Matt Hart interview

 

Hi everybody!

Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer. Time to grab a coffee/tea/drink, get into good position and enjoy latest interview. I proudly present Matt Hart!

 

Hi Matt and thank you for this interview!

 What would be your early inspirations?

Genre wise my early inspirations fall within the towers of early industrial music, industrial metal and EBM – think of the industrial scene around the early 2000s. That’s probably the closest to what inspired me when I first started writing music but it’s certainly evolved a lot since then.

What made you become a musician and why this style?

I’ve actually been a musician since I was about six years old! I grew up playing a violin and viola plus the trumpet (so guess that’s my parents doing!), and then I got into playing guitar and bass guitar in my late teens (all me). The guitar interest really feed into my discovery and love of industrial metal, with the likes of Fear Factory and similar bands. Over the course of time, I moved away from the idea of heavy-metal and gravitated towards sounds that were more electronic / dance floor orientated and found that I wanted to write something within that style. Being a DJ (since 2013) that focuses on new music as well, means that I constantly have cutting edge sounds filling my ears, and it’s definitely added inspiration to the sound I create in my own writing. I’m the last person to say the scene is dead, quite the opposite actually, it’s a really exciting and creative time for music and there is a hell of a lot of new and awesome stuff out there!

 

 

 

Where do you get inspiration for your songs?

I get a lot of inspiration from sci-fi movies (yep, I’m a geek that way) – have always been fascinated with a machine world and that 100% comes across in my music. Of course, everyone is a product of their environment as well and that includes music I listen to, so I’m sure that filters into what I do as well in some fashion. I also find I’m influenced by current affairs and I tend to loosely link it into the fictional world I created as the narrative of my music, the future year of 3808.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

My current sound is very dark and electronically heavy, its draws inspiration from metal and dark electro and even new genres like industrial bass so if you like stompy, heavy kickdrums, layered synthesises, guitars, heavy gritty vocals then we’ll get on well.  My tracks fit well to a dance floor too, so get ready with your boots!

 

What did you listen to when growing up?

In my early teens I was listening to a lot of new metal / dnb / happy hardcore / heavy techno and then a friend of mine lent me Remanufacture by Fear Factory and I instantaneously fell in love with it. It was that kind of moment where you think, everything else I had been listening to was just a holding place, till I found the sound that resonated with me. I remember asking him what the original record sounded like, and if I could borrow that too.  Needless to say, mind blown! Those teenage years of dipping into lots of different genres was exciting, growing up in a small village town meant it was readily accessible – just out there to listen too.  All roads though ultimately lead me to what I’m into now, so I still get a little bit of a heart-string tug when I hear Limp Bizkit J

 

These tracks I heard sound fresh to me and well done. There are some echoes of psy trance sound in Decimate.

Thank you, I’d never thought of there being psy-trance elements to my music, but that’s the awesome thing about sound – it can be subjective, it is art afterall.  I think the way one person hears something can be different to another, because our experiences influence our interpretations.  Might have to go and listen to some psy-trance now to see if I can pick up what you hear!

 

Your songs are pretty diverse and I like it.

Cheers, music is a progression.  There’s often a common thread that links songs on an album together, an artist sound if you will – but ya, I don’t feel the need to necessarily stick with a certain sound.  If I feel a track would benefit from something a bit different then I’ll take it there.  Stay tuned, cowbell coming soon – LOL, nope (well maybe).

 

As an artist what would be your ultimate goal?

Wow, that’s a big one! I guess my ultimate goal, and oddly was just thinking about this topic the other day, would be to headline a big German and/or USA international festival… WGT being the holy grail of festivals. It’s good to dream big, while still managing your personal goals that you don’t feel discouraged.  Even where I am today, I feel I’ve made a mark on the scene and while that’s not a driving force to create, it comes with some good feelings of accomplishment.  Inspiring others to create and put themselves out there is also great reward. It’s amazing how just a few words of encouragement can make such a difference – that’s how I started, with a “kick” from Joss of Grendel, basically saying “just put it out there, let it become what it will be” – best advise ever.

 

Goth scene is so different from rest of electronic scene. In other scenes djs are big players, but in goth scene it is the bands. Why do you think djs never took over in a sense?

