Thank you very much, and you're welcome. It's always a pleasure of course!

How do you feel now that the album is out in the stores?

I have an overwhelming feeling of joy and accomplishment that we have finally completed this release. At the same time, I am also excited to read some of the really nice feedback we are getting, that is really beyond expectations. I have no idea so far about how the album is doing sales wise, which is always a concern these days for any artist. But I am just happy that we are finished. It is a relief, in a way, because it was so much work. Today I spoke to Carl on the phone and suggested that perhaps we should start thinking about writing new material soon. But I think everyone in the band still needs a little more time and mental rest before we are ready for anything like that. So I try not to be impatient with myself and my creativity for the future, and instead savor the moment.

I have read a lot of praising reviews about "Prominence and Demise". I guess that this is something that makes you happy. However I would like to ask you which things in this album make you wonder if they could be better?

We have really seen everything for this release, both good and bad. But this is to be expected with any Winds album, I think. We are not everyone's taste, yet the people who do like Winds, seem to be more dedicated than average listeners of other bands. We saw some great reviews from the metal press, and we also saw some half decent and even bad ones. Mostly they were averaging stronger this time, but also some reviewers always have this or that which they would like to criticize or that they think could be better. And usually those things are quite different from reality seen from my perspective. So I have stopped asking myself how an album could be better, but of course, we can always ask how it could have been different. And it could have been different, but different is not always better. I honestly don't think it could have been any better for me from a personal point of view. We spent so much time on this, that if there was anything we were genuinely unhappy with, we probably would have spent time changing it.

You were absent almost three years since "The Imaginary Direction of Time". Which were the main reasons for this period of preparations for "Prominence and Demise"?

It was a long process of intense work for most of those three years. This is why I say that the new album took more time to work on than all the other releases combined. There was just so much more information that had to be processed, like alternate arrangements and different ideas. During this recording we didn't really have only one specific idea for each track, we worked creatively and let everything flow, and then we decided on what arrangements to go for later down the road. It was a much more involved process. Imagine sorting through ten different guitar solo takes, which you think are all awesome. Then you have to choose the one that is the most awesome between those ones. It's not easy. It's a lot of work!

Was the participation of all these guest musicians a contributing factor for this delay?

No, actually I think they made things speed up a bit, since for everything we did ourselves, we were overly critical. While whatever the guests did we actually liked so very much, that it was a done deal! So while I don't like using the word delay, because we don't work under those kinds of assumptions, mainly it was a maturity process where we felt the tracks had to mature to where we were absolutely sure about how we felt about them before proceeding with each step.

How easy was to assemble them? If you were able to call someone else that you do not personally, but you appreciate, and estimate that he could contribute to the album, who would be?

It was not that difficult, because people just did their parts when they had time. It was fairly simple to schedule it, all things considered. I am very happy that we have the guests we have on this release, and they made it even more special for us.

Also the bass position is still empty. Do you have any plans of recruiting a permanent member or is it matter of chemistry between the four of you?

We really do have a bassist in our singer Lars. He has played bass on the last two albums, and he is a bass player. He plays bass in his other bands as well. But for this release, we all decided we wanted a different style of bass player, so Oystein was found, and both Carl and Jan Axel have a history of playing with them, so he was definitely compatible. We have not decided who will play bass on the next record, but it might be Lars himself, or Oystein, or someone else. This really all depends on the material and how things turn out. We have no plans yet, so it's difficult to predict at this point.

Do you believe that "Prominence and Demise" is your best work up-to-date? What are the things that differentiate this album to the previous ones? Personally I think that this is the heaviest work until now and you expressed your metal background with emphasis.

Yes, I strongly believe it is our best work. I am also quite satisfied with the previous album, and it will always be very special for me I must admit. But overall, the accomplishment on the new one, from a personal point of view, is so much more. You are right about it being a heavier album as well, I definitely agree on that. This is not the reason why I think it's our best work however. It has more to do with the process and end result. You always have people with different opinions on some issues, even within the band, but I know everyone agrees this is the best work we ever did. Even not just with Winds, but perhaps on a whole. This doesn't mean all our fans or everyone in the world has to feel the same way. It is just how we feel ourselves.

Do you believe that you have reached your potential with "Prominence and Demise" or each record is a peak of your dynamics at that time and with the given circumstances?

I think we have reached our potential at that particular moment, or with that exact style or sound. But I think there are lots of other avenues where we can utilize our potential in the future as well. I think the way to go for us from here is to expand and broaden our range, and not make the same kind of sounding album twice like some bands choose to do over and over. We want to evolve and to keep growing, both as musicians and as a band.

Mainly we ask about the progress on musical level. I would like to ask if there is a progress recorded in your mind regarding the lyrical content of the album. Did you find it easier to write lyrics for Winds with so much time available or is it just the mentality of the band that can facilitate lyrics' writing?

