Morild (June 2010)

The Vikings is now invading the prog scene like the Vikings once invaded Great Britain and the rest of Europe. Morild is another excellent symphonic prog band from Norway. They have gone for broke on their debut album, a double CD no less.  

I got in touch with them for their story. 

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When was Morild formed? And, do you have any background from other bands than Adventure?

With it’s current members Morild has existed since spring 2008. But it would be wrong and unfair to say that Morild was formed in any sense of the word. Morild is in fact the harvest from seeds sown long ago, a slow growing tree with it’s strong roots safe in the soil of a lifelong brother hood of music between Odd-Roar and Nils. This tree has it’s branches, some still strong, some broken, some both. More or less this tree has continued to grow since the early seventies, and it was called many names, to name a few: contraband, pilgrim, home of storms, which again became Adventure in the early ninties. Adventure became a cutting and now grows very well in it’s own soil. Odd-Roar still irrigates with keyboards and we share some good friends as Mari. If any names should be mentioned besides current members of Morild, it must be Hans, who in his time with the band spread a lot of joy and musicianship. Hopefully he will be able to join us on stage at some time in the future.

John Anders Troset is the latest member to our band, he came to the band about February 2008. We needed a vocalist and was looking through the marked hopefully finding someone who have the same passion for music as the rest of us have. It was Odd Roar through a co worker who came in touch with John A.They sing in the same choir. As he sings in a choir it gives us some new ideas to our compositions. His did not have much knowledge of progressive rock,but he learned fast. Odd Roar and Nils lent him cd’s with good,progressive music .

Why did you choose that name?

For Nils the name Morild somehow just emerged from the back of his mind, it must have something to do with his interest for all those little wonders of nature. Morild is in fact a light created by algae in water, in ancient times an omen from deep waters for fierce storms to come. Since the rest of the guys thought it sounded nice, but was not that particular interested in those little wonders of natures, Nils got his way.

Please give me your long or brief thoughts and lowdown on your only album to this date, Time to Rest, from 2010. 

Some of the songs on Time to Rest have been with Nils and Odd-Roar for a long time, as When the night turns to morning for example. Others were composed during the period of recording. The opportunity to do this record came to life when Odd-Roar bought his Pro-Tools equipment (rich guy). For Nils it was a fair chance to get some songs out os his mind and make room for some new stuff, more of that later. So, it would be true to say that the recording process started out as a proper way to conserve already composed songs. Thanks to Alex who’s still got a relatively young brain, he was able to learn the recording program and all that computing stuff fast. Nils and Odd-Roar suddenly realizes that they had one foot in the stone age, and thank God they were happy about that. Well, all the fun and joy, camaraderie and musicianship and all that crazy humor during the recording process somehow paid of so well that we thought that the result was well worth sharing with others.

Seen in that light we’re all happy about the final product – of course things could have been done different, but time to rest captures a moment in time, it’s got a certain feeling to it, with an open sound. Seen in retrospective, what satisfies us most must be the way the structure of the songs turned out in the end. The Slaveship, for example, has become a favorite amongst the band members. The joy of recording it, the contribution from Mari, the mood in the music and lyrics has become very dear to us. 

How is the writing and creative process in Morild?

For Nils the writing of a song starts of as a solitary and subjective affair. The lyrics emerge first, often while walking in the woods late at night. Watching the wild life and just listening to the silence, usually shapes music suitable to minor keys. The lyrics are the foundation that supports the music. The words spin the red thread that links it all together. The lyrics are often written as poems, that again, trigger a certain rhyme and melody line. (The rest of the band try not to change a single word in his lyrics, it’s like stabbing his soul.) 

The instrumental parts often take shape around a base line with some corner chords. This far in the composing process it’s on time to meet with Odd-Roar and fine some interesting chords. Nils and Odd-Roar then builds the framework, walls, floor and ceiling. Odd-Roar oftens compse songs in his good chair with the acoustic guitar or on the piano in the music room.Then it’s time for Alex and Jon Anders to move the furniture around. It’s all a very calm and peaceful process, never a bad word spoken. This kettle of creativity seems for ever boiling, and this is a blessing for Morild.

From the photos I got, you’re more like fine matured whisky than teenagers. The same can be said about a lot of other new bands in the progrock scene too. Is starting a progrock band a safer way to have fun outside the family instead of buying big motorcycle and risk your life that way?

Matured whisky? Well, rather that, than a bottle of sparkling glamorous champagne! We’re all down-to-earth guys and we find Morild as a kind of safe haven, that little space in our life where our good wives kindly stand on the other side of the threshold.

