|
Hi, even though you’re Swedish and we’re a Danish based webzine,
I’d like to do this interview in English, both to avoid
misinterpretations of words, and because we print our interviews
in English anyway – I hope you don’t mind.
First off I just want to congratulate you on your new album, the
sixth if I’m correct. To new fans could your please fill us in
on the history behind it all?
Mikke -
Thank you! We are really happy with the result. I think it
turned out fucking awesome! But actually, it’s our fifth
full-length album. The first Impious album was released in 1998
and since then we’ve released four albums and one EP. The new
album “Holy Murder Masquerade” is released by Metal Blade
Records, and so is the album before, entitled “Hellucinate”. Our
earlier albums were released by Black Sun Records and
Hammerheart Records/Karmageddon Media. In 2000 there were a few
line-up changes and Erik Peterson was added to the band. And in
2002 I joined the band since Ulf Johansson left the band. And
the line-up hasn’t changed since. We’re a solid group and we’ve
always had a really good time with each other.
How has your new album been received by the media – are you
satisfied with the reviews so far?
What do you hope that this album will bring for you?
Mikke -
The new album have really been over our expectations when it
comes to reviews in the press. I haven’t seen a single bad
review. So we’re really glad about that. And the fans seem to
happier than ever with our music, so we have nothing to complain
about! As with any release, we really hope that this album will
get us more gigs and more fans. We love to do live shows, and it
is what we do best so we definitely hope we’ll get tons of shows
with this album. And also, we want to do bigger tours and tour
parts of the world which we’ve never been to before. And we’ve
just signed with a new management, which definitely will lead to
more gigs.
I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the new album the last
week, and though I’m normally not that much into the death scene
material, it really caught me. I know artists don¹t like to put
a label on their music - but yours seem to be a mixture of
several styles and directions, how would you describe your
music, and how did you come to this mixture?
Mikke -
I agree. I think we’ve never been afraid of mixing new elements
and stuff into our music which we haven’t done before. We don’t
have any boundaries when we make music. If it’s good - it’s
good, and it’ll probably make the album. I think many bands
today are scared to push the limits and bring new influences
into their music. I think it’s because we listen to all kinds of
music within the band. With “Holy Murder Masquerade” we’ve not
only gotten excellent reviews in metal magazines, but also
hardcore and rock magazines. I’m pretty sure there’s something
for everyone in our music.
If your music was an emotion, which one would it be?
Mikke -
I would absolutely say excited ness, arousal and aggression.
Because when you listen to Impious you just want to get it on
and go fucking nuts, in a good way.
Who and what inspires you when you write a song? Can you guide
us through the creation of a song?
Mikke -
Well, Valle does about 99% of the song writing. He does demos
and stuff at home on his computer. Then he gives us the stuff
and we take it to our rehearsal studio. Sometimes we change some
stuff that we don’t like and sometimes we just add some bits.
But when we recorded “Holy Murder Masquerade” we actually made
some parts and even songs as we were recording the drums. So
when I was recording drums in one room of the studio, the other
guys sat in a room just next to mine and wrote songs. I think it
turned out amazingly good, and in this way every one in the band
contributed to the album.
Which subjects do your lyrics refer to, and who writes them?
And what inspires you when you write your lyrics?
Mikke -
On our earlier albums we did a lot of lyrics about today’s
society. It involved relationships, drugs, crime and death.
There are so many things to get inspired by with all this shit
that’s going on in the world. However, since the lyrics on “Holy
Murder Masquerade” follow a concept this was quite different. It
was Martin and Valle who did all the lyrics for the new album
and I love the way they turned out.
On your new album you’ve written a conceptual story – how did
you come up with the idea, and why exactly write about an insane
mass murderer (are you inspired by actual events, or is it just
imaginary?)?
Mikke -
It all started when we released “Hellucinate” in 2004. We got a
lot of good reviews but we heard a lot that the album wasn’t
particularly original, and that made us and especially Valle
think. He knew that he didn’t want to change where our music was
going, so we had to change something else. And that’s when he
came up with the idea of a concept album. Nothing particularly
original about that either, and that’s when he came up with the
idea to make it like a comic. So we all sat down and came up
with this story. We had a couple of other ideas for the story
but maybe we’ll use it some other time. We weren’t inspired by
any actual event. We just wanted to come up with a cool story.
And I really think we did.
Do you think you could get accused of inspiring someone to do
the same as in your story?
Mikke -
No I don’t really think no one of our listeners will get the
idea to kill their family just because it’s God’s will. I’m sure
it’s happened before and it might happen again, there are some
crazy people out there, but because of a concept album? I
certainly hope not.
Andrea Cavaletto has done the comics artwork for your new album
– how did you get the idea that it should be done as a comic,
and how did you in touch with him to do it? Did he do the front
cover as well, and how is it connected to the story of the
album?
How important do you feel it is to have a great cover/booklet,
and are you satisfied with the result?
Mikke -
When we’d decided to do a concept album and to make it like a
comic, we obviously had to find someone who could do comics and
knew how to make it look good, ‘cause we certainly could not.
And we all knew that we weren’t interested in making it look
like your average Marvel Comics cartoon, we wanted it to be much
more dark and realistic. So we started to search the internet
for suitable artists, and someone found this guy Andrea, who
does art for a living. We told him what we were looking for and
he did some pretty wicked art for us. We are very satisfied with
what he did for us. The cover was done by an American guy named
Justin Kamerer whom we came in contact with a few months ago
when he did a t-shirt design for us. The cover is a picture of a
mask, representing the mask of Jesus, which our main character
Trent wears as he commits these murders. We thought it would fit
our album perfectly since it’s a pretty dark album but with a
cool touch to it. These days when a lot of people download your
music, you have to give them something extra which hopefully
will make them want to buy your album. I hope people who
download this album will check the booklet out, since it’s a big
part of the album.
