IOTUNN Interview on The Metal Community

“[The metal community] is a common language and energy. I remember going to a SLAYER concert back in 2004 where I was in the mosh pit joined by several huge, pumped guys and I kept on moshing with those guys and constantly I went to the floor and they were there immediately to pick me up again. I think that is a great example … a common language where you can experience a moment of “silence” from the outside world with all its battles and corruption. To just be and enjoy life through metal music really.”

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As a part of our series about the metal community, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jesper Gräs of IOTUNN.

In February 2015, guitarist Jens Nicolai Gräs was searching for a band name that could capture the essence of what the band had begun to sound like after five to six years of wandering through all kinds of musical expressions and discoveries. The band became IOTUNN (Old norse for “giant”).

Formed by guitarists and brothers Jesper and Jens Nicolai out of Denmark, their sound “is grounded in roaring, colorful drumming and crushing bass, while the sonic horizon is painted with a vast spectrum of guitar-driven expression, all overarched by narration through diverse vocals.”

In February of 2021, Access All Worlds was released worldwide through the legendary and respected label, Metal Blade Records, on a multiple album deal which marks the defining beginning of IOTUNN‘s further journey!

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Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your band’s backstory?

All five of us are musicians to the heart. We´ve been listening and playing music for most of our lives so I think this is the essence of it all; our love for music. We have different backgrounds. Jón is from The Faroe Islands and is educated as a biologist in Copenhagen. Bjørn, Jens Nicolai and I are all from the western part of Jutland and Eskil is from Bornholm. So, a span from the north to the west to the east really.

The band has had a long story being founded by me in 2009 but it wasn´t until 2014-15 that we really began to find our sound so to speak. During all the years we have been curious in regard to experimenting with all kinds of different musical expressions which is something that is still a core element of the band today. The big development on all fronts have happened during the last two-three years where we have finalized the IOTUNN circle with Jón joining the band in 2018 and Eskil in 2019. During these years we have written and recorded the Access All Worlds album and really begun to create further steps in our career both musically and professionally by joining forces with Metal Blade Records, BARSK Agency (our management) and now also Doomstar Bookings. Furthermore, we are creating the next album as we speak.

What or who are your biggest influences? We’d love to hear the story.

I will have to speak for myself here but I know the other guys would agree with most of it. I began playing classical guitar when I was 9 years of age and still do to this day. So classical music has always been a huge part of my life and a big influence and it seems that this music is actually becoming more and more important to me as time flies. The same goes with my brother who also started out on classical guitar in his childhood years. So, a common love for classical music is very much a part of IOTUNN. 

Furthermore, metal music has always been a huge part of our lives – all five of us. This includes many spheres of metal music really. I remember the opening riff in Fight Fire With Fire and the Fade to Black song as my point of no return when I was a kid. The feeling of being totally overwhelmed by something you just knew you loved but, in some way, didn´t understand. Those first experiences with metal music were so strong. 

Since then, we have all just kept on exploring metal music and also a lot of other music. When you have that love for music planted in you it is such a strong force that makes you want to explore further continuously throughout your life. In IOTUNN we share new music whenever one of us hears something they like. So, this curiosity is an important and very enjoyable part of our daily lives together in IOTUNN.

So, in all this love for music there is classical music – Dvorak, Smetana, Grieg. There is Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns ´n´ Roses and so on. There is Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slayer, Mercyful Fate, Pink Floyd, Genesis, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Yes, King Crimson, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. There is Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth and Candlemass. There is Death. There is Nevermore and Mastodon. In Flames, At The Gates, Meshuggah, Children Of Bodom, Opeth. Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Ulver, Arcturus, Borknagar, Satyricon, Emperor, Enslaved, Dissection, Sacramentum, Caladan Brood, Idle Hands, Ghost, Myrkur. I could go on all day and night and that is the amazing thing about it. 

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person or people who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to get where you’re at today? Can you share a story about that?

I think that is so right. For my brother and I the biggest support in our lives is our parents who have always shown endless support in our musical lives and everything else we do. They have been with us on our musical journey always and are always there to support and share thoughts with. Also, there have been different important music teachers through the years who always kindly but firmly pushed us to become better and see the next perspective. Especially Anders Levring who has teached us both and even though we do not see him today we always feel his supporting energy. 

Another important person was the now deceased Jan Langhoff who made us believe in something bigger back in 2013 when we all moved to Copenhagen and got in contact with Flemming Rasmussen who would later mix and master our EP, The Wizard Falls. He showed us an energy that became a part of the driving force for us to improve as a band during the years back then.  

Today, I really feel that the people who encourage us are all around among all the people we are working together with in Metal Blade Records, BARSK Agency and Doomstar Bookings, and this is really a dream come true; to expand the band so to say and in this expansion experiencing a motivation and energy that kind of empowers itself among us. This also counts for our new supporters sending us warm felt comments, messages and so on. This motivates us a great deal and makes us want to do this more and more.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that has occurred to your band? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

Years ago, in our formative years I got on stage after having too many beers and whiskeys. So, I was not able to really see the guitar – I cannot recommend that!

The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to younger bands who aspire to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?

It truly does! Even though we have achieved things during the last couple of  years we could only have dreamed of the truth still is that it has all just begun. I think the most important advice would be to keep on raising the bar in everything you do and always remember to raise it for the right reasons – that you love music. This counts for the music writing, playing and so on but also regarding everything “around” the music. I think it is important to always enjoy where you are right now but also to tell yourself that there are so many things you don´t know and so many musical expressions that haven´t been found yet and to find true joy and excitement in knowing that this means that the future holds so many new things for you as a musician and person. The most important thing in the music world is to make good music I think and this requires constantly writing music. If this is in place so to speak then it is time to put a real effort into the business, legal and career aspects and just go for it. 

