EVIL MASQUERADE (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
Henrik: Hi Sergio. At the moment there’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Mostly playing music, doing interviews and helping out at Dark Minstrel Music. And if times allows it – writing music.
– First off, if you don’t mind I would like you to start with some history of EVIL MASQUERADE, though you have been around for a decade now.
Henrik: Well, the short story would be that the band was founded 2003 – and since then we have made 5 albums, played live and all these things bands normally do. We have an amazingly loyal fan base that are very supportive towards us. They are the reason why we release our music instead of just keeping it to ourselves. They truly are the greatest. A lot has happened throughout the years. One recent highlight was when we won a music award in the US for best song writing. It came out of the blue, totally unexpected. It was also pretty cool and unexpected when we were recently contacted by representatives for General Motors that wanted to use our music for their car commercials. I guess they wanted something powerful that kicked ass on a global level… hahaha.
– You have just released your new album entitled “Pentagram”; how is its feedback being so far? And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome?
Henrik: We haven’t shared the album with a lot of media yet. But the fans seem to love it. And so do I. It turned out even better than I had hoped. It sounds like a modern production of the music I grew up with. Everyone has once again out-shined themselves.
– I remember reading several months ago your new album was originally supposed to be released by early 2012. Did you have any delays? Could you please elaborate a bit on this?
Henrik: We had no immediate hurry or reason to rush it out. Instead I wanted to secure the best conditions for this album before releasing it. A part of this was getting out of old record contracts and cleaning the internet from creeps that were selling our music and claiming they represented us. Pretty time consuming I can tell you. It was amazing to see how many that wanted a part of Evil Masquerade. Most of them are gone now. There’s only a few bad apples left – who are hopefully smart enough to disappear before I get to them. I have no energy or lust to play by the normal rules with these guys. They are used to screw lame-ass musicians without consequences. But they are learning the hard way not to fuck with us. After 20 years of dealing with crap I finally had enough. Some worst-case-idiots have started to realize this now…. hahaha.
– Finally it has come out via Dark Minstrel Music, your own label. What made you decide to released it by yourself?
Henrik: No one else seemed to do a very good job. So why bother? It was the best decision I ever made. It also makes it much easier for our fans to identify which CDs and downloads that are guaranteed to support the band. If a shop sells music by Evil Masquerade and it doesn’t say DARK MINSTREL MUSIC, then you know it’s an unauthorized product. Always look for DARK MINSTREL MUSIC.
– After listening several times this new record I could say this is your more straight-forward effort so far. Was this something you consciously wanted to get? Was this a direction you really wanted to take?
Henrik: You make it sound like something bad… hahaha. Yes it is very straight forward compared to earlier Evil Masquerade albums. And the songs are very strong. Maybe some of the strongest we have every recorded. The arrangements are stripped down to a minimum and that leaves much more room for the remaining essentials. This album was very interesting to make in many aspects. Since the arrangements are less busy compared to earlier albums it leaves the band very exposed to the listener. We have even kept overdubs to a minimum. All to make it feel as alive and honest as possible. We just played the hell out of those songs and put all our heart and soul into them. Yes, this was indeed the direction I wanted for Pentagram.
– And its also quite heavy, really dark. Due to this I would like to know what inspired this “new” sound.
Henrik: After quite a bit of thinking it felt like the right way to go. It’s as simple as that.
– Do lyrics fit with this darker sound? This being said, what do they deal with? It feels like they are inspired by real experiences.
Henrik: I think it is very important that music and lyrics go hand in hand, so ‘yes’. The whole album deals with spiritualistic ideas and takes everything back to the core of what’s important. The lyrics are personal in one way or another. How could they not be? Some are real experiences and some are thoughts or reflections.
– And what does the cover artwork represent? It looks like a symbolic yin-yang.
Henrik: I hear you are not familiar with the Evil Masquerade symbol – the mask. It has followed us 9 years since the beginning. But you’re right, it’s very yin-yang inspired with the black and white colors and two sides. I find it very representative to the music and the band. The cover artwork basically represents the music you hear on the album.
– All this being said; how could you describe this new “Pentagram” in just 3 words?
Henrik: Dark, heavy and honest.
– In the band 3 members are hailing from Denmark and the other two are from Sweden so, how was the songwriting process or how does the songwriting process use to be like for EVIL MASQUERADE?
Henrik: It’s very easy. To begin with I should explain that we don’t live far apart. Apollo lives in Sweden, but nearby the Danish border. I was born in Sweden but live in Copenhagen Denmark since 13 years. The rest of the band are also in Copenhagen. So as you c an see, there’s no big geographical issues. The song writing process is very simple. I write the songs. When the songs are done, I present them to the band and we take it from there.
– Once more you have taken production duties. What are the pros and cons of having a band’s member taking such duties?
Henrik: The pros are that I know the guys in the band very well, which of course is a big advantage in a recording situation. It’s easy for me to see if someone has a bad day, needs a break, can be pushed harder, or needs a beer. Another good thing is that I know what the songs need since I wrote them. It’s nice not to have to explain it to an outside producer and hope he gets it. Another beneficial thing is that I am an idealist when it comes to Evil Masquerade’s music. It would be impossible to pay an outsider for the producer roll. I believe that producing starts already in the composing and arranging stage of an album production. This takes a lot of time and dedication. The music climate today doesn’t generate money enough to pay for these expenses. Unfortunately. If I didn’t do it for free, it wouldn’t happen. I assume it must be hell for those who used to work as fulltime producers. I rarely produce other bands but I’ve been producing my own stuff for 20 years and think I’m pretty good at it. The others seem to agree. The downside of me doing the production is that I’m always working.
– You have filmed a video for “A Silhouette”. How did the shooting go? And do you plan doing any other video for this record?
Henrik: It all went great. We’re beginning to have a steady crew these days so it was a lot of fun working together again. I’m not so much into music videos to begin with, but they are necessity. I always try to stay out of the way and let the more talented take control when it comes to videos. They have my full confidence and I do what I’m told. Yes, there are plans of another video. The interest for the new album has been totally overwhelming so I think an additional video would be in its place.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
Henrik: Playing shows, promoting the album and helping out at Dark Minstrel Music.
– That’s all from my side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Henrik: Thanks for taking the time to do the interview. The final words is; Please support the bands you like by actually buying their music – that being Evil Masquerade or some other band. It’s essential for securing new albums from your favorite artists. If you want to support Evil Masquerade, this is a very useful guide: http://www.evilmasquerade.com/shop_portal.html
