Maila: Your music is defined as schizo-metal, a quite good definition since we can see a  huge mix of elements. You were able to do it without losing the focus on the rock ´roll and metal though. How did your schizo-metal happen and what did you do not to get lost doing  it?

Musth: I would say we are first of all a metal band. The foundations in all our songs are metal.
The other parts are there to show that we have other references and to make our music interesting. There are enough of great “straight forward” metal bands which we respect trough the roof, so as long as someone got that genre covered, we can try to do something different. I don't think we ever planned for Schizometal to happen, but from the start we have appreciated making music without rules. We all appreciate different aspects of music; the energy, the mood and the humor to mention a few, so we try to include all of these aspects when writing songs.

Maila: Listening to your music we can make a fast connection with thrash metal and Frank Zappa but there is a lot of Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk and …..all Mike Patton´s projects. Could we say he is your biggest influence?

Musth: There is no hiding away that you can hear the influences from Mike in a lot of our music, but we are 5 individuals in the band and to say that the band as a whole is inspired most by one man/band wouldn’t be right. I think the reason we sound different from a lot of bands is because each member in the band listens to different things. While Ola is a huge “stoner” fan, Pål is a more hardcore fan and so on.

Maila: Following rock path is difficult everywhere in the world. Choosing a style inside it with such different elements and long songs (more than 6 minutes average) put you guys on a non-commercial way. What make you believe this is the right strategy?

Musth: I believe if we were on this for the money we would be making rap music or dance music. The latter is actually the one making the most money in Norway. Shocking, I know!!!
This is more or less a “non profit” passion, and it feels good knowing that it won´t stop us one second. Besides, we reckon the world is ready for something new soon!

Maila: Your Myspace is very popular (over 56411 accesses). You invested on a cool layout with funny and shocking pictures. It really fits perfectly on your style. Gathering all these elements how do you define yourselves as musicians and as a band, personally?

Musth: One thing we have learned over the years, both as musicians and listeners, is that a band is not only their music. It comes as a package. There should be wholeness to it. Image is getting more and more important. That’s not always a good thing but it forces the bands to be more creative. Sometimes it can force originality and I guess it´s every musicians´ goal to create something 1000 people haven’t done before them. The problem is when the image comes in the way and the bands are forced to make music that fits their profile.
You have to be opened for everything when making music, especially in our genre where we don’t know where the hell we are going when we start on a new. :)

Maila: What do you want to show the audience and how do you expect to be seen by them?

Musth: Energy and great fucking music!

As long as people enjoy the show they can do whatever they want. We played concerts where people have been sitting in couches just watching while we were jumping on their tables and trying to tear the place down. And we have done gigs where the audience did the tearing along with us. You never know how they are going to act, so it´s all about giving them everything each time. Of course it´s preferable if they help us tear the place down....

Maila: All Musth´s management is done by yourselves. Are you interested in having a deal and management to promote your work or doing it as independent artists is what you really want?

Musth: It has been interesting doing all the management by ourselves and we have learned tons, so we wouldn’t have been without it. But as most artists, we know that it would be beneficial to have someone do that for us, so we can focus on making music.

That’s where our passion lies. Also this business is very much made on who you know. So having someone with a huge network helping us out, would definitely be of value.

Maila: On your press kit we can read very good reviews from specialized magazines and websites talking about Müsth´s work. More than one say that alive you guys are even more amazing. What is the big thing of playing alive and what can we see and expect from a Müsth ´s concert?

Musth: When you play live, you get to connect with people in a more direct way than if someone listens to your record. They can see us, we can see them. And so it´s up to us to make them feel as excited as we do when we are up there. A live show is all about experiencing something. So we try to make our audience feel like they`ve just witnessed something amazing that they`ll remember.

When you go to our concert you should expect anything. Weird outfits, unexpected intro songs, and A LOT of energy. The only thing we can promise is that we will sweat, scream and bleed for you. We are actually making a live video from a concert in a town called Trondheim. We hope you will like it. We will post it to our Myspace as soon as it is done.

Maila: What was the band´s most important happening until now?

Musth: Hard to say. We have played with lots of great bands, some of them bigger then us and some smaller. The biggest International artist we have played with is “Genghis Tron” and that was an important concert for us. It kind of stated that we are one of the “up and coming Norwegian metal bands”. But when we got split gigs with our friends, like Miksha, When Smoke Sets or Amira, it is just one big party where we drink till dawn.

Maila: What are your near future´s expectations and plans? Any summer tour coming out?

Musth: There won’t be any hard touring this summer. We´ve  got some concerts now and then but nothing huge. We are planning on recording some new songs this fall, and a studio pre-production will probably be done during the summer. Everyone in the band is restless to let you guys, who can’t come to any of the gigs just now, hear the new music. Everything is still just in the planning but we will let you know.

Maila: You guys are from Norway and we know little about you music scene. Besides being known as the Black Metal land, A-HA is the most famous band of your country (they are actually VERY big here until now). Could you make a short brief talking about the music scene in general in Norway? Is it more a rock country, a pop one...How is it to be a musician there? Do you feel respected?

Musth: He he. Fortunately we are not so inspired by the endless chanting of A-HA. The Norwegian music culture is pretty bleak and a good example is that the most selling artist in Norway now is the winner of Eurovision song contest, but luckily it’s getting better. We are proud that the black metal from Norway is so important in the metal world.

Even if there are few bands in the rock/metal genre that make it big here, the underground culture is really good! There are a lot of great bands that can be compared to any of the International artists. I think the rest of the world will soon experience the Norwegian metal take. :)

Maila: If you could choose 2 bands to tour with, what would they be and why?

Musth: Ooooohhh. Are you trying to make us fight? I think we all have different answers for this one. I mean, touring with a major signed band would be more beneficial for us, but I guess that’s not the most important for us now. I will pick one well-known band and one important band for us back here in Norway: Faith no more, cause we have been listening to them since we where toddlers. So it would be sick to play a concert with them. And the other would be Miksha, cause they are all great friends of us, we love their music and no one can throw a nude after party like them...

Maila: Do you make your living on music or you guys have other professions?

Musth: Gleffa, our bass player and Ola, on guitar, do live of music. They teach music, and appear in studio and at concerts as hired musicians. While we, the others, do other stuff to make ends meet. Pål is a Bartender, Christian is a student and Bjorn-Are... I don’t know what the hell he is doing! We Usually find him drunk in a bar.

Maila: What does a Norwegian rock guy do to have fun?

Musth: We can only speak of what these 5 Norwegians do for fun. And I guess with a bottle of booze everything can be fun. But in genera, making music, playing music, listening to music and drinking, always with good friends.

Maila: Please, leave a message to the readers!

Musth: Me so horney! And listen to Musth!
But seriously, we hope you take the time to check out our music, and if you want to drop by and give us a comment it will be highly appreciated and answered. Respect to the Brazilian metal heads out there! Hope we get the opportunity to come and play for you and share some beers. Take care and keep metal fuckin proper!!!