DARK RHAPSODY

Like most progressive metal fans, I was blown away by Communic from the very first album (Conspiracy in Mind, 2005). And it only got better from there. Their second album (Waves of Visual Decay, 2006) made it clear to one and all that Communic is a dynamic and creative force to be reckoned with.

I spoke with Communic front man Oddleif Stensland in the Spring of 2007.

OS: Hello.

BM: Hi, this is Bill Murphy calling from the States.

OS: Yeah, cool. How are you doing?

BM: Good. How are you?

OS: [laughs] I am fine.

BM: [laughs] Good.

OS: Yeah, it’s good.

BM: What’s the weather like there in Norway?

OS: Well actually, they said today on the, on the weathercast that this was the hottest day so far. We had like 10 degrees today and the sun was shining, so it was pretty good.

BM: Wow, that’s good.

OS: [laughs] Yeah.

BM: Actually, it’s pretty warm here today too, actually. It’s probably around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

OS: Ah, and that would be like 25, or …?

BM: A little less than that for you guys, around 18 I think.

OS: Yeah. That’s warmer than we have here. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Cool. That’s why you said somewhere that your favorite vacation was “Someplace warm, far away from anything that reminds me of snow.” [laughs]

OS: Oh yeah. [laughs] Actually, I’m living all the way south in Norway, so it’s actually the place in Norway with the fewest days with snow.

BM: Oh, ok.

OS: So there’s this winter, we had like only 14 days or three weeks with snow. And now, all the snow is gone.

BM: Oh, that’s great.

OS: It’s all out by the coast, so there’s not much snow here. [laughs] So that’s good.

BM: Very good.

OS: [laughs]

BM: You know, I was gonna ask you about your name [Oddleif]. I was looking up its meaning this morning. Do you know the meaning of your name?

OS: No. I haven’t like checked it out or anything. I know that it’s coming from old Norse mythology?

BM: Yeah.

OS: That is the only thing I know. Actually I can’t, I haven’t checked out what it means. So maybe you can tell me.

BM: Yeah. It says, “Meaning: point descendant.” But it goes on to say, “People with this name tend to initiate events, to be leaders rather than followers, with powerful personalities. They tend to be focused on specific goals, experience a wealth of creative new ideas, and have the ability to implement these ideas with efficiency and determination.” Does that sound like you? [laughs]

OS: Well, I can tell you I run my own graphic design company. I have two people in 100% work, doing magazines and art and advertising and stuff like that. So yeah, maybe. [laughs] And I’m running this band, so … [laughs]

BM: Sounds like you. [laughs] That’s great. You were well-named.

OS: So, but I know that it’s like, going back to the Norse mythology. That is about the only …

BM: Very cool. And it sounds like it’s pronounced odd leaf?

OS: Odd life, or …

BM: Odd life, ok.

OS: I’d like to say, just call me No-life. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] I’d love to, but you’ve got so much of a life going for you, I’d be wrong.

OS: Oh, it’s alright. It’s going ok, so … [laughs]

BM: Well, let me tell you, before I ask specific questions, Communic is amazing. I mean, both of your albums are incredible, right from the cover art down to the production. It’s first-rate all the way.

OS: Yeah, thank you. That’s really good to hear. And of course we have been doing our best to get it there, to complete package as good as possible. And we have tried to do it our way, and make the music and everything the way we like it. And it’s good to see that other people than us like it as well, because it’s long songs and quite complex structures, and because we didn’t know what to expect, what would people think about it. So then it’s cool to see that so many people are actually digging it as much as we do.

BM: Oh yeah. You just reminded me of a couple of things. Your background, your work in graphic design and advertising—has that helped you prepare, like the total package here that you just mentioned? The whole thing looking good, sounding good, all that?

OS: Well, it was—I have always been interested in the whole package. And when we first made the demo that we actually got signed with, the point with that demo was to make it as, we didn’t save any on the cost, we wanted it to be as good as possible sounding, and also great artwork that could go with the demo to show the full potential of the band. And that was important when we started to promote the band, even before we had a record company supporting us. And earlier, in other bands, we did it another way other than this for so many years, so but that was built on doing it the hard way of playing lots of concerts and printing up loads of CDs and giving them away for free, but it didn’t get us anywhere. So we just took it back, and started to look at it from another direction, and tried to, “Ok, we need to spend some money on this. We need to print limited so people will ask for it, but then can’t get it.” [laughs]

BM: Oh yeah. [laughs]

OS: So that was one of the strategies that we had when we started, yeah.

BM: That sounds like a smart advertiser. Are you actually in advertising and marketing? Is that your profession?

OS: Most of the products that I make is actually magazines.

BM: Ok.

OS: Magazines and brochures for companies, and stuff like that.

BM: Do you write the words as well as the—

OS: No. Most of the companies have their own ideas, and we just sit down with them and of course we come up with new ideas and stuff and try to work with the customers.

BM: Oh, I see. That’s cool. So, when you were done with these albums, and you have them in your hand, did they surprise you as to how good they were? Or did you know all along it would come out this way?

OS: Um, I think that we had pretty much in mind how it would be, because when we went into the studio, there was no room for jamming in the studio or anything. On both albums we used, I think, around 20 days in the studio for each of the recording sessions. So everything was planned out up front before we went into the studio. We made pre-production at home, that we actually tried to record just as we should have done in the studio, and tried to do it, be as good, as prepared as we could be. So when we entered the studio, everyone knew what they should do, and we didn’t left any work to do for the producer, regarding how the songs should be.

BM: Oh, I see.

OS: So we pretty much knew that we had some good songs, and it was like the final stage to get it perfect. That was the work in the studio. And of course, the producers’ ability to get the sound that we wanted, and that worked really well. Of course, when we have the final master and get the artwork, and you have used a lot of time, you have lived with the song for a lot of time, and you can put it in your own stereo and yeah, that’s a good feeling. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah. You know, website reviews, reviews of Waves of Visual Decay all over the place compare you to a few different bands, and they’re always the same two or three. One review says, “When I mention Communic, it is hard not to mention Seattle’s finest band, that Oddleif sounds like a duplicate of Warrel Dane. But Oddleif has a more smooth and natural voice.” Another review says, “Communic is instantly comparable to the successful Nevermore, as Oddleif’s voice is very similar to Warrel Dane’s, although I prefer Oddleif.”

OS: Yep.

BM: In every review, you’re compared to Nevermore. Is that a fair comparison? Do you think you sound like Nevermore?

OS: Well, personally, I think that we have managed to create something that can be described as Communic. But I can also understand that people need to find something to compare us with. And we are a new band. We have been here for two albums now, and every reviewer’s job is to actually try to explain what kind of music this is. And then I can agree that Nevermore is probably the closest one. But I don’t go around and be, like, bugged about it. I think it’s more like a complement. If people want to compare me with, vocally with Nevermore, I take it more as a complement, because it’s [laughs], that’s really good. So, I can’t do much about it. I’m trying to sing with the voice I have, and I try to, sometimes I have explained it where I can’t just go and buy a new guitar or guitar sound for my voice. I need to use the voice that I have, and try to express myself within the music. And if I had, it’s hard to explain, but I think it’s better to be compared to Nevermore than to any other power metal band out there, Halloween or whatever. So because then, Nevermore is a unique band, and I really hope that people can see that Communic has its own identity. But I guess you need more than two albums before people start to see you as one unique band. But there are so many bands out there today, so you will always be compared to somebody.

BM: Yeah, that’s true. You’d mentioned earlier—and I was going to ask you about this—your sound is very complex. There are some time changes, the songs are long. Do you have any trouble replicating your sound on stage? Because some of it is multilayered. There’s some—how do you do that on stage?

