|
Eyes Wide Open is an interesting hardcore
band from Värmland and I was so interested in them so I was "forced " to do
an interview with them .... December. , 2013. It's the singer Patrik who
respond to the interview ...
History?
- Eyes Wide Open started about two years ago. We have previously been
playing in a shitload of other bands , but never really " come home " in the
compositions , and that is precisely why we formed the Eyes Wide Open . The
idea was never that we would bundle the best musicians , but the best people
we could find and it was exactly what we did, in autumn 2011.
In early 2012 we released our EP , " Reveltations " and since then
everything has gone into a crazy fucking pace ! We played on radio stations
around the world, gigs all around the north, has fans in the most obscure
corners of the planet and fans pouring in from all sides .
Tell us about each member, age, family, work, interests and something bad
about every one?
-Vocals - Patrick M. Fahlin :
27 -year-old farmerboy from Karlskoga , newly married and lives in Örebro
with my wife. Other family consisting of a mother and father in Karlskoga ,
and a brother, his girlfriend and three kids in Stockholm . In addition to
the music , I work as jobs and rehabilitation consultant, and lecturer .
Besides music that is my main interest, video games. I have 23 brackets and
a hell of a lot of games . Around 2000 + , I would guess . In addition to
that , I check also way too much movie and series.
Drums - Charles Adamson : 25 years old from Phoenix. Works as a machine
designer . Snowboarding in the winter and fish in the summer. Family
consists of mother, father, sister and girlfriend.
Bass - Jesper Lindgren : 23 years from Karlstad. Lives for the band , video
games, snuff , beer and Manchester United
Guitar - Erik Engstrand:
29 year old beard steak from Kil . Live there with my girlfriend last
several years. I work as an alarm technician for Securitas Direct on
weekdays and playing rock hero on weekends. Throughout my childhood , video
games , movie and sports been big part of my life and the music really came
in recent years.Guitar - Kristofer Strandberg:
25 -year-old music nerd from Karlstad. The family consists of girlfriend in
Norrpan , mother and father in KD and sister on the dance folk high school
in Katrineholm. Outside the EWO I work as a guitar teacher at Study
Promotion . Otherwise, I do some producer job and dream of starting a guitar
website. Good food is not so bad either :)
I understood that you were from Karlstad
and Gothenburg, you stay left of each city , how does it work in blunted
with rope and gigs ?
- Now you've probably got something wrong. It is true that we live in
different cities , and I ( Patrick ) lives in Örebro, Christopher, Charles
and Jesper live in Karlstad and Erik lives in Kil . It's a fucking legwork
back and forth, but we can make it work ! We always keep in touch over eg
phone, email and Facebook on the days we do not rehearse / or doing gigs .
However, I will move towards Karlstad sooner or later.
I think you have splashes of both the Flames and the hardcore ... how you
described otherwise ?
-Nice to hear! Troubled difficult question that is. People usually like to
place us in the tray "modern melodic death metal " or " metalcore " .
Personally , I usually say that we play " metal" , for short. I have never
been so much for all the fucking subcategory and titles , preferring to
classify most of what " metal" and then rather try to explain in more detail
how the music sounds , rather than classify it as " metalcore " or " modern
- melodic -death / thrashcore - whatever " . It sounds so damn silly to me .
But now I chumps again . If I myself would describe the music so I would say
type like this; heavy melodic metal with both growls and clean vocals,
complete with a handful strings and a piano.
What kind of audience you attract to your concerts?
- It's fucking varying indeed! We have everything from kids of 6-7 years of
... let's say ... something more "mature " fans in ages up to 70 bass . And
when I say that I do not mean " ah, it came by any 70 –year old and moaned
over the ' youth of today ' once in a concert ," but I mean real die hard
fans. Fucking fun!
How does it feel to have released new full
length album ? Is it a self- released disc?
- It 's not released just yet , but it feels so damn founded to release it!
We 've worked so damn hard on this album , so it'll be awesome fun to
finally get to see what you all think about it. We are all cruelly satisfied
with our achievements , so now we crave only after getting to get out on the
road with it in the back.
The album is self- released . We have been in dialogue with many record
companies who contacted us , but finally decided to continue work on their
own instead . There are many benefits to having a company in the back, but
there can also be disadvantages . At the stage we are in right now, so it
fits the creative process to control the cabin alone.
Has it entered any reviews yet ? Are they good or bad ?
-I've seen a review yet , and it was in Norwegian and frankly, I did not
really all that was , haha. What I do not understand was that he gave a
rating of 4/6 and that there was a " strong and solid 4th ." These reviews
should start to fall into the accelerating pace now and it'll be a blast to
see what people think !
How do you think this will work to play this kind of music in Sweden today?
-Metal is unfortunately all with severe sold for each year that goes in our
country , but we've had a hell of a float must say. We have found it easy to
get gigs and fan base has grown like mad , but we still have relatively
little fans in Sweden when compared to the rest of the world.
What are the biggest band you played with ?
- It depends on how you look at it : we 've been playing at the same
festival as eg Alice Cooper, Testament , Doro , etc. In addition to
festivals so well it 's probably Lita Ford , what I can think of right now
at least.
If you could choose five bands ( live and dead ) to play a big concert
together with whom would it be?
- Oh fuck , this is impossible! If we are to agree on the band that's it
outright, haha. We have different taste there.
I can drive my top 5 though:
1. Faith No More
2nd Pantera
3rd The Beatles
4th A Perfect Circle
5th Viza
Faith No More is my favorite band , so they are obvious . Pantera holds
place no. 2 on my favorites list and I never got a chance to see them, so
they are also obvious . The Beatles as well.
A Perfect Cricle and Viza are two bands which means hell of a lot to me and
who inspired / inspires me a lot in my artistry, so why do I choose them .
