Espen Ixtlan on photographing Satyricon, Apoptygma Berzerk and Ministry: ‘Long-term relationships make better photos’

Norwegian photographer Espen Ixtlan has spent close to three decades photographing bands and artists, with credits including Satyricon, Apoptygma Berzerk and Ministry. His photographs have appeared on record covers including Satyricon’s “Live at the Opera” and Ministry’s “Enjoy the Quiet – Live at Wacken”, and he has published two authorised photo books on Satyricon. Britta Pirkko spoke to Ixtlan for Side-Line about the moments behind some of those images, his path into photography, his long-running work with Apoptygma Berzerk’s Stephan Groth, and life beyond the camera.

Before the first click

SL: You’ve said that a book about Rembrandt, given to you by your uncle, sparked your fascination with images long before you bought your first camera. What kind of teenager were you before photography became such an important part of your life?

Espen Ixtlan: I was a very curious and open-minded teenager. Besides my huge interest in music, I played ice hockey and football from the age of seven until I was 29. With my team Stjernen from Fredrikstad, we won the Norwegian national championship in ice hockey three times as teenagers.

I did quite all right at school as a youngster, but I had problems with authoritarian people, and still do, like my late father or bossy teachers, for that matter. That often got me into trouble, including with the police. But I haven’t been arrested since 1990, so been there, done that.

I had a great relationship with my uncle, though. He was a very skilled chef and a modern man who had travelled the world. I was sometimes allowed to help him in the kitchen, so that’s where my everlasting interest in food, wine and cooking comes from. At one point I considered studying to become a chef. Besides that, he gave me the Rembrandt book that changed my view of life and art.

I was also a very passionate reader in my younger days and still am, especially when it comes to art history and every book I could find about occultism and the dark arts. Aleister Crowley made a huge impact on me, alongside Abramelin, Austin Osman Spare, Samuel MacGregor Mathers, Rudolf Steiner and mysterious ancient Mexican shamanism.

I bought my first camera at 15, but I was a very lazy and uninterested photographer until the age of 21. I had just bought U2’s “The Joshua Tree”, and Anton Corbijn’s huge photograph out in the desert on the inside of the album sparked a fire. It made me realise that this was what I wanted to do.

But since I became a father for the first time that same year, I decided to postpone my plans to study photography and focus on being a parent with a job, and wait a few years.

It wasn’t until I was 30 that I applied to the faculty of photojournalism in Oslo, and I was lucky enough to be accepted on my first attempt.

The art of timing

SL: Your photographs often feel remarkably natural, whether they’re taken in front of thousands of people, backstage or during the quiet moments in between. When do you know it’s time to press the shutter?

Espen Ixtlan: When doing “normal” photography, it’s all about a sense of feeling to me when it comes to pushing the button, and feelings are hard to explain. I like photographs to have a journalistic quality because of my background as a press photographer and my education in photojournalism.

When I did “extreme” concert and live photography with Satyricon, so many things were going on simultaneously on stage and you didn’t want to miss anything, so I tried to let the cameras work constantly. One gig could easily produce 1,400 to 1,500 RAW files on a normal day.

Satyricon: an unexpected beginning

SL: Your working relationship with Satyricon developed in a rather unusual way, with driving assignments becoming part of the story alongside photography. How did Satyricon eventually become such an important part of your life and work?

Espen Ixtlan: Yeah, that’s true. I was first hired as a driver for Sweden Rock in 2008, and Satyricon had arranged for a photo pass, so I didn’t hesitate to accept.

I had been fascinated and interested in black metal from early on because of the rebellious attitude and, not to mention, all the church fires. I have always loathed religion in any shape or form, so for me the early years of black metal were quite uplifting, so to speak. But it’s true that I was more into industrial metal, avant-garde and house music than black metal until around 1995, when Satyricon and Dissection made their seminal landmarks.

More driving assignments with Satyricon followed in 2009, but I was always photographing the shows, and my photos were used for a few posters as early as 2009. Satyricon’s first photo on Instagram was a photo I took that same year.

