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Hi,
Chris – Angtoria is a new band from Sweden, which has so far
only released a promo CD and not many might know your background,
so if you could fill us in on the history behind it all? I know
you’ve all have a metal background, but the 3 of you have
somewhat different backgrounds …
Chris
– Hi
Kenn! Sarah and I met each other on a tour back in 2001. We became
good friends and soon started talking about working together.
After doing a completely orchestral movie score type project
together, we idea came up to also do a band oriented metal project.
We asked my older brother Tommy to join the project, and Angtoria
was born early 2004.
Sarah
has been the backing vocalist for many various bands extreme metal
bands like for instance Cradle of Filth, Therion, and Mortiis etc.
I myself have been a part of several various bands myself thru the
years, most of which have also been within the extreme metal scene
with bands like Abyssos that I co-formed. My brother Tommy has
also been working with music all of his life, but more in to the
symphonic rock scene.
How has your music been
received by the media? And what were your expectations?
Chris
– We’ve
gotten extremely great reviews for our demo from magz, radio
stations and the media all over the world, which we are of course
extremely excited about! We didn’t have any expectations at all
basically when we formed Angtoria, so we are of course very happy
to have gotten so much good response already for our work.
I know artists don¹t like
to put a label on their music - but a spaceship from outer space
has just landed in your backyard, and is demanding an answer - so
how would you describe your music to an alien from another galaxy?
Chris
– Yeah,
I hate putting a label on my own music, in my mind that is up to
each and every listener to decide. But the easiest way to describe
Angtoria is simply to say orchestral metal with female vocals.
That is of course a very wide label to put on a band, but it’s
also extremely difficult for me to put any other label on
ourselves...
You
are bound to be compared to bands like Nightwish and Within
Temptation, do you take that as a compliment or how do you deal
with such comparisons?
Chris
– I
take every comparison as a compliment, and if anyone were to
compare us to bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation, both of
which I like and have a great respect for, I take it as a huge
compliment.
It’s impossible to please everyone and we’re most certainly
not creating music to please everyone either. We create the music
we are happy with and we’re extremely grateful if there are some
people out there who appreciate what we’re doing and support us.
If
your music was an emotion, which one would it be?
Chris
– Every
emotion a human being can have. Our music is all about emotions,
all the way from the most wonderful emotion you can think of to
the most horrible one. It’s up to each and everyone who listens
to us to decide which emotions fits them and the views they get of
our music.
Who and what inspires you
when you write a song? Walk us through the creation of a song?
Chris
– I
don’t have any specific source of inspiration I turn to when it
comes to finding inspiration to write music. I get influenced and
inspired by everything that happens around me every day, from good
to bad. I get inspired by everything from standing in line at the
store to buy groceries to playing with my daughter to watching a
horror movie to flying among the clouds when I’m skydiving which
is my main hobby...
I know the lyrics have been
written by Sarah, but can you tell us a bit about the subjects and
why she’s chosen to write about those things?
Chris
– Yes,
Sarah has written all the lyrics and I and my brother write all
the music. The lyrics are about the most cliché subjects you can
think of actually, love and hate. But Sarah writes in her own very
unique way, and a lot of her writing is self experienced which
gives it extremely good and emotional depth.
On
the CD there is a cover-version of Kylie Minogue’s “Confide in
Me”
– why did you choose to have a cover-version on the CD and why
that song?
Chris
– Sarah
and I discussed early on to do a cover version of some song simply
because we thought it would be fun. We discussed various options
of which song to choose and Sarah came up with the idea of doing a
cover of “Confide in Me”. I also really like that song and
Kylie as an artist, so we simply decided to choose that song.
Who has produced and mixed
the demo, and are you pleased with the end result, and what could
have been done better?
Chris
– The
demo is recorded in our own studio owned and operated mainly by my
brother Tommy. Tommy and I have recorded, produced and mixed the
songs ourselves, and there is of course always something that we
as composers/producers would have wanted to have done better if
only we were to have access to better equipment etc.
On the other hand our demo is not an official release and is not
for sale to the public. Our demo is mainly meant as a
pre-production of some of the songs that will be included on our
first album, and is meant for business purposes only in our search
for a record deal. So even thou we as composers and producers
always wish to improve the quality of our recordings, we haven’t
put the effort and money in to this recording as we would have
done if it would have been an official recording that we would
sell to the public. So for the purpose of our demo, we’re quite
happy with the result.
The artwork for the
“Unofficial Demo 2004” is sort an info-cover and not your
regular CD cover, how come? And don’t you think it’s important
to have a great cover?
Chris
– The
reason for the info-cover is also because of the fact that this
demo is meant only for record labels, magazines and radio stations
etc. Since we are financing everything ourselves and aren’t
selling the demo to get some of that money back, we simply can’t
afford to make a real cover and also send an info pack along with
the CD. So to be able to send out our demo to as many labels and
magz etc as possible, we decided to simply combine the cover with
the info pack to reduce the cost for each sent demo.
What
are the immediate plans for Angtoria, can we expect another demo
or maybe an album?
