Morten Veland (Sirenia, Mortemia) - Interview

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Published on Thursday, 03 February 2022 22:42

Probably there's not a single fan of symphonic or gothic metal out there who doesn't know the name Morten Veland. The Norwegian composer, songwriter, and producer, is best known as the mastermind of the gothic/symphonic masters Sirenia. He was one of the founding members of gothic metal pioneers Tristania. The last year, probably due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was a very fruitful one for Morten. He released with Sirenia a new fantastic album Riddles, Ruins & Revelations via Napalm Records, he also brought back from dormancy his solo-project Mortemia. Mortemia released the well-acclaimed debut album Misere Mortem in 2010, and now seven new singles since May 2021. Each new Mortemia single comes with a different well-acclaimed frontwoman. Morten presented collaborations with Madeleine Liljestam, Marcela Bovio, Alessia Scoletti, Liv Kristine, Melissa Bonny, Brittney Slayes, and Maja Shining. The series of new songs are a part of The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions, and are released through Morten Veland's new record label, called Veland Music, for now just as a digital download. The new songs are different from what we heard on the debut album. They are more melodic, and female vocals are used instead of symphonic choirs. The prolific artist Morten is one of those composers who never repeat their previous work, even though he stays loyal to the trademark. He's an innovative musician, trying to bring forth fresh ideas, and always captivating melodies. If you are a fan of Morten Veland, Sirenia or Mortemia, or symphonic/gothic metal in general, you need to read this in-depth interview. Morten revealed many background things about all of his music endeavours, plans for the future, and yet much more.

Interview with: Morten Veland
Conducted by: Tomaz
Edited by: Jerneja

Tomaz: Hi Morten. It's nice to see that you are returning with Mortemia after 11 years since the album Misere Mortem was released. How does it feel to be back?
Morten: It feels great, you know. It has been 11 years and the main reason for that is that I've been so busy with Sirenia, and I couldn't find the time to start working on a new Mortemia project. When the pandemics broke out, all the tours were cancelled, and all that, and all of the sudden, I had a lot of extra time. We also just released a new album with Sirenia, and I thought it was perfect timing to start working on Mortemia again.

Tomaz: Judging from the title under which the new songs are released - The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions - I guess it's pretty obvious that the songs are connected with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Morten: Yeah, exactly. The whole reason, more or less, that I got the time and opportunity to do this made me name this project that way, The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions. Still, the pandemic is here, it should be over already, but most countries are struggling with the contamination. And you know, also in those countries where we thought that the situation is under control, it's getting worse, even in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. It doesn't seem to stop this thing, and god knows how long we will have to struggle with this. I hope that soon, already this year will be a lot better for everyone. I hope that it will be possible to tour a lot more again, but right now there are a lot of problems of crossing borders, there are quarantines, all kinds of testing. Right now, it's very complicated to make long tours, especially if you pass a lot of countries.

Tomaz: The new Mortemia stuff is pretty different from the Mortemia in 2010. One of the main differences is that you substitute the symphonic choirs with female vocals. How come you made this change?
Morten: A long time has passed since Mortemia's debut album Misere Mortem. When I started thinking about another album for Mortemia, about what I would like to do, you know about the choirs and all that. I used to record the choirs in France, and when I thought about it, about the travelling and such stuff, it could just become too complicated during the pandemic. So I come up with the idea of inviting a different singer for each song. This way the singers could record the vocals in studios in their home town, so they don't have to travel, and I don't have to travel. It seemed like an interesting project and the perfect timing to do a project like this. Due to the pandemic, all the singers and musicians are mostly at home because there are not many opportunities to go on tour. Thus, many singers are available, and so far, it's going really well. I enjoy this project, and it's very exciting to work together with all these fantastic singers that I listen to and respect. It's also a huge privilege to have onboard all these singers that I really enjoy, and it's a lot of fun working together on this project. I'm happy that I decided to go for a concept like this.

