LIFE LESSONS
IVAR BJØRNSON
From black metal’s violence to Peter Steele’s threesomes, the Enslaved mastermind has seen it all and somehow survived
WORDS: MATT MILLS
IVAR BJØRNSON NEVER set out to be a rock star. All he ever wanted to do was write songs – and as the 32-year-tenured lead composer for progressive black metallers Enslaved, he’s living the dream. From his adolescence in Norway’s black metal scene to touring the States in a beat-up van, these are the things he’s learned in three decades of genre-pioneering music.
BLACK METAL WAS REVENGE AGAINST HIPPIES
“My parents were hippies; all the black metal kids had hippie parents – [our music] was our revenge against the hippies, I guess.”
BUT I DID BOND WITH MY DAD OVER MUSIC
“My parents were divorced. My dad lived in Haugesund and every Saturday he and his new wife invited friends over. I remember, he pulled out his guitar to play All Along The Watchtower and I was fascinated by these people all being in love with music. Aged eight, I asked my dad, ‘Can I do this with you somehow?’”
ANTHRAX WERE MY FIRST OBSESSION
“At 10, I heard Anthrax on the radio, then they had a show in Oslo. It was so awesome! Every time at school, if the assignment was ‘Write about something you’re interested in’, I’d bring in a boombox and play Anthrax incredibly loudly. My teacher would go red-faced: ‘Thank you, that’s enough!’ The next class would be: ‘Write about a country you’re interested in.’ I’d put, ‘This is the USA, where Anthrax are from.’ Out came the boombox. [Everyone thought,] ‘Oh my god, this kid…’”