We
always try to look out for the best upcoming bands at Sludgelord HQ.
A band that stands out from the crowd with their own blend of great
riffs to show the world what they're made of. That happened recently
when I listened to the début album of today's guests.
I
have a feeling that these guys will be everywhere within the
Sludge/Stoner Metal community in the next few months or so. Once the
word gets out at how brilliant their debut album – Origins –
actually is. My
review of the album stated:
“Blacksmoker
is a hard‐rocking Stoner Metal band combining elements of Sludge,
Doom and Hard Rock to their fast and furious angry as hell
sound. Their debut album – Origins – is pure
balls-to‐the‐wall album packed with a ton of great riffs to
knock you the fuck out.
If
you're a fan of Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Baroness and Mastodon then
you're going to be in musical heaven as Blacksmoker take elements of
those great bands and conjure something up that sKll sounds so damn
fresh and original. Blacksmoker add creepy sound‐bytes to their
music which gives Origins a creepy doom and gloom atmosphere which
may have you looking over your shoulder every few minutes or so.”
Germany
has another awesome Sludge/Stoner Metal band to call upon if they
ever decided to take over the Sludge/Stoner Metal world. I wanted to
find out more about from the band that call themselves - BLACKSMOKER
Q1
– Hi guys. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.
Sven:
Hey Steve! Actually pretty cool! Just finished tracking a few vocals
for new a song, I have a cold beverage in front of me and I’m also
wearing no pants.
Marco:
hey, thanks for having here.
Tobi:
I'm fine. Thx for taking the time.
Q2
– Can you tell our readers a brief history of how the band came
about and where it is today.
Sven:
Ok, this could be everything else than brief, heh. Well it pretty
much started with the break up of ELISION (www.elision.de) in the end
of 2010. A very fine band, where I was fortunate enough to rock A
LOT of stages all throughout Europe. I played bass in Elision for
over a decade and Marco on guitar pretty much from the beginning of
the band in 1994. Although it ended with Elision, it was very clear
that we can’t stop making music together. The two of us practically
wrote the last Elision EP on our own. We always enjoyed creating cool
sound together…..especially when cold beverages are involved! We
just wanted to make music from our hearts (which is code for balls of
course). Not that it wasn’t that way with Elision, but as crazy as
we went there on the sound side, we also knew that we have to sort of
work within the genre. Whatever that was, heh.
So
we met, had some beers, started to track some riffs in garageband
and put it together. All sorts of crazy stuff (what eventually
became the song Saturday Destroyer btw). It wasn’t so much
about forming a band as quick as possible. It was really about us,
creating some cool tunes and have a good time while doing it. I mean
we were definitely thinking about the whole band thing, but
without the whole gigs-labels-promo-studio-merch-press-affair.
The feeling of starting something new and from scratch was (at least
to me) kinda scary in the beginning, but turned out to be quite
the opposite. It felt exciting as hell,but we still had no clue
what we actually want to do.
Then
was the question about a singer. Do we need one? Who could it be? In
Elision I did a lot of backup vocals and I actually started as a
„singer“ way back in the good old classic hardcore times. I
didn’t want to scream again, but I also knew that I’m definitely
no Freddy Mercury. In end though I accepted the challenge and it took
about a year to figure out what I could do with the vocals. I still
have actually no clue, but at least I now know the sort of way I need
to go and I’m just taking the path in front of me now.
Also
the whole deal with playing an instrument and sing at the same time
didn’t came natural to me. Some „Heys and Yeahs“ sure, but a
whole song was a whole different thing. So while we figured that
out, we continued to write songs and at some point, starting to look
for a drummer, who could actually play all our crazy midi shit.
Luckily
enough we found Tobi! He has also a very long background playing in
bands and also has his own little recording studio. Apart from him
being a wonderful dude and an awesome drummer, he’s also actually a
badass guitar player. It was pretty much love on first sight and
that’s how this whole monster was born.
Marco:
Sven pretty much already said how it all happened. I just have to add
that Tobi is also playing drums in an awesome band called HELLBOUND!
Q3
– How would yourselves describe your music as you have a lot of
different sounds going on.
Sven:
Heh, well…it’s always hard to find the right „drawer“ for a
specific genre and to be honest, we’re not huge fans of being
labeled this and that. It actually took us a long time to filter and
find what we actually want to do…were we felt the most when we
played it. Around 2,5 years to be honest. We started out with the
idea of being a classic stoner band, but soon kinda got bored. It
felt a bit like „more of the same“. So in the end, we just
concentrated on what really felt right to us, disregarding any limits
of defined genres. I think it’s obvious that we all love bands
like Entombed, Black Sabbath, Mastodon, High on Fire or Red Fang.
Bottom line is, we wanted to make music where it feels good to chuck
a beer, have a good time and rock the fuck out!
Marco:
it`s just a mix of different kinds of music that we all like. Could
be a punksong tomorrow or a doom song the day after. Nobody knows
what`s next. It’s always depending on how we feel or connect to
music by the time when we write a song.
Q4
– Why did you choose the name Blacksmoker. Where did it come from
Marco:
Sven and me wrote down a bunch of ideas for a bandname. I had that
record called “ black smoker” from a german band called SYSTRAL.
We both seemed to like it and made just one word out of it
“BLACKSMOKER”.
Sven:
We tried to kinda put a face to our music and a mean as fuck
underwater vulcano seemed very appropriate. It’s also more of a
character to us. We’ll play a lot more with that theme then future.
Q5
– You're new album – Origins -‐ has been released. Can you
tell us what the album is all about.
Sven:
To me personally it’s our real first outing as a band. Although
we’re a little bit over three years together now, this really is
the first answer to the question that haunted us ever since we
started the band: What is Blacksmoker? Hence the name: Origins. We
played of course shows before as Blacksmoker, but it was only in the
last year were we really felt like we fine-‐tuned our
„frequencies“ to a degree were we all three just have a huge
smile in our faces when we play our stuff. Maybe I’m a bit old
school in that regard, but I think you have to play your shit live on
stage in order to really form a song. If it still kicks you in the
balls after playing it a hundred times, then you are in a good place.
Q6
– Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for.
Sven:
That’s a mixed bag to be honest. As I explained earlier, the hard
part was our journey to find our „sound“ and create something
with soul and balls. Due to time constraints and a lot of other
„variables“ it took us a year to finish the record though.
Something we really don’t want to do again, but in the end it was
worth it I guess. I filed it under birth pangs.
Marco:
The recording wasn’t that easy, `cause it took us forever to get it
done. That is the disadvantage of doing everything D.I.Y. -‐
nobody tells you where to stop. But in the end I think everybody is
very happy with the result. Thanks to HOMBRE for the months of mixing
btw.
Tobi:
The writing wasn't that difficult, because we already had all songs
99% completed, before we started to record. The recordings took a
long time because we had no pressure, no deadline and we recorded at
the Blank Disc Studio, which belongs to me ;-‐) So we wanted
it to be perfect. Thanks to Hombre (mix) and Role (master) we got an
awesome result!
Q7
– Which bands and artists influenced you all as musicians.
Sven:
A lot of them. I think, when you’re a person who likes to be
creative, everything that touches you leaves a little mark. In that
department I’d say definitely GWAR, NEUROSIS, BOTCH and MASTODON
on my part. I have this „rule“ that when music is able to reach
me and makes me feel it… I like it. No matter where it comes from.
When I throw together a playlist, there is a good chance to find Led
Zeppelin next to Slayer or some good old southern soul followed by
Cephalic Carnage, DIO and Dillinger Escape Plan.
Marco:
For me it`s also no particular kind of of music that I prefer. I
listen to a lot of punkrock, but grew up with Black Sabbath and
Maiden. I also like a lot of stuff like Young Widows, Akimbo,
Russian Circles, The Jesus Lizard and that kind of noisy stuff.
Tobi:
Tobi: I started with some classic metal: Helloween, Running Wild and
Iron Maiden. Later on it was a bit more chaoHc bands that gained my
interest such as Morbid Angel, Emperor or Nasum. I'm also into bands
like High On Fire, The Sword and Electric Wizard, but biggest impact
on my drumming is Entombed, Kyuss and Black Sabbath.
