Hi there!
I've just done a long interview with Conception. If I'm right, it's the first post-reunion interview they've ever done, at least for a "big" website.
The interview is in Spanish, and you can find it HERE (you can see a new photo of the band).
Since I suppose many of you are interested in reading it, and Spanish might not be your thing, I'll post here the whole interview in English... enjoy!
Hails Ingar, for me it's a pleasure to do an interview with a Conception member. Well, let's go for it, in chronological order. What do you remember from the times when you joined Conception, the beginnings of the band?
INGAR: The first thing I remember was Tore and Arve who was visiting me at home
in the autumn.... I guess it must have been around 1989 - 90. Conception was
already founded a year or two earlier. At that time they needed a new
bassplayer. They new me from several local bands. One of them was Roquefire.
Some people might know Ronnie LeTekro from TNT, -he was playing guitar in
Roquefire. I'm just mentioning this as a curiousity.
Whatever, before my time in Conception the band had made a few demo-recordings,
and I must say that I was very much impressed when I heard this. It was easy for
me to join the band. It felt like I just had to play with this young talented
musicians.
In these early days Conception had a vocalist called Dag Oestby. He was a member
of the band up till the recordings of our debut album "The Last Sunset". When we
made this album we understood that Dag's vocals didn't fit into the band.... or
maybe it's more right to say that Dag's kind of singing didn't fit into the
idea/vision we had for this album. After this we tried out several vocalists,
and after a few months we met Khan who become our new singer. When we heard Khan
we knew that he was something special, and he was the perfect choise for us. At
this time we felt that we had found the ultimate line-up, and it's been like
this in all years after this. When we first talked about comming together again
for a re-union we all agreed that it had to be the same line-up as it was in the
"old days". If some of us had said that they wouldn't be a part of this
"come-back" we wouldn't do it at all.
What do you think nowadays about the albums of Conception? Could you write a brief comment of everyone of them? What are the albums or songs which make you feel especially proud of?
INGAR: "THE LAST SUNSET" -This album will always mean something special for me.
We did first finance and release "The Last Sunset" on our own label. We realy
believed in this album, and it was also this album together with some
demo-recordings that gave us the contract with Noise International a couple of
years later. My favourite-song from this album is "Among The Gods". -The
title-song "The Last Sunset" is also a good song I think.
"PARALLEL MINDS" -Our first release on Noise. You can't imagine how happy we
was when we traveled down to Germany (Hannover) to record this album. We had a
pretty big budget, a well-known producer (Tommy Knewton), we was on a big tour
with Gamma Ray and Rage, and everything seemed to go in our way!! I think that
"Parallel Minds" is a great album. -Quite comercial I must admit, but it's
sounding like a genuin Conception album.... It's a lot of variations in the
song-matherial, and it's good melodies, great guitar-riffs, -it's easy to like
this album. My personal favourites on this album is "Roll The Fire" and "My
Decision", but it's also many other good songs. Ten years later it's easier for
me to understand that this album was such a big succes.
"IN YOUR MULTITUDE" -Also a good album, but it obviously didn't have this big
comercial appeal as "Parallel Minds". I like the title-song on this album very
much myself. Other songs I could mention are: "Under A Mourning Star" and "Some
Wounds".
"FLOW" -This is my favourite-album, but it seemed like some of older fans felt
that we was changing our musical style too much with this album. Perhaps we did,
but I think it's great that this album is still sounding so new and fresh. It's
also a fact that we're getting a lot of new fans today with this album. -It's
still sounding very modern. I like almost all the songs on this album. I could
perhaps live without "Hold On" and "Tell Me When I'm Gone", but it's lying so
much memories in this album for me that every song means quite a lot to me.
After my opinion we splitted up when we as on the top. -"Flow" wasn't a
comercial success, but it was musicaly the most exciting album we made I
think......
How would you describe Conception for a person who has never heard them? Progressive metal, power metal, melodic metal. or does none of these subgenres fit with the band's music?
INGAR: It's not easy to describe our music with a few words...... All the
different styles you are mentioning could actually be used to describe the music
of Conception. We are definitely playing what I'm calling melodic metal, but
many of our songs have strong progressive elements. It was always very important
for us to do things in our own way, and we was NEVER thinking about record-sales
and such things. We was musicians, and not bussinessmen. Comercial success
didn't meen very much to us, and that perhaps one of the reasons why we have had
a kind of cult-status in all these years after we splitted up. People simply
won't forget us.
It must be said that our releases are pretty different from each other, but all
of them have this very caracteristic sound of Conception I think...... Khan's
vocals, Tore's guitarplaying, the rythm-section. We had -and still have-
something "special" which is difficult to explain. As you know I have played
much harder and more agressive music with Crest of Darkness the latest years.
Sometimes I've been thinking that I'm finnished with this "melodic metal"......
But NO, I'm not. -When we came together again with Conception the magic was
there at once. We're actually sounding better than ever before I think. I
certainly hope that we'll be able to deliver our best on our forthcomming
concerts because I know that on " a good day" we're sounding great... and we're
never sounding realy bad so it's always a reason to come and see us!
Many Conception songs, like e.g.: "Among the Gods", "Black on Black", "Sundance", "A Million Gods" or "War of Hate" have clear influences of Spanish "Flamenco" music, with those Spanish acoustic guitars by Tore. Why do the band have these influences from the folk music of such a distant and different country from yours? Have you ever visited Spain?
INGAR: I guess all of us in Conception had an interest in playing these songs
inspired by "Flamenco" music. It's a great atmosphere in this kind of music,
and we all loved to do this. Whatever, if it was not for Tore's great
inspiration from guitarplayers like Al Dimeola (sjekk navnet!!!!!) -especially
him- I don't think we would have gone so far with these kind of "experiments".
