Interview

TheNwothm: Can you introduce Mörkvarg to those who may not be familiar with your band?

Dee: We are a quartet performing speed/thrash metal a bit faster than it was recorded. The usual issue within the genre, you know. The band consists of Max on lead vocals and guitars, me on bass and backing vocals, Jacques on guitars and backing vocals, and Carlos on drums. All names have been changed to protect the identity (not). 

TheNwothm: Before Mörkvarg can you tell us about some of the bands you were involved in?

Dee: I come from Daugavpils, the 2^nd biggest city in Latvia, and my musical journey started there. The first band where I played that had achieved some recognition, and recorded their own music, was Saintorment. Was one of the founding members, came up with the name and the logo during a lecture in the university (must’ve been one hell of an entertaining lecture!). When the lead guitarist Max (I have a pattern of playing with guitarists called Max!) and I parted ways with the band, he asked me to help out playing bass on his own band’s upcoming first Russian tour. That was 2016, and the band’s name is Varang Nord, who eventually won Wacken Metal Battle in Germany in 2019. I was out of the band in the beginning of 2017 because I moved to Riga, but I’m still on great terms with them, really amazing gang of marauders!

And currently I’m playing bass in another band where I’m also one of the founding members. The band is called Hypervert, we are doing what we call dark’n’roll: mix of dark country, rock’n’roll, and some other genres.

Max: I was playing guitar with a gang of good friends in a band called “Velvet Von Wild”. By the time Dee contacted me, we disbanded and I wasn’t doing anything musically, was even considering abandoning this altogether.

Carlos: I’ve played in school ensembles, orchestras, indie, alt rock and thrash metal bands.

Jacques: Mörkvarg is my first serious band.

TheNwothm: How did Mörkvarg come together as a band?

Dee: Initially, it was just an idea of having my own project, the idea that sprouted one week before Saintorment released their first album. The writing started to appear on the wall, so to speak, and I decided to keep all the riffs and ideas I will come up with to myself. Some of the songs, like “Wolfpack” and “Blindfold”, go way back to that time. My main point of relocation to Riga was to get this stuff see the light of day. After moving, I immediately started to look for the people to play with. A couple of guitarists didn’t even make it to the rehearsal space, a drummer stuck with us for three months but eventually disappeared.

When Max and I got introduced to each other via a mutual friend, we kind of saw that we both operate on the similar wavelength (this is a very important part, if you want your band to thrive), and hit it off immediately. Spring 2018, a second guitarist Paul came into the picture: the guy still plays drums in Terror Activator, but originally started his musical journey as a guitarist, and in us he saw the opportunity to put his skills to use. The drummer at the time was a guy who had some solid inborn skills, e.g. he could hold the rhythm, but his priorities were elsewhere. Then, in May of 2019, we got acquainted with our first proper drummer Gleb, and the wheels were finally set in proper motion, allowing us to finally play our first live show on 14^th of February, 2020, opening for your compatriots Neon Animal (they have split-up already as far as I know) in Riga.

TheNwothm: What inspired the name “Mörkvarg,” and does it hold any special meaning?

Dee: I get this question asked a lot! Answered it literally yesterday evening in a bar, haha! “Mörk varg”, if you separate it into two words, means “dark wolf” in Swedish. However, if you are a nerd just like me and the rest of the guys, you would know where I drew the inspiration from: it’s a character in one of the best video games ever released, The Witcher 3. I was on yet another walkthrough of the game when it struck me that this mofo’s name is a perfect fit as a band name!

TheNwothm: How has Latvia, and more specifically Riga, influenced your music?

Dee: It’s kind of funny to me you bring this up, as this is something that I’ve been thinking about for the past 10 years or so! 

Riga is the capital of Latvia. Latvia is a country in North-Eastern Europe: we’ve got Northern Europe prices and Eastern Europe salaries. This might have something to do with us breaking the speed limits when we rehearse or play live, as you have to get the negative out somehow, preferably in a healthy and productive manner. So, to me it’s no surprise that I ended up wholeheartedly LOVING thrash metal when I was a teenager. Sepultura’s “Inner Self” did hit the bull’s eye, both lyric- and music-wise. Still does.

TheNwothm: What is the metal scene like in Latvia, and how do you fit into it?

Dee: It’s mostly extreme metal. I just took a quick look at Metal Archives: death, black, thrash are the most common subgenres. Folk/pagan metal is also huge here in the Baltics, but that’s a whole other topic to talk about. As to how Mörkvarg fit in – I made a conscious effort to stand out with what we do.

