You said that you grew up among people from the Metal Scene. Who were they, and how did you get to know each other?

We had a place called Elm Street. It was a kind of Black Metal bar in the nineties, and a lot of people met there. Then you get to know everybody.  

You were a teenager when you got to know everyone?

Yes, pretty early. Often, when I was in Oslo, I went to Helvete[ Euronymous’ record shop] and bought records and stuff like that. 

How did you get the idea to start up your record shop and to put it out there?

It’s a different record store from before, just the same location. But since I knew a lot of the guys, I got so much stuff from them. So then I just collected it and put it out there. 

What drew you to the Metal Scene? Or is it just because it is huge here?  

No, it was basically my own interest as Black Metal wasn’t especially popular in Norway. 

Who introduced you to the Metal Scene? 

That was pretty early; the Metal Scene existed when we were kids. We were listening to the radio, and we had MTV and all that stuff. Then it was the Head Bangers Ball [MTV Show], which was metal music, but the Black Metal scene was pretty small. So it was more like friends, older friends telling the kids to listen to Metallica, Slayer, and that kind of stuff. 

And when did you open Neseblod? 

2003. But that was in another location. It was at Grünerløkka, if you know. It’s not so far. Now it’s a kind of a hipster place, but before there was a record shop there, and all sorts of secondhand places.

Is that why you moved locations?  

There is kind of a community here, so they rent out the place.  And they were asking if I wanted to move there. I had the first place for ten years, and then moved here in 2013. 

Why did you open the record shop? 

It was kind of a thing we were thinking about when we were kids. But after a while, we opened it because it was me and a friend, we thought there were a lot of crappy record stores, and they wanted us to open a more special one. But it wasn’t easy, you know. Oslo is a small place. But then the Internet was coming, so that was helping. It was not for fun, but to do something that was cool.  

Neseblod was established in 2003 and Helvete closed in 1993.  What was happening during those ten years? 

A lot was happening in the area, and there were different things here like a gallery and a hairdresser. A lot has changed.

How did Neseblod get its name? 

It was more because we wanted to have a Norwegian name. We were thinking about the fact that everybody had this cool name, and we wanted to have something that was pretty common, that people could relate to. Everybody has had a nosebleed at least once, so it was done. It was more for fun, and because it’s easy to remember. 

Whose decision was it to name the record store Neseblod? Was it yours?  

Me and another guy were kind of drawn to the name. But he quit in 2011. So then I took over the holding myself. 

It was co-owned at the start? Who was the other co-owner? 

His name was Reuben, but he died in 2013. 

How did you get the initial record collection to start the store and how did you then expand the collection? Does it differ now compared to the start?

We had to use some of our own stuff. We had friends coming by to sell stuff, and especially a few of them, like Fenriz from DarkThrone, has always been a very good friend and was always supporting us. So he did a lot for us, he recorded all the lyrics and all DarkThrone stuff here in the store. And that’s very cool, because it’s a good band :)

What were the main challenges? 

The location here has had a lot of trouble because we had a flood in 2015, and lot of stuff got destroyed. Then we had a fire, so it hasn’t been very easy to have a record store here. But the other thing is, it’s always a problem to own a business in Norway because it’s expensive due to high taxes.

What was the cause of the fire? 

A stick in the wall started to burn.

Did any important memorabilia burn?  

It was down in the basement, so that’s why we had to rebuild a lot of stuff. A lot of old t-shirts and stuff like that was destroyed. 

Were the losses covered by insurance?

No, we only had limited insurance. And so we lost a lot of stuff. 

What is the rarest item that you’ve come across in your shop’s history? 

That would probably be some tapes. Old cassettes are pretty hard to come by, and they only make maybe one copy of some tapes, like, ULVER, DarkThrone, rehearsal tapes with Mayhem and all this, all the old bands. 

How do you curate the selection of records and merchandise that is sold in the store? How do you pick what can be sold, and what you decline? 

We have a lot of stuff up here, and people can come and ask if we sell something or other. And I say no, because we only have one copy of it. It’s kind of a routine to just see what we have to keep or what we can sell. 

Are there specific criteria, or is it your own personal taste regarding what to sell?

Upstairs, we have a kind of harder metal. Down here, it’s more like heavy metal, hard rock, rock music. We have to also have that, because we cannot only sell metal music. 

When do you say no when someone brings you something to sell that you can’t take?

If they have been on certain sites on the Internet, and say: ‘Oh, this is out there for $300,000’,  I say: ‘Okay, bullshit.’ A lot of people who come by think everything is very valuable. But you have to think about how easy it is to sell, and how much you have to pay for it. 

The condition is also important. You cannot just call the record shop and say: ‘Oh, this is on discogs for $200.’ And I say: ‘Okay, but this been there for like three years, so maybe you have to put the price down?’ 

You said that your interest in metal initiated the opening of the record shop. But how did opening the record shopaffect you? 

It was kind of fun the first 15 years, then less fun, but now I think it’s okay. 

Do you have hobbies? 

I ride a lot of skateboard. That’s where I spend my free time, not so much out in town anymore.  Being in town is boring. 

Did you still go concerts ?

No, no. I feel like I’ve seen so many bands. I can go to other types of bands sometimes. I think it’s very cool to go to not natural concerts, but some other stuff, like punk and hardcore. I knew some people in other bands, such as hip hop and stuff like that. So it’s cool to just go and check it out. You know, as I told you, with this Metal Scene here, it’s basically the same people every time. 

You stock not only Metal Music, but other genres as well? 

Everything around metal like punk, hard core, and some of the old progressive music can be interesting. But I don’t take records from the regular big bands like the Beatles and stuff so much anymore, because I don’t have any space to put them.  

Has there ever been a moment when someone brought you something valuable and you didn’t want to sell it?

It’s happened a lot of times before, so we used up a lot of money just to store stuff.  That’s not good for business, but it’s just cool to keep it. But sometimes you have to sell a few things, because you have to pay the bills. 

How do you want to be remembered within the community? 

Oh, I am not the kind of guy who wants to have any legacy or fame after I’m dead. I’m not Donald Trump or Putin or any other ass. No, I think it’s important to just do what you like here and now, and see what happens. 

What do you want people to think about the store?

A lot of metal people are outsiders. It’s important what people feel when they are coming.  Its good if they can feel like they are at home.