sexta-feira, 2 de maio de 2014

Wonderment with Fixing Bayonets - An Interview


Bloom Sunset Horizon é o novíssimo ep do Fixing Bayonets que foi precisamente descrito em algum lugar que li como "...demos perdidas entre o Psychocandy e o Darklands...", e é basicamente isso, ou quase isso, pode ser algo como uma colisão entre o Heaven´s Up Here e o Psychocandy gravado de forma lo fi.

Independentemente das conexões o Fixing Bayonets é de Los Angeles e a entrevista foi concebida pelo seu mentor Kevin S. e conselho do TBTCI caía de cabeca.

***** Interview with Fixing Bayonets *****



Q. When did Fixing Bayonets starts, tell us about the history...
Fixing Bayonets started about a year ago as a solo project of tracks I started recording on my own. I play bass and write songs in another indie rock band in Los Angeles, but this is the sound and genre that I am most passionate about. These tracks are very different from my other band and I really like developing the song ideas that come to me and being able to interpret them how I hear them in my head.

Q: Who are your influences?
Music has been a big part of my life always and my influences are a very eclectic mix of artists and genres. I was always drawn to guitar heavy bands from the 80's, 90's and later like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smiths, Catherine Wheel, Interpol, The Pixies, Joy Division, Dinosaur Jr., The Raveonettes and Smashing Pumpkins. I also, was into punk long ago and and enjoyed the raw hardcore of bands like Bad Brains, The Misfits and The Circle Jerks as well as the more cognitive sounds of The Pogues and The Clash with a touch of King Tubby Dub thrown in the mix for good measure. I would have to say that no one artist has had as much influence on me as the late Joe Strummer. His style, songwriting and most importantly his attitude of "Go out and do it!" has inspired me to pursue my own musical path. My favorite guitarists are Will Sergeant and Sune Rose Wagner.

Q. Made a list of 5 albums of all time...
Too hard to pick favorites, but if I had to pick albums that I play beginning to end I would have to go back a bit.
Any album by the Clash
Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Porcupine by Echo and the Bunnymen
Meat is Murder by The Smiths
The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses

Q. How do you feel playing alive?
I love performing my music live. I enjoy playing loud and sonically articulating a wall of sound that hits the audience right in the chest.

Q. How do you describe Fixing Bayonets sounds?
Lots of fuzzy reverb and spacious layers of guitars with a prominent lead guitar floating above. shoegaze/Dreampop/Noisepop

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
The new album Bloom.Sunset.Horizon was recorded over several months in my own studio. By the end of that time my production and mixing skills improved a great amount from the beginning. I had a bunch of
unfinished tracks that I had recorded and went back to work on here and there. I usually start the songwriting process with either the guitar or bass and then work on programming the drums. The song
structure isn't always straight forward, but there is usually a pop sensibility with hooks making its way through. My lyrics cover a variety of life experiences and some social commentary. I like to hear what people say the songs mean to them as often the words are a metaphor and not literal. I wish I had more patience in the recording process, but I embrace the DIY ethic and the lo-fi production is by design and I like it that way.

A big impetus to release this six song album came when I started working with Mathias from MBP Audio in Canada. He mastered all the songs on the album and gave helpful input on the mixes, so special thanks to him.


Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
There is a lot of great music out right now from all over the world and the internet makes it easy to discover great bands like You Me & Us, Kigo, and Moonbeams. I also like to listen to DIIV, Tamaryn and The Raveonettes. I consider the Raveonettes the best live band out there right now, they are just so tight and deliver a sonic assault on all of your senses in a good way.

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
I have been focusing on my own music lately, but someday it would be cool to take a shot at doing a shoegaze version of Stormy Weather by Echo and the Bunnymen.

Q: What´s the plans for future....
Fixing Bayonets plans to keep releasing new music and hopefully perform live with a band. I have a drummer that I am working with so I won't have to program my own drum tracks which will help a lot. I'd like to assemble a band and play shows and also collaborate with other artists on new tracks. I'm just trying to get my music heard by as many people as possible now. As a solo artist, I'm ready to grow my fan base and have found great support in South America, Europe, Australia, Central America and Japan in addition to the U.S. so that's been great.

https://fixingbayonets.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/FixingBayonets
http://soundcloud.com/fixing-bayonets

Q: Any parting words?
Don't be afraid to pursue your art. There is no perfect way to create music, a good song is a good song. Thanks Renato and Brazil!
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Thanks Kevin