We've never been in Spain with Conception, and I've never been there myself
either..... I would very much like to visit Spain, and I'm sure I'll do that
some day. On a holiday or even better with Conception or Crest of Darkness.
Both these bands have fans in Spain, and it would have been nice to meet some of
them.
I'd like to talk now about your second album, "Parallel Minds". It's probably your most commercial and "easy-listening" album, you even made a cool videoclip of "Roll the Fire", which is perhaps the most known Conception song. However, you left this commercial appeal on the following albums. Didn't you ever think at that time about releasing more albums in the same vein of "Parallel Minds" is search of a bigger commercial success?
INGAR: I'm sure that Conception would have been a bigger comercial success if
we had continued in the way of "Parallel Minds", but as I've allready mentioned
we was never thinking about commercial success. -Things was just
happening.....The only reason why we was in this bussines was because we had
some very strong thoughts about what we wanted to do as musicians and
songwiters. Everything was based on idealism, and at that time I don't think we
even understood that we could have done a bigger success if we was thinking in a
more commercial direction.
Personally, my favourite Conception album is "In Your Multitude". It's a true masterpiece, almost magical I'd say. I've always felt deeply intrigued and fascinated by the album cover, made by Michael Albers, which shows a beautiful sunset (or perhaps a dawn?) in an African landscape, with a native man bearing kind of a mask. It might sound strange, but some musical passages from the album remind me somehow of Africa. and also the excellent lyrics seem to have a very deep and spiritual meaning. Can you explain us what lies behind the cover and the lyrics of this album?
INGAR: It's difficult to give a good answer to questions like this I
think...... I have made my own thoughts about the lyrics, but as you know it's
Khan who has written them, and I don't think it's right of me going too deep
into his work. I know that Khan very often wanted people to find "their own
meaning", and it's certainly possible to come up with a lot of thoughts around
his writings. As you are also mentioning it's definitely lying a deeper,
spiritual meaning behind these lyrics. Whatever, I've never felt that Khan have
ever tried to give any "answers". He's not a "Missionary Man"! He's a very open
minded person and he wants people to find their "own way" in life.
When it comes to the cover art I remember that we spent a lot of time trying to
come up with ideas for this album. Michael Albers cover is very much based on
our ideas.... I remember that very well. In his lyrics Khan is very often
dealing with "the big questions of life". -What's the meaning of all this? -What
are we doing here? This kind of lyrics can sometimes lead your thoughts to
something higher, something greater than us. -Is there a God? -What is waiting
for us after we're dead? I believe that people have always been dealing with
these kind of thoughts..... We thought that this native man was representing all
this ideas in a good way. Living a so called primitive life in the bush doesn't
man that you don't have a spiritual mind. I belive that many of these
"natur-people" are much closer to the great mysteries of life. It's difficult to
explain, but it's many more people than you who have said that they feel that
it's good connection between the music on the album and the album cover.......
so it seems as it works!
Two years after "In Your Multitude", "Flow" (the last Conception album to date) was released. You changed your style a lot with this album. Well, in fact, every Conception album is different from the others, but this time your musical evolution was quite big. "Flow" is a very experimental album. And not only the music; also the band logo was changed, and even the lyrics are very different from the previous ones. Why did you decided to take that new musical direction?
INGAR: When we worked with Conception we always did what we thought was right
for us at any time. Later on I understand that the fans of a group very often
find it hard to accept big musical changes. Anyway, we never thought about that.
We wanted to progress all the time, and it wasn't interesting for us to do the
same things over and over again.
All of us in the band was listening to all kinds of music, and in our minds
everything was "allowed" to do. For us it didn't exist any kind of limits. We
never thought about us selves as a typical metal band, and making an album as
"Flow" felt very natural for us. We was very happy with this album, and we
thought that this was the best album we had ever made. We also understood that
this was something new and it was a very big change from our side. When we also
changed our logo it obviousely had to do with this "big change". -We felt that
we was entering a new era with this album. Still today I feel that this album is
sounding very new and fresh....... Whatever, it was a big disapointment for
us when the critics of this album wasn't always very good. Many people wasn't
ready for this album at all. I can understand, but I would have done exactly the
same over again. -I love this album!
By the way, your bass work on this album deserves many compliments, the bass lines and the sound is superb. Who are your favourite bass players and the influences for your playing?
INGAR: Thanks a lot! It's nice to get these compliments..... Especially because
this is also the album I'm most happy with when it comes to both the sound and
my own way of playing. I've listened to a lot of bassplayers through the years.
It started up in the seventies and the first great bassplayers playing heavyrock
and hardrock impressed me a lot. Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Jimmy Bain
(Rainbow, Dio), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath). I've never been the biggest fan
of the most virtousistical bassplayers. I like these groovy "machines" who are
doing excactly what I think a bassplayer shall do.....
The latest years I've listened a lot to the most extreme bands in "the world of
metal", but I can't say that it's so many of the bassplayers in these bands who
have really inspired me very much.... There are many great bassplayers, it's not
that, but the inspiration I'm getting out of these extreme bands has more to do
with the general impression.
Beside of listening to different styles of heavy-metal, and finding a lot of
inspiration there, I do also listen to many other styles of music. I actually
believe I can find inspiration in all kind of music...... if I like it.
Then, after this album, the band decided to split up. What were the reasons to do it?
INGAR: It was many reasons why we splitted up. We had spent so many years
together, and we had tried so hard to succeed, and I belive that we was very
tired of it all. We was working very well together, but at that time it was
getting more and more important from some of us to realise ideas that wasn't
suitable for Conception. Well......I still mean that we basically could have
done whatever we wanted, that was always our meaning, but this time we wanted to
go in different directions. At this time Tore was already working with his new
band Ark, and my new "creation" Crest of Darkness was given life. The first
miniCD with Crest of Darkness was released, and I was working with the first
full lenght album.
