Forever lost in a world of make-believe
For as long as I can remember I have been inspired by comics, cartoons, and video games. As a child, I used to play with my favourite action figures and recreate the scenes from television. I fell in love with the characters and their imaginary worlds.
Masters of the Universe - Mask of Evil (1984)
Of course, a lot of this is due to the amazing writers and illustrators responsible for crafting these stories. Just as important, more so as I got older, was the music - the theme songs of shows like Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series or the soundtracks to video games like StarCraft and WarCraft 2.
The early 90s was such a good time to be a kid and I started drawing from a very young age. Shows like The Adventures of Mighty Max, X-Men, Spider-Man, and Biker Mice from Mars, to name a few, filled my mornings and afternoons with amazing stories.
Because of these TV shows, I wanted to become a comic book illustrator, but I did not know anything about it. During my high school years, I became more interested in music. I still remember seeing Melvyn Grant's illustration for "Fear of the Dark" by Iron Maiden. This was the first time that the idea of illustration and music clicked for me. Another album cover with a similar effect was Travis Smith's "Still Life" for the band, Opeth. During those years I also played guitar in a few garage bands but never took the idea of creating music seriously. I enjoyed playing guitar and it was to dream of becoming a "rock star".
After school, I went on to study graphic design with the hopes of creating similar artwork to those that graced the covers of my favourite bands. I started contacting bands and eventually got my first album cover project in 2010 for the Finnish metal band, Black Sun Aeon. Since then I have collaborated with many amazing bands and got to work on some great albums. All the while the passion for creating my music and art grew. It was only much later in mid-2020 that I decided to record my first song.
Brundarkh is the result of a collaboration between me and Caleb Bingham. Caleb is an excellent musician and sound engineer. We knew each other from way back and once I contacted him with the idea the project quickly took shape. Due to the darker and heavier nature of Brundarkh's music and my growing love over the years for film and video game music, I wanted to branch out and write songs outside the confines of 'extreme metal'. In 2022 I had the pleasure of collaborating with a few talented musicians from abroad and wrote a neo-folk-inspired song called, "All Wolves Dream Of Killing Sheep".
Even though It has been many years since my first introduction to the world of video games and comic books I am still inspired by those early stories, characters, and music. There is always a great feeling of joy when I get to revisit these stories through my music and art. And an immense sense of gratitude for all the musicians, artists, and storytellers who contributed so much to my childhood.