“I just had a son; he was born four weeks ago. It’s my first child. He is sleeping next to me,” Shining frontman Jorgen Munkeby noted as we began our chat via Skype. He is a new father and has a new album, International Blackjazz Society, on the horizon. It is a time of all things new for him.
But then again, Shining have been steadily crafting their own genre, known as “blackjazz,” for several years now, gaining followers who develop a disciple-like devotion to and love for Shining’s music. The band’s aesthetic, which riffs on cult associations, adds a playful element to the overall vibe.
But make no mistake. Munkeby and Shining are supremely serious about their music, which is a modern and unique fusion of metal and jazz. Munkeby schooled ARTISTdirect’s Amy Sciarretto in the art and culture of “blackjazz” and revealed all that goes into playing on a mountain.
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Amy Sciarretto: What does membership in the International Blackjazz Society entail? It’s not a cult, but there is an obvious collective aesthetic. I know there are no card-carrying members, but what can you do to clarify it for the curious?
Jorgen Munkeby: It is both tongue-in-cheek… and I wouldn’t say humorous, but is fun, in a way. It’s also serious. We do have an ambition to spread blackjazz around the world. In militaristic terms… we want to take over the world. I want blackjazz, the music and the genre, to be spread as much as possible. That is the serious part. The fun part comes with us playing with cult associations and graphic artwork. In the vinyl edition of the album, we have world maps, in three phases, which is the different phases of how blackjazz takes over territory by territory, with arrows pointing to locations. In the end, the whole world is black.
Like Scientology or any cult, there are membership levels and ceremonies. I have been fascinated with those kinds of things, from Scientology to Heaven’s Gate to Aleister Crowley. It is a bit playful, and serious.
I wanted ‘blackjazz’ to be more than just a title. I wanted it to have some depth and give fans something to dig into. There are symbols and other information about the organization. There is a mission statement and a declaration of independence in the artwork. All of these things give it a feeling of being real. People get a membership patch when they pre-order the record. People like that. I was intending to make the t-shirt with the logo and the membership patch were items to send to people who are most interested. Then, people started making their own patches.
I thought, ‘Do I stop it? Do I take control of it? Do I let people take the initiative?’ People are using this as a vehicle to get into this and to have something to talk about. Establishing the IBS was making a foundation for people to be able to come together and unite around something they like. I saw the whole Sonic Highways series with Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl. In an episode, he was talking about a musical style that was being started and one of the guys told Dave that at that point, they felt they didn’t have a scene so they wanted to create a scene. People play the same music, have venue where that music is the speciality. A lot can make a scene. It can be playing the same music. A dress code. Politics, be it left or right wing. Or a religion. Or straight-edgers who don’t want to drink. Or if everyone wears black. Whatever it is… it can make a scene.
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