ghost of wem: September 2014

GHOST OF WEM interview february 2012 from MIASMA magazine. Since this interview only was printed in Finland, i decided it would be a nice idea to make it available on the blog in the original english version.

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1. What kind of roots do you have, how was the band created? What about your personal history, have you known each other long or just a few years? How much does the friendship matter in this band?

Julian: Actually it was more like coincidence what got this band started. Jorge, Stef and a bass-playing friend of them wanted to start something. I didn’t know them well at this point but a friend of mine gave me the hint that their project might lack of a drummer and I would fit pretty well there. So we started to rehearse. After a while our bass-player quit and we asked Stefan to join the band, again by recommendation of the very same friend of mine (Thanks a lot still, Marc!)! Then we just had to convince Dave to take over on the mic. Took us some time, but finally he gave in. And well..... love came quickly and there we still are!

Stef: Jorge, me and a good friend of ours just wanted to start some doom/sludge band, because we got really into this sound at that time and at least Jorge and me were always playing in hardcore-punk bands. We just wanted to start something new.

Stefan: Stef once told me about his idea for a new “doom” band at some party, but at this time they were in search of a drummer … nothing I could offer.

2. What part of Germany do you come from? Does the area you live (like its people or nature) have any effect on your music? What kind of underground music scene is there, has it supported you?

Stef: We come from the south west part of Germany, namely the cities Freiburg and Karlsruhe, which lie in a distance of 130 km from each other

Julian: For a cities as small as Freiburg and Karlsruhe I think options are pretty nice. There is a very active squatted house, the KTS, in Freiburg and a couple of other venues were shows are held. The good network you gain by that brings you a lot of chances to play live all around the country. So, definitely, yes, the scene gave us big support. Especially our friends from Hellborn Messiah and Never Built Ruins helped us a lot in the beginning. Sadly, one of the biggest supporters for underground music around here, Daniel, vocalist of Hellborn Messiah and Life Ends, deceased a couple of weeks ago. That incident hit us all very hard and will have a huge impact on the local scene for a long time. We miss him a lot!

Stef: Yes, we do! About the scenes: Karlsruhe has also a venue right now where there’s the possibility to do subcultural things, called Halle 14. In the 90s and early 2000s there was always a squat, the Ex-Steffi, here, but everything got evicted after some years. I really can tell you, that the scene always evolves around ceratin places. If you don’t have a cool place it’s hard for a city’s scene to do shows on a regular basis besides doing it in commercial places. Which sucks, of course.

3. Do the scenes in differ much in different parts of Germany, considering for example activity, popular genres and political consciousness? Or is there any room for politics in the doom/sludge scene? Which are the best things in your local scene? Anything you’d like to get rid of?

Stef: I don’t know if we really can label us as doom/sludge band. Sure the sound is like this and we really get cool reactions from these people. But personally, I think we are much more part of the D.I.Y. - hardcore punk scene, having our rehearsal room in a squat and feeling very much being part of this network. We have strong principles when it comes to all sorts of bullshit, as we are 100% opposed to right wing shit, which is a sad direction that lots of bands with doom background go to. Black metal bands - which are often credited in our reviews as part of our sound - not to mention. I guess you can say our politics are left-wing. Even if it’s just that our mediums are the message: The places we play, the label we are on..... all show the way we are.

Julian: To your question, sure, scenes differ everywhere. But I have the impression that this mostly is due to the effect of the possibility to rehearse and play live. In Germany you have a lot of youth centers and a couple of squats. As soon as you have this, a scene can flourish. I also think that this correlates directly: The more venues you have, the more distinct scenes differentiate out.

4. The name “Ghost of Wem” was a complete mystery to me until I used google. Why did you choose a name like that? Does the story behind it have any special meaning to you? At least the first song’s name has something to do with that incident. But I guess this is not any kind of “theme album”?

Stefan: I’m sorry, but there isn’t any good bandname story to reveal. About that song “Burning Townhall” … we always wanted to name at least one song in connection to the incident.

Stef: It’s not a concept or anything, at least to this point. Maybe we might do something like this in the future, maybe not - we talked about it once in a while but there are no real plans to this point. I must admit though, that I really like the sound of the bandname, basically nothing more - nothing less.

Julian: I always liked the idea, that a story like Jane’s still frightens people in such rational times. It’s somehow ridiculous..... and still, to be honest, that picture of the face in the flames gives me the creeps!