Later Khan joined Kamelot, and you know the rest.....
But now, after a few years, you've decided to come back. Did you always keep a nice contact and friendship between the band members during these years? Also, I have to say that Conception never was a mainstream band, you're more what we could call a cult band. A band which often was critically acclaimed by the press, but still today is quite underrated and unknown. Have all these great critics been a reason to come back? Maybe also the requests from the fans who wanted a reunion? Or just that you wanted to play together again?
INGAR: Yes, we're back now! I'm not sure what the future will bring, but at
least we're ready to go on the stage together again, and we have some vague
plans for the future. We've been good friends in all the years after we splitted
up, and it was very easy to find the right feeling again. It's like the time
have been standing still in all this years.
I really don't know what brought us together again now. We've talked about it
for years, but it never seemed to be the right time. I was busy with Crest of
Darkness, Tore had Ark, and Roy has been more and more busy with Kamelot.....
It's also now diffecult to find enough time for Conception, but this is
something we really wanna do now so that should at least be a good start! The
fact that we really wanna do this now is with no doubt the most important
motivation behind the reunion. It's great with good critics, it's great that we
have such a lot of fans, but it had to be done on our own initiative!
This reunion seems to be going a bit secretly so far. Only a few people know about it, and even Roy Khan never totally confirms it on the interviews. He always says things like "well, we're still very good friends and perhaps some day we'll play again for some concerts or something", but not much more than this. Why there is all this confusing information about the reunion?
INGAR: It's really no secret that we're actually going to work together again.
We're well prepared to do the forthcomming concerts, and that should be agood
start. Whatever, we have been very careful with what we have said about this
reunion. We won't prommise too much. It's obviously a lot of people who have
waited for years that this should happen. Well, we've taken the first step now.
It's no doubt about that, but it's really not so much more to say for the
moment......
While I'm listening to some Conception songs like "Some Wounds", "In Your Multitude", "Gethsemane", "Roll the Fire" or "The Last Sunset", among others, I always feel something really great, unique and almost magical, something different from any other band. Did you ever feel yourselves that you had something very special as a band? Maybe could it be another reason for the reunion?
INGAR: We all felt that we had something very special when we played together
in the "old days", and I can tell you that this magical atmosphere is back! This
is perhaps the biggest reason why we're comming together again now. If we didn't
have this "extra" it wouldn't make such a big sense with the reunion. It's big
fun to play together again, but that's not the only reason.....
The new website of Conception www.rollthefire.com is already in construction. Is it going to be ready in a short term?
INGAR: I really hope so! That's all I can say. It should have been ready a long
time ago if you're asking me........
If I'm right, you did the first post-reunion rehearsals at the end of 2003. How did you feel playing together again? Have you also been rehearsing recently?
INGAR: The first rehearsals in 2003 felt great, and we actually decided to have
this reunion allready then. It took I while before we did anything concrete, but
now we have reheased several times together. It's less than a week ago we had
our last rehearsal.
Maybe it's too early to talk about this, but. have you already composed any new songs or material for a future album? Or do you have at least any ideas for it? If so, how would you describe this new material, compared with the previous music of the band?
INGAR: We have tried out some new ideas, but it's too early telling you very
much about this.
How are Tore and Arve? They've been a bit "out" of the music world in the last years, especially Arve. Do you know what they've been doing during these years?
INGAR: Tore has worked quite a lot with Ark in some of this years, but it
seems as he has almost given up this band now. It's been such a lot of trouble
with Ark.... all kinds of trouble. I won't tell you more about this, but I
understand Tore when he's now concentrating more about other projects. Whatever,
Tore is still in the bussiness, and I'm sure it will come more from him im the
future!
Arve played in a local blues/rock band for a period after we splitted up with
Conception, but in the latest years he hasn't been active in any band. Anyway,
he's had a drumkit all thi s time, and he has rehearsed regulary. Perhaps he's
been waiting for this moment in all this years?...... sometimes I really
believe that.
You have already 2 confirmed concerts for this year, on the 16th of
September on the festival Progpower in Atlanta, and another one a few days later in Norway. I also remember you told me that a few more concerts will come. Is that true? Are they going to be confirmed soon? Have you already thought about the setlist for these concerts, the songs you're going to play?
INGAR: No more concertdates is confirmed yet, but it seems like we're going to
play more concerts in the future. It's a big interest around the band now, and
we're taking all kind of requests seriousely. The setlist is almost ready, but
that's so fare a secret......
Who is going to be the keyboard player on these upcoming concerts? Would you like to use again Trond Nagell-Dahl?
INGAR: On the upcomming concerts Jan Petter Ringvold is going to do the
keyboards. He's a great keyboarder, and I'm sure he'll do a good job. He has
played on a couple of Crest of Darkness albums, and he has also played live with
Kamelot on one of their tours.
It could happen that we're using Trond Nagell-Dahl again also, but it's
depending on many things. I can't say anything for sure about that now.
Whatever, Jan Petter is also a good choise for us!
Are you planning to record one of them for a future DVD release? I think it would be a great opportunity for it.
INGAR: It's a possibility that one of these concerts will be released on a DVD.
It's not right of me prommising anything, but I agree when you say that this is
a great opportunity.
By the way, what's the best concert do you ever remember with Conception?
>
INGAR: We did some very good concerts here in Norway right before we splitted
up.... Trondheim was good, also one of them we had in Oslo. I have many great
memories from our concerts in Japan. -Everything was so new and exciting for
us! ........I have many good memories!
I wonder if you have old stuff like rare tracks, demos, live recordings, etc, that could be released in the near future. also anything in video?
