Photo by Phil Vidamour.
We recently saw Vredehammer play an extremely short-but-sweet set in Manchester – our review of which can be read here. A few days afterwards, we caught up with Per Valla for a chat. See what happened below!
Thanks for the interview – can you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band?
Thanx yourself. I’m Per Valla, singer and guitarist in Vredehammer. We are based in a cold, icy shithole in the north of Norway called Mo i Rana. We released our debut album Vinteroffer last year through Indie Recordings. Before this, the band was a one man project with 3 EP releases done mainly by myself.
It was a pleasure to finally catch you live in Manchester but it was such a shame you only got to play two songs since I was more excited to see you than Satyricon – what happened?
Thanx, that’s a nice compliment! It was just a sad result of being the first gig in England. The time schedules are very different from what we are used to, giving both support bands around 25 minutes to play. In total. To be honest, I was really pissed about it myself, but there was really nothing we could do about the situation. We are only the support band and people in general are there to see the headliners, except you hehe. Satyricon got to play their full show, and this was more important simply.
Are there any plans for you to return to the UK to play a full-length set?
I know there is some talk about a tour the coming fall, but that’s all the info I have at this moment. Where the road leads I don’t know yet.
How has the rest of the tour been going? Any interesting stories to share?
The tour is going great. We have found a perfect rhythm and we finally sound tight as hell. Before this tour we recruited new session members on bass and drums, so our first rehearsal was the first gig of the tour. So far there are really no crazy stories to tell, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one!
What has been the best show so far?
According to the other bands our best gig was yesterday in Munich, but I personally feel Paris holds the trophy as best gig so far. The audience was really amazing there and so was the venue and the food.
Moving onto some more random questions, if you could replace the soundtrack in a movie with Vredehammer’s music, what movie would you choose?
Nice one! I guess it would be easier if we took song by song to different movies, but as a whole I think something epic would suit pretty well. Spartacus maybe?
Similarly, if there was going to be a movie released about Vredehammer, what actor would you like to play yourself?
I’m pretty short and my beerbelly is growing bigger every day, so by the time the movie would be out I guess Danny DeVito might be a good choice.
If you could choose an animal to represent Vredehammer, what would it be and why?
A scorpion. Because scorpions are cool.
If you could invent an item that would help make touring easier, what would it be?
A pocketshower would be nice. Babywipes have their limits.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I used to be really good at talking backwards when I was a kid. .eromyna ton tuB
And finally what is in store for the rest of 2015?
In May we start recording a new album and from the Fall to May 2016 we will be touring a lot.
You can read our review of Vinteroffer here.
