All Interviews
HateSphere
Peter Lyse Hansen in action
Posted on Nov 26, 2005
by Anders
Danish HateSphere has now delivered their so far best album with "The Sickness Within", also the first full lenght on SPV, a label that has the power to push the band far, so this should mean the band's real breakthrough, the album did also enter the Danish charts, something that rarely happens for metal abums. Accordingly to the Danish death metallers Illdisposed "The Sickness Within" sold 700000 copies in Denmark the first week, pretty good for a country with 5,5 million inhabitants, though HateSphere guitarist Pepe think that number is a bit over the top. I hooked up with Pepe and he willingly answered all my questions about the new album, how he and the band have developed and so forth...
Hi, how are things in Århus?
Hi, they are very fine.
Please start off by introducing yourself and tell us what you bring to Hatesphere?
My name is Peter Lyse Hansen, or Pepe if you like. I play guitar and write most of the music.
You are ready with your new album "The Sickness Within", how do you feel about the album?
We feel very good. We really feel that we have made a great album with all the things that HateSphere stands for. The sound is amazing and pounds right in your face, and we have tried out lots of stuff on this one.
How would you describe the band's development from the start until now?
Well, from when I came in the band in '93 the development has been huge. We started out playing cover songs, at that time the band was called Necrosis, and then slowly we started making our own music. The style was more groovy death metal at that time but on our third demo from '98 we finally found our style, if you can say so. We played faster and more melodic and still kept this groovy element that we like. We have then worked on this expression ever since, and now we have moved more into the thrash direction… and we like it here, he he! We have simply become better musicians and have got a great amount of experience the last couple of years. And now we have finally got the right record label, so things are looking fine!
The press has been receiving "The Sickness Within" very well, did you expect that?
Well, yes… I can feel that the album is good, and then I also expect other people to think the same. Although you can't always rely on the press, then I really had a good feeling about it. I mean, our other albums have got amazing reviews as well but this time everything is just right. We have a great label to back us up, and the fuzz about the album even before its release has been big.
The album did also enter the Danish charts, that most be an awesome feeling, what are your reactions to that and how many copies were sold to gain the placement?
Yeah, that was cool! And it was great to do it in your home country, even though it doesn't mean that we have sold 100000 copies, hehe. It just means that the people like our music, and that the support on metal in general in Denmark is getting bigger… so we're very glad about it and very proud! I actually don't know how many albums we sold to gain that placement but if you ask Illdisposed then they would say that they sold about 100000…. Every day of the first week, hehe!
What would you like to accomplish with the album?
To continue that development that we are in the middle of, and to let more and more people know that there is a band called HateSphere. We try to get out to as many people as possible and play places that we haven’t played yet, and I think the album will help us with that. Then of course as an artist you also want to make the best possible album every time, and we tried to do that as well this time.
What was the goal with the album, when you started out to write the material for it?
As mentioned before then it was simply to do the best album possible, which meant the best HateSphere album yet. When we start writing music, we never have a certain thing our sound that we aim for. We simply write music that we think sounds good, and then we put it on the album. We never think in which direction the music will go, we just write.
Do you feel you have reached those goals?
Yes, actually… even though there will always be things that you would want different but that's how you look at it, as a musician. I think this is our best album so far!
How do you work when you create music?
I usually come up with a riff or two, and then I take it to the rehearsal room where we all try to fit it in. Anders (drums) and me usually plays it together first to get a foundation of the song, and then the other come and say their opinion and come with suggestions. Then maybe Heinz has got a great riff that will fit mine, and then we add it to the song. Kinda old-school way to make music but this is the way that works for us. I’m not good at making music on the computer, I need some band mates to help me on the way, hehe!
Why did you initial pick up the guitar, what inspired you back then?
Back in the days it must have been great bands such as Def Leppard and Metallica who inspired me. On top of that a guy in my class played in a band, and I thought it was really cool, so when I got the chance in our music lessons I picked up the guitar. I am left-handed, so when I got the guitar, I turned it upside down. My teacher quickly turned it around for me, so that's why I play right-handed guitar, even though I'm left-handed… Mongoooooooo
How did you get into metal and who are your "heroes"?
