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Interviews
Ram-Zet - Zet
05/08/05 || Lord K Philipson
Ram-Zet is prolly Norway’s finest besides Zyklon. Myself and staff-member Chazz hooked up with main-man Zet for a little talk about everything important. That’s all you need to know.
Let’s get the most important shit out of the way first… Why is it that Norway suck when it comes to hockey? You have bred like one half-assed player and that is Espen Knutsen. Not only does he suck, but when he actually gets to play in the NHL, he shoots a puck over the rink that actually ends up killing some girl. What are the odds on that? Damn, you guys are so sucky when it comes to hockey. Care to elaborate?
I really don’t give a fuck ‘bout hockey, and from my point of view, what you say might as well be true! I just pity you for having this sick need to try to hit us nice Norwegians below the belt, and miss that much!!!
Did you play any hockey yerself as a kid until you understood that music will get you more booty?
Read my above answer… Of course I didn’t… Why the hell should I bother…???
Do you even know what the fuck the NHL is, by the way?
No Hate Left??? Why the hell do you care ‘bout hockey? Did you try yourself as a kid, and tried to hide your loss of talent behind a stupid mask!? Hmmm, maybe just the goalkeepers wear masks… How should I know…? I hope you answer my questions too!!
Don’t worry, we won’t. Eh… So, “Intra” is yer new album. At a first listen I didn’t think it was as catchy as yer previous albums, but it’s constantly growing on us, which is a good sign. What’s yer take on it and what was yer goal with the recording of this piece? If you could change one thing about it, what would it be?
Finally, down to some serious business! I think “Intra” is our most complete album up to this moment, and I know, that’s what everyone says ‘bout their new albums, and so on. But actually, I didn’t have this kind of feeling at all, after the “Escape” album, and I said that in my interviews as well. You have to be honest. With “Pure Therapy”, I was pleased with the way it sounded, and I still am, regarding where Ram-Zet was at that point. With “Escape”, I was not that pleased, and still am not; and for now, I think “Intra” represents Ram-Zet in a perfect way, writing 2005.
I know, by your review, that you do not quite agree with me on this, and that’s your point of view for now. Maybe it will change, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. I know you respect and like us for us being ourselves, and the way we think of writing music isn’t that different from each other! That’s an honour! The taste in music will always be…. just that, a matter of taste, and if people are most satisfied with “Escape” , fine by me. But I think “Intra” somehow has a rawness which you can’t find on the other albums, and that’s something that’s important to me. It’s a bit more like we sound live, I think. Right now, there are just a few pieces of vocals that I’m not that satisfied with for my own sake, but I won’t tell you which ones they are… ha ha..!!
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that you guys have a pretty unique sound. As we understand it you compose most (if not all) of the stuff, what actually inspires you to create the sound you have? In lack of a better word, you sound fucken “fresh”. That’s more than you can say about most bands.
Well, first of all: Thanks a lot!! Always nice to hear people appreciate your work of course! I write all the stuff myself, although we arrange it together, and it’s going to stay that way. Not because the other members of the band aren’t able to write great stuff, but because it’s the ground idea, and concept of Ram-Zet, and I’d like to keep it that way. I know the rest of the band agree with me also on that one.
I’m inspired of all kinds of music that I listen to, and I think Ram-Zet reflects my taste of music in some odd way. The main “rule” when I write songs for Ram-Zet, is that there are no rules, so if a funk-kind of-groovy-part, pops up in my head, during a writing process, so be it. I know that this means that there are probably some metal heads who will never accept Ram-Zet as a true metal band, but I just can’t let those things dictate what I shall write. I don’t write music with a plan that it shall contain all different kinds of styles, or that it should be somehow unique, just to be unique, if you see what I mean. I just want to create good contrasts, and good songs, using the elements that I love in music!
We are seriously digging yer vocal style – it’s quite a mix of Dani Filth (with the difference that you are good and bearable to listen to) and something else we can’t describe. What kind of vocalists do you dig yerself? We sure as fuck count on you to list Alice DeeJay – the queen of one-dimensional vocals.
Ha ha… I’ve heard the Dani thing before, and I sort of understand. I’ve also been described as a black metal version of Brian Johnson (AC/DC) several times, which can be a little bit harder to understand…ha ha… But seriously, when I decided to do the vocals in Ram-Zet myself, I had to start from the beginning, developing some kind of style that my rather thin voice could handle, and I’m constantly trying out different ways of using it. Still I guess I’ve ended up with a sound that’s quite personal, and I think people either dig it, or hate it!
