Interview: MØL (Written)

On Monday the 8th of May, 2023, shoegaze/blackgaze/post-metal band MØL hit the Underworld in London. The first date of the UK run of their gigantic headline European tour. A few hours before they took to the stage and blow everyone away (read our review of the show here), we sat down with them and asked some questions. Speaking to bassist Holger Rumph-Frost and vocalist Kim Song Sternkopf.

Hello MØL. Welcome back to the UK. You picked a wonderful weekend for it.

Kim: Bank holiday!

I know, right? How are you feeling?

Kim: I think I can’t tell the days apart anymore.
Holger: That’s good. Only day three of the tour.
Kim: It hit me early.
Holger: Well, we are feeling really good. It’s our first headliner in Europe and UK ever, so, of course we’re feeling amazing. All the expectations we have for this have bit hit. Support for this band has been amazing. The presale has been through the roof, too.

Do you find yourself paying quite a lot of attention to that aspect of it? The whole presales and what you’re doing beforehand? Or do you just prefer, you know what, let’s not look at that. We will go, and we will see what happens?

Kim: We’ll see who turns up. I think we do like to at least get some kind of idea.

Holger: It is something we have looked at, but I think as this is the first headline date, we’ve paid more attention to it. Beforehand, we’ve just been supporting. We’re always grateful for people coming to see our shows, of course, but now it’s on us to have to sell the tickets, so of course we are aware of that.

Did you feel confident coming back to the UK, particularly? That there was enough hunger from the UK crowd for MØL?

Kim: Yeah, I think mostly because of seeing how many people showed up at the tours. The latest tour we did with Crippled Black Phoenix, it was a really great turnout. We had nerves about us selling tickets in the UK, but I’m pretty excited to go to Poland because that’s the first time we’re going to be playing there.

It is bank holiday Monday, but there’s a reason why it’s bank holiday in the UK today. What do you make of this whole British pomp and pageantry that’s been going in this weekend? Do you care? Have you noticed it?

Kim: You like your royalty!

Some people do!

Kim: Well, in Denmark, I know there are fans of the Queen, but in the UK it’s super fans and there’s a whole market for that as well. So it’s kind of weird because last time we were touring the UK, something else happened, like, the Queen died. I feel like we’re here only when anything dramatic happens. It’s royalty.

Next time you come back, who knows.

Kim: What’s going to happen is another scandal.

Holger: I like that you can buy a sandwich with the King’s name on it. We had a day off yesterday so we had a stroll around the city. Just trying to feel the vibe and everything here in Camden and also in Soho, and, I mean, people are enjoying themselves. It feels like a country that’s a little bit back together again. It’s really enjoyable to be here temporarily. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Six dates, six cities across the UK. Aside from London tonight, is there any other city that you’re looking forward to playing?

Kim: (without a pause) Bristol.

Bristol? Why Bristol?

Kim: Bristol is Bristol.

Holger: The obvious answer is ArcTanGent. ArcTanGent has been our way into UK. I think it’s been our eye opener for what the British music scene is and isn’t, and can be. So, Bristol has always been a great place for us to come and get a great supportive crowd.

Kim: And we’ve grown to have friends in Bristol.
Holger: It’s just a lovely city to take a stroll. Record shops, beers…
Kim: Good food, second-hand shops…

Getting this tour together, particularly coming to UK, has there been anything particularly challenging about coming to the UK than there was before?

Kim: Carnets.

Holger: Yes. There’s a certain layer of bureaucracy that’s been added the last couple of years. However, we’ve been pushing for this tour for a long time and I’ve don’t think we’ve been so prepared for tour. That’s everything from just practising and playing together, having everything sorted, including all this paperwork.

The dreaded B word.

Holger: Yes. I think people have just been a little bit slow in the business. It is a little bit lacklustre, but it’s a part of the game now. Is it something you have to do if you want to come here and we really do because we get so much out of coming here.

You were quite insistent that you wanted to make sure this happened.

Kim: Yes. Holy Roar Records did pave the way (when we were at that label) for us, that name signified a lot of quality. I think in some sense we were in good company back then and it was just a really good path to us getting noticed in the UK. Then, getting to meet a lot of people and I like that. We’ve heard horror stories about the UK, but the catering is still not amazing.

