Chris: Greetings Jon. Thanks a lot for taking some time and talking with us. First, congratulations on the book; it’s generating a massive buzz everywhere I turn. Did you ever think starting that handmade fanzine crafted all those years ago would culminate in something this big and global?

Metalion/Jon: I don't think it is normal for anyone involved with whatever that they think 25 or more years ahead. I certainly didn't....Whatever I did back then was pretty much in the moment all the time. I really never thought too far into the future; I still don't. I just try to make as much sense as possible in the day-to-day life. But anyway, to have a book documenting that era of my life I guess is good, and it’s nice to see that SLAYER has a new life after it was buried...and hopefully it is interesting for other people to check out too.

Chris: The book has been out for a while now and the reviews I’ve read are all incredible. What has been the biggest surprise so far with the release of the book?

Metalion/Jon: When Tara and I made the book it was never really a question about how we should do it; we just went ahead. The approach was doing it as brutally honest as possible, but that was never really anything we discussed beforehand. So, in a way I didn't really think about how honest it was, you know, it is just me and that seems what a lot of people comment on. I wouldn't maybe say completely unexpected but it wasn't really anything I thought of before either. Another thing I like is to get some comments from unexpected places. Just recently I was told that Alex Hacke from EINZTURSENDE NEUBATEN took an interest in the book. Things like that are very cool to me and completely out of the box, especially as I was big fan of them.

Chris: Your book seriously touched me, my friend. Your honesty and lack of sensationalistic slants on your reflections make this book all the more resonating. Your words about Pelle Yngwie Ohlin (Dead) are especially appreciated, as was your picture of Oystein Aarseth (Euronymous) as a close friend and person none of us will sadly ever know past media fallacies. At the Chicago reading you seemed noticeably uncomfortable when Tara G. Warrior was reading about Pelle’s death. Was it difficult to talk publicly about their deaths after all of these years or did you find it somewhat cathartic to get it off your chest after so long?  

Metalion/Jon: To get all those stories out, and to talk about them in a relatively serious form I knew I needed someone special to do that, so all that comes from Tara and since I consider her my best friend it did help me a lot getting through all those issues instead of doing an interview with someone I really don't know. So, she certainly brought the content up to a new level with her never giving up ideas. She was extremely patient and several times I needed to take a break for whatever reason, but slowly we built this together.

About the readings, it was never something I was too interested in doing but after some talks I was convinced in the end to do, as it might be a cool thing to do for people interested in the book. For the reading in Chicago we agreed that we should start with reading the "Life Eternal" by Dead, to kind of set the mood and show that this isn't just fun and games. To tell you the truth, I probably would feel uncomfortable sitting in a public place like that no matter what would be read. Tara could be reading vegan recipes and I still would feel awkward. But yeah, you have a point, it is very strong at times so I tried to focus on other things while the most serious parts were read; at least I didn't have to do any reading myself so I was very happy about that.

I'm not sure what is right or how to deal with the people who have died, I don't think it really helps talking to random people about it, but when it comes to DEAD it is better now to re-connect with the remains of the Dead family.

Chris: When you talk of your tape trading days in The Slayer Mag Diaries it brought me right back to my own days in the circles where such a primitive period is now looked at as some ancient artifact like a caveman’s club. I miss those days so much, but I also found myself seemingly reliving my entire past through these words, right up to the present day where I share many of your observances and sentiments at the book’s end. Did you have any personal journals or writing saved over the years to build upon, or was the book done entirely from memory? 

Metalion/Jon: Of course those were very special years; it was amazing the amount of energy invested in the tape trading years. It was always about having as much stuff as possible. Sometimes things went stupid, like I collected SLAYER live shows and I'm sure I had about 50 different live shows, and that is kind of stupid when you think about it (laughs). But it was fun, and a great way to get to know lesser known bands. And even if I miss it, it’s been great coming out of that dungeon too and to do other things in life. Look at the Star Trek nerds or comic collectors in their parents’ basement. I certainly think they have a good life according to their own values, but come on, get out in the real world once in a while too. It might be worth the experience. (Hey Jon, I collect a lot of comics and I go out a lot!) It’s kind of weird thinking about it looking back, and it might be easy to get nostalgic about things like that, but people should move ahead and not be stuck in their own comfort zones.

I never kept any journals but by going through each issue of SLAYER it was quite easy to find out most of the events. It did get a bit confusing at times and I'm pretty sure there are some errors in there, but we figured it out somehow. And my memory is pretty good (slightly worse with my hearing) as it wasn't that hard. It’s not like a million things happened all the time so.....

Chris: May I ask if you have any contact with Varg Vikernes these days? Have you talked to him since his release?

Metalion/Jon: No contact whatsoever and I'm not interested either.

Chris: Have you gotten any feedback from some of the bands featured in the book?  

Metalion/Jon: When you see how many bands there are in there it is impossible not to get any band reactions. It’s good to get comments from the bands that are close to me. It’s also very interesting to get comments from ordinary people going through the same things as I did; I guess there were a lot of lonely headbangers out there in isolated places.

Chris: The other day I was discussing the book and the Norwegian black metal movement with some friends and everyone was in total and complete agreement that you are to be considered one of the main players instrumental in the success of the genre. Without proverbially blowing smoke, I personally feel this way and always have. Does it make you feel good or uncomfortable to be heralded with such reverence? 

Metalion/Jon: When all comes to all, I guess it is a good feeling. Back in that era there was definitely a lot of interesting stuff going on music wise, and I was caught in the middle of witnessing it. And since I had SLAYER and was VERY active in the underground I certainly did my share in promoting everything as well as I could and it was very interesting to observe all this and get the new music before everyone else. It was some very creative years.