Writing lyrics for Winds is an incredible difficult task, even more challenging than the music actually. And I think there is progression there. I think lyrically they are my best work as well. I was able to make something that in my mind stands out as different and unique, yet still very personal, even though it's also in a more intellectual way. But it is also very emotional. For me, those things are difficult to combine, and I did not feel as confident in the beginning as I do now, about the lyrics. But the story and concept is definitely an important part, and very crucial to the overall feel of the album.

Seems that there is a concept behind the lyrics. Can you tell us a few words about it or is it up to the listener to mine its concepts?

Well, all the Winds albums are kind of variations on the same theme. So the lyrics certainly have a concept, but more so the band has a concept in and of itself. So I think it doesn't really need explaining. If people read the Winds lyrics and listen to the music, and do so on the four records we have made so far, it will become pretty apparent to the listener what kind of theme it is all about.

That is pretty clear, but I had the essence that this time it was something more concrete. For example the distribution of lyrics and the participation of guest singers gave me the impression that the lyrics had a theatrical treatment.

Yes, you could say that. I still don't think I have anything specific to comment upon when it comes to the lyrics though. It's kind of something that I prefer not talking about in detail, much like if you see a movie, it probably won't be the director that comes out after the show and explains what he meant with certain elements in the film. So what I was thinking of when writing certain things or doing certain things, is not as important as what people get from it.

Are you tired of being solely a studio band? Do have thoughts of stepping on a stage to perform live?

Actually no, we kind of started Winds as a result of being tired of rehearsals and touring. So in a way it's the other way around. Nice to have a band where we can focus on making records instead of being on the road all the time. Unfortunately nowadays it is kind of expected, so bands that don't go on the road have less potential to make it. It's kind of an interesting scenario as well. Everyone in the band has said repeatedly that they would love to play some shows or go on a tour with Winds. But I think realistically it's more an appealing idea than something that can be put into life.

Under which conditions such perspectives would be fruitful?

Well, I think Winds does not really need to be a live band. And it probably shouldn't be a live band from an artistic point of view. The only purpose would be to promote the music, but we are trying our best to do that in different ways. Could we reach a larger audience if we did shows? Sure. But then again, I'm not sure if reaching a larger audience is necessarily a good thing either. You could very easily end up being consumed by the whole music industry and pressure for sales, and then your band becomes more like a burden than a pleasure, like it already has for quite a few bands we know. Basically all the bands we know that made it big.

This is the third time you cooperate with Travis Smith for the artwork. Are his illustrations a part of your aesthetics? It has a similar approach with the previous ones so I would like to ask if you give any guidelines to Travis Smith for your artwork.

Travis has become a part of the team after all these years, so he is very valuable to us when it comes to transforming the concept from an idea to a visual portrait. Sure, we do give him guidelines. For this one, I had made a "dummy" image of what I wanted the cover to look like. It ended up being a bit different, and darker, but that only fit the concept even better this time around. So you could say he took my initial idea, went with it, and made it better, and then I came back with some final responses to make it exactly how I thought it should be.

Did you had any other options for the cover or even do you admire the work of another artist that you would like to use?

We have people asking us to do our artwork all the time, and we have not even really looked at anyone else to be honest. I am sure there are lots of visual artists that could do a good job, but we have a good relationship with Travis, so we have no reason to change. And it's kind of funny… these offers we will get from different people are very enthusiastic, until they hear that Travis Smith does our cover, and then they get very disappointed. Almost as if they know they are not going to be able to compete, and deep down they know it.

What about Age of Silence? We haven't heard any news about them for months. Will you activate them again now that the Winds album is completed?

Age of Silence is holding a low profile right now. The members are busy with other things and there are no plans for anything specific. That doesn't mean there won't be another album at some point, but we just don't want to create any expectations or false hopes, as those usually lead to disappointment. Better if people are positively surprised rather than disappointed and upset at the delay. If there was no plan to begin with, there cannot be any delay. So in a way, I can almost say that there are no plans at all. Even if that might not be entirely true, the plans are not specific at this point.

Frankly, what are your expectations from this album? Do you feel that this album might open some closed doors to a wider audience?

Of course, that is always what we are hoping. It was not an intentional move either, but we hope that we can reach some new listeners with our new album, while at the same time, that we will not lose the support of our old listeners. I think Winds is something that should be viewed as having no limits. So each album becomes kind of irrelevant, it's more about the big picture. I've said this a lot lately, but it's true. You can never please everyone, and people will always have different opinions. Some people like the guitar solos more on this album, the vocals better on that album, etc. We cannot really let anyone influence us, except staying true to ourselves being the only factor of judgment.

I think I hold you enough Andy. Thank you very much for talking to our webzine. We wish you all the best.

Thank you as well! We appreciate all the support and dedication you have given us through all these years. Much appreciated!