H R H - I N T E R V I E W S

Sarpedon (Torgeir Krokfjord)
Interview August 2006

 

Hardrock Haven: Hey Tor, thanks for taking the time to talk with Hardrock Haven. Why don't you tell us about yourself, the other band members and how you came up with the name, Sarpedon.

Tor: Hey Derric, that's no prob at all. Anyone who's wicked enough to enjoy Demo 2006 deserves a bit of my time! The story behind the name is actually kinda funny - I was working on my BA diploma this spring, and that meant I was home all day, and thus able to watch MacGyver in my lunch break 5 days a week. In one of the episodes the Sarpedon butterfly becomes the key to solving the case, and when I heard the name being mentioned I thought it was kinda cool, checked it up and with the Greek heritage too it was very well-suited for a band name. Sarpedon originally refers to three separate characters in Greek mythology, but "our" Sarpedon is the son of Zeus and Laodamia, who fought in the Trojan war becoming one of Troy's greatest allies. The demo cover is actually an image of the painting "The Death of Sarpedon" by the artist Euphronios, painted in the year 515 BC.

HRH: Not to pigeonhole your sound, but how would you explain the kind of music Sarpedon plays?

Tor: I guess it's sort of Prog/Power Metal, but in my ears it's darker and less "happy" than most of the bands in the genre. The newer material (a song like "Ode To A Woman" dates several years back, actually) is far more technical and also heavier, but the melodic aspect will always be there. The fact is we listen to a helluva lot of different bands, and personally I'm just a big a fan of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon as I am of Emperor and Death. This will be even more evident when we someday record a full-length album; I can at least assure you that Sarpedon NEVER will be another Dream Theater/Symphony X clone…

HRH: You founded this band with your brother, Eirik. What's the dynamic like in the band playing with your brother? Do you think it's an advantage or disadvantage having a family member in the band, or does it even matter?

Tor: It's entirely a good thing I think, at least for now. We know each other very well from before, both personally and musically, and it's far easier to work with people you know than teaming up with a group of total strangers and not knowing anything about how they are and how they want things. I guess it can be more tricky if something goes wrong someday, it will not be funny having to kick out (or be kicked out by) your brother, but there's really no reason why that should happen.

HRH: How did you get involved in music? What's your musical background?

Tor: Both Ove, Eirik, and myself have played in marching bands for quite a lot of years, and that's also where we got to know Ove in the first place. Both Ove and myself have played in several big bands, theatre orchestras etc, and we've also played in various band constellations before, none of which have had any success to speak of. Carl has had several bands too, for the most part more Extreme Metal related projects but also some Goth and Thrash stuff. Him and Ove also plays in Thornbound, a very cool Death Metal bands they have together with Eirik from Source of Tide. Espen has also had some band projects earlier, but none of them were too serious I think. A shame indeed with the chops he's got. Eirik has taken part in several musicals and theatre plays, as well as singing in weddings, birthdays, private parties etc. He once sang an acoustic Savatage medley at a Christmas party at NRK (Norway's national television) - things don't get much cooler than that ?

HRH: As a guitarist, who influences your playing style?
Tor: Ah, the question I've dreamt of being asked since I was 12 …not that long ago, then! My main "hero" has always been and will always be Yngwie; he's the guy who got me into playing guitar in the first place and to be honest I have yet to hear a guitar player who can keep up with his flair, spark, and emotion. His tone also is for me the ultimate guitar tone - so sweet, loud, and powerful. Besides him I dig lots of melody-oriented players - Brian May, Uli Jon Roth, Andy Timmons, Criss Oliva, Randy Rhoads, Andre Olbrich, and Chris and Michael Amott, as well as more technical players like Michael Romeo, Jeff Loomis, Nuno Bettencourt ("RIP"), Van Halen, and Alexi Laiho. Also guys like Al DiMeola has done some very cool stuff - especially "Friday Night In San Francisco" of course.

HRH: You are the leader of the band, writing all of the songs and lyrics. As you guys begin writing for your first full length release, will it be more of a team effort?