Kim: I feel that the thing that makes us come back is the people. It’s people that actually do love the music and has some kind of connection to the roots of what our sound has to offer. So I think it speaks into the musical history of the UK with shoegaze and a lot of the Brit rock and obviously blending it with all sorts of hard music that just isn’t as diverse and alternative in our own country. It’s starting to get there, right? It is. But it’s been taking a long time.

Holger: Yeah, but one thing that’s killing us, to get back to the paperwork question, is we can spend time on all sorts of preparations, but what’s really killing all small bands like us, is that it has to cost money to get here all of a sudden. That we have to pay to bring our fucking guitar and to bring our merchandise and to bring our drum kits and everything. It is an extra bump in the road.

You guys have played a number of venues in this city alone, different ones such as the Electrowerkz.

Kim: That was a really cool, very unique show. Actually, our first gig.

You’ve done the Dome as well, and of course, here we are at the Underworld. I kind of feel like you’re working on this plan to just basically play every venue that’s available in London!

Kim: Well, not a plan, just keep your eyes focused on the goal ahead of you. I think we’ve taken a lot of time to make the music and the artistical expression that we feel serves us for the career that we’re actually in. So, it’s about taking your time to do things right instead of rushing head first into a lot of stuff.

Holger: We’re not choosy. But of course, I remember as a teenager, I saw different bands at different venues in my hometown. I just remember some gigs were better than others. Oh, I like that venue better. They had my favourite beer. The venue was awesome.

I love the Underworld; I love this venue. I’ve seen hundreds of bands here, but that stage, sometimes it’s a little bit small for the amount of people that need to be on it.

Holger: To go back to the presale number, this morning when we came into the venue, we’re thought we’re never going to fit 300 in that room. It’s going to be a hot one.

Right now, in the background, we got Calligram playing and of course, later, we have Countless Skies. What’s your relationship with those guys?

Holger: We met them three days ago.

Oh, cool. How’s it been going?

Kim: I think we can play with a lot of different bands. I think that’s one of the cool things about playing something in the middle of some big genres, in some sense, that gives you a lot of dynamic and leeway in terms of tours. The latest tours before Crippled Black Phoenix, we were kind of the ‘breeze of fresh air ‘in between technical death metal and stuff like that. But I think it’s something else when you’re the one putting on the show. If you think of a show in general, it has to have a dynamic flow, in some sense. You don’t want to tire people out with 3 hours of the same thing. I think we have a responsibility to bring these bands out and introduce people to them.

Holger: In the same way we were introduced a long time ago by supporting other bands. Calligram, who we played with five years ago. The Countless Skies gang was, for me at least, a very pleasant surprise. Awesome guys, great music. The next two weeks are going to be great; I think.

Diorama, the dust is settling a bit now, the judgments are in and everyone seems to be simply in love with it. Absolutely adoring it, particularly considering how strong Jord was. Are you satisfied with how it’s been received?

Holger: Yes, absolutely. Diorama took some years before we could get it done, basically. We had a lot of talk about how are we going to do this. The time we thought we were going to release it on Holy Roar. Suddenly we had to change plans drastically and to get a whole new team and that has been absolutely for the better. Really awesome team that we got now in Nuclear Blast and our management back home, so we should not be more satisfied with that.

For many, tonight will be the first time they actually hear some of the new songs played live, particularly in the UK. Do you have a particular song that you enjoy the most playing live from it?

Kim: I think we have different favourite song, but mine might be Vestige. I think that song has just the right amount of pop punk energy. I think it’s one of the songs that really carved out a new way of being, in a certain sense. I think we can credit that to some of Ken’s drum work because, if he wasn’t as big of a Travis Barker fan, we would not have had as much blink 182 in that song as we do.

What do you want from the UK crowds? What do you demand from the UK crowd for you to be able to go back to Denmark satisfied that it was a worthwhile experience coming over.

Holger: I don’t think we want to demand anything. Of course, we are hoping that people are coming into this with open eyes, open arms and they want to have a good time with us. I think we’re not coming here for our own sakes, we’re coming here for our fan sakes and we want to enjoy it.

Kim: I do this for my own sake, but I think what connects me to the crowd and for us in general is to get that specific break from your everyday. Our music encompasses a lot of, if I can make you forget your regular Monday, then I have done my job. So, this is escapism in its finest form. If you buy into the fantasy, just for a couple of minutes, forget your bloody phone, then we will be satisfied.

MØL’s European/UK tour is taking place right now. You can pick up tickets here.