I started out listening to hard rock and glam stuff. As I told, a guy in my class played in a band and was also into this kind of music, so I guess I got inspired from there. Even though I mainly listened to hard rock stuff, I have also always listened to classic thrash the way Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth played it. Later on I got hooked on Pantera and Sepultura, and then I discovered Death… and I got into the more brutal stuff. Now I listen to almost all kinds of metal mostly but also some non-metal stuff like Björk and Coldplay! My heroes are bands like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Tesla, Nevermore, Ozzy, In Flames, Pantera, Dream Theater, Anathema, Type O Negative, Carcass, Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, At the Gates… and many more!
How have you developed as a guitarist during the years?
Well, I have now finally realised that I'm not perfect, will never be it, and also don't have to be it in order to make good music. So I'm concentrating on making music now instead of being too technical. Of course playing so many years have made me a much better guitar played, and that gives me the extra strength to make more interesting things in the music. When I started playing I had a teacher but then I found out that I would rather play football… I luckily never quit the guitar playing, so the rest have been a self-study on how to play guitar. I think playing in a band has helped me a lot, because you discover lots of techniques and funny things by trying things out, and by watching your bands mates… and other bands as well!
Can you mention 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant a lot to you as a guitarist and the way you think and write music?
Def Leppard – 'Gods Of War', Mötley Crüe – 'Dr. Feelgood' and Pantera – 'Hollow'.
On the new album you have a guest appearance by Steve Smyth (Nevermore, Dragonlord, ex-Testament, ex-Vicious Rumours), how do you feel about that?
I feel very good, hehe… well, it's an honour for us to have him contributing to our album, and even more a pleasure to know that he did it, because he loves our music.
How did you get him to do the solo for you?
We met him two and a half years ago when we played a festival together in Germany, and he got hooked on our music. Jacob and he have been in contact ever since, and when we asked him to do a solo, he liked the idea. It was great as well to meet him and the other Nevermore guys in Stockholm. They are nice guys, and then we got the chance to see them live again… damn, Nevermore kicks ass on stage…
Did he record it together with the band, or did he do it by himself somewhere and then sent it to you?
He did his part in London, England. We recorded the drums and some demo guitar for the track 'Marked By Darkness' and sent it to him, and then it was just up to him to shred like hell… and he did!!! He then sent it back to us, and when we received it, Heinz sat down and recorded his part of the solo, and then we finally had the solo chase between Heinz and Steve, amazing…
Do you know what he thinks about Hatesphere?
He loves the music, that's also one of the reasons that he wanted to do this thing. So we're very happy by the fact that the persons from our favourite bands like our music… I mean Steve Smyth and Jeff Loomis are amazing guitar players and play in the best band in the world, and then they think that HateSphere is the coolest band… that's crazy!!
Let's look at the lyrical side of "The Sickness Within", which themes do the album deal with?
The usual… blood, beers and Satan of course!!! We simply write lyrics that fit the music, which means mostly brutal lyrics as well! They are mostly about the crazy world we live in, the crazy people who live here and their crazy actions. It's about hate, revenge and drinking… typical human emotions and needs!
Can you pick out your 3 favorite tracks from the album and guide us through them, like what they are about, how they were created etc…?
'The Fallen Shall Rise In A River Of Blood' – a cool intro riff that leads to thrash mayhem and then a very atmospherically middle part with a great solo, a good mixture of brutality and melody! The same thing goes for 'The Coming Of Chaos' which also has the best middle piece that we have ever done… and the solo chase after that is really cool! 'Reaper Of Life' – a very slow and groovy piece that makes me wanna headbang… and then again we loosen up in the middle but this time we don't slow down, we increase the speed and let the middle piece be the fastest one. In the end the song slows down again! I like the fact with all these three songs (and the other on the album) that they are very varied. They are not only fast or slow, they are both – they are not only brutal or melodic, they are both – they are not only thrashy or groovy, they are both. We have been good at putting different elements into the songs.
When you secured the deal with SPV, did you believe that it would create as much turmoil around the band and push you as it did?
Well, we certainly hoped it, and luckily it succeeded. We knew that they would be able to do it but the music business is a treacherous one, so we wanted to see it first. And they have really done a great job!
