INTERVIEW: Asger Mygind – VOLA

Having written a debut album that was highly acclaimed, both in critical and popular circles, VOLA haven’t bowed to the pressure on second release Applause Of A Distant Crowd (read our review here). As a band who keep themselves behind their music, they keep a focus and create genuine body of work that holds value in and of itself. We caught up with frontman and guitarist Asger Mygind about the direction of this album, the mindset of the work, and how they anticipate the connection to their new music.

VOLA have had a really heavy sound of previous releases. Would you say this album’s sound has mellowed out?

Asger: Yeah, on Inmazes we had a clearly defined sound that we pushed to one hundred percent, and it was quite heavy, and when it came time to write this new album, seemed like all the songs that sounded like Inmazes felt a bit dated, like we’d done it already. Also, they failed a bit in comparison, so instead of trying to make an Inmazes number two, and probably fail, we went another route, and for some reason that became a bit lighter in terms of how the music sounds. It’s based on having a bit more rock influence on this album, like we revisited the old PORCUPINE TREE albums, which we really enjoy. We didn’t really incorporate that much [of those influences] on Inmazes, we looked more to bands like MESSUGGAH for example.

Was having those new ideas quite liberating as a fresh start to this album?

Asger: Yeah, that’s probably partly to do with me being in a different place than I was on Inmazes, which were pretty dark overall, it was more about being stuck in certain thought patterns and not being able to really day dream. I feel like I’ve gotten some of that daydreaming back, which you can hear on this slightly more positive vibe that we have on this record. So I’m defiantly in a happier place, but we like to dive into this melancholy atmosphere.

Also, we developed characters and this frame we create, that’s something I learned from Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE), he often writes lyrics from other peoples point on view, which allows him to say things he wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and to explore other ways of living, and looking at the world. I think that’s very inspiring, so that’s was the method on this album.

And thinking about the characters, were they ever an influence for the directions of the videos for Ghost and Smartfriend?

Asger: Well for Smartfriend, we sent some lyrics and some key words about the lyrics to the director called Craig Murrey, and he basically came up with this dystopian world you see in the video. We only had very few ideas for changes when he sent us the first version, so it’s pretty much his interpretation of the song. And for Ghost, we had less of a story, it was more about exposing ourselves as a band, because in earlier videos we’ve hidden behind animations, so it felt now was the time to step forward and present ourselves as a band, because the songs feel a bit lighter and brighter, and if we were going to do a performance video for a song, this one felt like the right one.

You’ve played a few more shows recently, you’ve played Bloodstock and UK Tech-Fest here in the UK. How was the festival season for you?

Asger: It was great, I’m really amazed how the people in the UK greet us when we play there. It’s always an amazing audience, when they sing along. It’s a nice was for me rest my voice a bit. Yeah, looking at our Spotify, London is actually where we have the most listeners, so we defiantly feel a connection with the UK.

And how are you feeling for the upcoming tour with MONUMENTS?

Asger: Very excited, it’s basically our second live tour, we did one back in 2016 with KATATONIA, which was our debut in travelling in Europe and so many countries and playing with bands that we idolise. That was a great experience we were looking forward to doing it again. And this time we are special guests, playing just before monuments, which gives us some more time on stage, so everything feeling like it’s going in the right direction.

Is there anything you want people to take from this album?

Asger: I think it tries to describe some negatives and some positives, the social media world that we’re a part of. It mostly sounds negative on the album, but if you look at the album title for example, Applause of a Distant Crowd, it can both be an image of how we feel distant from each other outside of social media, that it can be difficult to speak to each other in a room, we feel safer on the phone. But it can also be an image of connecting to people that are far away, which we couldn’t do before. So in that sense, it’s not like we don’t appreciate that new reality, it’s more an observation on what we’re encountering at the moment, and what sorts of stories can unfold in this universe. I just hope people can make peace with these stories, and maybe see themselves in them, and try and find comfort or solace in them.

They are very relatable as songs, in the symbology and metaphors you’ve written about. As a band, do you think that writing this album as a band, you’ve come to change your perspective on the themes you’ve written about?

Asger: Yeah, just discussing this album with our label for example, I had to write many pages about my thoughts around how I perceive this reality. For me, I definitely struggle to allow myself to just sit in a chair and look out the window and just let my thoughtfulness have plenty of room to grow and foster some creativity. I think that I’m not so good at doing that anymore, I always have that urge to look and see what’s going on in the world, if there’s a new podcast or how people are responding to our updates online. I’ve always got an urge to grab the phone in my pocket and I’m afraid it can affect my creativity in the long run. So that’s something I’m interested to see how it will develop in the future, if it becomes too much of an obstacle to being creative. It’s interesting for me.

It definitely makes you more thoughtful about how your perception of things, but how are you anticipating people’s response to the album?

Asger: Yeah, I think there’s quite a lot of anticipation. We’ve seen the first few reviews come in and they’re very positive which is always nice. People who’ve heard the album and are able to place the different characters in the songs in a context, that’s where the songs make the most sense, like when you listen to them all, and you can hear there is no definitive sound, it’s more about different expressions that has overall created this album. That’s what’s hopefully coherent about this piece, so it’s an interesting time.

Applause Of A Distant Crowd is out now via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group.

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