MIDNATTSOL – Interview with Birgit Öllbrunner

MIDNATTSOL… if you do not know them you should feel some embarrassment right now. They are a young band, but doing fantastic, not only on the German scene. Their official career started in 2005, when they released the first full-length material titled “Where Twilight Dwells”. A debut material containing a lot of melody and spellbinding ideas. In this year's March their second album, “Nordlys” went off and it is crushing everything on its way. I had the opportunity to speak with Birgit Öllbrunner, the band's bassist. I've learned a lot of interesting stuff… for example, why she should become a man…

Hello Birgit! MIDNATTSOL is not a band with a long scenic origin. Formed in 2002, you released a demo in 2003 and your debut in 2005. Now you attack the world with “Nordlys”. Was it difficult to begin and in what way did the deal with Napalm Records influence your work?

We actually had been very lucky. After we had recorded a demo with two songs, we did the layout and sent it to Napalm Records. At the same time we released one song on www.mp3.de, had many thousands downloads within just a few weeks and stayed on Nr.1 of the mp3 charts for a long time. We were really surprised that we already got so much positive feedback. Also Napalm Records were interested in us and offered us a deal. After that, everything went very fast. We wrote the songs for the album “Where Twilight Dwells”, went to the studio and released our debut. We are very happy with Napalm Records, as they really let us do want we want to do. They don’t try to convince us from anything, but have always supported us. So I can say that they don’t try to change us and some things are more easy if you have a record company in your back which makes all the advertisement and promotion.

Your new album differs a lot from the previous releases. A huge development and progress are audible. Can you tell us about your working on it and the most crucial changes in style and performance?

We still have many elements from our debut album “Where Twilight Dwells”, but the songs on “Nordlys” are in fact much more complex, playful and diverse. There are wonderful melodies and much more details that cannot all be heard already at the first hearing. I think we have deepened and strengthened our musical style, we all have improved over the time and everyone integrated more special features. The guitars are more melodic but also more heavy, the drums and the bass set more courses and are more pushing, the vocals are more diverse and with more volume, and the keyboards are both basis and melodic. It took us more time to harmonize all instruments and the vocals, that’s why there can be heard much more details now. On the last album each song on the CD was a song for itself, one song more heavy, the other one more melancholic and another one more folk. But on the new album all these different elements, feelings and grooves can be found within each song. Also the production of “Nordlys” is more heavy and natural. We recorded guitars and bass analogue with microphones, and what was very important to us, we recorded with a real drum set. This gives the music a much more earthy and punchy sound. All in all we have recorded in 4 different studios and three different countries to reach the sound we wanted to have, but the studio marathon was definitely worth it (laughs).

During the time when the material was being written you've been also playing in R:I:P. Was this experience helpful in working on “Nordlys”?

The sound of Midnattsol and R:I:P (which stands for Raw Intense Power) is very different and it’s not really possible to compare the two bands. Thus I would not say that it was helpful for working on “Nordlys”, but also not “not helpful”. It is just something different and I love to play both songs of Midnattsol and of R:I:P. At the moment we put R:I:P a little bit on ice, we haven’t practiced and played concerts with R:I:P since almost a year now, as everyone is too busy with other bands or his job. But we are all looking forward to the time when we will start again! R:I:P gives me the possibility to live out other styles of Metal and parts, which I wouldn’t play at Midnattsol (it is more Thrash orientated and more heavy) and vice versa.

I definitely like its sound. What was it like to work with Markus Stock at Klangschmiede E Studios and Tue Madsen, how would you describe the whole process of recording?

Thank you, nice to hear that you like the sound of “Nordlys” (laughs). Our aim was to have a warm, earthy and heavy sound, with real drums and microphoned amps. We always watch exactly what studios do Metal recordings, what bands they produce and what the sound is like. We wanted to get the best sound for recording, mixing and mastering – that’s why we chose four different studios in three different countries. All instruments and Daniels vocals of the bonus track have been recorded at Studio E by Markus Stock. It came to our notice as we heard the new Vision Bleak album and we really liked their sound. Markus records analogue and has a lot of great ideas. It was absolutely great to work with him! Carmen’s vocals have been recorded at Alex Krull’s Mastersound Studio again. We knew that Alex would do the vocal recordings very well again and that has a lot of knowledge. For mixing our drummer Chris and guitarist Daniel went to Tue Madsen’s Antfarm Studio in Denmark, who has just won the Danish Metal award and who mainly produces heavier bands (e.g. Ektomorf, Aborted, Hatesphere). We wanted the production of “Nordlys” to be more heavy and thought that Tue would be the right person for that. At the end of the day they sent us the mixed version by mail, so that the others of the band could also listen to the mixed songs and we could still tell them our wishes and ideas, which they included the next day. But they did such a good job anyway, there wasn´t much to change. This approach was very good, it doesn´t come to any bad surprises afterwards as we all could hear it before. Afterwards Daniel and our guitarist Chris went to Finnvox Studios, where Mika Jussila did the final job. The mastering gave the album a real push, more brilliance and power. Our drummer Chris accompanied the whole recordings so that always one of us kept the overview of everything. They all did a great job and “Nordlys” absolutely sounds like we have dreamed have off.

