METAL GOAT: May 2013

Editorial: Metallica's Music Management 101

How fitting; Metallica celebrates their 30^th Anniversary in 2011! With that mentioned, 4 Days of pure epic history takes place at the Fillmore as I type! Metallica reaps the souls of their fans, again, as they play at a special Anniversary gig in San Francisco, CA.

Enter Night, Metallica’s biography has to be one of my top shelf reads; not only because it’s about one of the most loved [or reviled after the release of Lulu] metal bands around the Globe but because it’s exceptionally written by renowned writer Mick Wall.

After having read the book thrice, I noticed some great music management tips streaming out of the dialogues between Mick Wall and the members of Metallica; namely Lars Ulrich. Here are my top 7 music management tips extracted from Enter Night:

ª “Lars immediately struck me as being completely different. Unlike most drummers he was articulate and it was clear he and James had a long-term vision for the band. They were not going to be here today then serving pizza tomorrow. Lars had a vision of the band being big.” – Malcolm Dome

Management Lesson: Having short-term and long-term goals are a MUST for any band. As Paul Allen mentions in his book Artist Manager, “Generating specific goals takes out the ‘pipe dream’ aspect of goal setting and creates accountability for both artist and manager.” Lars had a vision and a strategy which was strong and clear.

ª “For Lars Ulrich, though, it wasn’t about ditching Jonny and Marsha [Zazula]. They had ‘always been good people’. But ‘if we were to go next-level’ they would have to take drastic steps, as they had previously with Ron [McGovney] and with Dave [Mustaine], and as they would again in the future when it came to others in their rapidly expanding organisation.” – Mick Wall [narrative]

Management Lesson: Artists need to mature and expand continuously. Unfortunately, that means having to leave people behind, sometimes. In order to avoid a nasty split between manager and artist; ALWAYS draft a contract, furthermore plan an exit strategy which will remove personal matters from professional concerns. This was definitely not practiced by Metallica’s former manager or members – evident with Mustaine.

ª “It’s always helpful if you’ve got one guy in the band who has his business head screwed on. So many bands haven’t a clue. Metallica always kind of knew where they wanted to go. They had one guy who was great doing the interviews and the business. It left the others time to take care of the music.” – Martine Hooker

Management Lesson: It must be understood that the Artist is the business but to have an understanding of the business is crucial. Lars could not match Cliff Burnstein or Peter Mensch with business savvy but he attained such knowledge of: a) good communication b) brand management c) marketing d) salesmanship e) awareness of music trends

ª “Metallica found their own Derek Riggs in one of James’ skateboard pals: Pushead. Mainly, Pushead was to concentrate on designs throughout every leg of the tour. So cool was Metallica’s Pushead-designed merchandise considered, that he quickly became designer of choice for other bands; Mötley Crüe and Aerosmith.” – Mick Wall [narrative]

Management Lesson: Merchandise selling is a great potential income bracket for Artists. However, there is a line to draw between meagre merch and classy merch as this makes a crucial statement about the branding an image of the Artist. Learning from Iron Maiden’s imminent use of Eddie, Metallica found a way to brand their merch using quality designs that match with their target audiences’ taste. Furthermore it was easy to spot the person who likes the same ‘type’ of music as you do.

ª “Practising on an average between four and six hours a day, every day, even after joining Metallica, Cliff’s musical philosophy was explained by Jan [Burton] as, “ There’s somebody in their garage that hasn’t been discovered that’s better than you are.” [Mick Wall narrative with Jan Burton]

Management Lesson: Artists need to remember that at the end of the day; their exploiting their talents for money. If they want to make good money – they need to make sure their talents are on par. That cliché: Practice makes perfect worked for Cliff [R.I.P]!

ª “[Dave] Thorne cites this readiness to always meet the media halfway as one of the major contributing factors in Metallica’s later popularity with such temperamentally metal-hostile magazines...up to the present day and their current elevated status among the broadsheet newspapers.” – Mick Wall [narrative with Dave Thorne]

Management Lesson: The media makes-up the largest portion for an Artist’s advertising. The media also has the power to discriminate, excite, destroy and credit! Learning to interact with other people can be of intrinsic value. Lars, the mouth-piece of Metallica, knew how to interact with the media with his good “human relations” character.

