SUBCONSCIOUS – …a reflection of life
- Posted on 29-01-2009
Ole-Kristian gjorde dette intervjuet med Jörn Langenfeld, vokalist og frontmann i det tyske metalbandet Subconscious i forbindelse med slipp av deres siste album "All Things are Equal in Death".
Your name, Subconscious, do you try to reflect that in your music? Do make your music transform a listener into a "subconscious" state?
If someone wants to see it like this, ok 🙂 But that's not what I was thinking, when I choose the name. The name SUBCONSCIOUS has existed since 1990. And back in these days I thought, it sounded cool, heavy and fits for this kind of music. It has nothing to do with a state of mind.
What is "All things are equal in death"? I mean: what do you mean by that statement?
The title of the album describes a little bit the meaning of life or better, the things that remain, when you're going to die or when you're dead. So, everything is the same, everything is equal in death, no matter if you are a rich, poor, smart, stupid, handsome, ugly or even fat or thin person. That's also the concept behind the lyrics. And there is a lot of space for different interpretations for everybody. The lyrics are a reflection of life.
What has changed since "Irregular" (which was your first album)?
I think, the main thing is, that we have become better songwriters. The material is more tight, still progressive, but not in that chaotic way, which you can hear on the "Irregular" album. Of course the production is also better sounding on the new one. In 2006, Robert, our second guitar player, joined the band and completed us. His guitar playing is also very important for the sound of SUBCONSCIOUS.
Where do you get the influence to make the music that you do?
We are influenced by a lot of great bands, so as every band is. In the early days there are bands like METALLICA, SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN, WATCHTOWER and of course the great DEATH, which inspired me to start playing the guitar. Actually, we are listen to the music of DREAM THEATER, MESHUGGAH, DEATH, OPETH and many more.
Where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics?
Everything can be a source of inspiration. Things you can see on TV, personal experiences, questions that involved the asking for the meaning of life as i told you in the second question. So, let me say, the whole life is the inspiration.
The first song of the new album, "Substitute", why did you choose that song to open the album?
Hmm, that's a good question. We wanted a fast song on the first position, which shows all trademarks of the band. That's the reason for choosing "Substitute".
How do you structure your album? Do you structure in a special way or do you just think "well that sounds like a logical order" and just go with that?
No, we try to figure out, how this song will work after this one, and so on. In my opinion the most important positions on an album are the first three songs, the middle song and the last one. That's always our schema. We try a few possibilities and if everybody is fine with the order, we'll do it.
The song "Interruption", which is an instrumental, why did you choose to make that an instrumental? Did you always want an instrumental on this album, or was that a choice made along the way?
"Interruption" was planned as an instrumental. The function of the song is simple. We decided to write a track to clean the ears, to bring the listener down, with a harmonic and easy structure. So, after that quiet song, you are prepared for the next round 🙂
If you got the choice to make a song with any musician, dead or alive, who would that be? Feel free to choose a band, and not just one musician.
Dead or alive? I couldn't talk for the other guys in the band, but for me, personally, writing a song with Chuck Schuldiner (DEATH) would be an amazing experience. But there a lot of people, I'd like to work with for an album or just a song; too many to mention.
Do you name your songs according to the lyrics, or do you find a song title first and then make lyrics to fit that title?
No, we always accord the name of the song to the lyrics. The words are the story and of course, you need a headline for every story. And that's what the title stands for.