So, yer last name is Ramseth and the band’s name is Ram-Zet… On that note, why did you take the name Zet? What’s wrong with yer birth name? How much of an ego thing is this band really? Are the other guys/girls expendable and easy to replace if needed?
Well, I guess you kind of want a serious answer to this rather annoying question as well…ha ha….The band name wasn’t meant to be, but I used it as a project name from the beginning, and when I wanted to change it, people said: Why? They thought it was rather cool, and being my little ego trip form the beginning, I thought we might as well keep the name.
There’s nothing wrong with my birth name (Henning) as far as I consider, but I guess we’re just a little bit shy…or maybe just think we’re big fucking rock stars, so then we had to have some pseudonyms to go with… Zet… Why not? Any problems with that??? Ha ha… like I said, this was my little ego trip; now it’s not as much of an ego thing as it used to be, and no one in our band is easy to replace. Anyway, we’ve had to replace a couple of members, Solem with Jon, last year, and Magnus, with a young guy, named Johannes Baunann this year. It’s not that easy, but we’ve been lucky, and captured very skilled musicians, and nice guys of course.. The most important for me, is that a Ram-Zet member has our band as first priority, even if they play in other bands. From the first album, only Küth and me are left, because we were only 3 members in the band. Sfinx (Miriam) also participated on that album, but only as a guest appearance.
As far as we can tell, Ram-Zet started off as a one-man project but has since evolved into more of a full band. Is this correct? How much input do the other band members have on the music? Are the rest of the band full-fledged members of Ram-Zet or are you still calling the shots and writing everyone’s parts for them?
Well, I’ve already started to answer this question I guess, but that’s right. It started with me, and my growing ego in the studio one dark summer back in the year 1999., or was it ‘98?? And I did everything on the first demo, except for the bass, which Solem helped me out with. But that was before he even considered joining the band. I even did the female vocals myself on the first demo…. ha ha… no kidding…and no one even asked…
Although, after a while, Solem became a member, and then Küth in the middle of the recording of “Pure Therapy”. At first, we thought that maybe this would be a studio project only, but I soon learned that it wouldn’t be satisfying. Also some people told me that they couldn’t imagine me be able to recreate the sound of “PT” live, and that, of course, made me a bit angry – and I wanted to prove them wrong. So I went to visit Sfinx, to ask her to join permanently, and Magnus as well. And then, two weeks before the first gig, we got in touch with Sareeta, and the band was complete.
As I said, Ram-Zet has to be a first priority band, and that requires that people feel like full-fledged members. They are all very skilled musicians, and when I’ve written the songs, they are all a part of the final arranging of the songs. Even if I write the vocal lines, and violin lines, there can be changes, if they come up with something better.
Game, Zet and match?
Oh Lord K, I pray, give me strength to carry on…. ..with your “questions” from hell… no wonder this fucking interview takes such a long time… And of course, you’re a big fan of tennis as well…
Considering you guys include loads of weird timings and gazillions of riffs, how hard is it for you to actually sing and play the axe at the same time? For how long have you been playing and what would you say that you originally are, a guitarist or a vocalist? We think we have read somewhere that you are an multi-instrumentalist, does that mean you can basically play everything one can hear on the Zet albums yourself? Well, except for the girl vocals we mean…
Well, to answer the middle part first.. I’ve been playing for 20 years, and I started out with keyboards, but very soon turned to the guitar. In my first bands, I was the only one with balls to sing, (even if they were very tiny…. ) and so I learned to combine the singing and the playing at an early point. Nevertheless, it was one of the biggest challenges when we first started rehearsing with Ram-Zet, ‘cause as you point out, there are some rather odd timings, and even if they aren’t that technical, you have to…kind of…split the brain. I think I’ve been able to manage pretty well, but I remember from the beginning, it was hard, and we used to take the parts down to a really slow tempo, and play them till they were stuck in our bodies. That of course, also lead to a rather tight rhythm section, which is nice for the kind of music that we play. I’ve always considered myself as a guitarist, and I want the next albums to include even more of an increasing guitar. I used to practice a lot, when I was younger, listening to Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen and Allan Holdsworth, but growing older, I got more interested in the functional guitar, instead of a lot of jerking off… However, now I’m old…and want to jerk of a bit again…ha ha…
I don’t consider myself as a multi-instrumentalist, but I play keys, bass and drums rather ok, at least in my own opinion, and especially if I’m drunk!! I’m one of the world’s greatest drummers when I’m drunk!!! I also got a violin a year ago from my mother, which had previously belonged to her father. I’ve tried to play it, but it just yells and cries back at me… And as I already mentioned… Female vocals are no problem… My balls haven’t grown that much!
