AZURE EMOTE (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with AZURE EMOTE?
We’re doing good, enjoying all the great reviews that are flooding in, and anxiously awaiting the release of our VINYL version of the album which will be out in June on ADIPOCERE RECORDS. It’s a Double LP Gatefold Edition that included 2 Bonus Songs that are not available on the CD version. They will also be hand numbered and limited to 300. For pre-orders in the U.S. contact the band direct @ www.azureemote.com or in Europe contact www.adipocere.fr
– First off, as you have just released your sophomore album, I guess some people won’t know about you yet so, for all those, could you please share some history of the band?
Azure Emote was formed in 2003 after the breakup of my other band Divine Rapture at the time. It was a traumatic breakup for me, and I felt the need to keep going. Most importantly I just needed a personal outlet for my all my negative emotions, so I got together with my good friends Ryan and Pat from Rumpelstiltskin Grinder and made something crazy happen. “Chronicles of an Aging Mammal” was then recorded and put out on Czech based Epidemie Records. I then put Azure Emote into hiatus though as I joined Vile and Monstrosity and Ryan and Pat continued on with Rumpelstiltskin Grinder and other projects. It wasn’t until 2011 that I got the itch to write my own music again and get creative with all the crazy things that I don’t really have the freedom to do with the other bands I’m in.
– And how did you come up with the band’s name? What does it mean peronally to you?
Well «Azure» is the particular color of blue that seems to be a recurring theme throughout myself subconsciously over the years, in my artwork and everyday life. I picked up on that one day and remembered seeing my aura as that color too, so I guess I thought it might be cool to use that in the name. It represents something that stands for me. Seeing as this primarily started as a one man project for myself musically, I thought that fitting. «Emote» means to express emotion, in an excessive or theatrical manner. So Azure Emote is pretty much summing up what i’m doing here with this project – expressing my personal emotions and passions, emanating the colors within. I thought it seemed cool and different from the standard or generic band names out there, so i rolled with it. My eyes are also blue, (windows to the soul) and the only color tattoo i have is blue on my chest surrounded by a portal sun of black thorns (the Azure Emote tribal sun symbol).
– You have just released your new album, «The Gravity of Impermanence», 6 years after your debut record came out. I guess your commitments with the other bands you are playing in may have had something to do with the gap of time between these two releases so, is AZURE EMOTE just a side project or a steady band? Will you release your next album (if there is one) sooner?
That was definitely the main factor. I was touring extensively with Monstrosity and Vile for the past 7 or so years, was on Monstrosity – «Spiritual Apocalypse» album and Vile – «Metamorphosis» and have been touring worldwide for them. It was hard to find the time apart from also doing a project with Makoto Mizoguchi (Internal Suffering / Hate Eternal) called Abraxas. Plus doing album covers and artwork for other bands all the time (www.visualdarkness.com), so it wasn’t until 2011 that i felt the need to go beyond it all and do something extremely personal again, and that musically expresses my own vision and not someone else’s. I had to put visualdarkness.com into hiatus for a while to do so. I would like Azure Emote to be full-time, but i’m not sure what the future holds. Azure Emote knows “nothing lasts forever”, hence “The gravity of impermanence”, but for now I’m focusing on the moments, and hoping that other people’s interests will spark a new movement and push Azure Emote to wherever it will go. The more interest there is for it, the more apt I am to push the band further and make it a priority ya know.
– It can be surprising the fact most of you are playing in extreme Metal bands, AZURE EMOTE is pure Avantgarde, with instruments as violins, saxo, synhs, etc. What does this project provide you your other bands can’t?
Freedom. Most of the other band’s that everyone plays in are already established bands that have been touring and doing their own thing for many years, so playing for someone else’s «baby» so to say, your creative input can only go so far because the original brainchild of that particular band has a fixed style or goal they’ve been doing that they don’t want to break away from. With Azure Emote i offered all the musicians the ability to do whatever they wanted. Yeah, i would gear it all into a certain direction, but for the most part i wanted everyone to have fun with it, and the best way to do that is to not limit their own creative input. Like with Mike Heller’s drums. He really went all out on this album and showed off some really amazing techniques and crazy stylized things, that he can’t really do playing the already written Fear Factory material he plays every night on tour. His versatility really shines through on this Azure Emote album, and because he was given freedom i think it’s really something special for him to be proud of that shows off the broad spectrum of his talents.
– And talking about your particular music style; what have been some of the most influential bands for the AZURE EMOTE’s sound?
