Interview With Echelon

Echelon

We recently covered Echelon’s excellent new album Vivito! Creato! Moritor! (read our review here), so we took the opportunity to catch up with the band and ask them a few questions. Check out what we asked below.

Could you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band?
Φ.Ω.: We are an avantgarde black metal band from Austria.
Δ.Ρ.: 5 guys and we’ve been making music for a decade now…
Π.Σ.: We tried to forge our thoughts into music and founded the band in 2013.
Φ.Ω.: We distillated our thoughts and out of this created our debut LP
Δ.Ρ.: Vivito! Creato! Moritor! which was released on January via Gravity Entertainment.

So 2014 has just begun – what’s in store for this year when it comes to Echelon?
Τ.Φ.: Our first LP was released and we are heading for the release of our third music video.
Δ.Ρ.: A Video which is a prequel to Tod Und Teufel.
M.X.: The whole concept of the LP gets another facet to its complex story.
Φ.Ω.: However, the concept is explained with a lot of details on our homepage anyway.
M.X.: One article per song, just to briefly formulate our thoughts and to give a better insight on everything.
Π.Σ.: And at one point in 2014 we will definitely be starting to work on a new album.
Τ.Φ.: Just to summarise, a new video will be released, we are going to play a lot of live gigs and we also start to work on new material.

What went well about 2013?
Δ.Ρ.: That we found our musical centre.
Π.Σ.: Maybe a bit too generalized but I think it: actually everything.
M.X.: Founding of the band, recordings, concerts, label, homepage…everything went exceptionally well.
Φ.Ω.: Yeah, the founding of the band…the most crucial part.
Τ.Φ.: Gravity Entertainment becoming our label was a wonderful moment.
Π.Σ.: Yeah, a real lucky find.
Δ.Ρ.: And with Cursed Records we have another incredible partner concerning our merch.
M.X.: We can say that the last half-year was awesome concerning the band as well as for us personally.

And what perhaps didn’t go to plan?
Τ.Φ.: To be honest, we are no real pessimists.
Φ.Ω.: If there is something not working accordingly to the plan, we just change the plan.
Δ.Ρ.: Adjust the parameters and start over with the realization.
M.X.: I think this could be the reason why we do not remember stuff that didn’t go well.
Π.Σ.: The maxim is: If something isn’t working, change it
Δ.Ρ.: If I remember really, really hard, there were some little issues that delayed the recordings.
Φ.Ω.: But nothing worth mentioning.

Where do you see the band at this time next year?
Φ.Ω.: After one hell of a concert season we are going to write new songs.
Τ.Φ.: Maybe even in the studio.
M.X.: Or maybe even released?
Π.Σ.: We are not a bunch of slowpokes.
Δ.Ρ.: We are constantly working on ideas and concepts.
M.X.: I think we will have finished an intense process of working.
Φ.Ω.: Who knows what topics will be next!
Τ.Φ.: A selection is already made.
M.X.: You can’t wait for inspiration.
Δ.Ρ.: The amateur waits for it and the professional gets it done.
Π.Σ.: To answer the question: We don’t know it yet but we will definitely conquer new fields.
Δ.Ρ.: A new geography of the musical globe we just try to discover and map.

You recently released your debut album Vivito! Creato! Moritor! – what was the writing and the recording process like for it?
M.X.: To quote Orwell: Like a boot kicking your face…
Δ.Ρ.: again…
Π.Σ.: and again…
Φ.Ω.: But though really educational for each and everyone of us.
Τ.Φ.: Not only musically but also on a personal level.
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, but it took us a long time from the idea to the finished concept.
Π.Σ.: 3 years of changes, start overs, and rewriting.
M.X.: A walk on the edge.
Δ.Ρ.: On the edge of a deep, black hole…
Τ.Φ.: Which is constantly digged by humanity.
Φ.Ω.: A trip into the minds of those who painted war…
M.X.: Those who suffered through it…
Δ.Ρ.: Died…
Π.Σ.: And survived.

Were there any songs that were more of a challenge to complete?
Π.Σ.: There was one song, I can’t remember which one it was, but I was drunk on the previous evening and so the recording was somehow…interesting.
M.X.: Yeah I remember when you rushed out of the studio!
Π.Σ.: Not that it was the song.
M.X.: I think it was Strappado, the last song for that day.
Π.Σ.: Aye, I just had a few over the limit and it came the moment when my stomach just said no.
Φ.Ω.: I think this was not the direction the question was heading to!
Δ.Ρ.: I don’t think so as well, haha!
Τ.Φ.: For me it was Totengeigen because I had to change the whole lyrics of the song shortly before the recording.
M.X.: We just rearranged the track during our studio session and added a few parts, therefore the old lyrics where sort of inappropriate.
Δ.Ρ.: Not rhythmically correct anymore.
Φ.Ω.: I had a rough time on Vor Mir Türmen Sich Die Scherben.
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, there are songs which work a hundred times without a problem.
Π.Σ.: And when it is time to focus…you vomit.
M.X.: May be true.
Τ.Φ.: All in all, everything went perfectly well, also due to the work of our sound engineer Richi.
M.X.: An exceptional guitarist and head of Thytopia but also an excellent sound engineer.

