Interview: Lifelover’s Kim Carlsson Discusses His Musical Projects, Visual Art, and More

Although Kim Carlsson is certainly legendary, he strives to be more than that: he believes that his creations will prove immortal, and I emphatically agree. Carlsson is best known as the frontman of the disbanded powerhouse Lifelover, which he co-founded in 2005 with his tragically deceased friend Jonas Lars “B” Bergqvist. Lifelover’s music has inspired waves of artists, but the original always rises above the copycats. Carlsson is revered as a pioneer who is constantly inventing new styles. The many masterpieces that constitute his highly varied catalogue transcend categories. Carlsson’s ritualistic compositions can be compared to classical music.

The visionary’s projects include Hypothermia, his main band in a sense; Kall; Consider Suicide; A Symphony to the Void; Horns Emerging; Ritualmord; and Life Is Pain. He has also been involved in Aardling with his collaborator Déhà and one of Hypothermia’s former drummers. Fortunately, Carlsson is currently forging ahead with new records and also has unreleased material that we hope to hear soon. Carlsson teased us: “I have some great albums with other projects that no one has ever heard, or like ten people maybe, but you’d be surprised if you saw some of my hard drives. I have some really interesting things.”

Of course, I must emphasize that the interview that follows is an incredibly special one. Carlsson is a superior talent who embodies artistic authenticity and integrity. His work couldn’t be any more emotionally impactful, and yet it is just as intellectually stimulating and spiritually rewarding. Indeed, discovering Carlsson’s elite offerings has amounted to a life-changing experience for countless listeners.

First of all, I really can’t thank you enough for your music. It means a lot to me — more than I can express. I love your visual art as well. Your YouTube channel is also fantastic, though we haven’t heard from you in a while. What have you been up to lately?

When it comes to videos, I had to move for several reasons. And along with that move, I also updated my equipment. The first thing that happened was that the memory card for my camera wasn’t able to import the videos I had recorded. But now, I have a new studio. So, I’m hoping to learn how to use my new equipment and start making videos sometime this winter. I have a lot of scripts prepared because I’ve been thinking a lot, and just because I haven’t uploaded videos doesn’t stop me from being here.

When it comes to paintings, I have an exhibit at an old mill every year, so that’s what I’m doing right now. I used to have exhibits in Mexico when I had a partner there, but that stopped working obviously because of the pandemic. It wasn’t realistic to travel across the world, so that was that.

You’ve spoken a lot about how you’ve studied the way that blood interacts with other substances. I think it’s amazing how you use all of these different ingredients in your art, whether it’s coffee, blueberries, milk, incense, water from special sources, or wine — I believe you make your own wine. So, another cool thing is that if you aren’t satisfied with your paintings, you burn them and sometimes incorporate the ashes into a new painting. How do you know that you’re not being a little too hard on yourself and that someone else won’t love the pieces that you’ve destroyed?

Well, I’d rather be too hard on myself than release something mediocre. I think there are so many good artists out there and also so many that are not as good. But if they just happen to do something that catches people’s interest, then suddenly everything they make is great. That just frustrates me. I don’t want to be one of those one-trick ponies. I’ve always been proud of being able to be as diverse as possible and trying to learn how to go in depth about any subject that interests me — really being able to not just explain it but being as proficient in it as possible.

My use of different ingredients in paintings is an example. It’s something that I’m making a conceptual art book about that will also have a soundtrack. So, there will be a video component, where I’m showing a time-lapse of how I’m making one of my paintings, and then a soundtrack. So, you can listen to the music that was inspired by the painting. You can choose different ways to interact with the media. It’s hard to explain, but I want it to be something that people can make personal to them.

I love the videos of your live painting performances. Along similar lines to your art book, on your YouTube channel, I believe you said that you want to make an audiobook at some point.

Yeah, that’s also something that I’ve been talking about with my bassist in Kall and Hypothermia, who’s also the bassist in Craft. One of the ways that we hang out is that we eat mushrooms and have long philosophical conversations about specific subjects. We think that it would be an interesting podcast or audiobook to record one of our trips, or experiences, while having really personal conversations that people might be otherwise afraid to have. I think most of us have these thoughts and feelings but don’t really know how to communicate them. So, I think the audiobook format is a really good way because, yeah, a written book is nice, but the audiobook format is easier to share for most people.

I loved your conversation with Phil A. Cirone that you posted on YouTube. Phil A. is such an important part of Hypothermia and Kall. How did the two of you meet? I was also wondering how you connected with Sofia because she also adds so much to Kall.

I know Alex because he knows some of my friends. We should have met probably earlier, but we didn’t know each other for many years. And then, some of my bandmates in Kall started hanging out with him and just said that we needed a bassist. He said that he was interested. Then, very soon after, we started hanging out. We became very close friends.

