Interview with Clive Nolan (Arena/ Imaginarium)
I had the opportunity to talk with Clive about his Impressive Viking album zthe Song Of The Winter King there's what he had to say
JWS Thank you Clive for talking with me today, So what is the album all about exactly?
CN Hello john , Well after the success of my earlier Viking album Song Of The Wild Lands that told the tale of Beowolf, This albums tells the tale of Hakon Hakonson who was born in 1204 in Folkenberg to King Hakon Sverresson and Inga of Varteig.Itvwas a time of great tension in the land and his birth unsettled the order of things, Ut is a fascinating period of history.
I do love history and have an affinity with Norway’s from many visits and performances there.
JWS ive heard the album it is most impressive with some Interesting music and performances on it especially in the choral elements using OldcNorse to sing.
CN Glad you enjoyed it John, It was a joy to create the music, We put a call out to recruit folks to make the nassed choirs that feature on the album and had a flood of responses, that was hard coralline them all to make their parts work so well, I did enjoy that process though as they were singing in Old Norse which is not an easy language to learn to deliver with conviction and confidence, So that's a testament to their commitment to th e project really, I had assistance with the language from Dr Christopher Monk who is an expert on the old norse language.
JWS The artwork is equally grandiose and impressive.
CN again that was mostly AI generated although the front cover was done by Artist Da id Wyatt he captures what i was seeking most succinctly, I've worked with him on other things like The Seige album by Imaginarium.
JWS So what is it that generates this viking obsession with you Clive?
CN Wel I am a big history buff and having been to Norway several times over the years and performed there as well. I find myself fascinated by the Norwegian culture and way of life, I really enjoy any time spent out there,it is a beautiful country and they have a rich colorful history, I wanted this album to reflect that in some manner.
Where I live in Hereford, nearby in Cheltenham there is a viking contingent who regularly attend events at the mead Hall ( which is a 64 seat venue clive has established as a venue in his home in Bartestree near Hereford)
.One of them is called Morton and he wanted to take my music to Norway to perform so e Christmas shows, so i worked with him to make that happen. And we did a few shows in Mysen Norway with the Camora Norway Chorus, these happen in early December usually they are pretty special and musically different.
We recently did a full performance of the Song of The Winter King there ( The Mead Hall), It was totally sold outvalthough some folks were disappointed that we didn't have the Earbook edition of the album there to sell we only had the single cd edition, The Earbook has a bonus cd and a dvd of the making of the album in a deluxe art book. It is really impressive.
Jws So what is on the bonus cd then?
CN It is a mixture of things there are several reworking of the albums tracks with laura Piazzi singing some guitarr sections and performances by Mark Sangrigoli along with a music free version of the narration of the album, in all it's a good 55 minutes of extra material to make it a worthwhile release, for me a bonus cd has to be more than a musical Karoake version of the album. Like so many of them are, I've put some effirt 8nt9 creating worthwhile content for the listener to enjoy.
JWS Thanks for your timre Clive I wish you well with this release
CN thank you for talking with me John.
Author John Wenlock-Smith Friday 9th October 2026.