from AARDSCHOK MAGAZINE june 1996

INTERVIEW WITH BURZUM / VARG VIKERNES
FROM ILA PRISON, OSLO, NORWAY, JANUARY 1996

ILA ISN'T THE NAME OF A BEAUTIFUL NORWEGIAN WOMAN BUT A PLACE WERE YOU'D RATHER NOT COME AS A MODERN VIKING. THE PRISON LOOKS MORE LIKE A CONCENTRATION CAMP FROM W.O.II. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS NORWAY, WHICH IS USUALLY VERY QUIET HAS BEEN ATTACKED LAST YEARS BY BLACK METAL FANS BY BURNING CHURCHES AND MASSACRES. THE CRIMES OF VARG VIKERNES MADE HIM PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER 1. CAREFULLY I ENTER THE HEAVILY GUARDED BUILDING. IT LOOKS LIKE A HOSPITAL. AFTER I HAD BEEN BODY SEARCHED I MET VARG VIKERNES, IN A GOOD MOOD, HEALTHY, AND ARMED WITH AL LOT OF SARCASM.

HERE IS THE INTERVIEW:

NOWADAYS, NOBODY ASKS YOU ABOUT YOUR MUSIC, OR YOUR MUSICAL INFLUENCE. WHEN DID YOU START LISTENING TO MUSIC AND CAN YOU NAME SOME BANDS THAT HAD AN INFLUENCE ON YOU?
I STARTED LISTENING TO MUSIC AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, BUT PASSIVELY. EVERYTHING MY OLDER BROTHER LISTENED TO I TOOK IN. I LISTENED ACTIVE TO MUSIC WHEN I WAS 9. MY FIRST REAL LOVE WAS TSCHAIKOWSKY, BUT SUDDENLY I LOST ALL INTEREST IN MUSIC. I HAD THIS "BLACK OUT" UNTIL I WAS 14. THEN I DISCOVERED HEAVY METAL. MY FIRST LP WAS "KILLERS" FROM IRON MAIDEN. IN THOSE DAYS MAIDEN WAS ONE OF THE BEST BANDS I KNEW. VERY SOON I GOT INTERESTED IN LOUDER BANDS LIKE KREATOR. I AM NOT REALLY AWARE OF INFLUENCES FROM OTHERS, BUT JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE I'VE GOT A LOT OF PASSIVE INFLUENCES. I THINK THAT THE OLD BURZUM MUSIC IS INFLUENCED BY DESTRUCTION. THIS BAND CHANGED MY VIEW ON PLAYING GUITAR. IT WAS QUITE LATE WHEN I DISCOVERED THE BAND IN 1991. PERHAPS IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT I DISCOVERED DESTRUCTION WHEN I WROTE MY FIRST BURZUM SONG.

THIS SURPRISES ME A LITTLE. I RATHER THOUGHT OF BANDS LIKE BATHORY AND VENOM. DID YOU EVER LISTEN TO OTHER KINDS OF MUSIC?
OF COURSE BATHORY WAS IMPORTANT, VENOM WAS NOT REALLY, I NEVER LOVED THEM. I HAVE TO NAME CELTIC FROST, BUT ONLY THE "MORBID TALES" LP, I DON'T LIKE THE REST OF THEIR MUSIC. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND WHEN BURZUM AND IMMORTAL STARTED, OUR MOST IMPORTANT GOAL WAS TO MAKE SIMPLE, ANTI-TRENDY MUSIC. DESTRUCTION WAS A PERFECT SAMPLE. ALSO BATHORY'S "BLOOD, FIRE DEATH" HAD BIG INFLUENCES. THEY WERE THE FIRST EXTREME METAL BAND THAT I LISTENED TO AFTER THE BIG TRASH-RAGE. I BELIEVE THAT EVERY MUSIC-GENRE FITS IN A CERTAIN MOMENT OF EVERYONE'S LIFE. EACH KIND OF MUSIC CAN GIVE YOU A CERTAIN KIND OF FEELING. WHEN I'M CASTING IRON, I LIKE TO LISTEN TO TECHNO. I DON'T LISTEN TO MUSIC VERY OFTEN, AND CERTAINLY NOT TO METAL.

ON YOUR LP'S YOU PLAY EVERYTHING YOURSELF. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE INSTRUMENT?
MAYBE IT SOUNDS STRANGE, BUT IT IS THE GUITAR. THIS IS THE INSTRUMENT MOST PEOPLE LEARN TO PLAY ON FIRST. I STARTED DRUMMING IN 1991. I DIDN'T HAVE MY OWN DRUMSET SO I COULDN'T PRACTICE. THE DRUMS WERE MOSTLY IMPROVISED IN THE STUDIO. WHEN I RECORDED "BURZUM" I HAD PLAYED THE DRUMS FOR JUST THREE MONTHS. BETWEEN MY FIRST AND SECOND ALBUM I DINDN'T PLAY THE DRUMS AT ALL. I'M AN "AIR-DRUMMER". I PLAY 18 HOURS A DAY ON FICTITIOUS DRUMS, AND ALTHOUGH THAT SOUNDS FUNNY, IT DOES WORK...

HOW ABOUT THE KEYBOARDS, THEY SEEM TO HAVE BECOME MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT ON EVERY NEW ALBUM.
WELL, TO BE HONEST I DON'T PLAY THE KEYBOARDS. THEY WERE ALWAYS ADDED BY VARIOUS SEQUENSERS. I HAVE ALWAYS LEARNED EVERYTHING MYSELF.

