B&T: I'm here with Mr. Morten Iversen (aka Teloch) of Mayhem. Thank you very much for meeting with me. I really appreciate it!
Teloch: Likewise.
B&T: Well, with everything that is going on in the world with COVID-19, you guys obviously had to cut the Decibel Magazine Tour [with Abbath, Gatecreeper, and Idle Hands] short. I saw that great picture of you guys with all your masks on waiving goodbye at the airport that you posted on the Mayhem Facebook page.
Teloch: [laughs]
B&T: Maybe you could address that a little bit? Maybe address what it was like to have to cut the tour short?
Teloch: Oh, it was a... yeah, it sucked hard ass. [laughs] I don't know if you know this, but we were already there [in the U.S.] doing pre-production. We did two days of pre-production and then on our way to the first show we figured out that we needed to cancel this shit so... and also, I had been there already for a week before this rehearsing with a substitute drummer that we had for this tour. So it was not a good feeling that we left... as we all came home with a massive amount of debt. We have thousands of printed [tour] t-shirts and stuff like that, flight costs, and everything. It was not a cool thing at all, but we will use this downtime to figure out ways to cover our losses. Also, touring America is always a favorite part of touring for us. So it really sucks, but hopefully we will come back soon.
B&T: That was my other question in regards to this cancellation. Hopefully you guys will be able to reignite that tour or a similar tour in the not too distant future once things calm down?
Teloch: Yeah, we have our management working on this as we speak actually so they're trying to move things around a bit and trying to squeeze in a four week tour. [laughs] But yeah, hopefully we'll do something soon.
B&T: And speaking of that - the loss of revenue - just so people know, if they go to the True Mayhem website (https://thetruemayhem.aisamerch.com/), you guys are selling a lot of merchandise right now that you would have been selling during the tour... especially the North America Tour shirts so if fans want to help out and help you guys recoup some of those lost costs, they can go to the website and order t-shirts and other items as well, including music and whatnot. I actually have my order in for the tour shirt.
Teloch: Oh really? Excellent! We have some people already going in and buying merch so that's very nice of them and much appreciated, but we still have tons left [laughs] so people can go buy something still and that helps a lot.
B&T: I did see that the face masks that you guys did have completely sold out.
Teloch: They sold out in three days I think.
B&T: That's pretty cool! So let's talk a little bit about the latest album "Daemon" that came out in October. And obviously that's what you were touring on. From what I've read, it sounds like the writing on "Daemon" was very collaborative. In fact, I had read in an interview with you that you and Ghul [aka Charles Hedger] had started with some "guitar sketches" and then took those into the studio and everybody got together and started coming up with ideas. Would you talk about that, the creative process for the album?
Teloch: Yeah, as you said, we started out with some song sketches and we then agreed on which of these sketches we'd try out in rehearsals. So as soon as we had three or four songs to try out, we met up at the [studio] and from there we decided which songs we should take further along. Also, everyone was welcome to come in with suggestions on what to do... to switch out a riff or repeat parts here and there. So I think for our band it was a very band effort... maybe the best feeling I've ever had in a band. Yeah, that was a cool process and I hope we can keep continuing to work like that because it is great to hear how other creative minds work, you know?
B&T: Yeah, and I would say that personally, my opinion is that this album is phenomenal! It is so cohesive. I'm sure a lot of old-school Mayhem fans might get mad at me for saying this, but I think it is the best Mayhem album of them all.
Teloch: Oh really?
B&T: Yeah, it is just such a brilliant album! I cannot stop listening to it; I listen to it every day.
Teloch: Thank you for that!
B&T: What some people may not know is that... You came into the band in 2011, correct and you basically wrote most of music if not all on the album "Esoteric Warfare"... Is that correct?
Teloch: Yeah, I wrote all the music for it.
B&T: Wow! So when you joined Mayhem, how did that come about? Did you know band members? Did you try out? How did you get in place with Mayhem?
Teloch: Actually I already knew Hellhammer [aka Jan Axel Blomberg] already and also Attila [Csihar] from before and they asked me if I wanted to come and play with them. So I went to one rehearsal and tried out, but I had to turn them down actually. I said no to them [laughs] because I was playing in Gogoroth at the time and we had some upcoming tours that I promised to do with them. So yeah, I turned them down, but then a couple of years later I think it was and luckily for me I didn't have any job so that was perfect timing.