OS: Well of course, I can’t play two guitars at the same time. [laughs] But I think it has something to do with the way we create the songs. Of course, in the studio, you use a lot of time to dub the guitars and make it sound fuller on the CD. But I see it like a CD is something you pick up a lot of, many times and listen to a lot of rounds. And it has to be sounding really good, and like huge stereo and whatever. But on the stage, it’s totally different energy going on. And when people have seen the show, you can’t just record it back and it’s like another energy. And then I don’t think that people would notice that something is missing. And another reason for that is also I think that both me and Erik, the bass player, we have played together for I guess, over 10 years now in different kinds of bands. And we have always been playing with one guitar and bass together. So that has made us like, fulfill each other. So when I play a solo piece or whatever, he has something special going on with his playing style that doesn’t actually feel—in fact, when I’m doing something he doesn’t like, it’s really heavy on the guitar, he’s more playing the guitar with his bass in some strange way.

BM: Oh yeah.

OS: It actually works, and I think it’s cool that people don’t think that we can do it, because then they will be like slammed down when we actually do it. And we have worked a lot with the sound that we have in the bass and in the guitar. So actually, people that have seen us have actually told us it sounds like two guitars. Or they can’t actually judge if there’s only one guitar, or if there’s … because when you are, sometimes I also think it’s easier to get a good live sound when you are only one guitar. And together with the bass and drums, because then you know that the second guitar isn’t missing in the mix or making it muddier or whatever. It needs to be turned up so people can hear it. And when it gets turned up, it will, together with the bass and drums, sound as massive as anything else, I think.

BM: Yeah.

OS: So it actually works pretty well, and it’s, everything makes it easier when you are just three people. It’s easier to travel; it’s easier to get booked at festivals because it’s cheaper to fly in the band.

BM: Especially when there’s just three people. [laughs]

OS: More beer, there’s that. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

OS: You don’t have to split with too many. [laughs] No, everything makes it easier. But we don’t feel like we have a problem with it. But I think people said, “Well, how can they play it live?” But they just have to turn up and see us play it live. Yep.

BM: You know, I read that Communic was originally supposed to be a side project for you. At what point did you think, “Hey, this is damn good. I better keep this as my main gig?”

OS: Well, I was in another band in, well, a local band here called Scariot. They are actually having a new album out now with Steve DiGiorgio on bass and like a new lineup. It’s pretty good. And I was singing in that band, and I had kind of put my guitar on the back for a while because, well I was going singing in this band, this band did good, we released one album together. And when we started to work on the new album, on another album for that band, there was something that didn’t attract me that much in the music. It was kind of difficult for me to be happy with my vocals. And that was based in the way the rest was going and everything, it was kind of monotone, whatever, I don’t know what the name of it. It was like, there wasn’t that much room for melodic vocals. So that was when I started to work with Communic, like to try to get something going with where I could get my full potential in the vocals and my own musical ideas out. And then I asked the drummer in that same band if he wanted to join me just for fun, and that’s how it started. So me and Tor [Atle Andersen, drummer] started to work on these songs like a side project, actually. And then we decided to like, go and try out some of the songs in a local studio that we could use for free, and it actually turned out really good. And we started to work on the professional demo that we actually got signed on. And we was actually continuing in that band all the way until we got signed, but when we signed the deal we decided that we wanted to focus on it 100%. So, and it wouldn’t have been fair for the other band that I would continue to sing with them, like, half-hearted, because I would surely give more interest in my own songs than in someone else’s songs. So that is why I decided to, I need to do this and you can continue with your stuff. Right now I feel that I absolutely did the right decision.

BM: Oh yeah. I’ll betcha everybody agrees with that, except for the other band.

OS: Well, I can’t go around and think about everybody else. I suppose it’s my friends and everything, but I have to do, I can’t be in a band just because I’m friends with them. I’m doing this because I like the music, and I need to like the music that I’m doing as well.

BM: Oh yeah, of course. Well let’s talk about that first album a second. Conspiracy in Mind is a great album. In fact, I think I like it the best of the two. I don’t know why. But it seems to have more contrast between the light and the dark, like the heavy and the light. There’s a lot of really pretty guitar arpeggios, there’s a lot of melody to that one. “History Reversed,” “They Feed on Our Fear,” and “The Distance,” I think are my favorite songs on it. Do you see the first album as being, maybe lighter or more melodic than the latest one?

