TRIOSPHERE
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 16th July 2010.
Triosphere - Ida Haukland on vocals and bass, Marius Silver Bergesen and T. O. Byberg on guitars, and Orjan Jorgensen on drums - recently released their second album. Entitled "The Road Less Travelled", the album has garnered plenty of positive reviews.
Ida answers questions on behalf of the band...
Hi Ida, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Ida: Hi Jon! Very well, thanks! Thank you for taking an interest in us!! We could not be better now that our new album is finally out to be honest with you! The reviews so far have been amazing (thanks everyone!), and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for continuously good feedback!
How did Triosphere get together? How did you all meet?
Ida: Ørjan (our drummer) and I come from a small town way up north in Norway and have known each other since kindergarten. We started playing together in various bands in 1997 until I moved to Trondheim in 2003. There I got to know Marius (guitarist and composer) through a thrash metal project he had together with Obsidian C. from Keep of Kalessin. Marius also played in the Norwegian heavy metal band Griffin at the time, but we quickly decided that we wanted to continue working together in a band of our own, and so Triosphere was born - the late summer of 2004.
When deciding on a drummer, it was natural for me to ask Ørjan, so I called and told him about this amazing guitarist I had begun forming a band with and asked if he could come down to Trondheim to do a short demo with us. Next weekend we would begin rehearsals and after a short week we entered the local studio and recorded a 3 track-demo. This quickly caught the attention of Face Front Records, and in the summer of 2006 we entered Top Room Studio to record our debut-album “Onwards”.
Since we’d now begun playing more and more live, we decided that it was time to permanently bring in a second guitarist. Consequently, in the early fall of 2006, T.O. completed the line-up of Triosphere, and it has never changed…. Like Marius, T.O. is also from Trondheim and we had previously used him on a couple of live shows, so we knew that this was an awesome and perfect guy for the band, both musically and personally… there never was any doubt on who to pick for the final member!
Did you make a deliberate decision on what the band should sound like...or did it evolve fairly naturally into what you are today?
Ida: No, we never discussed what the band should sound like in advance. That it was going to be some kind of melodic heavy metal band was a given, since this is more or less the core in both of us… But I remember it like it was yesterday, the very first time we sat down and Marius presented more or less the finished arrangement to “Spitfire”! I knew right there and then, that this guy and the music he makes was unlike anything or anyone I had ever worked with, and I couldn't wait to get started! The chords themselves are so rich in harmony and nuances, that it’s always been really exciting to make vocal lines to fit them! From our very first writing-session everything just “clicked” and the sound has naturally been defined by the combined features of all of us as musicians.
That being said, the band has of course evolved - gotten more and more “in tune” with each other's qualities both as musicians and people if you will, but we all feel that we are indeed closer to really finding “our” sound on this new album. While “Onwards” was written and recorded fairly quickly after forming the band, we have on “The Road…” really had the time to really get to know each other's strengths and style, and THIS time discuss further what we wanted to do differently on the next album. In that way we have managed to better adjust arrangements and produce ideas that more consciously benefit from each of our “specialties”…!
We have never said something like “ok, let's make a song that sounds like this or that” though. As pompous as it may sound, we always play what's in our hearts first!
Who would you list as the main influences on both you, and on the band as a whole?
Ida: I have to say that heavy rock and heavy metal are my main influences personally. In that context I’d mention Coverdale and Dio who by themselves have “taught” me endlessly - through singing cover-songs of their songs. But, at the same time, there are many other bands and artists that have been of great importance, like most of the work of Arjen Lucassen (especially Ayreon “Into the Electric Castle”), Crimson Glory, Children of Bodom and even Emperor.
When it comes to the band as a whole though it’s really difficult to say: As far as Marius is concerned, the three most important names are Ronni Le Tekrø (TNT), Zakk Wylde and Mustaine; Ørjan is the extreme metaller in the band with important influences from Meshuggah, Mayhem and, at the same time, a whole lot of other crazy stuff up right through to eastern European folk-music….., and finally T.O. loves prog like Focus, Symphony X, Dream Theater and Opeth.
Despite very different personalities and musical taste, we all love classic heavy metal with good melodies, and to just play together! It might sound cheesy but I would say that the main influence on the band as a whole is actually each other!
Which came first for you personally; the bass playing or the singing?
Ida: Ha! Ha! Oh, the bass came first! I started playing guitar when I was about 16 and we rehearsed in a basement with a lot of other bands. One day, a couple of guys from the band that rehearsed next to our room came and asked me if I would be interested in taking the position as bass player in their band? I had already thought of learning to play the bass too, so I accepted without hesitation, and from that point on, I quickly fell in love with the instrument and that position in the band.
When it comes to the singing, I did some backing-vocals in the various bands I was playing in for a while, but when I joined an 80’s hard rock covers-band as a lead singer (I was about 19 or 20 years old) it started to become more important. That’s when I really started singing and learning a couple of tricks.
You received a lot of praise for your first album “Onwards”. Did the level of interest, awards and high review marks surprise you?