ª “I was the one who went out and bought all the tapes. I was the one who sat down and copied them. I was the one who sent them out to people. That’s where it started. Somebody had to do it.” – Lars Ulrich

Management Lesson: Lars boasted the above in a Rolling Stones interview; so maybe he exaggerated as there was indication of help but the essence remains. “Somebody” has to do the grimy work and be ever so resourceful otherwise chances of going anywhere are slimmer than an anorexic on a diet. After all, successful actions will be rewarded.

Published on Air Guitar Blog

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Editorial: What Dr. Phil taught me about the music industry

Ok, so I admit it, I watch crappy television shows – even more so out of sheer boredom! However, South Africa is known for the trashy import of day-time American talk shows. It’s really entertaining especially Jerry Springer if you have nothing better to do on a Tuesday night, that is.

So, this brings me to a point of interest – What Dr. Phil taught me about the Music Industry! (Bite me but this is really good!)

Who the f*ck is Dr. Phil? He is a bald and tall man who tells rough edged humans to – “Get real about their lives” – In a no-nonsense manner! That is all you need to know.

Dr. Phil: You either get it or you don't

It's easy to tell these people apart. Those who "get it" understand how things work and have a strategy to create the results they want. Those who don't are stumbling along looking puzzled, and can be found complaining that they never seem to get a break.

The Music Industry:

The Music Industry is not forgiving. Every band needs to know what they are doing and why they are doing it and how they want to play within the fields of the industry.

Dr. Phil: Life rewards action.

Decide that you are worth the risk of taking action, and that your dreams are not to be sold out. Know that putting yourself at risk may be scary, but it will be worth it. You must leave behind the comfortable and familiar if you are to move onward and upward.

The Music Industry:

Following the idea that every band knows what, why and how they are operating in the music scene then it’s time to go into action. Nobody got famous for only playing garage shows. So get out there into the scene!

Dr. Phil: You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.

Acknowledgment means slapping yourself in the face with the brutal reality, admitting that you are getting payoffs for what you are doing, and giving yourself a no-kidding, bottom-line truthful confrontation.

The Music Industry:

Change is constant in the Music Industry and bands need change too! (This would be a great time to mention Lulu by Metallica) What is holding the band back? Listen to the critics!

Dr. Phil: We teach people how to treat us.

You either teach people to treat you with dignity and respect, or you don't. This means you are partly responsible for the mistreatment that you get at the hands of someone else.

The Music Industry:

Face it – a band’s fan base will be and always shall be the greatest asset! If you treat potential and existing fans like shit – don’t expect any releases to be sold. Simple.

Conclusion: Dr. Phil's "Life Laws" just got applied to the Music Industry! Plus, they actually make sense - to me at least. What are your thoughts, reader?

First published on Air Guitar Blog and re-published on MusicReview's website (South Africa)

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Conversations with Sólstafir

SÓLSTAFIR rose from the darkest and coldest depths of the Northern Lights and make their way to the forefront of many epic bands. Their sounds are immaculate like the soundtrack of an unfolding movie or as Dani Couture states, “this album feels like the soundtrack of a movie that was never made.”

Earlier this year, a twist in the myth allowed for Sólstafir to sign with a new record label and the result was Svartir Sandar. The double release is impeccably breath-taking and it serves as a slight contrast to their prior releases. Nonetheless, the Svartir Sandar album resurrects Sólstafir as a mature band that is not afraid to show their hard work, ardour and priceless love for music.

Air Guitar has been fortunate to converse with Sólstafir’s, Gummi as he tells about how record labels are not all glitter and sparkle, what is happening in the Icelandic Metal music scene and that their music is not Viking Metal!

Sólstafir has been a very busy and successful band since the humble beginnings in 1995. How has each band member progressed since then; in terms of character and musician?

We’re all going slowly insane!

Our lives have of course changed a lot since 1995. We were 16 when we formed the band and now we are in our 30’s. Two of us already have kids, which is life changing. We’ve gone through schools, different shitty jobs, lived in other countries etc...

