E-ZINE - Raw & Wild - '80 heavy 'zine / Web

:: INTERVIEW TO FALKIRK

PLEASE, PRESENT YOURSELVES OUR READERS...
"Hi, We're a french band called FalkirK and we play quite classic heavy metal with some weird influences ;-)"

WHAT'S ABOUT YOUR HISTORY?
"The band begun in sumer 1997 I think, but I'm not sure because I wasn't there at that time... The guys loked for a singer, and nobody did fit. In the fall of 98', I went into the band with Arnaud (lead guitar). I already knew it, because we played together before. I always have played with him :-)"

WHO DECIDED TO FOUND THE BAND?
"The three other guys. Alex (guitar) Laurent (Drums and keyboards) and Pascal (former bassist)."

THE MAIN FACTS IN YOUR HISTORY...
"Mmmm...Let's try to do quickly, to not be boring.
1997 - the band is created
Fall of 1998 - the band really begins seriously, with 5 members.
March 1999 - 1st demo
September 2001 - 1st album, THE DAY WILL COME
2002 - Pascal leaves the band, and some bassists come and go in the band...
Early 2003 - 2nd album released, MAGNUS IMPERIUM
Fall of 2003 - new full-time bassist joins the band, Didier..."

WHAT'S ABOUT YOUR DISCOGRAPHY?
"2 albums as I said. Actualy, Magnus Imperium is the real 1st album. Day Will Come was originally a demo which has been finaly released, due to lack of money (hey, we talk about heavy metal, there's no money ;-). The songs are pretty good I think but the sound sucks and we record the whole thing in a week, mixing included. So you can hear some errors or things we'd change. But it was a good experience, and we recorded correctly the 2nd one, which sounds great! All the best to come for the 3rd one!"

WHEN DID YOU HAVE BEEN CONTACTED BY BRENNUS?
"Very early. Our previous bassist was already in contact with brennus in 99'. We finally released the 1st album with a label which doesn't exist anymore, and who have a "Day Will Come" album has a great collector now ! So after this, we naturaly called Brennus for the release of our new baby :-)"

A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO 'MAGNUS IMPERIUM'?
"It's a quite epic opus. A story is revealed during the cd, through the booklet. To do shortly, it's about a tyrant who wants the sole thing he won't have by the way he knows : love. If you want to know more, buy the cd ;-) It's really worth it because the booklet is fully illustrated. It's a very nice object, really..."

WHY SUCH TITLE?
"Because we love journalists ask us ;-) We hesitated with "Empire for Legacy", but we thought Magnus Imperium sounded great and epic. And like I said, EVERYBODY asks us. So people remember it ;-)"

YOUR ALBUM HAS A STRONG RHAPSODY BACKGROUND...
"Not that much I think....There's less orchestrations. The guitars are more important for us, so do all rhythms are. Rhapsody has great melodies, but don't have cool rhythms. Our inspiration comes from band like Symphony X, Annihilator, Metallica, Maiden of course, Malmsteen, Blind Guardian..."

WHAT'S ABOUT ITS MOOD?
"Quite angry I think. The first songs were composed when we begun to have problems with our former bassist, and I think some songs have been written to make us feel good."

THE SOUND IS VERY POWERFUL...
"Yes, we think too. After the errors of the 1st one, we bought some material. We all recorded ourselves except the drums. So we were able to take the time to choose some cool sound. We went back to the studio for the mix, and our engineer worked very well and fast. All is numeric, so we don't loose sound quality and time with some analog recording. Moreover we have quite modern influences too, and we didn't want an old-school sound."

WHAT'S ABOUT YOUR WAY TO WRITE?
"Very typical indeed. We ALL write. We all think about songs individually, and once it's half written, we learn it to the other members. So everybody works on a solid base. And everyone puts his ideas in ev every song. It's a very efficient and creative way to work."

WHAT'S THE ROLE OF LYRICS?
"To fit with the music. For me, melodies are the most important. You'll remember a good melody, it's harder to remember lyrics.... For M.I. there was a story, so the role was clear. For the next ones, we have more variety. We'll also have things VERY personal on it."

I FEEL AN EPIC ATTITUDE IN YOUR SOUND...
"Sure. But we'll try something more modern on the next one I think....It will sound huge!"

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE TRACKS FEATURED IN?
"As I told before, about love, cruelty, tyranny, despair...But you can also see metaphors or personal feelings. "It Will Be me" has a special signification for me, even if I didn't write it... I think this song can be for everyone who has lost a loved people. RIP."

INTERESTED IN SPREADING MESSAGES THRU YOUR MUSIC?
"Not at all. Our aim is to entertain people as we entertain ourselves in playing this music which really come from our heart."

ANY ITALIAN TOURING PLANS?
"Unfortunately, we never played out of France. It's already very difficult to work and to play music in the same life ;-). But if you want to do a good offer to us, we'll surely come!"

WHICH ARE YOUR OCCUPATIONS IN EVERYDAY LIFE?
"Alex (guitar) and I (Steph, vocals) are graphists. Didier (bass) is an electrician. Arnaud (lead guitar) works in a town hall. Laurent is warehouseman."

ANY LAST REMARKS?
"Not especially, except we're always glad to do some interviews. If anyone is interested in the band, please check our site http://falkirk.free.fr. You'll be able to discover the band through mp3s, and even live videos! Thanks for getting interested in us. We hope to meet some italian metalheads one day!"

For more infos: http://falkirk.free.fr or www.brennus-music.com

EMANUELE GENTILE

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