InterviewSo, what’s up with MAR DE GRISES?



I think in those four years before the release of the new album we had a big change in the music and in the way that we worked that; Marcelo left the band and it took us a long time to find a person that could match our needs. We tried with a couple of guys but it didn’t work. Luckily, and in the right moment, Juan entered the band and it has been great since then.
I guess in a way a lot of music was left behind... I mean a lot.



What’s so grey, that you chose this band-name?



The name is more like “Sea of Greys”. The name has different meanings for all of us, for me personally it means our city, the buildings, the problems, the bad emotions, the grey air. And how this affects our hearts, which are sailing there. For other members maybe its like a painting, an emotion, etc... It has a grey blurry meaning actually.



What about working in the studio?
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The production was made by us and Raphael Franca at Pig Power studios, here, in our country. It was a long process because the sound engineer couldn’t dedicate too much time for this, so we had meetings every two weeks for mixing and lots of trouble with the hardware. I guess the last day of mastering we spent like 48 hrs awake because we were on the time limit with our record label, so maybe the production of the album wasn’t that pleasing, although the result is good.



Let us do the music talking….



I guess our music has always been introspective, very free in form and aesthetics and we sometimes try to express more than feelings; maybe ideas, concepts, etc... So we are not really bound to any cliche. Anyway, yes, we like Doom Metal, Death Metal, Electronic, Pop, Avant garde , etc, etc... We try to search, as any good musician should do, our own sound. For me this album is the end of a process, a moment in life, like the apple falling from its tree, and the tree is our search for innocence; the eternal fight between mind and heart.



What means playing Doom foy you. Many “Doomster” are in “reality” funny people with a good sense of humour. So: Why you are playing so depressive music?



I think we are normal people; we like to laugh like everybody and talk a lot. For me our music (maybe it’s doom, maybe not) is just expressive, reflective music, and reactive to our surroundings. We have problems, joys, darkness and light, like everybody. I don’t believe our music to be “depressive”; we just show a part of us.



Tell me something about your lyrics. Why don’t you sing more in Spanish?



The lyrics are just a translation of what Juan or Alejandro (they write them) feel. They don’t have any particular subject that they want to write about. Or maybe they do, but don’t know exactly what is it. I think they just try to maintain honest to their emotions at the moment of writing, at least that is what they feel and want, even if maybe they don’t do it after all.
So, basically, our lyrics can come from any single aspect or element that surrounds us in our daily lives, our experience, but not before having passed across our inner worlds in the form of an emotion or opinion.
As for the language, sometimes we feel that the idea/emotion that we want to express in some lyrics suits better in Spanish and sometimes in English. Or sometimes we just don’t have or know the precise word in English to refer to something that we feel. The language is just the channel and we choose it according just to what I told you, nothing more.




Politics? What do you think about Nazis in metal?



As a band we are not into politics, our lyrics and music doesn’t belong there and we don’t support any side.
About Nazis, personally I think that is plain stupidity. Any idea of racism or free hate to another person is a sign of a primitive mind and blindness of the heart. It is hard to believe for me that there are still Nazis in the world and in music; it is just wrong.





How do you estimate the development of MAR DE GRISES?



I don’t really know if the reactions will be the same as for the first album.
The compositions on the new album are maybe more mature in terms of interpretation and maybe we experimented with different things now more than in the last album. But, after all, I think the essence of our music remains the same; hopefully, people will reach to the core of our soundscapes just to notice that our intentions behind are still the same, even if maybe at first you can’t notice it. That’s why I have the feeling that the opinions about this new material will be as good as in the last one.



. What about touring? And are you happy with the cult-label Firebox?



Yes, we had our second tour in Europe with Saturnus and Thurizas. It was a really great experience; the tour lasted a month, playing almost every day and people were very enthusiastic in most of the gigs. We got a lot of good comments about the shows and the cd’s. So, in the future, we plan to do more shows in Europe and aim at the big festivals maybe (if everything goes well).
We are in Firebox because they got interested in our music, and it was the best deal we could have. It’s far away indeed but things have worked just fine.



