Whalerider's
debut album is an intriguing and stunning mix of Sludge, Stoner,
Doom, Ambient, Grunge and Experimental Rock. It's not a straight
forward album by any means. Thanatos is a complex and mysterious
journey you have to fully experience for yourself.
I
said this about their debut album - “Thanatos. The debut
album from Whalerider. A band that have a strange and original sound
all of their own. Whalerider are very much an experimental band as
they play different sounds through the almost 60 minute running time
of their debut album.
Whalerider
describe themselves as an Alternative/Sludge Rock Band. Sure that is
one way to describe them but there is so much more to Whalerider's
sound than that brief description. They also add elements of Grunge,
Hard Rock, Stoner, Doom, Ambient and even Post-Metal on the album for
one crazy complex ride. Whalerider should be applauded for doing
something different with their sound. Thanatas is an outstanding
debut album. Whalerider are a band to keep an eye on in the future.”
Whalerider
have kindly agreed to do an interview with ourselves. So lets see
what they have to say.
Q1
– Hi guys. How are things with you all today.
SAHBA
: Everything is cool, I just went to an ENT-physician today, the
first thing what she said to
me
was that long beards were quite „in“ and popular....but only in
the 70ies.
Q2
– Can you give a brief history to our readers of how the band came
about and where it is today.
SAHBA
: Phheeeew, I'd say that everything went down the usual way. One goes
to concerts, you get to know each other and then you build up a band
which is based on a corporate level and vision. It took a bit of time
till we all found our musical identity and our way of exploring how
we work each other best.
PATRICK
: We played festivals, experienced many cool shows with cool bands.
The joy of making music with the band is still high.
MAX
: As a result of being completely D.I.Y, we are now much smarter and
more experienced than in the beginning.
Q3
– Why did you choose the name Whalerider. Any specific meaning to
the band.
MAX
: The name refers to the New Zealand movie Whale Rider. The film is
about traditions and how you can even break them. We do have a
similar motive in our music and in the band.
Q4
– How would you describe your own sound. As I feel it's best coming
from the band themselves. Plus you have tons of different vibes going
on.
SAHBA
: Rock in the broadest sense ? We stopped thinking in genres at one
point and we didn't want to feel the pressure or the need to belong
to one genre or scene or to care what people think of our music or
which expectations certain scenes or people might have. We write
songs which feel most exciting for us and if a grunge song uncovers
itself as an alternative song and ends in doom, then that's how it
is... Maybe this explains the different vibes that you mean.
MAX
: Atmospheric, fuzzy, dirty, dark....
PATRICK
: Dreamy ? Heavy, we need the word heavy !
DANIEL
: It's a hybrid of many different genres. Whalerider is not just
another stoner, doom or alternative band. It fuses many different
styles and many kinds of music.
Q5
– We have to talk about your new album – Thanatos - So are you
excited, nervous or thrilled what people are going to make of it.
SAHBA
:We are now very happy to have all the hard work and the physical
product in our hands. The origination process of Thanatos was very
educational for us. One can say that we all grew together as people
and musicians while facing death. I like Thanatos with it's rough
edges, up's and down's. That was the most important thing for all of
us : to make an album where we'll still stand behind in 20 years. And
of course, we're all feeling glad when people like it. We will
surprise ourselves with what Thanatos might bring to us in the near
future. The good thing with a debut record is that you do not need to
fulfill certain expectations.
Q6
– Was it a hard or easy album to write and record for. As it's a
complex and progressive album which I didn't expect at all.
SAHBA
: Well, to be honest, recording sessions were already finished 'till
we realized, that we all wanted more than just another solid rock
album. We wanted more depth and variety. We wanted to make an album
that is like an adventurous journey. A trip through every state of
mind. So, we all sat down again and started to experiment with the
songs but without any kinds of strain and without any thoughts of
crossing borders of genres or if we all have to fulfill any hopes.
DANIEL
: As Sahba already said above, we all learned a lot during the
recording process. We all grew up in certain senses during the
recording sessions for Thanatos. It was not an easy record to make
and it took quite a long time to finish it, but if you have high
expectations on yourself, you need to fulfill them. Thank God that we
didn't shelter. We started pre-producing the record in September
2012, a very dark time of my life but even that time inspired me and
I put a lot of strength, blood, sweat and tears into the record to
make the drum sound as good and the drumming as interesting as
possible. Needless to say that the other guys made the same as well!
For example, they nearly spent 4 months for polishing the songs....
Q7
– What influenced you when writing and recording the album.
SAHBA:
Everything influences us. A conversation with a certain person can
end up in song like the records that we all like to listen to. Even
films and books inspire us. Max works in a psychiatric hospital and
processes the absurdity, the actions and the obscence into our songs.
Q8
– Why did you choose the name Thanatos for the title of your album.
Does it have any specific meaning to you as a band.
