VAMPIRE FREAKS INTERVIEWS ANGELSPIT

When i start with lyrics, the direction of the song’s mood and direction is focused.

It’s as if the music grows around the soul of the lyrics. The layers of electronics are like the armour and weaponry.

What’s crazy is that once the song is released, the audience gives it a spirit…a song needs to be heard for it to come alive. People attach memories and feelings to songs…hence the songs grow and become beings of their own.

Define the cyborg of CULT OF FAKE?

Cyberpunk steel skeleton, electro dance skin. Harsh industrial armour.

This beastie is build to destroy dance floors.

Apart from Chicago being the place to record CULT OF FAKE did the city influence the music or lyrics in any way?

Definitely. The Chicago’s brush stroke is all over this!

The winters here are a great time to focus on writing…as there’s not much else you can do during a Chicago winter besides work on art and music.

The gap between wealthy and poverty is only a few streets wide. Chicago’s violence and crime is a reality check, it reminded me that I have a responsibility to “keep it real”.

CULT OF FAKE is in your face yet completely inspirational, its an evolution of Angelspit but yet it still stays true to the Krankhaus days.  How do you evolve but yet stay true to that Angelspit sound and how can you be so in your face but yet inspire people to make music which after hearing CULT OF FAKE is something that you want to try and do?

I used samples and sounds from the early albums – so Cult Of Fake is “sonically familiar”. Angelspit always uses a wall of dark, brooding music behind the cacophony, which is also instantly recognizable. Once i have these elements, I laid down big slamming beats and bass lines with a dance music production mindset – which is something I have never done before. This results in a sound which is the same as the older albums…but different.

Did you have any crazy ideas for Cult Of Fake that didn’t actually happen or any that got crazier as they went along?

The lyrics. I wanted them to be in-your-face, and the more I worked on the album, the more viscous they became. I got a lot of inspiration from watching Fox news…the bullshit they force on people is horrific.

Our society is clogged with fear, paranoia and guilt…yet we have absolutely no reason to feel this. This feeling of dread keeps us in-check and under control. We fear doing anything outside the norm.

Sure, “the government” might be herding us…but I think we want to be herded, as a life without decisions and responsibility is encouraged – all we need to worry about is what re-runs we’ll be watching on Netflix.

Why did you try and make Cult Of Fake as pop as possible before you injected the razorblades in there?

I love pop music! It takes great skill to write a solid pop song. I have always wondered how it would sound if you used this skill for evil, and created a slick, polished, catchy song about something terrifying.

I always start with the razor blades, then I pour thick candy over them!

Sometimes life is a battle, sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.  Is there any point in life or in Angelspit’s music where you have walked into a battle you know you cannot loose but yet its has drained you of everything you have inside?

Every battle I walk into is a battle I can not win. It’s not about winning, it’s about making the most of it, it’s about exuding ROCK and positivity.

…but that’s life…right?

One of the greatest and memorable interviews of my career so far was in fact with you, it was in some part scary but yet you truly showed the true affection you have for your fans on that night.  The night in questions stays with me and probably you too.  It was about 5 years ago in Manchester in the UK and as the city rioted you gave an amazing show but you would not let your fans leave until you knew they would be safe which was about 4am.  What are your memories of that night?

I remember the look in people’s eyes. I remember how our Nicco (my dear friend and tour security) was genuinely concerned – and he had just got back from a tour in Afghanistan.

I remember how the audience were THERE. It was a moment when the lyrics and aggression in the music were amplified by the situation. We were united.

I remember the look in the eyes of the rioters. Many were as young as 12. They were full of hate and excitement….as this was their moment. Their frustration and boredom had exploded. They had the myth of wealth and riches rammed down their throats, and they were spewing it back onto the streets.

That night i realized Angelspit is important. The lyrics, the music, the tribe we have built up. I must never water down the massage or drive.

We are in this together.

