Raunchy - Lifeforce make things happen for us!
When a former Roadrunner intern advised me to listen to the Danish band Raunchy, which I did, I was immediately impressed by their refreshing and unique sound. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the album anywhere so I downloaded the album an placed it on my IPOD. Last Friday I got the chance to interview the guys after their show in the Effenaar (Eindhoven, NL) where they supported Hatesphere. Just before we started I bought their last release entitled ‘Death Pop Romance’. In the dressing room were various members; lead vocalist Kaspar, drummer Morten and guitarist Jesper were there constantly.
How are you guys doing?
‘We are fine man, we drove for 13 hours but we arrived and played a great show!’
Indeed you did, let us start with the questions! Raunchy is a growing band within a huge genre called ‘modern metal’, can you tell us why Raunchy is innovative within this genre?
‘Wow, you start with a hard one. Well, our first record was really similar to other bands like Fear Factory and we liked it but it wasn’t too original. And now we arrived at our third album and of course we are still influenced but we have found our own thing within music. The fact we got Kasper in the band changed a lot of things within our sound and style. We try to progress on every album in many ways. And besides that I think it is hard to categorise us because we don’t just play metal, we use ingredients of many genres.’
Well, let’s continue with your vocalist Kasper then, you entered the band one week before the release of your second album. What were the consequences for that release and the band?
‘It was easy and hard at the same time. After we started touring when we released the Confusion Bay album people expected me to sound the same as the previous singer. But I have got other strong capabilities. It was easy because the other guys immediately accepted me for who I am and what I did. The hard part was the fact that I thought I had to push thing, do my best to sound the same and be like the old singer. Just scream my lungs out. Even the new album was very stressful for me because I wanted to grow and do the best I could. I had to prove a lot of things to a lot of people. When a band changes singers it isn’t easy to start and do your thing. I wasn’t a part of the band during the writing process and that made it even harder. But the guys were really supportive and helped me a lot!’
So what was it like to sing an other persons lyrics and trying to express his feelings?
‘Yeah, that is the problem. And you can hear that on our new album because the lyrics are completely different to the old ones. That was one of the things I was really looking forward to, doing my own thing.’
So you felt great writing your own lyrics for this album?
‘That was a cool thing to do. The band gave me total freedom and I could do whatever I wanted to.’
So what changed musically on your last album?
‘Well, over the years you keep listening to a lot of different bands and we are not trying to duplicate but when I hear something really cool I carry that specific part with me for a new song. And that cool part can be present in every genre, rock, pop, it does not matter for us and we don’t care if it is not metal. This time we are just trying to explore our own boundaries and pushing ourselves within our music. It was a inner struggle but we have made it!’
But did it had anything to do with Kasper entering the band that you got the opportunity to change your style or experiment?
‘Of course! When we heard Kasper for the first time he blew us away with his voice! He was much more brutal. When you hear Confusion Bay now it still remains a great album but the new one is way more metal than the previous one!’
Your album title is Death Pop Romance, which is not really a metal title; why this choise?
‘Not being a metal title is what is so great about it! We do not sound like every other band out there so we cannot put FIRE and HELL in our title you know (HAHA). Right now it is so trendy to be brutal and everything which is new sucks.’
But when you hear Atreyu or Raunchy, your music is way more brutal than Atreyu!
‘Yeah, but at the same time it is what we are about and we thought about our music! We created a pop sound which is played in a metal way. In every song we make we got a power chord to finish the song with a blast.’
And in what way do you personally relate to your own album title?
‘When we started to think about album titles we had a lot of different ones but Death Pop Romance was the one title which came back every time we discussed it. It fitted the album and matched with every song and their lyrics. It was just Death Pop Romance! When Kasper brought up this title everybody agreed this was a great title, and it was the first time everybody agreed with the album title! Our music can be defined as Death Pop’
But your Lifeforce bio says Futuristic Hybrid Metal.
‘Aahhh, that title will always follow us! Nuclear Blast invented that genre for us when we released our first album. It is something where we are referred to, but we actually like Death Pop! We think Death Pop sounds more refreshing and original. We are not changing styles within metal, we are combining known stuff into our own mix.’
