SOURCE – Releasing a new album is often accompanied by a tour and the development of a band’s fanbase, as well as continuing to deepen the relationship with your already existing supporters. How has this pandemic changed how you are connecting with new fans and sharing this new album in ways that are unconventional?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – For starters, there’s nothing too unconventional for a Metal band. Sometimes we feel like the living participants of History, pawns in battles fought on the road and everybody that has done this for a while, will come up with situations and stories that defy logic. Having said that, you’re quite right, these are different and unexpected times, but we feel our only option, before giving up, it’s to, at least, put up a good fight not to fall off the grid or the radar. All our streaming concerts, virtual get togethers, seated and masked live audiences were nothing but acts of love for what we do and for the people who respect us enough to follow us through the tick and thin. Like any loving relationship we need to feel and to touch one another, so yes it was frustrating to wave at people instead of shaking their hands but as far as we’re concerned, we stayed put and delivered the best we could.
SOURCE – What do you think is the most exciting part of Hermitage? Is it the content? Is it the sound?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – These kinds of questions are troublesome for me. As far as Moonspell is concerned albums, at the time of their making, convey a message and some kind of “aesthetics” that are meaningful to us. Then, those “motivations” change and it’s time to embrace and try new ideas. I remember very well the change between Wolfheart and Irreligious, and the main reason behind it was to get into a style that was less diverse, more homogenic and that decision allowed us to help shape Gothic Metal back then. So to speak, I strongly believe that the virtues and the flaws to be found in Hermitage are up to the people picking it up and giving it a spin to find out.
SOURCE – As many bands in the metal industry appear to be releasing more and more EPs and singles rather than just albums, do you plan on going that route, as well?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – We don’t know. We have never paid much attention to what the industry dictates. Our main goal as a band, our “artistic” object, so to speak, is to make one album that contains a narrative. I always preferred novels to short tales, I don’t know why but I always feel mostly frustrated by the shortness of stories that could be great stories when developed in time. Actually, many great writers set their most important novels upon short tales. When we released 1755, the Portuguese album about the earthquake, it was supposed to be just an EP with 4 songs but we got “carried away” and made it a full-length album, so I guess that answers the question.
SOURCE – So many bands are taking so many different approaches to livestreaming. It’s just a whole new wave of creativity in the music industry. Where do you see it going? Do you think it’ll stick around?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – Musicians adapt. That’s in our nature. If the stage is larger, you run it left to right. If the stage is small, you try being in the crowd’s face or even go down and join them offstage. I believe that’s why so many creative solutions were found to shorten the distance. I believe this could stick and has some value. For example, 90.000 people will be at Wacken. If they broadcast it, millions will see it. But in the end of the day, the politics behind it worries me. Playing live is like having sex, broadcasting is virtual sex, both can exist but as far as I am concerned I prefer the first to the latter.
SOURCE – When you released 1755, how do you feel the album was received by listeners?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – 1755 was a huge surprise for us. We dove into that mix of epic, fast Metal and whole the history and philosophy that this event brough alongside but to be honest, we had no idea if our crowd would buy into it. There was obviously fans that preferred that line of albums that we interrupted with Extinct and then picked up again with Hermitage, but, to the best of my knowledge, people were excited about 1755 and so were we. In spite of the commercial and artistic success which are not meaningless to any band, 1755 opened a new line of “work” and expression for the band, a new window and we’re surely making another album in Portuguese in the forthcoming years.
SOURCE – What has life looked like for you during the pandemic in a society that is under quarantine?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – Covid unveiled the true characteristic of our society, especially in developed countries. We are spoiled with privilege, hypochondriac, and profoundly egoistic and unhappy. I looked at the world and saw that we are, most likely, living our epilogue as a society and the way the society handled it was just too terrible to witness. The quarantine was, like many musicians stated, not the welcoming break from all the heavy tour schedule. It was just us failing to solve a problem in a communal way. Life sucked big time and it still does.
SOURCE – A lot of bands and artists in the industry have been negatively affected by COVID and being unable to tour. For fans of your music, what is the best way we can support you guys?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – What manner they see fit; we will always be grateful. We suggest and then it’s up to the fans to choose which way they can or are willing to support us. That takes some introspection, to know what place Moonspell occupies in your life as solace, entertainment, whatever and reward us for that. I hate to be constantly selling our fish or pushing our agenda into the face of the people, so I believe and hope our fans know where to find us and what to do. The only thing we can do is to move on, never forgetting to bestow gratitude to them.
SOURCE – I have one last question for you, leaving with some food for thought. You’ve been through a lot of things and shared a lot of cool experiences. What would you say is the greatest lesson that you’ve learned and you think is worth sharing?
Fernando Ribeiro (Vocals) – Japanese whisky is wonderful. The Beatles were the greatest band ever. The world doesn’t revolve around us.
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