DANIEL
: We all gave some thoughts during the pre-production about the
artwork and title of the record. Sahba worked on a graphic for a
BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS album at that time, an illustration with a grim
reaper who stands on the surface of the moon. B.SON decided not to
use it and Sahba made the suggestion that we could use it for our own
record. I looked for names for the grim reaper, Google is like our
everyday friend, you know? And then one word appeared : Thanatos. I
liked the sound of the word, it sounds very mystical, dark and
menacing. I suggested it and the guys liked it. We didn't use the
artwork anyway, you can now see the graphic on WALL's self-titled
record.
Q9
– Who designed the fantastic album cover. It perfectly captures the
mood of the album and how much input did you have into the overall
design of the album cover.
SAHBA
: The album cover was completely designed by Lars Henkel, who is one
of my heroes when it comes to illustrations and who has one of the
big names in Germany's „land of art“. He is incredibly talented.
I first stumbled over his name in 2008 through the B.SON &
Crowskin SPLIT LP where he made the artwork. I can still remember how
nervous and jittery I was when I asked him if he wants to do the
artwork for Thanatos. I still hold on to the opinion that no one is
more able to visually capture the mood for the record than Lars
Henkel. There were no instructions. We trust him 100%. Needless to say the he is also a really great guy. I love you
Lars !!!
Q10
– Which bands and artists influenced you all as musicians. Any
particular album that stands out that made you decide to become a
musician.
SAHBA
: I grew up with Punk and Hardcore, stuff like the Descendants,
Bl'ast, Circle Jerks and noisy stuff like Unsane, Ulme, Helmet and
Jawbox. I still like to listen to Indie Rock today. I incredibly love
The Breeders ! They had a huge influence on me. Then I discovered
classic rock music for me. I started listening to ZZ-Top's Degüello
and Deep Purple's Machine Head endlessly. And I think without Tom
Petty's Into the Great Wide Open and Soudgarden's Badmotorfinger, my
life would have taken a different direction....
MAX
: I grew up with David Bowie, Beatles and Kraftwerk and I grew, from
a musician's point of view, with stuff like Tool, Radiohead and Nine
Inch Nails. There wasn't a certain record that changed everything, it
was my older brother who gave a bass guitar to me and wished me a
certain amount of fun – that was the beginning of the noisy time.
PATRICK
: I discovered music quite lately and after some lovely affairs with
the Foo Fighters and QOTSA, I enjoyed listening to Post-Hardcore and
Math-Rock stuff. The Fall of Troy (especially the Doppelgänger
record), Tera Melos and Minus the Bear influenced me and the sound
that I'm struggling for.
DANIEL
: The song that changed my whole life was Another Day In Paradise by
Phil Collins. I can still remember the day when I went shopping with
my parents and I wanted that 7“ vinyl. Jeez, I was two years old
back then. Phil is my idol when it comes to drumming. He was an
incredible drummer, listen to Brand X if you don't believe me!
Shortly after Another Day... I started to discover Genesis, my
favourite band of all time. I got The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway as
an easter bunny present with four years I think, definitely my
favourite record of all time. I also like to listen to bands like Led
Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or Deep Purple, real classic rock stuff. Another
Top 3 band of mine is Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson in general is a
true genius when it comes to intelligent and contemporary music. I
also enjoy listening to real 70ies Prog, Krautrock and electronic
music like Plastikman, Leftfield or Underworld. Collecting music is
also a hobby of mine, no matter if it's CD, Vinyl or BlurRay. I'm
really addicted to limited deluxe edition boxes....
Q11
– Your album is being released via DD/CD. Are there any plans to
release this on vinyl in the future.
SAHBA,
Yes, there are plans but we need to finance it on our own because we
work without a label.
DANIEL
: We definitely want to do it. But it really costs us a lot of money
to make the vinyl that we want. Most bands tend to release their
record on wax by all available means, even if there is not much money
on-hand.. As a result, the whole packaging process of a record falls
completely under the table, as the customer only gets a boring slip
case cover, made of thin paper and a vinyl which has some minor flaws
and feels like a frisbee. As always, Whalerider wants to do things
right. The packaging needs to cope with Lars' artwork, you know? We
want to make a thick and heavy gatefold sleeve with printed and
padded inner sleeves and press the music onto 180gramm vinyl with a
few colour options available.
Q12
– Crowdfunding gets bit of a bad reputation at the moment. Where
bands and artists ask people to donate to help fund their latest
musical project. Would you ever go down the crowdfunding route.
SAHBA
: Generally, I wouldn't say no. But it depends on how useful you use
such possibilities. What speaks against the fact that people can have
access to a good project and where bands don't have to go down the
tube because they do not have the moneys? I don't think it's
reprehensible to elude a financial risk and to make a project happen
that wouldn't be possible without the finanicial capabilites.
Q13
– Do you perform regular gigs in your home town. Or do you have to
travel further afield to perform regularly.
MAX
: Mannheim is a very musical town with many different cultures and
subcultures. There is a big Punk and Hardcore scene which has their
festivals. And there is the Mannheimer Brückenaward where Doom, Rock
and Post-Metal is performed live by bands. But there are also
Jazzfestivals like the Enjoy Jazz Festival or the increasingly
popular Pop/Rock festival Maifeld Derby. There are really many
opportunities to present our music, even so many that we decided not
to play in Mannheim that often.