Where do you come from exactly? What about your local scene? And the metal-scene in Chile in general?



We all live in Santiago now, but Juan is from Iquique, Sergio is from Rancagua and R. Gálvez is from Viña del Mar, all of them different cities in our country. I believe in Chile there are a lot of people interested in metal but they don’t buy cd’s in the gigs and you can’t charge too much for the ticket because they just won’t buy it... So we don’t have too much money to produce many gigs; in fact we don’t play too much in Chile, and in Santiago there are just a few good venues to play so it’s hard to hire them.



Chile especially: what does this mean for you? And what about things, many people were thinking of: Allende, Chile under Pinochet (you or your family experienced something?), german war-refugees (or war-criminals) found new home in chile, chile is very interesting for tourists because of tradition and high mountains (the “Anden”, Fireland, Easter-Isles….), also the indians are famous (but aren’t they oppressed by the government=), strong catholic religion and something more, tell us something about "your Chile.



Chile is growing fast in many ways and because of that we have lots of problems. Mostly in Santiago (Chile is very centralized in Santiago), there’s a lot of pollution, traffic, people, crime... So when we travel to Europe we see many differences in the way of living. I think that Chile has got a lot of energy, but we’re still growing. We were born under Pinochet’s government so a huge part of the cultural identity was lost because, for instance, all folk music and many artistic expressions were banned, so now I think we are re-inventing again our identity...but that part has been very slowly.
We indeed have very beautiful and interesting landscapes. The majesty of The Andes mountain chain (it is our boundary with Argentina), the spirituality and tradition of the Easter Island… Chile is in general a very varied country in terms of geography: In the north, we have the most arid desert of the world, the Atacama desert; in the south, we have gorgeous forests, rivers and actually lots of rain. So, at least in that aspect Chile is a beautiful and varied country.
So personally I love the nature we have in Chile, the mountains, forest, deserts, but the cities aren’t that nice.
As for the German war criminals, some of the have been caught, some are still free.

InterviewWhat’s up? The last thing I remember was the new drummer in early 2007 and a new guitarist later…


Yes, Joe Fletcher joined in February 2007 on drums. Finally we found a permanent drummer who is good enough to allow us to do whatever we want musically. And Steve Peters left in August 2007 and was replaced by Kris Clayton on guitar. So, the line-up is currently complete and stable. And the current line-up is;

Gordon Bicknell – guitar, Mark Bodossian – bass, Greg Chandler – guitar, vocals, Kris Clayton – guitar
Joe Fletcher – drums, Olivier Goyet – keyboards.



You released (will release) a new CD. I just got the advance. Can you tell me something about the development from “Esoteric Emotions - The Death of Ignorance” until now and especially the jump from “Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum” until “The Maniacal Vale”. And why did you chose to release a Double-CD?


The development has just been a natural evolution and progression with what we do, how we have experienced life, and how we channel certain moods and feelings into the music.
I think the music is quite extreme, yes. It has some extremely dark and intense moods within it at times. The main difference between “The Maniacal Vale” and the demo from 1993 is that we are all much more experienced in playing, writing, composing, and so on. The amount of time and attention to detail that goes into creating and fine-tuning the music and sounds is far greater now.
We chose to record a double-CD this time, because we prefer our albums to be long and therefore contain more diverse elements through having more songs on it.
We had the option to stay with Season of Mist for this album, so we took it. So far the collaboration has worked well for us I think, if taking an overall view.


Perhaps one cool example for some cool lyrics?


The lyrics are a reflection of the contents of the mind, past and present experiences, emotions, thoughts, views, and so on. One line that stays in my mind as being quite relevant to life is “Eyes that see too much, lose the will to see”. Being too aware can be a difficult thing sometimes.



What means the band-name to you personally? And of course, what means DOOM for you?


We take the word literally, as defined; Understood by or meant only for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest.“Doom” for me is a media-defined category of music, like any other. I take each and every band on it’s own merit, regardless of style, if I am honest. Style is not so important to me as for example the feel of the music and whether I can relate to it emotionally, or in some other way that gratifies me. I like some bands from most styles and genres of metal and also many other styles of music.