TheNwothm: Are there any Latvian bands or artists who have inspired you or supported your journey?

Dee: Rebel Riot and Bloody Heels. Those guys stand out, too, and I’m a big fan of them and their side projects. Even appeared in their music videos! What a celebrity, haha! 

As to the support, Hypervert have been very supportive since day one, still are. Varang Nord, Terror Activator, Yomi, Dehead, too. All amazing dudes (and in case of Varang Nord, dudettes, too!)

TheNwothm: Who are your main musical influences both musically and outside of music?

Dee: Oh man, this is a very tough one for me! My “Spotify Wrapped” shows that last year I listened to 103,000+ minutes … yep, I’m THAT crazy. Mostly it’s old school metal (predominantly 1980ies), but I also listen to video game OSTs, dungeon synth, electronic music. Anything that tickles my fancy at a given point in time.

Max: My influences are a bit of diverse, and while it happens that the latest release I was involved in turned out to be metal, I don’t strictly follow the genre. Let’s see… well, King Crimson has been a major inspiration — not just musically, but in their constant reinvention. They showed me that creativity comes from absorbing ideas from everywhere, processing them through your own lens, and perhaps making something… fresh. Needless to say, I do credit some good ol’ Megadeth, Metallica, as well as a couple of 80’s riff lords as main inspirations for contributing to the album. Sometimes you just wanna go smooth and chug-chug some riffs.

Carlos: Math rock, jazz fusion and prog metal are my main influences. Funnily enough, I rarely listen to the genres of music I play in my bands, and often that results in me mixing in some weird s**t into the songs we play. Hopefully, without annoying my bandmates too much.

Jacques: I was a simple boy living a simple boy’s life, until my friend gave me a guitar and showed me a couple of songs by Metallica and other bands like Skid Row, Children of Bodom, etc. There was a time when I didn’t know who Dave Mustaine was, and when people started to come up to me and say “hi, Mustaine!”, I didn’t understand what the hell was happening. Then I looked up who it is, it gave me a good laugh and motivated me to play more!

TheNwothm: Did you always have an idea for the direction of the band’s music?

Dee: Yes, since day one. Although my initial idea was to play something leaning more towards old school heavy/speed metal, thrash metal simply strong-armed itself into the picture. What a bastard!

TheNwothm: Between your formation in 2017 and the release of your debut album what did you get up? Were you mostly touring for instance?

Dee: Gotta be honest with you: until the line-up somewhat stabilised in summer 2019, we were mostly partying. And this is not a joke! Max and I would get together at my place to work on the songs, and at some point we ALWAYS ended up in some bar in Riga Old Town, pissed as parrots, and going back home when the sun was already rising. Not a very productive approach to songwriting, mind you!

HOWEVER! It was during one such boys’-nights-out (must have been end of 2017-beginning of 2018) we spawned in a karaoke bar called “Funny Fox”. Max sang Alice in Chains’ “Rooster”, and I just sat there like “how come you are not singing?!!”. At that point, I was trying to be a singing bassist, and that sucked “Arsch” major time, so the next morning I began pestering Max about him singing for the band. To say that he was reluctant would be an understatement. “Naah, I just want to relax playing the rhythm guitar” was his usual response. How he views playing the riffs he composes as relaxing is a totally different question. But he finally agreed to sing in December 2019, two months prior to our first gig. There simply wasn’t an option to find a singer that would suit our music: I had no wish to go down the growling/screaming path, as it’s sooo overdone in the local scene already, and there were no people who could do proper clean vocals.

Fast forward to 2022: before we started the initial album recording sessions, Max started going to a vocal coach. In his own words, when the coach started to test his range, “her eyes grew wider and wider with the pressing of each key on the piano”. It appeared that our guy is a natural born tenor. The irony of this and his initial wish to just play rhythm guitar!

TheNwothm: Can you tell us about your debut full-length album, Blindfold (2024)? How did you get going on the writing for the release?

Dee: Oh man, this was such a saga. I already mentioned that the writing process began practically at the same time as the band started. Afterwards, Max and I have developed the formula that works up to this day: he brings riffs, I make them into songs. The real action, though, started to happen when we’ve got together as a full band in 2019, and although it obviously had its advantages (e.g. I cannot write drum patterns better than a drummer can), and rehearsing songs until your fingers are sore helps to get the material arranged into a more coherent form, it also brought along the inevitable baggage of the musicians: egos. What a clash it was sometimes! Me personally, I wasn’t the easiest person to work with, very much “my way or the highway” kind of guy. Got better in the past couple of years, a conscious effort. Back then, though… Yeah, at certain points in time it was a hot mess. I am sure that some of that highly volatile energy leaked into the music, and hopefully did bring its benefits.