When it comes to Sofia, she’s a close friend to my ex. We were looking for a different kind of musician for Kall that wasn’t just like a guitarist. Many bands we know have a keyboardist, and that’s very standard in metal. So, we felt that something else would be cool. My ex then said: “Hey, I know a really cool saxophone player. You should hang out with her.” We invited her to our studio, first as an experiment because we weren’t sure how to implement the saxophone because it needs space. Usually, you can hear on the recordings that I try not to sing at the same time because we’re kind of competing. It works so much better if we take turns, as if I’m answering a guitar solo. So, that’s how we started working with her in Kall — instead of having a guitar solo, we thought that it would be very interesting to have saxophone. And that makes it a bit less metal but also more metal.

I thought it was interesting to hear that you recorded Brand [2020] multiple times. I adore that album. Would you be willing to reveal any information about when your next record with Kall is coming out?

Currently, we are re-recording the first album with Kall [Kall, 2014] and recording our third album. We had many delays with our previous album because we had to find a new drummer. Then we bought new equipment for recording and discovered that the new half of the album sounded like shit compared to the second half, so we had to redo everything. And with all of that knowledge and equipment left, that’s how we’re starting the third album. Now, we have the same drummer as Craft, which is not bad. Craft is rehearsing at our studio.

Wow, that’s awesome!

Yeah, it’s cool. It’s nice to see them live sometimes, but, also, I can see them live for free essentially in my backyard.

Yeah, really cool! So, Kall is signed to Prophecy Productions, a great label. You’ve had a pretty long relationship with them. Do you have any memories that you would like to share from performing at Prophecy Fest in 2015 with Lifelover?

Well, for me, that whole year was strange because we were celebrating both the start and end of an era that was the time with Lifelover. We were getting threats all the time from people who said we shouldn’t do our live performances. I never cared about anniversaries because time has no more value or meaning than what you give it. My friend Jonas, or B, thought that anniversaries were cool. He was more of an old-school mentality kind of guy. So, I knew that he wanted to celebrate the 10-year. And then, he accidentally wasn’t able to be there for it, but that’s irrelevant. That was hard to explain to people. They just didn’t want to listen because they had their own narrative, but we didn’t really gain anything from it.

We also had to put our other bands to the side for that moment because we were just doing what we felt was the right thing — making the best Lifelover shows that we could ever show people. That was what we did and succeeded in. I think that we were just so focused right then on the live members with the guitars, keyboards, samples, and everything as well as making that work, sound, and look great. So, we didn’t really think about anything else right then. It was a nice venue, of course. There were a lot of nice people, but we were so in tune for that little thing right then that it’s really hard to remember anything else.

I really love the story about how you and B joined forces. B was a fan of yours, so he started corresponding with you as a customer. You agreed to provide guest vocals for Dimhymn. Upon meeting, you both started cutting yourselves, and you ended up making the first Lifelover recording as well, which is awesome. So, one anecdote that stood out that you told is that the band wrote a lot of the brilliant lyrics for Pulver [2006] on pamphlets and distributed them at psych wards.

Yeah, one of the members [Rickard “LR” Öström], who didn’t do much for the first album, was writing lyrics for us… He was just a rogue poet, who wanted to be chaotic for the sake of being chaotic. We said: “Well, just put them out as flyers.” That’s better than just having them on your laptop or throwing them away. See if it resonates with people. Then we started using them, of course, for Lifelover. And that’s why some of the lyrics are very ridiculous, but that’s also what the first album is a bit about. It’s about being anti the “True Black Metal” thing that was happening around those years. We are very spiritual people. That’s why we also used different names. We didn’t want people to just see Lifelover as a side project of Hypothermia or Dimhymn and then not pay attention to it. So, for a long time, no one knew who we were. They would come up to us and talk shit about us or say, “Ah, it’s so great,” or whatever. But, yeah, there are so many ways to use lyrics and art, and I think that people underestimate the power that they can have.

I must say that you’re one of my three favorite vocalists, composers, and so forth. I’ve heard you talk about how you taught yourself how to play guitar. When did you begin your journey as a vocalist?

Well, when I’m out walking like in nature and in the forest, I always hear melodies. I like listening to the wind through the trees and all the different seasons and how they interact with each other and nature. To me, vocals are kind of a rhythm or echo to that, or like if you hear your steps on the ground. I try to create a kind of balance that also is like a melody or harmony to the guitars. I share moods, emotions, and atmospheres.

Over the years, the way I have learned to use my vocals is to amplify an already existing emotion in a part of a song because I like the instrumental parts, but, if there are some emotions rising, you can kind of elevate that. I often just… especially in my previous house, I would walk around at night and make sounds. That’s a way to practice or learn. My way of practicing is just trying to find ways to become more efficient with how I use my voice and paying attention to what happens when it doesn’t work the way I want it to or expect it to.

It seems that Gaahl has served as one of your inspirations. I recall that you said that you discovered Trelldom at the local library when you were 9 years old.

