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Castle (English Version)
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 Castle (English Version)
17.04.2012 von Gordon
Artist: Castle
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Van Records
Link: www.heavycastle.com
Band Members:
Vocals, Bassguitar – Elizabeth Blackwell
Guitar – Mat Davis
Drums – Al McCartney
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Hi, thank you for your time! This interview is some kind of a “prelude” for me and your potential visitors for your tour through Germany. Honestly, I actually never heard anything of your band before and accepted to visit your show for this magazine, because I listen sometimes to “Verdunkeln”. Of course, I cannot interview a band without knowing their songs. I was kind of surprised of the high quality of your music and I am glad to see you guys live in Oberhausen soon.
So let´s start at the beginning: When did you start playing together?
Castle / Mat Davis:
Hi and thanks for the opportunity to talk about Castle and our music. That is not such a simple question for us. The roots of the band go back a long time. Our drummer and I have played together in many bands for about 15 years. Liz and I met 3 years ago and immediately started to work on what became the first Castle record while Al joined forces about a year after that.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Can you tell us a bit of your ambitions? Why did you decide to start a project like you did? And why did you choose a simple name like “Castle”?
Castle / Mat Davis:
The project grew out of me writing after I had relocated to San Francisco about 6 years ago. I began to experiment with different rhythms and guitar scales and filtered them through a modern metal sound. I deliberately set out to do something that hadn't been done. Castle is ever evolving and I can say for sure that no two Castle records will sound the same. The inspirations around us are constantly evolving and so too then the sound. The name I have known since I was very young. I was waiting for the right sound to come to me before I attached it.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
In contrast to your name, your music is some kind of uniqe, at least to me. At this moment, I have listened to your debut In Witch Order from 2011. Less than one year later, the follow-up Blacklands will be released. Compared to other bands you seem to be very fast in writing new songs (or at least releasing them). What do you think are the developments in Blacklands?
Castle / Mat Davis:
Thanks. I touched on this in the previous answer but again, we are constantly moving towards the source, therefore things do not appear the same for us and for the listener too who's perspective cannot be ruled out - we wouldn't want to short change anyone out there! In Witch Order was done once - and to me it is perfect in its state so why attempt to redo it? Blacklands has a new and fresh sound to my ears and is a time capsule of a point in our lives while we wrote it. To answer the second part of your question we wanted to move fast. I've always wanted to have a "functioning" band with people who supported the creation of my music. Now that we have that in place it is nothing to write so fast. It is harder to do nothing.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Let´s talk about your reputation in your home country. Does Metal fans know Castle in America or at least in San Francisco? What do you think are the reasons your fans choose to listen to you?
Castle / Mat Davis:
In San Francisco and in certain parts of the U.S. yes, also in Canada too where our drummer lives and we have played several times but I feel Europe offers much to us as well. Our label is based there and soon we will tour to support the new record. I would think most people connect in different ways to the band - the riffs, Liz's strong female voice, songwriting, subject matter etc... I think we have many layers to the sound and different entry points for the listener.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
A female-fronted doom metal band (which could be one answer to the question before) isn´t something I hear every day. When did you decide to do this step?
Castle / Mat Davis:
I tried many things in the early days of the songwriting. I contemplated different approaches and tried to have various friends and musicians join in but it was only when Liz began to create alongside me the true nature of the songs came out. I think the sound was always there but there were steps to reach it like anything else.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Traveling to Germany and start a tour might not be the cheapest decision in your life. Will it pay off for you playing some gigs in Germany?
Castle / Mat Davis:
It is already paying off in terms of recognition and making fans. We are scheduled to play with some fellow Van Records bands that are all great and sure to bring out a nice crowd. Also this will be the first of many tours for us there. We're committed to creating AND performing the music of Castle.
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Can you tell us something about the allocation of tasks? Who is in charge of the songwriting? Who makes the coffee?
Castle / Mat Davis:
Ha! Most of the songwriting is done by myself. Liz who is also my wife plays an important part as well especially with arrangements and consideration of the vocals and melodies. We also spend time as a band together to see finally what works and what doesn't, a fine tuning process to bring the song to life. As far as the coffee, some are better than others at making it...
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[COLOR=lavender] Time For Metal / Gordon:
What are your “milestones” in the future? Do you try to keep your output constant? What kind of musical development are you trying to reach?
Castle / Mat Davis:
Yes we do have milestones. As I mentioned earlier we will continually be playing shows when possible and I would hope to have an album a year to offer. I have many things on my mind musically and I will keep them there until they are ready to come out!
Time For Metal / Gordon:
Okay, lets come to the final question: Is there any question you have never been asked and always wanted to answer? If not, feel free to promote yourself a bit!
Castle / Mat Davis:
Always end with a hard one, eh? Well let's just say for every question there is a sign and that sign is preferable to talking...or typing. I'd also like to add a thank you for the interview and a request to all to see Castle live - it's not just a performance of the recorded music but an interpretation on a different level. Not to be missed!
pt
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