|| ULTIMATIUM ||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
It started with Stratovarius’s Visions album, I bought a score book of that album, started learning the songs with keyboards an also started making midi songs from those, learning the notation from it. Soon after I started creating my own songs.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
It’s a mix of power metal and progressive metal.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your career? Or did you always followed that stream?
Yeah, from those early strato-days, our music has evolved to much more unique. We’re nowadays bringing lots of influences from progmetal so that was made our songs sound quite different than ones made early on our career.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
If we would, we’d still sound like 2004-Ultimatium. We’re making music primarily for us, the kind of music we want to make and not what might be excepted from us.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
Very little. We dress mostly black, that’s it. We don’t kind of have wardrobe matching our progressive minds.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
Making money, obviously. It’s very hard to even break even nowadays, so that’s something that we’ve struggled throughout our career.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
It would be fun to collaborate with Nils K Rue, his unique voice would be nice to hear in our albums some day.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
Maybe Rainbow’s Rising, it has such a great songs and is definitely an album that shaped up metal scene to what it is now.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
Probably something more straight forwards to start, maybe Stratovarius and them move towards more progressive stuff.
|| THE NOBLE FRONT||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
Loud, hard and fast music always resonated with me. I always loved the aggression and frustration of rock and metal bands. I stumbled upon Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica, Slayer etc. when I was about 13 and was incredibly inspired by what I heard. It was truly life-changing, and I’m chasing that high with new music ever since! I shortly thereafter picked up my mother’s old, beat-up acoustic guitar and tried to teach myself some chords and power chords.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
In a few words: honest, raw, heavy-hitting and punchy. I have tried to create the type of music that best encapsulates me as a person, and I feel that I have accomplished this in our debut, self-titled release.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your career? Or did you always followed that stream?
It has definitely evolved in some respects, and this has given me more opportunity to introduce different feelings and dynamics to my music. But, overall, my style is the same as day 1; hard, overdriven and cutting riffs and drums!
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
Completely and 100% for my own taste. As Rick Rubin once said, “Create music that comes from passion and not external expectations”. If you are creating for someone else, you are already chasing something that may never come. If you are creating for you, you’re already ahead, no matter what you create.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
I used to place more emphasis on appearance, but these days I let the music do the talking. This may not be the best approach in a marketing sense, but fuck it..
6) What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
Finding shows with people who give a fuck about your music! Nowadays the recording process is so much simpler. Everything is so accessible, too accessible in a way! But a by-product of that is that there is so much new music coming out each and every day and the market is flooded. Navigating a way through treacherous algorithms is tough work.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
We are based in the west of Ireland and there are loads of acts here that I would love to get together with. Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital, NewDad, Shark School to name a few. The scene is alive and well and it’s great to be apart of it.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
Such a difficult one! I really don’t know. Maybe Soundgarden’s Superunknown. Loads of tracks and styles and dynamics (thanks to every band member contributing to the writing process) and an unbelievable record overall.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
The Noble Front of course! Check out the first track, Not For Me, and then tracks 5 and 6, Tired & Down and The Sea for something deeper and darker.
Socials:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3oozmfdjoxVmgN2KgdqLep?si=hu7_vcWLR4O_p3qhDm_rjg
https://www.instagram.com/thenoblefront/
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61554516614254
|| BRIDGE THE GAP ||
Answers by vocalist Chad Jensen
1) What made you want to become a musician?
The seed was planted when Nirvana exploded in 1992. I was 13. Then it germinated and blossomed in 1994 when I discovered Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion, and Pennywise.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Bridge The Gap is a melodic punk band heavily influenced by the ‘90s. Some people call it skatepunk.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your carrer? Or did you always followed that stream?
Our style certainly evolved over the years, especially in terms of levels of sophistication. But at it’s core, the style has always been melodic punk.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
Great question. We make the music we want to hear. From there, the hope is that our music will find its tribe. So far so good.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
Probably not. As older dudes in their early 40s, we’re long past the point of caring much about style and how we look, per se. How we sound and the message we convey are the priorities.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encontoured in the journey of music?
It’s the same ol’ obstacles, just recapitulated in the digital age. How do we ensure our music finds its tribe? Etc.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
Interesting. I’d say Deviates. We go back a ways with those dudes and to a man, they’re great people. It would be fun to collaborate with our buds.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
I’d be Unknown Road by Pennywise, because it’s the single best, most influential piece of music of my life and the message is positive and lasting.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
Bad Religion. Go. Posthaste.
