Interview with Philip
Q>>
Hello guys! I just received your CD last week and I immediately like fell in
love with your songs. "Made To Measure" contains a damn kick-ass gimmick
of course; who the hell came up with it?
A>> Thank you very much man! Made To Measure and the hook line actually
was all our lead guitarist Rainer's idea. A lot of the composing work is his
input into the band.
Q>> Let's
talk about the whole album. Are you guys happy with the way it sounds? Any regrets?
A>> Yes, we all are very happy with the way it all sounds. Our producer
Andy Classen really did a very good job. (He also produced two of our previous
recordings) We definitely took our time in the studio to make sure that everything
sounded as good as possible. Due to the fact that the album was recorded back
in 2001 it represents the very best we could do at that point. But I think we'd
do it all in almost the same way if we were to record it anytime later. I mean,
as long as something is not finished you always find something you could change…
but I think for "Be-Low" we definitely couldn't make it better, just
somehow different perhaps.
Q>> Most
of your songs are led by straight rocking rhythmic drives. Is this the way you
feel? I mean direct and spontaneous... Or are there nuances though?
A>> For us it is always important to catch up with a certain kind of energy
that makes us feel like: "Yes, this is a strong riff/song". The ideas
often come very spontaneously, but the right arrangement is most of the time
a pretty long way… And yes, you are right. Every single song is based on
the way we felt right then. The lyrics afterwards try to catch up with that
special emotional streak in order to underline it even more.
Q>> One doesn't
know if you're a Heavy Rock band or a Metal band. Does it actually matter to
you?
A>> No, not really. We ourselves do not really have any certain definition
for our music. We all have a Metal background. Therefore we definitely have
a lot of Metal within our sound. During the years we opened up more and more
to Rock and other influences. To us that was a natural process. So no matter
how one calls the sound, to us it's important that it is emotional, catchy and
somehow modern in a way…
Q>> Your
guitars sound fucking huge! My hi-fi speakers and I love them pretty much. Tell
me, are there a lot of studio and mixing tricks in there or do you sound like
this even in a rehearsal room?
A>> We do not sound exactly like that in the rehearsal room, that is true.
But the reason for that is that we can't afford to use the same equipment in
our rehearsal room than we could use in the studio. Directly after the studio
we usually change our equipment-settings to recreate the sound for rehearsals
and gigs as good as possible. Some of the power you are talking about is also
caused by the mastering done by Goran Finberg.
Q>> I had
never heard about Mindfield before. Am I just an ignorant moron or did you guys
release your records by yourselves doing very little promotion?
A>> We did two self-released demos back in 1996 (Fields Of Vision) and
1997 (The Final Piece). At that time we had a Death Metal vocalist named Thomas.
He left in 1998. In 1999, we got in touch with German underground label Gutter
Records, who released our debut "Deviant" in 2000. They did their
very best but the promotion was not really very big. Apart from that we had
some line up problems with various drummers. That's also a reason why we could
not play as many shows as we wanted to in order to promote that album ourselves
well enough.
Q>> On certain
tunes, like in "Dead End Love", I can hear melodic lines that remind
me of the German Synth-Pop and New Wave of the 80's... I may be totally wrong
but tell me, what did you listen to in the past? I mean, what could have possibly
been leading you to such melodies?
A>> We all are into some bands/songs from that period, but nothing special…
As I said we have a Metal background. Maybe we more or less came to that 80's
touch via Gothic Metal like for example Type O Negative or Gothic Rock like
Fields Of The Nefilim.
Q>> How come
that you wrote all the lyrics? Wasn't Danny able to write some also?
A>> For "Deviant" he did two lyrics himself. His English is
not as good as mine. He asked me for some assistance. We simply figured out
that we became a good team. He usually comes up with a line he wants to sing
and some ideas as to what it should feel like. Then I try to translate that
into words that fit to the line he sings as well as the feeling he tries to
express… Everyone else in the band contributes ideas and feelings about
the lyrics, too.
Q>> Still
about the lyrics... I suppose you had something interesting to say ;-) So, what's
all this about?
A>> It's not that I have a certain message I'd like to pray around via
the music. Most lyrics are about personal freedom and respect for individuality
and my personal attitude towards that. ("Made To Measure", "Below"
as well as a few from "Deviant"). The other lyrics often deal with
feelings one has due to different experiences that cause emotional reactions
like for example fear, despair or anger. I mean losing your love (Dead End Love),
a close friend (The Sobering), or just reflecting about the failures and mistakes
you've made in the past (Gallery In Black) are things everyone of us goes through
from time to time. Choose for yourselves if you can identify with - or just
follow - those thoughts… Anyone who's interested should check out our homepage:
www.mindfield-webhq.de for some liner notes.
Q>> I can
imagine you were strongly trusting when entering Andy Classen's studio. Have
you ever thought about putting the recording/mixing job in other hands than
his though?
A>> Apart from the fact that Andy really is a first-class producer when
it comes to any kind of harder music, he's also not as expensive as comparable
producers. Another big reason for us to keep working with him is the fact that
we really like the way he works. He always gets the best out of every single
band member…
Q>> What
about your future projects?
A>> In the near future we will try to do our very best to promote "Be-Low"
wherever we can. Just check out our homepage or the Lifeforce Records Homepage:
www.lifeforcerecords.com to keep up with any news about us.
RNO