My record company certainly wants me to play live, badly, but I have no such plans. My only motivation to do such a thing would be money, and I don't think that's a good reason to play live.
— Varg Vikernes
It was good to get out of prison and home to the family.
To live like we are supposed to, we need to listen to our blood, so to speak. Our paganism is in our blood, and to be able to create a positive and meaningful civilization in the future, on the ruins of the 'Sodom and Gomorrah' we live in today, we need to live in accordance with our blood.
If I had something to say about my lyrics, I would say they were about different subjects concerning the darkness and the night.
Life treats me very well, as has always been the case, no matter where I have been.
If people knew that Burzum was just the band of some teenager, that would sort of ruin the magic, and for that reason, I felt that I needed to be anonymous. So I used a pseudonym, Count Grishnackh, and on the debut album, I used a photo of me that didn't look like me at all to make Burzum itself seem more out-of-this world and to confuse people.
I am no friend of the modern so-called 'black metal' culture. It is a tasteless, lowbrow parody of Norwegian black metal circa 1991-92, and if it was up to me, it would meet its dishonorable end as soon as possible.
I must say it was not very inspiring to see that tons of new bands emerged from nowhere and started to play the exact same music as I did. Why would I want to play this type of music, when tons of other bands did, too?
I really don't want to be associated with the low-brow Black Metal genre. If you want to know what I mean when I say that, just have a look at an Immortal video on YouTube or something. It's so dumb I don't know what to say, really, and it's so ridiculous, we can barely tell the difference between the real stuff and the parodies.
Burzum is not a political or religious band, or even an anti-religious band. Burzum is music - art if you like - and the interpretation of art lies in the eye of the beholder.
Everything is always about people trying to make profit: Profits to this, profits to that, the more the merrier, and there's no end to it.
I never do anything to make money. I do make money, but that's because I do something. Big difference.
It is not possible to know how to behave in threatening situations before you even end up in such a situation.
I have barely seen my son since he came into the world. Even though I hear his voice on the phone almost every day, it is very tough to not be present while he is growing up.
Musically, 'Fallen' is a cross between 'Belus' and something new, inspired more by the debut album and 'Det Som Engang Var' than by 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' or 'Filosofem.'
I have learned from my mistakes and become older.
Music, for me, was something I did because I was disillusioned after the Cold War's end and did not know what I wanted in life.
The spirit of Burzum never changed, but my ability to make music changed dramatically when I was imprisoned. It is more or less impossible to record music in prison, and the only music I could record was electronic music, when I was allowed to have a synthesizer for a few months in 1994 or 1995 and in 1998.
I think the growing disregard for the environment, culture, and heritage is a natural consequence of capitalism.
Burzum was never formed, as Burzum is no group, only Count Grishnackh of many colors.
If I can, I will make an album each year, but time shall tell if this works out. I have other things to do in my life as well.
My biggest inspiration was always early Iron Maiden, because it was the only band I knew for some time, and, as we all know, Iron Maiden is great.
I wore a 'Black Metal' Venom T-shirt once, in January 1993, to promote black metal, and I regret having done that ever since.
The prison system in Norway is fairly civilized, by world standards, and so are the prisoners and the guards.
My main problem with Norwegian Black Metal is that almost all the bands from 1992-1993 are made up of rats, who ratted each other out and blamed me for everything that went wrong in the scene. I really don't want to be associated with them in any way.
Burzum was never my choice of life. I didn't even want to become a musician.
To be honest, I would probably rather spend, like, a month in prison than spend a month rehearsing with some musicians, metalheads. I pick prison over that, really. And I say that knowing well what prison is like, so don't get me wrong here. Prison sucks big time.
I don't like to play live. And if I don't like to do it, why should I?
I am not the 'Count' that has been portrayed in the media.
My mind has never been in prison; I think all the time about what I should do on the day that I am released.
As I respect others, I want others to respect me.
Hellhammer is the best drummer ever, and Euronymous is a musical genius.
I wrote, exercised, ate healthy, and responded to life in prison very well.
After twelve years in prison, I think I have listened to the radio maybe 30-40 times in all, and only when I have been without even a TV.
Burzum is the reflections of my personality. It's my dreams and desires.
I am sorry, but recording an album is just hard work; tedious, repetitive, and not very fun at all. Mixing is a bit better, but still pretty boring.
I just make music. If you don't like it, you don't need to buy or listen to it.
Until I was around 12 or 13, I only listened to classical music, mostly Tchaikovsky. But around that age, I started listening to Iron Maiden, and that's when I purchased my first guitar, a pearl-white Westone.
Venom was a joke in the '80s, their heavy metal music sucked big time, and I really have no interest in them - not then, not now.
You should never trust anything reported by the media. Their first priority is to spread propaganda; their second priority is to make money. They never really care if they tell the truth or not.
I only want to make music I like and that I can enjoy myself and be proud of.
If you want to change the world - I do - you have to start with yourself.
I've been offered, I think it was £300,000 to play live two concerts in London some years ago. And I said 'No. No thanks.' I would rather stay home here and change oil on my car, or collect some rotten wood from the forest, spread on my ruined former agricultural land.
Hate is irrational. I am a rational person.
I look forward the day that I could work on my farm, create music, write books, and be with the wife and kids around the clock - and live a normal life.
I can confirm that I have been released from prison.
Now I just want to be together with my family.
I wear clothes reflecting the color of my soul!
