PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
We caught up with guitarist Emanuel Seis from I Spit Ashes to talk about the bands history, the current album and future plans.
Firstly, many thanks for your time.
I’d like to start by getting to know the origins of the band in its
present form, I believe you were in other bands prior to I Spit Ashes?
Hello… yes we were. I played in a couple of bands but me and Bernhard knew each other from Conspiracy, a band which played death metal and metalcore. It was killed back in 2007. Benedikt grunted in Spritual Decay but also this band is not alive today. Ben played bass in a small combo and Daniel did some coversongs.
Your debut E.P. “State Of The Art” put you before a wider audience, how
good did it feel to get some music out into the market place.
Well “State Of The Art” was more or less the first thing we ever released. We did it on our own but we soon noticed that I Spit Ashes had more to offer. So it’s a very good demo but we were thrilled about doing ” Inhaling Blackness – Reflecting Light”.
That E.P. obviously got you noticed as you then went on tour with Dark
Tranquillity! How was that experience?
We won a contest and were allowed to support DT… Hello? It was just great.
During this period you seem to have been pretty much constantly writing
new material, is that typical, are you always coming up with new ideas
for songs?
Well we wrote constantly for this album during that time but didn’t know anything, if we’d found the right sound, if we’d get signed but we all had this feeling of working on something really special. And still today we love this album. This will never change. We are actually constantly writing with breaks of creativity.
Bringing things up to date, you signed with Massacre Records in 2011,
which enabled you to release the current album “Inhaling Blackness
Reflecting Light” to a worldwide audience, before we talk about the
album, what made you choose to go with Massacre rather than any other label?
Massacre is a well-known, very established label. But the artists still have lots of liberties. So it is a good choice for bands who want to keep the spirit of their band alive.
I was lucky enough to be able to review the album a while back here on
Planetmosh, and was really impressed with the balance of power and
melody you’ve managed to get on the record. ’Crossing The Borderline ’
for example is a real classic. Did you approach the album with getting
that balance in mind?
Well it’s a matter of our goosebumps. It comes natural that songs turn out brutal but with strong melodies. We write what sounds amazing to our ears… other stuff is erased. This is why song writing mode is pretty long in this band. It’s not about adding riff to riff. We make songs flow with intuition. The only way we can write.
My personal favourite track on the album is ’One Star Per Tear’, a
really diverse and emotional song. What’s the story behind that
particular piece of music?
That is an uncommon but good choice. We wanted to do an instrumental. Something that is really for everybody but sounds far away. It has a very spacey touch and I think heaven sings us this song.
Another track I must mention is ‘My Ulysses’, again full of emotion, and
with a mix of clean and growl vocals, how did that song come about?
It is definitely a homage to the mighty “Power Ballad”. All of us need quiet tunes and for us it’s not a no go to have a real ballad with our vision of music. I think it is becoming a lost art to write balladic stuff but we want to show up for every emotion and condition of life.
You’re also able to throw out some speaker melting tracks such as ’Error
Concept I’ , which I felt reminded me of Dark Tranquillity in parts,
would that be fair, and who else, if anyone, would you count as a
musical influence?
I think influences are everything we like, and this is a lot of stuff but influences don’t need only to be bands. It also could be movies, news, the overall feeling.
What are the bands plans now as regards touring with the new material,
anything definite?
The plan first of all is to be doing tons of shows and enjoy promoting “IBRL”. This album is not only for the moment. Our music should not be material to exploit for just a little piece of time. We have some pre- produced samples since we are out from studio, but nothing real yet.
Do you have a time schedule in mind for the follow up album?
The second album can sometimes be seen as the most important one in a
bands development.
The time must be right. I think if quality is what counts at least, you do not have to hurry. So maybe it will take some time till the next output.
Germany is producing some really excellent Metal bands at the moment, do
you think the ability to breakthrough to an international market is
easier or harder because of such competition?
I don’t know. We do not really compete with bands and try to focus on ourselves. To breakthrough globally is certainly what we are aiming at but this can only made step by step. From considering a name for a band, to the first songs, to bringing out an album professionally and so on , it’s always the time and the will to continue. So we are going forward at our own pace.
Finally, for those out there that may not be familiar with I Spit Ashes
at this moment, give us a description of the band?
I Spit Ashes is a five piece metalband which uses the framework of Melodic Death and builds many influences and tryouts around it to sound like “da new shit”. Attitude is modern and pretty forward thinking without neglecting the roots of metalmusic, which we all love. However we want to do it with the spirit of time, and not as backtravellers who only respect the past.
Thanks very much indeed for your time Emanuel, best of luck with all the bands future plans.
Thank you very much for your interest in I Spit Ashes. It is a honor to be recognized. Readers should check our album. It is worth it.
The Album ‘Inhaling Blackness – Reflecting light’ is out now via Massacre Records.
http://www.facebook.com/spitashes
http://www.massacre-records.com
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDN5hwVZRp0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
