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| Fehler 2012
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Fehler are a band I discovered through my contact with one of our dedicated readers (You're all great BTW), Markku, who kindly pointed me to their website. After a brief exchange on facebook, Fehler kindly sent me their record to review and little did I know but Fehler are also signed to Hammerheart Records, who also released the brilliant 2nd full Length by SardoniS.
Anyhow, following the awesome review of Dissona by our newest scribe, John Slaymaker, which you can read here. I contacted the band to see if they would be interested in answering some questions. Unfortunately for Demian (haha), he drew the short straw and kindly agreed to answer my questions. So, here is my interview with Fehler. Enjoy!
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| Dissona Album Release Show |
Hey Demian, How are you? I appreciate you taking the time to talk to
talk to us, here at the Sludgelord.
Q) Where are you guys at the moment and what are you doing, in terms of
the band at the present, having released you new record, Dissona on Hammerheart
records?
A) Thanks for taking
interest! Well, this week we´re playing two gigs with the likes of Manatees, a
UK sludge/postcore band. Aside from that we´ve had a short string of gigs
around the time of the release of ´Dissona´ but it has been pretty quiet since.
As far as the promotion of ‘Dissona’ , we did a couple of interviews and
received some favourable reviews in online and printed press, mainly in The
Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
But to be honest, I
would lie if I would say that ‘Dissona’ is receiving enough attention.
Q). I’m a big fan of your band and your latest record, however for those
people who are unfamiliar with your music, can you tell me little a bit about the
history of the band and some of the bands you've played with? Where you’re from?
When Fehler first formed? Current band members?
A) We
started out as a 4-piece band at the end of 2007 and recorded a demo CD. Then
we parted ways with the vocalist (Tim) and continued as a 3-piece: Freek
(bass/vocals), Ruud (drums) and me (guitar). In this formation we recorded the
‘Adharma’ EP (2009).
Feeling
that we needed to be able to handle more intricate guitar parts and to increase
our dynamic range we asked Twan (guitar) to join us. But the funny thing was
that when he was with the band for just a couple of weeks, he got invited to
play with Legion Of The Damned, which is a band that plays pretty big tours and
festivals. So at the same time he had to get familiar with the entire back
catalogue of two bands. I think his fingertips can tell you the rest of the
story.
Through
all these years we’ve been lucky to land some cool gigs. To name a few, we’ve
played with Amenra, Kruger, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Kickback, Minsk, A Storm
Of Light, Black Breath, Misery Index, Kylesa, Red Fang and Coffins.
Q). Is Fehler a full time project, or do you have other bands?
A) No, not at all. We
all play in other bands, some of which require far more time and energy than
Fehler. Especially Twan, who has to put a lot of time into Legion and also
plays drums in Bunkur (drone/doom metal). And then we have Freek who’s also
playing in a ‘80’s hardcore band called Sex Drive. Ruud is playing drums in
Razorblade, a very productive punk band. And I am playing in Terzij de Horde, a
black metal collective.
Q) What made you start the band? Did you all know each other before
you formed?
A) To speak for myself,
I was really looking to start playing with people from outside my usual network
of friends. I´ve always been in bands with people I knew very well and despite
the fact that it’s loads of fun to play with friends, it can become difficult
to seriously criticize each other. Or to think outside the box just because
you’re trapped by the habits of those people you´ve always played with.
So eventually we
ended up meeting each other through the classifieds section on www.asice.net which is (was actually, as of
last month)a Dutch punk/hardcore e-zine. The first band meeting took place at a
High On Fire show at 013 in Tilburg. Still one of the loudest shows I ever
attended.
Q) Probably a stupid question, but are you or would you like to be full
time musicians?
A) The idea of becoming
a full-time musician has always been very appealing to me but to be honest, I
think such a profession would get very tedious and in the end, even killing creativity.
In my opinion music is an outlet for creative and physical energy to flow, but
this energy has to come from some place. So to be constantly involved with
music actually defies its purpose. Or maybe this is just my lack of talent and
persistence theorizing.
