1. Salutes! How are you doing in this hot summer? I´ll start with kind of non-music topic. Some critics awarded you with the title “The most successful band from Chile and even from whole the America”. Do you think that this statement is rightful?
Hello. Well, it hasn’t been that hot, but technically it hasn’t started yet until December 21. Anyway I kind of missed sunny days this year.
About the other part, if those critics were referring to the last years, it may be… I really don’t know. Anyway, we are very honored if it is true. But if you recall more back in time, Brazilian bands like Sepultura, Krisiun or even Sarcofago, have reached far more success than we have. In another hand, The Chilean band Pentagram achieved also many success in the mid eighties, being one of the first Thrash Metal bands that pushed the limits to what was the beginning of Death Metal in the world.
But despite everything, we are still growing as a band and hopefully one day we will be able to say that statement is true without any doubts.
2. Not so long ago, you have released your second full-length “Draining the Waterheart” idea is to and I am encouraged to say that it was quite successful around the world. Do you feel satisfied with this effort, or you would like to change something as the time passes?
To tell you the truth, although I was very confident in relation to the quality and honesty of our music, I though it wouldn’t have the success the first album did, which was quite more than we expected. Therefore, we are very satisfied indeed, but there are always details that won’t go away; that satisfaction kind of gets blurred when I pay attention to the production, the sound quality. I am not a hundred percent pleased with that point and the truth is that we made some mistakes during that process. But anyway, the final result of the whole is positive.
3. Since your first demo-recording to the last album you have progressed quite a lot. Do you think that such a change towards the atmospheric feel you showed on “Draining the Waterheart” is just a matter of musical evolution or you were influenced by a certain moods which you felt during the recording/composing?
I would say both. But we are always influenced by certain moods; that’s the point I think. That has been our main tendency over the years, to let those moods speak as directly as possible by themselves, with as less rational filters as possible, in order to use music as a tool to truthfully liberate our inner worlds that get crammed from time and fulfill our natural human need of communication. If you speak about evolution, we have all grown as interpreters in some aspect, and as long as we have the need of channeling certain abstraction within ourselves, that’s obviously kind of useful, being music the chosen channel. So, to answer to your question, although we have changed as individuals over the years, the reason to play music is still the same; that hasn’t “evolved”. We have evolved as musicians, and that maybe explains the change that you perceive, but that’s secondary, because the essence of our music, according to what I explained before, I think is the same.
4. Many people are respecting new album in the terms of quality, but they usually like the first one more, because they feel that it is more whole-hearted. Maybe it is because of your spontaneous and emotional composing, as I wrote above. Please try to somehow react on their opinion, or simply negate it.
Extremely subjective matter. We have had all kinds of opinions regarding the relation of both albums. Many even say exactly the opposite to what you tell me. We just make the music we feel we have to and like to, nothing more. About the result, I just can tell you, as I told you before, that the reason to play music has been always the same so the amount of heart and effort behind is the same too. If it weren’t like that, I think we wouldn’t be making music anymore, at least for now that money matters are not a priority in the music we make. But you never know, maybe someday we will be making music in relation to the money that we could obtain... In that case, I would feel more rationally apt to specify which album, which song or which riff is more whole-hearted than the other one. I think there is no point in making music that you put no heart on it. Even more, if you make no money with it. But anyway, labeling, judging and classifying music is not against the law, so the listener has the right to evaluate whatever he wants, however he wants. And although subjectivity makes it more entertaining, some “critics” are indeed more accurate than others.
5. When listening to album for a first time, I have noticed that even after 10th listen I could barely remember the parts of the songs. Melodic music is usually more accessible but I guess that you are different. Do you intend to make listener listen your stuff more carefully?
Maybe. The idea is to suggest a story full of many different kinds of sceneries and characters, but at the same time, to equal the intensity of the narration in the last section of one chapter, and the first section of the coming one, in order to let it flow naturally, metaphorically speaking. The idea is to suggest a story on which you never notice rationally the quantity of elements, but you just feel them, making the story rich to your emotions. In other words, in case we would like to tell a story with too many chapters, we try to do it in a way on which every chapter couldn’t have life by its own, in order to let the flow be continuous, making it difficult to remember one section or character by its own, and instead more like part of one whole.
Anyway, this is just a possible rationalization of our whole creation process, nothing more that, but if it is true it explains your question I think.
6. Quite recently you have toured together with Saturnus through the Europe. You also visited Czech and Slovakian republic. What feelings and experiences you had during it? How you liked the Czech gig and how were you satisfied with the response from European fans? Do you think that differences between your country and those of Europe are major?
It was a very interesting experience. Unforgettable time. The Czech gig was great; very enthusiastic and respectful crowd. They really seemed to be into the show, paying attention silently also in the quiet parts, but enthusiastic in the heavier parts and intermissions. In general, I think Chilean fans demonstrate more enthusiasm in the way you see them on the crowd, but European fans seem to be really interested and concentrated on the shows, regardless of how crazy they show it physically (moving, headbanging, etc). I think that is the main difference, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate the level of attention. Those are just cultural differences, because I think both are similar in terms of interest on the show itself.
