Artist: Moonspell
Orgin: Portugal
Genre: Dark Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Link: http://www.moonspell.com
Bandmember:
Vocals – Fernando Riberio
Guitar – Ricardo Amorim
Guitar, Keyboard – Pedro Paixao
Bass – Aires Pereira
Drums – Mike Gaspar
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Hi Moonspell,
Your formation was founded a long time ago and you were quiet successful since then. I´m happy that you found the time to talk with me about your new CD Extinct and your upcoming shows.
Moonspell / Fernando:
No problems, my pleasure. Apologies for the delay but these are being busy times. Actually I am on a tourbus in the middle of the USA on our North American tour for the album already. Time does flies!Well, Extinct…where to start? We just felt, while writing it, that we had something special and we were really focused in pursuing and finding out more about what we had in hands. Thus we dedicated all of our time for nine months to this album, went to Sweden and worked daily to get these emotions out together with Jens Bogren , our dear producer. We came back with what we think to be one of the best and most heartfelt records we ever did. The audience praised and got it which is incredibly good, everywhere we go to play we get compliments re. the album and guess what: we already have two full tours under our belt since the album release in March and we met with great response both in Europe and overseas.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
You started as a Black Metal band, but I would like to claim that you found the way into the Dark Metal sector quiet fast and, different to other bands, brought your style to some kind of perfection instead of moving away from your origins. Where do you find your “creative energy” to add this “special something” to your Dark Metal other bands don’t have?
Moonspell / Fernando:
You can claim that and I saw it coming when Black Metal ran into a dead end creatively and resourced to violence, the lord of the chaos vibe. I was never into it. Sure some bands exceled and came out triumphant after those troublesome times, bands like Mayhem, Dimmu, and especially Satyricon, bands I saw that chose to dedicate themselves into their art and muse rather than being newspapers‘ headliners. I can’t really answer that question, I don’t know if we have something special about us or not, what I do know is that we’ve always focused in bringing different layers and perspectives to our songs, to dare advancing than following an unwritten book of laws some Norwegian eminence wrote about what’s dark or not, and we’ve prevailed and gained respect from the crowds and our pairs, exactly because we were doing different stuff. Music for us is a calling, not a competition for the most evil man alive or the fastest drummer or the most extreme álbum. We are not an extreme band, our music follows up a script which is purely emotional and that can be either middle eastern enchantments, pure goth and roll or violent. But we never conformed to the black metal rules, why should we?
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
After a few releases with Century Media Records and Steamhammer you decided to release your last CD Alpha Noir with Napalm Records. Some people thought, that you could run out of energy, but you taught us something different with Extinct. Where do you find the “airiness” to add new elements to your music without erasing the basic concept?
Moonspell / Fernando:
After Wolfheart and Irreligious many people pronounced Moonspell dead. We had our faithful crowd that allowed us to live through the thick and thin as a band, but we never split up to wait for a cool festival to pay us royally for our reunion. For me that is bullshit and everybody who did that, did not really believed in their music as we did. I know we are not the most consensual band out there, or the best musicians but that undying belief in expressing ourselves is what keeps us together and still breathing and Extinct is probably the largerst gulp of fresh air we were able to conjure for the past few years.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
The hard parts yield more and more melodical, versatile atmospheres, you live from epic sounds and the permanent sizzling noise in the air, like a fire which still burns after all these years. You cought this feeling perfectly, while recording the songs in the studio. Can you tell us about the progress of recording the songs?
Moonspell / Fernando:
We knew Extinct was a special álbum so we dove deep into it. For nine months we had no rest, almost no days-off and that dedication helped a lot to discover better atmospheres for the songs while improving our performance on studio and as songwriters. Also Jens Bogren was an essential piece to bring all the pieces together, and we have a lot to thank them. The process was shorter in time but way more intense, much more. We bit the prey and never left it. The recordings were demanding, both Jens and Castillo are really perfeccionists but they were not the kind of producers that are anal about stuff, they fed us with the right dose of motivation while pointing always what we were short of achieving. We got what we went for and I believe that especially with Jens behind the desk, we caught ourselves on the right time, him tired of making more straight forward metal, us in search of a distinctive, natural sound which would allow the songs to shine through. I love the sound of Extinct, I really do.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
A lot of our readers ask themselves how a band is able to manage to do so many concerts/festivals, give a lot of interviews and other activities and combine this with creating new, good songs or even a complete album. You took yourself three years since the last release, a lot of successful bands don’t have this time and need to create new material under pressure. What is your opinion about this topic and do you had this pressure, too? Did you need to release songs in the past, even knowing that they are not perfect at this stage of development?