INGAR: We have quite a lot of these things. We have talked about might
releasing som of this, but we don't have any concrete plans for the moment.
This is just a curiosity of mine. the first singer of Conception was called Dag Ostby. Some of the lyrics from "The Last Sunset" were also written by him. Is he a brother of Tore, or are their surnames only a coincidence?
INGAR: I've heard this question many times before, and I can tell you that
they're not brothers. -Their surnames are only a coincidence.
In the past, before joining Conception, you were playing together with Ronnie Le Tekro. Do you still keep in touch with him? Do you like the musiche's doing nowadays, and the classic albums of TNT? Would you like to do a tour TNT + Conception?
INGAR: I've met Ronnie now and then in all the years after we played together
in Roquefire. I like some of the songs from TNT a lot, and Ronny is a great
guitarplayer! I'm respecting him a lot for that! A tour with TNT and Conception
could been interesting. I have actually never thought about it before, but that
could might have been good fun!
What's your opinion about the other bands of Roy Khan (Kamelot) and Tore Ostby (Ark)? Do you like them?
INGAR: It's very interesting for me to hear the other bands of Tore and Roy.
Musically I feel that Ark is perhaps closer to my musical taste...... I like
some of their songs a lot! It's a shame that they've had so much trouble with
this band. I won't say that it will never come a new album from Ark, but right
now it doesn't seem like that.
Personally I like the latest Kamelot album quite a lot, and some of their new
songs is great! Kamelot isn't a band I normally would listen very much to.....
I'm most of all listening to harder and more agressive kind of metal. Anyway,
I'm glad to say that Kamelot is a very good band, and Roy should be proud of
what he has done with this band!
I wouldn't like to finish this interview without asking you a few things about your other band, your "dark side", Crest of Darkness. You're the creator, the leader and the composer in this band. However, in Conception you're just one more band member, without that leading role. Do you feel comfortable in both situations?
INGAR: I'm proud of being "the brain" behind Crest of Darkness. I have a great
band now, but I'm definitely the leader of Crest of Darkness. When it comes to
Conception I'm just one more bandmember as you said, and I'm also very
comfortable with this role. In Crest of Darkness I look at myself as an artist.
I have to be able to handle a lot of situations. In Conception I'm "only"
consentrating about playing my bassguitar, and I love that!
You're already working in a new Crest of Darkness album, it will be the fifth one. Is it already recorded or are you still writing songs? How would you describe it, compared with the previous albums of the band?
INGAR: I'm still writing songs for the new album. We tried out one of the new
songs on a concert this summer, and it worked very well! We'll probably continue
trying out new songs on our upcomming concerts.....If the songs are working well
in live-situation it's very often a good sign. More than ever before I'll try
to bring the energy and the bruthality we have on stage into the studio. The new
album will become darker and more agressive than anything we've done before with this band! ......but everything will be done in the tradition of Crest of
Darkness, so watch out for suprices!
A live DVD is also planned to be released later this year. Have you already recorded the performance that will appear on it? Will it contain any extra stuff, besides a live concert?
INGAR: I have to agree about the last details with My Kingdom Music, but
after the plan the consert shall be recorded late this autumn/winter. The
recordings will probably be done here in Norway, but the DVD will contain extra
stuff...... behind the scene, on tour, etc...
I think one of the best things about Crest of Darkness is its own and unique sound, which makes this band different from any other black metal band. I really like how you're able to introduce surprising and unexpected elements in your songs, like for example, a melodic metal solo after an aggressive blast-beat part, without sounding forced at all. This makes the music very dynamic and interesting, you can mix different styles of metal without problems. Maybe is it because your background in a melodic metal band?
INGAR: I'm sure that my background from a melodic metal band has a lot to do for the music I'm making for Crest of Darkness. I've never looked at Crest of Darkness as a typical black metal band. Whatever, you should know that I have
nothing against being associated with Norwegian black metal, but Crest of
Darkness are somehow quite "different" from most of these bands. I love to mix different musical styles of metal, and that's perhaps one of our biggest "trademarks". In many ways I've brought some of the thoughts we had in
Conception into Crest of Darkness...... I'm doing what I think is right, no
matter what others say.
Where do you take the inspiration to write such a dark music and evocative lyrics in Crest of Darkness?
INGAR: Through the music of Crest of Darkness I'm free to express the darkest
sides of my mind. Sometimes I'm not sure where everything comes from, but most
of the time the lyrics comes pretty easy. I find inspiration in my Satanic
belief, my interest for vampirism, I'm reading a lot of books, watching movies,
and many of my ideas is actually based on the "real life". -It's a lot of
fantazy in my lyrics, but it's always lying some deeper thoughts behind them.
What's your opinion about the current black metal scene in Norway, compared with the scene of a dozen of years ago? Are you interested in any of the new bands?
INGAR: It's a lot of interesting bands in Norway nowadays, but for me it's
still the old bands, the pioners, who are my favourites. -Mayhem, Darkthrone are
among the bands I admire the most. Other bands I could mention are: Zyklon,
Gorgoroth, and it's probably many more...
Finally, what are your expectations for the future of both Conception and Crest of Darkness?
INGAR: I hope that both bands will live for many more years. It's many more
things I would like to do with these two bands. I know that I have ideas for
many comming albums with Crest of Darkness, and I also know that we could make
new great albums with Conception. The older I'm growing I'm understanding better
and better that playing music is my life. And I also know that everything is up
to me, it's no limits. I can play metal till the day I'm dying -hopefully I have
many more years left to live- and that's what I'm going to do!!
That's all. Thank you very very much for your answers! If you want to add anything, now is your time.
INGAR: At last I wanna send I big HAIL!!! to the readers of this interview!!
It's because of you metal-heads out there it makes sence for people like me to
continue making music in year after year. -Thanks to you all!
