Interview May 22, 2006
Interview de Christopher Hrasky (batterie). 22.05.2006. Questions posées par les membres du forum.
How the last months have been for the band? (by bebo)
Christopher Hrasky: The last few months have been pretty great. We've been working a lot on new music over the last year and things have really started to come together in the last four months or so. We've written the majority of our new album during these months. We had gone a long time without writing any new music that we liked a lot and that's always scary. We wrote a lot of new stuff last year, but we threw most of it away. But all of a sudden we're pretty much done with writing the new record and we're all excited. There was definitely a long stretch where we were having a lot of trouble writing, but I think that struggle, as unpleasant as it can be, is sometimes necessary and healthy.
Could you introduce the new album ? (by guilfren)
Christopher: I don't really want to say a whole lot about it at this point, as it won't be coming out until early 2007. I can say that we are recording it this summer and John Congleton (the guy who engineered The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place) will be working with us again. There will be six or seven songs. But I don't want to say too much else about it this early.
Speaking about the recording of the next album, have you changed your way to create music ? What did you do to avoid "routine" or "already-heard-piece-of-music" ? (by daguiseb)
Christopher: We've never really had a set way in which we make music. Its always trial and error until something feels right. Its never very easy for us and we are constanty worried about avoiding "routine" or stuff that sounds too much like stuff we've already done. However, we do have a style and that style is still present in the new songs but we also think that all the new stuff has a different overall feel than our previous albums. Like I said, we threw away a lot of music over the last year and often this was because it just seemed to be a re-tread of something we've already done. We don't want to repeat ourselves. That's a hard trap to avoid, especialy with instrumental music.
What is your lifestyle when you're at home, in Texas, while you're in rehearsal ? (by gaut)
Christopher: We practice and work on music almost everyday. That's the main focus. The four of us meet up, have lunch and then go to the practice space for a few hours. Outside of that, we spend time with our wives/girlfriends/friends/pets, watch basketball and movies, read books, mow the lawn, etc. Its a pretty quiet life at the moment, which is nice.
How do you choose the titles of your songs ? Do you find them while you are working on it , or do you choose them once the songs are finally done ? (by daguiseb)
Christopher: Sometimes the titles come first. Sometimes not until after the song is written. The titles can come from anywhere...a book one of us is reading or something we come up with on our own. We just try to think of titles that make sense with what a particular song means to us. At this point, we only have titles for three of the songs that will be on the next record. We have a long list to choose from for the remaining songs, but we haven't decided on anything yet.
Does the title change a lot during the work of the songs or is it a basis to create the songs ? (by daguiseb)
Christopher: For this record, the songs have come first and the titles later. Which is usually the way it works. However, in the past we have had song titles first and the actual music second but I can't remember which specific songs those were.
Where the name "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" comes from ? (by Lou-)
Christopher: I think Mark came up with that one. But I'm not sure. That was several years ago. But I do remember that the title just made sense to us for some reason.
Have you a name for the next album yet ? or an artwork ? (by bebo)
Christopher : We do have a title. And Esteban Rey is working on the artwork (its looking great). But I'm afraid I can't say anything more about it. Sorry.
Do you take pleasure to make your music or is it sometimes harder to get a good result for you? (by babar)
Christopher: Ultimately, its a pleasure to do this. We realize that we are some of the luckiest people in the world. We get to make music for a living. But it can be hard sometimes because we're harsh self- critics and we only want to make music that we all love.
What do you think about your first album, "How Strange, Innocence" ? (by guilfren)
Christopher : I haven't listened to it in a long time. We all like it but we all just feel very distant from those songs, probably because we haven't played any of them live in years.
How can you manage to create such differents atmospheres in your songs? Is it total instinct or do you work a lot on looking for the good sound and the good construction to your songs ? (by daguiseb)
Christopher: We just work a lot and try all sorts of different things until something works or sounds right. It doesn't happen quickly.
Something i never understood, a lot of your songs haven't the same title on the net than on the artwork, like "help us to stay alive" (aka greet death) or "the plan will crash tomorrow", (aka with tired eyes...) is it just a mistake from some people who bootleged your shows or there is a different edition of your second album ? (by bebo)
Christopher: That is just a mistake.
What are you planning to do after recording your new album ? Have your already booked some gigs in Europe ? (by bebo et daguiseb)
Christopher: We will be touring all over the place for a year or so. We don't have anything booked yet. We'll start thinking about that stuff after we finish recording the record. I think we're all looking forward to playing these new songs live.
Okay, if you have a last word...
Christopher : As always, thanks for caring. It means the world to us.
Merci à Helene Castro pour son aide à la traduction des questions.
