Galdr Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?

Galdr started as my first attempt to make music alone. When I first started the project, I was playing drums in a band called Obscurum and had an urge to have a more direct input in the songwriting. In Obscurum, I would only write the drum compositions. I would, here and there, write lyrics or suggest riffs, but I wanted to create my own expression. The early themes of the project dealt with my relationship with nature and spirituality. Drawing influences from norse myths and a sort of shamanistic worldview. Now the project focuses more on such things as meditation, altered states of consciousness, while maintaining a narrative focusing on the natural world. The music was initially influenced heavily by DSBM and especially and I might say quite unfortunately, Burzum. But the sound is also heavily influenced by a handful of other typical second wave and 2000s artists such as Strid, Windir, Dodsferd, Xasthur, etc. I am entirely against the views of a lot of the projects that influenced the sound of Galdr, and I think the sound of Galdr is now on its own path. In many ways I find Galdr to be better than the various projects that influenced it. Not just in a soundness of ideals but in expansion of the realm of lo-fi atmospheric black metal. 

2.You have a new split coming out in November, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Only in that it is more developed artistically. More mature in its approach and ideas. The base of the sound of Galdr is still exactly as it was. It is a direct continuation of the last material but with a heightened perspective on art and existence.

3.This is also your first release since 2015, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

On the material end,  working on other projects and co-running Unity Temple. The most important thing that has taken place as far as Galdr goes is a revisiting of the values and ideological stances that make up the full scope of the expression of Galdr and of myself as an artist. This release highlights an awareness and expanded purpose when it comes to Galdr and I’m glad that it can be released as a joint-expression with my good friend and collective partner in Seder. 

4.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the split cover?

I took the photo this past Winter. The original idea was to have a photo of a “roadside memorial”. I’m not sure if this is an occurrence in other countries, but here in the US, if someone dies in a car accident or near a road, their loved ones might leave a memorial near the spot of death. Usually including photos of the dead, flowers, stuffed animals, etc. I’ve been thinking about the concept of roadside memorials as album covers a lot lately. The photos that you see on the altar are of Gurthang and I in various other projects and also together. And although the style of the altar is similar to roadside memorials, I wanted the shot for this split to be in a relatively remote and isolated setting to the give the impression of a “forgotten” memorial. 

5.Originally the project was known as 'Thulcandra', what was the cause of the name change?

I didn’t have any connection to that name. I believe it is from a Sci-fi book as an alternate name for Earth. I basically searched the internet for different names of Earth. After reading about Galdr as the shamanic practice of speaking magic, I felt that it immediately made sense as to what I wanted to present with the project, 

6.With this project you record everything by yourself, do you prefer to work solo?

Its not really a preference one way or the other, but a different mode of creating. I do probably enjoy working alone slightly more, however I appreciate the work I do with my co-artists. 

7.In 2019 you came out as being anti fascist and anti racist, what kind of reaction did you get from your fans over this choice?

More or less the response that I thought I’d get. A lot of Galdr fans were thankful and relieved to see me make a stance on the subject. That made me really happy to read and I appreciate everyone who supported me in this stance. As black metal goes, it seems like a large percentage of people are either indifferent to racism/antiracism or actively despise antiracist/antifascist elements in black metal. A handful of right-wing Galdr fans were hurt by it, but that’s neither here nor there. I typically get people trying to troll my posts to this day, but again, that's not really a big problem for me. I was accused by a few people allegedly on the left of trying to use antifascism for popularity or attention. However, I haven’t gained anything monetarily (Galdr profits go to trans-outreach and safety orgs) or really reach-wise even since making a statement on it. Ironically, it seems like most of the people making those accusations ended up themselves being guilty of being focused on chasing clout and popularity on the back of leftist ideals. 

8.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

I am now focusing on my Dungeon Synth project Veil and Sacred Plane. The first release of that project will be rereleased on Fiadh soon and I am planning new releases and live shows for that project. I’m not sure what the future of Galdr is, I’m not going to say that it is ending, but I can say that I have no current plans for another Galdr release right now. I will continue playing in Ancalagon and doing session work for Vanagandr. 

https://realmofgaldr.bandcamp.com/