7. I really like a fact that you are not a usual band. Vocals, guitars, bass and drums, but after you enter the stage, you dominate it. Keyboards are put more into forefront and as whole it´s more complex.
Thank you. Dominating the stage, I think that is extremely important in relation to what you communicate. Confidence on stage makes the audience believe you and be, in general, more open to the story you are telling.
8. Now about your future plans. It took you 4 years to come with a new album since a debut. Do you already have visions of some upcoming releases? Or you intend to take long break to get some new inspirations? So can we expect some splits, mini-albums, gigs etc?
Yes. Four years. But that has an explanation. Marcelo, our former keyboardist/vocalist left the band on the middle of 2005. We spend around two years on finding the right replacement. We finally did with Juan. For now, we are composing material for the new album, hopefully to be released around the second half of 2009. We are also gigging here in Chile promoting the album and planning some gigs to neighboring countries, like Argentina. Touring is always a present idea, so we are making efforts to go on another European tour on 2009 or maybe the year after.
9. Well you have some intricate artwork in your disposal. Are they work of the band or you hired some professional? What is more important to you? Visual interpretation of the music, or the lyrics? Could you describe what I should imagine with artwork for “Draining the waterheart”? It looks like animal´s head to me.
Although we guided his work in many aspects like textures, colours and concepts behind, the artwork was done by Tuomo Letonen (Grave Flowers, Swallow the Sun, etc.) He did an excellent job in my opinion. The general idea of the visual part was his. I think it shows in a very direct and simple way the title itself; you can see some kind of creatures that are “draining” off the water of some kind of heart, and they, at the same time, are part of that heart, just as feelings create themselves at the same time of being them. This refers to an attempt to reach the pristine core of human emotions, just after you finished draining your waterheart, what means that you really and truly clarified what you feel, as you drained all the water off it, taking water as a metaphor to chaos.
Of course, that camel/sheep/llama head is also a possible interpretation; in fact, I also see it haha, but that’s just a visual coincidence. As I said, I think the image is very easily related with the title, but I can’t tell you what you should imagine. If it is an animal head to you, then it is an animal head. Actually when someone told me for the first time about that severed sheep head, I can’t quit seeing it every time I look at the image! hahahah.
The lyrics are just a complement to the music that sometimes can seem suitable to the visual image that you get and sometimes don’t. I don’t think one thing is more important than the other. Lyrics can also have a visual interpretation, and it feels great when both images match. But if they don’t, sometimes the lyrics can alter the visual image you have of the music for their sake, or vice versa. When you like some music or a specific band, you are unconsciously open to let all those facts alter your interpretation in order to perceive the story they tell as a personal and subjective, but compact whole.
10. Few musical projects exists around the members of the band. Could you describe them for the unknowing fans?
Rodrigo G. and Sergio play in another Doom band with more classic touches, Mourners Lament. Poema Arcanus’(high quality progressive Doom Chilean band) drummer also plays there. Juan plays guitar and sings in a band called Defectoscura, something similar to Katatonia meets Radiohead and Opeth. He also has his solo project, Ad Noctvm, on which he composes and plays everything except for the programmed drums. Exellent emotional Doom. And I play in a Death Metal with some experimental touches band called Target. Everyone on MySpace, so check them out!
11. We were talking about the hidden meaning of the music. You are writing lyrics in two languages. English and your native language. Why you choose to use both? Is there some hidden lyrical concept, which is based on the usage of two languages,? Could you say what the title “Mar de grises” means?
I’m sorry to tell you it is more simple and boring than that :( Sometimes we feel that the idea/emotion that we want to express in some lyrics suits better in Spanish, and sometimes in English. Or sometimes we just don’t have or know the precise word in English to refer to something that we feel. The language is just the channel and we choose it according just to what I told you, nothing more. As for the band name: it means “Sea of Greys” and in one hand, it comes from the inspiration that our grey city gives us; this grey grand magnet that we despise and love. On the other hand, it comes from the perception of monotony from which we feed sometimes. Not white, not black; an emotional state that wanders around nothing necessarily consistent. I think that state is quite interesting at the time of creating because you don’t know exactly what you are doing or where you are heading in terms of creativity and inspiration, so the result is irrationally honest.
12. What about composition? Are you writing music and lyrics altogether, or is there some kind of band´s brain who comes with the majority of ideas? How long it takes you to compose a song? Are you often changing a form of the songs?
The main structure of the music comes from Rodrigo M. and Juan. They work by themselves and after they have something more or less complete, they show it and we start rehearsing it, adding our own personal touches and arrangements to those main structures. We play them over and over again in order to let those touches come naturally. Sometimes they take very long before we consider them to be done, sometimes don’t, but the key is to play them a lot to let, as I told you, the arrangements come naturally. As for the lyrics, me and Juan write them. In my case, most of the time I write them before listening to the song when it is done or while it is being composed, according to what it inspires me. Or sometimes I have some writings from where I take one that sometimes suits to a new song, conceptually and metrically speaking.
13. That´s all from us. We are looking forward to more visits of our country and we also hope that we are not going to wait so long for a new album. Take care.
We would also like to visit your country again. Hopefully on 2009. And we won’t take as long as before to the next album. You can count on that.
Many thanks for your support and interest.
Regards from the end of the world.