Do you like being with SPV?
Yes, very much. They are super professional and nice guys and girls on top of that. They trust us and we trust them, so that's the main thing!
You did a warm up gig for Korn in September, how did that go and do you think that gained you some new fans?
It went really well, there were about 2700 people there, and many of them hadn't heard about us before, so we got our music out to lots of new fans. On top of that it was a very young crowd, so the fan potential was big… we have only had positive responses on that gig, and for us it was also really funny. Korn isn't our type of music but that was actually the cool thing. We got to play in front of people that we wouldn't usually do, and that was the goal!!
You are going to perform at Aalborg Metal Festival in November, are you looking forward to that and what can we expect from you?
Hell yes, well now we have played there, and it was amazing. The crowd was on from the first second, and we kicked ass. A really amazing night and it's always a pleasure to play at that festival. It is great to see that that many Danish people want to support metal, hope that they will continue with that! See you there again…
Speaking of Hatesphere, we can't leave out your live performances, which are fabulous and very energetic, so isn't it about time you should start thinking of making a live album?
He he, well I don't quite know… we have some live songs on the "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed And Something Black" miniCD, so that has to do it for now… If we are going to do some live stuff, it is definitely going to be released on DVD. I mean, we love to play live, so why should people only listen to it, when they can get the chance to actually see it? That's where you get the true spirit of a HateSphere live performance. We have lots of video tapes with hours of cool material, so some time in the future we will get our asses together and find out the best clips! Maybe the same thing will be released on CD on the same time, who knows…
How do you look upon the future of Hatesphere?
I look upon it with great optimism. We have some good tours coming up, the album is going to be released in the States, we have a great label, people like the new album… so we will definitely try to take advantage of that! We will visit places where we haven't played before, because there are lots of people who don't know about us yet! Our goal is to reach a lot of those people!
Which albums have you been listening a lot to lately?
Whitesnake – "1987", Def Leppard – "Hysteria", Skagarack – "Hungry For A Game", In Flames – "Colony", Nevermore – "Dead Heart In A Dead World", Arcturus – "Sideshow symphonies"… and lots more..
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
Thank you for the interview, always a pleasure. And thanks to the people who bought our albums and supported us at our recent shows, hope to see lots of you in the future. Check out our website for all the info you need, and of course check out the album, "The Sickness Within"…
Yeehaaaaaaaaa
Hi, they are very fine.
Please start off by introducing yourself and tell us what you bring to Hatesphere?
My name is Peter Lyse Hansen, or Pepe if you like. I play guitar and write most of the music.
You are ready with your new album "The Sickness Within", how do you feel about the album?
We feel very good. We really feel that we have made a great album with all the things that HateSphere stands for. The sound is amazing and pounds right in your face, and we have tried out lots of stuff on this one.
How would you describe the band's development from the start until now?
Well, from when I came in the band in '93 the development has been huge. We started out playing cover songs, at that time the band was called Necrosis, and then slowly we started making our own music. The style was more groovy death metal at that time but on our third demo from '98 we finally found our style, if you can say so. We played faster and more melodic and still kept this groovy element that we like. We have then worked on this expression ever since, and now we have moved more into the thrash direction… and we like it here, he he! We have simply become better musicians and have got a great amount of experience the last couple of years. And now we have finally got the right record label, so things are looking fine!
The press has been receiving "The Sickness Within" very well, did you expect that?
Well, yes… I can feel that the album is good, and then I also expect other people to think the same. Although you can't always rely on the press, then I really had a good feeling about it. I mean, our other albums have got amazing reviews as well but this time everything is just right. We have a great label to back us up, and the fuzz about the album even before its release has been big.
The album did also enter the Danish charts, that most be an awesome feeling, what are your reactions to that and how many copies were sold to gain the placement?
Yeah, that was cool! And it was great to do it in your home country, even though it doesn't mean that we have sold 100000 copies, hehe. It just means that the people like our music, and that the support on metal in general in Denmark is getting bigger… so we're very glad about it and very proud! I actually don't know how many albums we sold to gain that placement but if you ask Illdisposed then they would say that they sold about 100000…. Every day of the first week, hehe!