|| SANITY||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
Look, when you grow up in a classical music home like me, when you don’t have any parental role models when it comes to popular music, you’re left on your own. I know people who relate very emotionally to certain music from the seventies or eighties because this was what their parents listened to back then. I am convinced that this shapes their music taste and preferences well into the future. It was different for me. I was well gifted with musical talent and I have to admit, certainly there was aggression in me during my teenage years that could not be vented in any other way than to compose this kind of music and to write down my feelings in the corresponding lyrics. What I can tell you is that I was discovering on my own what my soul needed in terms of music, what my soul related to. You still remember Roxette’s “Hotblooded” from the “Joyride” album? There is a particular bridge/solo which is pretty hard rock-esque and this struck home with me (I had not yet been exposed to hard rock or heavy metal). After I heard the song for the first time I wondered why there is no full song with that intensity. I also observed this during my high school parties. People danced most intense during these kind of bridges and solos. Big question mark for me. Why not compose music, that is entirely made of bridges and intense soloing? Why leave people wanting? Why are people so dependent on what is served to them? I wanted full length intensity and I wanted it now. That was my inspiration to pick up the guitar and write my own music. I tell you, to this day my most favorite songs are among those that I wrote myself. The intensity in songs like “Highland Epos” (from “Schattensymphonie”) or the satisfying no-bore-guarantee style of “Cryonic Zombie” (a 15 minutes composition without repeating parts from “Sinister Reflections”) are still highlights every now and then, when I listen to them. You can imagine that the next big thing after Roxette (haha) was when I first heard Chuck Schuldiner screaming out of my loud speakers. What a revelation! This was intensity to the power of ten! And then those kick-ass shred solos from Rick Rozz. It was like the gates of Gehenna opened up! I was mesmerized. More such moments occurred every once in a while. The second Orphanage album “By Time Alone” was such an eye opener. These incredible rhythms combined with ultra-heavy guitars and polyphonic gregorian-like chants, I was out of my mind! You hear these inspirations in our first album. Obviously my skill set was still very limited, you have to keep in mind that I did not know anybody who listened or played that kind of music. It was all self-taught. No internet, nothing.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
The compositions have their roots in black and death metal, but are enriched with massive arrangements of choirs and symphonic instruments. There is an abundance of lead guitars and melodic riffing, the songs feature low growling vocals, intense shouting and screaming but also beautiful clean vocals, from heroic viking chants to high-pitched power metal voices. The drumming ranges from fast-paced blasts with double bass drumming to intense progressive metal rhythms.
3) Did your style evolved since the beginning of your carrer? Or did you always followed that stream?
Each of the four releases is a witness to our personal music development. With “Sinister Reflections” we just discovered atmospheric death metal and were wildly creative to the point of experimental, avant-garde compositions that are a feast for the mind. In “Nocturnal Poems” the focus was on symphonic and melodic black metal, we composed songs filled with longing and melancholy, deeply personal lyrics that show the torn nature of our inner self. It was a true underground release and many of our fans cherish especially that album for its raw and authentic style. “Schattensymphonie” was the first album recorded in a studio. The compositions are much tighter and feature intricate guitar riffings across all songs. This is the only album with shouting vocals only. Whereas the first two albums had clean vocals in many chorus parts, “Schattensymphonie” was to be much darker and more intense. I personally think that “Schattensymphonie” is the heaviest release so far. The addition of new musicians to the band in 2014 influenced the style of “Revelation” quite significantly. Death metal riffing and elaborate drum rhythms found their way into the songs and completed them to a degree that was not possible before. There are also some passages where you could wave your lighter and sing along during a concert, if you know what I mean. That’s a first. On “Revelation” we took the time to weave a abundance of melodies into each song, either played from guitar, choir or orchestra. The sound samples of the orchestra are recordings of real instruments which makes a big difference compared to the nineties synthesizer samples we used on “Schattensymphonie”. Also we went back to incorporating clean vocals in many songs. All in all, “Revelation” is the most mature album from Sanity.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
Over the past three decades I have come to observe that suffering is a necessary ingredient to creativity. I feel most inspired when in sorrow and distress. I also listen to my inner self and find that quite often music pushes outwards and wants to be composed. For instance, I wake up with a melody or hook line in my mind and am almost driven to sit down to write it down and record it. The songs we create are expressions of our inner self, composing music is a cathartic experience for me.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
The music I play on stage does influence my mood and thus influences my style.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encontoured in the journey of music?
I hate listening to “final mixes” of our songs before they go into production. The concentration needed to meticulously listen again and again to the same song, to focus your attention to all the different aspects of the compositions is excruciating. I am able to do these things by sheer force of will, but it does not come without cost. Usually after that I am so run-down and I need to recharge in my arcade. If you think about it, it’s actually not to bad, oscillating from my primary vocation – being a musician – to my primary passion – arcade games and pinball machines.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
From the very beginning I had envisioned Sanity to reach the English speaking audience and thus used English lyrics. It would be pretty awesome to get in contact with metal bands from the UK or US and become their support on one of their tours. My ideal line-up would be Wolves At The Gate, Slechtvalk and Vials Of Wrath. And of course we’d love to play some big stages and are dreaming about a small tour outside Germany. Scandinavia would be awesome or the US. Our latest release is a concept album of the book of Revelation from the bible, a prophetic, dystopian book that vividly and explicitly describes the Apocalypse. A dedicated tour on that topic would be incredible.
