Moloken Interview

1. Can you can give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Kristoffer: we are currently working hard on writing new material, and we have a lot i will tell you.
maybe 2 new album concepts entwined and a new EP plus some splits are in the planning, thats how much material we got.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album?

Kristoffer: our latest album Rural is a grand journey through different emotions, musically speaking. its raw and organic with powerful and clean sound. you can actually hear nicklas breathe when plays a solo bass part bass in "waltz of despair". we want to keep it simple and alive, so that the music speaks for it self.   

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with
the music?

Kristoffer: we write about the complexity of being true to yourself whilst dealing with lovers and friends, as well with life and death in general in all its glory and pain.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Kristoffer: the word Moloken is just an old beautiful swedish word and it felt suiting with the type of music we play.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how
would you describe your stage performance?

Kristoffer: we give it our best in just being one with the moment and surrender to the music we play. we have done alot of great shows, but sweden rock festival was great.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

Kristoffer: yes, we have some very interesting stuff in the making.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of
underground metal?

Kristoffer: those who actually give us their full attention seems to recongize that we play from the heart and then we get great response and fans for life. 

8. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

Jakob: I’m supposed to play drums on a raw black metal project with my oldest friend, Carl. Since I’m not involved in the release, I have no idea when or if it will be an official release. Besides that, I’m playing drums in JZZBLK, an experimental rock band. We’ve started rehearsal recordings for future album ideas.

And like everyone else I have an idea for a solo project, which might never be recorded or released, depending on time and patience. It’s a black/death mix, or something like that.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Jakob: I don’t know for sure what direction we will take, but I’m pretty confident we won’t start to sound like Merzbow or Apex Twin, although they’re excellent artists in their own way. Moloken has its own sound and I can’t see a near future where we develop soundscapes, programming or tweaks. It’s still pretty organic and simple, as it has been from the start. As far as the new material goes, we’ve pushed the influential barriers somewhat, but not much. It’s still us.

We’ve also used more rhythm, layers and thematic works in the new materials.

A personal interest of mine has been to try and cross-breed different kind of harmonic patterns, making music sound like (a)tonal versions of schizophrenia. I’ve never had the talent to materialize it before, but maybe this idea has come to bear fruit in some of the latest works. Time will tell. In the past, some of the most influential 20^th century classic composers had similar fantasies, stubborn enough to outlive the drawing board, like Messiaen, Schönberg, Varèse.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music
and also what are you listening to nowadays/

Jakob: King Crimson and Stravinskij has been huge influences for me ever since high school. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Ved Buens Ende/Virus are probably the closest influences after that, and many of the death and black metal classics from the 90’s.

Kristoffer: right now in the stereo: Dråpsnatt, Bergsraven, System Annihilated, Nero Di Marte, Opeth, Mew, Kent, Enchant  

11. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

Jakob: So far, no. The brothers write from their hearts in a more straight-forward way. Patrik and I have used metaphors. For me it’s usually been depictions on either societal change, like the human value versus the collective or mental change, such as projected aggression, sadism, submission. In the new materials, I’ve adopted the brothers’ approach. Besides all of this, I agree to some degree that religion “…is the opium of the people”, and occultism is a special flavour of the drug, a rare type of the rush.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Kristoffer: self sufficiency, organizing 

Jakob: Literature, socializing, amusing myself.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Jakob: Thanks for your shown interest.

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