I’d say that’s a pretty fair assessment before Covid, that certainly the bands were the biggest thing and that the DJs were just the people that were tucked away in a booth in a dark club.  I think under the goth/alternative banner, maybe that’s because goths like the shadows? The other scenes are maybe more rooted in social presence, popularity? Whereas goth culture is very unique and conformable without being in a spotlight?  It’s a good topic to debate! Though DJs are the ones who get the music out there to the public, so it really is a cooperative relationship. During Covid however, with platforms like Twitch and YouTube, DJs really stepped up and into the spotlight and become players in their own right. Putting shows out, getting artist’s music heard. I too took to Twitch to DJ and being a band as well, it offered me a two-fold benefit, as I got to spin my music and talk to viewers about new things I was releasing. It definitely provided an audience that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.  So many bands/artists just had to sit and wait it all out. Because of Twitch there are some mega huge dark DJs now and the networking and teamwork that has come out of it, is wow – I’m pleased to be a part of it.

 

 

How is the scene in UK? Did Brexit affect it?

The UK scene is actually pretty good and obviously, like the rest of the world, we had a slowdown of everything with no gigs/festivals because of the pandemic, but I think we’re moving forward pretty strongly. Historically the UK saw band tours coming through, definitely to London, and often to the other major towns: Glasgow, Manchester etc. There are also 2 long standing internationally attended festivals: Resistanz and Infest (both of which I’ve performed and DJ’d at).  Even outside the primary cities, it seems every smaller town has some sort of alternative scene – there’s always a rock bar or a once a month club night to cater for the interest.  So I think it’s alive and well in the UK. As for Brexit, it undoubtedly has made things more difficult for ease of travel for international artists, but maybe that also creates opportunity for home-grown talent too.  Hopefully promotors here, don’t encounter too much red-tape to bring bands/artists/DJs to the UK – as I don’t want to miss out on going to great gigs! Certainly since restrictions eased, there have already been a number of international artists/bands here, so maybe that indicates that Brexit won’t hinder as we thought… we can at least hope!

 

 

What are you future plans?

Future plans… well, after the release of my sophomore album BELOW THE TERRA PT.1 on 15^th March, 2022, the 1^st delivery of remixes will be coming: ABSOLUTE ZERO (Rotersand classic ride rework) out 26^th July, 2022. It will just be digital for now, but as more remixes come out, I’m thinking to compile them all onto a physical CD – we’ll see.

I also released some music videos and have ideas floating around for another! So give my YouTube channel a follow.

In addition to working on my own new music, I’ve been kept busy with doing remixes for other artists too and there are some big ones coming out soon, can’t say more on that though!  There’s a page on my Bandcamp where I list all the remixes I’ve done, it’s quite the accomplishment of artist names and proud to have worked with them.  Definitely excited about what’s to come as well! There’s no such thing as a slow down here for me it’s so it’s all guns blazing and keeping that momentum flowing.  Live show wise, have had a number of big gigs in the last months: Electro Vox festival Resistanz festival, opening for Leaether Strip and the last one…. Road 2 Ruin post-apocalypse festival (totally fitting for me!). At the moment no summer gigs planned, I really want to take a little break and re-focus on writing new material for the next album (aim is early ish 2023)…. Stay tuned!

 

Go check MATT out!

https://matthart.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/djmatthartuk/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VrlDE2gaDJJJfMjGqo4UQ/videos

 

 

Beyond Border interview

 Hi everybody hope you are well. I proudly give you Beyond Border interview, enjoy!

Hello Beyond Border and thank you for ths opportunity!

Hallo....and the thanks is all on our side....

Let´s start from begnning what inspired you to form Beyond Border?

We didn't form the band in the classical way, but it grew out of the one-man project "Imitation Of Life", which I had set up as a purely instrumental project. At a concert of In Good Faith I met the singer Kai and asked him if he wouldn't want to lend his voice to a piece I had written shortly before...no sooner said than done... "Enjoy Your Life" was born....unfortunately Kai lost his brother to suicide shortly afterwards and I wrote the piece "Where Are You" for him...so a certain intimacy developed which then formed us into a band....but we are still in this forming process....

Describe your music to someone who haven´t heard of it yet (shame on you go listen to them now!)

Actually we want to make pop music, nothing more nothing less...but we want to be guided by our feeling and accordingly we didn't want to set any limits...but we also want to make music that you can listen to classically, like in the years before the 2000s, and not that one song sounds like the next....we make pop with nuances of electronic, indie, rock and trance...but like you said...just listen for yourself...

What music did you listen to when growing up?

With music, you don't really stop growing up. Kai is a child of the 90s with the developments in alternative, the start of techno and underground electro...I'm more of a rock musician with all the AOR from the 70s to the 90s...the common interfaces are the 80s and the current indie sounds....

You really have been productive since day one, it feels like you got music bottled inside you that needs to be out there in a world.