‘Yeah, Exactly!’
So please tell the people in two words what you think of the band on your shirt!
Dream Evil: ‘AWESOME BAND’
Kind Diamond: ‘Funny Horror Metal’
As I Lay Dying: ‘Hard as hell’ (We told him to listen to Sworn Enemy)
Illdisposed: ‘Pure beer drinking’
Two albums on Nuclear Blast and now you first full length on Lifeforce, can you explain what happened since your signing on Lifeforce and are there many differences?
‘Well, we are signed with some dedicated people right now. We are on that label for 1,5 year right now. We were recording demo’s for the new album and then we got kicked. We came to a point were there wasn’t any communication we just grew apart. We were tired of them and they had enough of us. The last year on Nuclear Blast we didn’t receive any support and we weren’t top priority.’
‘Well, the things changed a lot since we got signed on Lifeforce. We never have been supported on tour by our label but Lifeforce gives us tour support. We asked NB a lot of times but we never received anything. And Lifeforce is great in doing his promotion, we reach al the magazines and websites. The people are doing a great job so we are not complaining! They actually make things happen for us, that is the coolest thing! During the Soulfly tour there was a big place in Leipzig and we came to the show and he invited some guy of the Fullforce festival. Before we knew it we were playing on that festival.’
You are doing a small tour right now with a couple of dates, what is up for the future in touring?
‘We are planning a European tour in November. We are in for it, we just have to arrange shows! We want to go together with Hatepshere and Volbeat so it should work!’
And what about the festivals?
‘Yeah, what about them haha’
HAHA, you know what we mean! Are we going to see some Raunchy there?
‘We are hoping for a little bit more but we will just have to wait and see. We don’t think there will be more dates. Maybe Graspop, there was something going on with Rock Am Ring but we have heard nothing.’
{Some chit chat about the relationship between the Dutch and the German, shame on us!}
Do you think it is a different show in each country within Europe?
‘Yes, clear answer right!’
Sure is! And have you ever been to the UK?
‘Once again no, but we want to! But the only problem is they will probably put us on a bill with a ’80 metal band or something. When you start over there you get treated like shit! But the crowd seems to be crazy!’
Orgy: ‘Are we having one now?’
Superb: ‘Death Pop (and underrated!)’
Killswitch Engage: ‘Great! The started are the new wave of American bands playing Scandinavian metal!!’
In Flames: ‘Grandfathers’
{And everybody makes fun of Kaspar being the new singer and he will always remain the new singer just like in Sepultura!}
Can you tell us the process of finding the perfect combination of aggression and melody?
‘We are good at that, that we can say!’
‘We have got a formula, we never rehearse! We just play, if it sounds like shit we have to go into the studio and work harder to make it a good song! We never play together before we enter the studio. We never got a song ready for recordings. We have an idea and we do it in the studio. And besides that we just do not limit ourselves in any way. If the song is aggressive we keep it aggressive, it is more pop like it is good as well. But we do look for diversity. Besides that a lot of our music and the lyrics are created subconscious. When we were finished and people asked Kasper about the meanings of the songs he had to really think before he could answer the question.’
What is it like to ‘Drink beer with Hatesphere’?
‘Well, the guys act like their tough and great; but they actually do not drink that much beer!’
‘When they arrive in the hotel they are always going to bed immediately! Damn pussies! But we love them for what they are!’
‘Hahaha, get them guys!’
‘True… but it is some kind of anti-climax’
Have you got any last words?
‘Kasper can have them! No! Morten gets it!! Thanks for reading everything about us, listening to our music and visiting our shows. GO BUY THE RECORD!’
‘Kasper added: I am very thankful for the people that has emailed me and complimented me with my performance on our last record! And telling me the new record is amazing. A lot of people hated me when I joined the band, grabbing my microphone on stage or even put tape on my mouth so I wasn’t able to sing. But a lot of those guys emailed me and offered their apologies, I truly appreciate that!’
{After that a lot of chit chat about me buying the album, the show and nonsense. But then Mickel and me had to leave because I had to catch a train and Mickel had to take a leak. To much beer for that guy!}