DanIhjel of PitchBlack

DJ Messiah catches up with DanIhjel of PitchBlack after the release of their debut album, "Designed to Dislike," in stores now!

Check out their Myspace page!

1. How did you get started as a singer? Was there any defining moment that made you want to become a singer?

Well, I used to play in a high school band where I played the guitar and sang. We mostly did cover bands like Hypocrisy, Sepultura, RATM and Korn. When we played Korn it was too difficult for me to play and sing at the same time so I´d dropped the guitar grabbed the mike though I felt a bit naked just holding the microphone. But I got used to it, and it began feeling more and more natural. I joined another cover band and the musicians that did the instruments were much better than me so I sticked to the mike and focused on singing and banging. I still play guitar but not at the same level as the other guys in the band. A funny remark is that all members of the band plays the guitar so we have riffs enough, but more about that later…

2. Who were your musical influences growing up?

As young I used to listen to my dads old records as The Beatles, Stones and The Doors. It developed and became harder and harder. You know Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, and then came the wave with Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura and I was hooked. But I needed it harder, faster and louder. So I became familiar with the death metal scene and became fascinated with bands like Morbid Angel, Carcass, Entombed and Edge of Sanity. Also black metal as Emperor and Satyricon.

3. How did you first get started with PitchBlack?

I met Trold at a party. We had some of the same friends. He told me that he had started a melodic death metal band. At that time I sang in a band called Whelm playing very very slow death metal/noice/core…. But my temper and my heart wanted something wilder I guess. So when Trold said “come practice with us one day – we have no singer – let´s see if it´s cool”.. I said “YES”. Then I came down to the rehearsal and met the other guys and everything went fine and I was impressed by their skills and hoped they would take me. And so they did ;-)

4. How did it feel having such a great reception at your first gig and wining your first contest as a band?

It has been awesome that more or less everything we have done have been received well. It gives you inspiration and a lust for more..and more.. and more ;-) …

5. How has the touring process been for you, now that the band has gained momentum and is getting onto bills such as the Fuck The Commerce festival?

Actually doing that gig in Germany was the first one outside Denmark. I just read a review the other day and it was very positive as well as we have received a lots of positive comments on our myspace www.myspace.com/pitchblackdk. We want it to grow. We hope that the focus on the Danish metal scene will be a snowball effect and that we can grow larger along with other cool Danish bands as Mnemic, Hatesphere, Volbeat, Illdisposed, Raunchy and so on… but we are developing all the time and that’s what makes it worth playing.

6. What is the writing process like for the band? Are you involved during the construction of songs, or do you write vocal parts once the song is set?

We are all contributing with riffs, but the strings Trold, Dag and Pede of course does most of the work there. We all discuss and build the songs together. I decide where to sing or where not to sing, but if the others have ideas they tell me or I ask them. Schou and I are also cooperating a lot on the vocals cus he does the backing vocals. Fx in Patient X in the chorus Schou is the one doing the clean vocals. Its great having him backing me up and its cool that we can learn from eachothers. Sometimes Schou is making rhythm on the drums and the other guys just fill in a riff. But the point is that we do it together and not separately. Pede joined the band a year ago and the cooperation between him and Trold has already put PitchBlack in a new refreshing direction.

7. I just watched your “unofficial” music video for Angelized, and I must say its quite impressive, especially for only 30 Euros. What was it like shooting the video?

It was totally funny doing the vid with our friend Bergsted. Freaking cold though. Standing outside on a big fort in wintertime Denmark is usually not that exciting, but we had a lot of fun. There are lots of good shoots in the video and great scenes, but we have chosen to call it “unofficial” because we know we can do better. It was made QUICKLY and with at ridiculous low budget, and the result reflects the budget, though it is impressive what Bergsted made for 30 euro!!! Hats off.

8. What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you while on tour?

Well if you ask all the germans that saw us after we had played at Fuck The Commerce they would say: “hey man look out for the guys in PitchBlack – they are fucking crazy”.. the first day we were known as the “sympatischen dänen” (nice danes) – the last day they called us the “psychopatischen dänen” (the fucked up danes)... but it should be understood in the sense that we like a good party.
Hard to explain that in words, but look at our myspace profile in the photo album called “Party pics..dirtiness and nakedness”.. just the title of the albums says it all….

9. What 3 current bands would you put together for your ultimate concert to see?

Well interesting question. Think I would combine a 3 band concerts spreading from what I heard as kid to what I hear now. So Mastodon should open the gig, Pantera should be number 2 act and then Led Zeppelin should close the shit. This could be a dream concert for me….

10. What sort of changes have you noticed now that you’ve been signed to LA Records? Any plans for a European tour?

We have noticed that there is coming much more focus on us. When you google our band name, or see the hits on our myspace profile it is expanding and growing day by day. Now it is the clubs and bands contacting us ad not the other way around. And yes we are going on tour with some bigger bands in September, but since the dates are not official yet I can´t give you further information now. But something great is definitely coming up soon, so keep your self updated on our myspace profile.

Here are a few less serious questions:

Favorite drink?

Well as half Mexican half Dane I must say that Tequila and beer share the title. Beer to begin with.. tequila when I need the buzz to grow ;-)

Any favorite foods you can’t live without while on tour?

Well I don´t care that much about food when I am on tour. The most important for me is that I don´t get diaria lol.
But at the FTC Festival all members in the band fell in love with something we called a “kottelette-mad”. It was a barbecued pork chop on a piece of white bread (baguette) only with ketchup and mustard on. No energy at all but some good nasty shit that tasted great with some liters of beer haha..

Craziest experience with a fan?

It must be when a guy wanted an autograph from me and Dag on his boxer shorts. The pen did not work that good, so I ended up putting it up his ass to his big surprise hahaha.. we still laugh about that once in a while…

Thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions.

“you are very welcome and thanx to you, Neema” ;-)