5. Your style combines sludge, doom and underground metal in a very effective way. Which bands have been the most important to you when thinking about the creation of your sound. Any important non-musical influences? (apart from the things I asked in question 2)

Stef: Speaking for myself, i have always, well at least since I’m a teenager, been interested in extreme music in many forms, whether if it’s hardcore-punk, industrial, grindcore, thrash metal, etc.... to name a list of bands....... well, i guess we could go on for a couple of hours - because we all listen to different stuff. Speaking for myself, i listen to a lot of music throughout the day. Inspirations? Well that’s tough, we were often compared to BURNING WITCH and IRON MONKEY in reviews, which is not bad at all since both are great bands, but i guess when it comes to inspiration it’s a wild mixture of different stuff, perhaps bands like HIS HERO IS GONE, HERESY and SWANS were a much bigger inspiration - but i can only talk for myself now. I listen to all kinds of music.

Julian: All in all I have the impression, that Hardcore-Punk, Crust and Death Metal played a much bigger part in our inspiration than Sludge itself. Even if our sound is now far away from that.

Stefan: There weren't really any ambitions to sound like other bands. So I guess there were more unconscious influences from bands we were listening before and at that time.

6. Nowadays it is not unusual that a band (especially doom/sludge) does an LP as a first release. Anyway, it still surprises me that many bands are in a hurry to make a record. You have succeeded well, but did you have any doubts that you could not fill the whole LP with quality stuff? What was the reason for you to make an LP? Have you made any demos or other releases before this?

Julian: Actually the songs are all pretty old. We already played them live for a while before we had the idea of putting the material on a record. I even think, that we had to record them at that very moment or we would have never moved on. At some point you have to draw a line and get over with a song or you keep on playing same old shit for ages. Recording an LP is a perfect way of making a cut AND memorize all the good things you experienced with that music.

7. How long did you prepare for recording until you went to studio? Did the songwriting take long? Do you make music in co-operation or is there someone who writes all the stuff?

Julian: I think most of the basic riffs came out of Jorge’s quill. Usually he comes up with an idea and than we start to work around that. Stef is an expert in finding the essential melodies, I think I am doing OK in arranging songs, and Stefan is the one to tell you that it all sucks!!! *LOL* No, seriously, we have a good deal of teamwork in it. When only the Freiburg-based part of the band rehearses together, we basically always reach a point where we would need the others to move on.

8. Did you have any trouble or problems during production? How long did you spend in studio?

Julian: 2 days?

Stefan: One weekend in our rehearsal room!

Stef: The recording went really well. Ralf from B.SON is very experienced at recording other bands, and he just knows what to do in every situation. We really had a great time!

9. I think there is a unique feeling in your LP. You have managed to make a very powerful record with pretty lo-fi and raw sound, which is great. And the songs “flow” very beautifully and with ease. What is the secret of your skill to make this kind or stuff? What kind of feedback have you had? And have you been happy with the final product?

Stef: Well, we just don’t ever think too much about the process. That does not mean we don’t work hard on the songs! But it’s really relaxed and we don’t plan to satisfy the Black Metal audience with one song and the Stoner guys with another. It’s just when we are working on something it just makes “click” once in a while and the song is set! Other times we play like for some practices this or that riff and after a few times, it will just be forgotten. For myself - i must say - i really feel happy with how you describe the sound. As for the reviews, all - at least the ones i have read - were good, too. To be honest: no one of us ever thought the record would turn out like this, as far as the reactions go.

Julian: Yeah, that’s right! One thing to add is that we recorded everything in a live setup. That might make it a little more grimy, but it also makes it sound way more natural, tight and energetic. Just the way it was intended! Also, Ralf from B.SON and Jörg did a great job in recording and mastering. A lot of our “uniqueness” is also their work.

Stefan: The record really shows the sound we had around this time. So for me the LP also reflects our path of finding our sound to this specific point.

10. When you think about the record afterward and listen to it, is there anything you would like to change or make differently? Any mistakes? Or something you would have liked to do better but did not have the time?

Julian: I love it the way it is! OK, I personally love the look and feel of our yellow “limited” edition more, especially for the paper of the cover. The art comes out way better! I could have liked to put them all out with those materials. But still, that’s peanuts and I am so very happy how the whole product is. Marcel rocks!!

Stef: We should have done all covers with the inside out print, but that’s just one thing to remember for future productions. I really like the record still a lot and totally agree with Julian on this, it just documents us at this point very well.

11. The vocals are especially raw but stay pretty low. Why did you choose to make it sound like that? Have you tried different ways too?

Julian: Hm, I think the level of the voice was pretty quickly consensus in the band. None of us seemed to like vocals which are steamrolling everything else of the music. The voice itself is just brilliant and essential part of our sound. We got some negative comments about it and some people even regard it as unnerving. But to me it is partly what makes us different to others. Anyways, in more recent stuff we are experimenting with Jorge’s voice as addition. And, I can tell you, it’ll blast asses away!!

12. When reading the lyrics of “They gave their hearts to sin” you notice that it might be about people who are not welcome in the scene. Is that the idea of that song? Overall, your lyrics are pretty “unclear” and leave the reader room to make his own interpretation. Do you agree? Is this intentional?