People will often ask about the origins of Angelspit in interviews, no not me.  Look to the future, how do you think the story of Angelspit will end?

Angelspit will end when I work myself to death and drop dead of a heart attack. I have stopped drinking coffee, I eat healthy, I workout regularly…so this won’t happen for a long time…!

I do not understand this world. I do not understand mainstream humans. I have a feeling many people reading this can relate…which is why we call ourselves “alternative”. Angelspit is my interpreting tool to help me make sense of all this. Angelspit helps me find others who are in the same boat.

Technology, money and greed are the driving forces of this world some feel.  If the world became void of money and technology do you think you could live and survive in that world?

The problem is greed and need to manipulate. Some people take “survival of the fittest” to an extreme and use it as an excuse to destroy others. Ironic how it has become a dogmatic religious doctrine.

We need technology. It is in our programming to build, modify, create, expand. We have always built tools – whether it was a stone axe or a communications satellite. When the need to “expand and explore” gets out of control, we distort them into “conquer and enslave”.

Once we called it sin, now we call it career ambition.

Australia lays in your past, is there anything you truly miss about it?

Everything. The food. The accents – The way people go up at the end of their sentences, as if they are asking a question. Australia very multicultural.

My parents live in a dream house in the mountains. Their house is powered by solar power and they drink rain water. The land in front of their house is full of wallabies, parrots and beautiful ancient trees. I miss the smell of summer in Sydney, and the way the rain smells so sweet. I miss terrifying hail storms. I love how Australia is a drug – if used in small doses it is a powerful medicine, but too much will kill you.

There is a connection with the Earth. It is Majik.

Many people leave their country of birth to start a new life in a new place, what was the hardest part of doing it for you?

Looking at myself and figuring out what is baggage, and how to get rid of it. It’s hard trying to fit into a new culture that you don’t understand (especially the humour). Being labelled as “the Australian guy”. Being reminded I am a foreigner every time you open your mouth and someone asks “Are you from England?”. Feeling alone, and that no one truly gets you.

I love America. I love Chicago. I especially love the immigrants of America. I love to talk to other immigrants about their experiences and how America is so wonderfully different.

A major difference between America and Australia is that in Australia my close circle of friends where from all over the world – India, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Poland, Lebanon, Croatia, Greece, Italy…all of us had an accent and our skin was represented the diversity of our planet.

Some were rich, some were poor…but it didn’t matter. God damn we used to have EPIC bar-b-ques.

In America, most of my friends are “white” with high paying jobs. It is difficult to meet people outside this demographic.

They say that anyone with a computer or tablet can be a DJ these days, now I disagree because just because I don’t cart around cases of CDs or vinyl any more doesn’t mean I lack skill.  To me it just means technology has made carting my equipment around easier but I feel I still retain my skills that I learnt when I was growing up with music as I still need to mix right to be any good.  What are your views on this subject?

Technology is great because it puts tools in everyone’s hands. Making music was very expensive when I first started. Now it’s virtually free, anyone can do it. Now everyone has the opportunity to express themselves.

Music teaches us that “if first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”…and it is a very important lesson of discipline and tenacity.

This lesson can be applied to all areas of life.

You inspire people in so so many ways and you always have, so please tell us something truly inspirational.

In 2 years time, you will release an album that will be amazing. It will be a new sound, a fresh sound, YOUR sound. Nothing can stop you – Start it now !

Thank you so much for giving Vampire Freaks this interview, any final thoughts?

We need to remove “baby bats” from our vocabulary. We need to embrace all other alternative subcultures as our kin. They are also disillusioned and outcast from the world. They are also inspired by the original spirit of punk. I am talking about the metal heads, the Juggellos, the Emos, the Furries. We are related. “Goth” is just one branch of a beautiful tree. We need to celebrate together.

Final plug: we have launched a Patreon where backers will see us push the limits. New music, new blipverts, plus we will be experiment with live streaming. This will be awesome! Details here:

https://www.patreon.com/angelspit