Norway’s Angermund has a new album coming on the Mhost Likely label. We caught up with the artist to discuss the music, the mountain and the things that make him tick.

Angermund – Interview with Minimal Mag

Hi Angermund, thanks for joining us on Minimal Mag. Done any running lately?

Hi Minimal Mag, good to hear from you! Running? Absolutely. Almost every day as a matter of fact. But very soon now I am having one month of “off-season” where I won’t be running much or at all. I do that every year not to kill one of my biggest passions in life. After that period I can’t wait to get back to the trails and roads. But I really love the off-season as well. That’s when I get to do other stuff like the Ekko-festival, Bergen International Film Festival, go on fun hikes and do camping with friends that aren’t into running. Also I try to do some yoga and perhaps climbing (even though I have problems with heights..).

How has it been for you in Norway over the last 24 months.

24 months feels like ages ago. Like another life. A life before Covid. Before everything that’s been the new “normal” over the last one and a half years. But I remember we had planned some concerts with one of my other projects, VSM (Vestland Sound Machine – Ghanaian folk techno), we had plans to record our second album, but then covid came and the project got put on a little time out. At the same time I was supposed to move into a new studio, but covid and other events stopped the process of recording new material, soon we are back on track – we hope!

For me personally, covid has been a nice and imposed opportunity to slow down and perhaps enjoy a not so stressful lifestyle where you always have plans with either friends, family and work related stuff. It’s been a time when people have appreciated the smaller things more and not been rushing through days with busy schedules.

In addition, everyone I know has been healthy and had food on the table, and although it has affected some more than others, we have been lucky. Ok, we may not have been able to go to clubs or concerts, traveled on holiday and unfortunately lost some income, but we have been able to make ends meet. Also, I had my nearest and most important folks close to me, my own Angermund project that I have had extra time to work on + my running and my mountains, and it keeps me happy, fresh and fit in both mind and body.

But hey, I just had my first concert in almost one and a half year at Bergens, VILL VILL VEST and Norway has just opened again, and like my running and after the off-season, now I am really ready to get back to our normal life!

Your debut album sampler on Mhost Likely ‘Prinsen av Ulriken’ arrives in November, what does this translate to and what does this title mean to you.

I am the spiritual prince of Ulriken and the album reflects both my love for nature and especially my favorite mountain, Ulriken where my soul sleeps at night and camps in summer. The local trolls of Bergen know this.

While my singles are more exploratory in slightly different directions, I wanted the album to have a more common thread in terms of soundscape and theme. It feels natural for me to reflect things that I appreciate. I really appreciate nature. I really appreciate Ulriken. I really appreciate my daughter, Ella. The album feels very personal both because of this, but also and especially because of the heart sound from my daughter before she was born.

Angermund on SoundCloud

It’s been recognised that nature and the beauty in the day-to-day influences your productions, tell us about this album and how your surroundings have affected it.

If I hear a sound that I like or that fascinates me, I immediately start thinking about music production right away. This can be either when traveling, on the train, at home or in the car park or in nature. For me, the song production becomes much more personal at the same time as it in a way preserves a memory from a time or something you have experienced. I want the album and the music to help document the time and memories from when it was created. To me, a song is more than just a song, but also a memory from a specific time. This is one of the reasons why I have chosen to keep all my CDs and to be able to pass them on to my heir.

Experimenting and recording real life sounds seems like your forté, what’s your technical process of altering and manipulating new sounds?

Before I recorded sounds with a Zoom Handy Recorder, but now I mostly use my Iphone. It’s so much easier and I carry it pretty much everywhere. I think it works very well. In retrospect, there will usually be some eq and similar tools. I like not to cut ambient recordings so much in because I often want them to reproduce the feeling from the place where I am, but percussion-like sounds or the like I can nicely cut in and insert into rhythm or as an effect in sound image.

I’m not a hifi nerd and am often looking for a slightly ragged expression in my music. One of my favorite albums and great sources of inspiration is Beck’s album “stereopathetic soulmanure”, and maybe that says a bit about how I work. In addition, my recordings usually go through a guitar pedal or two. But rarely through source sorting.

What new artists have you been listening to lately?

I am very fond of discovering new music and therefore listen to new things all the time. One group I have just discovered is Fochs Koshka. They played live right after me at our local festival, Wild Wild West. They killed it! Check it out! Otherwise, the last two years I have actually discovered some jungle and drum and bass. So much sick music! I do not understand why I haven’t heard more of this before. Otherwise, I actually listen to quite a few different genres and expressions.

Where do you see yourself as an artist in 5 years?

In 5 years I have recorded some new sounds and produced a few Angermund albums, worked on several different and exciting projects in collaboration with other musicians. Maybe I travel a bit around the world with my live set and my running shoes. Hopefully I own a micro house where I have my studio. And hopefully the municipality let me have it on the top of Ulriken.

Anything else exciting that you wish to share with us?

Feel free to listen to one of my previous projects, Aurland Heartbeat, where the tempo in the music is based on my heart rhythm through a triathlon in beautiful nature. Available on vinyl, Spotify etc . And if you are going for a nice mountain hike in Norway, go Aurlandsdalen. Fantastic!