But if someone would
gladly indulge in this then it would most definitely be Twan.
Q) Are you big fans of rock/metal, if so what are you listening too at
the moment?
A) Well, I just had a
conversation with Twan about this and we came to realize that we´re both slowly
moving away from metal. That is, it´ll always be a part of our musical diet,
but in the last few years so many other genres have creeped their way into our
playlists.
I think that as you
progress in life you´ll automatically seek out music that resonates with your
current state of mind. In doing so it´s pretty natural that you´ll be keep
adding things to the mix.
But I’ve noticed that
you´ll always keep cherishing the records that started it all (and I
shamelessly claim Pearl Jam – Ten for that matter haha) and strangely enough,
again and again it goes to show that those records suffer very little from the
ravages of time. Like it’s hardwired into your brain to keep responding to them
like every time is the first time you’re spinning the record.
And to answer the
last part of the question, Twan and I were actually discussing The Twilight
Singers, and especially the latest record Dynamite Steps when we came to the
subject mentioned above. Great record!
Actually, there
aren’t many new heavier/extremer albums that are really sticking to my brain.
But I do remember liking the Tempest – Solace 7” very much, as well as the Thou
– Summit LP.
In addition to that, for
the last few months I find myself resorting to some long-time favorites like
Songs:Ohia, 16 Horsepower and Dinosaur Jr.
A) As with any new band:
putting out records, playing cool gigs, putting out better records, playing
cooler gigs etc... We´re aware that being far removed from the mainstream means
that there´s a limit to this ´growth´ but since we´re all motivated to go on,
it must mean that we feel that there´s enough room left for improvement.
All in all we´re undoubtedly
motivated by the same ideals: playing live, creating music that matters and keeping
the financial damage bearable.
Q) If someone was unfamiliar with your band, how would you describe your
sound? Has it evolved because I have only heard your latest album?
A) That´s
normally the question I´ll gladly pass on to the other dudes in Fehler. I feel
that I always fall short in describing the sound, only coming up with tags like
sludge, Crowbar, Entombed and Cursed. I think one of the major hallmarks of our
sound is, and will always be, variety. We´re
drawn towards dynamic and elaborate guitar tapestries but we want to keep a
strong edge to it. Like a swiss army knife we want to be cutting edge
but in as many ways as possible. I
think that will be clearly the objective of the coming record.
And as
far as the musical progression goes, the new material will obviously involve
more songs that are arranged with two guitars in mind. On Dissona, a couple of
songs already feature guitar parts that play off of each other, but pretty much
half of the record was already set in stone when Twan joined us, limiting room
for fully integrated guitar layering.
So, at the moment
we´re developing the first new ideas since recording ´Dissona´ and it´s
immediately noticeable that we´ve completely departed from the blueprint we set
out for us when creating the demo CD and ´Adharma´ EP. Most of the time we just
start out jamming, Twan often lays down a riff which Freek and Ruud fill out
with bass and drums. Then I’ll be adding the complementary guitar parts. For me
it’s a total reversal of how thing go in the creative process because I don’t
have to come up with the ‘groundwork’ riffs anymore and instead, am able to
contribute in a more reactive way.
A) There´s not much to
it, we just had a hard time coming up with an English name, so we took up the
German dictionary haha. ´Fehler´ has a nice ring to it and represents a kind of
general framework to fit our lyrics in.
And of course there
will always be other acts bearing the same name, I also recall seeing an
acoustic singer-songwriter called Emily Fehler, but I don’t think we will be in
each other’s way .
Q) What is the scene like in your
hometown?
A) I’m happy to say that
in Utrecht, where I come from, we have a couple of venues that are booking good
bands and are very supportive of new initiatives.