Tomaz: You chose a different concept of releasing and presenting the songs. When I first heard about you being back with Mortemia, I thought that this would be an album released, for example, by a label like Napalm Records, like with Sirenia, but you are doing, for now, everything on your own. How come you choose this way of promotion and presentation?
Morten: I wanted to try something new and different this time. Also, the timing for that seemed right because I have the time to do these things right now. Under normal circumstances, I would be so busy with Sirenia and touring, and with all that kind of things that come along, that I wouldn't have any time for all of this. I also think that in the last 11 years so many things have changed, especially online. With all of the now available digital platforms, it's much easier to reach out to your fans. Most of the listening goes through the streaming these days. 90% of people who listen to the music do it digitally, so it's possible to do it that way. Of course, for me, this is like a test project, and it takes a lot of time reaching out to all of the fans, compared to if I chose to work with a label. It would also be much easier working with a label that often has the channels that help with the promotion and reaching out to the fans much faster. That was something I was well aware of before I started, but anyway, it's interesting, at least, to try it this way. I decided to do this for a year or two and then see how far I would come. I've been working with labels since 1996. It has been more than 25 years, and it's pretty much everything that I know. I thought that it would be interesting to try this new way of promotion with Mortemia, while with Sirenia, I'm still working with Napalm Records. It makes sense to do this test project with my side project. With Sirenia is different, we have this course, it's like machinery moving forward, so I don't think it'll be good to do something like this with Sirenia, but for Mortemia, it kind of makes sense.

Tomaz: Do you plan to release it in physical format also, or have you decided to go only with digital?
Morten: In the beginning, I thought to release it only digitally, but so many people have been asking me about the CD or vinyl. Now I'm seriously considering releasing some CDs to make The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions available for everybody who might be interested in having a physical copy as well.

Tomaz: So there are still more songs to come?
Morten: Yeah, the plan is to make around 10 or 12 songs for this project. I'm half of the way regarding the project, so there will be a little bit more of it.

Tomaz: In the beginning, I thought that it would be just an EP, with five or six songs on it. I'm glad that this will be a full-length in the end. Now, please tell me more about the process, how did you choose the singers?
Morten: When I started writing the songs and composing the melodies, I was always trying to imagine which singer would fit this or that song. You know, I have so many friends, who are great singers, then there are singers I've met on tours or even touring together through all these years, and so on. I also discovered a lot of new very promising singers. So, I had a lot of them already in the back of my mind. In the metal scene today, there are so many fantastic singers to choose from. When I started with metal music in the 90s, there were only a few female singers, so it was a totally different landscape. Today there are so many female singers wanting a career in metal music, which is fantastic because we need this kind of diversity.

Tomaz: You started the new Mortemia project with Madeleine Liljestam of Eleine, then continued with Marcela Bovio (MaYaN), Alessia Scolletti (Temperance), Liv Kristine, Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum), Brittney Slayes (Unleash The Archers), and Maja Shining (Forever Still). Is any of them your favourite one, and is there any song more important to you than others?
Morten: I like all the singers and all of the songs. Each singer has her own character, own sound and qualities. I think that it's not possible to compare them because they are all unique and all of them are amazing singers in their own way. I can't pick up any favourite song or something like that, and I think all the singers did a fantastic job. I feel really happy about how it turned out so far. I don't listen to my music too much because I spend so much time working on it, composing the stuff, and by the time it's finished, I'm pretty much over-fed with it. This project is a bit different because each song involves a different person. So it's fun, even after the songs are complete, to listen back to them when I have time to enjoy some music.

Tomaz: So how much different is working on Mortemia or Sirenia songs?
Morten: It's very different. Even though I'm working for both in the same studio. With Sirenia, I'm always used to working together with the singer in the studio and during the recordings. We normally do demo recordings also; they are like pre-production, before we do the real recordings, you know, just to check if everything is working out as we were planning if we need to do some changes and similar things. That's what I'm used to doing with Sirenia, but with Mortemia, I'm just sending away the lyrics and melodies to the singers, and they record the vocals on their own, so I'm not able to be a part of that process. It's really exciting when they send me the files. I open it up, listen to how it turned out and put it into the project. Working on Mortemia is very exciting. Of course, all of them are experienced and professional singers, and they know the drill, how things should get done; and I know the files that they will send me will be great stuff. I would say that those are the two essential differences. Musically Mortemia has, of course, more of my extreme vocals than Sirenia. In Sirenia, the extreme vocals were used more like a supplement in three or four songs on an album, while with Mortemia, there is pretty much a 50/50 split between my extreme vocals and guest female singers. Generally, Mortemia is a little bit darker and harder.

Tomaz: As you mentioned your extreme vocals, I noticed a small change. On your debut, those were closer to death metal while now to black metal.
Morten: Yeah, that might be. My voice is changing through the years, and I try to sound a little bit different on every album. For the songs that I've made so far, it kind of made sense to do them that way. In some songs that are coming later, I will use a deeper register, but still, it depends on each song, how it's built up, and I just need to go on with my feeling what kind of vocals a certain song needs. It's not something that I plan carefully but comes naturally, you know.

