If you had to sum up the
career of Moonspell in two minutes, what would you say?
Well, I’d probably hesitate
for a minute first ! (laughs) But I don’t really know, because Moonspell
was something that we started because our passion for other bands and occult
subjects and music, and especially because of this connection. Nowadays, we
have evolved a lot, we are in places that we were not in 92. We have learnt
through the years, and I think it’s a significant career, at least for myself. It
has always been strange for me and for Moonspell to have people we can
communicate with, through our music, my lyrics, etc… So I think that once
again, it’s not my whole life, but it’s a big part of it.
And how would you like to
evolve in the future? Like Paradise Lost, or back to a more aggressive music?
Well, we would like to evolve
to a point where Moonspell would be considered as a very original band, and who
plays quality stuff. That’s been our goal for a lot of years. Of course, we
have a lot of influences. Paradise Lost is one of them, but we don’t want to
follow anyone’s path. And though we are often compared with Paradise Lost,
especially because we are melodic, but we for example you compare ‘Butterfly
Effect’ with ‘Host’, I think that we’re going in far different directions, they
are experimenting more with melodies and string arrangements, and we are
exploring harsher and more aggressive sounds. I think that evolution is
something people debate very much. The evolution of Moonspell depends of the
evolution of our personal lives, where they go, what we think, and what we
feel. Music has always been a representation of this for Moonspell, so,
musically, I think we won’t go for such major changes as we went for these past
four years and albums. Of course, people don’t have the time to be used to a
Moonspell sound, because we always do an album every year, so we wanna wait
more nowadays. But I think that the style of ‘Butterfly Effect’ is closer to
what we wanna do, a more complete style, with a lot of feelings, which is very
important for Moonspell, but also something from our essence, from our past.
A sort of come-back to the
roots, maybe?
No, not exactly, because I
think we couldn’t do a second ‘Wolfheart’. It was very special at the time for
us, and we couldn’t repeat it. We will never do a second ‘Butterfly Effect’
either, because it is very special to us. We have our style, but that’s very
difficult, very ambitious for the generation of bands like us, Katatonia,
Paradise Lost… We have roots for sure, but we look up, we look at the fruits of
the tree, and not only at the roots. Roots are important, but they don’t do the
best, they’re just the ground where we stand, and I don’t know if we’re going
back to the roots or not, because I don’t know what the roots of Moonspell are.
But for example, would you be
interested in adding more electronic elements to your music?
We do so. With electronics and
technology in general as a working tool, that’s very interesting, and it can
create tools even more interesting. Since ‘Irreligious’, we have maintained
experiments with technology, but we mainly want our music to remain human and
organic. We used technology sometimes, and electronic elements on ‘Butterfly
Effect’ in order to create this danger and apocalyptic feeling. But I don’t
feel we’re going too electronic or not. Nowadays, metal is very safe, people,
especially in this trend of power and black metal, where they do what people
want to hear, and Moonspell is against this. I have nothing against these
bands, but I am against this philosophy. I think that people can learn things
with Moonspell, like on ‘Opium’, and I want to keep it this way. For this, we
have to innovate.
Concerning the tours you made,
how was it in America? Were you expecting something this important?
No. Because when you do a
band, you want to expand. When we did Moonspell, we wanted to play outside
Portugal ; when we played outside Portugal, we wanted to play in more European
countries, etc etc… But the American market is pretty weird, it doesn’t have
the same rules for metal as the European market, so our management, people in
magazines and in other bands were saying that we would be completely ripped
off, and that nobody would come to the shows. But when we arrived there, a lot
of shows were sold-out, because the package was strong with In Flames. Of
course we had a show with hundred and twenty people, which is not, for me,
chaotic, but it was very good, and a chance to meet other people who listen to
Moonspell. We only have good things to say about the USA ! We also played in
Canada and Mexico, it was our second time in Mexico, and we might return there
later, maybe in May. We should once again be included in a package. Moonspell
won’t headline, but we will have a good position on the bill. I don’t know
which other bands, still. Maybe Kreator once again. We have to see that.
Still about the US, you took
part to the Dismember November Festival, along with Morbid Angel…
We played a different stage. That
was a very confusing experience for us. It’s not like the European festivals
where everything is organised. There were three of four stages at that place,
Morbid Angel were playing on a different stage. There was a very big confusion
there, there were porno actresses giving autographs, there was merchandising
sold, there was Moonspell playing, Crowbar playing, death metal bands playing… It
was chaotic.
Did you talk with the Morbid
Angel guys, after the problems you had together?