Chris
– We’ve
signed a management deal with a Dutch management company called
Fortress which is working with us to mediate between record labels
in order to try and secure a descent deal. We are also currently
in the studio recording a pre-production on the rest of the songs
that will be included on our debut album. We don’t have any
plans at this stage to release any of our pre-production material
to the public since our main goal is to secure a record deal and
record and release our debut album soon.
Do you have any touring
plans, or is it only possible to play shows locally?
Chris
– Our
main goal is to treat Angtoria as a full member, album recording
and touring act. If that will be possible or not is simply up to
the label we sign with. Our full intentions thou are to tour
worldwide with Angtoria, and we have our minds set out to do so.
So now it’s all up to the record labels who are interested in us,
and of course if they audience likes us enough to buy our albums
and want to see us live...
Let’s speculate – you
have been granted a free slot on a tour of your own choice – who
would be your ideal touring partners?
Chris
– Oh,
that’s a tough question... Personally I would have to say
Metallica, Ozzy, Iron Maiden or Madonna. I don’t know how good
that match would be, but you asked for a tour of my own choice.
What kind of wishes and
expectations do you have for a record label and management?
Chris
– The
wishes, goals and intentions we have with Angtoria are to be able
to produce professional high quality products in our albums and
merchandise, and to be able to tour worldwide with our music. If
any of this is going to be a reality is of course totally up to a
possible record company, management and the audience. We are ready
to start this journey, and it’s now only up to the record labels
how much effort, time and money if any they wish to invest in
Angtoria.
The internet is a very
important source for many metal fans – how do you use the
internet and how important is it for you and other bands?
Chris
– The
internet is extremely important today and is a great way of
communication and to market yourself and make you heard. Having an
official website is something that is basically as important for a
band as releasing an album is. Thru a website you can reach out to
basically anyone anywhere in the world at the same time with no
delay.
And how do you feel about
the Swedish metal scene at the moment?
Chris
– The
Swedish and Scandinavian metal and music scene overall has always
been great with many many great acts and musicians. Several great
quality acts all the way from pop music to metal music comes from
here which of course is great. Bands reaching all the way from
Abba to In Flames come from here which makes for a really good
variety in music to choose to listen to, and it’s great that we
have so many talented people here.
Which song do you consider
to be the best one you have ever written?
Chris
– That’s
a very difficult question... I don’t really think of it that way
when it comes to my own work. Everything I do is of the best of my
capacity at the time of the composition. When I look back at what
I’ve composed earlier on I of course hope that I’ve learned
more and evolved as both a person and a musician/composer, but at
the time of the composition I did the best to my knowledge and
experience at the time. So I don’t really consider anything I do
to be better or worse than something else I’ve done, I put that
up to others to decide what they like more or less...
Which song do you wish you
had written and why?
Chris
– Well,
that’s also a really tough question... There are so many
excellent compositions out there that it’s basically impossible
to choose which one I would have wanted to have written... But
just to name one composition I’m really impressed with is a
composition by movie score composer John Williams, and it’s the
classic score for the Darth Vader march in Star Wars.
Name an album, person or
event that has had a huge influence on your life … and why?
Chris
– I
can name a band that’s had a real influence in my life, Black
Sabbath. I grew up listening to them and all the other bands of
that time like Rainbow, Deep Purple etc. My two older brothers
listened to these types of bands, so I’ve been exposed and
influenced by them ever since I was a really small kid. I’m
extremely happy and grateful that I grew up the way I did and
wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world, even thou my
childhood may have been a bit different from most other kids...
Which music do you
personally listen to at home?
Chris
– I
don’t have any specific preferences when it comes to music.
Obviously any type of metal and rock music is to prefer, but I
like all music that is well written, produced, composed, recorded
and performed. I don’t care which type of label that music or a
specific song may fall under as long as I simply find it to be
good. I like everything from Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears to
classical music to black metal. Labels doesn’t interest me in
any way, the only thing that interests me is good music.
Vinyl has had a small
comeback lately – do you still prefer “the old sound” or are
you a CD/DVD kind of guy?
Chris
– I’m
a strictly CD/DVD and as new and as innovating technology as
possible kind of guy. I can of course enjoy listening to a vinyl
from time to time just to get some flashbacks from when I grew up,
but I wouldn’t buy an album on vinyl nor do I own a vinyl player
or have any intentions of ever purchasing one... To me they are
too big, slow, and it’s too much work if you want to fast
forward or rewind to a certain part etc.
But I’m glad that vinyl still exists and is coming back a bit to
those who enjoy it. I grew up with listening to albums on vinyl
and tapes, so they have a very sentimental value to me as well,
and I wouldn’t want them to disappear.
Last question - do you have
any famous last words for our readers?
Chris
– First
of all on behalf on Angtoria I would like to thank you Kenn for
supporting us by doing this interview with me! To all of you out
there, take great care of each other and don’t ever give up on
your dreams and goals!
A
huge thanks to Chris and Angtoria, and all the best of luck in the
future to them.
Kenn
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