Allfader
It's always nice
following a band's course from their beginning until they sign to a label
and move on. So, I was really happy when I held Allfader's debut album
in my hands and seeing that it's out from one of the most decent and quality
labels in my opinion. So, here we have John offering us some really interesting
and to the point answers, which I think should be read by all of you!
1. YOU’VE RECENTLY RELEASED “AT LEAST WE WILL
DIE TOGETHER”. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT OR IS THERE ANYTHING
YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE NOW THAT YOU SEE THINGS MORE OBJECTIVELY?
There are always small details we could have
tweaked, and another week in the studio would have been nice. But the album
is great and we’re very happy with how it came out.
2. CAN YOU PINPOINT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS
OF ALLFADER’S STORY UP TO NOW?
A big step for us was when Cato joined on
drums and we were able to work and rehearse as a ‘real’ band instead of
fiddling around with a drum computer. It was good to grow into a full band
and live act. That’s probably the single most important thing. Besides
that, I’d have to say the release of ‘At Least We Will Die Together’.
3. I HAD REVIEWED IN THE PAST ONE OF YOUR DEMOS
AND WHEN I LISTENED TO YOUR DEBUT I REALIZED THAT YOU MUST HAVE WORKED
REALLY HARD DURING THIS PERIOD. YOUR SOUND IS MORE SOLID AND IS DEATH/BLACK
RATHER THAN BLACK METAL. HOW HAS THIS CHANGE OCCURRED?
I think one of the reasons we sound less ‘blackish’
now is because we have a really tight and heavy production, the songwriting
hasn’t changed too much in my opinion. We never set out to be a black metal
band, nor a death metal band. We’re somewhere in between, or on the side
if you will.
4. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE
A REVIEW FOR “AT LEAST WE WILL DIE TOGETHER”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING
TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
I can’t be objective, so I’ll just have to
say ‘This album kicks ass, go buy it.’
5. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
Oh, it’s all good to my ears. I suppose the
‘worst’ part is that we’ll never sell billions of albums.
6. COULD YOU LIST THE REASONS WHY YOU THINK YOUR
WORK DESERVES TO BE NOTICED?
We have made a great album which endures repeated
listenings.
We don’t have a typically Norwegian sound.
Our songs are well-written and flawlessly
executed.
Dammit, It’s Allfader.
7. WHY DID YOU NAME YOUR ALBUM LIKE THAT? HOW
DID IT COME UP?
The title was Finn’s idea. He came up with
it when we were writing songs for the album, and he insisted that it be
used on one way or another. Originally I think he wanted it to be the name
of a song. But I write the lyrics and it didn’t quite fit anywhere, but
when everything was done it summed the album up as a whole in a very good
way.
8. UNDERLINE THE MAIN TOPICS YOUR ALBUM DEALS
WITH… WHICH ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
War, chaos, paranoia, love, hate… Inspiration
can come from a wide variety of things. Mostly from things I see happening
in the world, and sometimes from books, art and movies.
9. …AND NOW A FEW THINGS FOR THE ARTWORK ARE NECESSARY!
DO THESE PEOPLE LOVE OR HATE EACH OTHER? THE DIFFERENCE IS VERY SUBTLE
IN SUCH A CONTEXT I THINK. CARE TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WANT TO SUGGEST?
Well, we really don’t want to suggest anything.
It’s open to interpretation. But to me it’s quite clear that they’ve made
this decision together…
10. AFTER SEVERAL DEMOS YOU FINALLY SIGNED AND
YOU SIGNED WITH A VERY BIG LABEL. HOW COME? DOES THIS RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES? IF YES, IN WHICH WAYS?
Well, Osmose gave us an offer far better than
any of the smaller labels we were in touch with, and they have good distribution.
Our responsibilities are the same as with any other label, as we’re legally
obligated to certain things. And of course we expect a higher degree of
marketing than any smaller label could have done.
11. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FEEDBACK YOU’VE
RECEIVED THIS FAR? WHAT WAS THE BEST AND WHAT THE WORST COMMENT YOU’VE
READ?
We’re very pleased with the feedback we’ve
gotten. It’s nice that some consider it to be the best album of 2006. The
worst, but also funniest comment has to be one reviewer who really disliked
the cover, and I quote: ‘The cover artwork is also horrendous, a faggot
and a lesbian with trendy haircuts kissing each other guns in hand. Wow
how brutal. How artistic.’
12. HAVE YOU GOT ANY LIVE SHOWS? HOW DO YOU PLAN
TO PROMOTE YOUR RELEASE?
Yes, we’ve played a bit in Norway the past
weeks and we hope to hit the rest of Europe some time as well. Playing
live is the best promotion tool, no doubt about it. But we actively use
the Internet and of course Osmose has placed several ads in magazines as
well as arrange radio interviews.
13. IF YOU HAD A BIG BUDGET TO SHOOT A VIDEO CLIP,
WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU SELECT AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
It would be nice to do a video for ‘One Thousand
Days Of Poison’, and showing the process that song tells tale of. It’s
about a Buddhist monk who mummifies himself while he’s still alive through
an extremely slow and painful process in order to achieve nirvana. It would
probably be painful to watch as well.
14. WHAT’S THE IDEAL TITLE TO SUM UP ALLFADER’S
MAIN REASON FOR EXISTENCE?
Beer and Metal. Doing what we enjoy.
15. THANK YOU! LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE TO THE METALLERS
ALL AROUND THE WORLD…
Thank you for supporting Allfader! Check out
our website, buy our album and come see us when we play near you!
Christine Parastatidou
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