“Intra” was recorded at the Space Valley studio, your own studio; is it a huge advantage recording in your own studio? Do you still allow other bands to book time there, and are you still doing any work recording other bands? What kind of a name is “Space Valley” anyway? Wouldn’t “Grim Forest Valley” be more appropriate for a studio in Norway?
It’s, as far as I consider, an advantage to use my own studio, because we know how everything works, and the atmosphere suits us. We’re our own engineers, and don’t need a 7th person until we mix it. The mix, however, will always be left to someone else in another studio, because I believe that fresh ears at the end of the process should be a good thing. The problem with using my studio is that we have to be extremely disciplined, because there is no one but ourselves to tell us to get our asses to the studio. But that really hasn’t been a problem so far.
Other bands book time here, and it’ll stay that way. I’ve got another person working with me in the studio, (Kenneth, the drummer of Tidfall – Criterion ) and that makes it a bit easier, so I don’t have to do all the recording myself. But I think I’ve gotten used to producing, or just engineering other bands, and I find it exciting. Space valley…. ha ha… My former companion had a house where we had our studio. This house was located at a place named Romedal. Rom- in Norwegian, is space, and Dal- in Norwegian is valley…. Fucking great…. ha ha…. and I’ve never had the guts to change the name, ‘cause it would make my old partner so sad!!
How much do you guys actually sell as far as record sales goes? Did you ever see any royalties and what was the biggest cheque for? Did you blow it on coke and whores?
I think we’ve sold maybe 5000- of “Pure Therapy”, and something like that on “Escape” too, so the cheques haven’t been that big, you see…so it’s a good thing that I don’t need either coke or whores!!!
Some of the guitar work on “Intra” is pretty “out there” – in a good way, that is. A lot of your playing reminds us of something Steve Vai would do, especially on stuff like “Peace”. Is he a big influence, or are we just fucken idiots? Do you own an Ibanez Gem series guitar? If you do, can we punch you in the balls with it? Everyone should know that Jackson Guitars is the way to go when it comes to metal.
Don’t be such a kid… Play your fucking Jackson if that pleases you, and let me play what the fuck I want! Anyway, my only Ibanez left, despite a pretty rare double neck, is a 7-string. My Gem 6 strings got lost in a robbery… If you like, you can punch the MF that took it in the balls as much as you please!!
Thanks for your Steve Vai comparative sort of comment…Nice! As said, I listened a lot to him before, and I guess you can hear that. I still think he’s an interesting guitar player, but his albums just don’t hit me anymore. Anyway, I’m going to rehearse a lot, and come up with something spectacular for the next album. Wait and see….
One can be judged by what’s in his refrigerator, you know. List the items you have there, complete with mould and corpses.
Ha ha… get a life, instead of asking all these bleeding questions!!!
I’ve got 11 Tuborg (Hail Denmark!) and a couple of white wine bottles. A
lot of cheese in different colours and conditions… Some meat, some ice,
a salad, and some vegetables… A package of ham, falukorv (Hail Sweden!)
and that’s about it… So… Judge me!!
Why did you guys split with Spikefarm? Did they fuck you over? We bet they’re just another label not understanding what a fucken killer band they had in their roster, and therefore ended up not promoting you fuckers for shit. You got fed up, told them to go fuck themselves and moved on to a new label no one ever heard of, namely Tabu Records. No?
Well, we got a two album deal with Spikefarm, and even if they said they could do a third album for us, we knew that they weren’t able to put that much effort and money into it. I think Sami at Spike always believed in us, and wanted to do his best for us, but I don’t think we were right for that label. It’s hard to say, but anyway, there are no hard feelings whatsoever. We’ve been taken good care of, and had a few real great parties in Helsinki.