I've just done a long interview with Conception. If I'm right, it's the first post-reunion interview they've ever done, at least for a "big" website.
The interview is in Spanish, and you can find it HERE (you can see a new photo of the band).
Since I suppose many of you are interested in reading it, and Spanish might not be your thing, I'll post here the whole interview in English... enjoy!
Hails Ingar, for me it's a pleasure to do an interview with a Conception member. Well, let's go for it, in chronological order. What do you remember from the times when you joined Conception, the beginnings of the band?
INGAR: The first thing I remember was Tore and Arve who was visiting me at home
in the autumn.... I guess it must have been around 1989 - 90. Conception was
already founded a year or two earlier. At that time they needed a new
bassplayer. They new me from several local bands. One of them was Roquefire.
Some people might know Ronnie LeTekro from TNT, -he was playing guitar in
Roquefire. I'm just mentioning this as a curiousity.
Whatever, before my time in Conception the band had made a few demo-recordings,
and I must say that I was very much impressed when I heard this. It was easy for
me to join the band. It felt like I just had to play with this young talented
musicians.
In these early days Conception had a vocalist called Dag Oestby. He was a member
of the band up till the recordings of our debut album "The Last Sunset". When we
made this album we understood that Dag's vocals didn't fit into the band.... or
maybe it's more right to say that Dag's kind of singing didn't fit into the
idea/vision we had for this album. After this we tried out several vocalists,
and after a few months we met Khan who become our new singer. When we heard Khan
we knew that he was something special, and he was the perfect choise for us. At
this time we felt that we had found the ultimate line-up, and it's been like
this in all years after this. When we first talked about comming together again
for a re-union we all agreed that it had to be the same line-up as it was in the
"old days". If some of us had said that they wouldn't be a part of this
"come-back" we wouldn't do it at all.
What do you think nowadays about the albums of Conception? Could you write a brief comment of everyone of them? What are the albums or songs which make you feel especially proud of?
INGAR: "THE LAST SUNSET" -This album will always mean something special for me.
We did first finance and release "The Last Sunset" on our own label. We realy
believed in this album, and it was also this album together with some
demo-recordings that gave us the contract with Noise International a couple of
years later. My favourite-song from this album is "Among The Gods". -The
title-song "The Last Sunset" is also a good song I think.
"PARALLEL MINDS" -Our first release on Noise. You can't imagine how happy we
was when we traveled down to Germany (Hannover) to record this album. We had a
pretty big budget, a well-known producer (Tommy Knewton), we was on a big tour
with Gamma Ray and Rage, and everything seemed to go in our way!! I think that
"Parallel Minds" is a great album. -Quite comercial I must admit, but it's
sounding like a genuin Conception album.... It's a lot of variations in the
song-matherial, and it's good melodies, great guitar-riffs, -it's easy to like
this album. My personal favourites on this album is "Roll The Fire" and "My
Decision", but it's also many other good songs. Ten years later it's easier for
me to understand that this album was such a big succes.
"IN YOUR MULTITUDE" -Also a good album, but it obviously didn't have this big
comercial appeal as "Parallel Minds". I like the title-song on this album very
much myself. Other songs I could mention are: "Under A Mourning Star" and "Some
Wounds".
"FLOW" -This is my favourite-album, but it seemed like some of older fans felt
that we was changing our musical style too much with this album. Perhaps we did,
but I think it's great that this album is still sounding so new and fresh. It's
also a fact that we're getting a lot of new fans today with this album. -It's
still sounding very modern. I like almost all the songs on this album. I could
perhaps live without "Hold On" and "Tell Me When I'm Gone", but it's lying so
much memories in this album for me that every song means quite a lot to me.
After my opinion we splitted up when we as on the top. -"Flow" wasn't a
comercial success, but it was musicaly the most exciting album we made I
think......
How would you describe Conception for a person who has never heard them? Progressive metal, power metal, melodic metal. or does none of these subgenres fit with the band's music?
INGAR: It's not easy to describe our music with a few words...... All the
different styles you are mentioning could actually be used to describe the music
of Conception. We are definitely playing what I'm calling melodic metal, but
many of our songs have strong progressive elements. It was always very important
for us to do things in our own way, and we was NEVER thinking about record-sales
and such things. We was musicians, and not bussinessmen. Comercial success
didn't meen very much to us, and that perhaps one of the reasons why we have had
a kind of cult-status in all these years after we splitted up. People simply
won't forget us.
It must be said that our releases are pretty different from each other, but all
of them have this very caracteristic sound of Conception I think...... Khan's
vocals, Tore's guitarplaying, the rythm-section. We had -and still have-
something "special" which is difficult to explain. As you know I have played
much harder and more agressive music with Crest of Darkness the latest years.
Sometimes I've been thinking that I'm finnished with this "melodic metal"......
But NO, I'm not. -When we came together again with Conception the magic was
there at once. We're actually sounding better than ever before I think. I
certainly hope that we'll be able to deliver our best on our forthcomming
concerts because I know that on " a good day" we're sounding great... and we're
never sounding realy bad so it's always a reason to come and see us!
Many Conception songs, like e.g.: "Among the Gods", "Black on Black", "Sundance", "A Million Gods" or "War of Hate" have clear influences of Spanish "Flamenco" music, with those Spanish acoustic guitars by Tore. Why do the band have these influences from the folk music of such a distant and different country from yours? Have you ever visited Spain?
INGAR: I guess all of us in Conception had an interest in playing these songs
inspired by "Flamenco" music. It's a great atmosphere in this kind of music,
and we all loved to do this. Whatever, if it was not for Tore's great
inspiration from guitarplayers like Al Dimeola (sjekk navnet!!!!!) -especially
him- I don't think we would have gone so far with these kind of "experiments".