OS: I see that, or I feel that there’s a difference between the albums as well. I think that the first one is a little bit lighter all over. While the new, while the Waves album is a little more trashy or heavier. And I think the reason for that was that we had been out touring, we had started to play live, and some of that energy from the live shows actually developed into the new songs. Because, as I said, the songs are a little bit more heavier when we play them live. So I think that was something that went into the new songs when we sit and started to work on the new songs. I think that there was a little bit more energy, and also Tor, the drummer, wanted, he actually thought that or felt that the songs on Conspiracy in Mind actually was recorded a little too slow.

BM: I see.

OS: And so, when we played the songs from Conspiracy, the old, we always try to speed them up a little bit, because the drummer wants them to go a little bit faster than we actually decided to record them.

BM: [laughs]

OS: And I think the reason why we did that was because we was kind of, this was the first time in a professional studio, we was traveling to Denmark, Hansen Studio, like a well-known producer [Jacob Hansen], and we was kind of nervous. So I think that we, so we put the tempo down a little bit so we shouldn’t be like, a little bit afraid that we couldn’t actually manage to play it and stuff like that. But, so I don’t know, but maybe it also has something to do with that the first album has a lot of ideas that goes many years back, because you have so many years to make your first album. But when you, then, when you start to work on your second album, it’s like one year later we have it ready. And so that’s also a big conquest, to where the songs are coming from.

BM: Well, your first album is just amazing. I love ‘em both, by the way. Do you have a favorite song off your first one? What would you point to and say, “Man, that is the best on that album”?

OS: Well, I think I have to say the song that lies closest to me is probably “They Feed on Our Fear.” And also that is one of the songs that I really enjoy to play live. And it’s always a challenge to play because it’s 10 minutes long, and you need to, well, when you play these long songs live, you can see how, see kind of the reactions at the audience. And you don’t want them to go. You don’t want to bore them. And that is actually a long song, that when we play it live, it feels like four minutes, but if you take the time it’s 10 minutes. Through that song, you can see the audience going from, like it’s standing there with the eyes closed, and just listening to the emotions or the feelings in the songs, and then just turn it into some crunchy, head banging stuff in the middle, and then take it all back down again. And people won’t notice that, or don’t notice that the time is actually flowing by. So that is actually one of my favorites.

BM: Tell me about—you said it was one of the ones closest to you. If there’s any theme to Conspiracy in Mind, it seems to be all the dark areas of the mind. You know, fear and nightmares, confusion, hate, loneliness. Where were you, in what state of mind were you in to write all these lyrics? Were you, is it a difficult time for you, or are you jaded about the world in general?

OS: I don’t actually, I feel that most of the lyrics is quite close to me, but I think the reason for me writing these kind of topics or lyrics is because I’m actually a happy guy, and I’m actually usually just a normal guy going around being happy.

BM: [laughs]

OS: And when you play this kind of music, it’s easier to, I think it’s easier to express myself singing about these things. I can’t imagine myself singing a happy melody, or a happy song about a happy message. So it’s easier to express myself, and I like when everything is like in the minor key, and like kind of dark and shadowy. But I don’t know actually where it comes from.

BM: [laughs]

OS: It’s someplace inside of me, but it’s good that I can take it out in the music and not in something else.

BM: Oh yeah. That’s true. [laughs]

OS: [laughs]

BM: Well, let’s see here. The first album, what do you remember most about recording that? What stands out most in your mind? What event or what memory do you have of being in the studio or putting that together? What is your most vivid memory of recording the first album?

OS: Actually, I think it’s my own personal, like nervous kind of, the stage you go when you are meeting a producer for the first time. You have never talked to him other by sending some emails back and forth about what kind of gear we need to bring. And then you go into the studio and you have 20 days to record an album, and you have no ideas how this guy is working, anything. So when I found out, especially when I stopped to work on the vocals, and I kind of remember best how, kind of afraid I was to do something wrong. Like I wouldn’t be able to do it on the first take. So that was pretty difficult. Then the new album, Waves, I was way more relaxed because then I knew the producer, I knew the way we was working, and I dared to try out new stuff without being afraid of making a fool of myself. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

OS: That was the worst thing about the first album, that I think everyone in the band was kind of afraid of doing something wrong that would make us, like [laughs]. Stupid things because you know you are paying a guy to be your mentor for the studio. And he only wants to get the best out of you. But yeah.

