Discover the enchanting world of London-based musician Solnedgang as he unravels the mystical journey behind his debut EP "Valkyrie," blending Norse mythology with immersive musical storytelling.
1. What
inspired you to delve into Norse mythology for your debut EP
"Valkyrie"?
I’ve always been into Norse mythology and culture ever since I was a child. I
remember reading the Icelandic sagas when I was very little. I’m not sure how
much I understood, but it clearly had a lasting impression on me. Obviously
being from Norway, you see that stuff all around anyway. So it seemed a natural
point of reference when I sought to tie together some musical pieces I had
written, and it just evolved from there really.
2. How did you approach the conceptualization and creation of each track,
considering they represent different aspects of the afterlife?
It was two-fold, in that sometimes I could hear something in a piece of music I
had written – be it a riff, a couple of chords, or even just the guitar sound –
that somehow reminded me of something otherworldly. Other times I would do some
research and that would lead me onto something different, e.g. “Oh, this
Folkvangr place sounds really interesting. I should write a song about that!”.
3. Can you walk us through the creative process behind
"Folkvangr," particularly in capturing the spiritual voyage through
the ether?
Sure, so obviously Valhalla is what everyone thinks of when you think of
Vikings in the afterlife – for good reason. But there is this place called
Folkvangr as well, and basically half of the people who die in battle go to
Odin’s Valhalla, and the other half go to Freyja’s Folkvangr. Anyway, both
places are similar, but Freyja is quite different to Odin and is actually quite
an interesting multi-faceted character. Mostly known as the goddess of love and
fertility, she is also a goddess of battle and death – like Odin. So I wanted
to somehow capture that dichotomy: beauty/war and life/death. I’m not sure how
well I managed to do that, but it turned into an interesting piece at least!
4. "Draugr" evokes fear and eeriness. How did you translate these
emotions into the music, especially with the transitions between aggressive and
calmer sections?
It’s just a bit of storytelling really; me imagining how one might feel seeing
these creatures, and maybe just hearing a sound in the darkness and wondering
what’s lurking out there. This track actually started off way before any of the
other tracks on the EP, and it was just a silly riff I wrote one day. I was
watching the BBC comedy Ghosts at the time, and it sounded a bit ghostly so I
just called it ‘Ghost’. It didn’t really go anywhere, so I just left the
recording in a folder on my computer. Anyway, after deciding on this whole
afterlife concept and writing a few tracks, I felt like I needed a slightly
faster, heavier track. I came up with some riffs that sounded alright, but were
nothing special. I was going through some old ideas and came across this riff
and it somehow worked really well with the other riffs. It evolved quite a bit
from that, to the point where I nearly left that riff out as I thought it was
just a bit too cliché to be honest, but in the end I kept it – it’s the one
that comes in at 0:45.
5. "Lament" is described as melancholic yet hopeful. What was the
inspiration behind balancing these contrasting emotions in the track?
This track was written after I learned that two people in my close family
passed away within a few days of each other. So it’s part mourning and part
honouring their lives.
I’m blown away to be perfectly honest. It’s always hard to judge the quality of your own work, especially as an individual. To have unanimous praise wasn’t something I expected, though clearly I was (and am) proud of my work and thought it was at least good enough to release. I’ve always been open about my influences, but always felt like I had an interesting mix of sounds, and to hear so many people agree with that is just fantastic.
8. What challenges did you face while creating this EP, particularly in terms of translating Norse mythology into musical themes?
I think the music shaped the narrative more than the other way around, but they definitely developed together. I write very intuitively, so for me it’s just about putting myself in a particular mindset and seeing what comes out of it. Then I might get an idea based on the music, which will then shape the rest of the track(s).
9. Can you discuss the instrumentation and musical techniques used in "Folkvangr" that contribute to its atmospheric and immersive nature?
Too much reverb, haha! I love shoegaze and I wanted this track to have quite a dense guitar sound so it ended up being quite effect-heavy, with loads of reverb, and a bit of delay and various things. This combined with the use of the tremolo/whammy bar on the guitar creates lots of interesting harmonics and the end result is very immersive.
10. In "Draugr," the aggressive and calmer sections create a dynamic listening experience. How did you approach the arrangement to achieve this effect?
I always try to have multiple sections within a song to keep things interesting, and a bit surprising on first listen. Though it needs to serve the song, or the story, so if something doesn’t quite work I’ll scrap it. Kill your darlings and all that. With Draugr I wanted to balance the sound a bit, to insert a bit of anticipation and eeriness to what was a fairly aggressive sound. Timing is key here; too much disruption will upset the feel of the song, but you also don’t want sections or riffs to go on so long that it gets boring. Hopefully I got it more or less right on this one.
11. "Lament" captures the essence of grieving and reminiscing. What elements did you focus on to convey these emotions effectively?
It’s all based around a simple, clear melody and chord progression, combined with some underlying atmospheric sounds. I didn’t want to overload it with more melodies, sections and any unnecessary stuff, so in that sense it’s probably the most straight-forward track I’ve written. I feel like I did a good job of capturing my emotions, but whether or not that comes across I don’t know – that wasn’t really something I was aiming for necessarily.
12. "Niflhel" has been praised for its depth and immersion. How did you ensure that the absence of vocals enhanced the narrative and emotional impact of the track?
I try to make up for the lack of vocals/lyrics by having constantly changing melodies so there is always something ‘new’ to focus on. Every section is a bit different and there are different melodies going on in each section as well – sometimes simultaneously. It’s probably the track I’ve written that’s most reliant on atmosphere rather than melody, and for me at least it’s the most visually evocative one as well.
13. What do you hope listeners take away from "Valkyrie," both in terms of musical experience and thematic exploration?
Music is such a huge emotional release for me, so hopefully some of that will come across to the listeners as well. I think music is supposed to make you feel something, and what I like about good instrumental music is that it’s pure emotion – no distractions. Hopefully my music has some of that as well. In terms of the themes, these are things that mean something to me, and I wanted to have something to guide the listener towards how or what I was feeling when I wrote it, but at the end of the day it’s up to the listener to figure out what it means to them.
14. Looking ahead, how do you envision your musical journey evolving after the release of this EP, especially considering its unique blend of themes and genres?
The album will essentially be an expanded version of the EP. I’ve had some ideas of where to take things next; thematically there is much more to explore within Norse mythology, but I might also do something completely different. Musically I might go in a heavier direction, or incorporate more synths and electronic sounds, and I might even include some vocals – maybe all of the above! It will certainly be a mix of loads of different influences, with my own little spin on it. And as guitar is my main instrument it will certainly be very guitar-heavy as well.
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