For example, together
with my other band Terzij de Horde we organize a monthly evening of
black/doom/drone under the moniker ‘Footprints In The Void’. And thanks to the venue
dB’s for helping to facilitate this project we’ve managed to make it pretty
successful already, drawing regular crowds of people that are attending the
evenings regardless of knowing any of the bands that are playing.
On the downside
however, the Dutch crowd is used to an abundance of shows that are just within
30 minutes travelling and therefore, they tend to get very selective. So that
makes it hard for those new initiatives to survive.
Q) Would you consider yourselves to be an underground band? If so, is it a struggle and is their great
camaraderie within the scene in the Netherlands?
A) The scene is pretty
small. When you’ll be playing in a band like Fehler you’ll most likely know any
of the other bands in The Netherlands operating in the same genre. And you’ll
be fighting for the same gigs much of the time.
Q) What are your views of blogs
such as the Sludgelord reviewing your records, as opposed to mainstream music
magazines? Has your music reached the mainstream mags, at home or around
the world?
A) I get most of the new
bands I listen to from blogs, so more power to them. I really like DIY
aesthetic and that bloggers, writing on their own or in small collectives, are
able to establish a strong personal signature. It really shows their love for
music, which is often compromised in the bigger, more mainstream music magazines.
I think most of the
reviews for our records come from blogs although we do get a fair bit of
attention in some Dutch printed magazines(e.g.
De Aardschok). But unfortunately no Metal Hammer, Decibel or Terrorizer
yet. Would be cool though.
Q) Does it surprise you when people buy your music and merch?
A) Yes indeed! It keeps
suprising me. Actually, I see it as the most undistorted act of acknowledgement.
People can tell you that they like your band but when they’re even willing to
spend hard-earned money you’ll know for sure they mean it.
Q) To date the band has released 1 full length album an 1 EP, what are
some of your highlights so far? What are your aspirations for the future?
A) Some of the
highlights were obviously playing with Dillinger Escape Plan, Kylesa, Kickback
and some other bands I mentioned earlier. Aside from that, I remember a quite
memorable gig in De Heksenketel in Roosendaal. The place had a bar that took
most of the space so we ended up playing just in front of the bar and it was so
ridiculously loud. Which was only enhanced by the tiled floors. And we (at
least I was) were so ridiculously drunk. Sweet times.
For the future we
most definitely want to do some small tours around Europe, to begin with, since
we’ve only done some small weekend tours within The Netherlands. But due to
work and other obligations I don’t see Fehler embark on full-blown nightliner
tours. To think of it, the only gig we played abroad was in Antwerpen, Belgium.
This really needs to change haha.
Q) You released this record through Hammerheart records, who have
released other amazing records by Cult of Occult and SardoniS. How do you feel
about the digital era of music and people downloading music for free? You’re
using a band camp page, would you or have you ever considered releasing your
music for free or ‘pay what you like’ to raise the profile of the band?
A) I think you can’t
stop people from downloading so why keep resisting? Things change and I think
musicians and bands will get their chances to adapt to the ever-changing
condition of the music industry. In order to find ways to make their work
profitable they need to stop clutching on to the same old solutions that have
worked before.
But then again, it’s
easy for us to say because we don’t have to make a living out of it. For us,
releasing music for free on bandcamp is just a good way to make promotion. With
the ‘Adharma’ EP we ourselves created a zip file containing all tracks in the
best quality, the artwork and bio, and uploaded it for the blogs to spread it
around. For bands operating in the metal this is a good thing to do because metal
fans are most often very loyal to the bands and many of them tend to be record
collectors. So if they like what they hear, they’ll be buying.
However, with
‘Dissona’ it’ll be a somewhat different story for us because we have our
obligations towards Hammerheart Records. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d
be easily able to find a complete download of it.
Q) Thanks for answering my questions, but one final question, you got
anything you like to say to your fans?
A) You’re welcome, it
was my pleasure! Well, if anybody knows a cool place for us to play please do
get in touch with us!
Official
Store
Bandcamp
Hammerheart Records
Hammerheart Facebook