CAN YOU TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT OTHER BANDS YOU PLAYED IN. FOR INSTANCE "SATANEL" AND "OLD FUNERAL"?
SATANEL WAS A PROJECT OF A COUPLE OF DAYS, WITH ABBATH FROM IMMORTAL. NOTHING SPECIAL. WE PLAYED BECAUSE WE WERE BORED, AND BECAUSE WE LIVED IN EACHOTHER'S NEIGHBOURHOOD. IN OLD FUNERAL I WAS A GUEST MUSICIAN, I HAD NEVER FELT LIKE A MEMBER OF THE BAND, BECAUSE THE BAND MADE BORING AND TECHNICAL MUSIC. ALTHOUGH IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING TO PLAY IN A REAL BAND. I LEARNED MUCH ABOUT IT.

NOW THAT YOU LOOK BACK, DON'T YOU THINK IT IS STRANGE THAT YOU PLAYED WITH MAYHEM ON THEIR "DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS" RECORDINGS, DO YOU THINK YOU WERE A GOOD BASS-PLAYER FOR MAYHEM?
HAHAHA. YES I PLAYED THE BASS ON THOSE RECORDINGS, ALTHOUGH PEOPLE WANTED TO MAKE OTHERS BELIEVE THAT AFTER THE DEATH OF EURONYMOUS THE BASS-TRACKS WERE PLAYED AGAIN BY SOMEONE ELSE. THE PARENTS OF THAT COMMUNISTIC RAT DIDN'T WANT ME ON THEIR SON'S LP. BUT I HAVE NEVER REALLY BEEN THE BASS-PLAYER OF MAYHEM. I JUST HELPED THEM, AND IT WAS LOGIC THAT MY NAME WAS ON THAT LP.

I SUPPOSE THAT YOU SPEND MUCH TIME ON YOUR CULTURAL INTERESTS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. CAN YOU NAME ANY WRITERS WHO HAD ANY INFLUENCE ON YOU?
YES, I ALWAYS READ A LOT, ESPECIALLY HISTORY FASCINATES ME BUT ALSO RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND PHILOSOPHY. I CAN NAME NIETZSCHE, BUT ALSO A LOT OF FANTASY BOOKS. TOLKIEN'S CIRCELS IN DE BAN VAN DE RING RING OF THE LORDS. THAT BOOK REALLY INFLUANCED ME AND IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ME, IT IS MORE THAN JUST A FANTASY BOOK. TOLKIEN WAS A PROFESSOR IN THE NORWEGIAN MYTHOLOGY, AND HIS HISTORICAL REFERENCES THE PERSONS IN HIS BOOK ARE VERY ACCURATE. THIS IS MAKING THE BOOK AN ENDLESS SORCE OF STUDY AND INSPIRATION. THE NAME BURZUM AND COUNT GRISHNACKH ARE COMING OUT OF THIS BOOK. BURZUM CAN BE TRANSLATED AS ULTIMATE DARKNESS. THE BOOK LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE ODINISM.

HOW IS THE INFLUENCE FROM NATURE ON YOUR MUSIC?
IN THE WINTER IS IT 24 HOURS A DAY DARK AND IT IS SO COLD THAT YOU WOULD NOT DARE TO PUT YOU NOSE OUTSIDE THE DOOR. I ALSO TAKE MY INSPIRATION OUT OF THE WOODS. I THINK THAT THAT IS VERY NATURAL. BUT I THINK THAT LOTS OF BLACK-METAL BANDS RUIN THIS SUBJECT BY KEEP ON WRITING ABOUT IT. YOU SHOULD WALK ALONE, BY NIGHT, IN THOSE WOODS, IN THE WINTER, THAN YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN...

DID YOU HAVE A RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING AND ARE YOU AN ODINIST?
I WASN'T RAISED BY CHRISTIAN NORMS, WE CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS AS A PAGAN FEAST FEEST, THE WORSHIPING OF THE BACKCOMING OF THE SUN. OR EVEN BETTER, THE SWASTIKA, A SYMBOL WHAT HAS BEEN USED WRONGLY BY MANY PEOPLE (NAZIS). ODINISM IS HARD TO EXPLAIN IN 1 MINUTE, BUT AN ODINIST IS A HEATHEN WHO WORSHIPS ODIN, NOT SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN OTHER PAGAN RELIGION IN EUROPE. THE MEDIA ARE VERY HOSTILE ACROSS THIS KIND OF RELIGION.

DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPACTATIONS OF YOU NEW ALBUM "FILOSOFEM".
AND DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN HAVE ANY RESULTS OF YOUR MUSIC?
THE ALBUM IS ALREADY TWO YEARS OLD,I DIDN'T HEARD THE FINAL MIX OF THE ALBUM. I HOPE PEOPLE LIKE THE ALBUM, BUT THAT IS MORE A PROBLEM FOR MY LABEL THAN FOR ME. I CAN'T HAVE ANY PROPERTY FROM THE STATE OF NORWAY AND IF I EARN MONEY IT GOES TO THE STATE BECAUSE THEY SAY I BURNED SOME CHURCHES, WHICH ISN'T PROOFED.

THIS INTEVIEW WAS TAKEN BY RENE VEERKAMP AND ROBERTO R. SANCHEZ.