You just launched a new Ram-Zet website a couple of weeks ago. How important do you think it is these days for bands and musicians to have a presence on the web? Do you use your site to interact with fans at all? Why the fuck don’t you guys have a forum over at GD? You do know we host nothing but the best bands.
Yeah…why don’t we? I don’t know, but I think Gina (Küth’s girlfriend) is working out something now, and then maybe we’ll have a forum as well! We should have!! Web is important of course, and a lot of people discover us on the web. I try to answer every question from people on the web, and I think it’s a great way to keep in touch with the fans!
How was it now, did you really know about the NHL or not?
No hockey left? Nine howling ladies? Nice hookers leaving?
I just had a few days of going thru some old Mötley Crue albums, as well as some Twisted Sister and Ratt. Well, I can’t say that it had the same impact on me today as it did back at the time of their release. What we wanna know is; are you in touch with the old school hardrock shit today? What kind of albums still hold a special place in yer heart when it comes to this? Any album in particular that has inspired and influenced you while growing up?
Hey… I got a question including the word Ratt!!!!!!!!! (with a double t…. ha ha…) I’d never thought it would happen in my entire career… I love Ratt, they’re the best soft-glam-melodic metal band ever, and without doubt, with one of the greatest guitar players (Warren de Martini). Ok, so I have to admit…. it doesn’t sound all that great today… Not at all actually, and Ratt did some pretty stinking albums at the “end” of their career (metal bands never quit, and if they do, they sure as hell start up again…. ). I think “Out of the Cellar”, and “Invasion of Your Privacy” are the two albums by Ratt which had the most impact on me.
Mötley was ok, but never the big thing for me…. Twisted Sister? Not my cup of booze! Then we had our Van Halen period – “Women and Children First” and “Fair Warning” are great albums, as the maybe most unknown VH acts… Accept, “Balls to the Wall” is to me the ultimate 80’s heavy metal album, but besides that, I’m not that big a fan of Accept. Then we moved to Queensryche, and a little more tricky stuff… “Operation Mindcrime” is great I think! Then… “Master of Puppets” is one album which made me convert to some heavier stuff I think, and since then, I’ve stayed there, mostly at least….
Speaking of influences, who was the one band or person you heard that drove you enough to want to take music to the level that you have. Everyone has a hero from when they were young that made them want to pick up the guitar and want to play, who was this for you?
I think it’s a bit hard to answer, because… well, Eddie VH, was the first guitarist who really impressed me, and made me listen…. but I wasn’t thinking that way when I started my guitar playing… So I got no particular hero, I’m sorry….
Talking about growing up… Exactly how old are you and how many chicks have you fooled into bed so far? How many of them lied and told you you are The Stud in bed?
I’m 35!! And that means that I’m just at the beginning of my career, if you take a look around at the metal scene…. ha ha….
I’ve fooled hundred of girls into bed, but then they tend to leave when I lay down beside them… Don’t know why really…. because I’m a Stud in b…. Ooooh…. shit…. Lying again…. Sorry…. Anyway, it’s none of your fucking, fucking business…. and then we move on to the next question… I bet you have even more stupid questions to go!!!!!!!!
While we are on the subject of chicks… It’s probably not very metal to care about such things, but how fucken cool was it to be nominated for a Grammy? Did that open any new doors for the band being “Grammy Nominated” and everything? Did you use this fact to impress chicks?
I don’t have to impress chicks, ‘cause they all know that I’m a Stud in… Well, anyway… It was cool of course, and even if I didn’t think so, it certainly had an effect when it came to the interest around the band. I don’t like these kind of Grammy’s much myself, because of the hype of some picked artists, and the music business, shameless celebrating of themselves, which really isn’t that worthy of a celebration all the time! But I have to admit, it was pretty cool anyway, when our Norwegian distributor at TUBA, phoned me, and told me we were nominated! But what the f… We didn’t get it…. .!!!!!!!!!!
To prepare for this interview, We’ve been listening to “Intra” quite a bit. I was very disappointed that it didn’t contain “The Cowboy Song”. What’s the story behind that song, and will it ever see the naked light of day?
Ha ha…. I’ll sure as hell make a file of it, and drop it to you… Maybe you can help me with the distribution?? The last night in the studio, I was doing some vocal stuff, all by myself, and I got stuck, tired and wanted to go home…. So I rolled my video camera, and grabbed my hat, my outstanding sunglasses, and my acoustic guitar, and recorded the song… One take…. amazingly performed, with an indescribable attitude,,, It sort of helped me through the night…
Would you agree when we say that your first 2 albums are easier to get into than “Intra”? If so, why is that? If not, why is that?
