Non Human Level (VO)

interview Non Human LevelEverybody knows Christopher Malmstrom, guitarist for the mighty Darkane. Now here's Non-Human Level, his thrash/death solo project with a bunch of other swedish talented musicians. First album out now on Listenable, it was a good occasion to speak with the guy. Here's a quick interview in december 2005.


Hi Christopher ! Please explain us why & when you decided to create a solo project ? Which are the other guys who play with you inside Non-Human Level ? Why did you choose them ?
I started the Non-Human Level project in 1999 when I felt that I had some more music in me that I wanted to record but didn´t fit the Darkane style. I wanted to create music with more stuff going on in the guitars and more guitar solos than we had in Darkane. I was also curious to play with other musicians than the ones in Darkane. I´ve got Ryan van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend band) on drums, Peter Wildoer (drummer of Darkane) on vocals and Gustaf Hielm (ex Meshuggah) on bass. I wanted really good musicians and I think that I would call it my dream team.

Musicaly speaking, Non-Human Level is a kind of mix between bay-area influenced thrash-metal et swedish death. What are the bands from the 80's who influenced your musical tastes ? Were you into bigger bands like Exodus, Testament, Vio-lence, Forbidden or more into underground acts… ?
To be honest I never listened to those bands. I´ve heard them from time to time and maybe got influenced by them, but that´s probably it. I´ve listened more to Tampa death like Death and Obituary and also swedish metal bands like At the Gates and Meshuggah. Of course also Slayer, old Metallica and Anthrax. In the 80´s I listened mostly to bands like Iron Maiden, Ozzy and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Let's talk ab
interview Non Human Levelout this album who is released on Listenable. Where did you record it ? Who's the producer ? Was it a cool experience in the studio ?
It was recorded at Not Quite Studio which is Darkane's own studio. I produced it myself and Peter mixed it, so not many other people has been involved. The drums was recorded at Greenhouse Studios in Vancouver, Canada and then the drum files was sent to me in Sweden so I could continue the recording there. It was cool recording Gustaf when he played the bass because he is very proffesional and nailed the whole album in just one day. I recorded the guitar alone so I had to be engineer and guitar player at the same time. That took a while but it was allright to work that way.

Do you compose as a whole democratic band, or are you the leading member ?
This is actually called my solo album, so I have written and arranged everything and I also gathered the members for the project. But I didn´t tell them exactly how to play. It was important for me that the other members had their own input on the music as well. I wanted them to feel like they were a part of the music and that they had fun while recording it. I think they had.


Your album is technically high (reaching a non-human level… roooo). But melodies & catchiness are also present. How do you know when a song is perfectly balanced between technicity & song-writing ? Do you sometimes avoid some complex structures ?
It´s hard to tell… I guess that is a matter of taste, but I would say I listen very critically to the song and see if I like it or not. I try to hear it with someone elses ears, not thinking about what I was thinking when I wrote the song. I wouldn´t say that I avoid complex structures… I just try to write what I think is good.
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Playing in several big bands should be a problem to organize tours. But will you play live with Non-Human Level these next months ?
The problem is that the drummer lives in Vancouver, Canada and the bass player also lives quite far away from me and Peter, so I don´t think we´ll ever get to play live with Non-Human Level. We would have to get together and rehearse first and so on, and that is a problem when a member lives on the other side of the world.

Let's talk about the lyrics. What do they deal with ? What kinds of lyrics do you write about ? Are you inspired by informations, fictions, self emotions… ?
I write a lot of different things… like people with extremely large egos, people that never trust anyone else and therefore never give themselves a chance to bond with others. I´ve also written about catastrophies like 9/11 and when a ship called Estonia sunk in the sea outside the Swedish shores in 1994 and 849 people died.

Do you already know if there will be another Non-Human Level album in the future ?
It took a lot of time for me to write this one, so I don´t know. It depends on how much time Darkane will take in the future.

Let's have a dream now. Even if your line-up is absolutely great, what are the 3 musicians you admire the most (dead or alive) ? That you'd like to play with for the next NHL album ?
I would never wanna trade the line-up I´ve got right now. I can´t come up with anyone else that I would prefer. These guys fit the band very well!


Thanx for your time Christopher, this interview is finished. Have a nice christmas time.
Thanks a lot! Take care and have a great chrismas too!




www.nonhumanlevel.com
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interview réalisée par DJ In Extremis

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