PATRICK
: One can't speak of regular gigs in our hometown. There are bands
who play at least one time per month here and no one wants to go to
any of their shows anymore. That's why we try to stay a bit
“exclusive“ and why we prefer to play shows in the whole country.
We drove 1700km for our five shows in November, which keeps it in
reasonable limits.
Q14
– What is your musical setup when playing live or recording new
material. Do you have an advanced setup or basic setup.
MAX
: We have a basic setup for live shows which fits to the songs. Our
equipment changed a lot since the beginning of the recording sessions
for Thanatos because we experimented a lot with amps and cabinets and
tried a lot of miscellaneous effect pedals. Everything which
influenced the song or made the sound of a song better found the way
in our basic setup. We love effect pedals ! It doesn't necessarily
mean that we hide behind them, the songs were basically written on an
acoustic guitar without any kinds of effects. We'll then look for the
right setup based on the mood of the song and we'll then polish it
during the recordings. It's a continuous process, something that we
will keep in
the future.
PATRICK
: Concerning guitar and bass : we all like old vintage tube amps
(Hiwatt, Sovtek, Matamp) whose sound build the basis for everything.
In the studio, Jens, the engineer and co-producer of Thanatos, had
many old Amps available, which we all tried out while looking for the
best sound. The variabilty comes from many effect pedals with way too
huge boards, which take – and strain a lot of space on stages....
During live gigs, we also use a sampler to get as close to the album
sound as possible.
DANIEL
: I don't have a basic setup, I play whatever sounds best for my
taste. I'm really no brandfanboy. I started restoring vintage drums
over the last couple of years and I use a lot of different drums and
snares to get the drum sound that I have in my mind. I'm currently in
love with my old Premier concert tom kit, a real Phil Collins
mock-off set which I completely restored. And I love my old Remo
Encore Acousticon kit. But I played something completely different on
the album sessions though.....
Q15
– What is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it down to one
individual or a group collective.
SAHBA
: It turned out to be productive and practical when I come to the
rehearsal room with song ideas. But that's not the law. Everyone in
the band is allowed to come with ideas. We then decide together if we
want to work on particular songs or ideas. We like to experiment a
lot and we also think about which sound fits best to the song. Many
things occur during the recording process and a lot happens there and
songs can also get a totally different direction. We're very flexible
and very open for a new orientation. Max experimented a lot with
soundscapes in the second recording phase of Thanatos, which gave the
songs a very dark and melancholic feel. Additionally to that, he also
arranged strings and horns which gave a new breath of life to the
album.
Q16
– Apart from the new album release, what other plans do you have
over the next 12 months or so. Anything exciting you would like to
share with us.
SAHBA
: I think we're going to to promote Thanatos in the next couple of
months and we'll play as many shows as possible. And we'll also plan
the next release simultaneously. We're even going to play some new
tunes on the upcoming live shows.
MAX
: To play shows outside Germany is on the top of our to-do list !
Q17
– Do you find it hard being in a band in today's current climate.
If you could change anything about the Stoner/Doom/Sludge Metal
scene. What would it be and why.
SAHBA
: Well, we're not the standard sludge or stoner scene band, even though
we always keep an eye on what happens around us. Nevertheless, I
don't tell anybody what they have to - or should do and what not....
Q18
– With 2014 drawing to a close, what have been your favourite
records this year.
SAHBA:
in no specific order
Blitzen
Trapper - VII
Mutoid
Man - Helium Head
Baptists
- Bloodmines
Nothing
- Guilty of Everything
Bongripper
- Miserable
Guided
by Voices - Cool Planet
RVIVR
- Bicker and Breathe
Andalucía
- There Are Two of Us
Pallbearer
- Foundations of Burden
Tom
Petty & the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
MAX
: In no specific order :
Lalzlo
Lee and the Motherless Children - Dirty Horns
Thom
Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
Arcade
Fire - Reflektor
Karnivool
- Asymmetry
Dot
Legacy - s/t
Archive
- Axiom
PATRICK
: In no specific order :
YOB
- Clearing the Path to Ascend
Kill
it Kid - You Owe Nothing
Blitzen
Trapper - VII
Kamchatka
- The Search Goes On
Tycho
– Awake
Band
of Skulls – Himalayan
DANIEL
: In no specific order :
The
War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream
Swans
– To Be Kind
David
Crosby – Croz
Hans
Zimmer – Interstellar (Soundtrack)
Sun
Kil Moon – Benji
Robert
Plant – Lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar
Aphex
Twin – Syro
Scott
Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused
Birdpen
– In The Company of Imaginary Friends
Q19
– Before you go do you have anything to say to your fans.
SAHBA:
KEEP CALM and BUY MERCH
Thanks
to Whalerider for doing this interview. You can buy Thanatos from
BandCamp now.
Words
by Steve Howe and Whalerider
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