Q8
– How did you all became involved with music.
Sven:
My parents had a huge vinyl collection when I was a small kid. I had
no clue what those „things“ were, but I was mesmerized by the
beauty of those covers. I still remember this Boston record. It had a
huge UFO on it and that’s pretty much how it started for me with
finding a relationship to music. My first time on stage was with 15
and that’s also when the whole hardcore / punk scene grabbed me.
Marco:
I just liked music in general. Grew up with the typical stuff in the
80s, but once I heard Sabbath, Maiden and Motörhead all the other
stuff was gone. Years later I was watching a Santa Cruz Skateboard
video with some friends that I was skating with. I heard Black Flag
and Dinosaur jr., and that brought something completely new to my
life.
Tobi:
I started playing keyboard and took lessons for years, but I've been
listening to Heavy Metal, so I wanted to play that kind of music! I
quit playing the keys and made some money at a vacation job to get my
first electrical guitar. From that point on I was lost.
Q9
– What is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group
collective or down to one individual.
Sven:
That’s actually the coolest part about this band. We all write riffs
or sketch up songs. Record stuff at home and share it, add stuff
and play around with it. So when we enter the practice room together
every week, everybody has a rough idea about what we’re going to
work on. That’s also were we actually disassemble everything again
and build it back together into something we all feel and like. The
majority of riffs is definitely coming from Marco though. He’s a
maniac!
Marco:
Like Sven said, I am bringing most of the songs and riffs in the
band, which doesn’t mean, that I Tell people what they have to
play. I make suggestions of songs that could be made, what happens
after, is completely in the collective hands of the band and doesn’t
have to be like the version that I first recorded. That goes the
same way with the songs of the other guys.
Q10
– How big of a help has BandCamp in promoting your music.
Sven:
I think BandCamp is an awesome platform. We haven’t even started to
send around promos to the media in order to get maybe some coverage,
yet awesome mags like you guys found us and picked us up. It has
never been so easy to get your music out there and around the globe.
On the other hand it also makes it a lot harder to stand out in an
avalanche of great or not so great music. So it’s kind of a curse
and blessing at the same time. We are super happy though with the
possibilities we have on BandCamp. We agreed from the start, that
we’d like to give the digital version of the album out for free.
Much to our surprise people left us some money anyways. That’s just
great and also shows that there is still a lot of appreciation for
the value of good music.
Marco:
I think BandCamp is a real good thing. I`d rather give my music for
free in in a good quality, before somebody is loading it up for free
in a shitty quality. I have more satisfaction in 10 people listening
to our stuff for free, than in 1 dude buying our record.
Tobi:
I don't want to make money with my music - I want it to be
heard! BandCamp helps to implement that.
Q11
– I have been asked by a few fans of the blog if the album will be
released on physical format of any kind. If so can you please provide
any details.
Sven:
We do have a sweet collectors box made out of wood available. It
comes with a sticker, patch, button…oh and even a CD! Available via
BandCamp. We still have some left, so grab them while they are hot!
It’s also very likely that we’re gonna have nice vinyl by the end
of the year! We keep you posted!
Q12
– Germany is starting to provide the Sludge/Stoner Metal world with
some great bands to check out. Bands such as yourselves, WALL, The
Moth, Aleph Null, Amber, MANTAR, Orcus Chylde and Motherslug to name
but a few. What is the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal Scene currently like
in Germany. Do you perform regular gigs or do you have to travel
further afield when performing live.
Sven:
The scene is very healthy and pretty awesome to be honest. Especially
when it comes to festivals and open airs. There are quite a lot of
them in very nice locations, all sort of dedicated to that type of
sound. Good thing is that they are not massively big, so every time
it’s more like a family camping trip with a lot of awesome people.
For now we kept our shows more or less in the bavarian area, but that
was mostly due to the fact, that except for shirts we didn’t have
anything to offer that actually has our music on. There is always a
place for good music. I won’t lie, it’s never easy, but from my
gut I’d say Germany is in pre2y solid shape when it comes to that
scene.
Marco:
We have a lot of great German sludge, doom, whatever bands. One of
them is the just finalized OMEGA MASSIF, who are good friends of us
and we also shared our rehearsal room together with for years.
