This
doom rock band from Copenhagen is well known amongst worshippers of
retro styled hard music. They have remarkable vintage sound,
memorable vocals and songs choruses. Besides that Demon Head debut
full-length “Ride the Wilderness” has the striking artwork!
There
was not much news from the band since the album was released in 2015
alongside a split-record with their country mates Alucarda, so I’ve
took the bold decision to get in touch with someone at Demon Head.
Their drummer Jeppe Wittus found some time to answer questions with
some sudden help from Marcus.
Hi
Jeppe! How are you? What's new in Demon Head camp?
Hey
Aleks! Thanks for getting in touch!
Everything’s
great in the Demon Lair. Copenhagen is starting to get a touch of
spring and the sun is coming out, which means you can ignore that and
hide out in the rehearsal cave, making your ears bleed from
exhaustion. Then we're getting ready for a tour through Scandinavia
this summer. Good times…
Your
latest record is still the split with your mates Alucarda released by
Kontrafon Records in autumn 2015. Do you already have new songs for
the second full-length album?
Yes!
A great co-operation I think. Alucarda has a massive sound and we are
very happy with that split. We spend the first couple of months of
2016, in a cabin in the woods, recording a whole bunch of songs for
the next album. And we actually completed it in April, so new Demon
Head adventures are about to unfold in the nearest future. We're
currently trying to find a label to work with for the release.
Photo by Alex Sjöberg
Some
people still label Demon Head as a doom metal band; does this
definition make any sense for you?
Well,
it does make in some way if you draw parallels to what doom rock or
metal was, back when bands like Pentagram started out, and Pentagram
is no doubt a great source of inspiration.
The
thing with music, is that people interpret it very differently, and
if our music gives people a feeling of doomsday approaching, that’s
just great. In lack of vocabulary describing the music ourselves, we
just call it HEAVY THUNDER at the moment. Make of it what you will.
What
are your main hard rock and doom metal influences? Who did you like
to become when you were in school?
When
I was in school I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix or Ray Manzarek, but then
I realized that couldn’t play either guitar or the organ. Then I
wanted to be John Bonham… That didn’t work out either haha…
Marcus:
New and old, metal, rock and blues. The Doors, Black Sabbath,
Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, NWOBHM, punk from the Stooges to
Discharge, Neil Young, Janis Joplin, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, MC5,
Girlschool, Dust, Cirith Ungol, Bathory, Son House, Rolling Stones.
Guess that's not all hard rock and doom metal, but you get the idea.
Lots of good newer bands too: Danava, Witch, Night Viper, Antichrist,
Korp, Electric Wizard, King Dude.
How
long did you argue with the guys when you fight for the rock and doom
balance in “Ride the Wilderness”?
In
the process of writing, I don’t think we’ve ever argued about if
a song was more one genre than another. It’s more important that
the songs bring out a feeling that we can relate to. We usually start
out with a riff, and jam with it for a while, until it ends up a
whole lot different from what it was in the beginning. Sometimes they
end up slow and boring, sometimes fast and annoying.
Can't
avoid the question about artwork of your debut album “Ride the
Wilderness”, how and why did you choose this one?
We
all share an appreciation of nature and beautiful scenery, and
photography more than graphics. Birk took this picture in Ireland
(West Cork). And amongst a bunch of photos, this one just seemed
perfect. Things don’t always need to look or sound sinister to
actually be so, and those mountains looks like a wilderness you want
to ride your bike through.
What
level of sound did you want to reach on the album? Why did you choose
this lo-fi sound?
Well,
initially we wanted to reach a sound level of the sun imploding and
the world freezing over, leaving humanity to only keep warm from the
heat of amplifiers turned to 11. But seeing as we couldn’t get our
hands on the technology, and that most amps only go to 10, we
resolved to recording on an old 16-track reel tape recorder that Birk
and Thor has.
Tape
recorders bring out a warmth that digital recordings can’t really
do in the same way, so the way that Ride The Wilderness sound, is a
result of us recording and mixing everything ourselves, on this
wonderful machine.
Photo by Alex Sjöberg
Jeppe,
how did you get in the band?
The
other guys had been jamming and writing for a while, with Birk on the
drums, who also plays the drums in Øresund Space Collective.
We
have all been playing together in other bands earlier, so we know
each other quite well, and at some point they asked me to come a
rehearsal. Then we just kept going with that.
Oh,
and one more standard questions – why did you name the band just
Demon Head? Sounds bloody old school indeed.
Marcus:
We were discussing back and forth for some time, half crazed after
spring's festivals some years ago – after seeing a myriad of old
and new bands play, and we really wanted to play some heavy rock that
was about loud, sinister music and wild live energy. So in an old
auto-camper we were throwing back and forth names for this project. I
remember that LSDemon and Demonlord 3000 were on the table... And
eventually someone came up with Demon Head. Which fits the lyrical
universe perfectly, and sounded like someone who could've been on a
poster with Diamond Head or Iron Maiden.
What
does the band give to you and how much of time and money do you spend
into it every month?
Playing
with Demon Head does a lot of things. For instance, it cures
hangovers! And personally I get a lot of anger and frustration of
humanity, out of my system when we play. Then you don’t need to be
angry and kill people in your every day life. We all put a lot of
time and energy into this band, as we do everything ourselves, with a
lot of help from our friends off course. But it makes perfect sense
to spend this energy, since we all kind of love doing it!
Your
bandmate Ferreira Larsen plays in Alucarda mixing doom rock with
punk, how do you like this idea? Don't you want to add more anarchy
in Demon Head sound?
Marcus:
Actually Jeppe plays drums for Alucarda on the split. A very good job
indeed! We like to think our approach is punk in general – doing it
ourselves, taking chances, valuing adventure over money.
Jeppe:
I think Alucarda is fucking brilliant, and a gives new approach to
rock music. In terms of Demon Head and anarchy, I think the strength
of the music is in the details of all the layers, more than the
soundwall itself, but there is a lot of individual anarchy going on
individually when we play live, things get wild!
Let's
sum it up - what's the message of Demon Head?
It’s
simple… RIDE THE WILDERNESS!
Words by Aleks Evdokimov and Demon Head
Links:
