Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Finding Salvation in Loss With ALPHA From GAEREA
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Yeah, this is Alpha from Geria and yeah, and we're
- 0:06Speaker 1: having a chat about going to Australia for the first time.
- 0:10Speaker 2: I guess fantastic. Thanks for joining us, not Alpha, thanks
- 0:15Speaker 2: for having me my pleasure. So as you say, Geria
- 0:18Speaker 2: hit Australia for the first time ever this July, starting
- 0:21Speaker 2: July the seventeenth, Perth and he hit Adelaide, Melbourne, Britsbane
- 0:25Speaker 2: and finishing Sydney on July the twelfth.
- 0:28Speaker 3: I guess the big question is why have you neglected
- 0:29Speaker 3: us for so long? Mate? I take in so long?
- 0:33Speaker 1: Exactly, That's that's the question I asked myself. I mean,
- 0:37Speaker 1: we always had, like, you know, people that wanted to
- 0:42Speaker 1: bring us to Australia. For almost since the beginning, almost
- 0:47Speaker 1: every year we would talk to someone that wanted to
- 0:49Speaker 1: bring us over there. But you know, you we leave
- 0:54Speaker 1: far apart, and it's very, very very expensive to go
- 0:57Speaker 1: to Australia these days, and you know, it's it's getting crazier.
- 1:01Speaker 1: So we just had to wait for the right time.
- 1:06Speaker 1: And now it just feels like, you know, the planet's
- 1:09Speaker 1: finally aligned and I'm happy. I'm happy we can do
- 1:16Speaker 1: it also on the right terms where we can put
- 1:20Speaker 1: on a proper show and and you know it's going
- 1:24Speaker 1: to be special for sure, because it's the first time
- 1:26Speaker 1: we're there after you know, after starting to spend ten
- 1:29Speaker 1: years ago, so we can go through a bit of
- 1:31Speaker 1: everything we did, you know, in terms of songs, in
- 1:34Speaker 1: terms of set, it's going to be a different set
- 1:36Speaker 1: for sure. Yeah. I mean, you know, takes time, like everything,
- 1:42Speaker 1: but we're finally we're going to be there in two months,
- 1:45Speaker 1: so I'm very looking forward to that.
- 1:49Speaker 4: When you guys talk for the first time, like you
- 1:51Speaker 4: come in here, like you do your research or do
- 1:53Speaker 4: you ask people what to expect or would you rather
- 1:55Speaker 4: come in cold and just take it as it comes?
- 1:58Speaker 1: Well, I'm not. I'm not looking forward to the massive spiders.
- 2:03Speaker 3: But that's funny and mythm. They're not really that big.
- 2:08Speaker 1: Well they're bigger than the ones that I that I
- 2:09Speaker 1: can find in my room for sure. Well yeah, it's
- 2:14Speaker 1: uh yeah, you know. As as as Portuguese people that
- 2:20Speaker 1: we are, we're always looking forward to the best food
- 2:24Speaker 1: that we can find locally. We love to travel. We
- 2:28Speaker 1: love to get to know people and meet like and
- 2:30Speaker 1: and see new things. I'm not sure we're gonna have
- 2:34Speaker 1: a lot of time because you know, as you said, uh,
- 2:37Speaker 1: every day we're almost in the different cities. So I'm
- 2:39Speaker 1: pretty sure we're gonna fly around quite quite much, not
- 2:42Speaker 1: a lot of sleep. And as as we try to
- 2:46Speaker 1: be the good kids in class, we we will probably
- 2:48Speaker 1: jeopardize the looking around the city a bit just so
- 2:51Speaker 1: we can you know, rest and give the best show
- 2:54Speaker 1: that we can every night. But we'll see, we'll see.
- 2:57Speaker 4: We'll see another case. The flip started that man is
- 3:00Speaker 4: we don't know what to expect from you guys. Are
- 3:02Speaker 4: this so run through a chipical a live show? What
- 3:05Speaker 4: we can expect?
- 3:09Speaker 1: Well, I always say that is the best cocktail mix
- 3:17Speaker 1: that we can of, like a very aggressive show together
- 3:22Speaker 1: with minimalistic super you know, melodramatic emotional moments where we
- 3:31Speaker 1: go through the motions of anger, but also you know
- 3:35Speaker 1: loss for example, or sadness. You know, there's a there's
- 3:38Speaker 1: a bit of everything in terms of like the the
- 3:42Speaker 1: extremes of emotions in the show. We try to be
- 3:45Speaker 1: very visual with that and uh yeah, I'm pretty sure
- 3:52Speaker 1: it's going to be a good striking emotional right. That's
- 3:57Speaker 1: where we that's what we set ourselves to do ten
- 4:02Speaker 1: years ago, and we've been doing that, so again it
- 4:06Speaker 1: feels good to be able to do it for the
- 4:08Speaker 1: first time in a country. But again I heard the
- 4:12Speaker 1: fans go completely wild in Australia, so that's always something
- 4:18Speaker 1: that gets our blood running for even better shows.
- 4:22Speaker 3: No, no, I find a little bit better that.
- 4:25Speaker 4: Like the press release refers to the fact that you
- 4:28Speaker 4: make the boundaries between life and art intertwined, both musically
- 4:32Speaker 4: and live, like do you see it is that?
- 4:34Speaker 3: But it's a pretty pretty broad concept.
- 4:40Speaker 1: Oh, we're very you know, like real band in terms
- 4:45Speaker 1: of like what we're talking about. We're never like a
- 4:48Speaker 1: you know, demonology band or we always talked about people
- 4:53Speaker 1: and who is how we see ourselves in the world.
- 4:59Speaker 1: We always did that and mostly these days we're way
- 5:03Speaker 1: more open with you know, our traumas, we are feelings.
- 5:08Speaker 1: We learned that we could be we could be that
- 5:14Speaker 1: band because we are that kind of those kind of people.
- 5:17Speaker 1: You know. We're very open with how we feel what
- 5:21Speaker 1: is bothering us, even within the band. So I think
- 5:24Speaker 1: that trans party required a lot to what the live
- 5:29Speaker 1: shows actually are. We're very honest with with our emotions.
- 5:36Speaker 1: We don't you know, hide behind this like concept of
- 5:40Speaker 1: whatever fantasy demon there is in the songs or something.
- 5:44Speaker 1: So I think being very a very observative band, we
- 5:51Speaker 1: get inspired by our surroundings. We get inspiration from a
- 5:56Speaker 1: lot of things that we just that we see and
- 5:59Speaker 1: and you know, get to observe and then it just
- 6:03Speaker 1: transpires into the creation of a song, for example. So
- 6:07Speaker 1: I think all of these things make us a very
- 6:10Speaker 1: you know, approachable band in terms of, you know, what
- 6:15Speaker 1: to expect in terms of feelings and emotions live.
- 6:20Speaker 4: Yeah, I spid essentially like you're a black metal band,
- 6:25Speaker 4: but well there's a lot more done on than just that,
- 6:27Speaker 4: Like what other elements do you bring in into music?
- 6:30Speaker 4: And how hard is it to find the balance I
- 6:33Speaker 4: guess between everything.
- 6:36Speaker 1: Well, mostly in this new album, I think, I think
- 6:40Speaker 1: there's just a bit of everything that I grew up with.
- 6:46Speaker 1: It's I think we're still quite a very expressive, like
- 6:55Speaker 1: fast dissonant band at times, but I think, you know,
- 7:00Speaker 1: I mean, I grew up with a lot of metalcore
- 7:02Speaker 1: and hardcore music and death metal and a lot of
- 7:07Speaker 1: like you know, stuff like Johnny Cash and some of
- 7:11Speaker 1: these artists that are part of my childhood that you know,
- 7:15Speaker 1: get presented to you by your parents or you heard
- 7:17Speaker 1: it on the radio for the first time and it
- 7:19Speaker 1: just like scars you for life. So I think all
- 7:24Speaker 1: of those other artists that are not the black metal
- 7:28Speaker 1: ones finally transpired into what we're doing now with this
- 7:33Speaker 1: new album. But of course, so I think that's where
- 7:40Speaker 1: the whole like, you know, the extremes kind of touch
- 7:47Speaker 1: with what we do because we love the minimalistic, you know,
- 7:53Speaker 1: music that we grew up with in the nineties and
- 7:57Speaker 1: but for the first time, we also embraced like what
- 8:00Speaker 1: we grew up with. I mean, we're all in our
- 8:01Speaker 1: thirties now more or less, so we grew up with,
- 8:04Speaker 1: you know, all the new wave of like new metal
- 8:08Speaker 1: bands like you know Lincoln Bark and all those like catchy,
- 8:13Speaker 1: great songwriting bands and you know Biscuit Corn, you know,
- 8:18Speaker 1: all those bands that are now absolutely massive. We grew
- 8:23Speaker 1: up with with listening to these bands for the first time.