We've never been in Spain with Conception, and I've never been there myself
either..... I would very much like to visit Spain, and I'm sure I'll do that
some day. On a holiday or even better with Conception or Crest of Darkness.
Both these bands have fans in Spain, and it would have been nice to meet some of
them.
I'd like to talk now about your second album, "Parallel Minds". It's probably your most commercial and "easy-listening" album, you even made a cool videoclip of "Roll the Fire", which is perhaps the most known Conception song. However, you left this commercial appeal on the following albums. Didn't you ever think at that time about releasing more albums in the same vein of "Parallel Minds" is search of a bigger commercial success?
INGAR: I'm sure that Conception would have been a bigger comercial success if
we had continued in the way of "Parallel Minds", but as I've allready mentioned
we was never thinking about commercial success. -Things was just
happening.....The only reason why we was in this bussines was because we had
some very strong thoughts about what we wanted to do as musicians and
songwiters. Everything was based on idealism, and at that time I don't think we
even understood that we could have done a bigger success if we was thinking in a
more commercial direction.
Personally, my favourite Conception album is "In Your Multitude". It's a true masterpiece, almost magical I'd say. I've always felt deeply intrigued and fascinated by the album cover, made by Michael Albers, which shows a beautiful sunset (or perhaps a dawn?) in an African landscape, with a native man bearing kind of a mask. It might sound strange, but some musical passages from the album remind me somehow of Africa. and also the excellent lyrics seem to have a very deep and spiritual meaning. Can you explain us what lies behind the cover and the lyrics of this album?
INGAR: It's difficult to give a good answer to questions like this I
think...... I have made my own thoughts about the lyrics, but as you know it's
Khan who has written them, and I don't think it's right of me going too deep
into his work. I know that Khan very often wanted people to find "their own
meaning", and it's certainly possible to come up with a lot of thoughts around
his writings. As you are also mentioning it's definitely lying a deeper,
spiritual meaning behind these lyrics. Whatever, I've never felt that Khan have
ever tried to give any "answers". He's not a "Missionary Man"! He's a very open
minded person and he wants people to find their "own way" in life.
When it comes to the cover art I remember that we spent a lot of time trying to
come up with ideas for this album. Michael Albers cover is very much based on
our ideas.... I remember that very well. In his lyrics Khan is very often
dealing with "the big questions of life". -What's the meaning of all this? -What
are we doing here? This kind of lyrics can sometimes lead your thoughts to
something higher, something greater than us. -Is there a God? -What is waiting
for us after we're dead? I believe that people have always been dealing with
these kind of thoughts..... We thought that this native man was representing all
this ideas in a good way. Living a so called primitive life in the bush doesn't
man that you don't have a spiritual mind. I belive that many of these
"natur-people" are much closer to the great mysteries of life. It's difficult to
explain, but it's many more people than you who have said that they feel that
it's good connection between the music on the album and the album cover.......
so it seems as it works!
Two years after "In Your Multitude", "Flow" (the last Conception album to date) was released. You changed your style a lot with this album. Well, in fact, every Conception album is different from the others, but this time your musical evolution was quite big. "Flow" is a very experimental album. And not only the music; also the band logo was changed, and even the lyrics are very different from the previous ones. Why did you decided to take that new musical direction?
INGAR: When we worked with Conception we always did what we thought was right
for us at any time. Later on I understand that the fans of a group very often
find it hard to accept big musical changes. Anyway, we never thought about that.
We wanted to progress all the time, and it wasn't interesting for us to do the
same things over and over again.
All of us in the band was listening to all kinds of music, and in our minds
everything was "allowed" to do. For us it didn't exist any kind of limits. We
never thought about us selves as a typical metal band, and making an album as
"Flow" felt very natural for us. We was very happy with this album, and we
thought that this was the best album we had ever made. We also understood that
this was something new and it was a very big change from our side. When we also
changed our logo it obviousely had to do with this "big change". -We felt that
we was entering a new era with this album. Still today I feel that this album is
sounding very new and fresh....... Whatever, it was a big disapointment for
us when the critics of this album wasn't always very good. Many people wasn't
ready for this album at all. I can understand, but I would have done exactly the
same over again. -I love this album!
By the way, your bass work on this album deserves many compliments, the bass lines and the sound is superb. Who are your favourite bass players and the influences for your playing?
INGAR: Thanks a lot! It's nice to get these compliments..... Especially because
this is also the album I'm most happy with when it comes to both the sound and
my own way of playing. I've listened to a lot of bassplayers through the years.
It started up in the seventies and the first great bassplayers playing heavyrock
and hardrock impressed me a lot. Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Jimmy Bain
(Rainbow, Dio), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath). I've never been the biggest fan
of the most virtousistical bassplayers. I like these groovy "machines" who are
doing excactly what I think a bassplayer shall do.....
The latest years I've listened a lot to the most extreme bands in "the world of
metal", but I can't say that it's so many of the bassplayers in these bands who
have really inspired me very much.... There are many great bassplayers, it's not
that, but the inspiration I'm getting out of these extreme bands has more to do
with the general impression.
Beside of listening to different styles of heavy-metal, and finding a lot of
inspiration there, I do also listen to many other styles of music. I actually
believe I can find inspiration in all kind of music...... if I like it.
Then, after this album, the band decided to split up. What were the reasons to do it?
INGAR: It was many reasons why we splitted up. We had spent so many years
together, and we had tried so hard to succeed, and I belive that we was very
tired of it all. We was working very well together, but at that time it was
getting more and more important from some of us to realise ideas that wasn't
suitable for Conception. Well......I still mean that we basically could have
done whatever we wanted, that was always our meaning, but this time we wanted to
go in different directions. At this time Tore was already working with his new
band Ark, and my new "creation" Crest of Darkness was given life. The first
miniCD with Crest of Darkness was released, and I was working with the first
full lenght album.
