Rules of Engagement – 01/12/2007

Bob Mørk (by email)
By: Elvira Visser
 �
  Rules of Engagement comes from Kristiansand, Norway. The band plays melodic-metal.
  Because Rules of Engagement is coming to the Netherlands in December to play
  some gigs, I though it was time to ask the band some questions by email and
  Bob Mørk was kind enough to answer them.

– How did the band get started?

  Bob:“The band was formed by Kim Arly Karlsen and former drummer Thomas Færøvig in 2006, both tired of non-serious bands. They wanted a band on their own terms. Short time after, Jarl and Bob joined in. Kjell is the newest addition to RoE,
and we are close to be a complete band. Time will show if our session-drummer Øyvind will join the band permanently, we sure hope so.”

– How would you describe your band for potential fans?�
  Bob:“Melodic, different, hard metal known for clean vocals, riffs and well-timed breaks”

– And how would you describe your band if you had only 3 words?

  Bob:“Personal, unique and dedicated”

– What makes Rules of Engagement unique compared to other bands?

  Bob:“The different background and influences of the band members. The sound is a
  mix of hard head banging riffs wrapped in melodic themes.”

– There is much competition in Norway, is this a struggle to survive or does
  it stimulate you?

 Bob:” We have come a long way with hard work and dedication, and we think that’s the
  recipe for success. We work harder than most bands to develop and move forward,
  and the harder others may work, the harder do we. ”

– Are there other bands that influence the style of Rules of Engagement?

  Bob:“Threat Signal and Meshuggah are big inspirations, along with Anathema, Tool
  and others.”

– Where do you get inspiration from when writing songs?

  Bob:“Memories, stuff that happens along the way, the need to express a certain
  feeling.”

– You are busy recording an EP right now, any expectations from yourself?

  Bob:“We want to make the best of the time we’ve got and to reach the full
  potential of songs and band members.”

– How is the recording progress going?

  Bob:“It is going great. The producer has introduced new ideas and “things”,
  which makes the songs even better. It’s gonna be a kickass EP! ”

– Has your stage act/performance developed over time?

  Bob:“We always try our best to improve ourselves, and we’ll continue to grow
  on stage with every new gig. As said earlier, we have different
  backgrounds, and that will result in a slightly different stage act over
  time. Due to the short time we’ve played together, we got a lot to learn.
  But we all have this hunger for learning and improvement…”

– You have been on stage with Stonegard and Backyard Babies, did you learn
  anything from them?

  Bob:“We played at the same festival, and Stonegard proved how hard
  work, dedication and professionalism leads to successful gigs”

– Do you have some funny backstage stories to share with us?

  Bob:“Either the backstage is too small, or we get too drunk to remember…”

– Do you have any upcoming plans for touring?

  Bob:“The Netherlands is next! We are also planning a Norwegian
  tour this summer and some gigs in Europe next autumn.”

– Do you have plans for releasing a video?

  Bob:“We are currently working on an idea on a music video from one of our songs “Out
  of Time”, most likely it will be released in Norway around springtime.”

– Where would you like to see your band in the future? Any dreams?

  Bob:“On the road around the world, playing on the biggest venues and use
  Meshuggah as support!”

– Do you see yourself playing stadium gigs, like Metallica does?

  Bob:“Eventually, if the band is evolving in the same rate as now, it may be a
  reality one day.”

– When is Rules of Engagement satisfied?

  Bob:“Hard to say, there will always be something to improve and work towards.
  Some settle for this, and some are never satisfied. We want to reach
  beyond our hopes and dreams, but then there is this thing called reality..”

– What effect do you think that new media like internet, MySpace and forums have on the fame of Rules of Engagement?

  Bob:“It’s a great opportunity for every upcoming band to get their music out to
  the public and it’s free PR. For us it has been an accelerator for the
  band, really helping us getting a name and then also gigs.”

Links:

Rules of Engagement Myspace
Rules of Engagement Official