Interview

Anna Murphy Of Eluveitie: "I Don't Really Listen To Folk, Even Though I Play A Folk Instrument"

Eluveitie. In 2014, it’s more than just a band name (especially if you can pronounce it correctly). It’s a symbol, a trademark, a familiar signature on a distinct masterwork born of an eclectic labor of passion.

It wasn’t always this way. When Nuclear Blast signed the underground Swiss octet in 2008, the “folk metal” subgenre had barely begun to make itself a rising force outside of Europe. Seemingly overnight, all that changed with the furious shred of a violin, the insane interlocking precision of flutes and whistles, and the solemn drone of a hurdy-gurdy (“Time to buy a dictionary,” puzzled many a stumped metal fan), all packed in a cannonade of melodic death metal riffage.

This apparently instant success, of course, was in fact the result of several years of uncertainty and perseverance, a far cry from the humble project launched by frontman and mandolinist Christian “Chrigel” Glanzmann in 2002. That evolving journey has continued to this day, throughout a massive world tour for the acclaimed 2012 album “Helvetios,” an extended break, and now, perhaps the group’s finest hour, “Origins.” (reviewed here)

Following Eluveitie’s first-ever performance on U.S. soil in support of the album, at the Baltimore Soundstage on Friday, September 19th, I caught up with hurdy-gurdy specialist and backing vocalist Anna Murphy backstage. Though fearless leader Chrigel had opted to hit the sack, several of Anna’s bandmates decided to join us, including drummer Merlin Sutter, guitarist Rafael “Rafi” Salzmann, guitarist Ivo Henzi, and - last but not least - bassist Kay Brem, who made a belated appearance bearing some vital information.

Mike Smith (OverkillExposure): I feel pretty lucky. I caught the last show of your last North American tour on the supposed “doomsday” of December 21, 2012, and tonight caught your first show here since then. Aside from writing and recording “Origins,” of course, what has Eluveitie been up to? Has anything been different for y'all as a band?

Anna Murphy: Everybody’s been up to his own thing. Some of us did a tour with my solo project, so we weren’t FULLY on a break from touring cycles, but yeah, Eluveitie rehearsed a lot for the new album, set up a new live concept, and y’know, the usual stuff. Drinking beer, playing video games, yeah. [laughs]

Mike: What are you referring to by a new “live concept?”

Anna: Well, we have a new backdrop now, and a new concept with the lights, and we just kind of gathered ideas about how to make our live show a bit new, a bit more special, so that we’re not doing the same thing as with “Helvetios.” We wanted to adjust things, and we’re still working on it every day and getting new ideas.

Mike: This is the start of your first proper tour since “Origins” was released. Was tonight the live debut of all these new songs?

Anna: We performed them in Switzerland already, but we haven’t been playing them that long. Obviously tonight was the first time here.

Mike: I first saw Eluveitie in 2008 supporting Kataklysm, right after “Slania” was released. I’d never heard of you, and my jaw hit the floor. Time really flies! Did y'all imagine that in six years, your band would become synonymous with what people call “folk metal?” Or are you indifferent to that sort of thing?

Anna: I think both! We’re excited about what’s happening, about how many new bands there are, about how many bands are influenced by us. It’s kind of an honor. But actually, we don’t personally listen to that kind of music, apart from our own music. [laughs] Musically, we all come from different genres, all over the place. But it is great, what happened. It started as Chrigel’s idea for a studio project. Ten years ago, he didn’t think it would actually be a project with live shows and everything. So what’s happened since then has been incredible.

Mike: Speaking of live shows, the logistics for Eluveitie must get pretty tricky, with eight members and some unusual instruments. I can’t imagine how you take care of that hurdy-gurdy - is it more difficult than carrying a guitar around?

Anna: Well, it’s actually pretty horrible. [laughs] Now I have an electric one, which makes life a lot easier, but when I was still playing acoustic hurdy-gurdies, I had problems all the time. There’d always be something squeaking, something breaking, something terribly out of tune. Of course, it’s really difficult to take care of an instrument like that when temperatures are changing all the time, or if I decide to drop it somewhere and it breaks, y’know, something like that. But that’s also something we’re working on, to get better equipment to see what works best, and gathering experience that will last years.