Later Khan joined Kamelot, and you know the rest.....
But now, after a few years, you've decided to come back. Did you always keep a nice contact and friendship between the band members during these years? Also, I have to say that Conception never was a mainstream band, you're more what we could call a cult band. A band which often was critically acclaimed by the press, but still today is quite underrated and unknown. Have all these great critics been a reason to come back? Maybe also the requests from the fans who wanted a reunion? Or just that you wanted to play together again?
INGAR: Yes, we're back now! I'm not sure what the future will bring, but at
least we're ready to go on the stage together again, and we have some vague
plans for the future. We've been good friends in all the years after we splitted
up, and it was very easy to find the right feeling again. It's like the time
have been standing still in all this years.
I really don't know what brought us together again now. We've talked about it
for years, but it never seemed to be the right time. I was busy with Crest of
Darkness, Tore had Ark, and Roy has been more and more busy with Kamelot.....
It's also now diffecult to find enough time for Conception, but this is
something we really wanna do now so that should at least be a good start! The
fact that we really wanna do this now is with no doubt the most important
motivation behind the reunion. It's great with good critics, it's great that we
have such a lot of fans, but it had to be done on our own initiative!
This reunion seems to be going a bit secretly so far. Only a few people know about it, and even Roy Khan never totally confirms it on the interviews. He always says things like "well, we're still very good friends and perhaps some day we'll play again for some concerts or something", but not much more than this. Why there is all this confusing information about the reunion?
INGAR: It's really no secret that we're actually going to work together again.
We're well prepared to do the forthcomming concerts, and that should be agood
start. Whatever, we have been very careful with what we have said about this
reunion. We won't prommise too much. It's obviously a lot of people who have
waited for years that this should happen. Well, we've taken the first step now.
It's no doubt about that, but it's really not so much more to say for the
moment......
While I'm listening to some Conception songs like "Some Wounds", "In Your Multitude", "Gethsemane", "Roll the Fire" or "The Last Sunset", among others, I always feel something really great, unique and almost magical, something different from any other band. Did you ever feel yourselves that you had something very special as a band? Maybe could it be another reason for the reunion?
INGAR: We all felt that we had something very special when we played together
in the "old days", and I can tell you that this magical atmosphere is back! This
is perhaps the biggest reason why we're comming together again now. If we didn't
have this "extra" it wouldn't make such a big sense with the reunion. It's big
fun to play together again, but that's not the only reason.....
The new website of Conception www.rollthefire.com is already in construction. Is it going to be ready in a short term?
INGAR: I really hope so! That's all I can say. It should have been ready a long
time ago if you're asking me........
If I'm right, you did the first post-reunion rehearsals at the end of 2003. How did you feel playing together again? Have you also been rehearsing recently?
INGAR: The first rehearsals in 2003 felt great, and we actually decided to have
this reunion allready then. It took I while before we did anything concrete, but
now we have reheased several times together. It's less than a week ago we had
our last rehearsal.
Maybe it's too early to talk about this, but. have you already composed any new songs or material for a future album? Or do you have at least any ideas for it? If so, how would you describe this new material, compared with the previous music of the band?
INGAR: We have tried out some new ideas, but it's too early telling you very
much about this.
How are Tore and Arve? They've been a bit "out" of the music world in the last years, especially Arve. Do you know what they've been doing during these years?
INGAR: Tore has worked quite a lot with Ark in some of this years, but it
seems as he has almost given up this band now. It's been such a lot of trouble
with Ark.... all kinds of trouble. I won't tell you more about this, but I
understand Tore when he's now concentrating more about other projects. Whatever,
Tore is still in the bussiness, and I'm sure it will come more from him im the
future!
Arve played in a local blues/rock band for a period after we splitted up with
Conception, but in the latest years he hasn't been active in any band. Anyway,
he's had a drumkit all thi s time, and he has rehearsed regulary. Perhaps he's
been waiting for this moment in all this years?...... sometimes I really
believe that.
You have already 2 confirmed concerts for this year, on the 16th of
September on the festival Progpower in Atlanta, and another one a few days later in Norway. I also remember you told me that a few more concerts will come. Is that true? Are they going to be confirmed soon? Have you already thought about the setlist for these concerts, the songs you're going to play?
INGAR: No more concertdates is confirmed yet, but it seems like we're going to
play more concerts in the future. It's a big interest around the band now, and
we're taking all kind of requests seriousely. The setlist is almost ready, but
that's so fare a secret......
Who is going to be the keyboard player on these upcoming concerts? Would you like to use again Trond Nagell-Dahl?
INGAR: On the upcomming concerts Jan Petter Ringvold is going to do the
keyboards. He's a great keyboarder, and I'm sure he'll do a good job. He has
played on a couple of Crest of Darkness albums, and he has also played live with
Kamelot on one of their tours.
It could happen that we're using Trond Nagell-Dahl again also, but it's
depending on many things. I can't say anything for sure about that now.
Whatever, Jan Petter is also a good choise for us!
Are you planning to record one of them for a future DVD release? I think it would be a great opportunity for it.
INGAR: It's a possibility that one of these concerts will be released on a DVD.
It's not right of me prommising anything, but I agree when you say that this is
a great opportunity.
By the way, what's the best concert do you ever remember with Conception?
>
INGAR: We did some very good concerts here in Norway right before we splitted
up.... Trondheim was good, also one of them we had in Oslo. I have many great
memories from our concerts in Japan. -Everything was so new and exciting for
us! ........I have many good memories!
I wonder if you have old stuff like rare tracks, demos, live recordings, etc, that could be released in the near future. also anything in video?
