4 minute read
In The Woods. Interview with Kare Andre Sletteberg
Interview by Andrew Stanton
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- Hello and welcome to Inside the Darkness.
"Hello, I'm Kåre from In The Woods… and thank you for these questions."
- Can you tell our readers a bit about your history, please?
"From Kristiansand, Norway, the band gave out their first demo and album in the early/mid 90s, followed up by two releases in the early 90s before taking the band off the grid for 14 years. The band reformed in 2014 and I joined in 2015 as the bands lead guitar player. Since then we have done two more studio albums, 3rd on the way, two European tours and a lot of concerts around. We changed our singer in 2021, having Bernt Fjellestad coming in the band doing a magnificent job on every aspect of vocals lines and harmonies."
- How do you describe your music these days?
"Our music today is filled with elements that we all like and we do not make music to just make music, it’s something that comes to us, and we do not think about genre when its created. When all of us add their elements it becomes what it is supposed to be. Someone would probably describe us as not so heavy anymore, but we definitely play Heavy Metal, Black Metal and what not. It’s just all mixed in there, to make it us, to make it In The Woods…"
- Do you change styles simply because you get bored doing the same things all the time?
"Not at all! We don´t change our genre like that. It’s about floating across lines creating the music we want to create. We could probably make a Black Metal record that would give you a jaw drop, but it is not what we seek out to do, it is not what comes naturally to this band and this group of musicians. We simply make the music we want to make."
- Who is the new singer? What was the reason for James Fogarty leaving?
"Bernt Fjellestad is our new singer, and we are all very happy for what he brought into this group. He is being a top professional and he delivered some amazing work on our new record. James Fogarty left the group because he could not fit in on a creating wise place with us. He gave Anders Kobro a ultimatum and in the end, he withdraw from the band."
- What are your lyrics about?
"It depends on who reads them, it’s like all lyrics, people often creates their own stories that the can latch onto and give the song a more personal meaning. It’s a way for people to think that this song belongs to me, and this song touched me in a very special way. The new album has a lot of darkness in it, what we as a world are going through together at this moment. "
- What do you think of the way Black Metal has gone now?
"Black Metal is extremely popular and the biggest bands are selling out venue after venue and doing good on merchandise. It’s like Jørn from Mayhem said on a documentary: ``We are mainstream and I love it, we do this for a living so why shouldn’t we actually make a living of it?``"
- Do you ever think you will become mainstream, or do you not want to be?
"That depends on what you mean by mainstream. If it means we could go on tour, come home go in a recording studio and do it all again, yes I would like that. But only for the music we have and give out now. We wouldn’t change our style for fame or money. We only hope that our fans will continue to like our music and supporting us, and hopefully catch some new ones on the way!"
- Were you very proud to be a part of the Black Metal scene in the early 1990's?
"Well the scenes where happening in the bigger cities. In The Woods… was down in Kristiansand just observing, focusing on what actually mattered. The music."
- Are you planning a tour?
"Yes, we are back working with our German booking/promotion Redback Promotion and are hoping to go out some time after our new album is out. Nothing more specific than that at this moment."
- Do you have a message for our readers?
"Thank you for reading this, and I really hope you will like our new record, Diversum that releases at November 25th through SoulSeller Records."
Thank you for your time.
"Thank you for the questions and time!"
