Monolord Interview with Esben Willems: Crushing the One
It has been an exceedingly busy year for Monolord. The Gothenburg trio released their second album, Vænir (review here), through RidingEasy Records as the follow-up to 2014’s incredibly well-received Empress Rising debut, and from there, they haven’t really stopped. A tour in Europe led up to the album’s release and also found them following it with an appearance at Roadburn in the Netherlands, and they did sundry other dates this past summer before making a stop at Desertfest Belgium en route to the US for their first tour in North America, supporting Windhand and Danava on an ambitious cross-country run of the major markets that included a slot at Night of the Shred in Southern California.
Really, since Empress Rising was plonked down on riff-hungry skulls like so much edible concrete, Monolord have worked quickly and fiercely to make a name for themselves. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Thomas Jäger, bassist Mika Häkki and drummer/recording engineer Esben Willems, they clearly knew what they wanted to start from sound-wise on the first record and had ideas they wanted to develop working off that for the second, but also, in practical as well as creative terms, they seem to be very much on the same page in terms of what kind of work they’re going to put in and what that’s going to look like in terms of their overall plans. Monolord‘s ascent is not an accident. True, it wouldn’t be possible if the albums didn’t resonate, but they have not sat around and let acclaim come to them. They have gone out and hand-delivered their pummel door to door.
With performances already confirmed for 2016 at Desertfest in London and Berlin, Freak Valley in Germany and Hellfest in France, as well as other tours in the theoretical stages, it looks like that will very much continue to be the case as they move beyond Vænir and toward a crucial third full-length. As they move toward wrapping the dates with Windhand and Danava, it seemed only fair to check in with the band and get an update on how the shows have been, their impressions from life on the road in North America as opposed to Europe, and what 2016 might hold for them past what’s been confirmed publicly. Willems — whose patience in waiting for me to have three minutes to put together a list of questions for an email Q&A was very much appreciated — was kind enough to take time out to fill us in.
Please find the full interview after the jump, and thanks for reading.
As of [Nov. 8], you’re a week out from wrapping your first US tour, on the road with Windhand and Danava. Where are you today as you’re doing this interview? How have your travels been?
Right now, we’re having two days off, in between Little Rock, AR, and Columbus, OH. Doing this interview, I’m sitting at a motel in the outskirts of Nashville and then I’m continuing it in Louisville, KY. I generally don’t like days off on tour – I wanna play music every night, if possible; everything in between is merely transportation and logistics, more or less – but we try to do the best of it when we get them; visiting sights, chilling in interesting cities, and so on.
Regarding the tour as a whole, it’s been fantastic, and that’s a slight understatement. The welcome we’ve gotten from fans every night has been a very pleasant surprise, it exceeded our expectations by far. The response after the shows has been intense and very appreciating. People that travel far just to see us, people bringing us gifts like we somehow deserve them and people that just wanna shake our hands and tell us that they’ve been looking forward to seeing us live for a long time. It’s been crazy, the good kind of crazy.
On top of that, we travel with the most supportive people you could imagine. Windhand has made us feel welcome from the first night, in New York. Danava is a bunch of cheerful rockers that don’t seem to be bothered by any kind of obstacles along the way. And their set makes me smile, every night.
We’ve all been playing live and touring for many years in Europe, but for Thomas and me this is the first time in the US; Mika toured here some years back with a former band, death metal outfit Stabwound. I don’t experience the cultural differences in general to be that big between Europe and USA; there are of course differences, but they’re fairly insignificant. There are a few things that differs quite a lot when it comes to touring, though. In Europe, food and accommodation is almost always included in the bookings – which means a lot to a hard-working band with a strained economy – but in the US, not so much. You’re on your own, in most cases. But then again, most bands and fans are aware of this and very helpful, so we’ve spent the night at kind fans’ homes a few times during this tour.
Tell me about the shows. Has there been one standout night in particular? What made it so special?
Regarding that we’re the opening band most nights, the only exceptions are when there’s a local support, it’s been overwhelming with the response and the audience we’ve gotten. We’ve already had quite a few people that travels around to see us more than once on this tour.
For me, The Empty Bottle in Chicago was one of many highlights so far. Great crowd, great sound, great venue. We also got the chance to hang out with some cool people there, always nice to see something else than the inside of the tour van, hee hee. But there’s been many good shows, almost all of them, actually.
How was Night of the Shred?
Interesting. We played very early in the afternoon, but the few brave who came seemed to have a good time with us.
One often hears about how touring in the US is harder than Europe and generally less worthwhile. For a European band releasing on an American label, will you be back?