TheNwothm: And can you give our readers some insights into the production of the record?

Dee: The work initially started with the first song “Battle Ready”, mid-June 2022, and, in all honesty, we were far from being battle ready at that point. First of all, that particular line-up was already showing several major cracks in the masonry, which ultimately resulted in Paul leaving in the beginning of September because he was being ripped apart by his commitments to Terror Activator, problems with the job, relationship issues (when it rains it pours, eh?), and us splitting with Gleb the very next day due to creative differences. Me and Max had decided to continue on our own, get the record done, and then we would see what will come our way. Continuing as a studio project was one of the options.

Second, my own issues were a clusterf**k of its own: two days before the recording of my parts for “Battle Ready”, I got my inguinal hernia relapsed, and spent almost half a year trying to get it fixed properly. The surgeon who operated me the first time didn’t want to do jacks**t, just kept sending me from one scanning to another. Thankfully, I managed to find another doctor who did a splendid job of fixing me, which took place January 2023. Come September 2022, though, my picking hand’s wrist started to experience this dull pain I was all too familiar with: carpal tunnel syndrome entered the chat once again. And we were about to record the rest of the album, mind you. I will not even mention that my relationship with my then-girlfriend was falling apart, too. When it rains it pours, ladies in gentlemen, when it rains it pours.

Regardless of the depth of cesspit I was having my spa days in, I did my best to deliver the necessary bass parts, as well as the backing vocals, and to wrap up finalizing music and lyrics before recording the two songs that we didn’t rehearse before because the songs simply weren’t complete (“Meanfidelity” and “Blindfold”). 

Although it was hard to find time suitable for the recording due to his working schedule, Max did tremendous job both guitar-wise and vocal-wise (he already had experience of recording guitars, but this was his first time singing in the studio). I always tried to be present during the recording sessions, keeping a vigilant eye and ear in case something wasn’t up to par and had to be redone. When I couldn’t participate in the sessions, Max and Andy, our recording engineer, would usually leave some easter eggs in the takes, the most notable one being a reference to the “America, F**k Yeah!” song between the solos in “Blindfold”. Sneaky f**kers, hahahah!

The record was produced by me, Max, and Andy. He also did all the mixing and mastering afterwards. Since we had no drummer at the time of the recording, the drum parts were done by a friend of the band who decided to go under the moniker “Thrash Tony”. The sole exception is “Blindfold”, it was done by Carlos in beginning of 2024. Aaand since we didn’t have the lead guitarist, we decided to invite the guests to play the solos. This is where things start to get interesting. Let’s have a closer look, track by track:

• “Battle Ready”. Guest solo by Ville Koskinen, who’s work on Satan’s Fall “Destination Destruction” album caught our attention.
• “Terror Vendor”. No solo here, only RIFFZ. There was supposed to be one initially, but we liked the way the song sounded when we performed it live prior to the recordings.
• “Cold Fury”. This solo was a parting gift from Paul.
• “Trench Devils”. When I was thinking about who might be the guest on this song, I couldn’t think of anyone better than Max Mayhem of Evil Invaders.
• “Meanfidelity”. We have a sleazy/glammy song on the album, because we can! And the guest player here is Harry Avotins of Bloody Heels.
• “Wolfpack”. The first solo is handled by Max, the second one is delivered by Jānis of Rebel Riot. 
• “Hellheart”. The guest here is mad axeman of the north, Max from Varang Nord. Love his taste in soloing!
• “Blindfold”. The closing song, the song that started it all back in the day. Here we’ve got two guests: Johan Bergman of Aerodyne performing the first solo, Max taking the second, and Chris Puglia of LÏVEWÏRE shredding the hell out of the third one.

So even if we wouldn’t have found Jacques and Carlos, who made it possible to play live shows again, we still would’ve had a damn killer record that put our name on the local metal map. 

TheNwothm: What instruments/gears did you use on the album? Any particular brands or setups that helped shaped the sound of the record?

Dee: Old school BC Rich basses! I’ve got four of them, and all four took part in the recordings. What a show-off, I know!

Max: Unlike the mister show-off, I primarily used my Gibson Les Paul on the most of the songs, the exception being “Wolfpack”, where a BC Rich Stealth was used. Also, a Jackson Dinky was used for my “Wolfpack” solo and some other overdubs.

