Smaxone
Smaxone released, a few
months ago, their debut work, which is definitely amongst the best albums
I've listened to lately! Although the word "Regression" has mainly a negative
aspect to it, meaning going back to an earlier, less advanced state, it
has nothing to do with the music itself, simply because Smaxone appear
to be newcomers with a pioneering mood. So, read below what Skafte, the
band's mainman, revealed to us...
1. HELLO THERE! CONGRATULATIONS ON “REGRESSION”.
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT OR DO YOU THINK THERE ARE THINGS
THAT NEEDED ALTERATIONS?
Hi Christine! Thank you so much! Yes, we are
definitely very pleased with the way everything turned out. Of course,
we have learned quite a bit during the making of this album which we will
use to make our next record even better. But overall we are really proud
of this first album.
2. OK! I’VE LISTENED TO YOUR ALBUM COUNTLESS TIMES,
HOWEVER I COULDN’T COME UP WITH A CERTAIN “VERDICT”, MEANING A CERTAIN
LABEL FOR YOUR MUSIC. PROGRESSIVE, MODERN, NU-METAL, DEATH/HARDCORE… WHAT’S
THE DEAL WITH YOU AFTER ALL?
Well, throughout the years I´ve listened
to a lot of different music. Almost anything from Beatles to Immortal and
Darkthrone. Right now some of my favorite bands are U2, Strapping Young
Lad, Alice in Chains and Mew. But in general we just try to catch the mood
of the given song we´re working on and let it develop into the style
that fits the song the best. We´re not trying to force any settled
style on our music, and I think that is why you hear both progressive,
modern, etc.
We want to make the music very melodic without
adding the predictable and boring aspects if you know what I mean. We just
try to do songs that sound good to us and not think about what style the
different songs fit into. So a really important factor in our music is
to just be open-minded about all styles and do what is best for the given
track. A lot of bands are focussing real hard on making their music extreme,
pop, rock or a different style. We just try to have fun with what we are
doing and let the music live without any limits regarding genres and styles.
3. I THINK YOU’VE MANAGED TO CREATE A QUITE UNIQUE
AND PERSONAL SOUND RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE NOWADAYS
THAT ALMOST EVERYONE KEEPS ON SAYING THAT EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN PLAYED?
Thank you!! It was not something we really
tried hard to do. We basically never throw away anything that we like -
and these days it is really difficult to come up with something completely
new since there are so many great riffs and melodies out there. But in
general we just try to do our own stuff, but I´m also fully aware
that it is hard not to sound as another band now and then. But that’s how
music is – everybody is stealing from anybody, and sometimes the result
is really good and you get a new sound – and sometimes the result is catastrophic
ha-ha!
4. A THING THAT IMPRESSED ME ON “REGRESSION” IS
THE FACT THAT IT’S FULL OF CONTROVERSIAL AND COLLIDING ELEMENTS AND YET
IT SOUNDS VERY HOMOGENEOUS AND NATURAL. HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE SUCH A RESULT?
WHAT PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST WRITING THE SONGS?
I’ve written all the music on "Regression".
The lyrics are written by Claus, Michael and me. The main goals when writing
the songs were to have a really strong melody, some edgy guitar hook lines
and groovy riffs. After the music is done we add the lyrics so that they
will fit the mood of the song and really catch the expression of the music.
In that way the lyrics are adding a lot more sense to the music.
But the general way when writing a song is
that I record the guitars and bass lines and then Brylle comes down in
the rehearsal room and we just either jam along the riffs together (him
and myself) or if the song is strong enough as it is Brylle just makes
his drum parts and we have a song. Usually we make some changes when the
vocals and melodies are being made but sometimes everything just clicks
very smoothly. When the preproduction is made for the whole album and we
are satisfied with the result, we are more or less ready to do the record.
And again we are very open-minded towards other styles, so it´s only
natural for us to use elements from the death-, pop-, thrash- or electronic
scene.
5. COULD YOU GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ON THE RECORDING
SESSIONS? WHO WAS YOUR PRODUCER? DID HE HELP YOU STABILIZE YOUR MUSICAL
VISION OR WAS IT CLEAR TO YOU RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING?
I actually did the recording, mixing, mastering
and production for this record in my studio. I have wanted for a long time
to do something that had my own personal sound and therefore I did the
job myself. I had a vision on making the songs sound really heavy and rocking,
but with a big sound and production. So it was really a dream that came
true when I had the chance to do this! And the fact that the rest of the
guys in the band are such skilled musicians just made everything so much
easier.
6. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE
A REVIEW ABOUT “REGRESSION”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE
AS POSSIBLE?
Uh, that´s a hard one! I think I´ll
leave that to the listener since it´s impossible for me to be objective
regarding my own music – but I think I would love it and consider it of
some of the best music I´d ever heard hahaha!!
7. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED TILL
NOW? ARE YOU SATISFIED? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING COMMENT YOU’VE RECEIVED
FOR YOUR MUSIC?
It has been extremely overwhelming and fantastic
and we are more than satisfied! Almost everybody seems to like our music
and that is basically the best you can ever get as a musician. We were
really nervous that people thought it was too "fusion" but luckily it was
received very well. We are really proud and thankful about this! We got
nominated in two categories at the Danish Metal Award Show for "Best Production"
and "Debut Record of the Year", and nominations in different categories
from different websites and magazines around the world so the whole process
has been like a dream come true for us hehe. I really can´t pull
out one single comment we´ve had as being the most flattering because
in general we´ve been so well received. Again, not everybody likes
our music of course – but you can´t win´em all as they say
?
