A Place To Pray
Thelema
Gravelvoice (GVR-017) cassette 198?
No Song titles
This was a strange tape I received in the mail from Norway. It was good and contained alot of Jim Jones samples. I inquired what it was all about and if Thelema was a Crowley reference. They assured me that it was, which creeped me out but the music was good just the same. They also told me that they were archaeologists and did music on the side. How odd.
Recently, I received this clarification from Olav Hagen
I'd like to answer your questions now. First of all, I have never been an
archeologist, and I hope I never did claim that towards you. I am on the
other hand a historian of religion -I hold a BA in Mysticism from the
University of Oslo, which I guess might be just as exotic as being an
archeologist! Since 1987 I have been doing a lot of different stuff both in
terms of music,work and life in general.
You asked me about the Crowley connections, and yes they were most certainly
there as inspiration both for the Thelema tape and the follow up tape
Disciplina Arcana which was released in 1997. Both of these tapes were
released in Spain,Switzerland and Germany as well, and they are still being
sold.
The funny thing is that A Place To Pray seems to be sort of a cult group for
the Black metal (ie satanist) crowd at least here in Norway. Something I am
not to happy about, really. I mean -those guys actually kill each other...
Musicwise I have been active from time to time. Since I do not have to make
a living from being a musician, it comes and goes in periods.
I've contributed to other people's projects from time to time, but I haven't
released anything on my own since 1987. The things I have done most often has
been providing sounds for artist's exhibitions, which I really like doing.
Funny thing is that A Place To Pray will be sort of revitalized this fall,
playing a one-off gig here in Oslo. The personell will be very different
from what it was originally. On the Thelema tape I had with me two other
guys. One of them became a guitarist in the quite popular group The Anal
Babes, the other guy is now one of Norway's most highly respected exponents
of electronic music.
Keep in touch!
Olav