Chris: You mentioned to me that you’re back in touch with Pelle’s family and the guys in Morbid. Do you see the essence of the man called Pelle Ohlin finally emerging as opposed to the shadow of ‘Dead’ and the events surrounding his death? A few tribute sites are popping up on Facebook dedicated to him as a person and not the horrible suicide photograph, which is really positive.  

Metalion/Jon: I guess things like that are more on the personal level. What young people today think is not really that important to us, and I understand that it can be difficult for people of the younger generation to understand it. But for us, it’ been good sharing some fond memories of Dead as the person he really was. We did go through a lot making the interview in the last SLAYER as well as the "Ancient Morbidity" "12, so that made things very good for us. It’s also been good with the release party for the "Year Of The Goat" compilation; it was a good thing to be part of with the MORBID tribute band playing. What most people seem to forget is that he was a person too, like everyone else.

Chris: Jon, when I was talking with a friend the other day he mentioned in passing that at the end of the book it seems as if you became somewhat jaded with the music underground. I replied that, much like all of us older guys, there seems to be a point where we just feel there’s not much left to give that amounts to 100% and anything less wouldn’t be worth engaging. I don’t get the sentiment that you are jaded as much as you are just moving on to other passions and mediums of expression for now. Would this be accurate?

Metalion/Jon: You know, when you have been listening to Metal for so long and checked out so many bands, of course you get a bit more demanding towards new bands. It is hard for me to find the excitement for Metal compared to when I was 18. Of course, there is still good stuff out there but it’s just so hard to find it. But I think that story is not too rare; if you speak to any of the original '77 punks I'm sure they would say the same about the current Punk scene. Things change, but for me being there since the beginning, witnessing the birth of extreme Metal going from rough demo tapes to top notch records released by big labels (relatively big at least), that was something unique.

Also, I always listened to a lot of other styles of music so when I'm sick of certain things I just move to something else. You do change along the years and certain things are more important than in the past, and there are new things to focus on. So you are quite right with your statement, it’s important for me to move along instead of repeating the past too much (even if do that too).

Chris: I know you said Slayer Mag ended once and for all at #20 and I’m pretty sure you mean it. I also know you’re very into photography and some of your work is in the book, which is also wonderful. Can you tell us what your future plans post-Slayer are? I’m pretty sure being old-school the blogs hold no interest for you with something like Slayer, am I right?

Metalion/Jon: SLAYER is dead, but it’s not going to die. It’s been a part of my life for so many years so that will never disappear. Whatever I did during those years certainly has some influence on who I am now and what I will do in the future. And I'm sure the book will be there for some years. The way I like to do things is that I need to see the final product in my hands (be it book or pictures); for me it is not enough to have everything on the computer, so in order for me to express myself I need the reality version of it. So, making a blog is not on the top of my list of things to do. I eventually might have to make something for my pictures, but oh well. But for my remaining years on this earth pictures will certainly be my main focus. I did a little gallery thing with Erik Danielsson of WATAIN at the HOLE IN THE SKY festival, and we are talking about taking that a bit further. This installation was called DEVIL EYES and featured my WATAIN portraits and Erik showed some designs he has done for bands like NIFELHEIM, DEVILS BLOOD and so on. So there are always things happening....

Chris: There are times I miss the old tape trading days and letter writing all over the world. Do you ever find yourself missing the days of banging out a three-page letter across the globe? The file-sharing has really killed off a wonderful part of metal’s history that these younger kids will never experience and enjoy.

Metalion/Jon: It’s the way it is. At least the kids are doing something that we never did, so in a way it is cooler they do something new instead of copying things we did. I certainly don't understand it; I have never downloaded any music in my life (unless you count watching YouTube videos as downloading, haha). The world moves ahead, and we are just a bunch of old fucks who really did something. I guess we can say we fought much more for the music as things are so much simpler now. (Amen, brother!)

Chris: When we met in July you mentioned that you have a book of your photography coming out next year. You also had some photographs on exhibit in New York. Was that a highlight in your career so far, and can you elaborate some on the book and what it holds in terms of subject matter, etc?

Metalion/Jon: There is a photo book coming in September 2012 to go with a gallery opening in NYC. I'm very excited about this as this is what I really want to do now. Also there is a chance that this show might travel so there are more things to be excited about. Since there is quite a while for this book and I'm currently sorting out the last 25 % of the book. I really don't want to reveal too much at this moment, but I'm sure you will find out pretty soon anyway.
Yeah, the gallery in NYC was great! It was done at the same time as the release party for the book, so it certainly is impressive to have done something like this. I'm very happy about it. And it is a very nice feeling to see your own pictures on a gallery wall; certainly a highlight.

Chris: Do you have any plans to revisit the States when the photography book is released or before?

Metalion/Jon: Re-visiting the states is something I always plan. And now as my two publishers are based in New York it makes more sense than ever to go back there. And my best friend lives in Chicago so I guess you haven't seen the last of me. And, I do like getting away from here....

Chris: Thanks again Jon for speaking with me, and I wish you every success with such a wonderful piece of heavy metal history. If I may indulge for a moment: Metalion, your love and time for our movement has been so prolific and appreciated; thanks for your contributions. Now…Jon, thank you from the depths of me, brother, for giving this old fart a small glimpse back at a life that passed by all too quickly and for your immeasurable time, passion, patience and work you’ve put into our music movement. You’ve been a valued and important part of our lives for so many years and I thank you on behalf of all of us who see this music as a way of life and a true love affair, not some fad or news byte fit for ridicule or scorn. Would you care to add anything for our readers?

Metalion/Jon: Well, what can I say after this? I'm really happy that our book has touched the lives of someone out there. So thanks for buying our book. And get the fuck out of your basements all you nerds!

Jon Kristiansen (Metalion)

Interviewer: Chris

September 6, 2011

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Check out Chris' review of Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries here