Backstage Pass - Hyperborean - Interview

ATP

Do you have a title for the upcoming cd?

HYPERBOREAN

The title of the album is Mythos of the Great Pestilence. A theme that runs through part of the album is centered on the Black Death plague and that is where the name comes from. Central to that theme is also how man reacted to it. Man who did not know what it was or why it came, the mythos that was built around it whether it was of a religious origin as a punishment from god, or if it had a worldly explanation like in the Miasma theory of fowl and poisonous air from the east. But the chaos that ensued is interesting and worth exploring.

ATP

Is this your first CD and if not, how will this one be different from the others?

HYPERBOREAN

This is our second album. We aren´t entirely pleased with our debut so we really focused on making this new album as good as we possibly could. And we feel that we have surpassed our debut in every way possible. The song are more mature, more well written and more complex and our performances in the studio are better as well and the sound turned out as we wanted it to so we are very pleased with the improvements we have made.

ATP

Have you written all the songs or will you be writing them as you record?

HYPERBOREAN

I wrote the music at home and then arranged the songs together with Magnus who wrote all the lyrics. Everything was then structured and ready well before we entered the studio. We can´t really afford to rent a studio and sit and write there, we need to be ready before.

ATP

Walk us thru the process of writing your music?

HYPERBOREAN

I start with some idea or a couple of riffs that could be part of a song. After that I record them in my home studio and send them to Magnus. Then we go from there to try and arrange and construct a demo version of an entire song. It’s a lot of trial and error in some songs; others flow more and come together naturally by themselves.

ATP

Where will you be recording and why?

HYPERBOREAN

The album was recorded at three different locations. Fredrik Widigs recorded the drums in his drum studio in Stockholm. I recorded the guitars and the Bass in my studio at home. Then we entered Magnus “Devo” Anderssons Endarker Studio where we re-amped the guitars, recorded the vocals and put everything together. Being able to record the guitars at home without any time pressure was a great luxury and I´m certain that it affected the end result in a very positive way. We choose Endarker as Fredrik had suggested it to us and we are very happy with the result and we would recommend that studio to anyone without hesitation.

ATP

How are you paying for your recording?

HYPERBOREAN

We don´t really have a contract with any label at the moment. We had a verbal agreement with the label who released our first album, Abyss Records, that they were going to release it but they went back on that so we had to do it, and pay for everything from our own pockets. But it wasn´t all that expensive, Endarker had very humane prices.

ATP

Will you have a producer or will you self-produce? If so, what kind of input will the producer have. If your self-producing, why?

HYPERBOREAN

Every song was finished as we entered the studio. So I guess Devo more had the role of a studio engineer. So if that’s what self-produced means then we do that because we feel comfortable in doing all that on our own. But Devo still had a great impact on the record in guiding us to the right sound for it.

ATP

Will you try to capture your "live sound" or are you going for something else?

HYPERBOREAN

We don´t play live, these days we are a studio band. So I guess we tried to capture our “studio sound” instead.

ATP

Does your record label have any input into the music you'll be recording?

HYPERBOREAN

No, we don´t have a label so that would not happen. But I doubt many labels meddle too much with metal bands, I think that is more of a pop phenomenon.

ATP

When can we expect the CD to be available?

HYPERBOREAN

We are very pleased and happy with it. We had as a goal to surpass the debut in every way and I believe that we did so.

ATP

Where will we be able to pick up a copy?

HYPERBOREAN

It´s a digital release only. You can listen to it on Spotify at https://play.spotify.com/artist/4l2pxO2OS8vRm4M1j4FgjJ Or amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Mythos-Great-Pestilence-Explicit-Hyperborean/dp/B00KJGVWUW Or get it on ITunes or listen to on our YouTube channel (hyperboreanswe)

ATP

Will you be touring to promote your CD?

HYPERBOREAN

Unfortunately not. We are just a duo, we don't have a full line-up so we can't play live.

ATP

Would rather be recording or playing live shows?

HYPERBOREAN

Recording, as we are a studio band

ATP

Anything that you'd like to say to your fans while they wait for the album to come out?

HYPERBOREAN

Thanks for this interview and helping us spread the band. And thanks to our fans for supporting us and our music.