Fjoergyn - January 2010

Interview with

Stephan of Fjoergyn

A while ago, after having written the review for FJOERGYN’s latest output, ‘Jahreszeiten’, I had the chance to formulate questions to bandleader Stephan, with regard to the development of their music but also other aspects. Even though some time has passed, a nice result came into being.

Reflections of Darkness (RoD): Firstly I would like to congratulate you to your newest record, ‘Jahreszeiten’. Its recording has been a while ago, but how content are you with the result until now?
Stephan: In the meanwhile, a considerably large amount of time has passed by and still we are delighted by the outcome. Most of the reviews turned out more than positive, which surprised us due to our difficult to digest music, but at the same time makes us feel euphoric. We have worked really hard on ‘Jahreszeiten’, so it’s nice if you get rewarded in such a way.

RoD: In comparison to your previous records, in which way were the other members of the band included in to the songwriting?
Stephan: Martin and André were completely involved in the process of development. They added several great ideas, to which I would not have come on my own. To that effect, we have really grown together to a band and I am really pleased to have these people around me.

RoD: How would you describe the most significant differences from a musical point of view and in the way of developing ‘Jahreszeiten’, also in comparison to its forerunners?
Stephan: We really took lots of our time. Formerly, I decided when and if a song was complete or if some time had to be put in to complete some structures. This time, everything happened more democratically, and we tried more things, so that even at the point where we entered the studio, we had absolutely no idea how the material would sound in the end of this process. I think that most of our songs are very elaborate. On the one side, the text should be perceived sensed by listening to the words, but one the other side moreover it should be sensed through the surrounding melody. This tone painting in our case worked far better than on the previous records. We wanted the listener to be able to discover the occurrences in the nature even without lyrics. ‘Jahreszeiten’ also possesses more sentiments than its predecessors; we worked a lot with affects and sometimes we gave sound to eight beats just to subsequently displace it completely.

RoD: FJOERGYN has developed from a solo-project to an entirely normal band. During the time of ‘Ernte im Herbst’ (first record), would you have reckoned this and nowadays, how does it feel to play concerts as a unity?
Stephan: No, I would never have anticipated this. It is not about knowing that you are a member of the band, I absolutely do not care about that. It is rather the fact of having gathered great musicians around me, who initiated due to their ideas and knowledge a lot in my music. I do not like to forsake the position of the band dictator, but in their case, there is nothing to argue against.

RoD: Thinking about the tour with ‘Dornenreich’ and ‘Ahab’ in a retrospective, what where positive or rather negative happenings? Are there evenings which are specially remembered?
Stephan: In conjunction with this tour, there is nothing negative coming to my mind, at least not related to the audiences or the bands. For all concerned persons, it was really an amazing time, which was mostly marked with nice conversations, a lot of fun and harmony. Even though it was only ten days, we all found a good connection to each other, which made the last evening for some persons rather difficult. I would not like to pick out a certain story, but rather remark that the musicians and every single day were amazing.

RoD: Do you, personally, have certain desires of sharing the stage with a particular band someday?
Stephan: With DORNENREICH, already one wish has been fulfilled. Soon, we will be on tour with THE VISION BLEAK and ALCEST, and once again I am really looking forward to this. I really like both bands and am curious to find out about Europe’s reactions.

RoD: Concerning your future gigs, are there any certain plans with regard to the presentation, also with regard to the songs with a higher percentage of orchestral elements? Are therefore some songs not to be played live?
Stephan: In fact, some songs are because of their ‘opulence’ rather difficult to realise on stage. To that effect we have created quite a colourful set, which should please the average listener. Adding a live-orchestra to FJOERGYN was often contemplated, but until now broke down due to the financial aspect and also putting this adventure into a strict time frame. But it has not come out of my mind yet and someday I hope to fulfil this dream.

RoD: Where do you get the motivation of making music and what are musical backgrounds that lead to such a music?
Stephan: That’s a difficult question. I love music and have been occupying myself with it for a long time, which in the end lead to a study of its sciences. Since I am a follower of various different styles of music, the average metal soon began to bore me. That was why I decided to create my own compositions in such a way that they are able to avail themselves from every genre. I do not know which sort of music we make but I would not like to classify it. For me, music is the queen of all arts. So that’s how I would describe my musical motivation. As one can imagine, the lyrical layer has other roots.

RoD: Your lyrics administer in a significant way to your overall picture. How hard or easy is it to transfer contents which are close to one’s heart and to put them into a good form?
Stephan: I cannot really speak of either hard or easy in this case. There are moments when the lyrics simply flow out of oneself. I cannot estimate in which way those outpourings are understood, but our general message is clearly visible. The metaphors within this complex can be experienced by everyone on his own. At the beginning of every record a working title and an approximate direction are settled, in which the content should veer. With this first framework and the first notes I find it rather easy to write lyrics. Those moments seem like a release as you get rid of the burdens of your mind. It is a bit difficult to describe.

RoD: In which way do you occupy yourselves with the latest happenings in the music-scene and how do you evaluate the developments with regard to the digitalization of music and the occurring problems?
Stephan: Actually I support the possibilities, with which you can spread a message. In the case of our Mp3- Society, I see several problems in fact, whilst the financial damage in my opinion has less priority. MP3 is killing music. You listen to it, but you rather collect it. It is utterly a “wanting-to-have” of music. This existed already earlier in the case of copying cassettes, which each of us did in great quantities. But the effort was enormous. You designed a cover and were right in the middle of the process. Everything happened in real-time. You could even speak of an own culture, that was connected to input and dedication. Nowadays, only a minute is required until I receive a new record, which simply disappears in the tangled mass of 150 GB digital music on an external hard drive. Although the financial damage is enormous, I am rather interested in the medium music. The same goes for legal bought mp3 files. A CD is strongly connected to a cover and the walk to the rack to pick up a CD. It is a ritual and fond vinyl buyers probably know even better what I am talking about.

RoD: For FJOERGYN, how important is the medium internet?
Stephan: In the meantime, two of our musicians have regular internet, I only at times, which influenced the long time to answer the questions (for which I would again like to apologise). I can get along without internet very easily. For the band in fact it has become very popular. It is a free space for advertisement. I would not start wildly rifling through MySpace to make as many digital friendships as possible, as it is a common procedure by many popular bands. The people can exchange their thoughts about us and thanks to this medium can find out more about us. Only very few bands can get along without internet today. We will see, maybe it will implement someday. ;)

RoD: ‘Jahreszeiten’ remarks the end of a trilogy. In which way will you continue then?
Stephan: To answer it with the words that fit to every album: it is definitely going to be FJOERGYN, only different.

RoD: Thanks a lot for the interview!
Stephan: It is my turn to thank. The questions were really good, which arranged the response convenient.

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