I’m tempted to tell you all about the insanity of the visa process for European bands wanting to come to tour in the US, but I’ll spare you the full story on three months of endless bureaucracy and more money in application fees and legal assistance than you could imagine. But we finally got a one-year visa, so we really want to get back within that year, yes. And hopefully even more after that.
If it’s worthwhile is almost impossible to answer. In terms of getting to play live to the greatest fans, it’s worthwhile every time. The business side of it is an ever-present necessary evil, but we always do our best to make it worthwhile.
Both Empress Rising and Vænir seemed to be really well received by fans. How has this translated to live shows? Did you notice a change in the response from one album to the next?
They have, and I’m still blown away by that. Both albums have been very DIY in the making of them, so to see them be received so well, even worldwide, is humbling. That reception is in fact a constant inspiration to keep moving forward.
For us, there really isn’t that big of a translation from studio to the stage. The production on both albums are fairly minimalistic – and that’s a conscious choice – so playing the songs live doesn’t differ that much from playing them in recording sessions. I find that to be a strength. I always liked the idea of that a song should be able to stand on its own without adding the tempting bells and whistles in the studio, which is the way we always work.
Regarding response between the two albums, the only change I’ve experienced is that the fans we got from releasing Empress just appreciated Vænir even more, as a natural next step and development for the band. Our work on music is a continuous process; recording, rehearsing, composing and playing live blends into each other, so we don’t approach them as separate projects, if that makes any sense. New song ideas are always in the works, always, so we record rough sketches on new material all the time. I hope that contributes to that our releases have some kind of common denominator, a recognizable sound or feel that’s Monolord, even if the songs themselves can vary a bit between them.
I hear Windhand are total jerks (not really). How has it been touring with them? How do you feel the bands complement each other on stage?
As mentioned above, it’s been the most welcoming group of people to be touring with. Touring is hard work every time, so to have that kind of supportive treatment from the headlining band every night makes all the difference.
According to our audiences, the lineup has been really good. Two fuzzed out doom bands with the intense riff fury of Danava in between, it seems like that has been a much appreciated cocktail.
Though it followed it quickly, Vænir showed significant growth from Empress Rising. How much of an idea did you have going into the second album of what you wanted to build on from the first? How soon after Empress Rising was Vænir written?
Well, our recording really is a part of a bigger continuous process, so we continued on working on new songs directly after Empress was mixed and mastered; in other words, we were already working on songs that would end up on Vænir before the release of Empress. Just as we have continued to work. New ideas are constantly in the air, being scrutinized, turned inside out, rejected and put back together again and so on.
Recording yourself: Advantage, disadvantage, or both?
I would say both, just as any way of recording is. The disadvantage is mostly the constant lack of time, since all three of us have day jobs that steal most of our waking hours. As a paradox, the huge advantage is also time, since we don’t have to worry about expensive studio time or depend on any producer or sound tech. We work when we can, in the way we feel is best for us. We’ve all been playing music since we were kids, so we’re quite comfortable in what we want to achieve on an album and how we want to achieve it. If we in the future would have the budget and time to hire a producer it would be an interesting experience, but I would also feel sorry for that poor girl or guy who would accept the challenge of convincing three grumpy old men to do anything else than what we already had our mind set to do, haha.
As a sound tech, I love working the way we do, at least right now. We are three individuals with very different frames of reference in most things, but the point where we meet is really inspiring to find again and again. We’re close friends with very specific taste that doesn’t always fit together, so of course there is friction along the way. Even though that can be frustrating, I ultimately like it. I think that is one key element to keep growing and evolving as a band and as a musician; to constantly question all aspects of the creative process can be tiring, but it’s even more rewarding when you get to the end result. It forces your mind in new directions, which I think is great. The alternative would just be a boring mutual affirmation without any creative challenge whatsoever, and I think that shines through in the music.
Is new material in progress, or with more touring, will it be longer between albums this time?
Yes and no and yes and no. We have no clear idea right now, haha. After the US tour and a few last dates in Sweden before the end of this year, we’ll sit down with a fresh brew and relax for a few days before we set any specific plans. But as it looks right now, we hope to get back to the US within a year, tour some more in Europe and also make 
time for a third album in a not so distant future.
You did Roadburn this year and Desertfest Belgium, and I’ve seen you’re added to Freak Valley 2016 as well as Desertfest Berlin and London. What else is in the works, touring-wise. Will you hit the road in spring, or just the fests?
We aim to do at least two proper tours in 2016, but hopefully and probably it will be more than that. We don’t want to make promises we can’t keep, but as soon as we can we’ll announce future touring plans. And of course any other plans that might interest our fellow fuzz heads out there.