TheNwothm: Do you have any favourite tracks from the album that stand out to you?

Dee: I would say “Meanfidelity”, since it really stands out from the rest of the crowd. Also, it’s the cheesiest lyrics I’ve penned so far! 

And yours is “Hellheart”, as you’ve already mentioned “off the mic”, so to speak. A fun fact about the music is that it contains a riff (solo part’s rhythm riff) that was brought to life somewhere around autumn 2009. Lyrically, it’s not so fun: the song is dedicated to my late friend Eduards, who left this world way too soon, in December 2014, being only 22 years old. He had a band called “Hellheart”, they did glam/sleaze rock. I don’t think any recordings of their songs exist, sadly. The last time I saw him was Saintorment concert in Daugavpils, where he headbanged in the front row, and then we drank beer outside the venue, in the freezing cold. About a week later, he was gone. The pick I played that show with, I put it in his coffin. And it was a no-brainer to ask Max from Varang Nord to play a solo on this track because, as I mentioned earlier, we both played in Saintorment back then. A tribute to a fallen brother.

Carlos: “Wolfpack” and “Blindfold”, they’re both very fun to play on drums.Also, recording the drum tracks for “Blindfold” was the first time for me to record drums in the studio, with a sound engineer, lots of microphones and stuff.

Jacques: For me, each song has something special, but I will highlight the songs “Wolfpack”, “Trench Devils”, “Meanfidelity”.

TheNwothm: As an independent band, what advantages have you enjoyed, and what challenges have you faced along the way?

Dee: The biggest advantage would be that we can do whatever we want, however we want.

The biggest challenge is funding. Everybody’s got a day job (except Carlos, who’s a student), rent and bills to pay, and since the climate of our country is quite cold, the bills are quite significant sometimes, too. We do have good friends that we can borrow some money from, but by and large, the funding issues is what prevents things from happening as fast as we’d like them to happen.

TheNwothm: Outside of music, what are some hobbies or passions that the band members pursue?

Dee: I’m just a chill guy, I enjoy my powerlifting, books, and video games.

Carlos: Besides music my calling is making video games, for which I’m currently studying game design and graphics in Riga.

Jacques: Sometimes I like to go ice skating, it helps me to distract myself in difficult times. I also enjoy working out.

Max: I’m studying to be a homo sapiens. A kind of a hobby I don’t get paid for, sadly.

TheNwothm: What’s next musically for Mörkvarg after the release of Blindfold?

Dee: We are already in the process of writing new songs, because we are tired of playing the same ones over and over, haha! Well, “new”, since at least two of them were written at the same time as the bulk of material for “Blindfold”. Then we have a lot of assorted riffs and melodies that Max, Jacques, and I came up with. This can easily comprise another 8-to-10 tunes! 

TheNwothm: What can fans expect from a typical Mörkvarg show?

Dee: Sweat, sweat everywhere! Definitely on stage, in the audience, and, as a show in “Artilērijas Pagrabi” in my hometown Daugavpils last May showed, it can be even dripping from the ceiling! We were on the 6th song of the setlist, and my hair was already wet as if I took a shower. To be honest, these are the moments I live for: the pure, raw emotion of the live performance.

Max: Four monkeys on the loose.

Jacques: Wild look, cool sound and enjoyment of the songs.

Carlos: One loud a** snare drum.

TheNwothm: Do you have plans for touring or performing at festivals in the near future?

Dee: No, nothing at this moment. We want to focus on getting the new songs done, and then we will be able to hit the road again! Get them new songs tested in the live conditions. I was pretty stoked, though, that last year we got accepted to Kilkim Žaibu festival, which is the biggest metal festival in the Baltics! And accepted only on the basis of four demo tracks off the album that I sent them. My favourite metal festival in this part of the world liked my stuff and allows us to play there?! Just WOW!

TheNwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch and connect with you?

Dee: Merch can be bought directly from us at shows, or just by hitting us up at social networks! We’ve got Instagram https://www.instagram.com/morkvarg.band/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MorkvargOfficial

Bandcamp page will be set up by the time this interview will see the light of day: https://morkvarg.bandcamp.com

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Jacques: I just want to say that I’m glad to be in the Mörkvarg team, thanks to them I entered the world of music and concerts, which is what I wanted since I picked up guitar for the first time back in 2016.

Dee: Stay hydrated, don’t be dictated, and avoid being constipated.