Review Fix chats with Aspherium’s Marius Skarsem Pedersen, who discusses the band’s origin and goals for 2020.
Review Fix: How did the project start?
Marius Skarsem Pedersen: Our bass player Torgeir, and I wanted to start a new band back in 2007 after our previous band stagnated. We wanted to take things to the next level, and needed some new people to make that happen. We found our drummer Bjørn Tore right away, but we didn’t find our guitarist Morten until 2009, so that took a while.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Pedersen: The most common way is that I make a demo based on riffs and ideas we have lying around. We have so many ideas, so we never run out of stuff. When I’m happy with the demo, I send the song to Bjørn Tore and he programs drums. Then we make any necessary changes, and we jam on the song together in the rehearsal space.
Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?
Pedersen: That would probably be Reality Unfolds from our 2014 album The Fall of Therenia. I had the first couple minutes of the song for a long time, but didn’t know how it should go after that. Then I sat down when I was on vacation, and it just started flowing. I wrote the rest of the song really quickly, and it was just one of those times where everything came together in a great way. It is one of our most popular songs, and also our longest song. Very proud of this one!Â
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?
Pedersen: To do a lot of live shows, get our new album out to more people, and to make more videos. We are also going to start working on new songs for the next album. We have a bad habit of taking a long time between albums, hope to make the wait shorter this next time.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Pedersen: I want our music to connect with people on a deeper level. I don’t want to be a band where people just listen for a bit and then move on to the next thing, I want the music to mean something to you. And it seems like that is what is happening with those who really like our music! I want our music to be therapeutic in a way, so it will make you feel better when things are difficult, like it does for me.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Pedersen: Going to start working on some guitar videos now after a Christmas break. Our drummer is going through wrist surgery, and when that is done we can start doing gigs again after a break. We will promote our new album The Embers of Eternity as much as we can. Hope you will take the time to check it out!Â
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