Coming back to your music, what would you describe it? Definitely, it is not a typical gothic genre representative. You are much heavier and not so predictable as typical “Goths”.

It is really amazing und funny, people describe us so differently – some call us Gothic Metal, others Folk Metal, Melodic Metal or Symphonic Metal… it seems like that, that we obviously do not really fit into a clear category. We ourselves describe our music as Nordic Folk Metal, as we think this describes our music best. It is not like that, that we use typical folk instruments like bagpipes, violins or accordion. The folkish elements are not dominant at Midnattsol, they can mainly be found within the lyrics and at some instrumental parts. Mythology and nature are main topics of the lyrics. The music itself can mainly be described as Metal with heavy riffs and wonderful and atmospheric melodies. But for sure the main focus at this description is on the word “Metal” (laughs). But I’m also fine with it when someone wants to call it differently, it doesn’t make a difference anyway – the most important thing for us is, that we can play Metal, the music that we like.

When I heard “Where Twilight Dwells” for the first time, I fell in love immediately with it. The same was with “Nordlys” now. How on earth do you do it, that each song that you record is so fantastic? Great rhythmic sections, cool and spellbinding melodies and the adequate dose of heaviness… have you got a “How to…” metal book, or did you sign a deal with a demon?

(laughs) That’s funny and something I have never heard before. I really don’t know, but thank you for your compliment! With such a metal book it would probably be easier and faster, but nor a book or the devil do help us. Maybe it is because we really take us time for each song and we only use parts, riffs or songs that really all of us like. This means that an idea has to be accepted by 6 people – if it is not, it will not be used. We are a very democratic band, which makes the song writing process and everything else lasting longer and sometimes more difficult, but at the and really all of us like the song and stand a 100% behind the music. Maybe this is what can be felt, that we all have fun with it and that there is not one “master” who does everything and the others have to accept. We also work very intensively on a song, so that every song we write will be on the album. It is not like a mass production where you write 40 songs and then choose 10 out of them for an album, how it is often done nowadays. In my opinion it is better to spend all your energy and passion into one song and work on it.

MIDNATTSOL is part Norwegian, part German. But the music content is dominated by the Nordic motifs. Carmen is the main lyric-writer in your ranks, but do you sometimes provide some of your own ideas? What does a song writing process look like when it comes to your team?

It is usually like that, that we write the songs together in our rehearsal room and this is where a songs usually starts. When someone gets an idea or a melody we just start to improvise, create a song, change it again,…until we all like it. The music just expresses our feelings then, it just flows out of us and everyone has the possibility to involve his ideas, however I have to say that many of the melody ideas come from our guitarist Daniel Droste. It is wonderful to play the music together that we all like and to see how many different ideas become a song. We also discuss about how the song could be structured, which tone would sound better, etc. Most of the times it is like that, that the song (instruments and vocal lines) is first finished and that Carmen writes the lyrics afterwards, as parts of the song can change until the end. Afterwards we also talk about the lyrics internally.

Since we are still with the band-topic… probably you have heard the question hundreds of times, but is it difficult to be a girl in an almost male-squad?

For me it isn’t difficult at all, as I have always played with male members in a band, also before Midnattsol. I often heard the sentence from friends “Birgit, you should have become a man” and I always had been accepted like one of them, I have always been part of the team without feeling a different treatment. I also wouldn’t like to be treated differently just because I’m a girl, nor in negative or positive way, be it by carrying my equipment, using the same shower or getting the same amount of beer (laughs).

Yes, but it happens very often that people start listening to some music because they find the girl-musicians very attractive. Have you had any problems of this kind? There are two ladies in the group, so I should ask Carmen the same question. And as for the second part … have you noticed which fan-group is bigger – men or women? Or you just do not bother with that?