I think what made the relationship so unique was Satyr’s ability to see other people’s potential and his unique way of bringing the best out of everyone, from the band members and crew to the audience and myself as a photographer.

After my photos were selected for the release of Satyricon’s “Live at the Opera”, which I am immensely proud of, Satyr told me that I was not there by chance. He expected nothing but the best photos possible and was confident that I could handle the pressure and the demand for high quality.

For me, it was a fine compliment. Knowing that Satyr counted on me was a huge inspiration, and it certainly lit a fire in me that burns brightly for Satyricon to this day. Pressure, creativity and high-quality work matter in whatever I do. Besides, I’m not in it for the money. It’s about how far one can go.

And to be honest, I felt so welcomed into this misanthropic gang by those words from Satyr. A spiritual home.

Apoptygma Berzerk: through the lens

SL: You first photographed Stephan Groth in 1997. Since then, you’ve documented many chapters in Apoptygma Berzerk’s history, from early portraits to the Rocket Science tour and “Evolution Has Left the Building”. Is there one image that instantly takes you back to a moment you’ll never forget?

Espen Ixtlan: My journey with Apoptygma Berzerk is packed with some of my finest memories. The Rocket Science World Tour came with all the difficulties and commotion of the band breaking up and so on. However, it turned out to be a triumphant tour for the band and definitely one of the most fun tours ever. I am indeed grateful to have been part of it.

If there’s one image that brings me back, it must be the toilet photo of Stephan Groth with “Evolution Has Left the Building, Thank God” written on the wall by me as a comment on all the conspiracy theories, creationism and intelligent design discussions going on back in 2009.

Groth and I are still good friends, and I spoke with him last week. Great guy!

Different worlds, same lens

SL: From industrial and electronic music to rock and black metal, you’ve worked across very different musical worlds. What draws you to subjects outside the music world?

Espen Ixtlan: I have a lot of interests besides photography and music. As a photographer, I like to deep-dive into the subject, as I did over so many years with Satyricon. I’m not interested in being a festival photographer and photographing many different bands over a very short period of time. I need to relate to the band. I need to really like the band, and I think that by working extensively and over longer periods, it becomes easier to crack the code of how the band ticks, what their visual expression is, and how I can interpret that through photographs.

I think that’s why I have my name on records by Ministry, Satyricon, Order, Cadaver and Apoptygma Berzerk, to mention a few. Long-term relationships make better photos. At least they do for me, and I can only speak for myself.

The manager of a Norwegian pop band called Donkeyboy once called me and asked if I could do promo photos when they were at their peak. To his surprise, I turned them down because I wasn’t able to relate either to the band or their music. I think that’s fair enough.

I love to travel. The journey itself is important, especially road trips with no specific destination. You just end up somewhere you’ve never been before. Big towns, small towns, villages, seaside or countryside. Whatever.

I always try to find some art or photography galleries wherever I am. That’s very inspiring, and I can find elements to use in my own photography. And no journey without a focus on food and wine. Never.

Nowadays, I only do photos for a few selected friends and some up-and-coming young bands. That’s so rewarding, and it’s so good to see their hard-working attitude pay off with more gigs and shows.

Besides, my occupational hazard is very controllable these days. I can now go to shows and enjoy them to the full without bringing cameras or thinking about photography. Besides, who doesn’t carry an iPhone around?

Behind closed doors

SL: Some of the most memorable moments in music happen long before the lights go on or after the final encore. Is there a backstage story that still makes you smile whenever you think about it?

Espen Ixtlan: There are a million stories, but this one is from Prague and Akropolis with Satyricon on the “Dawn of a New Age” tour in 2015.

Satyr wanted to enter the stage at Akropolis from a different direction than the rest of the band. So the promoter, myself as Satyr’s assistant, and Satyr, fully dressed up with corpse paint, had to go outside the venue and enter the next building.

After countless stairs and passageways, we suddenly ended up in an apartment where a family of four were having dinner and watching TV. They didn’t even blink an eye when we stumbled into their dining room and straight out again through another door leading to the stage.

I remember Satyr and I being kind of startled and then laughing our asses off when we realised we’d just passed through someone’s apartment and dinner party.