Actually, I really don’t know if I should agree, or not…. It’s not that easy to try to take the listener’s place, when you’ve made it yourself. However I think “Intra” has a little bit more complex parts, which can be a bit harder to get into, but I think the songs are more completed, at least compared to “Escape” anyway. “Pure Therapy” has a couple of songs that have a somehow easier structure I guess… But to be honest… everything I write about this subject feels like bullshit, because I really can’t tell…
Why is that?
Because I wrote the damn stuff!!! You should be the judge (as you already have been…) along with everyone else who wants to listen to it. “Intra” is an album which will grow and give you new details every time you listen to it, that’s for sure!
Ram-Zet has been around for a few years now. So far, what’s been the high point for the band, or yourself personally? Are you happy with your situation now, or are you planning on taking the band further with some big tours or music videos on MTV or anything?
The high point for me personally… Hmm… It was a very special moment at our second gig, at the first Inferno festival. We thought we were totally unknown, and then the crowd yelled when we started the intro to “The Fall” as our second song on the set. That was really cool, and surprising… Every gig is something special, and our European tour back in 2002 was something quite unique for sure.
I really would like to go on some tours again, and of course… I would like to sell even more albums. Who wouldn’t? But I must say that, as long as we can continue to do our music, just the way we want, with a good label which gives us the freedom to do just that, I’m pretty satisfied musically. Everything on top of that, is a bonus. MTV? Ha ha…. Yeah, right…
We’ve seen Ram-Zet being called everything from industrial metal to melodic gothic black metal, how would you describe your sound? Do you still consider yourselves “Black Psychotic Power Metal” like in the old days? Does it piss you off Ram-Zet is so often labelled “black metal” probably only because you hail from Norway?
Nothing pisses me of… I don’t give a fuck about what people call it, as long as they buy and like it. I can see that it’s very hard to describe our music, ‘cause it touches so many of the metal genres, but BPPM was something that Sami at Spikefarm came up with, and I thought, ok, why not, even if it maybe don’t suit us that well after all… As I said, it’s hard to describe our music, and especially for me!!!
Honestly now… Isn’t “Black Psychotic Power Metal” a really, really, really gay sounding genre?
If you say so… You should probably know…ha ha…
Do you seriously believe there’s the slightest of fucken black metal in what you do?
Yes, I think so, but hardcore BM fans get annoyed when we’re described as black metal, and I can see why, because we’re definitely not a black metal band. Just a metal band with some BM influences…among all the other influences… see? Eeh? You see? Not? Ok, so don’t bother… it’s music…
Finish these sentences for us:
1. Mike Poggione is a tool but… who the fuck is he? I seriously don’t know!!!
2. Nightwish fans are generally… sweet?
3. “St. Anger” holds one of the best… places on my list of disappointments…
4. I would like to… end this never-ending interview soon!!!!!!!!
5. Farlus is a fag and… so is his…. mother? I still don’t know, who the f…you’re talking about!!
6. Ram-Zet would never… record a Little Richard song…
7. Norway’s most interesting band is… the only BPPM with BM-DM-PM and GM influences you’ve ever seen!!
8. Fuck me sideways, I didn’t… wash my balls properly when I took my shower this morning!
Rate the following Norwegian bands from 1-10. 1 being Mike Poggione and 10 being The Tits.
Mayhem: 9
Darkthrone: 9
Wuryz: 9
Theatre of Tragedy: 9
Zyklon: 9
Myrkskog: 9
Dimmu Borgir: 9
This is just to annoy you, and I haven’t heard Myrkskog, but I’ll give them 9 anyway… I don’t review other bands, thank God…. I haven’t got the…. .... 00’s to do it….
I guess this will put a smile on yer Norwegian face but we are actually running out of questions… Is there possibly anything you would like to add?
Yeah… It’s been an unusual pleasure to answer this nightmare of an interview, and I sure as hell look forward to our next release, when I sure hope I’ll get another one! I mean it!! Hope we can be able to do some gigs in Sweden again sometime! Nice one, see ya, stay cool, and stay metal!!
Cheers,
zet
