SOURCE – What should the fans expect of this new album Ad Astra and how would you describe it to the fans that have not listened to it yet?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – If you’ve had the chance to listen to some of our previous albums, I belive that you will notice quite a progession. We’re still doing some modern melodic metalcore-stuff, but with more melodic progression and the introduction of some completely new ways of doing vocals. FFO: Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Spiritbox, ABBA (we said it)
SOURCE – How did you team up with Circular Wave Records?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – Our management, Prime Collective was shopping around for labels – we had a few different demos for the new album and quite a few labels were interested actually. We ended up going with Circular Wave Records because of their personal approach and their huge experience in the business. Mathias and Ben who are behind the whole thing has done their time in the major label business and are now starting up on their own, and they’ve been working tirelessly to ensure a great album release for us.
SOURCE – Based on the complexity of the compositions, would you say that Ad Astra is an easy listening album?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – Definitely an easy listening album. We work with our music as many pop producers would do – listened to a hell lot of ABBA before going to the studio – and generally just believe in making some straightforward, hard hitting metalcore.
SOURCE – How important do you think are singles in this era in comparison to full length releases?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – I think singles are a very important promotional tool. We’ve been releasing what – 6 singles maybe? – before releasing the full album, and that has definitely helped us build up some momentum for the release with lots of promotional material, music videos etc.
SOURCE – The cover artwork is also quite intriguing. Could you please tell us what did you want to reflect with it and how did you work on the artwork?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – Thanks! I think it turned out really awesome as well. We tried so many different approaches and artists, but finally ended up with Berlin-based artist Fabian Eichstaedt, a friend of Ben from our label. He painted to whole cover – and yes, we mean an old school painting – and completely blew us away.
SOURCE – Let’s talk about the recording process of Ad Astra. Did you enter the studio with Ad Astra complete? songs or did you change, rearrange a lot?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – I think we ended up doing maybe 10 different writing sessions all over Denmark. Locked ourselves up in a hut during Covid and wrote, rearranged, scrapped, changed and wrote something new again. Jonas still does most of the writing on his own, and then we meet up at complete the songs all of us. So it’s been a long time coming. The recording was also done over the course of a year I think.
SOURCE – Where do you see the importance of social media, digital music, streaming, etc. in building the profile of the band? Is it as important as what the band can do through live shows to solidify their following?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – Unfortunately the work with digital, SoMe etc. as a band has become quite overwhelming for most musicians. We love to tell stories, share our thoughts and experiences with our followers – but when you have to do it across 7 different platforms, with different content and different target groups it just becomes too much. We’re trying to meet the expectations to our fans and balance it with what we really love to do: Playing music and having fun.
SOURCE – How much did the pandemic change your outlook on life as a person? Do you believe your priorities and what’s important to you has changed as a result?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – I think the pandemic has changed all of us. Not just as persons, but also as a band. Our album was written during the pandemic, and you can definitely see that in the lyrics and themes of the whole album.
SOURCE – May a new generation of fans will discover the band with this album. What do you want to say to them?
Michael Vahl (Vocals) – I guess I just wanna say thanks for listening. We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the making of ‘Ad Astra’ and we’d just love for you guys to dive into it and let us know what you think. Cheers!
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