Leaves Eyes Interview

Leaves' Eyes combines the vocal talents of Liv Kristine Espenes Krull, formerly of Theatre Of Tragedy with the seasoned musicianship of the members of Atrocity, who serve as the bewitching vocalist's backing band. Although Leaves' Eyes are far removed from the death metal styling of Atrocity, metal fans are certain to be attracted to the band's powerful melodies and dramatic songwriting. Liv speaks with The Gauntlet's Erin Fox in regard to the bands latest masterpiece, Vinland Saga.




The Gauntlet: What is it that most inspires you as a vocalist?

Liv Kristine Espenes Krull: I grew up with Black Sabbath and Madonna. Both Ozzy and Madonna are still my favourite artists, although they are very different. However, the combination of female vocals and metal, which was what I wanted to do and did with my former band Theatre of Tragedy and today do with Leaves' Eyes, is certainly a result of my varied music taste. However, when it comes to writing music, lyrics and concepts, there are other influences: My homesickness, my childhood (I was born and lived 20 years in Norway before I moved to Germany), the Norwegian Nature and my son, Leon are my sources of inspiration. The Norwegian Nature, culture and history, including my own childhood, family and heritage, inspires me when composing music and writing lyrics and concept.


The Gauntlet: What do you feel is the single most challenging aspect of being a professional musician?

Liv Kristine Espenes Krull: Making people you work with who don't know you well enough aware of the creative person behind and within the artist. The music business is very hard. It easily happens that you get a dollar sign on your forehead and everybody forgets that you are an individual human being. This happened to me some years ago. I spent three years in front of court to get my rights back for making further solo albums. It made me hate the music industry and I almost gave it up, but I'm glad everything went fine and today I'm much wiser. I'm more careful now and I know I can't trust everybody. I'm so glad and grateful to have signed with Roadrunner last year. My second solo album will be released in the autumn this year. Finally a dream comes true!


The Gauntlet: Please tell us about the most treasured experience you have had as a recording artist.

Liv Kristine: My youngest "fan" is a little French boy, Kevin, suffering from the terrible Kabuki syndrome. His parents contacted Leaves' Eyes asking us to record a message for their little boy. We sent him the greetings and a special present. As I got a picture showing Kevin smiling and holding the present and a Leaves' Eyes picture I cried. I hope to meet him some day.


The Gauntlet: What do you feel is the ultimate purpose behind the band's music?

Liv Kristine: The art of Leaves' Eyes is not only good for your ears, but also for your heart and soul. We want to make your daily lives brighter.


The Gauntlet: Why is it that you decided to use the story of Leif Erikson's voyage as the conceptual basis for "Vinland Saga"?

Liv Kristine: After having composed about 8-9 songs for the album, I started concentrating on the concept and the lyrics. I just let myself get inspired by the music itself, and what I felt when listening to the music was "ocean", "brave Vikings in long ships", "adventure", and "the west coast of Norway (where I grew up)", to put it short. Then the Vinland Sagas entered my mind. The Vinland Sagas are stories from the Viking age, describing the Viking's journeys to and experience in America, which is the historical frame of the album. The music itself inspired me to go back in history and concentrate on a certain point in the Viking's history. The pictures you see in the booklet show the place in Norway where I grew up. The Vinland Saga begins exactly there, namely at the west coast of Norway about 1.000 years ago, as a group of ships sailed towards Greenland to visit Eiriksson's father (Eirik the Red). Due to bad weather they passed Greenland and ended up discovering America instead. What a journey! Even before going to school I had read and heard a lot about the Vikings as I used to read and watch cartoons about them and afterwards ask my parents about more information. Even today the complete Viking age interests me, especially their daily lives, their journeys and the North-, West- and East-Germanic languages. "Vinland Saga" is a piece of my homeland, Norway, to me. Moreover, it's a way of coping with my homesickness.


The Gauntlet: Please tell us about the recording process of "Vinland Saga." Did you encounter any specific successes or maladies that you had not undergone in the past?

Liv Kristine: We needed about 6 months for the production, starting in November last year. We are lucky to have our own studio, Mastersound studio (www.mastersoundstudio.de). On this album every one was included in the song writing process. Only "Amhran" was written only by me. I'm as always responsible for the lyrics, the conceptual idea(s) and the vocal lines. Alex is our producer, but I enjoy taking part in the production. I had initially written all the lyrics in English, but the guys told me to translate some of the parts into Norwegian. To sing in Norwegian, my mother tongue, makes the song even more personal. I had to get used to this feeling first, but now I'm fine with it. Moreover, due to the fact that we decided to replace the classical samplers by natural instruments, we needed a bit more time, as I mentioned above, but to record at Mastersound studio is very comfortable for us.
Our second album "Vinland Saga" is more complex than "Lovelorn" and the complete album is more varied that our debut.


The Gauntlet: What is it like for you to record with Alexander? Do you feel that being so close to him assists in inspiring your best performance in the studio?

