What were the reactions on "Det Vilde Kor" like till now?

Espen: I have to admit that we have gotten somewhat mixed reactions on the album. First of all, the reviews in the Norwegian press (especially the mainstream and tabloids) have been quite mediocre. I think we all are a bit surprised, but then again, you never know what to expect from these kinds of critics. What matters more are the reactions of our listeners. Many have told us that they didn’t quite understand the album at first, they didn’t get it. But it seems the album grows on you, and that’s also the feedback from our fans. And I’m also very, very happy to see that we receive some great reviews from abroad, and surprisingly for us most of these great reviews are from the Metal press. We thought we had made a more available album this time, but it seems to be quite the opposite. And that might explain the fact that we receive mediocre reviews from mainstreamers and good reviews from music lovers. I don’t know, I shouldn’t be that bombastic perhaps, but nevertheless, I’m really happy to see that there are people out there listening to our music, trying to get into what it’s about and liking it.

What does the name LUMSK mean?

Espen: Directly translated into English it means something like treacherous. As I said in another interview the tasty-looking but very toxic mushrooms are quite “lumsk”, and the funny-looking and dangerous man lurking around in your backyard is also quite “lumsk”. I think it’s a great band name, short, well sounding and easy to pronounce and remember for those who don’t speak Norwegian too.

On "Troll" Siv Lena had some participation on Songwriting, now Espen wrote everything on his own - really on his own, or to which grade were the others "allowed" to participate?

Espen: We didn’t decide in advance of this record who should write the music and so on, it just happened this way, and of course everyone are welcome to write music and comment on the songs we are making. This time we focused a lot on the lyrics, or the poems, when we wrote the music, and therefore it felt very natural for me to be very thorough in the song writing process before we started rehearsing it together. But of course, when everything is composed using keyboards and computers we have to make some changes and adjustments as a band to make it all fit in that particular setting. So you could say that I did all the “dirty work”, and we all made it a Lumsk album.

"Det Vilde Kor" is more Folk than Metal, in one interview you said "When that is said natural development doesn’t necessarily mean that we move away from Metal to something else," - are boarders or definitions of music genres of any relevance at all for you? How important is it for you, being called "Metal"?

Espen: For me personally it’s not important at all to be labelled this or that. The perfect scenario for me would be the genre-free musical world with focus on the… well… music. But I think that the music business today makes it quite difficult to ignore the genres. Perhaps we have to belong somewhere? Personally I don’t think so, but you know… We get the question all the time: Who are Lumsk? What kind of music do you play? If I had I choice (which I have, of course) I would say “listen to it and decide for yourself”. But I don’t think people find that a satisfying answer. Perhaps we have to have some sort of musical category to relate to. I don’t know, but we never consider this when writing music. It’s always a problem after the release of an album.

Isn't it difficult to write music around lyrics written by some one else? Because you have to take on the spirit of the poem and then construct some music around it...

Espen: I don’t look upon it as a difficulty, rather a challenge. But you are right; we have to try to take out the essence of the lyrics we use. And doing it this way will always be a very personal and subjective interpretation of what the lyrics are about, so other people might have a different idea of what it’s about. But I think it’s very exiting to listen to different versions of the same lyric, seeing the very different musical approaches people have. Art is fascinating, whether its music, literature or visual art, and by using lyrics written by others you could say that it is a very concrete source of inspiration. You have the theme, the lyrical emotions and you have to figure out the rhythm you want to use. It’s a very interesting creative process, and I personally enjoy that part of being in a band the most, and perhaps that might explain why I’m the main songwriter on this album.

How important are poems/is literature for you?

Espen: I can only speak on my own behalf in this matter, but for me literature is very important. Actually I’m not very good at reading poems. I tend to read novels more often. But after this record I’ve started reading more poems, and I’m trying to get rid of the teachings about reading poems we learned at school. The interpretation and it’s “rules” kind of killed my poetic self, but luckily I have a very well-developed sense that enables me to forget what I’ve learned at school. I hate it when people try to make personal opinion and interpretation a fact. All art should be of a personal matter, and creativity and personal honesty is a key word no matter what form one chooses in production of art. Well, I think I’ve lost this battle, and have to admit that it is Mr. Entertainment driving the car and Ms. Money in the front seat.

How important are myths for you?

Espen: I would definitely say that myths are important to us, to me, and they have a very strong position in the Norwegian history and tradition. And I think they are a part of what defines our culture and our cultural heritage. As we talked about earlier we don’t write our lyrics ourselves. I don’t see a point in writing mediocre lyrics ourselves when there are so many excellent poems, stories or whatever to choose from. I think it’s very important to use material from our own culture to preserve the really great traditions and histories that we have here. And also I find this source of inspiration very… inspiring. You know, I think there is a very strong link between inspiration, imagination and creativity, and I find these myths with their creatures and their surroundings kind of stimulating in a way. They are more than children’s stories. They represent a for me imaginary world so to say, and perhaps it’s a bit weird to do it, but I think the creativeness of writing, music or literature, might be compared to that way of thinking. We all create our own realities, and I don’t think that reality ever can be objective. In the world we all are living in today I think there are almost 2 billion people who don’t know how to read or write (I read that number somewhere), and I really admire the oral cultures of today. We look upon the oral cultures as something of lesser values than our own, but nevertheless we are very eager to preserve the very oral traditions of our own culture. We tend to live out this oral tradition through our children; we read them stories and we admire their spontaneous and imaginary nature. But we don’t dare to do it ourselves. The culture of the grown-ups are defined by the fact that we parted with our natural self, and developed into whatever we developed into. Of course this is a very black and white point of view, and that’s neither my intention nor my actual meaning. But nevertheless, I like to say to myself that writing music also is about preserving the child in me, defined by the spontaneous creativity, the joy, the playfulness and the child-like enthusiasm I experience when writing something I’m really happy about. I would like to quote Michael Ende: “There are people who never come to Fantásia … and there are people who can go there, but stay there forever. But there are also those who travel to Fantásia and go back again. … And it’s these people that make both worlds healthy.”

How comes, that you are only singing on Norse?

Espen: I think that’s a choice we’ve made so far. We have released three records, and the lyrics are written in three different forms of Norwegian. I think it’s important to use our native language in our music; there are too few who do! And I think we have a totally different relation to our mothers tongue, even though English is more and more important in our global world. People have asked us if we ever would consider doing a record in English, and the answer is not yet. I think we have ideas for several records to come, but who knows. If we stumble across a great idea for English lyrics we might consider it. We’ll see. I’m starting to think it might have been a fine gesture for our foreign listeners. It’s strange; people outside of Norway are far more interested in Lumsk and the culture we represent than the Norwegians are. So, you never know…

For foreigners the music changes because of the incapability of understanding the lyrics - the voice becomes more to an instrument, creating a big oart of the athmosphere in a song - do you think this is loss or gain?

Espen: Definitely both! We use great lyrics, but still… our focus is on the music, and I’m really, really honoured by and interested in the reviews and opinions of people who don’t understand a single word of what we are singing about. And personally I’m listening to a lot of music with lyrics I don’t understand, and I don’t mind at all. It’s really, really great to just listen to music!

Which are the forthcoming concerts?

Espen: I think we are going to play some gigs in Denmark soon, and I think there is one or two planned here in Norway this summer. Apart from that we are talking about doing something later this year, but we’ll see. Please visit our homepage for updates on tour dates or general news.

Are there any first ideas for you next record?

Espen: Yes, we have already decided what our next record will be, but there are some formalities remaining to sort out before we can announce it publicly.

Thanks a lot for the interview and good luck for the future!

Espen: Thank you!