Which one are you most proud of?
Τ.Φ.: Des Teufels Bluthund maybe?
M.X.: Tough…I thought of Strappado.
Τ.Φ.: Des Teufels Bluthund contains nearly every facet of the album.
Φ.Ω.: So this would be the song that best describes the album?
Τ.Φ.: I’d say so.
Δ.Ρ.: I would not boil the LP down to one single song…
Φ.Ω.: Der Krieg In Mir could do it in my opinion, but it is really tough.
Π.Σ.: The songs follow each other and belong to each other.
M.X.: To take a look on single songs does not really make sense.
Δ.Ρ.: We can say that we agree to disagree.
Τ.Φ.: But we are proud of the interplay of each component.

How would you describe your live show to someone who hasn’t seen you yet?
Φ.Ω.: We enter the stage.
M.X.: Everything has its beginning.
Δ.Ρ.: The murmur of the people stops and the light gets dull, blue…
Π.Σ.: Fog, a voice accompanied by violins and violas.
Τ.Φ.: On the right side the guitar starts.
Φ.Ω.: It smacks into the faces.
Δ.Ρ.: Time is only relative anymore.
M.X.: Everything tastes like copper, blood…there is ebb and flow.
Π.Σ.: The silence breaks everything again…and again music cuts the flesh.
Τ.Φ.: Harmony hunts disharmony.
M.X.: Stamping, forward…forward…
Δ.Ρ.: The guitar on the left fades out, after a musical earthquake.
Π.Σ.: Words and phrases break the silence again.
M.X.: Last act…curtain falls…
Τ.Φ.: Time to reflect the seen.

What would you say the best show you’ve played has been?
Τ.Φ.: Winterschlacht Vienna on 11.01.
Φ.Ω.: The gig was really awesome.
Π.Σ.: Club Wakuum in Graz was also very nice.
Δ.Ρ.: Or Bergwerk Millstadt.
Τ.Φ.: Viper Room in Vienna.
M.X.: Yeah, it was good as well.
Φ.Ω.: All gigs went well.
M.X.: And Judenburg with The Last Warning.
Δ.Ρ.: But actually it doesn’t matter where you are playing.
Τ.Φ.: As long as you play every gig with the same passion and make it special for you and the audience.
Π.Σ.: Exactly, as long as you give 100% for the audience.

Any interesting gig stories?
Φ.Ω.: After each gig we tend to party with the audience!
M.X.: Support Julia who is our angel on the merch.
Δ.Ρ.: Talk to people who are in the location.
Π.Σ.: What is really important to us, I think already a lot has been said.
Τ.Φ.: But as the clock keeps ticking, during late hours we tend to forget.
M.X.: Only our humming head is what is left.
Δ.Ρ.: In Vienna during the Winterschlacht Peter Schön, an exceptional black and white photographer took photos of our gig.
Φ.Ω.: It was also special for him, because he’d never took pictures of a band before.
M.X.: Only landscapes and people during their daily routine.
Π.Σ.: He was also priced for his pictures 4 times.
Δ.Ρ.: But this was new for him.
Τ.Φ.: So, maybe an interesting gig story for the photographer.

If you could collaborate with another band or musician, who would it be?
Δ.Ρ.: With the people from Our Survival Depends On Us, I think this would be an interesting combination.
M.X.: With a big band.
Π.Σ.: With a saxophonist…
Τ.Φ.: Yeah, something that would not fit to us on a superficial level.
Φ.Ω.: Something that challenges.

And if you could get another band to cover one of your songs, who would it be and what song?
Φ.Ω.: If someone choses to cover one of our songs it would be a great honour.
Τ.Φ.: A knightly accolade.
Δ.Ρ.: If I could choose one it would be Kraftwerk.
M.X.: Kraftwerk?
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, it would be interesting to see what they could make out of one of our songs…
Π.Σ.: Deathspell Omega and the song Der Baum der Gehängten.
Φ.Ω.: A song which could not be further away from this bands style.
Π.Σ.: And this is what makes it interesting!

And finally – if Echelon could put their name to any product what would it be?
Τ.Φ.: Leatherman.
Π.Σ.: All in one and with a sharp blade.
Τ.Φ.: Exactly.
M.X.: I’d say pen and paper…
Φ.Ω.: Whatever you make with it, it is in your hands.
Δ.Ρ.: It depends on yourself.
Τ.Φ.: Fits too.
Π.Σ.: Absolutely.

Echelon: Website|Facebook

About Natalie Humphries 2046 Articles
Soundscape's editor. Can usually be found at a gig, and not always in the UK. Contact: nathumphries@soundscapemagazine.com or @acidnat on twitter.