Q: How long have you been making videos?

Mikael: ... approx since 84. before and still I did/do photo, super-8-films,painting, collages and writing.

Q: What drew you to this medium?

Mikael: I have always been very "image-oriented" in whatever I do: Photo, film, video, words, music are to me very much a question of "images" in different ways. I think a cross-referential/multilayered way of thinking and conceiving and using these medias triggered off in the midst of the so called "punk explosion" and its aftermath. The "industrial" cultural scene, Burroughs and the joint-concert of PSYCHIC TV/MONTE CAZZAZZA/LEATHER NUN in '84 was in this sense seminal, I suppose. PTV used a truckload of video monitors showing the early ambiental video-collages to their primordial/tribalistic music. The idea of using video & TV as a means of deprogramming and shortcircuiting the brain/subconscious thought and as a means of creating new dreams and accordingly new realities had a liberating effect on my visual approach - the media redirected against itself through "scratching" (sampling/remixing appropriated video-footage ) made perfect sense and was Burroughsian cut-up in imagery-dissecting programmed reality down to the essential building blocks of manipulation.

Q: Have you had any formal education in film and video?

Mikael: ... yes & no... that is: I started out making music, painting, writing, photo, filming autodidactily - same thing with video. Itīs just the recent years now that I actually applied to art-school, more out of necessity to improve technical skills than out of "artistic need for education" - I have for most of my life done ordinary jobs like nightporter, mental warden, etc. to get around the bends. "Art" and the profession of being an "artist" is something I still have difficulties relating to at all. But yes, eventually I ended up doing 3 years of video & 3D-education in art school on a very free basis. Now Iīm doing a postgraduate course in so called "post production" i.e video-effects/ 3D animation etc.

Q: What are the positive and negative aspects of that education?

Mikael: ...the positive aspect of "doing it your way" is that you give yourself the possibility to build up something on your own, without the limitations/constraints/manipulation of limited teachers and narrow-minded views on how "things should be done." The backside of being autodidactic is that things have a tendency to drag out in time (learning computer programs, video systems etc. ) on your own. Nowadays thereīs so many systems anyway, that I am inclined to say that technical teaching is a benefit - but am generally sceptical about "art-theory" in general. Too much theorizing becomes yet another "religion" that I can do without.

Q: Do you feel the education placed more restraints on you creatively or that it opened up more possibilities? Please elaborate.

Mikael: ... as I got into "art education" at a very late stage, that is, having already attained some sort of "art & world-view" through everyday-life/work-experience it didnīt change very much for me. The possibility to use more professional equipment and some useful training was immmensely liberating though, in the sense that for the first time I had the possibility to spend more "quality" time on materializing ideas, focus on technical improvements and above all having access to equipment, which in that sense hadnīt been the case before-not to that extent at least. Having done something else but going to art school and being an "artist" I think is generally recommendable anyway, in order to get some "real life experience" and to make "art" that has "something to say." Thereīs so much crap and pretentious overpaid shit out there.

Q: What were your first projects focused on?

Mikael: … mostly so called "mixed media installations [and] performances" integrating scratch-video-collages/film/photo/ music and ocassionally "poetry."

Q: What is your goal when you create a video?

Mikael: … there are many different aspects that vary from case to case which also very much depends on whether a "piece" is an assignment or a self-imposed "creation," a music-/"art"-/installation-video or VJ-loop. Generally, however I prefer working with "ambiguity," "double meanings" and no easy "give-aways"- I try to mix in several layers of understanding, projecting subliminal "image messages" and hopefully convey some questions,but ultimately itīs primarily a question of getting things "out my system" and putting dreams into images and reapropriating "view"- alchemy.

Q: What are some of your favorite themes and images to work with in your creations?

Mikael: … nice of you to call it "favorite", whereas Iīm personally more inclined to refer to it as "hang-ups" and "obsessions"- well whatever: as I perceive in "layers" and "cut-up" ( yes-Burroughs-of course ) my videos have a tendency to dwell on layered sequences dissolving into each other and thereby hopefully blurring "obvious disparities" and "merging contradictions" in order to shortcircuit the barrier between consciousness/subconsciousness. I perceive and cut-out image-bits in quotidian life and "remix" my mind/video-eye, I record and distort the filmed to "fit" the dream/obsession - Then of course I have libraries of stock footage-real& imaginary, images that I always sort of "fall back to" due to reprogramming I suppose… water-everything "fluid" is "interesting," industrial landscapes, nature-always a "hit," cityscapes, sex, flowers, blood, fire, religous symbols, historical monuments & sites, relics, wolves/ravens-predatory animals in general, anything really-as long as there is an "angle" to it and has some "connotations"and is "emblematic" in some way - I prefer working in collage-mode/remix and "not-story-line-based". Most music videos today are so hilariously stupid and embarisingly void of idea, but yet so technically well done and "potentially good"- so much money and so little brains...

Q: How has your interest in the occult and Aleister Crowley influenced your works?

Mikael: Very much so, I think, it permeates all my work to some extent and gives it some "purpose" and "orientation" if you will. I donīt like to make it too obvious or "vulgarize" it though and without going too much into detail i feel to say that amongst many other philosophers/ esoterics/scientists that interest me, I also adhere to the Crowleyan/ Thelemite "definition" of magick as being "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will" and what goes along with it - as an artistic tool/challenge/inspiration as well as a "way and view of life". The Crowleyan dictum "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" and "Love is the law - Love under will" incorporate much wisdom and force worthwhile looking into - according to me.

Q: What lessons or skills did you gain in TOPY that have been useful in creating your videos?

