DIMMU BORGIR Frontman Talks About CHROME DIVISION Side-Project

MrRock.net recently conducted an interview with DIMMU BORGIR frontman Shagrath about his side-project CHROME DIVISION (in which he plays guitar). A few excerpts from the chat follow:

MrRock.net: As a musician, how important is it for you to show all of your musical sides, and not just be considered a black metal musician?

Shagrath: Do you mean me personally?

MrRock.net: Yes.

Shagrath: Well, you know, I'm satisfied with my role in DIMMU. I create all of the music for DIMMU, which people probably don't know much about — they think that I'm just singing, but I also create a lot of the music for DIMMU BORGIR. But a lot of the people don't see it like that. They see me more as a singer, but I've also played guitar for many years, I play keyboards for years.

MrRock.net: As a guitar player, who would you say are your biggest influences? I hear a lot of TED NUGENT in your monster guitar riffs.

Shagrath: I don't think that I take direct inspiration from any specific person, but I like a lot of different styles of music. I like AC/DC, MOTÖRHEAD, some BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, MONSTER MAGNET, and bands like that. I don't try and copy anyone in those bands, but you can hear some similarities between bands like us and, say, a band like MOTÖRHEAD.

MrRock.net: Being a vocalist yourself, was it strange working with another singer?

Shagrath: Not really. It was very comfortable, actually, to just be in the shadows concentrating on the guitars. I get the best of both worlds — I get to sing in DIMMU and play guitar in CHROME DIVISION so it satisfies all of my needs.

MrRock.net: Are videos are still important way of promoting the band and album?

Shagrath: I think videos are probably the most important thing you can do to help promote an album. It's a definite need for what's going on today. If you want to sell records, people want to see what's going on. I think it's a really good idea to make a video, even though it is quite expensive to do so. It's a lot of hard work, but it pays off.

MrRock.net: Is CHROME DIVISION going to be doing any touring?

Shagrath: Well, you know, DIMMU is still my main responsibility and we are in the process of making a new album and writing new songs, so I have to prioritize that. But also, the other people in the band also have day jobs, families, and children. It's very hard to book a full tour. We have gotten some offers, but so far we have only played one show. But, if the timing is right, and everybody is able to do it, we'll try to take as many live jobs as possible. It wouldn't be like a full tour though.

Read the entire interview at www.mrrock.net.