Hmm, well i take a lot of inspiration from bands like Laibach, Dead Can Dance, Masters Hammer, Arcturus, Samael, Dan Swano’s projects, Peter Tagtgren’s projects, and Devon Townsend, who create whatever they want, when they want without any fears or cares about trying to please any particular genre. It’s just honest and real. Most of my ideas just come randomly and aren’t inspired from any particular bands, but just whatever pops in my head. I’ll be walking my dog and some strange riff will enter my brain, and then i’ll go write it out and let it grow into whatever. Usually the first thought is the best one. If you try to work something out too much to fit a pattern or something specific or style already established it usually doesn’t have that fresh vibe too it. You don’t wanna over think anything with music or art, just let it flow and let it be what it is.
– Compared to your debut album, I could say this new «The Gravity of Impermanence» lays closer to the listener, is more accessible and really mature as well. How do you think has the band evolved since «Chronicles of an Aging Mammal»?
Yeah the new album differs a lot, and not just because it’s different members now, but also because that first album was my first time writing my own music. The albums were also written 10 years apart, so just as I can say that I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago, that also applies to the music as well (pulling from different experiences and influences in my life at those particular times). The root and darkness of Azure Emote is still there though, and I think this new album is more refined, more focused, and a bit angrier. I’ve learned a lot over the years, but I guess life has taken just as much as it’s given and i think that experience shows through on this one.
– It seems like you have solidified and perfected you own formula, specially on songwriting terms. Has the creative process been different this time around? Or maybe this time you had a clearer idea about what direction you wanted to take?
The process was a bit different. I had different instruments back then, like going from using a physical drum machine to digital, during the writing process, and the same goes for some of the effects, back in the day I experimented with vocal foot pedals, circuit bending, using spoons on cheese craters and more noise oriented things. I stayed away from the static / noise, merzbow inspired stuff this time around. Perhaps thats why it’s more «accessible» this time around haha.
– Lyric-wise all your lyrics seem to have a real background, is it actually like this? Where do you draw inspiration from to create them?
Yeah all the lyrics are very personal and sincere. inspiration comes from personal experiences, view points or perceptions of reality i guess. Each track is something different as far as topics. The main themes are negative emotions. This is a purging process for me. death metal in general is a right of passage, a cleansing ritual. Most of my songs are extremely misanthropic, angry or depressed dirges. No gore, no nonsense. Everything is extremely deep and symbolic. «The Gravity of Impermanence» album summed up generally means the weight of dealing with how «nothing lasts forever.» Impermanence or «Annica» is the Buddhist understanding of this reality and how attachments to conditions we might perceive as permanent, later cause us suffering. At the time of writing this album I was also struggling with impermanence myself, dealing with the breakup of a 5 year relationship, the end of a 10 year day job and the start of a new one, moving/relocating hours away from family and friends yet again, facing impending deaths, and a lot of other changes that always seem to happen all at the same time. Nothing lasts forever, not this project, not your environments, not your loved ones, your personality, or passions, your body or life, nothing. You’re going to have to deal with that and let go.
– And is it linked to the cover artwork? What did you want to depict on it?
Yep! The cover art shows a lot of symbolism throughout it. The dead or dying tree on the cover is made up of the human phases of life, from the young child playing
in the water, to the working man, the enlightened mid-life strength, to the slow and tiring decay of old age and then eventually death. The tree of life is also being uprooted and swept over a waterfall from a violent azure river or ocean, showing that all things eventually erode and disappear. The city that once was thriving is burning and engulfed in war, (brown and chemical ridden with chemtrails lining the sky) showing how humanity will eventually destroy its own civilizations. There are also UFO’s and other elements hidden throughout the art that symbolize a lot of the other topics brought up in the album. The in-sleeve artwork expands on this even more.
– You are now working with a new label, Seflmadegod Records. How did you hook up with them? Are you satisfied with this new company so far?
I knew of SMG for a while through my friends at Relapse, and had worked with them on the artwork for the XXX Maniak releases. SMG is putting out a lot of awesome and diverse stuff now so I thought it would be a good fit for how crazy Azure Emote’s music is. It’s cool to also be on a polish label, as my family’s nationality is Polish/Czech, and the previous album was on a Czech label so it seems fitting to keep that going!
– All this about «The Gravity of Impermanence» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
haha, interesting question 🙂 hmm, perhaps CHANGE, TURMOIL, DECAY.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
I’ve been thinking about possibly playing out live. If anything I’d like to hit some festivals in Europe or a small mini run to start. It will just take a lot for me to organize so it may take me a while to get that up and running depending on funds and availability of everyone and if I can even find the time myself between touring with Vile and Monstrosity. With most of the members already extensively touring in their other bands, and living in different countries, I will most likely have to use an alternate live lineup.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Thanks for the interview and for the interest! much appreciated! If anyone wants to download, or buy the new CD visit the our website or band camp, and please support us, so we can afford to make more music. HAILS!
http://azureemote.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/azureemote
