Chaoswave interview

You could read an article about the italian Chaoswave earlier, and now everybody will be richer with an interview. By the way the situation is that the interview has been done since a time, but because of lack of time: my questions’ reasons and Henrik‘s answers show up before our dear readers only now, but since i lost really much time – i won’t say any more useless things, because i beleive, everything turns out from the answers, let’s see it!

First of all thank you for the opportunity Henrik, and please introduce the band, like who stands in which position, and what is good to know about you?

Hi there „Hungary” and thank you!! Chaoswave is a Danish/Italian modern metal band. The band lives in Italy, 4 out of 5 members are Italian, but I am from Denmark and have been living in Italy for 6-7 years now. The band consists of Raphael (drums), Michele (bass), Henrik (7-string guitar), Fabio (clean vocals) and Giorgia (clean vocals). The metal we play is a modern thrash metal, but as you can see we have 2 singers that both use clean voices. We also therefore have a very personal sound, that differs from the „growl vs. soft voice” that defines many melodic metal bands these days.

You have another projects, haven’t you? 

I used to play with Sinphonia, with whom I release 2 albums some years ago. But we split up, and the drummer is now in Hatesphere, the singer joined Sirenia for a while, and I started up Chaoswave.

And what are these?

Now you are saying it, Raphael does some session drumming for an Italian brutal death metal band. I think they are called Corpsefucking Art, so if you are into that kind of music, check them out. Raphael is a great drummer, and does well with death metal too.

How did the public receive your new album? What are the feedbacks like? Whoes idea was the cover and who made it?

We are getting very very good feedback from the media. Especially Germany seems to be liking us a lot. Nevertheless, for the first time we also have received 3-4 very bad reviews. Out of 100 its not bad, but still its funny, because it seems as if people either love or hate Chaoswave. The most important thing is the reaction from our fans which has been overwhelming. So we are really happy with how the public has received the album.

The cover was made by me. I make all artwork for the band, and this time I wanted to make a very simple but effective cover. Something that would be a bit different from the normal metal cover. There are so many new cds coming out each month, so its really important to have a cover that is easy to remember.

Exactly why is the band’s name Chaoswave? I admit that an interesting conception getting on, even so i don’t understand, how did your choice was this name – as i mentioned in my article, i could rather imagine it as a heavy power noise or industrial – EBM project’s name.

Hahaha, you are right, it could sound a bit industrial. Which is a good thing, as I wanted a modern name for the band. I made the name when we started 6 years ago, and besides the modern touch I wanted a name that reflected the music style that we play. In Chaoswave we have melodic vocals (harmony – like a soft wave) meeting with an aggressive and technical rhythm section (chaos). Another important thing was to find a name that was original. So I checked Google for Chaoswave, and there were less than 10 results, so we quickly decided for that name. Now you will find a few more results on google though, ahahaha…

Steve Smyth is a really big name in the profession, how did you get know of each other, and exactly in which songs did he collaborate? Please, tell me about the studio recording, or maybe about the nice common experiences.

I met Steve Smyth after a Nevermore concert in Milan. I was standing there outside the tour bus together will all the other fans with starry eyes, hahaha. I gave him our demo cd and a t-shirt, and since then we talked a few times via email. When we were recording the new album, I wanted some guest solos, and the first guy I thought of was Steve. Luckily he agreed instantly, and did a great work too. He recorded solos on Fork Tongues and Foul Times, A March for the Dying and Rise. For me personally the solos of Rise are the coolest, since we do some dueling. He starts, then I take over, he comes back, and I finish it all of. As a fan there is nothing better than playing against your idol.

This isn’t really a musical question, but the global economical crisis affects on music and album editions. How much do you feel that in Italy? Whose got a family in Chaoswave, and what are your jobs in public life?

I think the whole world feels it – Italy included. I work in the travel business, and we are having a hard year. Less clients means less money, and more risk of loosing the job. Luckily I have a good position so I am not too worried for myself. No one in the band is married or with children, so we are not suffering much there. I work as a webdesigner and programmer, Giorgia works in the travel business too, Fabio and Michele both study at the university, and Raphael is a drum teacher.

And if we are here due to crisis, do you believe that better times will come or you only hope for it? In what do you see the whole situation’s cause, and what would be the solution? 

It’s far too complicated for me to really see the cause of it. We all know it started in the US, with the crash of the banks over there. We also know that US has been spending far too much money on useless wars. So to connect the two things is easy. Still, they say the problem is rooted in irresponsible house financing of the American banks, so its hart to see a direct connection to the wars for example. But I think that the whole mentality of the Bush government has had a greatly negative effect on the whole finance system and the way it „thinks”. I mean, if you live in a country that seamlessly without risk spends billions and billions of dollars on wars, why should ever worry about bankruptcy? Maybe the crisis was just what we needed to wake up people. I am actually very positive on the future. I am one of the many the hopes a lot from Barack Obama. Not because I think he will change everything all of sudden, but because the way he is, is very inspiring to the whole world.

Thank you for that a little we could step over Chaoswave’s bounds, so let’s come back. Please tell me three bands and their albums, which had a deep influence on you in your childhood or in nowadays.

Sanctuary / Nevermore are definitely number one (for those that don’t know, Nevermore used to be Sanctuary). Sanctuary‘s Into the Mirror Black was one of the first metal albums I bought, back in 1990 I think. I used to listen to it everyday for a long period, and it still often finds its way to my cd player. When the first Nevermore album came out I was in the shop asking for it everyday for weeks, and I have been a dedicated fan ever since. Another important band is Metallica. In my first years I read everything that I could find, and being Danish of course I was a big fan of Lars Ulrich. …and Justice for All is their best in my book. Another very important band is Death. I have always been a big fan, and I was deeply sorrow when the world lost the genius of Chuck Schuldiner.

How do you live this metalcore trend, that more of the bands play music due to the trend, and who really arrived at the beginning of this style could get really rich. In which style would you put Chaoswave and how are successes with you in your country? How much are you known?

Trends come and go, so I don’t care much. I really like some metalcore bands. Killswitch Engage are great for example. They are metalcore, but the quality of their music cant be denied. I am also a big fan of some of Soilwork‘s newer albums. They are Swedish death metal, but some people call them „trendy, sell out, metal core wannabees”. I don’t care honestly. Its metal and I like it. In Chaoswave we have some metalcore elements, some death metal elements, some progressive, some goth, some thrash – a bit of everything without being confusing. I think modern metal fits well.

We are not small in Italy but not really big either. Its moving quickly forward though, and this month our first video will premier on the Italian tv channel ROCK TV. Probably the biggest music channel after MTV, so it’s a big step forward for us. A great video by the way, which we probably will put online in April.

Would you like to send a message to the readers of Fémforgács?

Support metal. Fuck the trends. Its trendy to be metalcore, but it is just as trendy to hate metalcore. Just be yourself and listen to what you like. To be metal is to be openminded!

Something you’d like to say at the end?

Well, just please check out our myspace, add us as a friend, and let us know you read about us here on this great site!

Thanks for the interview and take care!

I need to thank you! Every interview is a big help! Thanks!

Henrik

Akela, Jó’vana Akela, Jó’vana
április 05.