A swift Honda or a lazy Harley might be a slightly more roaring and polluting affair, but it’s no doubt that it would make for much better photo. But, to be honest with you, the difference is simple, playing in a progrock band has for most of us been a part of our lives since the days of youth. Buying a killing machine at the age of 50 is something else. That said, it is true, when the nest is more or less empty it allows us to use more time on music without feeling guilt due to the family. Well, well, we better be careful here, Alex and Jon Anders are just married and ought to speak for themselves, and what’s worse: Alex drives a Mustang.

How would you describe your music and which bands would you compare your music with?

Looking back on all those years listening to prog music, brings to life a lot of great and treasured memories. All that inspiration, all those feelings have colored our lives and comforted our songs. It has allowed us to become who we are. Some bands have greater impact on us than others: Andy Latimer and Camel, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, Kerry Livgren and Kansas. Ken Hensley and Uriah Heep.These are the key bands with all their ups and downs, it’s not only due to music, it’s something about attitude. 

Beside these and other progrock bands, Nils listens to Procol Harum and music inflated by traditional music and church music as Bjørn J:son Lindh, Pekka Poiola to name a few. Odd-Roar also listens to Transatlantic,The Flower Kings,Mike Oldfield,ELP and Norwegian prog as Høst,Ruphus and Aunt Mary.

Hopefully you’ll find elements of all these bands in Morild’s music.

What separates Morild from other prog band, what’s our fingerprint? We think it has something to do with the mood in the songs, the fact that Morild is a Norwegian band automatically colors the songs with the landscape and scenery that we have grown up with. There’s a melancholy someplace hidden here, a kind of Scandinavian way, which you find folk and church music, to use the shifting pattern of minor and major keys and chords.

Morild is all about speaking to the soul and heart, rather than the cold brain. The music is not calculated, it’s rather warm and with a strong melody line inside all those twists and turns. It is what comes natural for us, and that’s how it must be. Music is all about passion and dedication; it’s all about sharing a bit of your soul with sisters and brothers. 

You did the whole manufacturing bit, the promotion and distribution bit yourself. How difficult was it to find a good manufacturer for this 2cd album and how difficult is it to do the distribution and promotion bit yourself?

To find a manufacturer was relatively easy. Alex found several on the internet and they gave us a price for copying 500 cd’s.The one that came out best was a manufacturer in Stavanger,Norway.

Odd-Roar takes care of the distribution and promotion bit.As a member of Adventure he got some experience on this matter.He has sent some cd’s to a couple of distributors who wanted to help us promote and sell the album.(www.progrock.no and www.gardenshedcd.com)Several reviewers has also recived the cd.We hope to get som good reviews .The next step is to use the reviews as a reference when we send cd’s to some serious record companies later.

How is the gigs situation, any plans?

We have no concrete gigplans at the time.But we are in contact with other prog bands and with people in Norway who book prog bands,so there will be gigs in the future somewhere in the country.

Morild too is from Trondheim, Norway. Why is there so many (20+) progressive rock bands from your city?

Prog rock has always had a strong hold here in Trondheim, why it is so, is not easy to know. It suits our mood and temper, maybe it has something to do with loyalty and passion. We are very patient people and do not jump on every passing fashion that passes by. Heritage might also be a keyword here, the gospel was told from mother to daughter, father to son. When first prog is in the family it does not easily move out, getting used to prog anything else on the turntable might sound boring.

If we want to draw the line further back in time, to the high days of prog in the mid 70s, there was a record shop in Trondheim called Playtime. Some of the employers there where progers at heart and played Yes, ELP, Tull and Camel records loud in the shop. Many of us 45+ got our first meeting with prog music in that record shop. Every possible record from British prog you could by there and you even got a plastic sleeve for free!

So, a great thank you to Kurt, the owner of the shop in those days for opening the doors to the wonderful world of prog music. Playtime drowned in agony in the aftermath of the punk wave, but the passion for prog lingered on in caves and holes, patience pays as saying says. 

What is the latest update and what is the plans for this and next year ?

At present time we’re working on our second CD at Odd-Roars place. All songs are composed and some even properly rehearsed. The first drum and base tracks are safely stored in the megabyte box. The working title is Aves, also this time we’ve got enough material to make a double CD, but we’ve agreed on making a single CD this time, so some priorities must be done. The never resting creativity of the mind of Nils, is already working on Morild’s third CD… The others have tried to stop him, but it’s impossible, only his sheepdog can reach his inner thoughts as this stage… So, if everything works out well, and that faithful dog manages to get Nils out of the forest, Aves probably will be out in the summer of 2011.

Anything you want to add to this interview?

The beauty in playing in Morild is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, though our relationship to the music is passionate and burning. We do not pick on each other, every member is allowed to contribute with what feels natural. So, we are all looking forward, we have so many songs to record and perform, so many unfinished ideas to complete. 

Many thanks for the opportunity to tell our story.


Alex

Odd-Roar

Nils

John Anders

Morild's PA profile is here and their homepage is here