Red Harvest Interview

The Gauntlet: How are things these days with the band?

Ketil: Hey, all good now. I had to undergo surgery a while ago, so we have been forced to take it a bit easy. But I am back on track now, ready to rock. Will play our first summer festival in about one week and I am really looking forward to that.


The Gauntlet: The new album hit in February, and I noticed as most Red Harvest fans do, that A Greater Darkness has much more aggression to it, what accounted for the change in tone?

Ketil: This is not something we planned, it just happens as the songs develop in the rehearsing studio. In addition to the higher level of aggression, this album also has more atmosphere than the previous one. It's a very different album than IPP.


The Gauntlet: Is there a previous Red Harvest album that you would consider a comparative example in relation to the way A Greater Darkness came out in ways of similarities in heavy/experimental approaches?

Ketil: The closest album to this one is probably HyBreed from 1996, but A Greater Darkess still has more pure metal and electronic elements.


The Gauntlet: All of Red Harvest's albums have a certain tone that can be heard, rather melancholy and sometimes angry. What kind of tone do you feel A Greater Darkness has? At times it feels like a very turbulent emotional ride in all directions.

Ketil: Yes, I guess you are right. As the title suggests the album deals with a lot of dark elements in the human nature.

The Gauntlet: Would you say this is one of Red Harvest's heavier releases to date?

Ketil: Yes, we chose to slow down the tempo in the music a little in order to create more atmosphere, but yes, again; this album is more pure when it comes to both metal elements, more alternative elements and the electronic elements.


The Gauntlet: Plenty bands of heavy nature mention that they listen to a lot of metal as influence and not to become one sided with their musical approaches, and there are many influences surrounding Red Harvest, what are some of the styles that you enjoy the most that you hear working their way into Red Harvest songs?
Ketil: Of course we like a lot of metal bands, but we also like electronic music and alternative music. We are five persons in the band, and I think a lot of the reason why we sound like we do is because all five of us listen to a lot of different music styles and bands, so when we get together to create Red Harvest music we find ourselves in a big melting pot.


The Gauntlet: As always the lyrical content has a lot to do with the mood of the album as a whole, what are some of the concepts you incorporated into the album?

Ketil: The album deals with the darker sides of the human mind. The side you hardly ever show other people. I think we all live double lives in many ways, and the world is full of people that would like to be different or do something else if they had the possibility.

The Gauntlet: Do you find that these concepts are easier to mold to song rather than just individual subject matter?

Ketil: Well, the album is actually kind of personal, we try to write about personal experiences.

The Gauntlet: Back in December of 2006 you guys played A Greater Darkness in its entirety for a CD release show in Norway, has the band ever done this before?

Ketil: No, this was the first time we played an entire album in the running order. We wanted it to be special, but like all bands who have been around for a long time, we have problems choosing songs for the live concerts. I mean, it's a luxury problem, but if we should play everything we wanted on each gig we would end up with 4 hour shows.

The Gauntlet: How has the crowd reaction been to the new album?

Ketil: The new songs live totally kick ass because they were created with the entire band present. The crowd likes the material. When it comes to the album I have not seen many bad reviews yet, and that's cool.

The Gauntlet: Is there a reason that Red Harvest does not do a lot of touring?

Ketil: Yes, because it's too expensive, but we like to play live, so if we are ever able to do a tour that can make us go break-even or actually earn a little, I guess we would tour more. Until then we prefer one off gigs and festivals.

The Gauntlet: Has Red Harvest ever hit the states? Have there been any plans to set up future tours in the states?

Ketil: No we have never played in the US. We were actually supposed to play this summer with Mayhem, but they ended up canceling everything and we had to stay home as well. I have also been in the hospital so it was out of the question anyway.


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Tags:  Red Harvest  , Ketil, interviews

Dave Huffy    July 28, 2007