Reborn...
“We actually got together in the end of 2011 to take the decision to end
the band, but instead we came up with the idea to make one more song
as sort of a gratitude to the fans who had supported us.”
Norway's
Pride And Fall were certainly one of the more interesting bands that
emerged at the turn of the Millennium to be tagged with the term
“Futurepop”. With three well-received albums to their credit and
their gloomy but dance-friendly musical formula established, the band
inexplicably faded from view. Then late in 2012 the trio showed signs
of life once more and in 2013 released arguably their strongest
offering to date in the form of 'Of Lust And Desire'.
Intravenous
Magazine caught up with the band to discuss what led to the band's
hiatus, their subsequent reactivation, and making their live return
at one of the UK's premier events, Infest Festival.
Intravenous
Magazine: You've recently released your new album 'Of Lust And
Desire', what has the reaction to it been like so far?
Per:
It has really been a long time since we released anything, so first
of all we are happy with the amount of attention there has been. The
reactions we have received so far have been good, and we are very
pleased with the fact that many seem to recognize 'Of Lust and
Desire' as a natural continuation from where we left after our last
album 'In my time of dying'. A few people have also noticed that the
new album sounds a little different than the first three albums. As
we had to update both the software and some of the hardware in our
studio, we lost some of our old favourite components and plugins, and
we had to make some compromises because of that, and I guess that is
what some people have noticed. What’s most important for us is that
people seems to agree with us that we have the ability to make good
music.
IVM: How
do you feel the album measures up against your previous releases?
Svein:
When we started making 'Of Lust And Desire' we really wanted to
continue the process from our previous albums, and in our opinion all
our albums represent a natural continuation from where the band
started out from the beginning. Even though it’s been a while since
our last album it really didn’t take long to get back in the right
mood when we started recording again. We feel that we have keep on
developing as musicians and as a band, and we think our latest album
also reflect that. I dare to say that we really are quite happy about
the way the album has turned out, but we are also aware of the fact
that we have taken some of the concepts in our music a little longer
than before. Some of our new songs, for instance 'Epilogue', Sculptor
Of Lust And Desire' and 'A River Runs Through It' are maybe a little
off what would be expected, and in overall the result is an album
that might be a little demanding to the listener, but hopefully in a
good way. As a band we have a certain weakness for those huge,
melodic string arrangements that could really set you into that nice
and mellow mood, and we have kept on developing those ideas and
writing songs that we think have a potential to grow when you start
to learn them to know.
IVM:
Previously there has always been a deeply philosophical slant to the
Pride And Fall sound. What would you say are the themes and
inspirations on 'Of Lust And Desire'?
Sigve: We
have called the album 'Of Lust and Desire', and this title relates to
the ever on-going internal conflict we face every day when we make
decisions, often choosing between what could be seen as “right and
wrong”, which often reflect the decision between doing what is
expected and what you really want to do. On the other hand, I always
try to write as ambiguous as I can, because I don't really want there
to sort of one “truth” in our songs. What I really do like the
best, is the thought of people reading different stories and creating
their own different scenes out of my writing. I think that there has
been some development in my writing during the last years, and I seem
to have the impression that I tend to be a little more direct on the
two latest albums than I used to be. Still, I always try to leave
room and space for some interpretations in my lyrics.
IVM: It's
been six years between albums. How has that changed the dynamic of
the band?
Svein:
There was a long period where Pride and Fall as far as we were
concerned, almost ceased to exist. We kept out hanging out during
that period, but it was really not an issue to start production of a
new album or discussion about playing live at all during this period.
Then things started getting back on track, and when we finally got
back in the studio, most of the dynamics of the band returned
immediately. Issues related to the internal dynamics within a band
are in my opinion always very interesting, and there exist a lot of
bands biographies demonstrating this. When we make our music we have
normally have a good creative process, with the certain amount of
friction and conflicts needed to really improve the ideas and
structures of our songs. The magic of our music happens in the zone
where we disagree and keep on improving each other’s ideas, and
fortunately the dynamic of this process have remained the same even
after the long break we had.
IVM: What
was the catalyst for bringing back the band?
Per: At a
certain time in 2009 the band just lost all of its momentum, and
everything just stopped. I actually think that all of our equipment
were stacked away for quite some time due to moving, construction
works in the homes of all of us, and maybe a lot of other reasons.
Then things started to return to normal, but at that time everything
had been left hanging for so long that it actually felt like the band
had stopped existing. We actually got together in the end of 2011 to
take the decision to end the band, but instead we came up with the
idea to make one more song as sort of a gratitude to the fans who had
supported us. The composing and production of new material on the
other hand went very well, and it didn’t take long to realize that
Pride and Fall as a band was not dead after all. The main catalyst
though, was that we really had a good time when we starting producing
new music, and I think we all agree that making music is something
that we have to do.