INGAR: We have quite a lot of these things. We have talked about might
releasing som of this, but we don't have any concrete plans for the moment.
This is just a curiosity of mine. the first singer of Conception was called Dag Ostby. Some of the lyrics from "The Last Sunset" were also written by him. Is he a brother of Tore, or are their surnames only a coincidence?
INGAR: I've heard this question many times before, and I can tell you that
they're not brothers. -Their surnames are only a coincidence.
In the past, before joining Conception, you were playing together with Ronnie Le Tekro. Do you still keep in touch with him? Do you like the musiche's doing nowadays, and the classic albums of TNT? Would you like to do a tour TNT + Conception?
INGAR: I've met Ronnie now and then in all the years after we played together
in Roquefire. I like some of the songs from TNT a lot, and Ronny is a great
guitarplayer! I'm respecting him a lot for that! A tour with TNT and Conception
could been interesting. I have actually never thought about it before, but that
could might have been good fun!
What's your opinion about the other bands of Roy Khan (Kamelot) and Tore Ostby (Ark)? Do you like them?
INGAR: It's very interesting for me to hear the other bands of Tore and Roy.
Musically I feel that Ark is perhaps closer to my musical taste...... I like
some of their songs a lot! It's a shame that they've had so much trouble with
this band. I won't say that it will never come a new album from Ark, but right
now it doesn't seem like that.
Personally I like the latest Kamelot album quite a lot, and some of their new
songs is great! Kamelot isn't a band I normally would listen very much to.....
I'm most of all listening to harder and more agressive kind of metal. Anyway,
I'm glad to say that Kamelot is a very good band, and Roy should be proud of
what he has done with this band!
I wouldn't like to finish this interview without asking you a few things about your other band, your "dark side", Crest of Darkness. You're the creator, the leader and the composer in this band. However, in Conception you're just one more band member, without that leading role. Do you feel comfortable in both situations?
INGAR: I'm proud of being "the brain" behind Crest of Darkness. I have a great
band now, but I'm definitely the leader of Crest of Darkness. When it comes to
Conception I'm just one more bandmember as you said, and I'm also very
comfortable with this role. In Crest of Darkness I look at myself as an artist.
I have to be able to handle a lot of situations. In Conception I'm "only"
consentrating about playing my bassguitar, and I love that!
You're already working in a new Crest of Darkness album, it will be the fifth one. Is it already recorded or are you still writing songs? How would you describe it, compared with the previous albums of the band?
INGAR: I'm still writing songs for the new album. We tried out one of the new
songs on a concert this summer, and it worked very well! We'll probably continue
trying out new songs on our upcomming concerts.....If the songs are working well
in live-situation it's very often a good sign. More than ever before I'll try
to bring the energy and the bruthality we have on stage into the studio. The new
album will become darker and more agressive than anything we've done before with this band! ......but everything will be done in the tradition of Crest of
Darkness, so watch out for suprices!
A live DVD is also planned to be released later this year. Have you already recorded the performance that will appear on it? Will it contain any extra stuff, besides a live concert?
INGAR: I have to agree about the last details with My Kingdom Music, but
after the plan the consert shall be recorded late this autumn/winter. The
recordings will probably be done here in Norway, but the DVD will contain extra
stuff...... behind the scene, on tour, etc...
I think one of the best things about Crest of Darkness is its own and unique sound, which makes this band different from any other black metal band. I really like how you're able to introduce surprising and unexpected elements in your songs, like for example, a melodic metal solo after an aggressive blast-beat part, without sounding forced at all. This makes the music very dynamic and interesting, you can mix different styles of metal without problems. Maybe is it because your background in a melodic metal band?
INGAR: I'm sure that my background from a melodic metal band has a lot to do for the music I'm making for Crest of Darkness. I've never looked at Crest of Darkness as a typical black metal band. Whatever, you should know that I have
nothing against being associated with Norwegian black metal, but Crest of
Darkness are somehow quite "different" from most of these bands. I love to mix different musical styles of metal, and that's perhaps one of our biggest "trademarks". In many ways I've brought some of the thoughts we had in
Conception into Crest of Darkness...... I'm doing what I think is right, no
matter what others say.
Where do you take the inspiration to write such a dark music and evocative lyrics in Crest of Darkness?
INGAR: Through the music of Crest of Darkness I'm free to express the darkest
sides of my mind. Sometimes I'm not sure where everything comes from, but most
of the time the lyrics comes pretty easy. I find inspiration in my Satanic
belief, my interest for vampirism, I'm reading a lot of books, watching movies,
and many of my ideas is actually based on the "real life". -It's a lot of
fantazy in my lyrics, but it's always lying some deeper thoughts behind them.
What's your opinion about the current black metal scene in Norway, compared with the scene of a dozen of years ago? Are you interested in any of the new bands?
INGAR: It's a lot of interesting bands in Norway nowadays, but for me it's
still the old bands, the pioners, who are my favourites. -Mayhem, Darkthrone are
among the bands I admire the most. Other bands I could mention are: Zyklon,
Gorgoroth, and it's probably many more...
Finally, what are your expectations for the future of both Conception and Crest of Darkness?
INGAR: I hope that both bands will live for many more years. It's many more
things I would like to do with these two bands. I know that I have ideas for
many comming albums with Crest of Darkness, and I also know that we could make
new great albums with Conception. The older I'm growing I'm understanding better
and better that playing music is my life. And I also know that everything is up
to me, it's no limits. I can play metal till the day I'm dying -hopefully I have
many more years left to live- and that's what I'm going to do!!
That's all. Thank you very very much for your answers! If you want to add anything, now is your time.
INGAR: At last I wanna send I big HAIL!!! to the readers of this interview!!
It's because of you metal-heads out there it makes sence for people like me to
continue making music in year after year. -Thanks to you all!
