Kjetil: It's hard to pin that down to just one thing, but I think and hope that people appreciate us for our openness to different style of music, and our way of treating new musical challenges. You become innovative when being open minded, and when creating something looking within of yourself and not bothering too much about outside elements. That's the nature of Green Carnation, that's the way it's always been with us, and that's the way it will always be.

With the rave reviews the band received from The Quiet Offspring, what, if any, pressure was there in releasing a follow up album?

Of course we will always feel tense during the weeks when the first feedback comes, but I've never felt any pressure because of previous reviews and response. It's been the same story, basically, with all our albums, but luckily Green Carnation isn't one of those bands that let others dictate our future in any way. I think that takes a lot of pressure away from us.

With so much momentum for the band with The Quiet Offspring, why slow things down by releasing The Acoustic Verses?

The Acoustic Verses was originally supposed to be a limited release, recorded as a 15th anniversary CD from Green Carnation. We decided to continue to explore new musical landscapes early in the process, and since the idea was an anniversary CD, we thought it would be cool to do an album stylistically as far away from the original (death metal) style as we felt we could, but still keeping it within frames we would feel comfortable with. (If that made any sense.. Hehe). But keeping it simple - we wanted to enjoy the challenge of"stripped down" songs. Many of us normally compose on acoustic guitars, so we did know a bit about what we should be expecting.

The Acoustic Verses is one of the most touching acoustic albums I've ever listened to. What was the mindset of the band while recording the album?

I think we have kept many of Green Carnation's main elements on this album, like the melancholy, the melodies, the lyrics, and so on, but since this was a new format for us I think it was natural for us to develop some of those elements even more. As it turned out, I think the melancholy, for example, is one of the main elements on this album. I agree there are some very touching songs on there, and I hope we're not the only two…

On The Acoustic Verses, there is a song entitled "Child's Play part III". Is there any correlation between part III and parts I and II that are on The Quiet Offspring?

Yeah. Originally, Tchort composed the first part, and gave our previous synth-player Bernt A. Moen and myself the task of making a second version of it. Both versions ended up - as you know - on The Quiet Offspring. Without even asking Bernt, he came up with a third part, with no vocals, and we felt it suited perfectly on the album. I think this will be the last part - at least for a while.. Hehe. It think its right to say that part 2 and part 3 are musically inspired by part 1. And of course, the lyrics of part two are very much inspired by part 1.

Stepping aside of Green Carnation for just a moment, you're also the lead singer in the death metal band Chain Collector. How did that come about and what are your primary goals in Chain Collector?

Well, Chain Collector's founder, Gøran Bomann (of Carpathian Forest) contacted me prior to the first demo-recording, and told me I suited in well in his visions for the band. I am always open for new challenges, and felt I could contribute with something when I heard his musical ideas for the first time. After sending the demo out to a few labels, we got a few offers, and suddenly we sat there with a record deal. That wasn't something I had thought too much about when accepting to contribute on the demo, but we agreed to do a great debut album, and see where that put us. The album has been received greatly, generally, and we are open to the idea of touring and playing gigs. But to answer your question, I think Chain Collector's primary goal is to continue making our own sound, and make groovy, heavy and melodic music.

Now onto some biographical questions…

Who were some of your favorite bands growing up and how did they influence you to become a musician?

I wasn't too critical about what I was listening to before I was in my teens. My father was into country music and stuff like that, and I had some slightly older guys in the neighbourhood that introduced me to bands like Kiss quite early in my childhood. But gradually after becoming a teenager my interest grew, and bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Metallica, Accept, Megadeth, Queensryche was amongst the ones inspiring me to digging deeper into that part of the music world.

Did you always want to be a lead singer or was there any other position in a band that caught your attention?

I actually played bass in my first couple of bands. Then I did bass and backing vocals, before forming a Faith No More cover band, which was my only band before joining Green Carnation. I would love to pick up the bass again some day, that's for sure.

If you were to quit music tomorrow, how happy would you be with your career? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Ooh... I don't hope that's going to happen. I think I still have a lot to offer. But if did quit tomorrow, I would like to think that I've done some things that means something special to someone. I remember when reading the first reviews after Light of Day, Day of Darkness, people had actually noticed what I did on it. That was a new experience. After that, some of my most meaningful moments in life have been when hearing about what my music means to people around the world. That makes it worthwhile for me, and that's what I want to be remembered for.

What do you believe the most difficult part of creating different and unique music and not fall victim into sounding like every other band on Earth?

It's not all that difficult. I think the secret is to believe in our own personal qualities, and don't be afraid of experimenting or actually using your influences. By doing that, most of us will sound unique, and that's what makes art.

Finally, is there anything you'd like to leave us with?

Must be the traditional stuff, "check out our new album" and things like that.. Hehe. Thanx a lot for your questions. It looks as Green Carnation will come to USA quite soon to do a long tour. Check www.greencarnation.no for updates. Hopefully we'll meet up somewhere over there, then!!!

www.greencarnation.no