Solid State signees Mantric wear their hearts on their sleeves. The freewheeling trio — which includes former members of Norwegian prog-metal outfit Extol — are set to release their latest LP, False Negative, this spring, and it showcases their soaring, emotive sound, an captivating approach that rings with echoes of the aforementioned group.
The band members wear their hearts on their sleeves in another way, too: via their diverse and meaning-laced tattoos. We recently caught up with Mantric’s Tor Magne Glidje to discuss his ink.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST PAINFUL TATTOO?
TOR MAGNE GLIDJE The lion on my upper arm. I was skinny when I did this, and that’s probably why it was painful.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST TATTOO?
Back in the day, most people only had tattoos on their upper arms. This wasn’t very well planned, as most of my tattoos aren’t.
HOW ABOUT YOUR MOST EMBARASSING TATTOO?
Something that was supposed to look like some sort of an angel. It doesn’t. But I’ve stopped caring about that a long time ago.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BAND TATTOOS?
I have the “man against masses” design used by Rush. It was a time [when] I was really into the late-Seventies period of them. I sometimes paint a soccer shorts on the man and a soccer ball in front of his feet, just for fun.
WHAT’S GOING TO BE YOUR NEXT TATTOO?
I have a low impulse control when it comes to tattoos, and it’s probably gonna be something I come up with the same day as I’m getting the tattoo.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TATTOO ARTIST?
That has to be Birdie at Personal art Tattoos. He’s the nicest guy and used to do all of our tattoos for free when we couldn’t afford it.
