We caught up with Graveyard bassist Truls Mörck outside a church in Norway (because why not?) at last year’s Høstsabbat festival, and here is the result. We’re currently getting ready for this year’s Desertfest London where they’ll be headlining Electric Ballroom on the Friday. Will we see you there? Tickets here.
Tag Archive for: Truls Mörck
Last time we spoke was back in 2018, a couple of weeks before you released ‘Peace’, what you’ve been up to since?
Truls: We’ve been incredibly busy, and if I backtrack even just a couple of months there was a couple of dates in Australia, followed by a North American east coast tour with Black Mountain in September, which was actually one of my all time favourite tours as we played a bunch of weird, small cities and towns we’d never played before. After that, we toured Europe and the UK supporting Clutch, and as we speak we’re getting ready to head back out to the states again supporting Opeth.
Damn that’ll be some amazing shows! Between all this touring, have you started working on any new material yet?
Truls: Yeah we’re excited, that’ll be a good tour, and we’ll get to play some amazing venues too. As far as new material goes, we’re always working even if it’s just a little bit here and a little bit there. We did however manage to get in a little session just before Christmas while in Madrid. We did two shows out there there with Clutch and had a day off in between, so we took the opportunity to meet up with a friend of ours who has a studio there and worked on some stuff then. We tend to work best under pressure though, so our plan is to take some time off to actually get going in the studio in March. Everyone’s been sketching and collecting ideas for new songs, so we’re excited to put all our efforts together and create new songs, and hopefully record in the summer and autumn.
Back in 2015 you released a solo album, are you still working on your own stuff?
Truls: I’m constantly writing and always surrounded by instruments and recording equipment making music, but my main focus is Graveyard. Having a solo career isn’t something I’m bothered about. I do tend to make music with friends though, that’s kind of just a way of hanging out. We get together and just fuck around with instruments and jams, and sometimes something comes out of it and you might listen back to it the next day and think ‘Damn, that’s not bad at all!’ I mean, I wouldn’t mind releasing another solo record, but I’m more into collaborating with whoever’s around and down to jam.
You guys are heading back to London in spring for Desertfest, what’s your thoughts on playing the festival again?
Truls: It’ll be great to return to Desertfest, we played Koko last time, and this year we’ll be closing the festival at Electric Ballroom on the Sunday night. Desertfest’s always fun, there’s always a bunch of friends around so it sort of becomes a reunion.
So, Orange – you’ve been playing the AD200 for quite some time now, you still happy with it?
Truls: Absolutely! I’ve tried a few other amps but for me there’s just no comparison; If you wanna play rock ’n’ roll, there’s no amp like the AD200. There’s been times we’ve showed up to festivals and they haven’t been able to get me an Orange amp for whatever reason, and there I’ve been in a jungle of amps trying to find a replacement, then realising the cool looking 70s amps might sound like shit, while some ugly looking 80s amp sounds somewhat alright. I know what I like, and I’ve never been particularly friendly with either Ampeg or Fender amps as they’re just not for me. I love the AD200, and it’s sort of a clean slate amp, just add a pedal to it for it to really come alive – I use a Tube Screamer just to get that slightly more distorted sound. I’ve got the black AD200, and although the orange coloured ones are obviously great, I dig the really jazzy ones, I’d love a white one!
For many of you Orange might be known as a stoner rock company, which, fair enough, is an easy assumption to make as we have quite a fair bit of heavy bands on our roster, and regularly share that picture, you know, THAT picture of Matt Pike with the stacks of amps across our Instagram. However, Orange is for everyone, and for example, in Japan, we’re known as a clean sounding company, now would ya believe it?! In the name of Orange and it’s diversity, let’s take a look at a few of our artists who are proudly sporting some clean Orange sound.
Tyler Bryant, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown
Guitarist Tyler Bryant of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown fell for the blues at an early age, and moved to Nashville at the age of 17 to make music. He has since proven himself as an incredible musician, and have toured or played with bands and artists such as Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Bonamassa and Guns ’N’ Roses. He’s released two albums and EPs with his band, and continues to tour and make music.
Graveyard, Truls Mörck
AD200
Sweden’s Gothenburg has almost become a mecca for this whole 70s revival thing with bands such as Graveyard, Horisont and Witchcraft making names for themselves far away from their Nordic borders. Truls was originally the guitarist of the band, but left after their first record to focus on different things. However, low and behold, a few years back the band saw yet another change of lineup and was this time in the need of a bassist. Truls joined the band again, and have now been playing with them for the past two records “Innocence & Decacence” and 2018´s “Peace”. Truls wasn’t too familiar with Orange when rejoining the band, but as former bassist Rikard was an avid Orange user it seemed natural to give it a go. Having tried a few different amps such as Ampeg and Fender, he eventually decided on Orange as it seemed like the best fit for the kinda music they were playing. “They’re pretty straightforward without too many buttons, so it’s quite easy to get good sound.“
Grateful Dead, Bob Weir
Rocker 15
Bob Weir, founding member of ICONIC hippie psychedelic peace and love loving pioneers the Grateful Dead and the original acid granddad. It all started on new year’s eve in 1963 when a sixteen year old Bob heard banjo music played from Dana Morgan’s Music Store while he was wandering the streets of Palo Alto looking for a club that would let him and his other underage friend in. Intrigued by the music they were hearing, they were lured in to the store where a young Jerry Garcia was sat playing. Bob and Jerry ended up spending the night playing music together, and decided to form a band, which later saw them at the front of a hippie revolution. In 1994 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame due to his time in Grateful Dead. He’s also played in various other bands such as Kingfish, Bobby and the Midnites, and RatDog, all while maintaining a solo career.