What would you like to accomplish with the album?
To continue that development that we are in the middle of, and to let more and more people know that there is a band called HateSphere. We try to get out to as many people as possible and play places that we haven’t played yet, and I think the album will help us with that. Then of course as an artist you also want to make the best possible album every time, and we tried to do that as well this time.
What was the goal with the album, when you started out to write the material for it?
As mentioned before then it was simply to do the best album possible, which meant the best HateSphere album yet. When we start writing music, we never have a certain thing our sound that we aim for. We simply write music that we think sounds good, and then we put it on the album. We never think in which direction the music will go, we just write.
Do you feel you have reached those goals?
Yes, actually… even though there will always be things that you would want different but that's how you look at it, as a musician. I think this is our best album so far!
How do you work when you create music?
I usually come up with a riff or two, and then I take it to the rehearsal room where we all try to fit it in. Anders (drums) and me usually plays it together first to get a foundation of the song, and then the other come and say their opinion and come with suggestions. Then maybe Heinz has got a great riff that will fit mine, and then we add it to the song. Kinda old-school way to make music but this is the way that works for us. I’m not good at making music on the computer, I need some band mates to help me on the way, hehe!
Why did you initial pick up the guitar, what inspired you back then?
Back in the days it must have been great bands such as Def Leppard and Metallica who inspired me. On top of that a guy in my class played in a band, and I thought it was really cool, so when I got the chance in our music lessons I picked up the guitar. I am left-handed, so when I got the guitar, I turned it upside down. My teacher quickly turned it around for me, so that's why I play right-handed guitar, even though I'm left-handed… Mongoooooooo
How did you get into metal and who are your "heroes"?
I started out listening to hard rock and glam stuff. As I told, a guy in my class played in a band and was also into this kind of music, so I guess I got inspired from there. Even though I mainly listened to hard rock stuff, I have also always listened to classic thrash the way Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth played it. Later on I got hooked on Pantera and Sepultura, and then I discovered Death… and I got into the more brutal stuff. Now I listen to almost all kinds of metal mostly but also some non-metal stuff like Björk and Coldplay! My heroes are bands like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Tesla, Nevermore, Ozzy, In Flames, Pantera, Dream Theater, Anathema, Type O Negative, Carcass, Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, At the Gates… and many more!
How have you developed as a guitarist during the years?
Well, I have now finally realised that I'm not perfect, will never be it, and also don't have to be it in order to make good music. So I'm concentrating on making music now instead of being too technical. Of course playing so many years have made me a much better guitar played, and that gives me the extra strength to make more interesting things in the music. When I started playing I had a teacher but then I found out that I would rather play football… I luckily never quit the guitar playing, so the rest have been a self-study on how to play guitar. I think playing in a band has helped me a lot, because you discover lots of techniques and funny things by trying things out, and by watching your bands mates… and other bands as well!
Can you mention 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant a lot to you as a guitarist and the way you think and write music?
Def Leppard – 'Gods Of War', Mötley Crüe – 'Dr. Feelgood' and Pantera – 'Hollow'.
On the new album you have a guest appearance by Steve Smyth (Nevermore, Dragonlord, ex-Testament, ex-Vicious Rumours), how do you feel about that?
I feel very good, hehe… well, it's an honour for us to have him contributing to our album, and even more a pleasure to know that he did it, because he loves our music.
How did you get him to do the solo for you?
We met him two and a half years ago when we played a festival together in Germany, and he got hooked on our music. Jacob and he have been in contact ever since, and when we asked him to do a solo, he liked the idea. It was great as well to meet him and the other Nevermore guys in Stockholm. They are nice guys, and then we got the chance to see them live again… damn, Nevermore kicks ass on stage…
Did he record it together with the band, or did he do it by himself somewhere and then sent it to you?
He did his part in London, England. We recorded the drums and some demo guitar for the track 'Marked By Darkness' and sent it to him, and then it was just up to him to shred like hell… and he did!!! He then sent it back to us, and when we received it, Heinz sat down and recorded his part of the solo, and then we finally had the solo chase between Heinz and Steve, amazing…
Do you know what he thinks about Hatesphere?
