Metal Inside(r) Home Quarantine is Metal Insider’s new column during this time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked artists five questions on what’s been keeping them busy ranging from their favorite movies, food they’ve been eating, music they’ve been listening to and more. We caught up with Kvelertak guitarist Vidar Landa as he’s been spending this time doing what a lot of people in quarantine have been doing.
What have you been doing to pass time during Quarantine?
I think I’ve done what a lot of people in quarantine have been doing. I’ve played guitar a lot, hiking in the woods outside of Oslo, painted the bathroom just to pass time. We did a live stream with Kvelertak that took a lot of planning. It was surprisingly fun, although I hope it’s not the future for music. You can still watch it here and support us: https://vierlive.no/acts/kvelertak Apart from that, there’s been a lot of time spent on the phone and Facetime with band members, friends ,and family.
Have you been listening to any music or have any playlists worth checking out?
Bought a couple new vinyls right before the lockdown that I’ve played a lot:
Bohren and der club of gore, Patchouli Blue
Undergrunnen, Undergrunnen
The No Ones, The Great Lost No Ones Album
Apart from that, I really enjoy the stuff Aon Brasi have put out recently. And Marvin (bassist in Kvelertak) always sends me new stuff to check out.
I love listening to podcasts. Did not listen to all of these during quarantine, but they are good recommendations anyway:
Headlong- Running from Cops
Headlong -Missing Richard Simmons
Headlong-Y2K
Gimlet Media-Heavyweight
Crimetown-The Ballad of Billy Balls
Radio Spaetkauf-How to fuck up an airport
A lot of people have been spending this time cooking including making their own bread, what food have you been prepping during this time?
Been saving a lot of money on just making food at home. I’ve been making my own sourdough bread for the last five years, so I do that. I’m vegetarian so I make a lot of Mexican and Asian food. And pizza!
In terms of entertainment, what movies, TV shows, books, or games have been keeping you busy?
Watching Trump press conferences is entertaining. I subscribe to a couple of Norwegian newspapers: Dag og Tid and Klassekampen, they keep me updated and I solve the crosswords and answer the quiz.
Finished some books:
Vi er fem-Mattias Faldbakken
Serotonin – Michel Houellebueq
Vernon Subutex – Virgine Despentes
Played the app version of Scrabble: Wordfeud, and the board game Bezzerwisser with friends via the internet.
And I’ve watched more Netflix, HBO series etc than ever before. It’s great entertainment but feels more like an addiction.
What advice do you have for your fans in isolation during this time?
People all over the world are in very different situations, some are maybe health workers, laid off, unemployed or working from home etc. But if you’re in isolation or quarantine a good thing could be to fix something at home or learn something new, a new instrument or a new song. It gives a feeling of mastery that can help keep those most depressing feelings away for a bit and it doesn’t necessarily cost anything.
Kvelertak have announced another livestream event, Live From Amper Tone Studio on Saturday, June 20th via Vierlive at 9pm CET/8pm BST/3pm EDT/2pm CDT.
The group commented:
“Hello friends! First of all, we hope that all of you are safe and in good health! We REALLY miss playing shows and interacting with our fans…but we are fortunate to be able to rehearse and continue to make new music. We were supposed to be out playing festivals right now and continuing to promote our newest album SPLID. Since that’s not possible, we have planned a new livestream event to try and make up for it. We’ve booked Amper Tone Studio in Oslo — the studio where we recorded Nattesferd— and turned it into a ‘Kvelertak Game Show’ set. We’ll be spinning the Kvelertak ‘Setlist of Fortune.’ We’ve dug up some old classics and rehearsed songs we’ve never or seldom played live before. There will be a proper Q&A and we’ll take a couple requests. Everyone who buys a ticket will be entitled to join a competition to win some pretty rad prizes. We’ll be giving out a guitar, a Kvelertak limited numbered skate deck, rare demos, custom picks, signed vinyls, our onstage prop owls, etc. We had more fun than we expected on the last stream (check that out) and we hope you did as well! Come join us again! Thank you all for the support!”
