Journey of Souls pre-release interview with singer & guitarist Chris
By Derric Miller

Q: To start with, why did you name the band Keldian; what does that mean?

A: Keld is the old norse word for well, outspring or source. We thought that fit nicely with our lyrical themes, so we thought «Keldian» ... Sounds like we're of the Keldian Order, right?


Q: How did you hook up with Perris Records? I love Perris, but to be honest, all of their bands except Keldian can fit on their yearly Hollywood Hairspray compilations.

A: Couldn't we be on a Hairspray release? Well, I guess we don't fit in with most of the Perris bands, but it's all rock music. Tom Mathers heard our music on the web, and we got a message saying he wanted to sign us. We were happy to! Perris is a solid, big indie label. It's a great place to be for Keldian, because we want to reach fans of all kinds of rock music.


Q: To me, Keldian is unique for a lot of reasons, and one of those reasons is that the band is really a two-man project, yourself and Arild. Are you lookin' to add permanent members?

A: You know, it's one thing putting together a touring band when you're 19, and a whole different thing when you're 29. Keldian started when Arild and I got itchy wanting to make a metal album. So we thought «what can we do?», and the most obvious thing was write music and make an album. We got friends in to do stuff we can't do ourselves and the whole thing was an experiment to see if we could actually make a record. And we can give this music to people worldwide, whereas 15 years ago you'd have to get on the bus and get a record deal, if only to reach people in parts of your own country. We reach a lot more people this way, making albums as often as possible.


Q: Let's get into the new CD, out in March, titled Journey of Souls. Why the title?

A: Keldian's lyrics are always about the spiritual and science-fiction, we're always into what happens to the human mind when we travel from our planet into space. The few people who landed on the moon are still the only ones to see the Earth as a globe in space. But by 2030 we'll be on Mars. What awaits us out there, and what is our Earthly existence all about? We can only wonder and write music, and Journey of Souls was a line in one of the new songs. It seemed to sum up the theme of the album, so we went for it.


Q: Is it a concept album, or are the songs just thematically tied together?

A: It's not a concept album like Dream Theater would do it. But all our lyrics tend to circle around the same basic ideas, so I guess our albums have a thematic thread going through them.


Q: I think Journey of Souls takes more chances, musically and lyrically, than your first album Heaven's Gate. This culminates in the track The Devil In Me, which is the first time I'v heard Keldian sounding angry. Did you go into the new album with the idea of taking more chances?

A: We liked the first one, so we thought we'd better come up with something that the fans would dig even more. I guess we were more confident to try some weird ideas now and then, and we were definitely set on making a tough-sounding record. We didn't want to write the same songs over again, but add more power to the Keldian sound, and we came to the conclusion that there will be more Keldian albums to come. Lots more. We're on a roll now!


Q: I love the song Reaper, but it's a tad eerie, with lines like «you will die before you wake» and «only death divides us.» What's that song all about?

A: It's probably one of the poppier songs on the record, but with a twisted lyric to match! Actually I was flipping through my old Iron Maiden records and noticed the cover for Twilight Zone. That's where the lyrics came from. Check it out guys, if you don't know the artwork. There's someting or someone on the other side, unhappy with being alone.


Q: Who are your influences as a singer?

A: I never wanted to sing, I was just the guy stupid enough to raise his hand when nobody else wanted to do it. That was the story from way back. I got used to people telling me my singing sucked, so I guess I'm immune to it. When people tell me they like my vocals, like you say you do, I really appreciate that, and it makes me focus on getting better at it. Personally I really dig it when singers are able to communicate conviction with their vocals. If you sense that the singer believes in what he or she is singing, the goosebumps are never far away. I'll always adore Bruce Dickinson, and Morten Harket of a-ha is always a good inspiration. And if I need a rush of metal I'll go for Chuck Billy of Testament, although I'll never get near there myself. Great stuff.


Q: Do you have plans to tour in support of the new CD?

A: As you know, we're a studio project. But we do want to get this music on to the stage at some point. I guess if the fans out there keep requesting it, it's bound to happen. We would love to. So where do you people want us to play?