Entrevista : IMMANU EL

O Art is Fucking Dead tem o prazer de estrear hoje uma nova secção do blogue : entrevista . Para começar em grande, dificilmente poderiamos ter escolhido melhor que IMMANU EL. Este quinteto sueco é uma das maiores promessas do underground europeu. Facto. Falei com o vocalista/guitarrista, Claes, para saber os planos da banda para 2009, a origem do nome, entre outras coijas .


Pereira - Introduce yourself and your band

Claes - My name is Claes Strängberg and I am the lead singer and guitarist of the swedish band IMMANU EL. We play music that we beleive in.

P- What is the origin of your band's name, Immanu El?

C -I'ts a male name in Hebrew, like Michael, Gabriel, Samuel etc, but in its original form. I think it's a timeless and beautiful name and didn't think of it that much when i started the band.

P - Its been quite some time since you released your debut album "they’ll come, they come” . What are your plans for 2009?

C - We will record our second full length album called "MOEN" in June/July and hopefully release it this fall through some labels and distributers around the world. We will make a pre-release/showcase tour in Aug/Sep and then enjoy some heave release touring this fall/winter/spring season.

P -You guys have toured in the past ; what are your best and worst memories from the road?

C - There are many memories. The first two that pops up in my head: The last tour we had a tourbus breakdown in poland and everything - including the hotel - was freezing. We were stuck in the cold for 2 days and couldnt do anything about it. At the same tour we had 5 hours off in Innsbruck - Austria and rented some skiing and snowboarding gear, took a taxi to the cabinlifts and enjoyed alpine skiing between 2 shows. That was amazing.

P - What is the concept behind the artwork and lyrics of "theyll come,they come" ?

C - The concept is an album that reflects the first years of IMMANU EL. There are mostly old and re-arranged demo songs which we made when we were 16-19 years old. The lyrics and the artwork is some kind of reflection about the hope in our music. I beleive in that music.

P -I know that you had some line-up changes in the past.What happened?

C - Its not an easy thing being an independent musician today. We all have to sacrafice a lot in our every-day lives to make our band activity go around. Sometimes people feel like taking a break or doing something completely else. You cannot have a fulltime job or university-studies if youre a part of this group, it takes to much time. Therefor there had been some lineup changes in the past.

P-Your sound is quite epic and cinematic ; do you guys watch a lot of movies , are you influenced by them in any way?

C- I believe so yes. Movies as well as any arts inspires us with or without knowing it...

P - Including IMMANU EL, there are some good swedish bands playing shoegaze/post-rock, like Pg.lost,September Malevolence, Ef...
Do you agree that there is a growing swedish scene in this kind of music?

C- Absolutely. There are many young lads starting up post-rock bands these days and i am glad to see that so many young people take this music to their hearts.

P -Can you describe what gear do you use?

C - We use drums, guitars, bass, keys, strings, electronica samples and vocals added to a lot of effects (more or less).
Lots of delay/reverb/distortion/loops/tremolo etc.

P - What have you been listening lately?

C - I can only speak to myself but i have listened a lot of different bands lately. From Interpol to Nick Drake to Chet Baker.

P - What are your main influences, when writing a song?

C - It is very hard to say, we write many different types of songs these days. I guess you will know when you hear the new album! It sounds cliché but i have to say "everydaylife".

P - I know that you guys have some shows planned for the summer. When can we expect you in Portugal?

C - As soon as we get good requests from promoters and booking agencies we would love to come to Portugal. Hopefully next year!