Sunday, December 10, 2017

Interview with Danheim

RavenzCraft Arts Interview with 

Danheim




Danheim is a Nordic folk/Viking inspired project created by a Copenhagen based Danish producer Mike Olsen. A very cool artist with 8 years of experience in electronic and ambient music, focusing on Nordic Folk, and Viking age music and videos with a raw and powerful atmosphere.






1. First things first, I would just like to welcome and thank you for taking the time and talking with us, It is always interesting to get different perspectives and hear the stories and inspirations behind a creator or an artists work. So for the people who may not already know, where are you from?
And can you tell us a little backstory of what Danheim stands for and is about?




Thank you for letting me do this interview.
I am from Denmark, Copenhagen.
The Danheim project started around one year ago. I had a big interest in Nordic Folk music and Viking inspired music, but I was really most interested in the darker and more powerful songs in the genre, but only a few existed.

There were only a couple of producers/bands making this style at that time, so I decided to start producing it myself, simply because I wanted more of it.

The name Danheim comes from Dan (short for Danmark) and Heim (in old Norse meaning Home)
- so you could say it means something like Danish Home or Denmark is my home.




2.I have to say, what you put out and your content is amazing, I really like the feel and style of it , can you tell us a bit about your past? did you have anyone in particular that peaked your interest or inspired you in your early years to become a creator today?


During the past ten years, I've been doing a lot of different things. But for the most part, i've been interested in entrepreneurship and music. I was never really at ease in a normal job, partly because I love to create new things myself but also because I like to learn new things all the time.


I started making music around 2000 or 2001 - it was a bit primitive back then, there weren't a lot of digital tools available, and it took many years of learning, and trying different things before I was satisfied with any of my music. I ended up releasing a couple of CD's around 2007 but nothing really happened after that so I took a long break and started again last year, and since then things have been going really well I think. I have already released two albums and several singles, with two more albums on the way to be released in 2018. If I should mention someone who inspired me to start Danheim, I would say my friends and heilung are very high on that list.




3.If you don't mind sharing do have a certain spiritual following or traditions you practice?
I myself am very interested in the Norse traditions and folklore as well, Im also a researcher of Rune magic and study of the old remedies and practices, do you have interest in this area of study?


My main belief is Asatru, but I'm not that much into practicing it with groups.
Practicing traditions like Blót and other things have always fascinated me, but I've never attended one with a group before, I would like to try it at some point and see if it works for me but I'm a bit private when it comes to that, though I do ask the gods of old for advice often and have friends with the same beliefs and interests. I also like to research Nordic Mythology and Viking history, but I still have a long way to go and many things to learn. I have also recently taken an interest in Norse Galdr and Seiðr which I am slowly beginning to research and learn more about. Ræveðis, from Denmark, is a real talent regarding this and is the one who peaked my interest in it.


4.I want to ask about your merchandise, do you personally create all the artwork as well as create all the video graphics and production? and the music? do you create all this yourself?


All my music is done by myself, except when I collaborate with Sigurboði Grétarsson from Iceland.
He's a great singer, and I think his vocals/voice works really well with my style of music.



I am creating and designing the merchandise designs but I'm not printing and producing it myself, a company in England does that. Most of my videos are made from free movie clips I find on different websites, I then cut and paste and insert some fx and overlays here and there.


5.I see you have a livestream channel on youtube and you allow other artists to submit music to be played? this is a very good idea, can you tell us more about this?

Yes, this is a recent and new project I started about a week ago. I have former experience with internet radios, and created one of Denmarks first internet radio stations, which had some good success back in the day. (where we also played music from upcoming and unsigned artists from around the world)

So naturally my friend came up with the idea one night, and I thought it could work since I didn't find anything similar to it on YouTube. Since starting the radio its been going great and growing every day, and I have just added Eldrim, Neeko Freeman, and many other new artists recently.
It's great to be able to promote other artists, and let listeners find new music at the same time.