It is true that you get more attention from the public and press when you are female, as there are still much more men than girls in the Metal scene. I have never seen a problem with this, as I myself had never thought so much about it. I’m always happy when people start listening to Heavy Metal, no matter what the reason is, also if it is just a musician which they find attractive. As long as they really like music, which they maybe would not have discovered otherwise, this is a good thing. Hey, and if the girl is pretty, but the music is bad, the person will find that out very soon. And to be honest – we girls also have a look at the men (laughs). Concerning the fan group of Midnattsol which one is bigger – that’s really difficult to say. We have fans from all different countries and musical directions, but I think the relation of men and women should be around the same, maybe some more men.

Apart from being musicians, you are also a devoted to your current occupations. You are a master of geography (environmental engineer), Carmen is a language teacher, Chris is also a teacher, both Daniels have got jobs connected with health service, and Fabian does some guitar sales. Is it difficult for you to reconcile your passions with jobs?

You are right, we are all working and it needs a lot of organisation to combine the band with our jobs. We usually plan many weeks or month in advance and you really have to count on each other that Midnattsol works. It definitely is not always easy and though many things are planned, you have to be very flexible and willing to spend most of your free time for the band. At the weekends we usually practice, write new songs or play concerts, and during the week at the evening after our jobs we do a lot of organisational things like merchandise, homepage, interviews, etc. But as Midnattsol means so much to us everyone is willing to do this. Playing music is our passion and I would never like to miss it! However I probably also wouldn’t like to make music as a full time job. As we earn our money through our jobs and are thus not dependant on earning money through the band, we can do it just because we love it and not because we have any pressure. We had the discussion in the band which way we want to go, but we all decided to make it not full-time, as we never want to get into the situation where you make music because of money. As long as we have fun, everything is all right (laughs).

You have got a very impressive musical background. Can you tell us about your adventures with metal scene and flirting with jazz? And in what way does this experience affect your performance in MIDNATTSOL?

Oh my god, you obviously really read my musical background (laughs). Well, I have been playing bass since 16 years, that’s also the time when I started to play in a band. I started listening to Heavy Metal when I was still a little kid, about 7 years old. Ozzy Osbourne was my god at that time!!! So it was clear for me on day, that I wanted to play that kind of music by myself. Just three months after I got my first bass I met some guys who were searching for a bassist. I almost couldn’t play anything, but they didn’t care, so I played in my first band then, some noisy Black Metal. Some other bands followed which ranged from Death Metal to Black Metal, Thrash Metal or Gothic Metal. The only “Not-Metal” Band where I played was the so called “Jazzband” at school, which was in fact not so much jazz and where we covered some songs. I saw this as chance to get to know new styles and it was also new for me to play music according to notes – when I play Metal I never play with written down notes, I try to keep it in my mind (which does not mean that I always do). I think this experience affects my performance at Midnattsol indirectly. It’s not like that, that I transcript what I have learned at that time, but at every band where I have played before I made new experiences, both the musical directions, live performance or organisational things. So everything what I have learned and experienced before is what I am now. If I would not have gone to the cellar at Sundays for many, many years with the band while others go to the lake for bathing in the summer, I probably would not be playing at Midnattsol today. It is usually not like that, that you start playing an instrument and then you have success, you have to work very hard for your aim and keep up. So for all the ones out there who dream of playing at a big festival – never give up, even if your practice room is in a dirty ugly and cellar!

Next year you're performing at Ragnaroek Festival. All in all, your forthcoming tour seems to be very interesting (Winter Noise, Paganfestival, etc.). Are you planning any more concerts? Maybe a North American Tour?

I’m really looking forward to those festivals, as we haven’t played there yet. We are always in contact with our booking company L!sten Up Management and also plan to play some more shows or festivals. Any new dates will be published on our homepage. So far we don’t have any plans for North America, but this can change very quickly, as we always love to play also outside of Germany and also would like to make a tour in 2009.

Thank you and I appreciate that you devoted your precious time to answer my questions. Would you like to add something, of your own, for your fans?

Thank you Tom, it was really fun to do the interview with you. And also a big thank you to all out there who support us, we are very grateful for that! I wish you a nice Christmas time and also a good start into the new year, which hopefully will be a good Metal year! Rock on!

All photos used in the interview were taken from the band's official website.
http://www.midnattsol.com
http://www.myspace.com/midnattsolfolk