IVM: Did
the period of time between albums lead you to second guess whether
the time was right for a new album, or if your fanbase was still
going to be there?
Sigve: The
period of time since our third album and the period of time since our
last gig (which was 2009) was of course major concerns during all of
this process. In addition, at the time we started up again, we were
quite out of date in relation to what was going on in the whole
electro-scene. Nor did we have any clue whether to expect any fans to
be out there waiting for us. We were therefore very happy to see that
there has been both a lot of attention to the new album, and also
that we have reconnected to old friends that we haven’t talked to
in years.
IVM:
Initially Pride And Fall were tagged by the media as “Futurepop”.
How do you feel about that and what are your thoughts on the
futurepop genre today?
Per: I
guess that it is important to put a tag on a band, and Pride and Fall
has certainly always had some of the futurepop-spirit at least.
Still, we have a lot of different influences than futurepop, and our
influences ranges from synth to metal of various sorts. Our goal has
always been to make dark and mellow music, but at the same time we
enjoy the beats and the feel that the Futurepop genre are so well
known for. It doesn’t really matter so much for us what Pride and
Fall are tagged with, but as far as the Futurepop-scene concerns it
seems like there is a lot of the “old” bands in the scene that
are releasing new material in 2013. Our impression is that most of
the scene has been a little quiet for some time, and hopefully this
will have a positive effect on the interest for this kind of electro
music. At the same time, we also recognize that there will always be
a need for new bands and development within a music scene, and as we
played Infest we got the chance to catch at least two promising new
acts that definitely will add something new to this scene.
IVM: How
did the writing process work on the new album. Were the songs a
gradual accumulation or did you write them at once?
Per: We
started out with the idea of making one song, and then a lot of good
ideas came up. The first song we started with was actually never
finished, because it didn’t have the qualities we aimed for. When
we started up again, we also went back and found some old ideas in
the 'In my time of dying' catalogue that passed our quality control,
and an example of a song that were pre-written already in 2008 but
were finished for the new album is 'The Void'. When we make an album,
we work continuously with all the songs and keep adding new ideas and
new songs until we are happy with the result. During the production
of 'Of Lust and Desire' we also tried out something we have never
done before, we brought the whole studio out to a cabin far out in
the woods and spent the weekend focusing intensely on writing, mixing
and of course drinking some good ale, something that turned out to be
a very good combination.
IVM: You
returned to the UK at Infest Festival last month, how was that for
you as a band?
Svein:
This was the first gig since 2009, and we really looked forward to do
this show at the same time it felt a little scary. I don’t think we
quite knew what response we could expect, but we planned a set that
included new and old and upbeat and slow tracks. We also spent a lot
of time preparing visual imaging for some of the songs, and we added
a digital backdrop and changed the whole setup for the playback and
the guitar sound, and it was therefore very exciting to see how that
came out. We also added some instrumental details, including me
playing the violin bow on the guitar. We did actually spent a lot of
time in the rehearsal room before this gig, and that is of course a
good thing for a band. The venue in Bradford was great, including the
sound and lightening. The crowd in Infest were great, and as the
first gig in many years, I think it worked out quite well.
IVM: How
were the new songs in the set list received by the audience?
Sigve:
Playing new songs that are not yet released could very easily turn
out a bit boring I dare say. There might be some people in an
audience who appreciate new songs, but I think that most people come
to a concert to hear the songs they know. We included two of the calm
songs in the set, 'Sculptor Of Lust And Desire' as an intro and
'Epilogue' as a slow mid part. We brought these songs in because we
wanted to break up the set a little from the continuous beats that
characterize many of our songs, and we hope that people appreciate
that. In addition we played one of the more upbeat songs, namely
'Hollow', and from what I have heard people really enjoyed that. A
remix of this song from SITD has in fact just been released, and we
encourage everyone to check this out!
IVM:
You've previously released a music video for 'The Violence In Me'
from 2007's 'In My Time Of Dying'. Can we expect another video in
support of 'Of Lust And Desire'?
Per:
Funny you ask about that, because we just started a discussion
concerning this yesterday. We would like to make a video, and we have
some ideas about which song and how to do it. The only challenge is
to find the right people for the job, but we are working with that
right now. The video for 'The Violence In Me' was made on a really
tight time schedule and even tighter budget, but we were quite
pleased with both the result and the many cool details in it. We hope
to bring more news about this as soon as possible.
IVM:
Finally, what are your plans for the rest of 2013 going into 2014?
Svein:
We are currently working with some remixes
of our own material, and we hope to put out some club-versions as
soon as possible. In addition we continue the production of new
material for what would hopefully be another album. We are also
working put together some more live shows or a tour to present the
new album for people, but things have been really busy so these
things are not settled unfortunately. Then finally, we would really
like to play some festivals the next summer. Updates will be posted
on the Pride and Fall page on facebook, check it out!
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