According to the promoter, that was quite normal.

Shaping an artist’s image

SL: A promo photograph can become part of a band’s identity for years. When you’re creating portraits, how do you balance your own artistic vision with the personality of the artist in front of your camera?

Espen Ixtlan: I don’t think I ever shaped an artist’s image, but according to Satyr, many of my photographs of Satyricon have caught the band at its most intense, and for that I am thankful. It means hard work always pays off.

And again, I think working so closely over a long period made such photos possible.

As you can read in the foreword of my book “Satyricon In Europe 2006-2022”: “Satyr’s watchful eyes keep track of every move I make behind the camera. The wolf’s eyes.”

That was my impression after my first assignment and encounter with Satyricon at Sweden Rock in 2008.

The shot that almost didn’t happen

SL: Is there one photograph from your career that nearly slipped away but ended up becoming one of your favourites?

Espen Ixtlan: I was hanging out with Ministry in Oslo for two days in 2012 and having a really good time. I was very inspired and focused on doing my best work.

At one point during the show, I had to change the memory card in my camera. There was only room for two more images, and I was about to put the camera down and switch cards when Al Jourgensen snuck up behind the late Mike Scaccia. It looked so good that I just fired away my last two shots.

Little did I know that Angelina Jourgensen, Al’s wife at the time, would call me and ask if Ministry could use that particular shot as the front cover of their album “Enjoy the Quiet – Live at Wacken”, with several other photos of mine on the inside.

Imagine having your photos on a record by your favourite band. I still have to pinch myself.

Life works in mysterious ways. I was also credited for my photos on Ministry’s “Live in Paris” too.

A career in pictures

SL: If you had to tell the story of your career through just five photographs, which ones would you choose, and why?

Espen Ixtlan: These five photographs pretty much sum up what I tried to achieve.

Apoptygma Berzerk – “Major Tom”: front cover featuring my photography.

Satyricon – “Live at the Opera”: front cover featuring my photography.

Ministry – “Enjoy the Quiet – Live at Wacken 2012”: front cover featuring my photography.

Al Jourgensen with “Satyricon In Europe 2006-2022”: Jourgensen pictured with my officially authorised Satyricon photo book.

Mike Scaccia, myself and Al Jourgensen backstage: a personal moment behind the scenes with Ministry.

Let’s take a sip

SL: You’re a real wine nerd, so let’s take a sip before we finish. If you had to pick three wines everyone should try at least once in their lifetime, which would they be?

Espen Ixtlan: Over the years with Satyricon, I’ve been privileged to taste countless high-end wines, sometimes, for sure, totally out of my economic league. But I see it as a very educational journey into the world of wine.

Satyr is a great lecturer on the subject, and I’ve learned so much over the years. For that, I am truly grateful.

These three wines are the best I have experienced so far: Soldera Case Basse Brunello di Montalcino; Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino Riserva; and Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes, Bordeaux.

Open mic

SL: Finally, the floor is yours. Is there a message you’d like to leave for everyone who has followed your work over the years?

Espen Ixtlan: Buy records, go to shows and support the bands by buying their art. Thank you.

About Espen Ixtlan

Espen Ixtlan is a Norwegian photographer who applied to the faculty of photojournalism in Oslo at 30 and was accepted on his first attempt. He was first hired as a driver for Satyricon at Sweden Rock in 2008, a role that led to a photo pass and, from 2009 onward, a long-running photography relationship with the band; his work has since appeared on the cover of Satyricon’s “Live at the Opera” and in two authorised photo books, including “Satyricon In Europe 2006-2022”.

He first photographed Apoptygma Berzerk’s Stephan Groth in 1997 and has documented the band through periods including the Rocket Science World Tour and the “Evolution Has Left the Building” era. In 2012, a photograph he took of Al Jourgensen and the late Mike Scaccia during a Ministry show in Oslo became the cover of Ministry’s live album “Enjoy the Quiet – Live at Wacken”; he was also credited for photography on Ministry’s “Live in Paris”. His other credits include Order and Cadaver. Ixtlan now photographs mainly for a small number of friends and up-and-coming bands.