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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Anubis Gate (03.10.2007)
HH: Congratulations for your new album Andromeda Unchained. How do you feel after having the record released?
Kim: Hi, here's Kim Olesen of Anubis Gate. After an album is released I always kind of feel like balloon that's been deflated. We've worked on this record so long (actually we started working on it right after we finished recording A Perfect Forever) so now it's just nice to let go and not having to be that creative for a while. Also before the release of an album there is a period of self doubt within the band you know... how are the listeners going to react to it. And are the reviews going to be good or will they slaughter it.
HH: Now some time has passed since the release date of Andromeda Unchained. Are you still pleased with the album? What would you change if you could?
Kim: I must say that we are really proud of it. There are always minor things that you could change I guess. But I try not to think about it because you can not redo it anyway, so there is no reason to be revisionistic. Actually we always come up with small ideas when we are rehearsing the songs for live performance (as we are doing now). We never rehearse the songs before we record them. We record them first and then, if something is not working live, we make small alterations. Sometimes we then say to ourselves "hey that was actually a bit cooler than what went on the album". An example would be "Resurrection Time" which has a new ending when we play it live. But that's also part of the fun. Meeting in rehearsal and slightly changing things. But really there's nothing we'd do drastically different. We have turned almost all possible stones before we finished the album.
HH: You have to listen to Andromeda Unchained three or four times before the songs really kick ass. Do you suppose that the complexity of the album is a reason for people not to buy the record?
Kim: Well for some it probably would mean that they won't buy it. But we write what we feel inspired to and if people like it we are happy, and if they don't then it's too bad... for them! ;-) If we began thinking about "they'll like it better if we did this or that" our music would begin to sound uninspired. But I think that if you have a little patience you'll have no problem absorbing it. Even though probably it's not for people with very short attentionspans...
HH: In my opinion Andromeda Unchained is much heavier and a bit more progressie than A Perfect Forever. What do you think?
Kim: That's fun because I do not completely agree with you. It certainly is more progressive but I find A Perfect Forever to be more heavy. But maybe that is just me. A Perfect Forever was a very "loud" album. Maybe we were kind of shouting "take notice of us goddamit" with that album. The new album still has our trade mark sharp guitar riffing but to me it's a very clear sounding album. You can really hear everything that's going on.
HH: What's the biggest difference between those two records in your own words?
Kim: The clearness of production. We also became more daring. And of course the change of singer. And also with the addition of Jacob to the songwriting team we suddenly were four writers in the band. That meant that each of us could write less but at the same time we could highten the quality of our writing. For each of us it was "quality over quantity".
HH: How does the songwriting take place in Anubis Gate?
Kim: We write by means of the internet. All of us have recording gear. So maybe Jesper writes something. Then he mails an mp3 to all of us. Then someone else put something on top of it. And after some time we have a complete song. Anubis Gate would not be possible without WWW. We live to far apart to write in rehearsals. So while rehearsals works for most bands we sort of do it our own way. But actually this is why we've developed in a more progressive way. Many of the ideas on the album could never have come up in a rehearsal situation, because you tend to finish off quick and go for beer haha! When we work at home you can spend days on an idea. And still drop it without the others saying "shit we've been working on that for days and it still wasn't good enough".
HH: I wrote that Anubis Gate play some sort of progressive, catchy, epic, classic and melodic style of Heavy Metal. How would you describe the music of Anubis Gate to someone who does not know how you sound like?
Kim: Actually your describsion is pretty good. We have common influences (Queensryche, Crimson Glory etc.) but also many different angles to music. So Anubis Gate is quite a melting pot of styles. But somehow it always ending up sounding like us. I'd say that our music could be a brew of the following bands: Queensryche, Crimson Glory, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, Genesis (their 70's sound), King Crimson, some old Testament and maybe a little bit of Rammstein also. It's so hard to describe. You'll have to listen to it to know. Someone wrote "retro without being retro at all".
HH: As far as I can tell Andromeda Unchained received quite good reactions. How important are reactions from fans and press to you?
Kim: In terms of how we write and produce etc. it's not that important because, as I said, we write as we feel inspired to. But in terms of sales, reviews are of course extremely important. A big band like Megadeth know that even if they made an album that was below par many would still buy it. We are not that big. If we did an album that sucked we'd be without buyers and ultimately without a record deal. A far as our fans goes we are very happy when they like what we do. I mean if someone sits somewhere in Germany and enjoys our music it's really good to know. And we're genuinely thrilled that we did something someone else likes to listen to!
HH: Why did you choose Anubis Gate as the name for the band?
Kim: I think that was our old singer Torben who came up with that name. He is a great Tim Powers fan so he suggested that we name the band after one of his books. I was not in the band at that time so I'm not sure.
HH: I suppose you are interested in Egyptian mythology. If yes, what influence does it have on Anubis Gate lyrics?
Kim: The book Anubis Gate is acually a sci-fi book so it wasn't because of an interest for mythology that we named the band the way we did. But once we had the name it fitted relly well with the concept and songs of our first album Purification which deals with cleansing your soul of it's inner demons. And then we tied it together with 3 instrumental tracks that described the journey from death to the afterlife as told in egyptian mythology. And then it is, as with any name, you are stuck with it! ;-)
HH: What's up in the Anubis Gate camp at the moment? Will you promote Andromeda Unchained live?
Kim: Yes we will. We have entered rehearsals and are ready to play live. We probably won't tour but play some festivals instead. You have to take in account our age and careers etc. Jacob cannot have his studio empty for two months. Henrik and I play in many bands and are dependent on the money we earn as profesional musicians. If we did tour we would have to be offered the opening slot for Maiden or something (which will of course never happen). On smaller tours you actually have to pay to be on the tour. And it's actually very expensive sometimes. So in effect the support bands are the ones who pays the bills for the headline act!! I don't know if you knew that... And if there's one thing I'll never do it's pay to be allowed to play music.
HH: What can people expect from an Anubis Gate live show?
Kim: A musical experience that is not about image but about music. We don't go on stage trying to look evil and mean. We love being musicians and you probably get more smiles from us than most other bands in the metal genre. Music is beautiful, and Anubis Gate is about nothing else than the art of music.
HH: Imagine Anubis Gate is some kind of computer software. What can people do with this software?
Kim: I'd like it to be like the "google earth of your imagination". With the soundtrack provided by us.
HH: Thanks for your time and good speed! Any last words?
Kim: Yeah I'd like to thank you for doing this interview, and to thank everybody that likes our record. Take a peak at out homepage www.anubisgate.com or our myspace www.myspace.com/anubisgate.
And as a bonus I can add this: If any of you wonder what the story line is to ANDROMEDA UNCHAINED it will be posted within a couple of weeks on our homepage.
Beste Grüße aus Dänemark, Kim.