- 8:27Speaker 1: The first approach to having music was with these bands.
- 8:30Speaker 1: So I think it just transpires way more these like
- 8:35Speaker 1: the childhood you know, adolescence teenager bands that we were
- 8:40Speaker 1: listening to, because you know, after ten years, I don't
- 8:46Speaker 1: feel I have nothing, like I have anything to prove
- 8:49Speaker 1: I can just do whatever the fuck I want. So
- 8:50Speaker 1: if I want to put a trap beat or just
- 8:54Speaker 1: a beat in a song, I just want to do it.
- 8:57Speaker 1: I don't want to I know it's it's complicated for
- 9:00Speaker 1: black metal bands to do exactly what they want. They
- 9:02Speaker 1: need to cater to this like black metal realm of
- 9:05Speaker 1: what their fans expect. But I don't think we ever
- 9:09Speaker 1: were just a black metal band, so and I want
- 9:13Speaker 1: to do what I feel like it's right for myself,
- 9:15Speaker 1: not what I feel like it's right for the fans.
- 9:18Speaker 1: Of course, I'm very pleased to have fans that listen
- 9:21Speaker 1: to my music, but if I don't feel like it's
- 9:25Speaker 1: fresh enough for myself or that it challenged me enough,
- 9:29Speaker 1: I'll just stop doing this because it's a very ecocentric
- 9:34Speaker 1: thing to say. But I will always be on the first,
- 9:41Speaker 1: you know decision. I mean, I want to do it
- 9:44Speaker 1: because it's important to me, and then if it's important
- 9:47Speaker 1: to the fans. I'm very happy that the message came across,
- 9:50Speaker 1: but I don't want to do the same album all
- 9:53Speaker 1: the time. I don't think we ever did. It's been
- 9:56Speaker 1: a long discovery of what we can do as a band,
- 10:00Speaker 1: and I'm happy that. Yeah, every every two years we've
- 10:05Speaker 1: been putting different putting out different stuff, different aspects of
- 10:09Speaker 1: our lives and our inspirations and what we were feeling
- 10:12Speaker 1: like as a band. So it's been a very honest,
- 10:16Speaker 1: the most honest that we can with our music. So
- 10:18Speaker 1: there's a bit of everything these days, honestly.
- 10:21Speaker 3: Yeah. And speaking of the new album, that album is called.
- 10:24Speaker 4: Loss, which came out earlier this year made So how
- 10:27Speaker 4: has the reception been for that?
- 10:31Speaker 1: Way better than I thought? Honestly, we knew it was
- 10:34Speaker 1: going to be a very bold move from an extreme
- 10:37Speaker 1: metal band to do you know, ballads and clean singing
- 10:41Speaker 1: and you know, beats and female vocals and you know
- 10:46Speaker 1: all these like different orchestral work. There's there's just so
- 10:50Speaker 1: much that we did for the first time with this
- 10:52Speaker 1: album because we just wanted to. We wanted to challenge
- 10:56Speaker 1: ourselves the most we could and see if we could
- 11:00Speaker 1: stand on our own with an album like that. And
- 11:03Speaker 1: it's just been phenomenal. Band is growing. A lot of
- 11:06Speaker 1: people love what we're doing. Can you can you please
- 11:11Speaker 1: all the fans? No? But I don't think there's a
- 11:14Speaker 1: band that can please all the fans. I mean look
- 11:15Speaker 1: at Metallica, biggest band in the world, and there's a
- 11:17Speaker 1: lot of people that hate what they do. So it's
- 11:21Speaker 1: it's it's just something that you you have to live with.
