Elvenking Interview is up ..


Elvenking


1. Being new to Elvenking . I see that the sound of the band has changed over the album . How does "Red Tides" differ from earlier releases?

Elvenking is a band in constant motion. We do music for ourselves and we are not able to sit around a table and tell “fans is asking this and that”, “people would like to hear a heavy-melodic-folk album” or similar. We just can write what we feel. Probably it’s not the cleverest thing to do for a band but that’s what we are. That’s why every time fans expect something and often they get something different.
If I have to compare “Red Silent Tides” to our previous album I would say it is more melodic and more emotional albums. I think it contains a lot of poetry.



2. Do you call yourselves Power metal or more folk metal as I really hear a mix of both?

To be sincere is something that we do not ourselves and to be sincere we do not care of anymore. I mean, maybe when we were younger we paid attention of how people around would call us, etc, but now we are too old for this ah ah ah . Somebody defined us  “romantic metal” and I pretty much like it, talking about a literature point of view. People can name us how they prefer and how they feel right to define us. If I should say something I would say we are a metal band with different influences, and folk is one of these.



3. The vocals are so huge and melodic that seems to be a major part of the bands sounds. To many power metal bands think vocal acrobatics are needed.  Is it hard to keep a fine line on the vocals without going over the top?

To us writing a good song means writing great vocal melodies. It’s the main thing of a song, and it’s the first and main thing that goes directly to the listener. I think it’s hard to find out a good vocal melody that is interesting and works great with the rest of the music.



4. What is a live show for Elvenking like? Very theatrical or just a classic metal event?

Very energetic. That’s for sure. Then it always depends on the situations. We are not able to bring all the stuff we want everywhere. When we have the possibility we also try to create something more theatrical, for example on stage. But this is not always possible, for example if we travel by plane, etc.



5. Who are the current influences of Elvenking?

Everything that really sounds good to our ears. Obviously everything in metal music – from hard rock to extreme black metal-, but also a lot from other kinds, like folk, punk or pop for example. And everything that really can touch us in some way.



6. The other major focus are how the guitars and synth meld into beautiful harmonics. Does Elven start with musical or vocal ideas and themes to create your hymns?

As said the main thing for us is always a good vocal melody. That’s the main thing. Obviously in term of songwriting can happen to have a good guitar riff or melody and start playing around the theme. Basically when we have something rough in term of song structure we tend to analyze what is really necessary and what instead is there without a reason for the song itself and try to bring to the song what it really needs. There are no rules fixed.  



7. Will Elvenking be touring the USA in 2011?

We have no real plans for US tour at the moment. We are finalizing things for South America tour but not US. Unfortunately it seems not so easy to come there playing. It’s still difficult to me to understand the metal scene there.



8. What the bands thoughts on the digital age for music. Does Elvenking embrace and loathe it?

Difficult question. I think that the digital era can help a lot the smaller bands, because you can easily reach a lot of people, but from the other side I think that music as we knew it is slowly coming to an end. Everyone can record his own album nowadays and there are millions of bands out there, and record companies cannot give enough economical support because music dos not sell anymore, and I think it will all turn into a mass suicide.



9. Will there ever be a long form DVD like something bands like Battlelore or Blind Guardian have done? You would be perfect for this..

Yes, it is something that our fans keep on asking us and we are thinking about. But if it needs to be, it should be something of really decent quality, and to do something like this you need a big organization and something really worth to film. I don’t want to release a DVD just to do it, it should be something good. So let’s see.



10.  What music do the member of Elvenking listen to that would shock there fan. As that music normal influences the band more than any think?

Ah, well Metal fans are really strange. In their words they should appear as open minded, but we know perfectly that it’s exactly the contrary! Even if I say I like bands like Avenged Sevenfold lots of them will be shocked. But if I say I listen to some pop stuff or bands like Simple Plans, Angels & Airways or things like this it would sound like a tragedy! But I have no problems. And yes, a lot of this music influence our way of writing music. A good song remains a good one, no matter how it is arranged.



11. Your website is stunning tell us a bit about that. It really tells the story of Elvenking. How did it come to be?

I think that in this era is really important to have well done channels to present your abd and your music, and we just try to do our best. If someone needs to know something about us, just check out www.elvenking.net , and you find out a lot of stuff. Otherwise you can easily add us on Facebook. We try to be in contact with all our fans there and in the forum of our website we answer all the questions from the fans.



12. Thank you for the time; any closing thoughts here.

I really hope American metal fan can give a listen to “Red Silent Tides”. For everyone still able to dream and do it with music, give a spin to the album!
Aydan - ELVENKING

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