Mike: Have y'all had any serious emergencies or last minute replacements for those folk instruments? Running around some city, searching for a spare part, that sort of thing?

Anna: I don’t think we’ve had THAT before…

Merlin Sutter: But I did throw that light case…

Anna: [laughs] Yeah, right before the tour he threw a light case on the hurdy. Fortunately it was the electric one, which is a bit more stable, but I did have to go to Germany to get the guy who built it to look at it. But yeah, there have been times… The last tour, or the one before, in North America, I actually dropped my instrument onstage, and it was fucked! I had a backup, thank God. I always have two. Otherwise, you couldn’t find one somewhere.

Mike: You have a couple new, or new-ish, members. Has that affected much in the band?

Anna: Well, as you may know, Rafi - well, he’s FAIRLY new, here about a year, year and a half -

Rafael Salzmann: Two!

Anna: Two, okay. [laughs] I’m really bad at this. And Nicole [Ansperger] is the newest member; she replaced Meri [Tadić] on the violin. In terms of writing, it hasn’t really changed anything, because Ivo and Chrigel are the main songwriters. As long as they’re there, everything’s fine. [laughs] Although Rafi did contribute a guitar solo to the latest album, which is something Eluveitie hasn’t really done before.

Mike: And tonight, I heard a solo on “Inis Mona” that wasn’t on the studio version! Cheers, man. That was awesome.

Rafi: Yep, thanks! [laughs]

Anna: Yeah, the changes definitely affect things live. Everybody has his own style. But I don’t think it will change anything on the albums. At least not for now.

Mike: Although it does seem there have been numerous evolutions over the years, from the small studio project to the full-on touring band. In my mind, they really solidify Eluveitie as an institution, a name that represents something, with all these different incoming and outgoing influences. You mentioned that everyone is coming from all over the place. What are some examples?

Anna: It’s really interesting that you said we’re an institution. You see many bands, and it’s either four people or five, and they’re all friends who started out in a garage, and they listen to the same stuff and write songs together. With us, it’s just really different. We’re eight completely different people who didn’t meet at the same time. And that’s maybe what makes the music what it is, what makes it so diverse, with the influences from all over the place. We’re all pretty open, I’d say. We have metal parties, we have ‘80s pop-thrash nights… [laughs] I mean, Chrigel obviously really likes folk.

Mike: REALLY? [laughs]

Anna: [laughs] Yeah. I don’t really listen to folk personally, even though I play a folk instrument. I like so many genres. There’s black metal, there’s pop, there’s trip hop. I even like hip hop these days, anything that appeals to me. I don’t really do the whole genre-picking thing. Except for reggae. I fucking hate reggae.

Mike: [laughs] Any reason?

Anna: No particular reason, but every song I’ve heard, I’ve thought… “this is horrible.” I don’t know why. I’m sure they’re great musicians and everything, but… [laughs]

Mike: How about everyone else? If I were to come in and catch you jamming something, what might I hear?

Ivo Henzi: Fifty percent metal… twenty percent rock… twenty percent electronic… ten percent… random. Very specific, yeah? [laughs] I basically listen to all kinds of music. I even listen to the Billboard 200 just to check out what’s on top, to see what the music scene is about nowadays. Plus folk and rock, of course. Basically, just honest music. I used to listen to a lot of folk metal ten years ago when it came up, and of course I was interested in it. I don’t know about you guys.

Anna: There were some folk-influenced bands, but not really “folk metal” as you would know it today.

Mike: When I spoke to Chrigel in early 2012, he told me you’d recorded some covers as potential bonus tracks, including songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Prodigy, and Sepultura. Are we ever going to hear those properly?

Anna: I still have them all stored on my hard drive, but I guess we forgot about them, except Chrigel, obviously! [laughs] I do still have all those recordings, though.

Merlin: I think we’re just scared of the effort of actually doing it. [laughs]

Anna: I think it would be great. But it seems like we’re so busy doing what we always do.

