SATYRICON's FROST: 'I Never Try To Copy Anyone'

Alexander Pallis and Micheal J. Coyle of Metal Temple conducted an interview with drummer Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad of Norwegian black metallers SATYRICON when the band played at Sound Control in Manchester, England on April 7. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked where he finds the inspiration to continue playing music more than twenty years since SATYRICON's inception, Frost responded: "Most of all, playing in a band that is creative and dynamic is a huge inspiration in itself, because it offers a channel to not only try to do what others have already done, but to try to find something of your own. So I search for doing what suits the band the most, and I try to grow with the band and change with the band and try to feel what the band is doing and add something to it or be part of it. Sometimes I watch those old clips of hard rock drummers of the early '70s, for instance; that has been the thing I've done for quite a few years now. I like the music a lot, but most of all I connect so much with that physical energy and spirit and pioneering way of doing things that the drummers of that era had. Like when you watch Bill Ward [BLACK SABBATH] or Ian Paice [DEEP PURPLE] and John Bonham [LED ZEPPELIN]… And most of the drummers, like Mitch Mitchell of Jimi Hendrix's band, for instance, that energy is something that is mesmerizing to hear and to watch. There is so much spirit. That's the kind of thing that I'd like to have in my own playing. And I think some of it has been there all the time — it's part of my nature, so that's probably one of the reasons I connect so much with it. But then there are other things that, you think, 'Wow! That was fantastic, what he did there.' And I don't want to copy [that]. I would like to have something that is similar, energy wise, or creatively, in a way. So there's a certain inspiration in that, but I never try to copy anyone or think that I [must] study how something sounds and then try to make the same thing, because that's not what I'm after. But I try to understand the mentality of it and I try to understand the state of mind that is needed to do something like it. That is what I would like to achieve too."

He continued: "I am inspired by that more than trying to copy or adapt a certain style that has been had by others. I mean, if it's done already, why try to do it again? A copy will never beat the original. And SATYRICON is about originality. But I think that you can learn a lot by trying to understand the thought process behind something — trying to understand the principles."

As previously reported, SATYRICON has signed a worldwide deal with Austrian label Napalm Records for release of its upcoming DVD, "Live At The Opera".

To coincide with the release of its self-titled, eighth studio album, SATYRICON played a very special, exclusive show on September 8, 2013 at at Den Norske Opera & Ballett in Oslo, Norway, where they were joined by the 55-strong Norwegian National Opera Chorus as part of the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival.

The performance was professionally filmed and recorded and will be released as the "Live At The Opera" CD/DVD on May 1 in Europe and May 5 in North America.