Who has produced and mixed the album? Are you pleased with the
result?
Mikke -
Valle produced the album and Chris Silver at Studio Mega mixed
the album. This is the fourth album we mixed at Studio Mega and
we knew that Chris knew what we wanted so we kind of gave him
free hands. And we are very happy with the result. I think it
turned out really good.
What was the hardest part in making the new album?
Mikke -
Without a doubt making this whole comic story and music come
together and to make it sound good. It’s hard to transform a
story into an album, no doubt about that.
Do you have any immediate touring plans for 2007 – is there any
chance we might catch you on the European festival scene in the
summer?
Mikke -
We’ve been offered a couple of tours so far so I’m pretty sure
there will be a whole bunch of shows this year. We hope to do
some European, American and Japanese tours and I think, and
definitely hope, that we’ll play some European shows this year.
Let’s hope for it.
Let’s speculate – you have been granted a free slot on a tour of
your own choice – who would be your ideal touring partners?
Mikke -
Oh this is a big one. I’d probably say Metallica, (since they
pull about the biggest crowds possible for metal shows), The
Black Dahlia Murder (they’re awesome guys who do awesome music,
and we’ve had a blast with them before), As I Lay Dying (they’re
our label mates and a kick ass band, I would love to tour with
those guys) and some MTV rap star so that we could get some nice
chicks to the shows.
What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment for you
and Impious, not necessarily sales wise? What are the strengths
and where can you improve?
Mikke -
The biggest thing we accomplished with Impious is all of our
live shows. It is thanks to our live shows we’ve gotten most of
our fans, it’s thanks to our shows that we get to see all new
and cool people all over the world and it’s thanks to our shows
we got signed to one of the biggest labels for heavy music.
We’ve always been a good live band and the only thing we need to
improve is that we don’t do enough shows.
How do you feel about the co-operation with your current label?
You’ve had some label changes through your band history, is it
because of differences or “just climbing the ladder” to still
bigger labels?
Mikke -
Metal Blade have been very good to us. They’ve always had a good
reputation and been treating their bands very well. They know
music business and they’ve always done what is good for us. It
has always been one of our goals to get signed by a big label.
We always knew we would be picked up by one sooner or later. The
other labels we’ve had have most certainly helped us in one way
or another but we’ve always had our eyes set at one step higher.
And right now I’m very happy to say that we are at the top when
it comes to our label. We couldn’t possibly ask for a better
one.
The internet is a very important source for many metal fans –
how do you use the internet and how important do you think it is
for you and other bands?
Mikke -
Internet is an excellent way to find new music and to spread
your own. We update our Myspace site every couple of days and
our regular home site every once in a while. I listen to tons of
new bands every week over the internet, I’m a real
music-enthusiast and I look for new bans and new music all the
time. So I’m really happy with the way bands use the internet. I
know what the labels think about sharing music but I love it. If
I like an album I get of the internet, I will buy it. No doubt
about that. If every band had to spread their music the old
fashioned way, it would take a hell of a longer time than it
would take to just upload their songs on Myspace. So that’s
great.
How do you feel about the metal scene in general at the moment,
and what in your opinion is the most exciting thing going on
right now?
Mikke -
I really enjoy the metal bands today. Although I think too many
bands try to sound like each other these days. But I love this
new breed of metal bands. Bands like Parkway Drive, A Day To
Remember, and Bleed The Sky etc really get my attention. I
easily get bored of just listening to the same bands and same
music all the time so I need new stuff to listen to all the
time.
Which song do you consider to be the best one you have ever
written?
Mikke -
Oh shit. I really like "Death On Floor 44" and "The Confession"
of the new album, but I also like "Bloodspill Revelation" and
"Digital Devil" of our older CD’s. So I’d probably try to pick
one of those tracks.
Name an album, person or event that has had a huge influence on
your life … and why?
Impious – My life definitely changed when I heard the Dark
Funeral album “Secrets Of The Black Arts” about 11 years ago. I
was about 12 years at the time and I had never heard anything
like it. I’d listened to bands like Dismember and Entombed
earlier so I had been into extreme music for a while but this
album really got to me.
Which music do you listen to at home?
Mikke -
When I’m at home I listen to a lot of Metal of course, but I
enjoy all kinds of music. I listen to a lot of hardcore, screamo,
pop, punk, indie... Whatever makes me feel good. Or bad.
Which five albums would you bring on your iPod to a deserted
island?
Mikke -
I’d definitely bring:
-
Parkway Drive – Killing With A Smile, ‘because it’s probably
one of the best albums ever made.
-
Atreyu – A Deathgrip On Yesterday, ‘because it’s an
excellent party album when I drink island-beer
-
Mew – Frengers, ‘because I’d need something to chill out to
when I’m on the beach drinking island-beer.
-
Underoath – They’re Only Chasing Safety, ‘because I’d need
something to feel sad to when I miss regular beer.
-
And some “The Best of” album by Iron Maiden ‘cause who can
live without “No More Lies” and “The Trooper”?
I thank you very much for participating in this interview and
sharing this information and your thoughts with us - these last
lines are entirely for you. Any final words you would like to
round off with?
Mikke -
Thank you for this interview! And everyone should check out
“Holy Murder Masquerade” and
www.myspace.com/impiousofficial
I hope y’all will get a lot of free booze in your lives. Take
care!
- Mikke - Impious
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, and good
luck with your further career – I hope to hear a lot from you in
the future!Claus Melsen |
