MOS GENERATOR (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with MOS GENERATOR?
Hello and thank you for the interview. Right before i started this interview i was doing guitars for a new song we wrote last night. In the bigger picture we have a few really cool things coming up in the next few months. This month we have a few gigs with Saint Vitus and then we go to Germany for Freak Valley Festival. We have more shows here at home before we play Hellfest in June. We are also writing and putting together music for a few 7” releases and stuff for the next record.
– You were formed almost 15 years ago, but you haven’t been really prolific in Europe so, for all those who may don’t know about you yet, would you mind to tell how did the band get together?
The three of us have been playing together since 1990 and played in a band together for a few years in the 90s. We reformed in 2000 and decided we wanted to play the kind of music that we grew up listening to. 70s hard rock
– Anyway last year you toured Europe with none less than Saint Vitus. Did you think that tour open new doors in Europe for MOS GENERATOR?
We knew that was going to be a good tour for us and it ended being everything we hoped it would be. Good for our profile and a lot of fun.
– In fact you are now signed to the French label Listenable Records, how are things woking with them thus far?
Although we have released records on European labels before (Roadburn, Nasoni) we feel that Listenable is doing a very good job at promoting the release. It’s been a pleasure to work with them.
– Your latest album came out recently, entitled «Electric Mountain Majesty». Are you pleased with the final outcome? And how are the first reactions being?
As writer and producer of our records it is always hard for me to answer questions like this. I am always question if the songs are good enough or if the mix is right. At some point you just have to give it to the world and see what happens. It usually takes quite a while before i can listen to our records after they are released. So far the response has been amazing and that feels really good.
– I could say this is your most diverse album to date, with somehow new or different influences still keeping your essence. Do you think there was some factor that had its effect on this? Maybe you were listening to different music while creating «Electric Mountain Majesty»?
I think alot of it has to do with that fact that i am writing with more honesty. I am letting more of what i enjoy about music come into this heavy rock format. We are putting more ideas out on the table and that means we have more to choose from. I’m really happy with some of the work on this record. We also took some different approaches to the recording process.
– Your previous «Nomads» was really focused on midtempos, while this time around there are slow songs and faster songs. Was this something you were aiming for or did you just let things flow naturally?
I definately wanted some slower songs on this. The heavier aspect was something that we talked about and the more uptempo songs just seem to come naturally
from our NWOBHM roots.
– And did you have a certain vision of how you wanted this album to sound like before getting into the creative process?
We just knew we wanted it to sound more like us live. We released a live album in 2013 and the reaction to that was let us know that we should try and record in a way to get the live energy so we recorded most of the bed tracks live. We set up like we were on stage and turned the amps up to live volume and didn’t use headphone. Just kept running the songs til we got a take that we were all happy with.
– Overall it sounds really raw and organic, with a live vibe, way more than your latest records. Was this how you wanted the effort to end up like or does it have more to do with the recording and mixing?
See answer above J
– Talking about such; how was the production process?
The album was recorded in a few different places. One song is actually a demo from our jam room. On another we rented an old grange hall and set up in there for 3 days. Many were recorded at my studio in a live setting and a few songs are actually only about 15 minutes old when we recorded the basic tracks. Over the years we have realized that our demos are sometimes better than the end result on the record so alot of the songs on this record are actually the demos.
– I read you had 12 songs recorded for this opus, but just 10 made it to the album. Why didn’t you include the other two as well? Will they be released in any way?
I didn’t think they fit and i always write for album length. Once we got 40 minutes of solid misc then i think we are done and we concéntrate on that. One of the unused songs is an acoustic song. I am recording another acoustic song to make an acoustic 7” we release so much stuff thati always have to be writing to keep up with the release schedule. I love it that way.
– I also read there will be a video for the title-track, «Electric Mountain Majesty». Is there anything you could tell us about it?
It was directed by a friend of ours and i let him do all of the work and ideas on it which is strange for me because i’m such a control freak. I think it turned out really good and i’m looking forward to the release. Someday i would like to do a video with rotoscoping
– And all this about «Electric Mountain Majesty» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
HEAVY MELODIC ROCK
– Finally, what are now your near-future plans?
Continue writing and after Freak Valley Fest and Hellfest start to work on getting back to Europe in the fall
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Keep spreading the good word. We truly appreciate it. This scene thrives on word of mouth and a grass roots approach. It’s great to be a part of it and we will continue make music for many years to come – Cheers
