Interview by Rachel Jablonski
With a new album in stores and an animated video gaining recognition, Denmark’s Raunchy is back to join the scene with their latest release Confusion Bay. I was fortunate to speak with drummer Morten Toft Hansen about the new album, the departure of vocalist Lars Vognstrup, and the potential of life beyond Slayer.
Rachel: So Confusion Bay, the new Raunchy album, is now out in Europe and the U.S. Tell me about the idea behind it and the main goals for the album.
Morten: We released Velvet Noise a couple of years ago. I think it came out about a year ago in the U.S. We’ve been working on Confusion Bay for two years and our goal was just to release another album and hopefully it will do a lot better than Velvet Noise. So far the reactions have been really, really awesome so we just hope that people will pick up the album. I guess really we are just kind of hoping for the best, but if it doesn’t get that big it’s also ok. So far we are really happy about it.
Rachel: Is it doing ok in Europe?
Morten: Yeah it is. I don’t really know about the sales because they can’t tell us anything for about 3 months or so. But I think it has done a lot better than Velvet Noise. And our music video is actually being played a lot on a German music channel called VIVA Plus.
Rachel: I planned to ask you about the video for “Watch Out.” Who did the animation?
Morten: It was done by a Danish guy that our guitarist Lars knows. His name is Anders Morgenthaler and he has done some other pretty big things, but probably not things that you know, basically things that get played in Denmark. We saw some of the stuff that he has done and we thought it was really cool. We talked to Nuclear Blast and they said that they wanted an artistic video with us playing in it and we said oh. We thought that was a bit boring if we were just going to stand and play somewhere like you have seen so many times before. So Lars talked to Anders about it and he said ok I’ll do it because he saw he also had a chance to get it out in the U.S. and in the rest of Europe. And I can tell you that it is 100% animated and that, unlike many other videos, there is actually a story in it.
Rachel: What’s the main story in the video?
Morten: It’s about a boy that gets, I don’t know how to say it in English, but he doesn’t get the right response from people. I think having a story is important in terms of a video.
Rachel: The animation of the little kid is cute!
Morten: (laugh) Yeah, okay.
Rachel: Your vocalist, Lars Vognstrup, decided to leave the band after 10 years and you’ve already found a replacement. Can you tell me about the new singer and if his style is similar?
Morten: Yeah, I think his style is pretty similar to Lars’ vocals, maybe a little bit more brutal, and he has a little more screaming going on. But so far we can only judge from what we have seen live and I think he has a lot of power. Of course he’s not the same voice as Lars, but in a way pretty close to what Lars did.
Rachel: Cool. Does he fit well in the band? What is his name again?
Morten: Oh his name is Kasper Thomsen. That’s how we say it in Danish. (laugh)
Rachel: (laugh) Woah, really?
Morten: So I guess we are happy because he is really into it and he’s a great guy too. I think playing in a band, it is important that a lot of chemistry is there because it’s one thing to be a great musician, but you also have to think of all the time you have to spend together.
Rachel: What kind of changes to do you see for Raunchy due to the recent turn of events as far as the next album and so on?
Morten: It is really hard for me to say. I think so far we have done like 4 or 5 new songs, but there is not vocals on them yet. I think the music will be comparable to Confusion Bay, but will move forward like Confusion Bay did from Velvet Noise.
Rachel: How would you compare or contrast the two albums you have out already?
Morten: I would say that Velvet Noise has some really great things going on, you can hear that it is a young band and it is the first album, but it is still very professional. I was really very proud of it. I think Confusion Bay is more mature and more original. If you really listen to the way we play we have gotten a lot better as musicians
Rachel: You guys have taken a lot of grief about your band name. What’s the coolest band name you’ve ever heard?
Morten: Oh I guess that’s Raunchy. No, I really don’t know. I’ve never heard that question before, um, I might come up with something later.
Rachel: How about the coolest name for a person? Bort maybe?
Morten: Bort it would be. I actually have the email address of a guy named Bort. I’ll have to ask him if he has a Bort cup or something like that.
Rachel: That’s funny! Not sure if everyone will get that, but I think the Bort segment is one of the best episodes of The Simpsons ever. Since you are a fan of the Simpson’s what character do you think you’re most like and why?
Morten: That’s a hard one. I think it would be a mixture of Homer, Krusty, and Mr. Burns.
Rachel: Why Mr. Burns?
Morten: Because he has some kind of a dark sense of humor.
Rachel: Interesting combination. Totally changing gears, last weekend I sat behind a drum kit for the first time at my friend’s studio. How in the heck do you tell your hand to ignore what your foot’s doing?
Morten: It takes a couple of rehearsals. I remember the first drum rhythm that I was taught was to beat the snare drum and the bass drum at the same time and the funny thing is that I use that drum rhythm a lot on Confusion Bay. I don’t know if you have noticed but it’s quite a trend right now to use both kick and snare at the same time. It gives sort of a more dance groove into it and the thing is I remember five or ten years ago when I heard people play that I was like UGH I don’t like that, but now I play it myself and it’s like… times are changing I guess.
Rachel: How long have you played?
Morten: I have played since I was eleven years old so that is like fourteen years now. I remember I couldn’t decide if I should play guitar or the drums. At the time I was already a friend of Jesper and Jesper from the band and they played bass and guitar. I thought hey if I start on the drums maybe we can start a band.
Rachel: You have not yet played in the U.S. How would you imagine a show here would compare to a show in Denmark?
Morten: I really don’t know, but some of the bands that I know from Denmark or from Sweden who have played in the U.S. all say that it is really cool and that the people are so friendly. We were actually going to play the New Jersey Metal Fest last year, but then it fell through so... just depends on the tour support Nuclear Blast is willing to give us.
Rachel: In other words, hopefully someday. Well, I hope so too. What shows in Europe do you have coming up?
Morten: We only have a couple of shows here in Denmark coming up because when Lars left us we had to cancel some shows. He said, "guys I’m not into it anymore” and we said “ok, but can you please help us with some of these shows we have lined up?” He said no so we canceled. But it’s ok. We are ok with Kesper and will keep going and see where this takes us.
Rachel: Anything else you want to add to sum up the interview?
Morten: I just hope that people will check out the band. So far I have been reading a lot of negative things about our band name. I hope that people can put that thing aside and just think of the music, not so much the name. I know that the name probably sucks, but I also know that when people get beyond that, like you and other people I talk to, they at least tell me they think the band is great so…
Rachel: You’re right, sometimes people just need to be a little more open-minded and give things a chance.
Morten: Yeah, I think that in this whole metal scene people seem conservative. When I go to either Blabbermouth or some of these other websites people are just bashing anything that is not Slayer or something like that and I’m like man…
Rachel: Maybe there’s life beyond Slayer!
Morten: Yeah, I think it’s a bit sad that some people cannot open their eyes for other bands. There is a lot of great music out there. I enjoy a lot of the old school, but I also enjoy a lot of new music. And I’m not afraid to say that I actually like Korn or Deftones or something like that. I don’t care about people’s look or band names or whatever as long as the music is good I’m happy.
Rachel: Definitely. And that’s all I’ve got. Thank you very much! It’s great to talk to you, Morten. Good luck with Confusion Bay and I look forward to eventually seeing you here in the U.S.
Morten: Thank you!