Where Angels Fall is an awesome gothic band whose music I enjoy immensely. I was given the opportunity to interview their singer Eirin just recently and she seems a lovely lass too.
Where Angels Fall is a band I have been into for a while now. And guess what, they are from Norway. These Scandinavian countries sure do know how to produce good music. Anyway Eirin, can you give me a little history about the band?
The band was founded in 2004 by André (guitarist) and our former drummer Ole Kristian. They wanted to create the music they were longing for; heavy music that had great melodies and strong guitariffs, and a touch of symphonic elements. A female singer was part of the recipe. They tried out different musicians, and in the spring of 2004 we were a band. We went to JL studos to record what was supposed to be a demo (Dies Irae). The manager of Edgerunner heard the demo, and he gave us an offer to release that as an EP. After the release of Dies Irae we were offered a standard record deal with Edgerunner. In the spring of 2005 we recorded our first album (Illuminate) in Toproom studio. That album was released in the spring one year later. During the time before the release, we had a lot of gigs here in Norway, and we had rehearsals very often, so in the summer of 2006 we decided to take a break. Then we parted ways with the drummer. The following year we had a lot of songwriting/recording sessions in our home studio. That was a very important period for the band. We started the recordings of the Marionettes album, this time with Jarle Byberg as a session drummer. We also filmed a musicvideo for the song “Female Stigma” in 2007. In the rcording period, our bassplayer had to quit due to family/work reasons. After finding a new bassplayer early in 2008, we recorded the basstracks and got the album mixed and mastered and ready to go. After the mastering we had still some hope of finding a decent record deal, but we came to the decicion of releasing it on our own label. And at the day of the release of Marionettes, we finally could welcome Jarle to the band as a member! So that’s were we are now.
I am very curious about the band's name. Can you tell me more?
hmmm ;-) I really can’t remember how we came up with the name, but it sure has a nice ring to it ;-) The concept of the name (where angels fall) has something to do about how we can choose to look at this world. We can choose to think that we all are born in sin, and then has to be cleansed in a way, to be decent human beings. I think different. I think we all are born clean, like angels (metaphor) and then this world make us fall. ;-)
I am captivated by both your full releases... Illuminate and Marionettes. To my ears, they are very good. Can you give me some history regards the music that features on the records, and some background to the interesting titles of both these albums?
The Illuminate album was made in a period when we were very new as a band. Most of the songs were made as rough preproductions in the homestudio, and then tried out in the rehearsingroom, and completed in the homestudio. Most of the lyrics from that period is heavily influenced by the fact that I was studying teaching at that time, and that I had to work through some issues from my childhood. As a lot of persons on this earth, I was not offered the best environment to grow up in. ;-) Shining path, Edge of Sanity and Hollow is songs that really is about my own misery, and I wrote Save Myself when I realized that I actually have to stay away from the ones that have hurt me. Simply because I am still so fragile that I can’t bear even to be reminded. But the album is also about trying to see the way out. Dies Irae and Lux Aeterna is both songs that have that seed in them. The latin part of the lyrics (sung by the choir) is taken from the Requiem (mass of Death) from the catholic church, but the leadvocal lyrics stand as a contrast to the sad words from the choir. Lux Aeterna means “eternal light”. That is the last song on the album, and it says that you have to make the light shine for yourself. I think that pretty much sums up why we called the album “Illuminate”.
Marionettes was created in a different way than Illuminate. In the period when we composed those songs, we had no rehearsals as a band, and we did a combination of songwriting-sessions and solitary work. I strongly prefer to be alone when I make lyrics and melodies. The songwriting-sessions is refered to in the booklet as the “Lundetangen sessions” – Lundetangen is a beer we fell in love with that summer. ;-) In that period we made a LOT of new songs, and we also made a few coversongs just for fun. That gave us the chance to experiment a lot and try out new techniques and adding new “colours” to the music. Lyrically this album is more mature than Illuminate. The focus has switched from me to you, and from introspection to more issues concerning the society. The first track on the album, “Marionettes” is about how we humans is formed to be as society wants us to be. From early childhood till death, we all have to struggle to fit into, and fill the expectations of what’s normal to do. And we are so formed by the expectations that we accept it and feel that this is how we want to be. We are also so normalized that we accept actions that obviously is wrong or damaging. We chose to call the whole album Marionettes, because that concept fits the lyrics of most of the songs on the album. The belgian artist Helcanen captured that idea in a brilliant way, in the painting she made for the frontcover of the album.
Also, do you have any fave tracks on either of these recordings?
