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 IN BLACKEST
VELVET :
interview with Chris, Micha and Tobias
mailer by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo ___
organized by In Blackest Velvet and dalia di giacomo |
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LAMB OF LIBERTY DEALS ABOUT THE READINESS TO BETRAY FREEDOM
Hi
Chris, Micha, Tobias and In Blackest Velvet guys all! How are you doing?
It seems that 2005 has been a very intense period for you! There was a gap
of four years in your career, but now it seems IBV starts the engine
again! Chris:
Yeah, at the moment the things are going fine! We got a new demo out, we
have a new drummer and the first gigs after a long break are confirmed. Tobias:
The engine works. We got lots of
feedback for “InSuiSight”, lots of great reviews and many interviews,
so you’re totally right. We broke in 2005 our own career records hehe...
Micha:
Some people may call these four
years of public abstinence a gap, we call it accurate preparation for the
next full-length album. We had to handle some organizational trouble but
used the time to write a whole bunch of new songs. A selection of this
material is published on our new MCD “InSuiSight” being a teaser for
the next album. I’m
quite happy that I can speak with you right now, cause it is since just
few days that In Blackest Velvet’s line up is changed, re-vamped by the
presence of a new drummer. So, doing the interview now, we can introduce
this new event for the band. Who is Raphael “Raf” Kobold, and what
about his experience in Death Metal? Can you present him to our readers?
And what about Adriano Ricci? He is still drummer in Night In Gales and
his drumming in the new EP InSuiSight for In Blackest Velvet was
awesome… Chris:
Adriano just helped us out for “InSuiSight”,
and I think he did a very good job. Raf, the new drummer is a very young
guy with a lot of power. He played in a few smaller metal bands before. Micha:
To find Raf was a remarkable
coincidence because after some failed trials with some other candidates we
found an internet announce of him where he was looking for a new band. I
answered him, we played some rehearsals and he got the job. Simple as
that. His former bands (Absence, Mirrored Mind) used to play a similar
style of metal, so it was quite easy to motivate him. Oh
by the way Night In Gales, Tobias, you play also in N.I.G., Adriano Ricci
plays in N.I.G. and was indeed drummer for IBV;
these 2 bands are different having each one its image and
characteristics, ok, nonetheless it remains a bridge between the 2
acts. Is this possible to play giving the best in 2 or more bands?
Isn’t it a kind of “too much work”? How much can the 2 bands share
success or problems, influencing one another? Tobias, as bass player, do
you feel you get different technique and/or inspiration when being and
working with the 2 different line-ups? Tobias:
Of course it is possible. No, these
days it’s not getting “too much work”. Both bands have a similar way
to work. We don’t rehearse really often. When the time comes nearer to
go into a studio or playing shows we have to prepare ourselves beforehand.
Of
course, the atmospheres, song structures and sounds, in short the whole
music is different. So, many compromises you have to make *lol* The
latest CD, the EP InSuiSight, is actually kicking ass, and this is
confirmed by the many very good critics and comments received. But, at
this point, a question comes spontaneously: when a new full length? Was it
useful to make this step, to deliver an EP instead than preparing already
a new full length? Knowing the musicianship and the optimal quality of the
songs, I wonder why IBV haven’t found immediately a new label, I mean…
are corporate people deaf, or what? Chris:
Yeah, seemingly, hehe… We’ve
recorded a Mini CD consciously in order to apply for a deal. Further more
it’s cheaper to record fewer songs. When everything will go as we
expect, we’ll release as full length album in 2006.