He loves the music, that's also one of the reasons that he wanted to do this thing. So we're very happy by the fact that the persons from our favourite bands like our music… I mean Steve Smyth and Jeff Loomis are amazing guitar players and play in the best band in the world, and then they think that HateSphere is the coolest band… that's crazy!!
Let's look at the lyrical side of "The Sickness Within", which themes do the album deal with?
The usual… blood, beers and Satan of course!!! We simply write lyrics that fit the music, which means mostly brutal lyrics as well! They are mostly about the crazy world we live in, the crazy people who live here and their crazy actions. It's about hate, revenge and drinking… typical human emotions and needs!
Can you pick out your 3 favorite tracks from the album and guide us through them, like what they are about, how they were created etc…?
'The Fallen Shall Rise In A River Of Blood' – a cool intro riff that leads to thrash mayhem and then a very atmospherically middle part with a great solo, a good mixture of brutality and melody! The same thing goes for 'The Coming Of Chaos' which also has the best middle piece that we have ever done… and the solo chase after that is really cool! 'Reaper Of Life' – a very slow and groovy piece that makes me wanna headbang… and then again we loosen up in the middle but this time we don't slow down, we increase the speed and let the middle piece be the fastest one. In the end the song slows down again! I like the fact with all these three songs (and the other on the album) that they are very varied. They are not only fast or slow, they are both – they are not only brutal or melodic, they are both – they are not only thrashy or groovy, they are both. We have been good at putting different elements into the songs.
When you secured the deal with SPV, did you believe that it would create as much turmoil around the band and push you as it did?
Well, we certainly hoped it, and luckily it succeeded. We knew that they would be able to do it but the music business is a treacherous one, so we wanted to see it first. And they have really done a great job!
Do you like being with SPV?
Yes, very much. They are super professional and nice guys and girls on top of that. They trust us and we trust them, so that's the main thing!
You did a warm up gig for Korn in September, how did that go and do you think that gained you some new fans?
It went really well, there were about 2700 people there, and many of them hadn't heard about us before, so we got our music out to lots of new fans. On top of that it was a very young crowd, so the fan potential was big… we have only had positive responses on that gig, and for us it was also really funny. Korn isn't our type of music but that was actually the cool thing. We got to play in front of people that we wouldn't usually do, and that was the goal!!
You are going to perform at Aalborg Metal Festival in November, are you looking forward to that and what can we expect from you?
Hell yes, well now we have played there, and it was amazing. The crowd was on from the first second, and we kicked ass. A really amazing night and it's always a pleasure to play at that festival. It is great to see that that many Danish people want to support metal, hope that they will continue with that! See you there again…
Speaking of Hatesphere, we can't leave out your live performances, which are fabulous and very energetic, so isn't it about time you should start thinking of making a live album?
He he, well I don't quite know… we have some live songs on the "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed And Something Black" miniCD, so that has to do it for now… If we are going to do some live stuff, it is definitely going to be released on DVD. I mean, we love to play live, so why should people only listen to it, when they can get the chance to actually see it? That's where you get the true spirit of a HateSphere live performance. We have lots of video tapes with hours of cool material, so some time in the future we will get our asses together and find out the best clips! Maybe the same thing will be released on CD on the same time, who knows…
How do you look upon the future of Hatesphere?
I look upon it with great optimism. We have some good tours coming up, the album is going to be released in the States, we have a great label, people like the new album… so we will definitely try to take advantage of that! We will visit places where we haven't played before, because there are lots of people who don't know about us yet! Our goal is to reach a lot of those people!
Which albums have you been listening a lot to lately?
Whitesnake – "1987", Def Leppard – "Hysteria", Skagarack – "Hungry For A Game", In Flames – "Colony", Nevermore – "Dead Heart In A Dead World", Arcturus – "Sideshow symphonies"… and lots more..
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
Thank you for the interview, always a pleasure. And thanks to the people who bought our albums and supported us at our recent shows, hope to see lots of you in the future. Check out our website for all the info you need, and of course check out the album, "The Sickness Within"…
Yeehaaaaaaaaa
HateSphere website
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