Let’s see what the future holds in store for us.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
That’s a funny question. I’d probably be an LP, a good old vinyl record, it should be the soundtrack of Blade Runner. If yes, I’d be that one. The movie, the atmosphere, the somber music, the eighties.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
Arcturus – Aspera Hiems Symfonia
When hearing this album for the first time, I was just blown away. The compositions on this record are so avant-garde, I couldn’t believe it. The mixture between shouting and clean vocals is breathtaking as is the blending of guitar work and symphonic instruments. A masterpiece!
Also, please check out our official music videos for “Seals” and “Throne”:
Seals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adVATPq-yA
Throne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x4RdpaD9Ho
To stay in touch you can find us online:
Web: https://www.sanity.berlin
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sanity.berlin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanity.berlin
Bandcamp: https://sanityberlin.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanity.berlin
X: https://twitter.com/SanityBerlin
Streaming Site Links:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/0bhXlkSU7XN56kBuUuvXXa?si=ki9IcUitQNyodBXyrq_B5Q
Amazon Music: https://amazon.de/music/player/artists/B0CHHW97WL/sanity?marketplaceId=A1PA6795UKMFR9&musicTerritory=DE&ref=dm_sh_PidIrR7CbqZCj4mwIPm5zpymv
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sanity/1546091708
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCsYZJ2WYArtoGXgBOc-jVNw?si=OmjURhgpG_wSbCHN
|| ATOMIC AGENT ||
1) What made you want to become a musician?
I’ve been involved with music since child. First as a listener, and to be honest, at first I didn’t show any talent or even interest in playing any instruments, but in my early teens I learned to play bass guitar and soon after, guitar. Making music myself didn’t really materialize for me until years later I joined a recording and touring hardcore punk band. A few years after that I formed a metal band of my own, and it’s still running, so I’ve been more or less a musician on the side for years, but this Atomic Agent thing just… Well, it just got out of hand as new music started coming out so swiftly, and I noticed how the passion for this is burning so strongly. So I never actually planned on becoming a musician, it just happened.
2) How would you describe the music that you typically create?
For Atomic Agent it is 95 % of the time dark and gloomy, the other 5 % it’s just dark. Even if the melodies weren’t always on the darker side, the lyrics still make it dark, or vice versa. You could say that the gothic feeling is present on every Atomic Agent song.
3) Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? Or did you always follow that stream?
The style with Atomic Agent has evolved. At first it was quite rudimentary: midi guitars, midi bass and synth on a drum machine beat, but as the songs started demanding more, I started using real instruments. At first the songs were also very straight forward The Sisters Of Mercy stuff, but especially after bringing in the natural instruments, it evolved into something more versatile. I use a lot of guitar harmonies and melodic solos nowadays, the drums and riffs are more in the vein of Hard Rock, and the guitar melodies are often inspired by the likes of Love Like Blood and Fields Of The Nephilim. The only thing I’ve followed is my own intuition.
4) Do you create music for yourself or for fans’ taste? Nowadays it is always hard to satisfy listeners.
I started this because I wanted to make music, that I’d listen to myself. It is true the listeners can be harder to satisfy as there is so much of music available, but I feel I’m hitting a button that not many others do. I really couldn’t draw a straight forward comparison to any other artist/even if the influences are quite clear – at least for me. I would do this anyway, it doesn’t matter if there’s a couple of listeners or millions of them. And I’d like to think, that I’d keep that integrity even if this band would become a total hit.
5) Does your outfit have anything to do with the music you listen to or play?
It does. I’ve always dressed in denim and leather, but I do have a bit more flashier plans for Atomic Agent too. Top hats, steampunk influences and such.
6) What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
Today’s biggest problem is that the artists are slowly being choked to death, financially that is. Physical copies don’t sell as much as they used to and the digital streaming services pay you shit. Some venues also have started demanding a cut from artist’s merch sales in case they want to sell their merchandise in the premises during gigs. I mean, the merch for most bands is pretty much the only real source of any sort of income, so keep your fucking greedy fingers off! On top of that you have the increased expenses of renting the transportation in case you’re a touring outfit. So in conclusion, the dream of living off your music is distant to most, and even many surprisingly famed musicians need a day job to pay their bills.
7) Who’s your ideal artist to collaborate with and why?
Oh my, this is a delicious one, as I would want to collaborate with sooo many great artists! But it would be great to collaborate with Mirel Wagner for example, she is a Finnish singer-songwriter and she makes such grim and minimalistic stuff. Nick Cave and Natalie Merchant would be great, but it would be fun to feat for some fabulous doom band like Candlemass too.
I’m actually already doing a collaboration with someone, but I can’t reveal anything about it yet.
8) If you were a CD/album, what would you be and why?
A gatefold vinyl compilation of select Goth Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal artists, leather-covered. I don’t think it needs an explanation as it’s so obvious.
9) What artist would you recommend to a person who is undecided about what listening to?
I would need to know at least something about this person’s preferred general taste first, but if I were allowed to be a bit selfish here, I’d suggest you try out some Atomic Agent. If not, I’d say Smack from Finland. Some good ol’ honest hard rock who inspired the likes of Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana for example, they still kick the shit out of 99,99 % of modern rock bands.
[In collaboration with ROGUE PR]
ROKKERSPRESS 