Ida: Well, somewhat, because at the same time as we really felt we had delivered a good album, we had no expectations at all as to what kind of international reception we would get. There certainly was some feedback that completely blew our minds, like the JPF award for “Best Metal Album in 2009”. That was REALLY a shock! We could not believe we had even been nominated amongst the 40.000 contributions, let alone won the metal-category!
Did the positive reception of the debut make “The Road Less Travelled” a more difficult album to write? Have you had to work extra hard to try and outdo it?
Ida: Well, it certainly added an extra dimension of stress to the writing of the next album, yes! I seem to recall that it was mentioned in the first two reviews of “Onwards” actually; that this debut-album would set high expectations for the next one…., and at that time we were still just focusing on promoting “Onwards”…, Ha!Ha!
I actually think Marius’ stress-level was a bit higher than the rest of ours as he is writing all the music (mine only got quite high as I began to work on making the vocal-melodies and lyrics do their stuff!!), but we were all very conscious of what we wanted to do differently on this album and that we were able to take the time we needed to get there….. so, we did our very best to make songs the way we wanted them to be, and to make them the best they could be!
We did not, at any time I feel, try to write things just because we thought it would outdo “Onwards”, and we made no short-cuts. In consequence, we were actually very uncertain and skeptic of what the public would think of this album, so it is once again, to our tremendous joy and surprise that we see that the feedback on this has so far outdone that of “Onwards”, which is just so special! We even got 6 out of 6 in the largest music mag. in Norway, Scream Magazine!
When did you start writing the new album?
Ida: Marius had the first riffs and ideas to “The Anger And The Silent Remorse” ready in very early 2007, but I seem to recall that as a band, we didn’t really begin working on it until the fall of 2007 due to extensive administrative work within the band and promoting “Onwards”.
We then did our first live performances of the first “drawings” to “Driven” and “The Anger...” in early 2008!
How does the writing work? Is there one main contributor or are the songs a band effort? Talk us through the construction of a typical track...
Ida: Well, as I’ve already mentioned, in essence, Marius writes all the music and I do all the vocal melodies and lyrics…
Marius is continuously working with ideas and arrangements, and when he’s got a general outline he presents it at rehearsal. Sometimes, when he presents the idea, we just try to “wing it” to see what all our immediate interpretation and suggestions do to the idea, and at other times Marius walks Ørjan through the different parts so that we have a more tidy percussive approach before the rest of us join in. In essence, Marius makes the music (i.e. riffs and arrangements), but the result as such is a band effort!
The vocal-melodies and lyrics are a more “private” affair, I would say. I constantly “listen” for ideas during rehearsal of new stuff (this often leads to the guys asking if I‘m alright as I get this very distant look while we‘re playing… Ha! Ha!) , but, as soon as we’ve done the first pre-productions I’ve begun to record some ideas, and listen to the tracks on mp3’s at the same time as I’m figuring out lyrics. I always discuss my ideas with Marius and figure out parts that need change, but in general he trusts my judgment and everybody has the chance to make comments and suggest changes after that!
Is there a theme to the lyrics on the new album, or are they standalone tracks?
Ida: Well, the album title represents various themes connected to changes, and all of the lyrics reflect one or several of these ideas but strictly they all have their own personality. In essence, “The Road Less Travelled” is about daring to choose a path that, even though it might be unconventional or more challenging, nevertheless leads you towards your goal and ambitions. In its most concrete form, it can be to change direction in your life, like moving away from, or towards something, and daring to follow your heart. But, in a more abstract sense, it can be to change a defining character within yourself that perhaps keeps getting in the way of progress, or to begin realising the consequences of your actions and make the necessary changes accordingly.
In a global sense, it can talk about mankind possibly shedding itself of its arrogance and narcissism, definitely daring to walk a road less travelled towards a more harmonic world. In a more private sense, (as the majority of the lyrics are focused towards) the road less travelled will reveal itself if you keep a sense of reality in your life and see all of the possibilities and opportunities that we are given throughout a year! Only you can decide which ones to follow and which ones to let pass by!
Did you use any special techniques or instruments in the studio to get your sound?
Ida: The guys have been searching, ever since we started the band 5 years ago, for the right gear, so they were VERY conscious on what equipment they used! They used several different guitars, amps, effect pedals, cabinets, mic’s etc etc.. The only “trick” that's used is on the bass; Tommy Hansen, who mixed the album, actually re-amped one of the bass line signals through a Satriani guitar-amp to get a nasty distortion, which he then blended in with the amp-signal on some parts, to get a more raw sound, and I love that, Ha! Ha!
All in all, though, we didn’t use any special techniques or gear to get the sound we have on the album.., we just recorded with the gear and ability we have and got it mixed by one of melodic metal's most experienced and knowledgeable engineers! Well, that and a brutal amount of patience during the recordings, Ha! Ha!
How does “The Road Less Travelled” compare in terms of style and quality to your first release?
Ida: There are three answers to that question:Firstly, we were still a very “young” band when we recorded “Onwards” whereas on “The Road…” we have really have taken the time to get to know each others strengths. In that way, we have been more able and conscious about making arrangements and solutions that to a greater extent release the potential in each of the band members and creates a more whole sound.
