GORGOROTH Frontman Had 'Close Relationship' With Norwegian Modeling Agent DAN DEVERO

July 24, 2008

"Yes, we had a close relationship," admits modeling agent Dan DeVero about shock rocker Gaahl to iBergen.no.

On stage with GORGOROTH, Gaahl is the very definition of a mother-in-law's nightmare.

The long-haired, evil-looking man with corpse paint scares the hell out of the parent generation, while fans all over the world love and admire his terrifying masculinity.

Together with modeling agent Dan DeVero (see photo below),however, he displays far more feminine sides.

The musician dressed in black and the fur-wearing modeling agent are behind the clothing collection Wynjo, which will launch in 2009.

The two men became very close friends after they met a year and a half ago.

"We had hired models from DXD Models for a music video to be recorded in Bergenshallen. During the shoot, Dan suddenly appeared and became upset with us because one of his models had been served wine. That was the first time I met him," says Gaahl, or Kristian Espedal, which is his real name.

DeVero's rage, however, quickly turned to warmer feelings.

"Kristian and I developed a close relationship, and he often told me he had strong feelings for me," DeVero tells iBergen.no while Espedal silently drinks from his glass of wine.

A year and a half later they are no longer swooning, but they are still partners. Thanks to their unlikely meeting in 2006, they've put their heads and wallets together to launch something as unique as as a wholly Norwegian clothing collection for women.

Wynjo is a name that Espedal came up with.

"Wynjo is an ancient Norse word meaning happiness, or to be more precise, the search for happiness. Perfection. I have always been preoccupied with aesthetics and what is beautiful. This collection will bring out the elegant and the feminine in women," the novice fashion investor explains to iBergen.no.

But this is in strong contrast to your role as frontman of GORGOROTH, so how did the people around you react to this?

"Those who know me in private didn't think it was particularly strange. I do not care about what people in general think. It's not as if I'm going to change as a person just because suddenly there are some dresses out in the world. Besides, I like confusing people," Espedal says, grinning.

The clothes are designed by Sonja Wu and will be presented at a preview in Bergen in September. Inspired by fashion mecca Paris, DeVero and Espedal now hope they can create a fashion house in Norway with several designers on the team.

"We want to attract young talent and give them an opportunity to design for us. Designer students are welcome, since it is the young who create fashion. There are way too few people in the Norwegian business world who dare take a chance on young entrepreneurs, and I am eternally grateful to Kristian for helping me with this," DeVero says.

Photo displayed from iBergen.no:

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).