Interview with Karsten Hamre
Norwegian musician Karsten Hamre has been one of the most prolific musicians on the scene these days. He is best known for his work with Penitent, a band which he has released eight full lengths with and Arcane Art. Broken Whispers is Karsten's debut solo album and it's an instrumental ambient/ industrial which should please fans of Karsten's projects. Here are some questions we emailed to Karsten.
Tell me about Broken Whispers.
This album consist of material that has been created in the last two or three years. At first it was material that I created without really knowing what to do with. I later first used the music as part of the soundtrack for visuals at some art event, then later performing live with the music on a couple of occasions, such as Ciorbesti Gathering 6 (an electronic festical outside Iasi, Romania) then as part of an event dealing with the history of industrial music at Geleria Noua in Bucuresti (Romania).
Why did you decide to release it as a solo album?
The main reason for releasing it as a solo album is that way I expect people to judge the album by itself and not as one of several albums, as I am sure people would do if Broken Whispers were released under the name Penitent or so. If it had been released under one of my projects names people would instantly have judged it by comparing it to previous releases of a project. I didn’t want that to happen so it became a solo album.
What type of mood were you in during the creation of Broken Whispers?
I don’t think I can say I was influenced by a certain mood during the creation of Broken Whispers as the tracks on the album has been created throughout a longer period, and also in different places. Some of the parts have been created in Norway and others during my stays in Romania, so there’s naturally different influences and mood changes within a person throughout time.
Where are you living/ working these days?
Currently I am living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have just returned here, where I actually also stayed from January to early May this year, and in between I have been five months in Romania and about two weeks in Norway.
Do you feel you have enough time to devote to your artistic endeavors?
Currently I definitely do not have enough time nor do I have enough energy to devote to my artistic endeavours. This is simply because I have a full job working with computer support, as a Customer Care Agent. This consumes a lot of time and energy. On the other hand, taking this job was a conscious choice as it enables me to make enough money so that I can again buy some wanted equipment, such as a digital SLR camera (Canon EOS 350D), and maybe soon even some new mixer, synthesizer, sound card, and maybe even a 3CCD DV Camera like Canon XM2.
I am also curious about your book, "The Key to Oblivion," care to give more details?
The book consists of poems and lyrics that I have written throughout the years, some as far back as 1994 I believe. Some of them have previously been used as lyrics for Penitent and Arcane Art songs. With “The Key to Oblivion” I wanted to gather the ones that I felt were the best ones in one collection. The book has nearly ninety poems/lyrics and has been printed in a hundred copies, and I think I will leave it at that and not print more.
Describe the artistic differences between writing poetry and creating music.
In one way with writing poetry you create a painting using words, and with music you create a painting by the use of sound. It is like the definition of photography which is painting with light. It is all down to creating something that can trigger the reader, listener or viewer to imagine images for themselves. Like a trigger for their own inner self. A way for channeling what they see in things, not what I see in them.
What is the status of Penitent? Do you have any new music planned?
For the moment there isn’t much activity with Penitent. The last thing that happened was a live show in Sofia, Bulgaria. There is some new stuff or partially new stuff done that I have no idea what will happen with. One part is a reworked version of the album A Shapeless Beauty, slightly longer than the first and with more layers as well as some extra sampled parts, made with the help from Vladislav Buben. Also four of the tracks from that album has been remixed by Buben. Some of this can be heard by either streaming or downloading some tracks at www.myspace.com/penitentmusic.
The direction of Penitent became more aggressive and metal based and then instrumental based on the last two albums; what made you change direction? Where do you see Penitent's music heading in the future?
When it comes to Penitent and how the direction of the music has shifted is something that has never been controlled. I have always done what I felt were right to do, or at least right for me or what I wanted to do at any given time. So who knows what direction it will take in the future. I honestly do not know that myself at the time being. I will leave that open until I have started on new material.
What projects and plans do you have in the near future?
In the near future I would like to do more live performances, which I believe will happen from the beginning of next year. Also there will definitely come another album from The Flux Komplex in the first half of next year. Can’t reveal the label yet as nothing has been finalized. I am also hoping to find labels to release Karsten Hamre vs Buben The Plague of Darkness, Dense Vision Shrine's A Voyage of Imagination, Arcane Art's When The Gods Die, and Defraktor's Through the Archway of the Fallen. Maybe even someone to release the before mentioned Penitent marterial.
There seems to be a spontaneity to your work, do you feel the best art comes from your immediate mood or situation as opposed to being planned in advance?
I feel that I create better when it is not planned. I think I would be rather incapable of creating some predetermined song with a specific structure. It just doesn’t work for me that way. I must just let things come as they come and go with that.
Final comments?
Thanks for the interview and I hope people will enjoy my first solo effort. More of my music can be found at: www.myspace.com/karstenhamre, www.myspace.com/arcaneart,
www.myspace.com/defraktor, www.myspace.com/densevisionshrine, www.myspace.com/thefluxkomplex, www.myspace.com/veiledallusions.
Discography:
2005... Broken Whispers (Flood The Earth)