Micha:
Thanks for the generous words,
you’re lookin’ for a new job? What about being our publicity manager
;-) Serious, to release a new CD was obviously necessary just to get into
people’s minds back. No one is giving you a record deal after a four
year break, so we had to prove our skills again. Tobias:
Hell ya, wow, exactly, but scream it
out to the A & R’s. After all the good reviews and feedback we got,
we represent ourselves to the labels. I guess we look into further steps
for IBV in 2006. With a label you have a lot more options. Do
you have the impression that, among all the cool songs of InSuiSight,
still Bastard Show remains the beloved track for your fans? And if yes,
why? Chris:
I think every song is on the same
quality level. Because of the clean vocals “Bastard Show” differs a
little bit with the other songs. But I don’t know if it is the “most
wanted” song… Micha:
To get an answer on that question we
opened a poll on our website. The winning song is actually Flames
Await,
but I can’t tell you why. It’s a fan decision. Tobias:
Can I read between your lines that
maybe you like “Bastard Show” most of “InSuiSight”?! In my
opinion, we’ve recorded total different styles on “InsuiSight” and
different tastes of metal, only “Flames Await” and “Whorehouse” are
a bit similar. “Bastard
Show” is the first IBV song with only deep and clean vocals. Some people
told me that song is available to fit on a Gothsampler, har... why not?! For
me all 6 tracks are very addictive, I cannot get rid of this EP since last
summer! So, InSuiSight will land very high charted in my playlist
2005,
that will be published in gryphonmetal at the end of December. But I would
underline now another track in particular: Lamb of Liberty, the brilliant
opener. What does it mean
“bring the lamb in my slaughterhouse and liberty will become a short
ecstasy”? Chris:
This Song deals about the readiness
to betray freedom for a short moment of fortune. Judas has sold Jesus for
a handful of Gold, statesmen gamble with freedom and life of young people
to remain in power etc… Is
it better a slaughterhouse or a powerhouse? And from the moment I imagine
the answer, I ask whether you consider In Blackest Velvet (or some members
in it) a powerhouse! Chris:
I think regarding the music we’re
playing IBV is a slaughterhouse…hehe. Micha:
Odd question, don’t you think? I
bet the following one is no new question at all, anyway cannot help
proposing it, HA! Let’s consider the EP title" InSuiSight", I don’t know
how good I am in English, anyway when spoken it sounds a bit like In
Suicide? The song number 3 is called moreover Suicide Sun.
And again, mixing Latin and English, the EP title may also express
Internal Vision in ourselves. How much truth is there in this supposition,
and anyway, are the 2 concepts somehow bound together? Is the EP a
psychological concept CD, on the whole? Chris:
No, we are not this profound, hehe. In fact the title is a mix of the words “Suicide”,
“Inside” and “Sight”. The songs are dealing with self-destruction
of mankind. We take drugs, begin wars and destroy our environment and our
society because of misunderstanding the word “Liberality”. We all know
about this shit, and no one has the drive to change the things which are
going wrong. Micha:
To be honest, the title just sounded
good. That’s all. But thanks for the analysis. Tobias:
We’ve created a new word. Search
for “InSuiSight” in google you’ll only find IBV articles. That makes
the search easy eheh... Concerning
guitars, which are IBV favorite tunings? What do you think about this
tuning (low to high) C, D, C, F, A , D? Micha:
I’m moderately impressed of that
question since you’re the first one showing interest in that kind of
matter. There’s a story behind our guitar tuning indeed. Our tuning used
to be originally the standard minus 2 halftones. As we recorded our debut
album “Edenflow” we needed to raise the pitch back to normal. On
“InSuiSight” we decided to get a more powerful guitar sound so we
dropped the tuning again by 2 halftones making it C-F-Bb-Eb-G-C. To get a
heavy and defined sound with that low tuning I use strings sized
58-44-32-18-14-11 which is a custom set. The
modern Dropped-D or -C tuning can be fun as long as you like to play
Metalcore or Nu-Metal. Personally I feel most comfortable with the
standard tuning, so I don’t have to change all my scales and fingersets. Back
to InSuiSight, I think that something could have been done better
concerning the volume of the sound, anyway
for a next work don’t you consider to work with a producer like
Peter Tägtgren, J-F Dagenais, or Waldemar Sorychta, Alex Krull, VO Pulver,
just to name few? Tobias:
That’s hard to pay without a big
finance background. “InSuiSight” is a self production. The result is
much better than expected, so we’re glad. Micha:
If you pay them we’ll surely do. InSuiSight coverart seems to represent, in a cyber modus, the “right”
eye of Ra, an eye as source of fluids (blood tears) almost mechanized... Tobias:
The “InSuiSight” artwork is a
fine eye catcher, a modern art one. We wanted to have something which fits
to our sound and looks interesting. The whole booklet looks tight. Chris:
As mentioned, we are not this
profound… hehe… We just looked for a cool artwork and I think we’ve
found it. In
general, I am a big enemy of covers, so I cannot avoid to ask why you have
chosen to cover REM’s Losing my Religion, present as sixth track
in the full length “In Blackest Velvet”, in that moment of your
career. Micha:
Well, that’s your opinion. Many
musicians love to play cover songs ‘cause it’s fun. We’ll be adding
a new cover song on the next album most likely, but we’re not quite sure
about the definitive one. We chose Losing My Religion just because it was
very interesting to metalize a classic pop song. Tours,
concerts (especially in Switzerland ;)
), where and when should we expect dates with In Blackest Velvet?
