Kenneth Brastad

Norway.... we got a shitload of metal musicians, and I am one of them. I`m mainly a guitarplayer, but I have also spent several hours having fun with bass, drums, piano/synth & vocals.

My main interest is metal, but I do enjoy other genres too. I have played in several bands, and have flirted around with jazz, rock, pop, fusion, blues, soul, alternative, grunge etc etc. I can`t see the point of sticking to only one thing when you can become inspired by almost everything out there.

What have I done so far? Well... My first serious band/project have to be "Unspoken Names". We recorded a demo around 1997 or so called "Molto Doloroso", and we were noticed in the local area since we were one of the few bands that combined goth metal with progressive elements & alternative stuff. Several of those musicians are still active.

Ronny Kaasa (Drums) have been in bands like "In_Zekt" & "Immune". Erlend Caspersen has been a prostitute and sold his soul to several bands... (no wonder considering that he`s an awesome bassplayer) He is now active in "Blood Red Throne". Hanne Hukkelberg (Vocals) is a well known female jazz singer and has done a lot of weird & interesting stuff over the years. The other ones who were in this band is still active of some sort, but nothing serious.

In Extenso: A mellow accoustic band that made it possible for me to show another side of my songwriting. This band included violin, viola, percussion, piano, bass & two singers... male and female. We recorded a demo, and did several gigs here in Norway + a special trip to Estonia where we played in Tallin as some kind of "ambassadors" from Norway after we won a contest.

Ashes To Ashes: This was kinda my first band with a record deal and ambitions. I have played on some other albums before, but this was something new & special to me. How I ended up in this band is kinda weird, cause a friend of mine told me that she was on her way to an audition in Oslo to meet up with this band that was looking for a new singer. I decided to join just for fun... and somehow I ended up as their vocalist. We released two albums "Shapes Of Spirits" & "Cardinal VII". We also recorded a third album called "Symbols Of Salvation" Where I did all guitars and main vocals. This album had guest musicians as Maniac ("Mayhem" & "Skitliv"), Ravn ("1349"), Cato Bekkevold ("Enslaved"), Tore St. Moren ("JORN"), Per Amundsen (Various artists/bands) & Ida C. Tingstein ("In Extenso").... One thing that suxx is that this album was never released.....yet...

During the time "Ashes To Ashes" were active, we also collaborated with "Shagrath" ("Dimmu Borgir"), "Astennu" (Ex. "Dimmu Borgir"), Rune Torgersen ("Carnivora"), Zilla Black ("Paradigma") & a lot of others.

Björn Luna (Bass) is currently rockin`out with beelzebub & Sado-Christ in "Chrome Division".

LUCID: This has been my "child" for a long time now. This band have had several different members throughout the years. This band have also had a lot of help from a lot of musicians during recordings as producers or guest appearance. Tore St. Moren helped me out a lot, and produced a large number of songs. Others who contributed were Jan Thore Grefstad ("Saint Deamon" & ex."Highland Glory"), Agnete M. Kirkevaag ("Madder Mortem"), Eirik Barsleth ("Carnivora"), Børge Finstad (Toproom Studios & "Live Wire"), Mats Nedberg and Mats Faugli (Both from "Shoot The Breeze") and more....

"LUCID" has just been reformed, and news will be updated as soon as possible.

A few other musicians I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with is: ICS Vortex (Ex. "Dimmu Borgir"), Thomas Brandt ("Red Harvest"), Raymond Smith ("Forbidden Forest"), Terje Graven ("Point Blank") etc etc.

Hard to keep track of everyone after all these years. So... sorry if you haven`t been mentioned.

Guitars.... I don`t need a lot of guitars... I have owned a shitload of guitars during the last decade, but I always end up selling them. I have one guitar I`ll use as long as it still works, and that is my beloved "Vigier Excalibur". It has a perfect pick up combination (Stright from the factory), it`s playability is unique, the sustain is unbelievable & the variation of sounds that this guitar is able to create makes it usable to almost every genre you can think of. I have been recording at several studios over the years, and every producer has had a lot of guitars they wanted me to try out before we laid down the final tracks. We have always ended up with the "Vigier" exept from one track with "LUCID". I have used many different ones live, but no one can be compared to my, as I said, beloved "Vigier".

What kind of equipment? Christ.... This changes all the time, but what`s currently used (12.02.11) is:

Marshall JMP 1, Aleisis Midiverb III, Marshall Valvestate 8008, Line6 POD X3 & Line6 POD X3 Live, Korg Toneworks: AX1500G & a few different stomp boxes ("BOSS").

What kind of cabinet is still uncertain since I recently sold the old one and haven`t decided what to chose next. So as you can see, it`s a mixture of old and new stuff. And it`s always exciting to blend the effects/tones and experience new things when I have the time to try it out.

Other than that... No idea... This is me, Kenneth Brastad