What the hell is Emperor’s 1994 track I Am The Black Wizards all about?
“I came up with this sort of parallel universe, this dark dimension that was very Tolkien-esque. I wanted to use it for a concept record for Emperor. One of the ideas was for it to have this massive tower with incredibly deep dungeons, housing, amongst other things… these strange wizards controlled by a hive mind. Everything is connected, and that’s where the title comes from.”
Presumably there was a big Tolkien influence on the Mortiis mask…
“Yes and no. I knew that I wanted to do something beyond corpsepaint. I’d grown up with Kiss and W.A.S.P. and Mötley Crüe – these big-image American bands – so that was something I’d always liked, but I was definitely into The Lord Of The Rings.
The early version of Mortiis was just me finding things I could mould into noses and ears and all of that, and then putting make-up on top of it. To get the long nails, I would cut out the bendy ends of soda pop bottles, then paint them and glue them to my fingers.”
How do you feel about this current crop of masked bands, like Ghost and Sleep Token, becoming some of the biggest names in metal?
“I don’t pay a lot of attention to it, but Tobias [Forge] has done really cool stuff with Ghost. I’ve only met him once but he seemed like a very nice person. He was quiet. I’m only aware of Sleep Token because people talk about them. I see a shitload of masked bands fly by on my algorithm. The weird thing is, I feel like I’m the only guy who wears a mask but still has a face.”
What are the masks like to travel with? How many airport security guards have you shocked over the years?
“They pull my stuff out a lot. I usually carry weird electronics, and they think it’s a bomb or something and scan it, like, three times. I’ve half-expected sometimes for them to go, ‘What’s inside this box?’ and then all of a sudden there’s a face staring back at them. Ha ha! It’s never happened, but, then again, these people, can you imagine all the weird shit they must see every day?”
You’ve travelled all over the world. Who’s the weirdest person you’ve ever met?
“I met a guy in the 90s who was completely tattooed, top to toe, and he had 12 kids in 12 [US] states. This was back when I was still drinking, and I drank with him all night. He was like a living piece of art and he was super-nice, but I was thinking, ‘How the hell do you even get to the point where you have 12 kids in 12 different states?!’”
Must’ve been a bit of a vagabond type.
“I guess! Maybe he just travelled around and… he must have been a very charming person.”
You were charmed enough to drink with him all night.
“Yeah, I didn’t have kids with him, though. Ha ha ha!”
You’ve been Mortiis for more than 30 years now. What keeps it fun?
“I’m a stubborn motherfucker, that’s for sure! I love trying new things musically. Even as I was completing [new album] Ghosts Of Europa a few months ago, I already had a whole bunch of other, different-sounding music on my hard drive. There’s, like, three more albums I’ve started: some similar, some vastly different. It’s the ability to explore new ideas and see where I can go with it.”
When you’re not Mortiis, you’re a healthcare worker. What do your colleagues think of the Mortiis music and presentation?
“When I started that gig, early on, some of them probably didn’t quite know what to make of me. I walked in there scruffy-looking, with long dreads. But I’m gonna believe my boss when she tells me that I’m a fairly well-liked employee. You try to have a good attitude and just be a fairly comfortable person to be around. That’s a big part of the job. If you’re an uncomfortable person to be around, you’ve failed the first test! Ha ha!”
What’s the most rewarding part of that job?
“Getting paid. Ha ha ha! But, in all seriousness, it’s nice to be nice, man.”
Ghosts Of Europa is out now via Prophecy.
