FDA Rekotz artist Decembre Noir Interview 6/23/2014
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1. Tell us new to Decembre Noir how the band came to be?
Years ago I met Daniel our then drummer on a birthdayparty. We talked about our musical preferences and decided to meet us for jaming in his rehearsal room. At that time “Stowaway” was developed. That was the beginning of Décembre Noir. We wanted to take it as a project and stay two by two. But the urge to be a real band and to stay on stages was bigger than this. Next one was Mike at the bass. With Mike I’ve made music since my youth in different bands. Marcel from a friendly band took our second guitar. Lars we were searching for. We wrote him and he agreed at the same moment.
Unfortunately Daniel and Marcel left us because of private causes and moved away. Now Kevin became our drummer and Martin took the second guitar. Martin and me played in other bands together before.
2. With A discourged believer I hear elements of Opeth, Katatonia , Edge of Sanity and Saturnus. Were did the meloncolic goth inspired Black Doom metal sound come from would it be these bands?
Of course the albums of these bands are in our private collections. They have all together inspired us and are still doing this. But we don’t write songs under the pressure to sound like these bands. We write our music intuitively and they are always very melancholic from the beginning without being of this. I’m also thinking that we are creating our sound on and on and are so getting deeper into our own style. A German Fanzine called it “New melancholic hardness”.
3. Your from Germany home of so many amazing dark and goth metal bands .What do you think brings out the haunting and sorrow filled extreme metal from the nations bands?
Oh we are not very sad people. All of us have a great lust for life and a lot of fun within it. But we are also very emotional. We feel a good song if it makes us flesh creep. I think every country has this kind of music which includes exactly this emotions and grasps you.
4. How did you come to work with F.D.A Rekotz?
We sent Rico from FDA a live recording of our first concert in the actual formation. And everyone could hear that this was our first performance. He offered us the contract and we signed it immediately. But he gave us the time we needed to finish the album. When I looked at the other bands I truthfully thought about if we are right there. But my doubts were removed very fast and we feel very good with FDA.
5. Is there a theme or a story behind A discourged beliver? The cover art tells me there is something of a story behind the release?
Yes it is. The story of a young person which is searching for ist way in life. I think everybody could identify his own with this person at some moment in life. The songs on the album are arranged in a special order to tell the story with sounds. But there is not only sorrow but also hope in our lyrics. Everyone should interpret them on his own.
6. Whats the bands thoughts on the current extreme music underground. Is it going through a true bebirth were bands are free to experiment and grow or has it become impossible to live off music and touring now?
The underground is and has been there all the time. The big, worldwide known bands are only the top of the iceberg. There are a lot of good musicians who have not the possibility or even don’t want to present their music to the public. Lot of people don’t have enough money to finance a good production. But the claim of the listeners is a very big one and is crucial for the decision, more than the artful background. But everything is financially shaped, from the purchase of instruments until the costs of a tour. To live from music it’s also unavoidable for big bands to go on big tours. But the step into this, to live for and of the music needs more than profound thinking. Here also the financial safety of the family is playing a big role.
7. What track off the album would the band like to create a video for and what would you like to see visually?
At this moment we have finished the shooting and the cut to “A Discouraged Believer” and the video is online now. We didn’t want to create a video like the classic style of a metal video where a band is only shooted when they are performing and that’s all. We wanted a story which is corresponds with the text. So we wrote a script and created the task to show all band members as one person throughout the video. It is criticism at the forces of the society and the small space everyone is pushing himself into. We are sure to shoot a second video for “Forsaken Earth”. The ideas for this are existing yet.
8. How would you say your live shows differ from the album I havejust reviewed?
We try to be as close as possible to the recordings. But I think our live performances have a very high energy level and animate our guests to get active. But we also will present the songs of the next album. So there will be new songs all the time. Basically we can watch a lot of emotions when we are performing. Lot of people close their eyes, brush a tear away and at the next moment they start to mosh. That’s the feeling of live performances. This feeling you can’t get at home. You need this special moment. We are more than happy to give this feeling to people.
9. Do the members of the band make music in any other projects or is Decembre Noir the only focus?
I have finished making music in other projects to focus only on Décembre Noir. Lars, Martin and Mike found together in the band “Inner Absence” and Kevin has been and is still the drummer in the band “Dicentress”. He played there before getting in touch with us and is fixed part for them.
10. People say you have lifetime to create your debut and minutes to write the followup. Where do you see the future style of the band heading..
We still are working at the new album and don’t want to last too much time until the review. But we don’t want to force ourselves and it will take as much time as it needs. We want to take up at the first album and go along the way we created there.
11. What are the members of Decembre Noir currently listening to ??? Any shockers?
That’s very different. Everybody is listening to the music he wants to listen at a special moment. There’s for example Behemoth, Godjira up to Antimatter or Woods of Ypres. Sometimes all together.
12. Is social media and good pr all a band really needs 2014 or does having the backing of a good indie label still really help.
Only very few of the bands have a conract or they have a label which is not very enthusiastic. It’s unbelievable not to inform the fans anymore through social media. We at ourselves pay attention to so many bands only because we found them online. We can listen to music which perhaps will never find the way into a shop. We can listen to nearly endless range of music and that’s more than important for the scene and also other artists.
13. Thank you for your time any closing thoughts here..
We are wondering what will be within this and the next year for us. We are nearly overwhelmed by the amazing response to the album. We are pleased about every time on stage but also enjoy our time together in the rehearsal room. But I think this year would not be very calm.
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