B&T: It seems like you fit right in... it seems like it was seamless. You are obviously a professional musician, but was it intimidating joining this legendary band or did you just ease right into it?
Teloch: Oh, it was no problem at all. You have to remember that I came from Gogoroth so [laughs] they've got their own story as you might know. And also on a personal level, we are all very similar, all of us. It felt like old friends hanging out. So that was a cool feeling.
B&T: Cool! As a fan, that's kinda how you hope it really is... that it isn't just business; that the band members actually enjoy time together and are friends.
Teloch: I can tell you straight up that nobody is in Mayhem for business. [laughs]
B&T: So with the tour cancelled unfortunately, you guys are back in Norway... so hopefully that means that maybe you are doing some writing? I know that you have your own band Nidingr, which put out an album a few years ago: "The High Heat Licks Against Heaven", a great album! So now that you are currently stuck at home are you maybe doing some writing for Nidingr or even some new Mayhem material? I know it is early; you guys just put out "Daemon" in October, but without being able to tour are you working on some stuff? What are your plans right now?
Teloch: Actually, I started writing for the next Nidingr album right before we left to go on tour so that was my plan to keep writing while Mayhem was on tour, but now that I'm home quarantined, I don't have access to my studio, but tomorrow maybe, yeah? So hopefully tomorrow I will go up to the studio and continue to work on Nidingr stuff and also we also have some plans of doing some new Mayhem as well. It is the perfect time to get some writing done. Hopefully, we can do that.
B&T: Let's go back in time a lit bit and learn more about your early days. How did you get involved with music?
Teloch: My father is a musician himself so he always played music for me; the Beatles and stuff like that. So the first musical things came from him. When I first found music that I like myself, I think it was Ah-Ha, stuff like that... "Scoundrel Days" by Ah-Ha. [laughs] From there it took a more aggressive turn of course with AC/DC and Kiss and then suddenly I found Metallica and then I was completely sold to metal of course. And from there it just went more and more aggressive... so I ended up in black metal. [laughs]
B&T: I have a two-fold question for you. As a guitar player and as a songwriter (and this may differ a little), who have been your biggest influences?
Teloch: It has been Death and Metallica. They are the two bands that taught me how to play guitar because I didn't go to school. I stayed home playing guitar since junior high. [laughs] So now I know a little bit about guitars, but I don't know about anything else in the world. [laughs] So yeah, James Hetfield and Chuck Schuldiner.
B&T: Definitely two heroes of mine as well.
Teloch: Ah, nice!
B&T: Yeah, Chuck is mind-blowingly good!
Teloch: Did you see the Death documentary on Amazon?
B&T: I haven't seen that yet. I need to check that out.
Teloch: Yeah, I liked it. I saw it the other day actually. I liked it. It was cool.
B&T: What got you into black metal? What would you say was that transitional, that pivot that got you from traditional metal into more extreme stuff? Do you remember?
Teloch: Yeah, yeah... I remember it really well actually. I was playing in death metal bands at the time and then I found Darkthrone and Mayhem... especially when I heard "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", it just parked me right away. I was fucking sold! And now I play with them! [laughs]
B&T: Yeah, that's got to be a pretty good feeling and probably sometimes a little unreal I would imagine. That's got to be sort of a surreal feeling to be playing in a band that was once heroes of yours.
Teloch: It is, especially when we did the "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" tour, you know? We were in corpse paint and we only played that album. That was fucking special for me.
B&T: What are you listening to right now? Is there anything that is on your radar that you think your fans should check?
Teloch: I'm the worst when it comes to listening to music. I actually try to stay away from it while I'm in this writing mode because I don't want to be influenced by other people's music.
B&T: Okay, last question. So you just finish a recording session or finished a night playing a show, what beer do you crack open and what album do you put on?
Teloch: None. [laughs] I go into my bedroom and turn off the lights. [laughs] I don't do anything.
B&T: Well, thank you so very much for chatting with me today. I really appreciate it. I hope you and your loved ones stay healthy and safe. And hopefully we'll see Mayhem on tour in the not too distant future!
Teloch: Yeah! Enjoy your weekend man! Thank you!
If you don't have it already, make sure you pick up Mayhem's latest kickass album "Daemon" and visit their website for lots of cool merch at: https://thetruemayhem.aisamerch.com/.
Skål!! Hails!!
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