Yes, my head is constantly buzzing with rhythms and melodies...I am a sponge of sounds and soak up everything, from all genres of music...and it all has to come out...for many years I was just the drummer who couldn't contribute to new pieces, then purely a cover musician...now as a mastermind I am able to do everything...technology also helps me a lot....

Where do you get inspiration for songs?

As I said, I take building blocks from everything that surrounds me musically...from every decade of modern pop music and also from the classical realm. I was also a DJ in the rock, metal, indie and gothic scene for many years....

Synthpop/Futurepop/ebm scene is very big in Germany and dominates pretty well DAC (Deutch Alternative Chart) but in other countries the scene is pretty small. How did the scene grow so big in Germany?

Many countries have their own alternative scenes and the German scene is a bit influenced by the black scene...but the question is always, what came first? The music or the festivals that made the scene so big? Something in this direction developed in Germany very early on. Kraftwerk and co have laid the foundations... Techno became a mass movement and many got stuck musically in the 80s... all in all, it is great to find such an offer in Germany.

What I like about the scene is people are polite and bands communicate with fans and that makes it feel special.

In any case...the scene is also very small and has a certain problem of new blood...the people who move in this scene are at the age where one has mostly still learned a sensible way of dealing and where life experience also gives one a certain calmness...the energy is then let out in the music.

For bands and fans, communication is the most important thing, so you get to know each other and get the stories around it. Often, as an artist, you draw your ideas from the feedback of fans and listeners...everyone is equally important to everyone and so everything is very direct and immediate...but that also makes the system very fragile!

If we go back to beginning was it how easy to break into scene?

I (deity) came to the scene through metal music and the eighties...a mixture that continues to this day in various streams of the scene. But I also liked this technoid part in the music and so I had an easy entry into the music...The pretty robes of the girls did the rest. I already had friends in the scene and have quickly found some to....also no, the entry was not difficult. But is also always such time windows, where the scene really sucks you in and you're in quickly and then there are again such closed times or even pandemics ... the scene is basically very open and tolerant, as long as you're somehow different -lol

What are biggest challenges for an artist these days?

The biggest challenge is the overabundance of releases, by simplifying production and putting out technically high quality music...there to hit the right note that is current and not too plagiaristic....simple stress ;-)

What advise would you give to people who want to start making music?

Believe in yourself, stay permanently on the ball, do what comes into your head and if everyone does it, it is not automatically good...and always take successful music from different times of your favorite music and listen beyond your normal listening habits also in other music genres.

Things are finally getting back to normal. During pandemic streaming gigs emerged also virtual band meetings. Do you think those are here to stay?

I think we have to keep coming up with new ideas and alternatives, but without a real audience it remains anemic....

What would be your biggest dream as artist?

I think that as musicians we have very normal dreams...for example to play in a lot of different countries all over the world to meet a lot of fans and friends...to attend all the big festivals and hear great stories that you can share with our music...something like that...

What would be your future plans?

Do more music...have a long and proser life in peace ;-)

 

Go and listen

https://beyondborder.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BeyondBorderMusic

 

FrazzleTruffle Interview

 Hi!

I proudly present FrazzleTruffle interview! If you like ambient, electronica, FrazxleTruffle is just the right one for you.

Hi FrazzleTruffle and thnk you for this interview!

Thanks Tommi, my friends call me “Frazz”

What music did you listen to when growing up?

My father was a radio dj when he was young in the late 70’s so I had thousands of vinyls at home of various genre

What would be your early inspirations? Aphex Twin clearly is one

You're right.

Certainly several thousand artists of the ‘80s and ‘90s influenced what I listen to and produce now.

What made you become a musician?

I have always loved music, when I was a child I loved recording music from vinyls or from the radio, with my amplifier, directly on cassette tapes and making a sort of playlist. Now it seems trivial, but at the time there were no music stream services like Spotify or Soundcloud, so when I wanted to repeat a song I had to rewind the tape, and it was essential that there was no advertising and spaces of silence, between one song and another so I recorded and I was careful which song to choose, that's probably why I decided to be a DJ.

Where do you get inspiration for your songs?

I take inspiration from what I live in the present and try to turn them into sounds. then I arrange them in order to create a melody and then the song comes by itself

Do you have musical education?

It depends what you mean by education. I study as a self-taught person every day in my free time and would like to improve my writing level

Of education, do you think it helps or limits artists? I mean you learn things certain way so how easy it is to break away from that way and start experimenting

The truth is simpler: When you write music and you want to improve and that's where you start studying. Otherwise you risk doing the same thing over and over!

