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Andreas Blix Jacobson or just Blix, is a guy that makes videos with his own songs or cover and upload in YouTube.
In your cover’s list we have: Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Nile (that was shared by the Nile’s drummer himself) and go on. Check the interview we made with him.
First of all, thank you to accept the interiew. I think the first time I listen you has 2 years (more or less) and I only have good things to say about your work, so let’s begin.
GroundCast – How appeared Blix? Tell us a little bit of your musician journey.
Blix: I’ve always been into music, as long as I can remember. I started taking piano and singing lessons at the age of six, and I kept learning various instruments until I was around 13 or 14. Towards the end of middle school I was introduced to metal in a rather brutal way though, which I guess was the birth of what you know as Blix. An old friend of mine called me and asked if I knew how to play bass guitar, and invited me to come rehearse with his band. He warned me that the music was a little weird, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. When I arrived at my first rehearsal with them, I was met with grim, cold underground Norwegian black metal. I wasn’t prepared for that at all, and it took a couple of weeks with intense listening to Darkthrone, Burzum and Mayhem before I could really get into it and be a productive member of the band. Soon after that I discovered Opeth, which was a huge turning point in my life. They are still my favorite band at this point in time. Opeth is what made me fall in love with metal, and to start writing on my own.
GroundCast – What are your influences?
Blix: I already mentioned Opeth, and I could probably list other bands for ages; the entire spectrum between Steven Wilson and Devourment. Also, some folk stuff. Not folk metal though – but the good old folk music, like “Triakel”. More importantly though, there are things outside the world of music that can be invaluable sources of inspiration. For me, the strongest inspiration is the beauty of contrasting experiences. Like, experiencing death up close makes you understand the value of life, going through hardships allow you to be happy and appreciate mundane everyday life later on – things like that. Those things, the contrasts that make life worth living, they almost create music on their own.
GroundCast – You have some collaboration covers in your YouTube channel, how appeared the first invitation (or the first cooperation) to make these collaboration covers?
Blix: Lorenzo Marcelloni (Aydan86 on YouTube) sent me a message around four years ago, asking if I wanted to be a part of a cover of a Dimmu Borgir song. I have no clue how he found me in the ocean of videos out there, but somehow he did. I was thrilled about that, and the video was somewhat successful, so we kept making them. We still do every now and then, but it’s become more rare lately. Still, I’m really grateful for that initial invitation, it was a good start for me.
GroundCast – From where come the name Blix?
Blix: Haha, this is a fun one. Some people seem to assume I took the name from the goblin in the movie Legend from 1985 – which is hilarious to me. My name, given at birth, is Andreas Blix Jacobsen. Blix is my mothers surname, and it’s a very old family name – I don’t even know how far it dates back. My friends started calling me by the name Blix sometime in middle school. I wasn’t the only kid with the name Andreas, which got confusing at some point, so someone came up with the idea of using our surnames instead. The name stuck, and I’ve basically been using it as my first name since then.
GroundCast – You have some original songs as I can see they are oriented to Black Metal (not all – correct me if I am wrong), I know that Norway is a country with a Black Metal tradition, but why this genre? What exist in Black Metal that made you choose it?
Blix: Hmm… I actually don’t know. I try to not constrain myself to any genre when I write, but I keep writing black metal (or something of the sort) anyway. I really don’t know why.
GroundCast – Still inside the Blix music, how can you describe Blix? The feelings, the way the songs go?
Blix: I have no idea how to answer that, I’m sorry. I’m aware that my songs generally share the same “feel”, as they tend to do with most artists – but as the creator I see them so vastly different from one another.
GroundCast – Why be an one man band, do you have any ideas to turn Blix into a full line-up band?
Blix: I am the frontman and primary songwriter of a band where I live. We haven’t really done anything of importance quite yet, but who knows what the future holds? Keep your eyes open, that’s all I can say for now.
GroundCast – Which equipment you use actually to record your songs?
Blix: My main guitar is an Ibanez RG-521, I program drums using Addictive Drums, and I have some Ibanez bass I don’t even know the model number of. For vocals, I use a Shure SM7b. I run everything through a cheap Steinberg sound card (UR-22) and into Cockos Reaper. It’s a cheap and simple setup, but it gets the job done.
GroundCast – I visited Norway once (Oslo and Bergen) and it’s a great country. What can you say about the musical scene of Norway?
Blix: Not much. Up north where I live, there is be barely any civilization. The biggest city we have in my state has a population of 50 000 – so we’re lucky to have a metal concert here in a year. The bigger cities in the south of Norway have great metal scenes though, and as you know, tons of great bands have arisen from them.
GroundCast – Do you have any tips for people that wanna have their own home studios?
Blix: Tip number one: GET AN EXTERNAL SOUND CARD THAT IS MADE FOR RECORDING MUSIC! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT record by plugging your microphone into your laptop microphone input. Really. Tip number two: Never stop learning, never stop looking for more information. Not happy about your guitar sound? Browse around on the web until you figure out how to make it better. You can’t make the vocals sit well in your mix? Ask Google how to mix metal.
GroundCast – You have some songs with Tristan, how appeared this partnership?
Blix: He sent me a private message on YouTube, asking if I wanted to lay down some vocals on his track. That track was the instrumental of what later became “Brane Collision”. That instrumental simply blew me away. It was so good, I almost regret putting vocals on it. Those riffs held their own just fine without any vocals – but I couldn’t really pass up the opportunity of being a part of that though. Who in their right mind would?
GroundCast – How are your future plans with Blix?
Blix: Right now, just surviving. My dream is to be able to do music full-time, but I’m not really seeing that happen. So for now, I’m gonna keep working my daytime job, and just make music whenever I have time. And, of course, put it on the internet.
GroundCast – What do you think about internet music sharing (downloaded by some torrent or bought iniTunes for example)?
Blix: I have a split opinion on that. Music is an art, and should be available to everyone for free to enjoy. On the other hand, I think artists who are good enough to grab people deserve to make a living from it. Basically what I’m saying is that I think everyone should download and pirate music they feel kinda “meh” about, and buy music from those they think deserve to be supported financially.
GroundCast – Thanks for you time man, best regards, this space is for you say something to our readers.
Blix: No – thank you! This is the first interview I’ve done about my solo work, it makes me feel somewhat accomplished. To you, the readers: Since you’ve bothered reading all of this, I’ll say thank you to you too! I hope I don’t sound like a wannabe rock star or anything, I’m well aware that I’m just some guy who makes videos in his basement. That being said though, I’m really happy I can bring a bit of joy and entertainment to at least a few individuals out there. I’m really proud of that, and it makes me want to create more.