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

There are a couple but I cannot go into much detail. At the moment Bjørn is building his new studio where we will record the drums for our next album which we are putting a lot of time into writing these days. I think 2021 will be a year where we will dive really deep into this process to create a monstrous second album. 

Also, we are planning different exciting things concert wise. We cannot wait to share this but it will have to wait a bit. Besides those things we have some thoughts going on regarding other stuff but again, this will be presented along the way. So, there are lots of things to do! 

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview.  Can you briefly tell our readers a bit about why you are a part of the heavy metal community?

For me personally it was not a choice really. As I mentioned earlier my first experience with metal music just drew me into it in some way and I have just loved metal music and the community ever since. Throughout my teenage years metal music has been a bond in many ways. A bond to my own life and to my own feelings but also an important bond in several of my best friendships to this day where the common share for metal music has just enriched the relationships in so many ways. Furthermore, it has meant that I have this place where I really melt together with everything. Here I am talking about the feeling of standing between 50.000 people at a Metallica or Maiden show shouting your lungs out and feeling that constant rush through your body and mind. That really is something truly special in a world that is so defined by distinction. So, for me that community feeling is related to those hundreds of concert experiences and to the sharing world of my friendships and the daily life partnership with the metal music on my own.  

For the benefit of our readers, can you help to define what the heavy metal community is?

For me I think that it is a common language and energy. I remember going to a Slayer concert back in 2004 where I was in the mosh pit joined by several huge, pumped guys and I kept on moshing with those guys and constantly I went to the floor and they were there immediately to pick me up again. I think that is a great example, haha. But yes, a common language where you can experience a moment of “silence” from the outside world with all its battles and corruption. To just be and enjoy life through metal music really. 

Also, I think it is a way of being curious. I have met many kind people throughout the years in the metal community and it seems as if we are a community of nerds so to speak. That being music, books, travelling.. There is a lust for exploring life I think and that is so important!

Finally, I would mention that there is space in the community, and I think it derives from the music and the culture interacting. I think that the matter of darkness in all its many and mystical ways is something the metal community embraces resulting in a community without too many “you have to be this or that way to be right”, and this is also a way to protest against exactly that. The thought of someone giving you a static receipt on how to be and demanding you to follow it. So, this really is a matter of freedom in many ways I think.

How is the heavy metal community different from other communities?

I spend most of my time in the metal community and in my private sphere, so I would be sorry to make my analysis of other communities here to be honest.  

Can you help explain a few reasons why the heavy metal community is so important? Can you share a story or give some examples?

I think it is important on several levels all intertwining. The community is supporting the individual life and vice versa. And as I mentioned I think there are so many friendships out there enjoying the love for metal music together. 

I think all this makes the community important but also that the community cherishes our inner child. Here I am thinking of the intuitive connectedness with life and the world as such but also the protest against injustice, corruption and so on. That immediate feeling in the stomach when something wrong is going on and then the middle-finger-reaction to it.

Also, I think that the community is an example of a community living in peace and enjoying life and freedom, and I think this is an important example to state in the world! 

Would you feel comfortable sharing a story or anecdote about how being a part of the heavy metal community has helped you in your life? We would love to hear about it.

Well, my brother actually tells a story from a Slayer mosh pit as well! He experienced almost the same with a huge guy moshing his friend who didn’t listen to metal and wore a pink shirt. In the moment when he hit the ground, he was there to pick him up, gave him a huge kiss on the chin and yelled: “It’s Slayer!!”. So again, this is the story about a sharing and connected community that enjoys rocking out at a live show together.

Ok. Wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. Can you recommend five things that anyone can do to help grow and strengthen the metal community? Please share a story or example for each.

1 Love and listen to metal music. Well, this is the foundation, haha. So, this is just to follow that love that you experience when presented to metal music and keep expanding it. This aspect has been especially important and at the core of everything in my musical life but also beyond. My love for Metallica and Maiden is still something I cannot put into words and when I see them live to this day I´m that young boy being overwhelmed.

2 Buy records etc. and support the metal bands. This is the joy of supporting each other and the bands and showing the world that you are part of the metal community. I have spent countless hours buying albums in shops and at festivals and it really is something special. 

3 Go to live shows 

Both 2 & 3 are so important to keep the metal music ecosystem healthy. The transition to the digital age is a hard one for musicians so this is really important these days. Also, going to live concerts is what is all about! There you experience the true joy of the metal community unfolding. 

4 Spread the word. I think this is something that just happens naturally really. “Hey, have you heard this?!”. I think we all know the enjoyment of sharing metal around your circle of friends. 

5 Create your own metal band. The metal community needs metal music and therefore bands, and this has been a part of my life going back to childhood. The wish and dream to share riffs, beats, massive energy, huge melodies and so on onstage has always been there since I picked up the guitar.

Ok, we are nearly done. You are a band of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Without getting political (because it shouldn’t be) I personally think that the world as such needs to wake up and take action against the brutality humankind is forcing upon nature and wildlife all around the world. We need to see our connectedness with nature and cosmos in all new ways and embrace it in our lives and let us be inspired by it.

If you want IOTUNN news through Metal Blade Records you can sign up for a newsletter here: https://metalblade.com/iotunn/

Thank you for these excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.

Thank you very much and thank you for reaching out! Take care and all the best, Jesper