My favourite track from Illuminate is Lux Aeterna. That song means a lot to me, both lyrically and the music. You have to make your own luck, to make your light shine. The Marionettes-album is still too close to me to have any favourites, but I have a special liking for the song Marionettes. I also have a special feeling for Kyrie and Path of Sorrow.
What made you get into music in the first place, and what type of music do you listen to in your spare time?
I have always been into music, and I have always loved to sing. I have been playing different instruments since I was a kid, and music has always been a hobby. But now, since I have a demanding dayjob, and need to practice a little everyday, there isn’t much “spare time”. The rest of the time I have left I prefer to have silence. ;-) I think it is important to have silence, to be able to “hear” the music coming from inside. But I do love to listen to a lot of different bands, gothic, metal, pop, rock.
Have you or any other members of the band been involved with any other musical projects, that you would care to perhaps let us here at Ravenheart Music know about?
Our new drummer, Jarle Byberg (aka URUZ) is well known to people who have a special interest in Black Metal, as he has been playing in Urgehal and Shining. He is involved in a lot of projects in the norwegian metal underground.
Was the recording process simple, or did it give you any major headaches of any description?
Recording is never simple, but there was no major problems involved. We always make preproductions of the songs before recording, and then in the recording process we just replace track by track. We are living in a digital world, and we send songs and tracks to each others for rehearsal, approval etc. The new album is recorded in our own studios, so we had almost unlimited time, and that is a good feeling.
I understand there was a falling out with your previous label Edgerunner, and Marionettes has been released by yourselves. Are you able to tell us the problems you had with Edgerunner?
There was no falling out with Edgerunner. We just agreed to not release a new album on that label, because none of the partys had benefits from the artist-label cooperation. We are still friends with the manager of Edgerunner, and we are still having a cooperation, but in another form.
Gotcha! Do you have any labels showing interest now?
We have had a lot of labels that were interested in our new album, but none of them could offer us anything that we can’t do on our own label. Most labels are not signing upcoming bands, because there is no money in it. That is the music industry today. You have to prove that the music is a moneymaker to get a decent deal, and for small bands it is a fact that piracy/illegal downloading of the music makes it hard to sell.
The female fronted rock/metal scene here in the UK could be stronger although it is ok and is growing. What are your expectations of the rock/metal scene as a whole?
I think there will be more and more of female fronted bands, and homestudios makes it easier to record and make albums. I find that a lot of people like female fronted rock and metal bands, but they didn’t know it because they don’t hear it a lot on the radio and TV. So I think that with a lot of mediafocus on the genre, it could/can be huge, but today it is something that’s staying in the underground.
Musically and spiritually who/what are your inspirations and influences?
It is always hard to try to explain where inspiration or influences are coming from, and I guess we can elaborate that into a philosophical discurse. Where does inspiration come from? Is there any original though at all? ;-) Well, honesty, I don’t know. For the music I write, or co-write I just go with flow, and follow where the music leads me, or the music I hear inside my head. That is for the composing. Another thing is the proscess of arranging the music. That part is of course heavily influenced by the “proper” techniques of arranging you can learn in music schools. I also like to fit the lyrics to the melodies and the melodies to the words. For the lyrics I tend to write lyrics about issues that concerns me, issues that I think a lot about.
You have played a couple of gigs here in the UK. Unfortunately, due to dayjob commitments I was unable to make any gig of yours here. But, what are your plans for the longer term future for the band either in the USA or in Europe, apart of course from getting Dave Smith of Ravenheart Music to one of your gigs :)?
There will be more gigs!! That is what I can say at this moment. We are talking about some tours, and have some bands we are in dialog with, but nothing is confirmed yet.
I have heard that there are plans for you to do some gigs next year with a totally fave UK band of mine, Liquid Sky. Is this likely to happen? or is it too early to say?
Rumours travel fast, eh ;-) well, at this point I will not confirm or disconfirm.
And what band if given the chance would you just love to tour with?
There is a lot of bands I would like to tour with. I would love touring with Evanescense, because they have a huge crowd, I would love to tour with Within Tempatation, or Nightwish for the same reason. I would also love touring with Theatre of Tragedy because they are really nice persons.
All those bands you mention then are faves of mine! Anyway, I will say good luck in all what you do, and we at Ravenheart wish the band all the very best. Finally is there anything that you would like to say to anybody across the world via this website?
Thank you for the interview, Dave! I hope that you readers will take the time to check out our homepage: www.whereangelsfall.com and our myspacepage: www.myspace.com/whereangelsfall
If you like what you hear; please buy the music from our webshop, or buy a digital from one of the many downloadstores on the internet.
Dave Smith (Nov 29, 2008)