Interview: Ohmwork
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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
Early on aged four or five I listened to Kiss cassettes my uncle gave to me and my brother. Years later, around twelve years old I picked up my first guitar and tried to learn AC/DC songs. At the same time, I got a band together. From then on music has been I integral part of my life.
I am a teacher. The other two in the band have jobs on the side too. But we somehow manage to make time for our band too.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
Be with my family, reading books, watch movies, listening to podcasts, making food, etc. Just relax and have fun. Go on a hike in the mountains is a great way to get the creativity flowing. A melody or a riff always pop up while I’m crawling my way up a mountainside.
How long has your band been around?
Ohmwork was established in 2012. Before that, I’ve been playing in different bands since the nineties.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
Originally, we were three guys influenced by many different genres. The main thing was that we all liked heavy metal - from seventies classic rock and prog via eighties and nineties trash metal to newer contemporary metal.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.
We took our band name from a GZR album (Geezer Butler’s solo project in early 2000). We thought it sounded like a really cool band name.
Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.
One of our best shows we did was at John Dee (Oslo) a few years back. We hadn’t rehearsed properly beforehand, but it all seemed to click perfectly that night. The crowd was great, great energy in the room, and the band was on fire. The worst shows were always the ones when you had too much time to kill before showtime. Too much beer and too much fun that resulted in quite a poor performance. Fortunately, this is a rarity.
Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?
John Dee is one of them. Playing at festivals are always a blast! A dream would have to be playing at Wacken!
If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?
How about Black Sabbath (w/ Dio), Pantera, and Rush? And Ohmwork! That would have been awesome.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?
Take your time, don’t rush it, wait for the right moments. That said, always forge while the iron is hot! Don’t wait around for too long. And I think it’s important to write music you like, not what you think the press or others in the music industry will like! If it’s good you will get somewhere. And remember you have to work your ass off!
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
I wished I’d worked even harder from early on! Years go by while you wait for something to happen. Do it yourself and go hard at it.
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
I think it would have to be ‘Mother City’. Maybe the first song I was really happy with the outcome. The riffs, melodies, production, arrangement, and lyrics. The first album Storm Season (2014) has got some really good tracks on it but lacks in production. The second one ShadowTech (2015) we kind of rushed through. Some good tracks but not top-notch by any means. By the time we wrote ‘Mother City’ and the album Alyssa Drone things had kind of settled.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
I really love to play ‘Mother City’, ‘Trial of the Witch’, ‘Devils Dance’, ‘The Octavius’ and ‘The Ballad of Elisa Lam’ to name a few. The song that got most requested is ‘Outside In’ – our first single released in 2013.
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
For the first and second album, we wrote most of the tracks in rehearsals or on tour. Then our bass player moved to another city. Things got more difficult, but we found our way after a while. The later years we have been sending each other ideas via Messenger, mail, etc. We meet up now and again for writing and rehearsals (and recordings and tours). It feels really good when we meet up and the creativity seems to be on a high always. It seems like we inspire each other. We take inspirations from a lot of things: artworks, movies, books, music, and life in general.
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Lyrics the listener can relate to. Music that makes them pumped up. Cool and inspirational hard rock music with a uniqueness that makes them crave for more! And we always try to wrap it all up with great artwork.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
Disagreements can be a good thing for sure. It takes three to find the best solution. We have always maintained a good relation inside the band. We respect each other highly. When there’s a disagreement it goes over rather quickly.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?
August 27th, we release our fifth album Pareidolia. Maybe it’s our most progressive to date. This time around we were driven to push the boundaries a bit such as giving more variety and contrast to the songs, experimenting with different guitar tunings, and including more acoustic guitars. And of course, leaving lots of heavy crushing riffs in the mix! We have even started working on new songs that will be released next year hopefully.
Anders L. Rasmussen Vocalist and guitarist of Ohmwork June 21