Tor: Hehe, if you'd been to any of our rehearsals you would never have spoken of me as the "band leader" again, The Fabulous Mr. Engstrøm takes on his drill sergeant shoes whenever we pick up our instruments, I can assure you that ? No, seriously, it's not like I'm any kind of a "leader" in any way. I do write the music, but when I bring a new song to a rehearsal the other guys definitely leave their mark on it as none of them are afraid to tell if there's something they don't like. We have a very smooth and efficient way of doing things - I send around ideas for full songs, with drum beats and all, and then they tear it all apart, basically?

HRH: Sarpedon recently released a three-song EP. What kind of reaction are you getting from the media as the reviews come in for the EP?

Tor: That's funny actually, as most of the Norwegian reviews have been quite bad, with a few exceptions of course, while the foreign ones have been for the most part very good. It's always cool to read what people think, though, some of the criticism have been appropriate and useful too, so that's entirely a good thing.

HRH: You just played live at the Furustokk Metal Festival. What was that experience like?

Tor: It was dead cool! The sound was pretty crappy and all that, but it was fun as hell finally to play live with Sarpedon. Overall I think we did well, there were some fuck-ups but that's not unusual for a first gig I guess. The feedback was great too, so that was one sweet experience indeed. Øyvind and Jon Ronny, the guys behind the festival, definitely deserve all kinds of kind words for a great night!

HRH: How many more songs do you have written, because obviously your set had to be longer than three songs.

Tor: I guess we have some 10-11 songs written - enough for a full album, that is - and we've rehearsed 7-8 of those. Stylewise they are, as mentioned, heavier and more intricate than the demo songs, but there's no need to - the stuff is still melodic and catchy enough to satisfy the old Heavy-heads among you ?

HRH: What do your tour plans look like for the upcoming months?

Tor: We've got one gig booked so far - the 22th of September at "Skuret" - which will be fantastic, as it's our first gig in Oslo, and we're working on more gigs as soon as possible. I've talked to a few bigger name bands to get some support gigs and I think there's quite some cool gigs ahead. Playing live is basically one of the main reasons why it's so fun playing music - winding up the amps and feeling the energy from the crowd and the band is" betta than cummink", to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger ?

HRH: I touched on this in my review, but both you and Eirik are music reviewers. Do you ever wonder about ripping a band apart in a review and then having to play a live show with them someday? Or, do you think it puts Sarpedon in an awkward position at all?

Tor: Hehe, of course it may be strange to play with someone I've thrashed the week before, but it's not that big a deal I think. At this point it's not like a management or something book gigs with other bands, being an unsigned little ant in the forest that is the music business (dig that image ?) I guess we'd just avoid booking gigs with bands we don't like. Also, I downright hate the music of Limp Bizkit, but if Sarpedon was asked to play with them (very likely, yes) I guess we still would accept that offer, and instead try to come up with some bullshit lines to save our asses. Actually I don't think Limp Bizkit reads neither Metal Express nor Scream mag at all ?

HRH: What's next for Sarpedon? Recording a CD, shooting a video, anything like that?

Tor: As mentioned we hope to play a lot more live in the not so distant future, and then we'll book some studio time to record a few more songs as soon as possible after the gig the 22th. I guess we'll just do one or two songs to sort of show where the music is heading and to keep the interest up while searching for a label to put out a proper CD. Actually there's been some interest labelwise but we've not put down that much effort in that aspect yet. It'd be better to get really tight and "grow" as a band - especially since we added a second guitar player not that long ago - before embarking on more ambitious projects. Speaking of videos I know the Furustokk guys recorded the festival and plan to release a Festival DVD, so hopefully we'll get some stuff to put on our website from there.

HRH: Is there anything I left out you'd like to leave with our Hardrock Haven faithful?

Tor: I don't think so.

No, it's great that you took the time to do this, Derric, you've done a lot for us already. It's a great zine you've put together, and this should be a compulsory stop for every web-browsing Metalhead - and that's not only because of your review of our demo ? Keep it up, and RAWK ON! (I'd love to say stuff like "see you on the road", "be sure to check out our new album", "be sure to catch us in L.A" etc but it's not that likely any of those things will happen yet, so I guess we'll have to put those on hold as for now ?)