EMQs with Eld Varg
EMQs With ELD VARG
29/07/2025
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hello! I’m Ollie Noakes from Eld Varg. I’m the guitarist and lead singer of the band. I started Eld Varg many years ago as a solo project, as a banner that I could put the music I was writing under. I decided that I would collect the best albums worth of material that I had and release it. That turned into the album “One Man Army”, which really clicked with people, so I set about forming a full band, bringing in Micah on Bass and Andy on drums. We’ve been out touring for the past few years, which brings us to now and our new album, “Destroyer”!
How did you come up with your band name?
All of the bands that influenced me in the early days happened to be Swedish. Grand Magus, Sabaton, Ghost, Amon Amarth, Wolf, the list goes on. So as a tribute, or to honour the bands that forged Eld Varg, I decided on a Swedish name, that translates to Fire Wolf in English.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
I currently live in Glasgow in Scotland. The Metal scene here, and across Scotland in general, is really good. There are a lot of great bands, and a lot of people supporting the underground Metal scene which is great to see. We were embraced very quickly, and have built a really good fan base here!
What is your latest release?
Our latest release is ‘Black Starlight’. It’s the first single from our upcoming album, “Destroyer”, releasing in November. We’re really excited for this new album, and it’s been great to finally release some music from it. ‘Black Starlight’ has been received really well by fans and critics alike, and we’re really happy with the response. We also released our first video alongside it, which has been great.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Kiss got me into Rock music in the first place. I heard their album “Revenge”, when I was about 12 or 13, and it just clicked with me immediately. From there I got into Metallica right around the time I started playing guitar, which took me down the Metal path. But it was when I was introduced to Grand Magus that everything fell into place. The heavy guitars, yet melodic vocals just ticked all the boxes of what I was looking for in music. Grand Magus remain a huge influence to this day.
What first got you into music?
Music was always around the house when I was growing up, my Dad was into big band Jazz, so I’d always had exposure to loud, bombastic music, and my Mum was into ELO, Santana and other slightly more rock or guitar oriented stuff. So between the 2, when I started exploring music on my own, Rock and Metal just fit right in the middle.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Grand Magus would be too easy of an answer, that’s going to be the answer every time. But as an alternative, I’d love to work with Ningen Isu. I found them in 2019 as they released their new album “Shin Seinen”, specifically their song ‘Heartless Scat’. Their mix of traditional Heavy Metal and traditional Japanese music is incredible. Shinji Wajima writes some amazing guitar parts that I would never think of my entire life, so I’d love to work with them. I’m really glad I caught them at their only ever UK show in London in 2020.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
I think for a Metal band, Wacken has to be up there. It’s the Heavy Metal Mecca. We’re going to keep working hard, and one day we’ll hopefully get our shot.
Closer to home, we’d love to perform at Bloodstock. The lineup is always killer, so we’d love a chance to be a part of that.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
It’s not exactly weird, unexpected perhaps, but at our debut gig I received an origami dragon. It was honestly the coolest thing. I still have it in a little glass dome on my desk.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you for all of your support. Eld Varg was started out of passion for music, and to have that resonate with you all means a lot. We’ve dubbed our fans “The Wolfpack” and at each of our shows, the unifying feeling is strong, and we all come together for a good time. We’re truly grateful for your support, we hope you enjoy the new album and we’ll hopefully see you on the road!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Cliff Burton I think. I would love to have seen where Metallica would have gone with him still in the mix, and especially seen how “…And Justice For All” would have turned out with his musical influences, and some audible bass!
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
My favourite part is writing music. I get great joy from starting with a riff or an idea, and developing it and seeing where it goes. Nothing more satisfying than listening back to that full recording and getting that exciting buzz from it!
The worst part of being a modern musician is all of the different hats you have to wear. I want to play guitar, I didn’t sign up to be a social media content creator. I find it just takes away time from the fun bits that I want to do more, which is to play and write more!
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
As with the previous answer, social media. The reliance on having to constantly create content and become some kind of music influencer is awful. I feel there is too much reliance on followers and figures, and I’m sure there are occasions when incredible bands miss out on great chances because they haven’t figured out how to game the Instagram algorithm yet and get a certain amount of followers.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
!Time I” by Wintersun. It really showed me that you can have all of these extreme elements, like blast beats and harsh vocals, and layer them with orchestral elements, have a song be 14 minutes long, without an 8 minute guitar solo, and keep you engaged from start to finish. Every part of that album is spot on. I’ve been listening to it a lot again recently.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
I grew up a CD boy, but I’m definitely a Vinyl man now. I love picking an album, sticking it on, and listening through the whole exactly how the artist intended, it’s just a different experience than skipping through 100 songs until you get to one you can be bothered listening to.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
We have had a lot of great gigs, we’ve opened for Florence Black, Anvil, Tailgunner, but I think our best has to be our recent slot at Call of the Wild Festival. We played on one of the smaller tents, and we were mostly unknown to the crowd, but 1 song in they were all part of the wolfpack! When we got to the end of the set and the last song, the singalong section was just huge. It was a real special moment for us.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I think it would have to be something else creative, maybe photographer or videographer. I just have to be a part of the arts and have some sort of creative output. So something along those lines.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
James Hetfield, Ace Frehley, Roger Waters, Ozzy and JB from Grand Magus. A cross section of influences and people with stories upon stories.
What’s next for the band?
We’re working towards our new album, “Destroyer”, which releases on the 14th November. Before that we’ll have more teasers and music to share, so keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks and months.
Into 2026, we aim to hit the road, tour and play festivals. We’re working hard behind the scenes to lock these in, and we’ll share as soon as we’re able to.
It’s a really exciting time for us, the next 6 months and next year are going to be a hell of a time for Eld Varg!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Our official website and store, which also has all the information and pre-orders for the new album, is at www.eldvarg.com
You can also keep up with us at www.facebook.com/eldvargofficial and www.instagram.com/eldvargofficial
And for everything else www.linktr.ee/eldvarg
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
A roll, and there is no other right answer! A Tea Cake in Scotland is a chocolate sweet, with a biscuit base and marshmallow filling, absolute top tier sweet. I think if you asked for anything other than a “roll and sausage” in Glasgow, you’d be asked to leave!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for your time! We’re really looking forward to the new album to release in November. It’s really been great fun to make, and we’re so proud of the results. This is an album that we can stand behind every song with pride. Whether you’re a fan of our last album, or new to Eld Varg, this album is definitely going to land well with you. We’ll have more teasers, singles and music to share before the full release, and keep an eye out for gigs and tours coming soon!