- 11:24Speaker 1: I mean, it's like anything. I mean not everybody has
- 11:27Speaker 1: an iPhone Android. I mean, it's it's it is what
- 11:32Speaker 1: it is. There's there's there's choice. I like to think.
- 11:36Speaker 1: I mean, my favorite bands, I don't listen to all
- 11:38Speaker 1: their records. I sometimes this band just becomes their favorite
- 11:41Speaker 1: band because of one certain era in the band or
- 11:45Speaker 1: that specific album that really touched you on a different level.
- 11:51Speaker 1: It's important to realize that for the fans and the
- 11:54Speaker 1: ones that don't like what we're doing now, I I
- 11:57Speaker 1: like to think that they still listen to the other
- 12:00Speaker 1: records that made them feel special. It is what it is,
- 12:05Speaker 1: you know. It's you can't go through life thinking of
- 12:10Speaker 1: or taking too seriously what people think about you. I don't,
- 12:15Speaker 1: at least I don't. I don't care. I am trying
- 12:18Speaker 1: to fix myself first and then just living, trying to
- 12:23Speaker 1: leave this crazy lifestyle of being on the road, which
- 12:26Speaker 1: is something I never thought I could do ten years ago.
- 12:28Speaker 1: So I'm I'm loving every part of it.
- 12:32Speaker 4: Yeah, no as well, said brother that you mentioned those
- 12:35Speaker 4: few different things on a new album, especially on things
- 12:37Speaker 4: like the orchestral pieces, Are they easy to slot into
- 12:40Speaker 4: your live show because they are so different to what
- 12:43Speaker 4: you know.
- 12:44Speaker 1: Me do.
- 12:46Speaker 3: Well.
- 12:46Speaker 1: We do our best to make things like you know,
- 12:50Speaker 1: to have the moments where things just like you know,
- 12:56Speaker 1: sound in a specific way. I mean, what you listen
- 13:00Speaker 1: song that you listen live is very sometimes it's just
- 13:02Speaker 1: a very different approach from what you hear on the record,
- 13:07Speaker 1: because sometimes we just have a lot of things happening
- 13:10Speaker 1: on the album that sound perfect on the album, but live,
- 13:13Speaker 1: you know, there's the room, there's the pa, there's people,
- 13:16Speaker 1: there's people shouting, there's you know, there's a lot of
- 13:18Speaker 1: things happening. So we learned that sometimes it's good to
- 13:23Speaker 1: you know, make different arrangements, play the song in a
- 13:26Speaker 1: different way, just so people get also a different kind
- 13:32Speaker 1: of vibe of the song or experience a real live show.
- 13:36Speaker 1: We were never a band that wanted to be the
- 13:38Speaker 1: most you know, the tightest band in the world and
- 13:42Speaker 1: everything needs to be exactly as people perceive in the album.
- 13:45Speaker 1: I mean, I honestly don't care for that. When I
- 13:48Speaker 1: go see a show. I want to see something that
- 13:50Speaker 1: will stay in my memory forever and for me, in
- 13:54Speaker 1: my opinion, it's not a band that will play that
- 13:58Speaker 1: will just focus on the what they're playing and everything
- 14:02Speaker 1: needs to be perfect. I mean, we're also a different
- 14:04Speaker 1: kind of band. I mean, if it would be I
- 14:05Speaker 1: don't know, technical death metal. Of course, people the fans
- 14:09Speaker 1: like to see exactly how they play the songs and
- 14:12Speaker 1: how the fuck can they play that fast and all
- 14:14Speaker 1: that kind of approach. For us, it's about creating, you know, memories,
- 14:20Speaker 1: moments that people will remember forever, and next time that
- 14:23Speaker 1: we go to their city, they will they will want
- 14:26Speaker 1: to go again and you know, tell their friends to
- 14:29Speaker 1: go with them. It's what we try to do. The
- 14:33Speaker 1: best we can is to create something special for the
- 14:39Speaker 1: fans and also for ourselves.
- 14:41Speaker 3: Yess God, well, thanks very much for you so man,
- 14:43Speaker 3: it's been a pleasure chatting with you.
- 14:44Speaker 4: The band is here from July to seventh, so get
- 14:48Speaker 4: yourself some tickets and get along and welcome them for
- 14:50Speaker 4: the first time ever.
- 14:52Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you.