Mikael: THEE TEMPLE OV PSYCHICK YOUTH was seminal in my development in the sense that it put forth creative/constructive alternatives to the "no future"-inclined generation - a strong force to challenge established structures and modes of thinking/behaving which reached far beyond self-destructive "punk credibility" and "cyber"-romanticism. It introduced highly powerful means of individual self-appropriation and unorthodox ways of materializing will and causing change - if you will, a modern form of brotherhood/tribal networking/cyber-shamanistic zen-guerilla-whatever you want to call it. Admittedly chaotic in its structure, TOPY however channelized much energy into a challenging force which to this very day still reverbates in different ways and still has effects through personal contacts, networks, organisations and amongst people in various positions in society. The outer appearance and forms of action might have changed, but the energy is still there amongst many of the former "members." I suppose the "lessons and skills" I learned was to cut away much self-limiting bullshit and getting focused in materializing my own true will, that is "to do what one has to do"and experiencing that "magick works" on a daily/practical and unglamourous basis.

Q: What filmmakers and videographers have influenced you most? What visual artists?

Mikael: Mostly there are specific films/promos/details that capture my interest-but hereīs sort of a "rundown": Psychic TV-yeah, well right-cred-of course- U2-"Zooropa" wannabee-saints. Had more cash to do it big time… donīt count - sorry guys - copy cats - go and sue EMERGENCY BROADCAST NETWORK ( EBN ) or shake hands with Castro … hypocrites. William S. Burroughs-always Kenneth Anger-a true thelemite and magician-especially: "Invocation of my demon brother"and "inauguration of the pleasure dome" Derek Jarman-too soon gone/underestimated alchemical image-whiz kid- especially: "The Angelic Conversation", "In The Shadow Of The Sun", "The Garden", "The Tempest", "Blue" and his music videos Andreij Tarkovskij-"Stalker", "The Mirror" Peter Greenaway- especially: "Prosperoīs Books", "The Pillow Book", "A TV-Dante" Lars von Trier-no, I donīt like "Breaking the Waves"-"The Element Of Crime", "Epidemic" and "Europa"-are the real thing Shinya Tsakamoto-"Tetsuo" Rainer Werner Fassbinder: "Querelle", "a year with 13 moons" Nigel Grierson/E23 for 4AD-Records ( Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, David Sylvian covers ) Jan Svankmeyer-tchek animation-artist Japanese Animé/manga: "Urotskidoji", "Akira", "Ghost In the shell" etc. Liliana Cavani: "The Nighporter" Tinto Brass: "Caligula", "Salon Kitty" Fellini: "Satyricon", "Roma" Pier Paolo Passolini: "Salō" David Cronenberg: "Crimes of the Future", "Videodrome"- "Naked Lunch"?-give us a break! canīt someone else do this book some justice? Ken Russel: "Altered States" and "The Devils" George Lucas: "THX 1138"… nothing else Stanley Kubrick: 20001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Nicholas Roeg: "The Man Who fell to Earth", "Performance" David Lynch: "Eraserhead", "Twin Peaks", "The Elephant Man", "On the air" Jeunet& Caro ( Of "Delicatesen", "Alien resurrection"- fame ): "Le Bunker de la derniere Rafale", their french government-financed condom-usage "cyber-flick" and other promos Alex Proyas: "The Crow" and "Dark City" Tom Of Finland Trevor Brown-graphic artist:covers for amongst others Whitehouse Coop- graphic artist-covers for amongst others Lords Of Acid Richard Kern-the earlier stuff new american comix from Vertigo, etc. Alexander Jodorowsky-no, not "Santa Sangre"-but rather "El Topo","Holy Mountain"and his "Heavy Metal"-comix Dave McKean: Covers for "Sandman", CD-covers for amongst others Front Line Assembly-incredible "touch" Peter Saville-Joy Division-covers Neville Brody: Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA-covers etc. Tomato-Underworldīs design bureau Future Sound Of London-videos Kelly something-the guy that did the intro-graphics to: "Seven", "The Island Of Dr.Moreau" (if the film would be nearly as good as the intro…) ,"Spawn"- he has really put intro-graphics on the map Chris Cunningham: Björk, Aphex Twin, Stanley Kubrickīs "A.I."-Chris-put it out NOW Werner Herzog: "Aguirre"," Heart Of Glass","Nosferatu" Early Ingmar Bergman-films-now heīs dead-boring.

Q: How did you come to make the videos for Death In June?

Mikael: At the moment there exists only (from me) "Leopard Flowers"- but Douglas P. and I have discussed further videos. Concerning "Leopard Flowers"- I had an idea centering on aspects/connotions of "camouflage/fur/patterns, male sexuality, rituals of domination and submission, beauty and history" and got in contact with Douglas upon that.

Q: How long did that take?

Mikael: I planned for some months and did it in a couple of weeks.

Q: Any plans to release them?

Mikael: It depends on Douglas - we have discussed several videos - in time.

Q: How are plans going for the CMI video?

Mikael: Have started working on it- gathering stock footage, working out details-plans are for a compilation-video in connection with CMI –release #1000.

Q: Any future video projects?

Mikael: Well, I wish I had less but, yes: american comix shop-window video-installation, NON, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio-compilation, Death In June, Der Blutharsch, Avatar ( experimental ambient ), Dive ( pop-ambient ) and furthermore I would very much like to do videos with bands from the American "Projekt"-label: Lycia, Love Spiral Downwards, Soul Whirling Somewhere-nothing set there though. I donīt want to get pinpointed down to doing just "industrial" or whatever videos-Fetish 23 is about "multitude/ambiguity and diversity" in form and message. Iīd love to do a fucking Garth Brooks or Britney Spears video just for the hell of it…I get immensely bored with "one-track minds" and cozy "adherent groups"

Q: Any chance you'll be doing works with Boyd Rice?

Mikael: As a matter of fact, Iīm doing a video to "Total War" right now… very "apocalyptic."