No, we didn’t. But I have
nothing against them. I have a lot of things against their management, we will
never tour with a band from their management ever, after that tour with Morbid
Angel, that took place in 95. But we have no complaints about the band, that’s
a band I really like, all the albums, to be honest, and I think they’re the
best death metal band ever. We’ve never had any problem with them.
What about this specific tour
here in Europe with Novembre, Kreator and Witchery?
It’s going well. But to be
honest, the package was not supposed to be like this. We chose the first
package, but due to a lot of problems, we had to change it. The original one
was 69 Eyes, Katatonia, Kreator and Moonspell. But we have had Witchery, and at
the beginning of the tour, a band called Manic Movement. Novembre joined in
Hamburg or Kцln. The beginning
was quite lame, like in Holland, there were not a lot of people at the shows,
but then again, after we had played Belgium, we had very good responses. All
the bands are in my opinion playing very good shows, from Novembre up to
Moonspell, hopefully. And people seem to enjoy it pretty much. The German part
was very good, so it’s a very good tour. For example, even if in Germany we
don’t sell very well anymore, people still come to the shows, and they like it,
which is the most important thing. And they come in very large amount, so…
Do you remember the day in
Geneva? How was it?
Geneva was OK. Switzerland is
a country that is sometimes strange for us, because there are a not a lot of
people listening to metal there. But the Geneva gig was pretty cool, there were
quite a lot of supportive people, and that was a cool show.
What are your plans for now? Some
summer festivals maybe? Like Dynamo or Wacken?
I don’t think we would fit
that much in festivals like Wacken, because people go there with the idea of
seeing pure heavy metal. And I don’t think Moonspell is able to give them what
they really expect. But there are some rumours saying that we will be playing
at the Dynamo once again, we have played there in 97, but I think we will play
some festivals this summer. Some stuff is already planned, but we have to go
step by step. There are two more weeks to
go before the end of this tour, then some stuff in the US, and then the summer
festivals. That’s always a chance to present our music to a larger audience,
that is not only in metal or gothic music. It can be a bad experience
sometimes, but we also had very good experiences, like the Artefacts festival,
which was a complicated, but very good show.
Apart
from that, what are your projects with your solo-band Daemonarch?
It
was a purely artistic project. It’s hard to understand that nowadays,
especially with all these new bands, in this kind of music. For Daemonarch, I’m
very proud of the result, I have reached the aims I wanted to reach, it was a
personal breach for all the things that are in my mind, and now it will return
to its original form, a literary project. I will build an internet site for
Daemonarch, where you’ll find a story, more informations, and also some kind of
artistic satanism, because I think the way it is represented now is very bad.
And I want to change this situation, all the more that I have the power to do
so.
You
mean, the way it is represented by ‘satanic’ bands? Like Dark Funeral and so
on, with their spikes, leathers, blood and make-up?
I think there are only very
few bands who do that with style, and I will quote Emperor, Marduk, even Dark
Funeral, who are bands that I like, to be very honest. But once again, 95% of
the black metal is crap. It’s trendy, it’s badly played, it’s not only the
musician fault, but also the labels’ fault. Because
when Moonspell began, it was very hard for us to get a record deal, even with
‘Wolfheart’. Nowadays, even in our label, there are bands like Old Man’s Child
who have no quality or whatsoever to be in Century Media. Black metal is not
that dead-easy to do as people think. People think it’s very easy to put
make-up, and it represents that musically, and it’s not. I don’t know everything
about black metal, but I know a lot, and I think that 95% of the bands are
crap. The bands who do that with, I hate to say that, but with the ‘true’
feeling, do it very well, like Marduk.
So,
what about trendy bands like Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir?
I
know Cradle for ages, but they’re too soft and represent a style, that was not
created by themselves, but around them. And they adapted to this. I don’t like
their music and what they represent, because I think it’s not new, it stinks
like old stuff. But I have no problem if people like it. About Dimmu Borgir, I
don’t see what people see in them and don’t see in Emperor. I think there are a
lot of hypes concerning Dimmu Borgir, I have listened to ‘Godless Savage
Garden’, and for me, it’s easy listening black metal. I know the guys, and
they’re cool, but musically, I don’t think they do it ok…
OK,
thanks! Would you have something to say to the readers?
Thanks
for the interview, and big thanks to the French and Swiss audience, because
when everyone was putting us down with ‘Sin/Pecaso’, you were like for us, very
hopeful countries, you accepted Moonspell as we are, and it’s not very easy
these days. So all my respect to them!