That's one of the reason why I really enjoy the Radio platform.

6.Can you tell us any music you are currently a fan of? There are so many great artists out there,
any favorites you are listening to right now?

At this moment I would say that my favorite artists are Eldrim, Heilung, and Wardruna.
But it's a bit limited nowadays of how much I listen since I'm currently working on my two new albums which takes up a lot of my time. I think all of them have their own unique styles and are really talented.



7.So Im not sure how much you have seen of our work with RavenzCraft Arts but we create projects and videos similar to yours and im looking to improve on production and quality, can you tell us about your creative process, like what video programs or software you can suggest to other creators like you and I to start with?

Any new or good equipment you have purchased recently that you enjoy?


I think today's industry standard is something like or similar to Adobe After Effects, but I never really had the time to learn it. It was a bit advanced for me so I quickly gave up on that.
Right now I'm using Magix Movie Maker, which have some good features and is a lot easier to learn. I haven't bought any new video equipment lately, but I am definitely looking for a good video recorder that works in dark conditions and can be used for my future music videos.

- we have a lot of amazing places here in Denmark, which I think would work great in upcoming Danheim music videos.




8.So What are you currently up to? any new events or projects you want to mention that will be coming out soon? can you tell us any details or spill any new news about your upcoming plans that may be exciting to hear about?

Right now I am working on two new albums.
The reason for making two albums at the same time is because I will release them at the same time which might sound a bit weird, but they will be a complete opposite of each other which is think will be very interesting and a breath of fresh air. Making two albums is a lot of work and takes a bit more time but I think it will be worth it in the end for my listeners.





9.So I was wondering , in the future as i know we are all very busy ,,would you be open to collaborating with us, or another artist that matches your genre, in a short project or music video in the future?
We have a few artists in mind that are open as well to creating some type of collaboration work, I think it could lead to something great.




I would definitely be interested in that if I can dig up a little time for it.
I might have to wait till I'm a little further with my new albums though. But I am always interested in new projects and collaborations.




10.In your social media profiles I went back to research, it mentions you have created music for short films and other projects, can you mention a few, or have any that were really fun or your favorites to create with?


I recently produced the soundtrack for a short film called Wolves in Winter, which was a really interesting experience, because most of the film is focusing heavily on dialogue throughout the film, so it was a bit of a challenge, but I also learned a lot from it. The film should be out soon so I'm really looking forward to sharing it and watching the final rendition.
I have two other projects I'm working on but unfortunately, I can't say anything about it yet....



11.So what are you ideal goals with Danheim?
where and how far would you like to take this?


I hope to continue Danheim until the days of old and experiment with new ideas and instruments. Right now I am having a handmade Bowed Lyre (Jouhikko/tagelharpa) made, which I am really looking forward to using in my music, it will be a bit bigger in size and different from normal Bowed Lyres, so i hope and expect to get a deeper and a richer sound out of it which I think will fit really well into my style of music.





12.Ok so this last question is for you to say or mention anything you want to all the fans and supporters out there, any words of advice for upcoming creators out there?




I never expected the all the support I've gotten, and I can't thank you enough for making Danheim go this far, the Viking community is getting stronger and stronger and it gladdens me to be part of it. If I have to give an advice I would say try to create something you really like, don't get too inspired by other artists and just focus and keep doing it. One day the path will lead in the right direction.





Thank you again for taking the time to do this Interview,
I really like your style and the way you present your music and videos and I think you will go far, I encourage you to keep pushing your goals and we all look forward to seeing more and cant wait for the 2 new upcoming Albums!



Follow and support Danheim at these links below:





Also check out this New short Intro Music video we created featuring official music from Danheim!





Ravenzcraft Arts supports upcoming artists from all over the world, if you are interested in doing an interview or need help gaining awareness or creating promotional videos we are here to help!
Contact us anytime at this email to set up a presentation:
jax4us2016@gmail.com







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