SOURCE – Thy Catafalque’s recent visit to South America brought the band closer to an audience known for its intensity and dedication to the metal scene. What surprised you most during this tour, and how did the experience influence your perception of the band’s global reach? When will you return to Brazil?
Tamás Kátai – The whole trip was almost five days, and I’m sure we travelled for more time than we spent there. We literally flew to the other side of the planet for two shows, so it felt really strange. We had one show in São Paulo at Jai Club to a full house, although it was a tiny club. They needed to make the stage a bit bigger because the whole band simply could not fit on it. It was hot and humid onstage, but the audience was very thankful and fiery. We were greeted warmly, and we enjoyed the set. It was a great gig. The next day, we needed to take a bus to Campo do Meio, and it took half a day, so we got there almost by the time of our slot at CDM Metal Fest. Another nice place with nice people. The next day, another long trip back to São Paulo Airport, followed by a 13-hour flight to Istanbul, where, after eight hours of waiting, we took another flight to Budapest. So, it was intense. Of course, it was a great experience. None of us had been to South America before. We had nice food, good shows, and I don’t think any of us will forget these couple of days. When will we return? I have no idea. Someone has to invite us over again.
SOURCE – XIII: Sárga erdő follows a series of releases that have pushed Thy Catafalque’s stylistic boundaries even further. At what point in the creative process did you realise that this album had an identity of its own, distinct from your previous releases?
Tamás Kátai – I’m not sure if I sense this. I mean, what I usually do is write songs, and that’s it. What, however, was a big difference was the real drums we recorded for the first time in the band’s history. The overall production is more organic thanks to this and the substantial number of real instruments used during the recording. We even have a 20-piece male choir on one song.
SOURCE – Producing an album of this scale involves guest musicians, audio engineering, artwork and international promotion. How have production costs evolved in recent years?
Tamás Kátai – Of course, the production costs are getting higher with so many musicians involved. The artwork is not like that. It has always been me putting together the layout, so that’s fine. The front-cover artwork is done either by myself or someone else, but that’s all the cost involved with it, and promotion is handled by Season of Mist. Probably I have a bit of a higher budget now for production because of the slightly rising royalties album by album, as the band gets a bit more known over time. I use this income for studio work to elevate the quality of the upcoming records.
SOURCE – Thy Catafalque has evolved from an essentially studio-based project into an entity capable of performing live at major festivals. How has this transformation changed the band’s management and professional structure?
Tamás Kátai – Back when it was only a studio project, for 24 years it had been only me dealing with the business side, which was practically about recordings and discussions with the label. Simple and easily manageable. Now, with the live band, this is much more complicated, but I am responsible only for the creative side of the performances: rehearsals, setlists, arrangements, visuals, sound, merch design, posters, such things. For promotion, organising and business, we have people who know what they are doing, and I don’t have the time, the energy or the proper mindset to deal with that part.
SOURCE – Music videos remain an important part of the album release process. How do you decide which songs deserve a visual adaptation, and what role do the videos play in shaping the world of XIII: Sárga erdő?
Tamás Kátai – Yes, I don’t really like this trend, but that’s how it is. You need to come up with at least two or three videos for each album. We focus on the most doable songs. This is especially hard for us. You see, our music is very diverse; the songs can wildly differ from each other, and many times we simply cannot choose one song that represents the album and could pass as THE VIDEO. There is no such track, so I go with the ones that I like the most and preferably not 10-plus minutes long, because we do not have the finances for such long videos. Now, for Sárga erdő, we had “Búcsú a piros madártól” as the first one, and I can tell that we had a video done, but I did not feel it connected properly to the band and the world of TC, so I decided to make another one, and that’s what debuted.
SOURCE – Do you notice significant differences between the various social media platforms in terms of engagement, reach and conversion into actual listeners and paying customers?
Tamás Kátai – I am not your man to answer this. This whole social media beggary and clowning is something I can barely handle, and I am the world’s happiest person to leave this topic to—I don’t even know who. I am the one managing our Facebook, Instagram and X profiles only because I don’t want too much stupidity coming from those platforms in the name of the band. But, man, I never check the engagement, statistics or data.
SOURCE – Is it currently possible to recoup the investment made in such an elaborate album through music sales alone, or has the business model inevitably become more diversified?
Tamás Kátai – I don’t know. If we look at XIII, I didn’t count the production costs, and probably it’s for the best. I just wanted the album to be like I envisioned it, and that was what mattered. Probably sales will recoup the investment, probably not. The main thing is to release the record, and I’m happy about how it turned out. I hope many listeners will enjoy the music and the art that we created. Everything else is secondary.
SOURCE – In a market saturated with weekly releases, which strategies do you consider most effective for making a new album stand out without resorting to predictable marketing formulas?
Tamás Kátai – I have absolutely no idea. As I said, marketing is not my forte, and I leave it to the label. I just feel uncomfortable whenever it comes up.
PHOTO CREDIT
Orsolya Karancz
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THY CATAFALQUE – XIII: SÁRGA ERDO [CD/LP] – SEASON OF MIST RECORDS
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