8. BY THE WAY WHAT DOES SMAXONE MEAN? HOW DID
YOU COME UP WITH THIS MONIKER?
Hehe, actually a lot of people ask us that
question! Smaxone is pronounced [Smackzone] and means: A zone that will
smack you up musically!
It was just a word that we came up with while
thinking of a band name – we just thought it sounded cool and said a lot
about the music – unfortunately nobody seems to understand what it means,
so maybe it ain´t so good after all haha!!
9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? DO YOU
THINK YOU ARE ABLE TO FULLY REPRODUCE THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE ALBUM IN YOUR
GIGS?
Yes, we will definitely be playing live! Actually
we have a gig in this month at a Danish music festival. But it´s
really hard being a musician these days. I mean, there´s almost no
money in playing live and half of us got children and family that got to
eat etc., so the circumstances haven´t been easy hehe! But things
are lightning up and we get more attractive offers now than compared to
just a year ago, so I´m absolutely sure that we´ll be able
to go on tour before long. And yes – I´m sure we are able to reproduce
the atmosphere of the album live – we have done that on live events and
so far we have only good reviews. Furthermore we are seven guys while playing
live, so anybody attending our shows is up for a real treat with seven
guys jumping around stage.
10. WHAT’S ACCORDING TO YOU THE BEST AND WHAT’S
THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? ARE THERE ANY ELEMENTS YOU’D LIKE TO ADD
OR EXPERIMENT WITH IN THE FUTURE?
I think that the worst and the best in our
music is the same! I tend to get really carried away while arranging strings,
vocals etc. So usually the music ends up with being really big and symphonic.
That is not a bad thing at all, but sometimes I wish I could just keep
it simple and not work with so many layers of music. But again, that´s
part of our sound now, so we won´t change that for the next album,
but I think we´ll try to adjust it and leave more space for the “straight
in your face” rock´n´roll riffs.
11. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE ARTWORK AND
LYRICS. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ARTWORK? HOW IS IT CONNECTED TO BOTH
YOUR MUSIC AND YOUR LYRICS?
The artwork is made by Rune Stigart who is
one of the guitarists in Mnemic. He´s one of our good friends and
a very gifted artwork designer, so it was only natural to ask him to do
the cover.
"Regression" is the main issue on the record
- and by regression I mean going back and fforth in thoughts and personal
emotions. Most songs on the record are about loss on different levels -
particularly during war and dictatorship - and as you can see on the cover
art you have this young boy mourning and hiding his face with the whole
war-situation and a father figure in the background! "Regression" is a
concept album and the lyrics are actually about one of my friends who escaped
Iraq during the Saddam regime! Before he left Iraq his uncle was killed
and tortured by soldiers, so basically the songs on the record try to catch
all the emotions and thoughts he has had during the death of his uncle
and up till now! And that is one of the reasons for the title "Regression"
- this boy going through different states eemotionally and psychologically
day by day throughout his life. Some of the songs are about different issues
though but they all contain some kind of loss, anger or love towards certain
people, but in general there is a red line between the lyrics. But luckily
people read differently and if anybody can get something different out
of the texts or even draw connections to their own life we would be thrilled.
There is no "hidden agenda" in the lyrics - people are free to interpret
them as they like.
12. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
The emotion would probably be despair. I would
really like to say happiness or something like that, cause I don´t
hear our music as being dark or gloomy – on the contrary I might say! But
the lyrics are not happy at all and deal with loss etc. – therefore despair.
If it was a picture…hmm….hard one…. Probably
something really abstract with a lot of colors and movement…but expressed
in a very simple way. Does that make any sense hehe?
13. YOU COME FROM DENMARK A BAND THAT HAS OFFERED
US FEW AND YET GREAT METAL BANDS. SO, WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE SCENE OF
YOUR COUNTRY? ANY OTHER GREAT BANDS YOU ARE AWARE OF?
I think this year is going to be pretty big
for the Danish metal scene. Raunchy just released their 3rd album which
is really cool – and we will release the follow-up record for “Regression”
during the fall. Further more you should expect new records from Mnemic
and Mercenary and a bunch of other bands, so it looks real promising. If
you´re into progressive rock you should definitely check out the
new “Mew” album – it´s probably one of the most original and unique
Danish releases throughout the past 10 years in my opinion. Really cool
band but not heavy though!
14. WHAT’S THE IDEAL TITLE FOR SMAXONE?
I think it could be defined as progressive
crossover - mixing styles among Faith No More, Devin Townsend, U2, Pantera,
Fear Factory and Alice in Chains. Another band that we are really inspired
by is The Beatles but I wouldn´t define their music as close to Smaxone
hehe.
15. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION?
Yes – first of all I want to thank you, Christine,
for your interest in our band. And again thank you for your patience –
it´s much appreciated! Also I wanna say a big “HELLO” to all your
Greek readers – hopefully we´ll see each other soon. Meanwhile I
hope they´ll enjoy our debut album “Regression” and not to forget
our second release which will hit the streets during the fall!
Cheers!
Skafte
Christine Parastatidou
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