Secondly, On “Onwards”, it’s was more or less a pedal to the metal from beginning to end (which we of course think is awesome) and we knew straight after recording it that we wanted to do something differently on the next one. “The Road…” is a lot more dynamic both in intensity and tempo. I always like to point to “Marionette” here; both the 1st verse and the solo-section represent a whole new dynamic and fragile dimension in Triosphere, and I feel that this element goes for the vocals too.
Then, finally, the mix represents maybe the greatest difference. We wanted to mix the album at Tommy Hansen’s Jailhouse Studio as we’ve heard quite a few albums he’s mixed and produced there and we believed that he was the right guy for the material we now had. He’s really given the album a more open and organic sound and the songs just seem to “breathe” more! He’s also a magician as far as mixing vocals go, so, since this album is a lot more vocal-based, this was also an important factor!
How would you actually describe the Triosphere sound to somebody who foolishly hadn’t heard you before?
Ida: He! He! Well, I usually say melodic heavy metal to keep it simple, but as both the reviews and our own opinion seems to suggest, it’s really a blend of classic hard rock, heavy metal, power metal with a dash of prog., and thrash. Quite a cocktail, eh? We are all influenced by very different things as I mentioned earlier, so our music naturally tries to feature some of the coolest things from various genres, at the same time as trying to give it our own twist!
Do you have any favourite moments on “The Road Less Travelled”?
Ida: Absolutely! That evening Marius and I recorded the solo for “Marionette”! We used probably just two takes (and believe you me, this guy is a perfectionist who by default would say “close but no cigar” most of the time) but, that moment was pure magic. I also think that Tommy really nailed the sound on this in the mix, so this solo section is my favourite part on the album, and a regular moment of zen!
Who did the artwork on the new album?
Ida: None other than our drummer Ørjan! Marius and I had a couple of “sit-ins” with him discussing direction and ideas, picking on details etc, and I gave him some explanations on the lyrics, just what I felt the pictures in the booklet should illustrate, and he spent a great number of hours making it all work – he’s a genius!
Do you enjoy the writing and recording process, or do you prefer being up on stage playing live?
Ida: Hmm… I really do enjoy the writing process; I do, but I must admit that I really hate the recording side of it as it’s, in essence, months of being shut inside a studio with constant time pressure and various technical problems. I absolutely love playing live above all!
What is a Triosphere live show like?
Ida: You know, the answer to that question would be a lot more interesting and correct if it came from someone in the audience really! But, I LIKE to believe that it’s a show that leaves you wanting more. Four musicians who enter the stage, give it all and deliver the goods in a entertaining way - we are definitely a “smiling” band who try our very best to get the crowd in a good mood using high and raw energy, but I feel you want to go that extra yard with us, you know?
Any plans to come and play the UK?
Ida: At this moment, we don’t have any confirmed dates for the UK, but we really hope that our next tour will include dates there! Unfortunately none of the tours we’ve done so far have had any dates in the UK except for one in Dudley with Jorn a couple of years ago. We’re always on the lookout for an opening to come over though, so as soon as the opportunity presents itself, well do our very best to make it happen!
Triosphere have shared the stage with some BIG bands over the years. Any favourite shows; and anyone you’d still love to tour with?
Ida: Oooh... Well, if I were to mention specific shows at first, I know all of the guys would mention the show at Elyseè Montmartre, Paris, with W.A.S.P. in 2007 as one of the most special nights we’ve had, and we all agree that the gig at Fryshuset, Stockholm with Kamelot in 2007 was fantastic, as well as the night at Sentrum Scene, Oslo with Dio in 2009 which was pure MAGIC!….. But there are two extra-special places that have had an absolutely outstanding crowd both times we've been there; Juz Live Club in Andernach, Germany (with W.A.S.P. in 2007 and Arch Enemy in 2009), and Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland (Kotipelto & Caffery in 2007 and Jorn in 2008). As far as the bands we've had the pleasure to tour with are concerned, we would love to tour yet again with all of them! We've always been very lucky to have toured with awesome artists and crew and we've had a great time with them both on and off stage! This is perhaps also why we’ve often toured and played more than once with most of the names I mentioned.
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Ida: You know, I think you've presented questions that really cover all the essentials, and I believe that I'm already testing the readers' patience with the long answers, so I don't think that there’s much more to be said for now; Sorry….Ha! Ha!
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions Ida?
Ida: Ha! Ha! I'm going to take my beloved mutt (i.e. dog) for a well-deserved run and, after that, see if I can catch an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” before I go to sleep, great excitement in other words…. Ha! Ha!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Ida: Yeah, check out our website (http://www.thetriosphere.com/) for updates on our touring plans; hopefully, get our new album “The Road Less Travelled” and please give it at least a couple of spins before you cast your judgment! It's a “layered” album and I hope from my very heart that you will enjoy it! Hope to see you all from a stage near you this fall!
Thanks for your time!
Ida: Thanks to you!!
Thanks again to Ida for her time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of “The Road Less Travelled” by clicking here.
http://www.myspace.com/triosphere
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Triosphere/58915410268