Tomaz: Were all of the singers you asked for this collaboration immediately for it, or was there someone who turned you down?
Morten: There have been a few that have turned me down. Some didn't have time; some bands were fortunate enough to be touring even in these times, some were busy with other stuff, and so on. Luckily most of the singers I've been talking to were ok to join me in this project.

Tomaz: Besides those we already heard, can you reveal who will be guest singers on forthcoming Mortemia songs?
Morten: That's a secret, and I try to keep it this way. I always announce the singer one week before the song comes out, so I can't reveal any new names until one week before the release date. It is a part of the plan that I set up for this project. It's good this way, and fans have something to look forward to.

Tomaz: You like some suspense, haha. Tell me now about the lyrics. I guess that you are the one who wrote them.
Morten: Yes, I wrote them, and my lyrics are generally quite dark and definitely on this album are some of the darkest stuff I've ever written. Probably it has a lot to do with the situation that we are in, it's a very strange situation with all this pandemic thing. I don't think that anybody of us has expected ever to be in a situation like this. At this point, people are a bit more relaxed about the whole thing, but in the beginning, people were really sceptical and scared. We didn't know how serious this was going to be. It has been quite bad so far, and many people lost their lives during this pandemic. I remember that as soon as the pandemic broke out here in Norway, I saw people going to the supermarket to buy the face masks for the first time, and they were shopping like crazy those medical cans and toilet paper, haha. It was so weird and absurd, and this whole thing has inspired me to write the lyrics this way. I like to compose dark music, and when I write the lyrics they must also fit the atmosphere of the music. It's a natural way for me to go in this direction. The biggest challenge these days, you know, is to come up with new subjects to write about because, at this point, I've written so many songs that it's getting harder and harder to find new things to write about.

Tomaz: Yes, I understand, but still, you are very good at it, not only with Mortemia, Sirenia as well. Now about the cover artwork you use for the new Mortemia songs, The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions, it's very symbolic, and I guess it's connected with the things you've talked about before. Who designed it?
Morten: The guy who designed it is Gyula Havancsák, with whom I've been working for many years for Sirenia. He designed the last four covers for Sirenia. It was pretty much the same procedure as every time we make a cover art together. Normally, I have some basic ideas for what I'm looking for, you know, I present my ideas to him and he starts working on it. He adds his personal touch to everything, some new ideas, etc. We start building from there, discuss which direction to continue, and so on. In the end, he always comes up with an artwork that we really love. I have great cooperation with this guy. We are working together for about eight or nine years now, and I'm sure that we'll continue working together. He is very professional and good at what he's doing, and he really understands what we are looking to get from the artwork. You can't go wrong with him - he's a genius.

Tomaz: In 2010, you said that Mortemia could do live shows. Anything new to say in this regard? Of course, if the situation with the pandemic will allow it?
Morten: It's hard to say. I don't have any plans for that. I think that it would depend on several things. First and foremost, it depends on how busy I'll be with Sirenia, which is, of course, my main band and the priority. It depends also on how big of interest will be there for Mortemia. To tour with this project, I need a certain amount of followers, to see if it's worth doing it, and it would be impossible to bring on stage all of the singers. I could take one or two singers to make it possible, but we'll see. I don't have any big plans for that right now. Mortemia is meant more like a studio project, but yeah, we'll see what the future brings. If in one year Mortemia becomes something big, and if there's a big enough interest in it, I'll definitely consider doing some shows as well.

Tomaz: On the other hand, you did hundreds of shows and tours with Sirenia. Tell me, do you prefer to play in clubs or at some big festivals?
Morten: Actually, I love both. These are two very different things. Playing at a big festival is an amazing experience, with a huge crowd and all that, but in small clubs, you get more contact with the audience. If you play in a small club, and if it's completely full, let's say with 300 or 400 people, you get the audience really close to you, you get the eye contact, and it's very intense, very special. I love both things because both experiences are fantastic in their own unique way.

Tomaz: Last year you released with Sirenia the amazing album Riddles, Ruins & Revelations. How are you satisfied with it now, after almost a year since its release?
Morten: I think that it turned out a great record. When we release a new album, we usually go on tour to promote it. This time it feels strange because we have a new album, but we can't go on tour. It's quite strange and weird. I hope that this year, or sooner or later, it'll be possible to go on tour and support this album. We have been looking to tour around Europe in the springtime, but we'll have to see how everything will develop. I think that Riddles, Ruins & Revelations is a good album, but you know, always when you release a new album, it's the best that you could have done then and there. Time then goes by, and you start to think you could have done something a little bit different, but I guess that's a constant change because you are always developing, always looking for the future, learning new things in terms of music. That's more or less the same thing that I felt for every album. When you release it, you are as happy as you can be, but later on, you think of things, that maybe could be done differently.

