Brånd – “…when I listen back to music I made in a specific time or read lyrics that may have been kind of like riddles to me when I wrote them and then suddenly start to make sense.”

Who’s Brånd?…
Brånd started out in the summer of 2015, as a solo project and still is to some extent, but on the new full lenght record, we’re working as a band. The songs are really growing from all the different musicians involved and I’m very stoked to hear how it turns out, as I’m just doing vocals and synths on the record then.

Name and age should not matter. Location kinda does tho. I currently reside near Linz, Austria.

Do you play and record everything at home? 
So far I’ve recorded ‘Hoam’ and ‘Wo Draht Da Weg’ at the projects place of origin and other recordings have been happening all over – wherever there was a place. Everything but the drums on ‘Urkraft’ have been recorded by me so far. These were recorded by Hoolie, who is actually a fantastic guitar player and took over this role in the band now.

Do you play live too or is Brånd a recording project only? 
There are live concerts happening, yes. We’ve played around 4 shows back in 2016/2017 with the line-up of Kringa and now we have a band / live line-up again since 2023. As we’re from all around Europe, it’s difficult to organize, so we’re looking for very specific places to play and would prefer to tour instead of one off shows.

What’s your musical background? Did you play in bands before? 
I’ve been growing into the Black Metal scene from age 16 or so and also make music since then. All started with the formation of Kringa back in 2011. Since then we travelled quite a lot and made some good friends along the road which we eventually collaborated with and thus extended our reach.

You put a ‘Black Metal’ tag on every release on your Bandcamp page, but your influences go further than that. There’s also punk, post-punk. Who do you seen as your musical influences? 
Black metal is and stays my way of approaching this band and atmospherically it will always stay the core of the project. Punk definitely is another important part of Brånd, as its urgency – in music as in message – is a very important tool for me. I listen to little post-punk, so I’m not sure why it is that present. Maybe mixing Black Metal with electronic music and the forward drumming led to this result.

Which role does music play in your daily life? Do you listen to and play music every day?
Music is an incredibly important aspect of my life. I listen to music every day, and there are very few days where I don’t touch an instrument. I tend to understand myself better when I listen back to music I made in a specific time or read lyrics that may have been kind of like riddles to me when I wrote them and then suddenly start to make sense.

Your releases are on Bandcamp, but there are also physical releases. Is that important to you, that there’s still a physical object? 
Yes, physical releases are important to me, as it’s where a concept of a record can culminate. I get physical releases get less and less important nowadays, but I still like to do physical copies of everything I release, even if it’s just a handful of copies for dedicated friends or fans.