Mike: Another thing he mentioned is a sequel to your acoustic album, “Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion.” [2009] When might that surface?

Ivo: In the next ten years. [laughs] Pretty sure.

Anna: [laughs] There are many people who want to hear it. Everyone keeps asking about it, so we should probably just fucking do it already.

Merlin: I think we’re getting there. Next tour, maybe the one after that, could be a good time.

Mike: I do want to thank you for playing “Omnos” tonight, because I’ve never heard any “Evocation” songs live before. But when it comes to playing the new stuff, what are y'all liking the most so far?

Anna: I really like “The Nameless.”

Merlin: I like “King!” My fucking favorite. I like them all of course; it’s fresh stuff to play on stage. We did maybe 250 shows for “Helvetios,” so after a while, you’re very happy to play new stuff that’s kind of a challenge. Anything new is awesome. But “King” just clicked with me somehow. For me, it’s the essence of the new album. I can really rock out to it on stage.

Rafi: Yeah, it’s just a really good song, actually.

Mike: The title “Origins” seems to carry multiple meanings. For one thing, the music does echo some of the band’s past, but is there something else going on that I might’ve missed?

Anna: It kind of skips back and forth a bit. “Helvetios” was a concept album, and was actually chronological. But “Origins” is based on Celtic origin myths, and at the same time very open. Certain songs are a matter of interpretation. It doesn’t have the same strict boundaries, lyrically, as “Helvetios.” But yeah, that’s more Chrigel’s subject, to be honest. [laughs]

Mike: Although you, over the years, have gradually grown into an equal position where you’re almost co-fronting the band with him. Has that dynamic shift affected how you feel about playing live?

Anna: It was always a kind of tradition to have one song with female lead vocals. It was there before I joined, on the first album “Spirit.” [2006] So I just kind of carried on that tradition, and it grew because I liked singing more and more, and people heard it, and Chrigel heard it, and decided to give me more songs, more stuff to do. It just kind of happened naturally. But when we play a show, I don’t really feel like a “front-person.” Not at all. We’re just switching between stuff. When I play a show with my own solo stuff, then I’m completely the front-person, and with Eluveitie, I still feel more on the side. But I’ll bet the audience doesn’t perceive it that way!

Mike: Well, it’s been an honor to catch the first “Origins” show. And y'all are headed… where, tomorrow?

[long confused silence; everyone laughs]

Merlin: North Carolina, I think?

Anna: Yeah, Charlotte.

Ivo: Who the hell is Charlotte? [laughs]

Mike: Do you have the rest of the year mapped out, after you’re finished here?

Anna: Yeah, we’re at home just about a week before the European tour for maybe two months.

Merlin: About six weeks, and then we have our own indoor festival at the end of the year in Switzerland. It’s called “Eluveitie & Friends,” and I think we’ve done it four times now, more or less. We always invite a bunch of bands and make it a party. And then in January, we do another part of Europe.

Mike: To go out on a silly note, I was eyeing the merch stand earlier, and it got me thinking of a question a colleague of mine asked another band recently: what’s the most offensive metal shirt you ever owned that might’ve gotten you in trouble at school or with your parents?

Anna: I had a shirt by Craft that said “Terror Propaganda” on it, with some corpse-painted guy, a Satanist dude, with a bunch of spikes. They didn’t really like that one. And I once wore it on a plane, which wasn’t really a good idea either. [laughs]

Mike: What year was that?

Kay Brem: [from the doorway] Two-thousand-fucking-four.

Anna: [shocked] You know that?

Kay: Of course I know Craft!

Mike: Post-9/11. What could go wrong?

Anna: [laughs] I hope you don’t think I’m a terrorist now; that just happened to be the name of the album.

Mike: Oh, it’s on the record. Your name’s going to the FBI; don’t worry about a thing.

Ivo: I think I had this Marduk hoodie with a nun sticking an inverted cross in her vagina. They might’ve been offended. A little bit. [laughs]

Rafi: I had several grindcore shirts, until my girlfriend told me, “Yeah… sell this shit.” ‘Cause there were women with lots of bloody, gory things coming out of their vaginas and stuff like that. [laughs]