Congratulations to Sólstafir for signing with Seasons of Mist (SOM); after being pushed against a brick wall from the previous labels. How did the band get signed to Seasons of Mist and how has it been working with them?

We asked to be released from the contract we had with Spine Farm because they totally ignored us despite all the good reviews we were getting. For instance, we started off out tour to support Köld in Helsinki (Spinefarm’s home base) and we had told them many months in advance that we would pick up copies of the album there to sell on the tour. When we came there they had only 50 copies, which sold out on the first 3 dates on a more than 30 date tour! At first they did not want to let us go, even if they had no interest in doing anything for us, and we certainly weren’t making any money for them since people couldn’t buy our albums anyway as they were nowhere available. But then they changed the label boss, and now it is run by a guy we know, and he’s a very cool guy and he agreed on letting us go, even though he wanted to try and fix up our relationship and give us a better deal. But for us it was just too late and we were already talking to a few labels, including SOM. But I’m sure he’s the right person to restore that label to its former glory AND they were the only label willing to sign us back in 2005!

Like I said we were negotiating with a few labels, but SOM offered the best deal by far. And even if they were probably the smallest label we were talking to they are always on the rise and just seemed like a perfect home for us.

With SOM things are totally different. We have had more communications with them now then we ever had with Spinefarm. And they are doing some promotion for us too, something that Spinefarm just didn’t do.

Svartir Sandar out on Season of Mist
Cover painting by Kim Holm

In October 2011, the band released Svartir Sandar. How would the Band like to describe Svartir Sandar especially to a non-Icelandic speaking audience and how does the new release differ from the previous Sólstafir releases?

I guess you could describe it as something like epic rock’n’roll. Some like to call it Post Metal. We don’t really care what people call us, as long as they don’t call us fucking Viking Metal! [Lav: We would not dare!]

I don’t think Svartir Sandar is much different from Masterpiece of Bitterness and Köld. It’s kind of like a blend of those two. But we have of course kept on developing our music. We’ve never really written the same album or the same song twice.

In my opinion Svartir Sandar sounds marvellous with a dark underbelly – just as Dani Couture explained, “this album feels like the soundtrack of a movie that was never made.” That says a lot about the quality of Sólstafir’s work. What are the Band’s thoughts on this?

I really think that’s a big compliment. If our music inspires people to close their wyes and imagine some scenes from a movie never made, it means our music is really moving the soul.

Sólstafir will be playing at Inferno Festival, Pagan Festival and completing a Finnish tour in 2012! What are the Band’s expectations for the upcoming festival? What should the fans expect for the festivals?

We’ll also be playing at Roadburn, which will be awesome! We’ll do a two hour set there! Finland and Germany are always like a second home for us, and we can’t wait to go back there. We’re super excited to be touring with our good friend Mat and his new band Hexvessel in Finland!

However, Sólstafir has played around Europe many times before; can you tell me what the highlights for Sólstafir have been so far? Are there any favourite gigs that stand out?

I guess that would be Roskilde Festival. We got a 70 min playing time, at around 8 in the evening, prime time! The tent we played in was packed and it was one our best shows ever!

But we’ve had good gigs all over and met so many wonderful people and toured with people that will for ever after be our friends.

Photo by Ágúst Atlason

On that note, have there been any low lights for Sólstafir, so far? Are there any particular memories that should be forgotten?

The lows have been the years of countless struggle when it seems like no one gives a shit and we’re always on the verge of financial and mental bankruptcy. But somehow we have always pulled through and walked our own way, against the current.

What is Sólstafir’s take on the Icelandic Metal music scene? Is there a limited scene or is it the Artist who creates the scene? How does this affect the Band?

Today we have an okay metal scene, with some bands making waves in the international scene, such as Atrum (Black/Death), Beneath (Technical Death), Skálmöld (Viking Metal), Angist (Black/Death), Momentum (Psychedelic Post Metal), Brain Police (Stoner), Gone Postal (Blackened Death), Svartidauði (Black) and Potentiam (Post Black). All those bands can be found on our Facebook site.

