best answer I've ever gotten for
17:51that question
17:52I've had people to say when I get the
17:54final mix of the album back or when the
17:56label says it's done yeah and the final
17:59question I wanted to ask you is because
18:01you know being that the art is an
18:03extension of you but you're also
18:04creating art for other people to
18:06experience both in the ritual and to
18:08experience in their own time when
18:10listening to it I've heard you know many
18:12fans being the journalists you know at
18:14every show or every buddy going to the
18:16show I asked them you know like what is
18:18this band done for you what is your
18:19experience like and you know I've heard
18:21people say that they got into history
18:23because of your music I've heard people
18:25say you know your music has helped them
18:26do difficult times and stuff so when
18:29you're putting your art out there and
18:31everybody's having their own experience
18:33with it does it change how the
18:35perspective on how you look at yourself
18:36as an artist
18:39definitely not so so we we of course you
18:43get really you know honored that that
18:47people like what you do like like when
18:48we created the first thing I will
18:50usually also say that I'm happy if my
18:52mom's likes it you know and she does
18:54lovely but but
18:58of course other people do too and get
19:00the thing and it but but you know when
19:04we created food that we went back in our
19:07bubble and and at the same way as we did
19:10often it of course we know now at that
19:13time that that there will be people
19:15expecting it and that of course makes it
19:17exciting but it doesn't change how we
19:19you know work with the content we are
19:21working with yeah well for me it really
19:26feels like all the pieces of the puzzle
19:28all of a sudden fits I've been working
19:30with and we all have been working with a
19:32reenactment of waiking culture for since
19:36we were kids and I've been working with
19:38Norwegian folk music my entire life and
19:42when we started to compose together it
19:45was really really felt like okay it's it
19:48feels like I've been preparing my entire
19:49life for this project I cannot explain
19:52it in any other way it's like my
19:54interest for for rhythms and vocal
19:58techniques and ritual aspects and and
20:01everything is just coming together to a
20:02perfect picture and I feel fulfilled
20:05from this project I really knew yeah
20:11it's the same here I mean like for me
20:13the whole Highland project and where we
20:16are now is the logical development of of
20:18myself you know that's the the path my
20:20my soul walks or however you want to you
20:24want to see it and like we always say
20:28that hilum is just the music that we
20:30always wanted to hear but no one made
20:32right yeah because bands have
20:35incorporated history like but like if I
20:37tell somebody about hi along who's never
20:39listening to you and I say they sing
20:40about history or like are they like
20:41Sabaton are they like Amon Amarth I'm
20:43like they're not like anything you've
20:45heard so so before we go I would like to
20:48thank you so much for your time today
20:49really looking forward to the show
20:50tonight is there just anything else we
20:52could be expecting from hi lung in the
20:54near future in terms of tours or new
20:56music if you're allowed to say of course
20:59yeah we have a lot of Secrets coming up
21:02I can safely say without saying too much
21:06that we will come back to this place on
21:09earth and we are looking very forward to
21:13it yeah thank you guys so much everybody
21:17we are here with high lung pick up food
21:19if you haven't already out on season and
21:21mrs. Alex I'm heavy in New York we'll
21:23see you next time

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