Tomaz: For me, it's an amazing album - and, because of the use of many electronic samples, it's another example that you don't want to be repetitive, and you try to experiment.
Morten: That's always the goal. With Sirenia, I try to give the listeners with each album something new. I never wanted the two albums to sound the same. I always want to move on and have something new and fresh, but also at the same time, I try not to go too far away from our origin or our basic musical concept. I still want people to hear that this is a new Sirenia album, but still with something new and fresh on each new album.

Tomaz: The last Sirenia album, Riddles, Ruins & Revelations, has a great cover of the Desireless hit from the 80s "Voyage Voyage". How did you come up with this idea to cover this specific song?
Morten: Haha, it was because I love the song since I heard it for the first time when I was just a little kid. I heard it on the radio; I think it was in 1985 when the song was released. This song became a huge hit here in Norway, just like all over Europe. It is a pop song, but I found something really melancholic about it, and I love it ever since. It is the song we were playing a lot on the tour bus, at parties and all that. At some point, I said to the band that I wanted to do a cover version of it. I don't think that they thought that I was serious about it, that I was just joking or something. Yeah, nevertheless, I started working on this version. When I had all of the arrangements for all the instruments, I really liked it, you know. I presented it to the band, and they liked it as well. In the beginning, we weren't really sure about using it for something. When Emmanuelle came to Norway to record the vocals for the new album, she also recorded them for "Voyage Voyage", and when we got them on it, everybody just loved the song. So we decided to put it on the album as a bonus track. It was also one of the songs we released as a single - the second one from the new album, I think. We were expecting that the fans would hate it because usually when a metal band does a cover of a pop song, it doesn't go down so well with most of the metal fans. But the majority of it was overwhelming, and a lot of people I've been talking to told me how much they love this cover. It's really surprising. Personally, I also love it because I'm very open-minded when it comes to music, but I wasn't expecting that so many would like our choice to make a cover of "Voyage Voyage". It was a super fun thing to do, I love how it turned out, and we will probably play this song live as well.

Tomaz: I agree with you, and you should play it live. This year is Sirenia debut album, At Sixes And Sevens, 20th anniversary. Do you plan to do something special on this occasion?
Morten: Yeah, and 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the band since I formed Sirenia in 2001. We had some plans last year, we wanted to do something special, but then the Covid pandemic came and put everything on hold. I hope this year we will have some opportunities, and if so, we will do something special.

Tomaz: Have you already planned any tours with Sirenia for this year, if the situation will allow it?
Morten: Nothing concrete so far. We were planning it in the springtime if it'll be possible. We will start working on it right away and see if possible. The situation is changing so fast. Some months ago, a tour in March or April seemed totally possible; but in many countries, things are only moving in a negative direction, I think. Right now, we are unsure, but we will definitely try to do it. Our booking agencies will start contacting promoters, and we will see if it's even possible to put together the whole tour.

Tomaz: Maybe you'll laugh at me, but one of my favourite Sirenia albums is still Nine Destinies And A Downfall, released in 2007. I want to ask you how you look at it now and if you can tell me any backside story about it?
Morten: I'm definitely not shocked that you say this. Nine Destinies And A Downfall is for sure one of our most popular albums. I remember that making it was a lot of fun. The album is very different if compared to the first two. I felt a strong need to do something different with that album, so I had a lot of fun doing it. It made perfect sense at that time. The fans either loved it or hated it - there was nothing in between. I still really like this album; it's a very melodic one, it was also the first album where we used the seven strings guitars, and with that, we got certain extra heaviness, especially with the rhythm guitars. We thought that this was something new and exciting back at that time. Most of the stuff we recorded in Marseille (France), in Sound Suite Studio, I think. Afterwards, I went to Denmark to do the mixing at Antfarm Studios. It was the first time I worked with Tue Madsen, which was also a fantastic experience. He's a great mixing engineer and a great guy as well. It was very interesting, and I came back to work with him on the follow-up album, The 13th Floor.