Moonspell / Fernando:
We live in our little world and we are not players and for sure we don’t feel the pressure bigger bands do. I know what you mean, and where you are getting to and I have to agree with you. The bigger bands are repeating a formula but only because their audience demands that and they can’t break from that vicious circle. We might not do their numbers but for sure we value our freedom as a band, musically speaking, above all things. I feel that a lot of the metal and goth crowd which listen to bands such as us do not put a lot of trust upon Moonspell and that some of them even mock us but hey fuck them and their wall of deaths, corsets and trends. I am a independent musician and Moonspell hás always pursued a path that lost many “fans“ while grabbed others for life eternal. Music is not business as usual, it’s not festival entretainment, and success for me is when i play Extinct on my headphones and feel alive. The rest is a struggle that a Portuguese band, on the contrary of a Swedish band for example, have to fight every day, tenfold, for credibility but that’s the working part. Of course some songs were not perfect sometimes but that had nothing to do with business and rush but rather with our own limitations, a thing we fought hard against while doing Extinct.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Sometimes you hear about so-called „B Material“. A lot of “big artists” take, let´s say, 20 songs into the studio, but only release 10 after leaving the studio. What is your kind of way related to this topic? Is this a concept you do, too or is it something completely inacceptable?
Moonspell / Fernando:
We took what we had for studio. I had one or other idea that were left out but that we will for sure use on a next one. We didn’t have enough time to perfect them. As far as B material or whatever goes I dont identify with that line of work. Music is not a shopping list where you pick the fresher and comfortable, it’s a concept and I see a lot of musicians saying that oh we had 20 songs but then…and I can’t really believe their words, I am a musician myself, maybe I am slower than most, but a song is like a fine piece of jewelry, that we craft until it’s ready, until the gem becomes something else. So, really, I am clearly not a big artist, I side with the stupid, romantic artist most likely.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
The upcoming tour will lead you through europe. What can your fans expect and which station is your most expected one?
Moonspell / Fernando:
Well, we did already an European tour which was quite sucessful. Same for overseas, even with it’s weak spots. We decides to do our own tours, headline or at most co-headline so we can play for longer, do our travel in time in our repertoire and of course set an atmosphere. We have refused many support tours not because we think we’re better or because we are assholes, but because we do prefer 200 fans singing our lyrics back to back than 1500 looking stupidly at us while they wait for the headliner to check the female singer lipstick and corset, or the stupid gimmicks of the pirate singer. We love to play Europe, that’s our territory, we had a great time in the European tour, all shows were great. We are touring again together with Dagoba and Jaded Star in the Fall and we will visit Eastern Europe, Poland is a great place for us, for example and it’s been a while since we did headliner shows in Scandinavia so I really look forward to see what happens.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
With Septic Flesh on your side you have a band which is aspiring in Europe. Can you decide who is going to play with you live and choose the support or is this question solved extern?
Moonspell / Fernando:
Septic Flesh was a non-brainer. We are huge friends, brothers even and they are a great, extreme yeah, but very musical band who leave their skin on stage. What happens is that we get quotes and suggestions either personally or via our agency and no band shares the stage with us that we don’t like. That might happen when we are co-headlining or in a package tour, some bands were hard to stand, especially their music so we really try to like and enjoy the bands we play with for our own mental sanity even! We took control of many things lately.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
There is not a single free day on your tour, how can you keep yourself fit to play every evening and give 100%?
Moonspell / Fernando:
I could give you a warrior answer and tell about our dedication, about our privilege in doing what we do, and of course about the fact that we are Portuguese, knowing this is a chance in a million. But I won’t. I will just say one word: LOVE.
Time For Metal / Rene W.:
Thank you for your open words, I wish you a lot of success with your new creation Extinct. The last word belongs completely to you, feel free to say to your fans and our readers what you want to!
Moonspell / Fernando:
What else should I say? I do speak my mind but I never mean to offend anyone. But I also think people have become more and more cynical throughout the years, bands, crowds, press, I think that we have piled up prejudice, theories, opinions, whatever between the listener and the one who makes songs. So, Extinct is an álbum that needs an open mind, an open heart. If you have this, I am sure you will love it; if not , if you’re into the black metal wars, penny pitching, BPM’s competition, whatever then Moonspell is not for you so let’s each other go our own way, shall we?