How do you think it is to live in Sweden?
- It all depends on what you compare it with ; , do we compare with Sweden
20 years ago ? If we compare with Syria today? If we compare with how it is
to live in a dying city like Detroit today , or we compare with Switzerland
and Luxembourg? It's all about perspective. I would like to turn the
question a bit and instead asked how it is to live on this planet today ,
but on the other hand, it is probably lucky that the issue was not so , for
then it would follow a 15 page essay below.
Some say that it is the government's "fault"
that there are very angry music ... would you agree with that?
-Should we give the government credit for that we have such good music ?
Fuck that ! Jokes aside ; nja . Angry music is based largely on some form of
dissatisfaction. It may be politics, religion , friends, family , neighbors
, economy , etc. The list goes on . To say that it is " government failure"
is to dumb down something that is much bigger and more complicated than
that. With that , I say , however, that a government can not have anything
to do with it . Quite the opposite ; discontent is often fed in the decision
taken in high places , but " angry music " is not the product of a grievance
still receive a government.
What influences you when you write lyrics , etc?
-I answered a little bit on it already in the question above , but in short
, everything . It can be anything from everyday worries and dissatisfaction
with various situations , to strife in Syria, abusers of power and religious
fanatics. Anything that gives me a reaction - positive or negative -
inspires me to create .
Are there any good bands in Sweden today? In foreign countries?
-Yeah damn , the list can be endless ! In Sweden we have a shitload of great
bands : Ghost , At The Gates , Opeth , Katatonia , Meshuggah , In Flames,
Jeudah , Soilwork , Khoma , etc. Out in the world, it 's almost impossible
to list, but my personal favorite bands live in today, we have Faith No More
, Visa, Wankers of the Zoo Crew, Deftones , Bring Me The Horizon ,
Architects , Periphery , Machine Head , Down , Killswitch Engage , Slipknot
, Tool, Muse, Pearl Jam , Cynic ... well, you see : the list can be endless
!
How would you describe your music in three words?
-Mighty . Melodic . Fearless .
Some releases just their music on iTunes / Spotify
etc. why are you a real disc ( I think this is good because I gather ) ?
- There you have one reason : we like yourself to have a physical plate in
his hand , thinking that maybe there is more ancient fossils beyond us ,
haha. In my world , it's somewhere a bit so that if you have not pushed the
plate up and sold it physically , you have not really released a plate; then
they have released some files online.
You have not done anything more than Aftermath or ?
- Oh, yes ! We released our EP " Revelations " last year.
Please rank your five favorite records, five favorite and five most
important things in life?
Records:
1. Faith No More - King For a Day , Fool For a Lifetime
2nd Faith No More - Angel Dust
3rd Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
4th Viza - Made In Chernobyl
5th Wankers of the Zoo Crew - Modulated Launderings
concerts:
1. Faith No More , Peace & Love in 2009.
2nd Muse , the Royal Court in 2009.
3rd At The Gates , Debaser Medis 2008.
4th Ghost , the Royal Court in 2011.
5th Tool , Metal Town 2006.
Important things in life :
I am not directly material to me, but I guess we 're talking "stuff" and not
emotions , etc. so we drive on it
Music .
Video games.
Coffee .
Food .
Friends .
No specific order at all.
First, last and most expensive record you bought?
-First: Pantera - Cowboys From Hell .
Latest: Ghost - Infestissumam .
Most expensive: Oh, I do not know. Have some old picturediscs with Iron
Maiden , King Diamond and Metallica that are all worth a lot, so it's
probably one of them!
Best album to have sex to?
-I'm actually not much for the notion that having sex to music. I was there
before, but my own music making has fucked up the total for me . The problem
? I have a tendency to get caught up in the music, which can go deep shit ,
haha!
Do you buy still CD / LP and not just downloading ?
- I have actually never downloaded anything . I mostly listen to Spotify,
but I also buys records still . I have , as I said, any kink in it where the
physical discs . I like to be able to put in the disc , listen to it and
browse through the lyrics without having to have a computer screen that
illuminates an in your face all the time.
What 's the best real discs ?
- As I said before: being able to sit and browse through the envelope 's
pretty damn founded ! And honestly, who does not like to first open a record
and feel that classic scent of freshly printed disc. The scent connects at
least I so very many fond memories .
Eyes Wide Open is a name that describes your music good in any way , it is
important to have a good band name ?
-Thank you ! Yes, the band name is really important. It may actually be
crucial to whether you look up a band or not. A band name should clearly be
able to represent the music they create. I mean, we could have created the
same music, had the same stage language and singing about the same things ,
though we could have baptized us to Karl- Jesperz instead. Had as many
discovered us then? Had an equal number taken us seriously? Sure, it 's a
stretch now, but you know what I mean about .
Which is the best band name you
know ?
- Different categories here. Coolest names , which also fits the music ;
Cynic , Viza , Korn, Tool , Ghost . Short and concise name gives a damn
aplomb !
A little longer name, which also fits the music really good and is slightly
more appealing ; Bring Me The Horizon , Faith No More , Times Of Grace ,
Killswitch Engage .
Odd and somewhat obscure names and it is getting damn good in context:
Wankers of the Zoo Crew, pissed , Breaking Benjamin , Stone Sour .
It all depends on the context in which you discover bands , the bands in the
last category , I sure never discovered if I had just seen the name .
Future plans for the band?
- We are now releasing the record in a few days . After that we set off on "
The Aftermath Tour" and that's the plan right now. We would of course move
outside the region we already touched us , that is to say our neighbors .
Next stage is suppose to come out in Europe and then out into the rest of
the world.
For yourself?
-Move to Karlstad !
Words of wisdom ?
- " Practice makes training. " - Per Fahlin
. |
|