Ostby, Tore (Ark) (May 2001)

Absolute Tore - A Chat With ARK Guitarist Tore Østby

It's a real pleasure when you talk to such entertaining persons like Tore Østby, leader of ARK, a brilliant prog band that has just released its second successful album Burn The Sun. And it doesn't hurt that they're great musicians as well...

Igor Italiani: [Telephone ringing] Hello, I'm Igor Italiani of Metal Force. Who's speaking?

Tore Østby: Hi. I'm Tore Østby of ARK. Hello Igor, how are you doing?

Fine, thank you. And you?

Very good, very good...

II: OK, so we can start the interview ... mmh, I think we can begin with Burn The Sun, your latest release. Tore, for me the album is just excellent, mixing perfectly prog metal atmospheres with a lot of other influences as well. Are you completely satisfied with this release?

TØ: Oh ... thank you ... we are very, very satisfied with this album. It came out the way we wanted ... we are very proud of it. We wanted to create a document of our mental states of mind and musical tastes, and it came out just the way we wanted.

II: But on your first record you were primarily a trio (with you, Jorn [Lande], and John Macaluso). Now you have recorded Burn The Sun also with Randy Coven on bass and Mats Olausson on keys. Are they both gonna be official members of the band, or were they used only for the recordings?

TØ: No, we're gonna take them on tour as well...

II: Oh, so you're planning a tour right now?

TØ: Yeah, we are planning a tour. I think we're gonna head off to France around September, and I think we're gonna visit Italy just after that, with some other European dates as well. I'm dying to go off and start a tour.

II: However, I'm glad to hear that Randy is an official member of the band, because I think that his work on Burn The Sun is just incredible. He has a unique sound (thanks also to some brilliant Zimmerly basses he uses) and he plays like no one else on all the tracks of the album. What are your thoughts about his work?

TØ: Yes, we are really impressed with him as well. The fact is that we had a problem with our original bass player back in the studio and John (Macaluso, the drummer) came up with the idea to call his friend Randy to record the tracks. So Randy came in and recorded without any problem all the material we gave to him. Well, as you stated, he has done an outstanding job.

II: Tore, what do you think about "Absolute Zero," which is my favourite track of the album and the song in which Randy really comes through. It's a really strange track, isn't it?

TØ: Yeah I know... It started to take shape in New York, because prior to recording this album, we had a few songwriting sessions in Oslo and New York. In NY you have this jungle thing, jungle music, really underground, and you know ... this style of music reflects the city so perfectly well ... "Absolute Zero" is just the kind of song that has this feeling on it. Lyrically I worked with Jorn to represent in the best way this coldness that you experience in the city and the coldness of the business tycoons as well. After that we took the song to Oslo and also added a Nordic approach to it ... we added more cold ... so it's really true what you say.

II: But is this your favourite track of the album or do you have another one?

TØ: Oh, it's really hard to pick a favourite...

II: Well, I know ... because they are all great tracks?

TØ: Oh, thank you, thank you [giggling]...

II: So on with the next question. Another great element of ARK is Jorn. Maybe it's just too easy to write songs with him behind the microphone, because he has such a great range and he performs a lot of vocal styles so well?

TØ: Exactly! Well at first it was really tough to find a singer for this band 'cause we needed someone who had to follow up the music that we wrote, and the music was changing all the time. We also needed someone who had to be a little link down to Earth with a much required simplicity. So we were very lucky to discover Jorn; he has been doing a terrific job on this album and ... and ... well, like you say, he is just phenomenal.

II: Now Tore, I would like to speak a little about your past career as well. For example you were the leader of one of the most underrated bands in the metal universe of the nineties, in my opinion; that is Conception. Do you think that ARK can be seen as an extension of this great band?

TØ: Well, I've always put my personality in what I'm doing so it's natural that you see this connection between Conception and ARK. I think that this link comes from my way of playing which is similar in both bands, but I would like to view ARK as a completely new band, with completely new ideals.

II: Well, but is there something you're missing from the Conception days?

TØ: Something I miss? Oh, well, we had a lot of great times with Conception, so of course you miss the guys sometimes, but at the same time with ARK I have everything I need, now. It's so fun to make music with them ... I don't know ... Conception is behind me now, and I'm focusing on ARK...

II: OK. A technical question now. What kind of guitars do you use on stage and have you ever thought about experimenting with a 7-string guitar, like John Petrucci?

TØ: Oh, actually I've never played the 7-string guitar. Well I'm quite happy with the old 6-string and when we are going to play live I have different guitars. I'm endorsed by ESP, but I definitely use also some guitars which are not made by ESP and which I really like ... like my babies, and they are a Les Paul, an original custom made Strat, which has been following me for almost ten years now...

II: So this is your main guitar on stage?

TØ: Mmh ... when I'm playing around, it depends on the days ... some days I like some guitars, other days I like some others. It's strange. I change mood, but I think that my guitars change mood as well?

II: They go with the weather?

TØ: Yeah ... they go with the weather [big chuckle] ... maybe it's the way I treat them. If I don't treat them well they're mmh, mhmh [and he imitates troubles] ... like ladies, you know [exceptional chuckle]?

II: Ah, ah ... Tore, back to Earth, now. What's the meaning of ARK?

TØ: The meaning of ARK is pretty much ... it comes from Noah's ARK. You know, I took this name from the Bible. We are not a religious band but we took the reference from there because we have our ARK, too. Our ARK takes all musical styles, all musical elements. It's everything about freedom ... nothing is too stupid, nothing is too serious, any style is welcomed as long as it fits in well with the music we want to create.

II: Beautiful concept! OK, Tore, before saying goodbye, is there some CD you bought recently that you would like to recommend to us?

TØ: Oh, the last one I bought is the new Jeff Beck CD, really beautiful; but I listened to a lot of music when I was recording Burn The Sun ... you're playing and playing and playing ... you play music, you live music, you dream music...

II: Well, maybe you compose when you dream music?

TØ: Probably, probably...

II: OK, Time's up. Thank you Tore. I hope to see you in Italy really soon and good luck for Burn The Sun?

TØ: Thank you. I really hope to come down to Italy, absolutely. I'm looking forward to playing in your country as soon as October ... until then thank you and good bye.

Discography:
Ark (1999)
Burn The Sun (2001)