FLESHCRAWL

// Falber Teles

SOURCEWEBZINE - You've been around for a long time, long before many other bands in your scene have, what were things like before there were so many bands back in 1987, and even before then? Was it a select group of people and bands with a passion for doing something different?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - I think it was totally different than nowadays. At that time, people were in contact and touch much much more, music was traded and everybody helped each other a lot. Shows were lined up together and so on today, I think, that typical dog-eat-dog society which reigns normal life is also somehow active in the music business and even in such extreme scenes like Death Metal. Well, anyway, there are fans who want to listen to that kind of music and it’s our purpose (not just ours actually !) to satisfy them, haha !

SOURCEWEBZINE - How do you view what's going on now with your scene? Does it seem like there's lots of kids looking to "make it big" without being creative?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - As far as I can judge this, the death metal scene is growing at the moment. We have several new bands in Germany which are pretty good and have good potential to write killer songs. Without creativity you can´t achieve anything with music. It also demands creativity to write new old school death metal songs, even if some people can´t understand this fact, hehe.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Do other people see you as having more credibility, since your first album came out back in 1992, before the interests of wider musical audiences changed?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Maybe some do. In general I would say, people and fans honor the fact the Fleshcrawl developed as a band and as musicians and that we managed to released better and better records and delivered great song quality on those records. I think that’s what really matters. Providing great songs on your records. I mean, that’s why albums are released and bands are striving for – to improve themselves !

SOURCEWEBZINE - What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Of course a lot of bands from Sweden from the early years of death metal back in the 90s had a lot of influence. We were always big fans of bands like Dismember, Entombed and Grave to mention a few and this was exactly the sound we wanted to create. There is no major influence from specific musicians. You always have to look at the whole thing, not just one person.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Germany?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Our country doesn’t support artists, musicians in this case, a lot and it´s hard to make a living out of music only. So all of us have to work from monday till friday which has the side effect that we can´t focus more to the music. Countries like Finland for example support musicians and artists in general with governmental sponsorships for example. That’s a great thing in my opinion.

SOURCEWEBZINE -  What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Positive effects are global communication with everybody in a very short time. Before the internet you had to do everything by phone or snail mail. Nowadays you can contact people with some mouseclicks. For bands the promotion over the internet is great. Even more unknown bands can get a lot of attention over the internet than it would be possible without. Negative is the music piracy  which can ruin bands in the worst case.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What "image" do you have of Brazilian music?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - First thing which comes to my mind is Sepultura, Sarcofago and Samba, hehe. I heard from some bands that touring in Brazil is an intense experience and people appreciate live gigs more than here in Europe. I hope we can go over there in the future!

SOURCEWEBZINE - A little bit about your music taste. What kind of stuff are you currently listening to?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - This changes often. I don´t listen to music a lot cause somehow my mind is full of music and sometimes I get really fed up with it. Most of the time I listen to music in my car while driving somewhere. At the moment I listen to Hypocrisy – Arrival in my car. The atmosphere this band creates on that album is amazing!

SOURCEWEBZINE -  How involved were each of you in the songwriting? So when you write your vocal lines, how does it work?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Mike and myself wrote all of the riffs for “Structures of Death” together. The lyrics were mainly written by Basti during the songwriting process. Also Sven wrote some lyrics. Basti comes up with the lyrics and fits them to the riffs after a song is finished.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What kind of feedback have you received from the record so far?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Most of the reviews were very good. Some reviewers complained about us being old fashioned in some way but this is exactly what we want to be! We deny to change our style or be more modern in any way. We play fuckin´ old school death metal! Thats it, haha!

SOURCEWEBZINE - What kind of music are you guys currently listening to? Name us your top 5 records from 2007...
Nile – Ithyphallic
Dying Fetus – War of Attrition
Evocation - Tales from the Tomb
Nominon - Terra Necrosis
Dismember – The God That Never Was

SOURCEWEBZINE -  Please feel free to add a last comment?
OLIVER GRBAVAC (G) - Thanks for the interview and the support! We hope to see you on tour sometimes in Brazil! Check out “Structures of Death“.

Metal Blade Records
Fleshcrawl

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