Interview with Sarke and Gard in Munich before the concert 19.03.2003


At first of all I would like to welcome you here in Germany after the long way from Norway. Did you have a good trip here?

Sarke:
Oh yeah, especially a long one!


Alright! So tell me something about the beginning and the early days of the band! How did it all begin?

Sarke:
Oh, well we started in the year 2000 as a band and about one year later we signed on Moonfog and released about two albums with Moonfog and ah we did also a European Tour for our first album and so now we are on the European Tour for our second album so that's our history, alright!

Gard:
That's Khold's history, quite narrow ha!


But its your history and so its ok of course! What about the actual line up of the band, who is playing now for Khold?

Sarke:
Ah that's Sarke -me- on Drums, ah Gard on guitar and vocals, Rinn on guitar and Brandr on bass. And the bass player is the only member we have changed during Khold, we had a former bassist on our first album and now we have a new one so that's the actual thing!


Alright! So how did you guys get to know each other from? Are you all from the same area of Norway?

Gard:
Ah ja! We are all childhood friends actually most of us. Our guitar player came in later but we have been playing with him for like ten years, eleven years and we have been hanging out together for quite a long time.


So from which part of Norway are you all?

Both:
Oslo!

Sarke:
Ah a little outside of Oslo

Alright! Well you are on tour with Satyricon, so as I think Satyr is taking good care of Khold and you can be lucky to have such a strong background in the scene! How did it come to such a good connection?

Gard:
Ah well at first we are up on their label, on Mister Satyrs labelon Moonfog yeah! On that way we got the connection and the band is a fan of each of us, they like our music so..yeah, haha that's it!


A that's ok! So ah how did it come to the deal with Moonfog? Did you ask them?

Sarke:
Ah I gave them a Demo tape and ah they asked for another one haha and it seemed ah he said he would probably not sign us but after listening to the demo tape he did, he liked our music!


I think he likes your music, yeah!

Gard:
He just very does, haha!


How did you come to the name Khold? What about the meaning of the name?

Gard:
Ah yeah, atmosphere out of the name so that's why Khold! So what do you think it means (smile)?


Khold means cold of course! I just wanted top hear it from you, hehe!

Gard:
Exactly That's what it means!


And its of course characterising your music!

Gard:
Ja! Most bands like to call themselves dark and evil, I think we sound a bit different you know, the way we groove our music, we don't play as fast as all he other black metal bands do.


So what would you say if I call your music - lets say classical old school touched midtempo black metal?

Sarke:
Exactly! The one difference is we have a new sound ah we come more heavy! We have a harder sound and we are inspired by the old bands, but we have quite a new music


So which band would you say have influenced you, to which of them are you listening privately?

Sarke:
Ah Slayer, Darkthrone and older Mayhem, Celtic Frost these are the bands.

Gard:
Mostly seventies Music Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath of course So the music I have grown with. Everybody is talking and asking about what kind of new bands do you want to hear. I don't listen to them!


Ah you don't have to of course!

Gard:
No I don't have to! Most people find it a little bit strange that I don't follow the black metal scene. So whenever people ask me what kind of music you listen to I would say these bands I just said!


That's ok! You are only writing songs in Norwegian, your native language? Please tell why you don't use any English ones, and tell me what are your songs about?

Gard:
Why we don't use it? Well the girl who writes our music, all the lyrics she writes only in Norwegian! It fits our music and it works out best for us as if we would write it in English or German for that matter, it wouldn't sound right for us. We write it better in our own language! It gives us more influation.


So what are your lyrics then about?

Sarke:
Its different themes, it's ah, parts of them are just old stories, parts of them are fiction just mixed up. Its about some strange sick people from the old days!

Gard:
"Slaktereika" is only one of the songs I would like to mention, we would talk about. Its about a guy usually not far away from where we live now, I think it is a hundred years old, hundred years ago, he used to robb and basically kill people they came up! That's what about the lyrics are!

Sarke:
And myth about the old days, Norwegian ones!


Ah I think you got enough of them!

Gard:
Yeah, so far!

Alright! What about the lady called Hildr, she is writing the lyrics for you? Is this right and if, tell why don't you do this on your own?

Gard:
Oh she is a writer! She writes better than we would do. And well, she is my girl so she is really close to me. We get inspired by both ways, we inspire her and she inspires us! So we give her Ideas or she comes up with ideas and just writes lyrics and then we write the music on that. Or we have the music already done before ..

Sarke:
But she never listens to the music before she writes

Gard:
Many times it's the other way round!


So I also heard that you really don't use any drugs like alcohol or smoking! Is this really right?? Do you have a special reason for this, especially this is not very often in the scene!

Gard:
So where did you hear that haha! So I don't drink too much he don't drink too much, and we don't smoke, but the bass player drinks a lot! And our guitar player drinks also! So ah quite normal! Unusual may be that there are no smokers in the band!


Alright! That's almost all I wanted to hear from you! I want to thank you very much for your time, mange tak for eur tid og ha de bra! Any last words you wanna tell your fans out there?

Sarke:
Yeah! I think we will go in a studio again in June and have a new album out in may be October so and it will be good! Yeah it will be good!

Gard:
It will be great! Just fantastic, hehe

Sarke:
And doing it in a new studio again. So we have high hopes for our new album and I guess so its coming out on Moonfog Label again!


martin