Interview: MØL
We've been writing music for our own sake – we're just very fortunate that people actually enjoy the music we're putting out. We're really fortunate that people are still following along after almost ten years. It was quite a different approach with Dreamcrush compared to Jord and Diorama, but the feedback has been really, really great.
Danish blackgazers MØL arrived at ArcTanGent with a third album under their arm and a noticeably wider palette. Jody Dunstan sat down with the band in the festival sunshine to talk about melody, marination and the freedom of “Møl må godt”.
E&D: Should we do some quick intros – just who you all are?
Sigurd: Hello, I’m Sigurd and I play guitar.
Holger: I’m Holger and I play bass.
Ken: I’m the drummer. Ken.
Nicolai: I’m Nicolai, guitar.
Kim: And I’m Kim, and I scream.
E&D: Fantastic. So, I was listening to a bit of your back catalogue before, and your sound has changed – it’s more melodic. Is that a very deliberate thing, or is it just the way the band is drifting?
Ken: I think it was a very deliberate thing, in the way that MØL has always done this sort of thing where we’re allowed to. We say it in Danish – Møl må godt, which means MØL is allowed. So this is what we felt was the right choice at the time.
Sigurd: Maybe I can expand on that. I think it’s always been melodic, and it goes with what I like to listen to – a lot of us like to listen to melodic music. So we wanted to see how far we could push that on Dreamcrush. It felt natural, at least in terms of songwriting, to try and go in that direction.
E&D: And has your creative process changed as you’ve brought that into your sound?
Holger: It’s kind of a hard question, because we’ve been active for quite a long time and every album cycle has been different. With Jord it was a very close, band-wide thing – we all met in the studio and the practice space, we all lived together with Nicolai, and then we’d do demos, mostly me and Nicolai writing the stuff. I think it was the same with the current album, but everybody’s pitching in more, and everybody went into the studio together. We were a more coherent faction on this album, at least in the backing department, everybody came in and did that part. On the earlier albums there was a lot of variation in where people were living and what their situations were, so with this one we tried to make it close on purpose, so everybody could participate.
Ken: I’d iterate on that a bit, though, because it still starts with Nicolai writing a riff, and then you give it a lot of feedback and you marinate that for a bit, and then it goes out. There is a process to it.
Holger: Yeah, mostly all of the material springs out from Nicolai. That’s been the same, but different people are adding to it. Everybody has an opinion on it, but it springs from Nicolai, who’s the main songwriter. I think we can all agree on that. And it’s nice that he’s touring and playing with us now.
E&D: What’s the reaction been to Dreamcrush?
Kim: Sick. It’s been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve been asked a lot whether we felt any pressure after Jord and Diorama, and, as Ken mentioned at the beginning, we’ve been writing music for our own sake – we’re just very fortunate that people actually enjoy the music we’re putting out. We’re really fortunate that people are still following along after almost ten years. It was quite a different approach with Dreamcrush compared to Jord and Diorama, but the feedback has been really, really great.
And we’re slowly getting out there. This is the first touring cycle we’re doing with the album, so it’s new for us too – playing the songs together, first of all, and then playing them live in front of a crowd. It always takes a couple of cycles for people to recognise the songs and sing along, but people have just been there from the beginning. They already know the lyrics.
Holger: Mention London.
Kim: Oh yeah, the London gig – the Underworld, in Camden. People were singing along to the new tracks as well, even though the album hadn’t even been out for a month. It was an overwhelming experience. So, so cool.
Holger: The reception to the first single, ‘Garland’, was the same. That was deliberately a bold first single, because the style was pretty different from the old songs. We took the approach of releasing the singles that show the most drastic change in the sound and the feel of MØL. If people like what MØL has done from the very beginning, they’ll still love and enjoy what we’re doing now – the whole pushing of boundaries, mixing genres together.
E&D: You must be quite nervous, though, taking that out live for the first time and waiting to see what the reaction is?
Holger: But yeah – we joke the whole time that they’re going to quit on us!
Ken: The production is different, too. Historically we’ve had our live thing where if you just put enough energy into it, it’s going to be good. But there are so many more dynamics in the new songs. We’ve got Kim’s clean vocals, so there’s a whole other level of production that comes into it, which is motivating and challenging for a band like us, to try and adapt to that style and create a live show around it. When you’ve played live so much, this feels new to us, and it feels challenging in a way, because it takes another level. Not just blasting and playing as fast as you can, as long as you can.
Kim: And also playing the material. It’s always weird, because the old songs we’ve played so many times, so incorporating new material into the set is always a strange thing – how is the reception going to be? How is it going to feel playing the song live? But I feel now like we’ve really come to terms with the new material in terms of our live show, and it really fits well with the older material. And, like I said earlier, the reception has been great.
E&D: Fantastic. So what’s next for the band? Are you just going to tour this album for a while, or is there anything else in the pipeline?
Holger: Writing more music. And considering this streak, personally, I’m super proud of everything we’ve made. There’s never been a single song that I don’t like, and I wish it’d continue that way. I don’t think we’ve ever made a bad album. A lot of music comes out of a single focus: you get a single, and then you have eight other tracks that are five out of ten. We have to keep a really freaking high standard, and we all wish for that high standard.
Ken: And that shows in the time it takes to make this kind of material. It needs to be perfect, in our world.
Holger: It needs to marinate, and it needs to be as close to perfect as you can get.
E&D: It’s complex music. I guess you can’t just force it if it isn’t there?
Ken: I’d add to that, because I think growth is a really important part. Good things in this world sometimes take the time that they take, and I really appreciate that we also have a label that understands that. They heard the demos to begin with and they were like, “this is going to be really good.”
Holger: Average.
Ken: “It’s going to be good.” That was not what Nathan said!
Holger: Got it in writing!
Kim: But that’s the thing, having a team that believes in what you do. That’s what every band is rooting for. If not, it’s just yourself carrying it. So we’ve been really fortunate to have good people that we work with, also here in the UK. If we didn’t have Hold Tight PR here, Lisa Coverdale. . .
Holger: She’s very passionate.
Kim: She is so passionate. The best PR agent you could ask for.
Holger: And that’s what we get from the fans as well. We’re spoiled at the festivals and the shows, people really, really dig it. We started playing music for ourselves, in a way, but nowadays I feel like we owe it to people. You really try your best to give them the show that they deserve.
Ken: It’s been important for us not to make the same record twice. We’re trying to push the development of the music in different directions and explore different ways in which MØL can sound.
E&D: If you could collaborate with any band, or anyone at all, who would it be and why?
Kim: Brutus. We’d love to collaborate with Brutus.
Holger: Tim Christensen from Dizzy Mizz Lizzy would be really cool. He’s a guitar hero. He’s amazing.
Nicolai: Mew.
Holger: They don’t exist anymore!
Nicolai: They did a reunion tour a few years ago. So we’re ready.
E&D: Awesome. Thanks, guys – appreciate it.
MØL: Thank you so much.
Photo: Joe Singh (@snaprockandpop)
Header photo: Joe Singh (@snaprockandpop)
