AKTOR

Chris Black (better known as Professor Black) may be one of the busiest musicians in the underground metal scene today.  Refusing to be confined to a single creative outlet, he juggles more projects than most artists manage in a lifetime.  His latest release comes from one of his most compelling ventures, AKTOR,”Professori” (Season Two) is an ambitious work that moves beyond a simple collection of songs and flirts with the structure and scope of a full-fledged concept album.  I recently had the chance to speak with Professor Black about the new record, though it was impossible to ignore the broader scope of his career, including standout projects like HIGH SPIRITS and DAWNBRINGER.  If the conversation proved anything, it’s the Professor is every bit as engaging and multifaceted as the music he continues to create: 

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Congrats on the release of your new album “Professori” (Season Two).  You seem to have a cadence of releasing new AKTOR material every five years.  Is this planned?

PROFESSOR BLACK:  Thanks!  That cadence is a coincidence, or perhaps it’s just our natural cycle.  But no, it is not planned that way.  The inspiration for AKTOR and also the time and motivation to really work on AKTOR comes in short bursts, and our music requires a lot of layers to really do its thing.  So that’s a long time from start to finish.

WC: This one is a kind of a concept record.  What made you decide on putting out a concept record and how did you decide on the storyline?

PB: I had been binging through the so-called “Nordic noir” TV genre for a while, and eventually came to notice how much the characters and plots were recycled from series to series and from season to season.  At this point I decided I had probably seen all of the main shows really worth watching, and it was time to move on, but that happened to be the time that I needed to begin writing the lyrics for the AKTOR album.  I have always had complete trust and freedom to do as I please in that area, so I thought I would give it a try to write a detective show in lyrical form, where the album is a season and each song is an episode.  I tried to incorporate as many clichés as possible!

WC: You started with “Season Two” and you make reference to Season One.  Are there plans to someday release a prequel? Is the story finished or will it continue?

PB: Once I began writing, yeah, it was clearly the second season of a three-season arc.  I know the basic outlines for everything, but whether it will actually be written someday is less clear. 

WC: You have many different bands.  When you’re writing new material, do you craft songs with a specific project in mind, or do you write freely and decide later which band a track best belongs to?

PB: That’s a good question, and the answer changes over time.  I think most often I am writing songs for a specific album or project.  I have gone through periods where I do more free writing, but the problem there is that I kind of get lost in the maze, and things go unfinished because they don’t have an obvious outlet or container.  Having that finished product in mind can be an important motivator.  And I don’t mean “product” in the commercial sense, just that it can help a lot to be aiming at a target.

WC: In HIGH SPIRITS, you handle all the instruments but with AKTOR, you have a steady “band” with Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Leppanen.  How did that collaboration come about?

PB: I don’t remember any conversations about who should play which instruments, to be honest.  It is a good thing to have so many options in our small collective.  What I do remember is that it seemed very natural at the beginning, since we are basically writing rock music, that it would originate as guitar riffs and a strong drum beat.  Jussi and Tomi are playing together all the time, so that’s the way we do it.  As the singer, I have some extra influence in deciding the structure of the songs, what part is the chorus, things like that, and the bass guitar actually does a lot of this work too.  The bass gives a lot of definition to the chord progressions that are tucked into Jussi’s guitar riffs.  So again, it is natural that I will put the bass lines down as part of my process.  I also play most of the guitar solos although that wasn’t originally true.  Or was it?  Again, I don’t remember, hahaha!  With AKTOR we mostly just go for it.

WC: I was lucky enough to see HIGH SPIRITS and DAWNBRINGER at Hell’s Heroes these last two years but I have not seen any AKTOR tour dates.  Is there a chance of this band playing some shows?

PB: I think it’s not impossible but also the amount of start-up work to make it happen is maybe not too practical.  We would need to use a lot of backing tracks or hire additional musicians, and both of those possibilities have pros and cons to consider.  We haven’t gotten any calls about this, otherwise we might think about it beyond the hypothetical realm.  It’s fun to think about but that’s the extent of it for now, without any exact scenario or offer to consider.

WC: I hear a lot of different elements in this new record.  Who are your main influences for this particular record?

PB: Speaking for myself, my influences are Jussi’s demos.  It’s part of the AKTOR process I guess, that I work almost exclusively within what comes to me from Finland in demo form.  The songs are their own little – or not so little – worlds to me.  But they begin with Jussi, and he is listening to all kinds of music all the time, more than anyone I have ever known.  He gives the songs temporary names sometimes like “Pop”, “SABBATH”, and this time we even had one called “PRETTY MAIDS”!  I think that one became “Too Close”, but I’m not positive.  So maybe there are some clues.

WC: Are there any bands you’re into that might surprise your fans?

PB: The ones I’m not into are usually more surprising!  But let’s not focus on the negative.  My personal tastes have honestly not changed that much during my lifetime, and I think they are pretty well-reflected by the music I have created along the way. 

WC: Was there a specific moment that made you decide to devote your life to music?

PB: Actually there was, but it was more of a promise than a decision, to live according to the lyrics of “Helpless” by DIAMOND HEAD.  I heard it on the ‘79 Revisited compilation by Metal Blade that came out in the early 90s, so I was probably 14 at the time, alone in my room.  So yes, I do remember the moment.

WC: Do you have any touring plans for any of your bands?

PB: HIGH SPIRITS will combine with SAVAGE MASTER for 5 shows in February on the West Coast.  Also we have a kaiju-metal band called OXYGEN DESTROYER.  So that will be quite a heavy experience in all ways!  Then the PROFESSOR BLACK band is playing Hell’s Heroes in March.  We do all SUPERCHRIST the first night and all MOTÖRHEAD the second night.  There is some other stuff in the works but nothing firm and unfortunately nothing for AKTOR.

WC: If you could pick any band to either open for you or for you to open for them, who would it be?

PB: Oh, fun question.  With AKTOR it’s hard to say, because the realm of possibility is so huge and our image is so hard to define.  I mean, what does AKTOR even look like?  But I want PROFESSOR BLACK to open for MOTÖRHEAD but then we cancel, so that MOTÖRHEAD has to play two sets.

WC: The cover for “Professori” (Season Two) is unique. Can you tell us who these characters are and what their situation is?

PB: Yeah, those are the main characters from the story.  Sylvi is the main character, and most of the lyrics are from her point-of-view.  But then behind her is Professori himself, who is only in the story by reference, and behind him, the Chief Inspector, a real hard-ass most of the time, but also willing to bend the rules in order to make things happen.

WC: What was the last concert you attended as a fan?

PB: BLIND GUARDIAN two weeks ago.  Loved it.  It definitely didn’t change my mind about “albums in their entirety” type of setlists, but I was very glad I went and also that I could bring my kids.

WC: Do you have any Spinal Tap moments in your career?

PB: No, but I have dreams where the gig is in 2 hours, but the drive is 5 hours, and all we have is a hi-hat and a bass with one string.  Things like that.  Stress-induced versions of “Hello Cleveland”.

WC: Any last word for your fans?

PB: None other than thank you very much!  And now I have the sudden urge to listen to “No Resurrection” by HOLY TERROR, so I’m off.  Cheers!

AKTOR