The Danish blackened death/doom band Konvent just released their second album Call Down The Sun. Bassist Heidi Withington Brink fills us in on the latest with the album, touring and other topics.
Chad Bowar: How did the songwriting process for Call Down The Sun compare to your debut?
Heidi Withington Brink: Compared to our debut, we were challenged by the pandemic, which made it impossible for us to practice. But luckily Sara (Helena Nørregaard) spent a lot of time on her guitar at home, preparing for when we were able to try it out together in the rehearsal space.
What led you to worked with producer Lasse Ballade again on this album?
We chose to work with Lasse again because we had a blast recording the first record with him. He had a really big role in finding our own sound on the first record, so it was a no brainer for us that he would be producing the next one.
How did the pandemic affect the process?
Even though the pandemic brought us more time to focus on writing music, it was difficult to get inspired. Our rehearsal space was shut down during the pandemic, so we couldn’t go and jam stuff together or just practice. So it was a huge setback for us, when writing the album. But luckily we pulled through and had some cool riffs ready for when they finally opened up.
How has the band’s sound evolved from Puritan Masochism?
We’ve become much better musicians since our debut, which has given us much more confidence to experiment. We’ve been challenging and pushing ourselves more and will be continuing doing that.
What lyrical topics do you cover this time around?
A topic that is overall being repeated on Call Down The Sun is probably the feeling of defeat. A lot of the songs are about the constant search for happiness and doing everything to achieve it.
How did you decide on the cover art?
We knew we wanted to work with Mads Berg, who also did the cover art for Puritan Masochism. On our debut album we wanted to incorporate waterfalls and spirals, because it related to the song writing. On Call Down The Sun we were inspired by sand, grains and the desert in general. So we wanted to also visually display that on our album.
After the positive reception to your debut, what are your expectations for Call Down The Sun?
We hope people will be just as excited about Call Down The Sun as we are. We’ve received so much positive reception on Puritan Masochism which has been overwhelming. Call Down The Sun is the record where we feel our music has evolved for the better, and we hope our fans will enjoy the album just as much as the debut.
The videos for “Grains” and “Pipe Dreams” are quite different. One is conceptual while the other is a performance. How do you go about deciding the storylines for your videos?
We aren’t the most visual band, so when we got in contact with Martin Goltermann, who shot and produced both videos, he helped us visualize the songs. He really gave visual life to the meaning of both tracks.
How important are videos in the promotion process?
Our fans really enjoy whenever we do videos, so we wanted to do videos for all three singles, as we also did for Puritan Masochism. Actually we are also doing a conceptual, performance and lyric video, as we did last time for our debut.
Call Down The Sun is also being released on vinyl and cassette. Are you a collector of either?
Both Julie and Sara collect vinyl. Julie also has a small collection of cassettes as well.
Describe your first post pandemic live show after being off the stage for almost a year. Did it feel different than a pre-pandemic live show?
Our first post pandemic show was different. It was nice being able to do a live show again, but people still had to wear masks and sit down, so it still didn’t feel like a normal live show. We had our first live show with a standing audience back in September, which was great. You almost forgot about it ever being a pandemic.
You have a lot of live dates on your calendar this year. Are there any you’re particularly looking forward to?
I think we’re all just excited to go on tour again. But I think Desertfest will be a big one for us. Desertfest is probably the biggest achievement in our sub genre. So that’ll be very exciting!
What’s your favorite way to occupy your time when you’re on the road?
We listen to a lot of music when we’re on the road! I don’t think we do anything out of the ordinary, but we just talk and joke around and sing along to the tunes!
Are there any plans for a North American tour on this album cycle?
We sadly don’t have anything planned for a North American tour on this album cycle, but we would love to go!
What are some of your non-musical interests/hobbies?
Julie is collecting horror movie figures and Rikke is actually learning Japanese!
What’s currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Amenra is constantly rotating at the moment. Great, simple, dark vibing doom from Belgium. Also a band we’ve been very inspired by when writing Call Down The Sun.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Love, peace and happiness!
(interview published March 16, 2022)
Watch Konvent – “Grains” Video