Julian: I am sorry that we can’t give you first hand information on this point, since our vocalist wasn’t able to join us now. Lyrics are basically the only part where it doesn’t come to teamwork that much. Sure we read the lyrics and would intervene if there was something unbearable for anyone of us. But until now I think that we were all very satisfied with Dave’s poetry.

13. What topics will you deal with in the future? Is there something especially important you’d like say, or mainly so called “personal issues”.

Julian: Hmmmm......for the future? Continue making music I like, love the people, abolish capitalism and beat up Nazi scum. Basically that’s all!!

14. How did you make contact with Blind Date’s Marcel? Why did you want to make a record for his label? How did he make the decision to make an album for you? I mean did he see some shows, listen to a demo etc? Did you have any other offers from other labels?

Stef: Marcel is a friend of ours. Since he is also from Freiburg (where ⅗ of us live) it just was maybe a logical thing to do. He really liked our stuff very much from when he first heard it, as far as i remember.

Julian: Yeah, and from the point of art, we fit together like fist and face!

Stefan: Praise the drunken crazytalk

15. The pressing is only 300 copies, which is ridiculous for such a great record (And small even for Blind Date.) Why such a small number? Did you not trust that you’d sell more?

Stef: I guess today it’s not as easy for new bands to sell many records. I even got a rejection from a doom mailorder who said that no one buys records from new unknown bands - which is really sad in my opinion. I’m working as my day job in record and CD duplication, i guess the amount is really “normal” nowadays for a underground band.

Julian: Thank you! As a matter of fact it also is a question of money. We are all pretty short on cash and couldn’t afford to guarantee for more than those 300. And I think that someone like Marcel is already taking a lot of risk putting out an edition like that with an unknown band. So, I am grateful for how it is. Maybe the next time we can already do more! Or maybe a CD once in a while, I don’t know. Especially Metal dudes are a bit peculiar about that. They just don’t buy vinyl!

Stefan: Back these days, Marcel had the most experience to know how much copies we should press and because he took all the risk, his word was the crucial factor.

16. The LP cover is pretty original and even abstract. What meaning does cover art have to you, in general or in this particular case? Is there anything you want to say with it? Or do you hope that everyone interprets it himself and finds personal meaning for it? Or maybe think that no one cares…?

Julian: Dave is a professional artist and doing the art part of our band. I love his art dearly, even if I can’t afford to buy his paintings! So I really fancy, that we have real art wrapped around our dilettantism.

17. You play slow and heavy music, which is pretty popular nowadays, at least compared to situation before the rise of sludge genre. In your opinion, what is the reason for this popularity?

Stef: Mhhh, i always ever felt attracted to slow and heavy stuff. As teenager i really got into SWANS, “My War”-era BLACK FLAG, BUZZOV-EN, EYEHATEGOD, SAINT VITUS, MELVINS and tons of other stuff.... this kind of sound is around for decades. But back to your question: I really don’t know why it’s so popular today. Perhaps because it’s something which was not done over and over again.

Julian: Yeah, I think it was just something new for the people! Right now it all seems to settle a bit and the genre consolidates itself. There will remain the really unique bands and some festivals which have risen in the hype might stay big. But after all you had that with all “new” music. Was the same with Screamo and will be the same with Black Metal........one personal hint: I bet the next “big thing” for the hipsters will be something like EBM or Synthie-Punk with an ironic Goth-wink. Or so. Hahaaaha!

Stefan: I didn’t even notice that slower music got so much more attention … but I guess it’s like it always was before, people are bored and explore new stuff, stay, browse for a while and then move on.

18. What feeling does playing music give to you? Which gives you the most pleasure and satisfaction: song structures, lyrics, volume of the music, rehearsals or playing live?

Julian: Playing live is what makes you doing all this. It’s the best thing on earth! But also, I really get depressed and pissed when I am not meeting with the guys regularly. Making music really means a lot to me.

19. What will the near future of Ghost of Wem look like? Will you continue with same line-up, or do you perhaps want to add more instruments? How about tours, new recordings or something else?

Julian: Right now, we are trying to get done with a cover version for the CLONE samplers on Blinddate Records. Incredibly cool project!!! When recording that we will also record 2 songs which we already played live the last year. Then we are working on new songs. We were a bit sick of playing old stuff the last months and are really looking forward to putting new music on the stages. At least we hope to be able to do a tour again this year!

Stef: Since all of us have day jobs and most of us have other bands it’s sometimes hard to practice on a regular basis. Last year we had over 20 shows, which is great. Right now we are about to start practicing again and play some shows.

Stefan: I guess we sort of found our sound, and we will continue to work on. But there won’t be any further additions of instruments in the near future..

20. Thank you!

Julian: Thank you!

Stef: Thanks man!

Stefan: Thanks.