Tomaz: The new Mortemia song "Decadence Deepens Within", which features guest singer Liv Kristine, reminded me a little bit of that album...
Morten: I guess it's a coincidence. To me personally, it has more of a 90s vibe. It reminds me of a really old-school gothic metal for some reason. Maybe it has to do with that a little bit because of Liv Kristine's vocals. I remember her pretty well from the early days of Theatre Of Tragedy. But I felt that vibe even before when I was composing it, and I thought it would be perfect for Liv Kristine. So I had to check if she would be interested in singing this song because this would be a perfect match. I really felt those 90s vibes there, ok, maybe it was just me. On Nine Destinies And A Downfall album, there was not so much growling as it's in "Decadence Deepens Within". The thing about the growling vocals was also one of the reactions from the fans when we released Nine Destinies. Nevertheless, it's still to this day, one of our most popular albums, and songs like "The Other Side" and "My Mind's Eye" are our hit songs, so to say, and we always play them at our concerts. The fans love it when we play those songs. Nine Destinies And A Downfall is an album that I'm really proud of and happy that I made it.

Tomaz: It was the only Sirenia's album with Monika Pedersen singing. Are you still in contact with her?
Morten: Hmm, no. I haven't heard from her for a very long time actually.

Tomaz: Have you ever felt sorry leaving Tristania back then in 2001?
Morten: I was kicked out of Tristania, so I didn't leave willingly. I never had a choice, all of a sudden, I was out of the band. At that moment, I thought that my whole world was falling apart, more or less. Music was everything to me, and I was one of the founders of Tristania, so for one moment, I thought that everything was over, but of course, I never really thought of giving up on music. For me and from there on, it was only to look forward and form a new band up and run it as soon as possible. It only took a few months, and then I had a new line-up together. Soon we started writing songs for Sirenia, and I wiped the dust off my shoulders. I was looking forward and continued doing what I love, working hard on the music.

Tomaz: Before we end this interview, tell me, who is Morten in his free time when you don't work with music? What everything besides music enthuses you?
Morten: Even in my free time, I still spend a lot of my time with music, whether it is just sitting in my living room and listening to music. I like to go out to the club and see a concert. Most of my friends here in Norway are musicians or people who are very interested in music. There's always a lot of talking about music and such stuff. I also enjoy nature a lot, taking walks in the forest or going on a mountain. When I was younger, I used to go on hunting as well. I don't have time for that anymore. Music is such a big part of my life. I don't have really much going on besides music.

Tomaz: Since you mentioned listening to music a lot, do you have any recommendations - some new stuff you've been listening to lately?
Morten: That's a good question, and often when somebody asks me this, I get my mind blocked, and I don't remember the names of what I have been listening to lately. Ok, right now I'm rediscovering old music and bands like Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple and even Kiss. When I was younger, I was listening to Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, AC/DC, and all that kind of stuff a lot, but I was never a big Kiss fan. Lately, I was, for the first time, started to enjoy Kiss actually. I've been also listening to Five Finger Death Punch a bit. Every now and then I bump into some cool stuff on Spotify's metal playlists, which I find as a very nice place for discovering new bands.

Tomaz: On some biographies of you, I saw that your major influences were Guns N' Roses, Metallica, The Sisters Of Mercy, Fields Of The Nephilim,... But I'm wondering which band or artist influenced you to the point that you started composing gothic and symphonic metal?
Morten: You've mentioned Guns N' Roses, but that was at the very beginning of my career. I started playing in 1992 when I also formed my first band. At that time, we were really inspired by bands like Guns N' Roses or AC/DC, by rock'n'roll, so to say. Then we started listening to a lot of Metallica, and also our music turned away from rock'n'roll. After that, I started listening and following the gothic scene from the UK, the bands like The Sisters Of Mercy, Fields Of The Nephilim, and that kind of stuff, therefore my music turned a bit darker. Soon after that, I discovered Paradise Lost, which was probably the first band I heard that had both the growling and female voice on the Gothic album. Back then, I was also listening to Tiamat, My Dying Bride, my friends Theatre Of Tragedy, and those were the bands that inspired me the most in the beginning. We formed Tristania in 1995, and already back then, we had this symphonic metal direction with a female voice. We were playing this kind of music quite early.

Tomaz: Ok, Morten, thank you very much for taking the time to answer such an in-depth interview. What would you like to say to your fans and our readers in the end?
Morten: I would like to say cheers to our fans in Slovenia. To stay safe and take care of yourselves. I really hope to see you on tour soon. Hopefully, this pandemic shit will be over soon, so we can all get back to our lives again. It has been two years of this shit, and this is too much.

Mortemia links: Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp
Sirenia links: Official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Bandcamp

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