Interview с Delaware : DARKSIDE.ru

Please introduce the band to our readers. Could you tell us a bit about the early days of the group?

Delaware is a melancholic rock band with elements from both metal and pop music. Delaware is a four-piece band based in a small town called Drammen placed right outside of Oslo, Norway.

Delaware was founded by former members of Beyond, but there were great changes in terms of music. Did you really want to make the music simpler or were there any other reasons for such a dramatic turn?

Well, it was more like a natural turn. Beyond was a five-piece band and as one of the members wanted to study, we became a four-piece band. We made some new songs as a four-piece band and these new songs turned out a little different than our old songs. As time went by, some of our members got more into the pop elements and the basic song structures in pop/rock music. Our music changed without us thinking too much about it. At the same time we had always been getting complaints for the band name Beyond and we talked about changing it all the time, but we didn’t get to it. Beside that, there were bands in Norway by the same name as us. Since the music changed and one member quit the band, this felt like the right time to change our band name.

Your debut album “…And Everything Reminds Me” (2003) was released through the German division of Sony/Columbia. Why did you choose this label?

In our

early days we played quite a few shows in Norway. We got a lot of airplay on national radio, but we didn’t catch the major labels’ attention at that point. Since we had recorded and released two self-financed records under the name Beyond, we wanted to sign to a record label and see how that was like. Some labels got interested, but nothing really happened. We went on a self-financed tour to Germany and when we played there we got invited back to do a showcase. Eventually we got signed to Sony.

The second CD “Lost In The Beauty Of Innocence” (2006) was released through Strange Ways. What’s the reason for not continuing with Sony? Were there any problems with that label?

While we were at Sony, the corporation had a major change in their infrastructure. A lot of the people we worked with got fired including our A&R manager. When the first album came out we felt like Sony wasn’t interested in selling or promoting it. They did what the contract said, but nothing more (no heart behind it). We asked them to cancel our contract when we started getting offers from other labels.

Your music is quite simple, but at the same time it is very open and appeals directly to the listener's senses. Do you work on the material together?

Thank you, these are the things we try to do with our music. Most of our songs are written together. We arrange and do the song structure on each and every song together. The main song idea

is often brought to the rehearsal space by Joffe (Jon Fredrik Torgersen, guitarist and keyboard player) or me.

How did you work on the new material? And what are your sources of inspiration for writing music and lyrics?

We had written like 20 songs for the album. We played them for Alex, our producer, and cut the list down to fourteen songs. Then we recorded demos. Most of the songs were at this stage arranged and had lyrics. Some ideas needed a lot more work. For inspiration I would have to say things in daily life.

You must have accumulated a lot of ideas and impressions during a period of three years, but you still stick to your style. Are there any reasons for such devotion?

We have our specific sound and we didn’t want to change that. When the four of us get together, this is how we end up sounding.

Does your music reflect the idea of the lyrics, or do you write music first and only then write lyrics?

We always write music and melodies first, then the lyrics. For some strange reason this is how things work for us. We have tried it the other way around, but it never sounds as good.

What emotion has a bigger share in the new album: romance, melancholy, happiness or tragedy? And why do you think so?

Well, that is hard to tell but I would say that we wanted to do a more honest album and take it more to th

e extreme than on our first album. Louder guitars more direct vocals and so on. So I guess this means more of everything.

You worked with producer Alex Møklebust, who is the singer of Zeromancer. How did you like this experience? Did he influence the record or did you do exactly what you wanted?

We knew Alex from our days as Beyond. He mixed one of the albums that were released back then. Alex also made our demos down in Germany before we got signed as Delaware. Well, Alex influenced us both sound and arrangement wise. Beside this, we used his recording equipment which also colored our sound.

Did you use real string instruments on the record, or is it the work of your keyboardist?

On “Lost In…” we used string samples. For us it was much easier and more economical. On our first album we did use real strings, but no one has noticed the change.

Does your place of residence influence the music of Delaware?

This is a question we get asked a lot. If you mean the weather and so on I would say no. If you mean other Norwegian or Scandinavian artists, I would say yes.

Do you feel comfortable on the Norwegian music scene with the music you’re playing?

Yes, we feel comfortable, and we believe we stand out from other acts since we have a different sound than most of the bands here in Norway

Some people compare you to such bands as Anathema and Muse. What do you think of these bands? And which of the two comparisons appeals to you most?

Since I’ve only heard the music from Muse, I have to say them. I like Muse but only in small doses. They are very energetic and great musicians, but as I always say, different music to different situations.

Have you ever had idols that you wanted (or want) to be like?

Yes, earlier, but not any more. It’s disappeared with age. When I was younger, Kurt Cobain was a huge idol.

How did your video “Always” end up on the “Beauty in Darkness Vol. 7” sampler? It looks really different than the other videos on the DVD...

To be honest, no one in the band knows how we ended up there. And you are right, the video doesn’t fit the sampler. This is probably the work of Sony.

For which songs from the new album have you already shot videos? And are you planning to shoot any other new videos?

We made a video to the song called “The Fourteenth”. The video was shot in London and it’s very good. At the moment there are no plans for doing another video from the album, but you never know. Things tend to change really fast in this business.

Do you plan to play live in any other countries apart from? Norway, Germany and neighboring countries? Have you received any proposa

ls of that kind (from Russia maybe)?

There are plans, but too early to tell about them. I don’t know which countries yet, but time will tell. We would love to play in mother Russia! Hope to see you there.

Special thanks to Alexei “KIDd” Kuzovlev (Irond) for arranging this interview

Interview by Konstantin “Bonez” Viktorov
Translation assistance by Ksenia “Wolfin” Khorina
Photos by Hugo Lande / MTG Music
April 19, 2006
3 июл 2006 the End

Delaware

Northern Sadness