And do you think to play any festival next year? And which are the bands
with whom you would like to team up? Chris:
Our aim is to play a lot of gigs in
2006. Where and when depends on the offerings. As regards the bands I
would like to play with: there are too many excellent bands… Do
you think that Melodic Death Metal is gaining more and more appreciation
in Germany too? Is melodic Death the cradle for much dynamism in Metal?
And more in general, in your opinion,
what country is the giant of Metal nowadays? Germany, USA, Canada,
Sweden ? Tobias:
I really don’t care so much about
any special genre. I only hope that our Melodic Death Metal around IN
BLACKEST VELVET will get more ears, the rest comes alone. For
us it’s a cradle. We love the mixture between sweet melodies and the
hard and aggressive side. I
can’t answer about giant Metalcountries,... what shall it be?! After my
touring experiences it’s sometimes great in the loneliest and darkest
edge of the world. To be honest, the Japan tour with Night in Gales was
something special in that way. I wanna play in the US, Canada and Sweden,
so I can tell u more about. After
my trip this year in Gothenburg, I learnt that music is supported by the
goverment and so you know why many music comes from the Scandinavian side.
Not only metal music, but all the guitar, rock and modern scene has a
higher place in society than here and is really big. Micha:
This reminds me of the question for
the best soccer nation of the world. Since there’s no World Cup in
metal, we can’t find a winner in that. Please
finish the sentence according with your personal conviction: Chris:
…to want everything is costliest. Micha:
…without it everything is nothing. Tobias:
... nessessary. Rehearsal,
practicing, endorsement: please tell us something about what happens
behind every day’s curtains of IBV’s camp!! Micha:
A typical day? Get up at 12pm, have
a beer, sling out the groupies of the night before, write a song, check
the fridge for some food, have a beer, meet your band mates, play some
songs and have some beers... some shit like that. Whom
or what do you, guys, worship? Micha:
If you expect answers like Satan or
crap like that we have to disappoint you. Being an atheist means that I
don’t worship any religious person at all. But I honor people when they
reveal fine traits. Or write good songs instead. Ok,
the band In Blackest Velvet was grounded in 1996, ten years after David
Lynch’s film “Blue Velvet”…. Micha:
I don’t like Lynch movies at all,
they’re hard to understand for simple metal heads like us. I prefer
Jenna Jameson movies. Chris:
Who is David Lynch??? Tobias:
I haven’t seen it so far. But to
throw another comment in, I love the Di’Angelino movies and Sylvia
Saint as actor. In
your opinion, is Seeing believing or Believing is seeing? (Taking
inspiration from the title of one of your song, of course ;) ) Micha:
I feel sick right now… Do you guys have a favourite composer concerning classical music? Chris:
No, I’m not really in classical
music. Micha:
I’m not into that shit at all.
Classical music is gay, take a look at Manowar. Tobias: My mum loves classical music, really like a groupie, but she hates metal L If you could give a suggestion and some advice to young underground bands
that are beginning to make music, what would you say to them? Chris:
Do more reputable things… hehe. Micha:
A free advise to young bands? Sure.
Record a demo, give it to all A&Rs you can find and hope to get a
producer who can make you rich and famous. If you don’t want all of
that, keep your day job. It’s better paid. Tobias:
If you wanna reach some goals, never
put your head into the sand. The music business is a money (monkey-)
business. You’ll have to make a lot of compromises at all, but never give
up, it’s fun also. Last typical gryphonmetal question: The Game. As usual, for the bands we
are interviewing for the first time, we propose the Game of the Tower.
That infamous bloody high sinister Tower is waiting now for you with 3
bands on its top: The Gathering, Dew-Scented, Children of Bodom. You must
kick down two of them, saving only one. Chris:
We will kick COB and The Gathering
knowing that Dew Scented would do the same for us…hopefully..hehe. Micha:
I’d vote for keeping The Gathering
because they’ve got the cutest singer. Tobias:
More or less, I like them all,...
Dew-Scented are the only Germans and friends, I know the guys over years,
so I put them on the Tower. Thank
you a lot for this chatting and
for your time! Horns up to InSuiSight! Hope to see you live soon! Tobias:
Horns up and thanks alot for all
your support of our band and the good questions. Tell your readers of
Gryphonmetal to invest some time in our homepage to listen to our samples
and read the reviews. Maybe to find a new great band for the own
collection. On
my.space you’ll find us and add us over www.myspace.com/inblackestvelvet Chris:
Thank for this great and interesting
Interview! Micha:
I wish all a
hypnotic new year. |
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