Bad Religion, Jay Bentley
Jay Bentley is the bassist and one of the founding members of political Californian punk rock band Bad Religion, and have with the exception of a little break from ’83 to ’85 played with the bands since the formation in 1980. The band is known for their philosophical, social and politic lyrics and their vocal harmonies, and are considered to be one of the best-selling punk rock bands of all times, with more than five million albums sold worldwide. When not playing with Bad Religion, Jay has also been touring regularly with punk supergroup and cover band Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, filling in for bass for Fat Mike.
Temples, Tom Warmsley
Formed in Northamptonshire in 2012 Temples kind of just exploded into the UK music scene with their neo psychedelic and modern take on classic British pop rock. After the release of their debut album “Sun Structures” in 2014 you couldn’t leave the house without hearing the single “Shelter Song” played relentlessly on every corner, and the album charted at number seven in the UK. Bassist Tom Warmsley is an Orange ambassador, and has this to say about our amps: “Orange amplification is as strikingly integral, alien, gorgeous and mysterious as it was in 1968, a true transition period of British amplificiation. In every instance of footage, the amps look as psychedelic as the bands playing through them.”
You’ve just released your newest album ‘Innocence and Decadence,’ how has the tour been so far?
It’s been good! We started by doing some shows around Sweden, which was pretty cool. Besides from playing some festivals in Sweden earlier this year, it had been a few years since the last time, and we got the impression people were glad to have us back. We’ve also played some big shows in Germany, so it’s been really good so far and I’ve had a lot of fun.
You were originally the guitarist in Graveyard, how is it being back after all these years as a bassist?
Swapping instruments hasn’t really made that much of a difference, it’s more the fact that the band has grown so much over the last couple of years, whether it’s the fact that they’ve made loads of good music while I’ve been away, or playing bigger venues. Last time I was in Graveyard we played at people’s houses and tiny clubs.
How long have you been using Orange?
I’ve never used Orange when playing guitar, so it’s actually just been the last year or so, after I returned to Graveyard as a bassist.
Why did you decide to give Orange a go?
Rikard, who used to play bass, recorded the last two albums using Orange, so it kind of came natural that when playing those songs, I would use the same equipment. I did experience a bit trying a few different brands like Ampeg and Fender, but Orange just seemed like the best fit for the kind of music we’re playing. They’re pretty straightforward without too many buttons, so it’s quite easy to get good sound.
Can you run us through your current set up?
I’m using the AD200B MK 3 head and the OBC810 8×10 cab. I tried some of the smaller cabs as well and they sounded pretty similar, but when playing big venues it kind of just looks better with the big one, you know.
Do you remember the first time you ever saw an Orange amp?
I’m pretty sure it was Black Sabbath or one of the other old school British heavy rock bands. After that I think it was Witchcraft when we opened for them in Örebro. That was years ago though.
You released a solo album last year; do you play most of the instruments on it yourself?
Yes I do, I can’t drum so I had to get someone else in to do that, but besides that it’s mostly me.
How is it making a solo album compared to recording with a band?
I’ve been in bands for such a long time, so I kind of just felt the need to do it all on my own, not because I necessarily think it’s better that way, but just to try it. Sometimes it can be frustrating to work with other people as things might not always turn out the way you thought it would, but that can also mean that sometimes it’ll be better than what you originally had in mind, there’s pros and cons. I guess just was pretty curious to find out how it would be to do it all on my own, and even though I found it quite difficult and it took me a long time, I feel like I learnt a lot from it, and I really enjoyed it.
Well I’m glad you did, it’s a great record!
Oh you think so? Thank you! It’s very different from what I do with Graveyard, and how we’ve done our new album.
How is it balancing a solo career with being in Graveyard?
Impossible really. You can’t really combine the two. I did have my own band for a bit during summer and did some gigs and festival promoting my album, but now that our new album’s out I just don’t have the time. I do have my own studio though, so when I’m not touring I still make my own music.
Have you got any other hobbies when not on the road?
I’m quite interested in old analogue synthesizers and vintage electronic music, so I spend most of my time in the studio and writing song.
When you’re not busy making your own music, what do you listen to?
Oh, that’s a tricky one. If you take a look at my record collection there is a lot of sixties and seventies rock, American West Coast psychedelia and British progressive hard rock, but then there’s also some experimental music in there like German electro from the seventies, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze…spaced out instrumental music. I guess I’ve got a bit of everything.
If you had to pick a favourite album, which one would it have to be?
Shit, that’s tricky! After all these years I’m still not sick of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blonde on Blonde’. I haven’t listened to it in a while, but it seems to be one of those albums that can just stand the test of time.
Oh really? I’m actually quite surprised by that, I would have expected something heavier, like Black Sabbath or something.
Yeah, well it’s really difficult to pick just one album. Sabbath would definitely be in there if I could pick my top five.
Go on then..
King Crimson – In The Court of The Crimson King
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Pink Floyd – Meddle
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
GRAVEYARD’s album ‘Innocence & Decadence’ is now available!
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