Only thing in common with your tracks is they have beautiful melodies. There are lots of styles and that in my opinion is good thing. You like challenging yourself and testing new things?

 Yes

Was it easy to work with vocalists? What were the biggest challenges?

The singers I have collaborated with on my latest projects are professionals, it was absolutely thrilling to work with them

As an artist what would be your ultimate goal in Milan?

What is your studio setup?

A laptop macbook pro connected to a couple of screens, Ableton live, many plugins, a digital Yamaha piano and a digital Roland drum and of course also real percussions and microphones

Do you have a website?

Not yet but you can listen all my music on internet https://soundcloud.com/frazzletruffle

Antibody Interview

 Hi!

 I'm back in the land of the living from much needed breather. And do I have a good one for you this time:
Antibody interview! I am so happy of this since I'm a fan. Thank you! Blog will continue as before focusing on goth and electronic music with different genres. no edm,dubstep trap etc I promise.

How did Antibody start and what were your inspirations to become a musician?

I think i started making music in 2013 when i was just 12 years old. A dude in school showed me bands like X-rx, Centhron or Suicide Commando and i instantly fell in love with the genre. Another friend of mine showed me Fl studio and i started doing music. Every song sucked when i started but after some years some decent stuff came out. In 2014 i first released under the Antibody monica! I released 2 albums, 3 Eps, some singles and a lot of remixes over the past years. My recent release is called ”I Don’t Understand” and features 2 new songs and 4 remixes by C/A/T/, FabrikC, Xotox and MATT HART.

Antibody is really cool name it sounds like something out of cyberpunk movie or from Watchdogs game. How did you come up with it?

Actually i got it from the Aesthetic Perfection song called ”Antibody”. I thought it would fit very good because its short and memorable while still fitting the whole industrial, gothic theme!

Where do you get inspiration for your songs?

I get my inspiration from pretty much everywhere. I listen to so much different music and its always possible to implement some stuff you hear in your own music. The biggest inspiration always comes when im back from attending concerts or festivals, but that fell a bit short over the last 2 years.

How would you describe Antibody to new listeners?

Thats always a hard question. I think its the hard pounding instrumental industrial stuff from bands like Chainreactor or Phosgore, but i try to implement some new stuff and i always try to evolve my music. A lot of songs dont have the same sound formula but i think i still achieve to have that Antibody touch on every song.

You also have 2 other projects (Frame Of Mind and Gen-ZX), so you had album out every year. Not many artist can pull that off, so how did you manage?

Actually im just a live member of Frame Of Mind and i dont have anything to do with the music alone, thats all Marko Hains work. Working on that gen-zx album was really hard work because of the complexity of the songs but i think we created an awesome album! Im not under a lot of pressure of releasing new songs every year or such. I just work on music and when i have an EP or Album ready i just release it!

All these projects sound like you are evolving and wanting to test out new things but also like they are different sides of you. (Am I wrong?)

Thats my main goal with every project i have. Antibody tries to evolve that standard industrial techno vibe and i always love to work with other artists regarding collaborations or remixes.

Gen-zx is even more experimental with the vocal and guitar stuff. With that project we wanted to do some softer stuff also that different to the boring synthpop stuff you sometimes hear in our scene.

Gen-ZX released an album last year and it is so good one! What is the state of your other projects?

Right now me and Marko both focus on our own stuff, but i am pretty sure we will work on some new music sooner or later. Also i definetly want to play our new album stuff live sometime!

What were the inspirations for Darkness Of The Day?

After our first EP called ”Tick Tock” which was very experimental we tried guitars for the first time on our debut. We wanted some softer cuts but also some very hard and danceable stuff. All in all we just wanted to be very experimental and we wanted to evolve the standard future pop theme. Marko is responsible for all the lyrics so i dont know where he has taken his inspiration from, but his lyrics and singing always fits perfectly to the music i do. Also the whole artwork is just super awesome and so well fitting. Im super proud of that release!

Will there be a tour this year?

I will actually do my first Antibody live show this year at no other festival than the legendary Resistanz Festival in Sheffield! Im super hyped and im so much looking forward to play there!

We will see what happens after that but i would love to play a lot of gigs in my home country Germany and also some new countries!

As for gen-zx there is nothing planned yet, but i would love to present our recent album live too!

What are you future plans?

I just released a new Ep and i will play my first live show soon. So i will definetly work on more music to follow up and i will definetly release a new Antibody album next… though this will still take some time!