UN: Let’s start with a fairly standard question. How is exactly did Frantic Bleep start? Was it known right from the start that you guys wanted to take a more progressive and original approach to metal?

FB: We’ve played in many bands through the years and we also knew each other from other projects, so it felt rather natural to start something together. In the beginning we just played some riffs we had. We used the first year and the first demo to find a direction we wanted to pursue further. We didn’t really think about it. We found our direction with the song “Mandaughter” and we took it from there. Our old drummer and I had a project before we started Frantic Bleep that was the forerunner to this band. We used some of the riffs I had written during that period in the early demo songs, and that kind of gave us the direction.

UN: While on the subject of the early days of the band, were exactly did the band name come from? It’s an interesting name for sure.

FB: We wanted a more interesting name and that was something we came up with. It wasn’t taken from anywhere. The name grabs people’s attention, and we didn’t think that a cliché name would be right for us since we play music that’s dissimilar from most metal bands out there. This is also our way to show that there are no rules in heavy metal.

UN: How did The End come into the picture for the band? Did they get a hold of your demo cd and become interested because of that? Do you think that the label is the perfect home for Frantic Bleep?

FB: We sent the demo around to a bunch of labels and a few showed interest in us. The End was actually the last label we heard from. We ended up with actual offers from Earache and The End. We decided to sign for The End since we liked their offer the best. I don’t know if we’re perfect for The End, but they have a lot different bands and that’s good. I don’t think we’re a typical The End band but we fit the label quite well.

UN: How does the song writing work within the band? There are obviously a lot of ideas going around; does every member of the band have a hand in the song writing process? Is it pretty much anything goes with what you guys will play? Obviously you guys draw from many different styles, but there is still a consistent style and nothing really seems out of place, or completely odd.

FB: It’s usually the guitarists in the band who brings in riffs and we then arrange the songs together at the rehearsals. We’ll play anything as long as it makes the song better. We’ll never add something just for the heck of it. The part has to serve the song and that’s always the most important thing. We also record the songs at the rehearsals so we can listen to it and make the arrangements better. The reason we sound different is because we listen to a lot of diverse music. When you take in a lot of different music, you will be able to write more unique and interesting music than someone who are only listening to metal. And when all the band members have their own style or touch to the whole thing, it just has to turn out original. It might sound a bit controversial, but personally I think that it’s not really that hard to be original. Of course you’ll need a certain amount of talent to be able to pull it off. All the best bands are innovators in my opinion, and trying to copy someone else doesn’t appeal to us. We just write and arrange the songs they way it feels natural to us. Why the whole thing doesn’t sound like a mess I don’t know, we just try to write as good songs as possible and this is the way it turned out.

UN: Would you say that the band has a somewhat selfish approach to music? By that I mean you guys are obviously more concerned with keeping yourselves excited about the music. Obviously you guys want your music to be enjoyed by others, but is it first and foremost pleasing yourselves that is important?

FB: Sure, we’re selfish bastards. At least, when it comes to what kind of music we do. We always try to please ourselves first. We never think about what other people might think about what we do. We’re not making music to please other people and that’s a very important attitude to have I think. You can’t really create something great when you’re thinking about what the fans or record label might think about it. Of course we want people to like us, but we always try to please ourselves first.

UN: Do you think that Norway is an ideal place for a metal band to be from? It seems like the most progressive bands within metal have always been from Norway. Does it make you proud of your home country to think of all of the amazing bands that have come before Frantic Bleep?

FB: I think it’s more about the attitude you have towards music in general and not about were you’re from. People have started to get a distance to the whole black metal thing now and bands are getting more mature, and finding other influences. I look at Frantic Bleep and also the Norwegian scene in general as a revolt against Norwegian society, so to say I was proud of this country because of its music scene wouldn’t be right. I am somewhat fascinated, but nothing more. Musicians in general are more or less considered as “the scum of the earth”, and metal musicians are an even lower “scum of the earth”.

UN: Would you say that Frantic Bleep is more of a studio oriented band? I didn’t notice any tour dates on the website, and really I’m not sure who you guys would go on tour with to be honest. Do you guys play select shows around Norway?

FB: We’re trying to change that, and we have new line-up now so we’ll be able to play live. The only thing booked so far is a festival gig here in Norway. We have ambitions to become a touring band later on. I think we can tour with most bands. We’ll be fine as long as they don’t play national anthems with double bass.

UN: Do you have any problems with your music being labelled as being avant-garde? I can’t really think of any other way to put it. But a lot of times using that adjective makes people think the music will be pompous. But I find that, while you guys definitely are original and unique, the band isn’t hard to get into and never gets lost or bogged down.

FB: I don’t agree with that term at all. It looks like every band that doesn’t belong in any other metal sub-genre, gets the avant-garde stamp. The only tag I would use to describe us is that we’re heavy metal band. This labelling of music is getting out of hand I think. Some people need to realise that metal have developed a lot during the last 20 years. It’s not 1985 anymore, and you don’t need to sound like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest to be categorised as a metal band. We play heavy metal, period! We do want our music to sound natural and we don’t want it to sound chaotic, as you’re saying. We are working a lot with that and we’re not trying to be pretentious or anything like that. It’s all about writing really good and interesting heavy metal songs.