– Nowadays I’m reeling from an awful gig I did in Poland in April this year at the Art Rock Festival in Poznan. A few days before the gig I got sick and my temperature hit 104, I also lost my voice the night before the gig. I felt that I couldn’t cancel though as there were over 400 people there who (I’d been told) had come to see Antimatter. So I thought I’d be the hero and go and play anyway when I should’ve been at home in bed with a thermometer in my mouth. It was a pretty bad move. I got really drunk, using half a bottle of whiskey on hot toddies (an old English recipe of honey and whiskey for sore throats). I stumbled onstage blabbering a load of shit, feeling like death, and then lost my voice during the second song. I think I’ll just cancel any gigs the next time I’m ill.
– It has already been more than a year since Leaving Eden released. Did you compose any news songs since then?
– Yeah, there have been a couple of new tracks written since then, as well as some unfinished tracks being completed. I’ve got a pretty solid concept for another album, but I’m taking it easy, I don’t want to rush anything, and there’s still a lot of blanks that need filling in.
– What kind of musical/other influences do you get these days, what do you think about the next Antimatter album would sound like musically?
– It’ll be a mixture of stuff I guess, acoustic elements and heavy in other parts. Each track has its own little style, so it’s hard to group it all together under one tag.
– Leaving Eden became more heavier and guitar oriented than the earlier ones, especially if we take a look back to the triphop influences of the early years…
– Sure, but my Antimatter stuff was always more guitar-orientated than Duncan’s anyway, so you were bound to hear more guitars once he left and I took over all the writing.
– How do the „typical” musical activities like rehearsal, composing, recording songs work in case of Antimatter? I ask this, because AM members live far away from eachother…
– The people who play on albums are just session musicians, and they learn their parts just before going into the studio. I actually composed most of the session player’s parts for Eden, and then asked them to learn those parts and then expand and adapt them if they wanted.
– I know, I am an unpatient guy, but can i expect any kind of Antimatter release in the near future? I would like a live DVD the most, but I know it has real high costs to produce one… so a simple live cd album would be fine for me as well 😉
– There are plans in the pipeline for a 2CD/1DVD release titled Alternative Matter, full of live stuff, demos, alternative versions etc. The DVD should have some live stuff as well as some tour footage. There’s some things that need clearing up before I can concentrate on that, though, so there’s no date set aside for the release just yet.
– I often realize while browsing the net, that I am listening again to bootleg AM videos posted on Youtube by fans which are great, but sound/picture quality…
– Yeah, there’s not too much stuff available as the only professional recordings we’ve had have been at pretty dire gigs, it seems like a re-occurring curse. But some of the stuff on YouTube (although grainy and dodgy) has captured some decent performances. Leaving Eden live in Warsaw is a good one, as is Shroud of False/Lost Control on Duncan’s last gig in Germany 2003. I should really add a page to my website with links to YouTube content.
– Or what about a cover album? You play a lot of covers on your acoustic nights, like Dolly Parton, John Lennon, Dead Can Dance, Pink Floyd, not even mentioning the songs originally released as Anathema… I usually prefer these ones more than the original. Even so, the only cover song on official Antimatter albums is Mr White of Trouble… Have you ever played with the idea of a cover album?
– I contemplate a covers album all the time, and have done for years. For me, covers are what its all about, as it’s celebrating the music that really lights you up. It’s the core of what you are as a musician, those songs that have moved you in the past and gave you the desire to write and play. So, yeah, covers are very important to me and I would ideally like to eventually release three covers albums, covering each period of my life, each musical fanaticism. But I feel that at the moment its is project for another time, probably a good few years down the line, as I don’t want to detract too much from the writing and recording of my own music.
– Where Wild Roses Grow cover of Nick Cave you performed with Vic Anselmo is just amazing. How do you know her, have you got any more musical plans with her?
– I met Vic when she supported me in Latvia and Estonia in 2007, though I already knew of her before that as I’d seen some of her live videos on Myspace and thought it was really great stuff. I think the girl is a real talent, and she’s got a really strong and unique image. When she played, she sat alone with an acoustic guitar and held the stage completely.
– We attended your gig in Wien last December. It was a very good concert, a real experience. I was sad anyway, Hungary was missing in the tourdates again. Danny usually has huge success with his acoustic nights in Budapest (and also at countryside), I am pretty sure people would enjoy your show as well. If I think back, at that party in Wien there were like 80-100 people in the audience including more than 10 hungarian… Please make a promise for us, you wont miss Budapest in your tour dates next time! 🙂
– Haha, sure OK, I’ll make sure I swerve through next time!
– To be honest, it was strange to see you talking jokes and offering that kosher spirit drink for the audience that night 🙂 Whats the reason of this sharp contrast?
– That’s just me shining through. I’m always cracking jokes from day to day anyway, and as I don’t believe in creating a false persona for the stage, I just tend to act like myself, even if it does get me in to trouble from time to time. For example, during that disastrous Polish gig in April, Pete went to get me some honey for my throat halfway through the gig. I had like 400 pairs of eyes looking at me in silence, so I told a joke about a guy fucking his daughter, haha. Nobody laughed at all.
– According to your website, which has new address lately, you wont have any more live appearance this year, the only one was in April, Poland. Why?
Well, it was originally planned that I would only do the one gig in 2008. But since that last gig I kind of feel the need to get rid of the taste of failure from my mouth, so there are now plans for some dates in the autumn. Me and Duncan are planning to do some in Portugal, and maybe Spain too.
– About Duncan… do you know anything up to date about his Ion project? He is in silence for a long time, though the new album should have been already released.
– He’s planning to begin recording the next Ion album ‘Immaculada’ in August in Portugal. So by the time I get there for the gigs he should have a lot of it recorded already. It should be released sometime before Christmas, on Equilibrium again.
– I hope you dont mind a more philosophical question. These days Danny is always saying, he found the way and he is happy now. What, do you think, the meaning of life is, if it has such at all?
– I don’t know about meaning, really. I’m just happy to be trouble-free these days. I think it’s all part of growing up and learning for me, just getting rid of the shit that drags you down.
– Thank you for the opportunity, have you got anything more to say to the fans?
Yep, I’ll see you at www.myspace.com/antimatterband
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