01 : JULY : 08
ANGELSPIT Interview with Zillo Magazine Issue07-08/08
Interview by Breda Massmann

So, meanwhile it's one and a half years ago since "Krankhaus" was unleashed. How did things evolve and/or change for you as band?

Zoog: Our perspective changed. We have been given this fantastic opportunity to meet so many people from so many different countries. It has been emphasised that we are a community…not just a bunch of kids who like to wear black.
As artists, we have been working on simplifying our music and visuals. Trying to do more with less resources. Trying to write confronting songs without the use of swearing. Designing visuals that are vicious and nightmarish without the use of conventional imagery.
More than ever, we are hell-bent on destroying the stereo-types that are diluting “alternative culture”. We want to encourage people to express themselves through art, music and fashion.
We’ve felt a lot of pressure to change and conform – from clubs, radio stations and magazines. It is as if they say “We can not put you on the main stage because you are not EBM”, or “We will not play your music because you are not IDM”, or “We will not give you more coverage in our magazine because you are not GOTH”.
There is a formula. We will destroy it.

Destroyx: I think we got a lot better at our art.

You've recently been living in Europe / Germany for a while. What kind of experiences did you make? Did this move have any influence on your new album?

Zoog: Blood Death Ivory is our “Berlin” album. The music, lyrics, and drive are a direct influence of living in Europe and specifically Berlin. There was an alternative radio station we would always listen to. They played electro/alternative/indie music – it was great! There were several electro clubs – they played some awesome music. We were inspired by these things to push our ideas further and further.
Berlin is the artist’s retreat. It is the artist’s heaven. The museums, the music, the galleries – it bleeds deep red passion but is shrouded in grey.

Destroyx: We had a great time in Germany! We spent most of the time absorbing the culture and improving our German. I still am not fluent at German but I am improving.
Our experiences definitely influenced the album. I think the influence of the awesome electro music scene in Berlin is apparent. It’s pretty expensive moving overseas, so we didn’t have enough money to make this album, so we had to improvise and make do with what we had. I think it made us better writers and artists.

Do you have plans for moving another time?

Zoog: Would love too. We are trying to make some time in the future so we can move back for several months. WE NEED MORE GERMAN FOOD!!!

Destroyx: Oh definitely. I LOVE Europe and would love to move back there. We are trying to figure out ways of returning. I would love to do further study of art in Berlin! We have a large connection with our American fan base too so I think moving to the USA is a possibility.

When listening to your new album, I feel that you're experimenting with sounds and rhythms even more than before...do you feel the same way or differently? What was most important for you when working on the new album?

Zoog: We had less gear on this album, so we had to make do with what we had. The cool thing about having less equipment, is you are forced to think differently – and therefore your output is different.
In Blood Death Ivory, we have tried to make the music sparse so you can hear the details in the individual sounds. We were spending a lot of time creating each sound on our modular synth – it was taking 2 days to build the bass track, 2 days for the bleeps and percussion and 1 day for the vocal effects….and that was for one song! We sincerely hope people will be lost in the detail.
We were joined by guitarist George Bikos (from Embers of a Dying Flame and ex-Crüxshadows). George has a very “mean” and accurate guitar sound. We butchered his tracks then decimated them with the modular synth to achieve the final sound.
From the outset of Blood Death Ivory, we decided not to be bound by any trend or expectation. There is no genre, just passionate and sincere music.

Destroyx: I think we wanted to try and experiment a lot more and we spent a lot of time making sure the production enhanced the writing. I am extremely happy with the result and I think the effort and time are apparent in the final album.

What was the idea behind the cover artwork? How does the cover relate to the album title and the lyrical content of the album?

Zoog: Blood, Death and Ivory are three very strong words that are laced with meaning – “Life, Freedom, Richness” or “Pain, Destruction, Oppression” or Red Black White. It’s up to the listener to decide what it’s about.
This album is a reaction against the expectations that Dark Alternative Culture is putting on all of us. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is a reaction to expectations that we put on ourselves.
It’s a marketing fact that if you put a picture of a beautiful girl on the front of a CD it will be more appealing to pick up and possibly buy. Destroyx made most of the clothes, oversaw the photo shoot and designed the artwork for Blood Death Ivory. The cover is a photo of her dressed as royalty which represents the pinnacle of Gothic/Fetish beauty…but she has a huge X over her face. Fuck beauty. Fuck marketing. We are more than that.
The first eSingle was called “Skinny Little Bitch”. The lyrics are about a young person (male or female) who has just entered the “Alternative” scene because they felt alienated from “The Mainstream”. As soon as they enter “the scene”, they feel the need to loose weight and listen to music that they don’t really like. This “Alternative” scene could be goth/ebm, emo, electro or whatever. The clincher is that the young person in the song has felt the “Alternative scene” forced them to conform. They are left with an eating disorder and resentment. But more so, the person lacks the confidence to just be themselves no matter what “scene” they are in. We saw an example of this often is almost every club we played in.
We want to encourage people to explore who they are…even if it means moving outside the boundaries of their “scene”.
‘I am nothing but my own disease.’ (Lyric from the track Lustworthy)

Destroyx: I think the cover is a reaction against expectations of most people, many of whom think we are a band whose success is based upon looks.

If you’d have the chance to shoot a movie based on the lyrical content of the album, how would it look and who’d be the director?

Zoog: New York’s Dan Ouellette. We’d just give him complete control and ask him to make something beautiful and vicious! He has made a few amazing Birthday Massacre film clips.

Destroyx: I would love to work with artist Mathew Barney. He did the Cremaster Cycle films. It would also be my dream to work with Michel Gondry or Chris Cunningham who have both made amazing music videos. It would have to be dark and screwed up.

Your promo photos for the new album once more are very artistic and outstanding, love it. But there are always some people who're slandering about bands with a strong image, like "the band tries to hide their bad music with an exotic image". What do you set against such words?

ZooG: We yawn…
We’re tired of giving energy to negative people. We hope our imagery can inspire people to make their art bigger, better and BADDER than before!

Destroyx: It’s probably the thing said most about Angelspit. Honestly, I think those people need to appreciate that maybe they don’t like our style of music and understand that some people might like it. We definitely put as much work in the music as we do in our art, and some people choose to over look that. We are part band and part art group, so we put a lot of effort in our imagery. I am actually an artist and designer so it’s no wonder that I spend a lot of time on the graphics and photographs!

What are your plans for the next future, any remixes on the schedule, or tours over here?

Zoog: We are hoping to release more material relating to Blood Death Ivory soon. There is a huge concept behind it and we will be expanding on this over the coming months.
We desperately want to get back to the USA and Europe. We are touring in Australia in June/July with BAAL (from Japan). We are trying the idea of touring an event rather than just a gig. We’re calling it the “Cyberpunk Baroque Ball” and we’re encouraging everyone to dress up and have an awesome time. It would be a dream for us to tour the “Cyberpunk Baroque Ball” internationally!

Destroyx: We’re definitely releasing more art and music relating to this album. We’re planning something very different and special and we can’t wait to release to our fans. At the moment we have some incredibly exciting remixes lined up, but I can’t reveal the details just yet. Regarding touring, I think we will be touring USA and Europe late 2008. Hopefully we will do the 2009 festivals in Europe!

KRANK IT UP!
www.angelspit.net
www.myspace.com/krankhaus

Zillo Magazine - http://www.zillo.de/