>You are touring up from 17. of May in Europe. What do you expect from the tour? Would you agree, when I say, that there is something like a “doom-boom”? And do you know the cool band OPHIS you will be playing with in Hamburg and Berlin?


Well, we never really “expect” anything I think. We just do shows because we enjoy playing a lot, and we go to each gig with an open mind. It is just good to go to new places and play. It is also good to get away from Birmingham. I didn’t know Ophis before but I have checked out their music now and it sounded quite good. It is definitely easier to get gigs for us now than it was ten years ago. I wouldn’t say it is a “doom-boom” as the style is still largely unknown even amongst the metal “scene”, but it is certainly better known than it was when we started.


What about touring in the past? Can you tell us some funny/ extraordinary stories?


Well, our van caught fire while we were in it on our UK tour back in 1995. And in 1997 in Germany one of our guitarists fell down a manhole, breaking his knee and dislocating his kneecap. Life on tour can be quite bizarre sometimes. It is hard to really compare nations and cultures, as we spend little time at each place. Most of the days are spent travelling and then inside venues. Human nature is fairly similar the world over. Only the customs and ways of life can be very different.


I read in your bio: “…drug influenced tortured doom”. Why and which drugs? Is this the only way to live in this world? By the way: What do you think about “the world”?


Substance use, particularly hallucinogens can (in some minds) broaden the horizons of the senses, opening pathways of the mind not usually experienced during “normal” states of consciousness. Basically, it is down to what the individual can learn and extract from the experience. There is also the enjoyment of it, of course. Some hallucinogens offer an introverted journey through the mind. Every experience is different, and once you have the experiences you do not have to be in that state to recall what is gained. The enhancement in perception of colour and sound usually associated with certain drugs is a useful tool in sculpting music. Drug use for me is not an escape from reality or a means to deal with the world. More a tool that is used in moderation. The world is a rather large concept to discuss briefly. If I give an overall view, I would say that life is a mixture of what is thrust upon you and what you can make from your own circumstances.



Please compare the metal-scene today and before, when you started you’re career. Try to give a description of the development…


It has been almost 16 years now since Esoteric formed. So, I have seen quite a growth in the number of bands and changes in the way music is spread and promoted now. At the start it was mostly based on magazines and fanzines, but now a lot of promotion is done on the internet. So, it is possible to access many more bands and music more easily. The methods for getting music recorded and released are also much cheaper, and there are more “channels” for releasing music, such as through the internet.
On the downside, it also means that anyone with internet access can “release” their music. So there are more bands being heard, but it is also harder to find the really good bands amongst so many. Quite a lot of new categories and sub-genres have been formed under the banner of “metal” and there are also a lot of great bands that manage to be very unique and individual. It just takes longer to find them now, that is all, because there are a hundred plagiarists or poor musicians for each band that puts their own, unique heart and soul into the creation of their music.



Tell me something about your side-projcts, hobbies and your private life.



Most of the band members have side-projects or other bands. Gordon has Lysergene, Olivier has Dead Beat Project, Mark has Pantheist, Joe has Deacon Birch and Da Vinci Code, Kris has Camel of Doom. And sometimes we will take session work, write for others, etc. Almost all of us work within the music industry, between us, composing, programming, engineering/producing, teaching or something similar. Music is our raison d’etre.



What about England? Where do you come from, how is life there from the point of view of a musician and from social aspects. And isn’t it a shame that your football-national-team stays at home? What about clichés like fish and chips, centralistic London, warm beer, white English man nearly dying in the sun…


The band was formed in Birmingham, and that is where Gordon and I are from. The rest of the members are from other places, though most live in Birmingham. Life for a musician in England can be difficult, if you depend entirely on music for an income, but there are also a lot of opportunities.
I do not follow football at all, to be honest. I almost never watch the television. Well, white English men do almost die in the sun, hehe. We are just not used to it. Regarding clichés, well, the best ones are usually the most offensive!



www.esotericuk.net


www.myspace.com/esotericuk