Yeah, I couldn’t help but be drawn to Trelldom because Gaahl’s voice is so fantastic and really broken. That was one of the inspirations when we started Lifelover — sure, I could sing more clean, but it’s deliberately broken. I start by singing clean, but I let it break to show that it’s okay to be broken, and things will break.

I hope that you’ll get back to live gigs again sometime soon with Hypothermia.

The problem is that I haven’t been able to find a new drummer. Hypothermia is the kind of band that thrives during shows; it grows as it is performed live. I don’t write songs, really. I make a mood and very minimalistic, ritualistic compositions. I’m going to find a way to at least maybe do some solo shows. I have to think of a new name because it will be me, which it always is, but it will also be different than Hypothermia, but also not.

Also, we recorded two albums with the previous lineup of Hypothermia maybe five years ago. One of those albums is mixed, mastered, and everything is ready for it. It’s two long songs. I have more albums composed than I can count on my hands, but I don’t have the musicians to record them with or the time. So, that’s why I used to record like two or three albums every time that we recorded because I don’t know when the next time will be.

Of course, one important part of being a musician is being able to perform the material after and/or promote the album by touring. That’s another reason why I didn’t want to release the new Hypothermia album — I wanted to give it the attention it deserves by promoting it with touring. And then, of course, I lost my live lineup pretty much, except my bassist. I actually have a whole live Hypothermia lineup in Mexico, but it is impractical to travel with them.

I can’t wait to hear more Hypothermia releases! I’m also really excited to see you take the stage again with Kall when the time comes.

Yeah, I think Kall is really a live band. When we performed in Montreal at Messe des Morts, that was one of our best performances ever because that venue, a small theater, felt like it was a catacomb. I think that was the name of the venue [Catacombes]. Even the atmosphere was just perfect. That’s the kind of band we are — we’re supposed to be at the back of a long bar venue. It’s supposed to be a bit filthy, a bit decadent, and dark. You should smell incense, blood, and alcohol.

What else does the future have in store for you?

I’m going to visit Déhà in Belgium in January to record. The last time I was with him, we recorded four albums in one week and also a collaboration, so technically five albums. We have only released two of them. I decided that one of them deserves to be more than an album, so I’m going to make a movie because I’m a bit crazy. Most people might be satisfied with a music video, but I feel that is too easy because, yeah, I like making things complicated, so that’s what it will be. But we haven’t decided on what songs to record yet. We usually feel after they are finished what they are going to become — so either it’s one A Symphony to the Void and maybe one Consider Suicide album, or maybe it’s two Consider Suicide albums. Either way, it’s going to be a great time.

Do you ever think about restarting your record label Insikt? You worked with many amazing artists like your Life Is Pain collaborator, Trist, through that. You reissued Life Is Pain’s Bloody Melancholy [2006], for example, through Insikt’s sub-label Unjoy.            

Yeah, that’s actually what I’m working on right now. A few weeks ago, I was contacted again by my friend Jan from Trist, who lives in the Czech Republic. Yeah, we had made a second EP, but we never finished it. I think it’s great… Anyway, because no label has ever given us a fair offer for the vinyl edition of Bloody Melancholy, we have come to the agreement that I’m going to make it myself. So, that’s what we’re working on right now.

I’m thrilled to hear that because Life Is Pain is one of my favorite things ever! So, on Patreon, you offered fans the ability to decide what kind of painting or song they wanted from you. I would like to ask: what was the best thing that came out of that?

I was able to make paintings and songs and get out of my own headspace because, of course, I tend to write in a certain way. I received replies asking me: “Could you maybe make a song in the vein of [Hypothermia’s] Köld [2006] or Rakbladsvalsen [2007]?” I haven’t composed music like that in about 15 years, but I know how to do it because I’ve done it before, so I can do it again. It was a really interesting exercise to get into that mindset. Some of the people sent me recordings of themselves playing guitar or whistling melodies, and I could transform that. I asked my mother to make paintings because she’s an artist too, so she painted covers for what will be a vinyl edition of that. I don’t want it to be released to people other than those who paid for it, so they have the original songs. But then, after I’ve made the Life Is Pain vinyl, I will release that vinyl as a special edition. It’s a mix between Consider Suicide and Hypothermia. I look forward to sharing that with the rest of the world because I wouldn’t have made it if people hadn’t asked for it. I think one of the problems with many bands is that they start limiting their own creativity because they start to create albums that they think that their fans want, but, in this case, it’s the other way around. I asked my fans: “What do you want?” They told me very specifically, and then I made it. So, it doesn’t feel like I’m a sellout because they asked for it, and I’m not just imposing it on them. Again, it was a really interesting exercise.

(You can find Kim Carlsson’s Patreon account here. Also, make sure to browse Prophecy Productions’ selection of Lifelover merch here.)