You’re a founding member of Dimmu Borgir and actually started out as a guitar player before switching to the drums. What was it that drew you to the drums? 
I had actually already picked up the drumsticks at an earlier stage. I played drums in a band called Requiem (pre-Old Man’s Child). When we started the band Dimmu Borgir, I was already a better drummer than a guitarist, but we thought it was a good idea at that point to switch instruments. Shagrath, who is the vocalist today, really wanted to play drums and I tried my best to handle the guitar. Drums became the instrument I handled best early on, so we decided to switch instruments after the first record.

Aside from Dimmu Borgir, you’ve played with a number of bands over the years – Susperia, Abyssic, Old Man’s Child and many more. What are your main bands and musical endeavors these days?
Today, I have more going on than in a long time. Susperia is back after a break, and I am currently recording our new album. The same goes for the two other bands I play in, Abyssic and Thyruz. Just finished recording the drums for our new albums. I am a live drummer in Old Man’s Child and we have had a fantastic year with lots of great concerts. It has been really fun to be part of this comeback after not playing live for over 25 years. There are a lot of festivals booked for next year too, so I am looking forward to this. I have also had the honor of doing some guest appearances for Dimmu Borgir in recent years.

Having had a career that spans for more than three decades – making countless albums, touring all over the world, playing the biggest festivals and sharing stages with legends – what are some of your best and most memorable moments so far?
There have been many great moments. Being able to play for a big audience at festivals is probably the best feeling I can have, but also small intimate club concerts where you are really close to the audience can be the best experience. Otherwise, I have met a lot of great people when I have been out on the road, everything from fans of ours to people I am a huge fan of. It’s hard to say exactly what have been the best moments as I really appreciate all the moments.

If you sit down to just jam at your kit, what do you play? Is it still furious blast beats and double-bass stuff?
Mostly blast beats and double bass drums! I’ve always just played metal drums. I’m starting to notice that I’m getting older, so now I spend a lot of time honing my techniques and learning new ones. 

When and how did you discover Toontrack? 
Oh, many years ago when the first EZdrummer and Drumkit From Hell EZX came. Later on I started to use the Superior Drummer 2. There was a lot of attention around Toontrack, which meant I quickly picked it up as a tool to help programming good drums that sounded alive.

Which Toontrack products do you use now and how do they help in your work?
I mostly use Superior Drummer 3 and EZmix 3. I use this both to program drums for pre-productions and to mix in good sounds from the various sound libraries into my finished drum productions. I have also programmed drums on two of my releases using Toontrack (guess which ones!). I also use EZmix 3 a lot as there are so many great presets for everything from drum mixing to mastering.

What’s coming up in your own and your different bands’ agendas?
I am currently recording drums for three albums, doing everything myself in my own studio. I will also try to do all the drum mixes myself, now that I have what I need for mixing through Toontrack and Steinberg software. I still have a couple of festival jobs left with Susperia and Old Man’s Child before the year ends. I am also looking forward to next year when all the albums will be released and hopefully there will be some concerts with all the bands.