Liv Kristine: Alexander is my best advisor and supporter. Either he is next to me on the stage or in the studio I feel so comfortable when he is with me. He's a perfectionist and always 100% honest. I wouldn't have come so far without his help. Moreover, he's an excellent producer.


The Gauntlet: What of the track Amhran? How did it come about that you scripted a language specifically for this track?

Liv Kristine: I had planned to write the lyrics in Gaelic (Old Irish), however I couldn't find a teacher who could check my grammar. Thus I decided to combine stems from Gaelic, Old English and Old Norse. However, it's not a language with a complete grammar structure. It's more the sound of the phonemes' combination that interests me. The idea for the melody entered my mind on my way to the bakery shop. I turned around and went straight into the recording room. No bread that day, but very nice song!


The Gauntlet: You seem to be an intensely spiritual entity. Please entertain us with a bit of insight as to your spiritual beliefs.

Liv Kristine: I'm not a member of the church anymore as I don't see it as necessary although my spiritual beliefs are strong. I've found my own spirituality in the Nature and let it flow through myself and I try to give it to other people. I believe that we human beings should take a good look within ourselves and try to find a "balance" which is not easy in our stressed daily lives. I spend a lot of time in Nature and collect power from there. I also do yoga and a lot of long-distance running or skiing. This is how I "clear" my mind and try to find solutions. It's very important to ask yourself every now and then "what do I feel right now?", and we should ask others how they feel, too. My mother told me the following: the greatest gift and pleasure in your life is to give a little happiness and love to the people around you. Only then you will be a happy person yourself. She's so right.


The Gauntlet: What do you feel is the biggest difference between Theatre Of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes from a personal standpoint?

Liv Kristine: I can trust my friends and band members of Leaves' Eyes. Moreover, we're a fantastic team and like a "family" here at Mastersound studio. My experience with ToT was not that good, unfortunately. Being kicked out by a lousy message on their homepage after ten years of friendship (I thought) and work was not fair and it shocked me, however, Leaves' Eyes is my good luck now and I'm so glad I've got my friends from Atrocity by my side.


The Gauntlet: "Elegy" resonates with a passionate, yet powerful sound. To what do you attribute the intensely compelling nature of this piece?

Liv Kristine: The instrumental parts had already been recorded a while ago but the song had no vocals. The melody suddenly entered my mind and we just knew it was what we wanted.


The Gauntlet: What was it like for you to give childbirth so near to the completion of your new album?

Liv Kristine: The pregnancy was a fantastic experience, as I felt extremely well and healthy all the time. Even my voice changed in a positive way. Leon Alexander was born 2 hrs after having recorded the last song for "Lovelorn". Perfect timing from Leon's side! Being a mother, my life has become even better than before! I've become more emotional, happier, less hectic and do not worry so much about "problems" which appear in our daily lives. To be both a mother and an artist is the best combination for me two dreams have come true! Leon comes with us to the studio every day. He has got 400 square metres to play here and Mastersound studio is equipped with everything a child needs. When we are very busy or have to go on tour he stays with his grandparents. Leon is the most important thing in Alex and my life!


The Gauntlet: How do you feel the new album is a progression from "Lovelorn", musically speaking?

Liv Kristine: Having released "Lovelorn" a year ago, which got fantastic feedback from both press and audience (to me it was just overwhelming to experience such a fantastic new start), there certainly were high expectations to live up to. I was a bit worried from the start if we were able to be better than on our debut . We decided to replace the classical samplers by real natural instruments to get a bigger, broader and more natural sound. Therefore the recordings took a bit longer than on the first album. It concerns the cello, the violin, symphonic cymbals and percussions. We invited young talents to the studio. It worked very, very well. I also progressed as a singer as I felt that the music itself has more atmospheric changes and the album is more varied. However, we are 100% satisfied with both albums.


The Gauntlet: What are your current plans for live performances?

Liv Kristine: Yes, touring in Europe and America, and hopefully also on other continents, too.


The Gauntlet: Where are you most looking forward to visiting on the band's next tour?

Liv Kristine: New Zealand, Australia and America.


The Gauntlet: What is it like to be backed by your husband's band? How do they feel about playing such a wildly different form of music?

Liv Kristine : The Atrocity guys are highly professional! We've got a new drummer, Moritz Neuner, with both classical and metal experience. Can you believe it Leaves' Eyes is now a band consisting of only vegetarians!


The Gauntlet: What is the one thing in life that you hope to achieve that you have not yet accomplished?

Liv Kristine: A second child!


The Gauntlet: What can fans expect from Leaves' Eyes in the months ahead?

Liv Kristine: We'll play at a couple of festivals in Europe and soon start thinking about our third album. Moreover, as I already mentioned, I signed a solo deal with Roadrunner last year, so we are in the middle of recording my second solo album here at Mastersound studio. Peter T. (Pain, Hypocrisy) will be one of the composers on my album as he is a fantastic songwriter. I'm very proud of working with Peter. Atrocity are also recording their album at the moment.



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Tags:  Leaves EYes, Liv Kristine , Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull, interviews

EF    July 13, 2005