Saint Karloff Interview
Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
SK: I am a hard rock band. I try not to define myself as any specific genre as it tends to limit what I can do. Hard, groovy rock.
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
SK: Mads (guitar and vocals) and Ole (bass) grew up together and they were two of the few at their school who liked Black Sabbath, Deep Purple etc. They started a band when they were in elementary school and jammed together on and off until around 2010. Adam (drums) and Ole played in a band from around 2014 to 2016, and when that band broke up Ole asked Mads if he was interested in putting a band together. And that is when I saw the light of day.
PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
SK: My musical influences are many and varied, as with most bands. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Status Quo, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Iron Maiden, Canned Heat, Pentagram, Judas Priest, White Stripes, various folk music, various talented drummers in not so cool bands. The list goes on…
Non-musical influences are a mix of all the shit that goes on in the world today, Lovecraft, other pulp horrors, dungeons and dragons, space, nature… everything really.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
SK: To be loved, to be alive, to be bigger than Jesus. And to sell some records and do some cool gigs.
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
SK: Ole writes the lyrics. Some of them, like Ghost Smoker, are open to interpretation, though it is about an oppressor who exploits the earth’s children… and we are all earth’s children. Other songs, like Radioactive Tomb, is directly about our destruction and torture of nature and animals. When it comes to the music, it’s always a collaboration, no member of the band ever wrote a whole song, the exception being Ganymedes, which Mads composed. Ole brings many of the riff ideas to the table, but the most important work is to sort the bad riffs from the good ones, and then jam jam jam until it is a song. And during that jamming this 10 second riff idea turns into a six minute song with more riffs and more parts. Sometimes the original riff idea is even scrapped. Mads makes the 
vocal melodies. Adam adds rhythmic flares that inspires the song writing to progress. The bottom line is that everyone contributes equally. There is no John Fogerty, or Lennon/McCartney thing going on.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows?
SK: I, Saint Karloff, promote most of my own stuff along with help from Twin Earth Records, Dewar PR, Weedian, Devil’s Witches and other friends and people who like the music.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
SK: It’s just a logical conclusion. Stone age man wouldn’t sit listening to some shaman everytime he wanted to hear music and connect to something greater than everyday life, if he had the internet and access to billions of tracks. Mozart would probably upload his tracks through CDbaby if he could. But the need to collect something will probably always be there, and it seemsthat vinyl is the medium that is most collectable. Live shows have always, and will always be therefor those who can.
PD: What’s your outlook on the record industry today?
SK: Seems ok… It’s probably a bit different than 50 years ago, but I think there will always be a record industry in some way or form.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
SK: I don’t know, probably a song I don’t like, ’cause I couldn’t enjoy the song as much if I wrote it myself. I’d hate to be one of the original Sabbath guys and miss out on all the times I’ve discovered something awesome in their music.
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
SK: Too many to mention. War would be a big one, I don’t like war. And riffs that doesn’t work on an acoustic guitar. If the riff doesn’t work on your crappy acoustic guitar, chuck it in the bin, don’t tune down to C and add eight fuzz pedals to your loop.
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
SK: My first gig was a pretty proud moment… A tiny festival in the middle of nowhere, the audience were mostly the other bands, and I got some nice comments on the stuff I did. That was a good weekend and gave me some confidence in what I do.
PD: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
SK: My next show is in Oslo, Norway. The date is June 20th, and the venue is a cool rock den called Last Train. I have joined forces with Sunface, an awesome band jamming out cosmic vibes and heavy riffs. I think it will be a night to remember, Gandalf.
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Band location – Oslo Norway
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