– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s currently going on into the THE KANDIDATE’s camp? What’s keeping the band busy?

Hi there, thanks for this interview and your interest in our band. Means a lot to us.

As you can probably imagine, we spend some time on promoting the new album. On top of that we are getting together for the first time in months to rehearse for our upcoming shows. We are playing our home country in March and in April we are going on a small tour in China. Very cool. Besides that we are working on getting our schedules lined up with some summer festivals.

– If you don’t mind, first of all I would like you to tell why you were formerly known as THE DOWNWARD CANDIDATE and what prompted the change of name. And, why “The Kandidate”?

After a few years as TDC we were struggling a lot with lineup changes and didn’t really know where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. KB and I have always been the guys behind the band, and when we finally decided to record an album and get Jacob on board, we knew that this was a new beginning. So we decided to turn the page but not change the book.

 

– You have just unleashed your second album, “Facing the Imminent Prospect of Death”. How is its feedback going so far? Is it fulfilling your expectations?

We haven’t got any this far. Looking very much forward to that!

 

– On my view, this album is more complex than your debut record, more compact and tight, with a higher degree of maturity and knowing better your own thing. Do you think this record is the step forward you need to stand out?

I think you are right. Complex? I don’t know about that, but it’s definitely more diverse. And yes, we evolved. We are the same songwriters as before, but now we have new guys with us in the creative process, people that contribute on a higher level and who inspire each other. I feel that we have landed on the right shelf. I think we still sound like us and we will also in the future, but we have just found each other to some extent on this album, and I think and hope that we will stay together and make that expression stronger in the future.

 

– And for all those who haven’t heard this piece yet: how could you describe it in just 3 words?

Uh, though one. Intense, sombre, captivating.

 

– Your sound blends different styles; is this because you like this kind of mixes or does everyone have different influences and you are reflecting them together?

I don’t know. We all like the same music. Some are more into this and that and some are more into other stuff. But it’s all related and we all share the same preferences in music and how it’s performed, so it’s really easy to make music that everyone thinks is interesting and can relate to. I try not to think too much about genres or styles when we write, and I guess what comes out of our heads are what runs in our blood…

 

– Due to this, how could you describe your sound?

Even that I’ve answered this question hundreds of times, it’s always so hard to answer. Maybe because it changes every now and then, I mean the way you regard your own music. I guess it’s a punky blend with a common denominator in crust, death and thrash.

 

– And still taking about influences; what are some of the bands you dig?

Oh, a lot! For my self it’s all the way from Dismember to Dream Theater, and I guess that I in some way draw inspiration from everything within that span. At the moment I’m really into the new Opeth. Been an Opeth fan since Your Arms, My Hearse, but the new one just feel so right at the moment. Also I’m having a recap on Converges Axe to Fall and I’m always listening to Entombed.

 

– As I said, in your sound you mix different genres so, how does the songwriting tends to be like in THE KANDIDATE? Is it something spontaneous or you consciously try to make something dynamic out of it?

KB and I write most of the material together. We hook up and plug into a computer with Logic and just go from there. We use quite some time on programming drums to get the flow going and usually, we have a more or less finished track after a few hours. Some just needs a few adjustments while some can tease us for weeks. Some times we just start up a tune and I’ll finish it on my own. It’s good to have a sparring partner close and still not be a full band writing stuff. You get the sparring but not too many opinions that will destroy the flow and spontaneity. Before we’d kinda demand the drums to be like we’ve programmed it, but with NP, we have a drummer with opinions and a drummer who actually know how to play drums with (and support) the music .

 

– Own Jacob took oversaw the recording, mixing and mastering duties. Is this better for the band or does it just means more work and pressure?

It means full control. But it’s hard to be involved in the song writing process, the recording, producing, writing of lyrics, recording and producing your own lyrics and arranging them as well. He did fine on the debut, I guess because he didn’t join until the instruments were all recorded and the lyrics were already written by KB and me. But this time was different which is why he decided to record the most of the vocals with Tue Madsen. We’ve talked about trying some other producer on the next one. Just to try it out. In so many ways, Jacob is the best producer I’ve worked with through everything I’ve ever done, but we are explorers, we need to break new ground. We’ll see, maybe we’ll get comfortable anyways, control is a good thing…

 

– Could you please shed some light on the artwork? The artist, its meaning, etc.

I don’t know how much you’ve seen, but the artwork s done by our friend and tattoo artist Uncle Allan. We were talking to him about doing an all analogue concept with no digital enhancement, photography, effects and so on. He’s an old school guy that does brilliant stuff with his hand drawn art and analogue photography and he was really into the idea. So he and Jacob came up with the idea for the cover and he had free hands for the rest of the booklet. We wanted a continuation of the artwork from the debut album, hence the coffin references. Everything else is kinda revolving around the title, the prospects of death and the band playing the music. Not more else to say about that, I’m afraid…

 

– How’s the Metal scene current state in Denmark?

Well, I’m not the biggest follower of the metal scene in Denmark, so I’m probably not the guy to comment too much on that. But it seems that there is a lot of talent out there and a lot of young fresh and enthusiastic bands who work hard for their music. A tendency in Denmark is that bands put out a demo or an album and play a few gigs in Denmark and that’s it, but fortunately it seems like bands are wanting more and go abroad to present their music on stage, which is where it belongs. That’s good, but I also think that most bands are trying to do stuff that is already heard and done better by thousands of bands before them, which is not promoting the local scene at all.

 

– Now that the year has just ended; what are your 3 favorite albums released this past 2011? And the worst one?

Well, having praised Opeth earlier, I gonna have to go with Heritage. And from the top of my head: Trap Them – Darker Handcraft and The Haunted – Unseen. Worst? I don’t know. I don’t torture myself listening to crappy music, so it wouldn’t be fair to say anything about that based on prejudice or antcipation.

 

– Finally; what are the near-future plans for the band?

Getting the album out, spend some time on promoting and playing in Denmark.

 

– That’s all from our side, thanks again for your time. Feel now free to add some final words.

Thank you! We appreciate it.

Cheers,

Allan // The Kandidate

Sergio Fernández

sergio@queensofsteel.com

 

Deja una respuesta

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada.

Highslide for Wordpress Plugin