There`s a lot of great underground music in Germany. Metal or not.
Q13
- What is your musical set-‐up when playing live or
recording your music. Any hints and tips would you like to give to
the budding musicians out there.
Sven:
I play a Marshall VBA 400 with custom tubes, 8x10 Ampeg cabinet,
Xotic BB Preamp and my trusty Fender Jazz bass. As for Tipps I would
say no matter what you play, make sure you’re tight as a band. No
matter how shitty the venue or your equipment is, if you’re tight,
you’ll rock it.
Marco:
I play a Blackstar and a Laney top, along with different guitars.
The recordings were all done with some of Tobi`s Laneys and Oranges.
The tone lies in your fingers, expensive amps don`t bring them.
Tobi:
My preferred shells-‐sizes are 24“ for Bassdrum, 13“ Tom,
16“ & 18“ Floortoms. The Snare I use is an old Pearl Free
Floating 14“x8“ with a Brass Shell. My cymbals are a 15“ Hihat,
18“ & 20“ Crashes and a 24“ Ride.
Q14
– If you could change anything within the Hard Rock/Metal scene.
What would it be and why.
Sven:
I think compared to a lot of other scenes, the Hard Rock/Metal
department is just doing fine. It still surprises me how open
hearted the metal scene actually is. People come to shows for the
music and not to compare their newest sneakers, haircuts or shitty
kung fu moves. Evil lurks of course in every scene and most of the
time when a lot of money is involved. Well, but that’s something we
are not a part of -‐ so I really can’t tell. ;)
Q15
– What is your favourite song off the album and why.
Sven:
Dude, that’s like asking who’s your favorite child?! Really can’t
tell. Every song has it’s own little story and iterations. I’m
just super happy with every single one of them.
Q16
– What is your favourite format to listen to music.
MP3/CD/Cassette/Vinyl and the reasons why.
Sven:
I like vinyl a lot and just recently started to collect again. When
it comes to listening to music I’m more practical since I like to
have everything organized in one place, so when it comes to listening
I’d say CD/MP3. Nothing under 320 kb though, cuz that’s just
crap.
Tobi:
The most music I listen to is in my car from CD's, because nothing
else works in my car radio. I prefer vinyl though, because you must
take some time and really listen to the music.
Q17
– If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start a band.
What would it be.
Sven:
I’d like to say this in the words of Clutch: if you’re gonna do
it, do it live on stage or don’t do it at all!
Marco:
Don`t listen to what people say. Play what you want. If you don`t
have fun doing it, better go to the tennis court.
Tobi:
Have fun making music and let it flow!
Q18
– What are your thoughts of the entire crowd-‐funding scene.
It seems to have it's defenders and people think it's a waste of Zme.
Would yourselves ever participate in a crowd-‐funding project.
Sven:
The last crowd funded project that I saw was a bowl of potato salad,
so you could say it got a little bit out of hand haha. I think there
some projects were it really makes sense like for instance in the
videogame industry, where it helps a lot of indy developers to get
their baby out. When it comes to music I think it’s super tough to
get money as an unknown artist for whatever and if you’re a known
artist, well then I guess you’re not very much depended on crowd
funded actions. I wouldn’t say it’s a waste of time, but
certainly nothing we would rely on for instance.
Q19
– The last thing before you go, Do you have anything else to say to
your fans.
Marco:
If you guys like what we do, get in contact with us! Download the
album, book a show and have a fun night with us, supporting
underground music. If we have time, we will be there to rock and have
a drink with you. Thanks for having an interest in us!
Sven:
Well, foremost I’d like to throw out a big THANKS for welcoming us
with such open arms and hearts! It’s a pretty awesome feeling when
other people seem to like the stuff we do, cuz we love it too!
Hopefully you will hear a lot more from us in the future! Thanks
again and spread the word! The mighty Blacksmoker is now
unleashed….and thirsty! ;)
Tobi:
Thanks for your support so far and stay tuned for some more
BLACKSMOKER stuff!
Well
guys thanks for doing this. All the best with the new album.
Check
The Band From Links Below
Written by Steve Howe