BM: Oh, that’s cool. The cover art is cool. How did you hook up with Mattias Noren to do the cover art for the first album?

OS: The first artwork was kind of a hectic kind of thing going on. It was, we had, first we had another guy doing some artwork sketches for us. And it was getting closer, closer to deadline when we had to deliver the master. And the files for the artwork as well. And I think it was a week before or maybe two weeks before, and we got the artwork, and it was denied by the band and the management didn’t like it, and the record company didn’t like it. So that was totally denied, and that was like one or two weeks before we had to deliver it. And then we managed to hook up with Mattias through our management that had used him on other artworks. So that was the way it was going. And then we was lucky to find this one in his archive. It was an artwork that he hadn’t used for anything else, and I just thought that it fitted to the theme, it was pretty dark, and yeah, I think it was perfect, and it was just there lying and waiting for us.

BM: [laughs]

OS: [laughs] And we just said, “Oh yes, that’s the one.” And then, we sent the preview to the record company, and they were like, “Oh yeah, that’s really good.” And then we used it. So it was kind of an emergency way out of it, but I see it more like it was just lying there waiting for us. Waiting for the music to catch it.

BM: [laughs] That’s a great way to put it, yeah.

OS: Yeah.

BM: What is it about the song “They Feed On Our Fear” that you say is the closest one to your heart?

OS: I think it has something, when I was a little kid, I was really troubled by nightmares I couldn’t sleep, it was always kind of strange thing going on for like, a few early years of my life. And I was a really scared little kid, I think. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

OS: So it’s kind of cool to get it all at a distance, and kind of put it down and kind of think about it, get some expression out of it. I don’t have those problems now, and I guess it’s something that many people go through when they are small kids. So, I think, I feel pretty close to that one. There was a lot of ideas going on in my head.

BM: Cool. Your second album, we were talking, it has a more aggressive sound. The guitar—by the way, the guitar tone on both of these albums in phenomenal. You have a great guitar tone.

OS: Yeah, that’s cool.

BM: And it seems pretty crunchy and pretty much in-your-face on the second album. Did you—you said the reason why that is is you guys had more confidence, you had more energy from the stage, so you were going into the studio in a different frame of mind.

OS: Yeah. I think that is the reason that made it that way. The guitar sound is the same thing, because it was the same amplifier used for both albums. I have actually sold that amplifier now, so I don’t know what about the next … [laughs]

BM: Really? [laughs] Why did you do that?

OS: I wanted something more easy to carry with me on tour, and it was impossible to get on a flight and everything. It was really good in the studio-sounding amp, and also on stage, but I need to get more flexibility or whatever to bring it along. So I’m really confident that I will get just as good a sound in the future, so no worries. But it worked really good. And also, it has something to do with, on the new album I think Jacob even took it to a new level again. Because it has gone a year, and then it’s over again. And of course, from the production side, you want to improve as well.

BM: Well, tell me about the tracks on this one, since this one is so highly regarded around the world, can you take me through track-by-track? Just tell me briefly what sort of inspired it and what the song is about? Like, “Under a Luminous Sky.”

OS: Yeah, that’s the first song. I think the original idea I got was of all the stuff going on in the news about terrorism and suicide bombers and people actually killing for religion. People that think that this place will be a lot better if they kill for and then go to heaven or whatever, wherever they go. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

OS: Actually, I don’t know. But that was like the inspiration for that lyric, “Under a Luminous Sky,” and that title is also going back to that, like when that flash goes off and yeah.

BM: Wow. How ‘bout “Frozen Asleep in the Park”?

OS: Yeah, that’s also one of my favorites actually. It’s actually a story about a drugged-out lady that actually is living in the park. And one day, she, people find her dead, frozen to death in the park. And then, it’s kind of, you see stuff like that goes around all over the

NOTE: This is the end of Part One. For the entire interview with Oddleif Stensland of Communic, see the official ProgPower USA VIII program.

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