But it hasn’t always been like that. We had a big death metal scene in the early 90’s but when we formed there was only one other metal band active in Iceland, Forgarður Helvítis.

Do you have any last words?

Thank you for the support Lav!

[Lav: Thank you!]

Sólstafir can be found at Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Reverbnation , Seasons Of Mist and the Official Sólstafir

Published on Air Guitar Blog

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Editorial: How To Get Signed

As some of the readers may or may not know; I used to be involved in Band management. Heck, what a job! I will spare the details of my band management experiences but I do think that the one common phrase in all bands (and particularly in mine) is the “cannot wait to get signed” part.

“So, the Artist and Repertoire (A&R) at Roadrunner threw your demo in the bin. Shame. There are more labels out there than you think. If you have not sent a demo to 70 different labels than you are in the wrong industry.”

True story; there are more labels out there than anyone thinks and it is necessary to actually take the time to craft a demo and send it to at least 70 different labels. That aside, it is important to know what an A&R requires in order to surpass a demo. Listed are below are some tips and hints. Please take note that I am not a professional and that any band should consider further research before taking action.

An A&R scout has the daily task of ‘scouting’ for new talent and new trends in the music business. A part of their day consists of looking through trade magazines, websites and blogs for information about emerging bands. HINT: Blogs are one of the most useful things as they are the rawest source of information - you get it earliest and then it's up to the A&R to filter what's good and what's not.

The A&R person has to know what works for a label and what doesn't. Again, the independent labels will focus on different musicians as opposed to the major labels. HINT: Make sure that the band’s demo is sent to the right type of label. Be absolutely specific. Look at the registry of artists on different labels and decide the closest fit for the band submitting the demo.

Once a band has found the label with a perfect fit; it is time to send a demo. Include all relevant contact details with the demo and include a press kit. For information on how to create a basic press kit look at Air Guitar’s prior post. HINT: It is a good idea to find a contact name to address your demo mail to otherwise it is likely not to get opened. You will always find an A&R contact in an artist's album sleeve that has a similar style to your band.

A demo alone is never good enough. Getting out of the recording place and playing live is the most important part of any music career. HINT: Depending on the style of music there are different ways of getting spotted; bands tend to be discovered at gigs whereas more extreme acts tend to make their name on the underground scene and virally through sites like YouTube.

Truth is not all bands get signed; but the strong bands know that things just don’t happen until they make it happen.

“Your career has to be a journey, it can’t be a plateau. If you have those moments – you have somewhere to come back from, something to react against.” ~ Dante Bonnuto (Universal Records Executive)

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Editorial: 25 Reasons Why Your Band Sucks

As long as people want music and see it as something of inherent value, the industry as well as the band will continue to exist. However, Bands get it wrong from the word “go”. Like in anything; the foundation determines the outcome.

So where is your Band getting it wrong? Let me break it down in 25 reasons!

1. There should be an internal band agreement between ALL band members regardless of the relationship. If things go sour, each member must be able to stand their ground. Full stop.

2. Internal agreements can contain various clauses but the most recommended ones include; ownership of band name, ownership and control of copyrights, division of the bands assets and income, responsibility of each member in the band, consequences and negotiations of a band member quitting.

3. Research your band’s name. Do you want to spend a decade on creating amazing shit for 3 bands with the same name in another country? I didn’t think so.

4. Trademark is the asset of assets to a band. Consider legal trademark status for merchandise purposes. This makes 50% of your income.

5. Another word on trademark is the protection of a domain name. It is professional, classy and makes any band look more established than they really are.

6. If you want to be professional – hire an artist/band manager. A manager is the grape of the wine. Enough said.

7. Finding a band manager is no pie. Let me express the difference between a good manager and an effective manager. A good manager can promote, plan, manage the team around the band, and develop sales and products. An effective manager believes in the band. An effective manager has short-term and long-term goals for a band. An effective manager employs artistic manipulation of people on behalf of the band.

8. Do the band and the possible manager need separate contracts? Absolutely. Employ separate attorneys where possible.

9. Last word on a band manager: the there must be a high level of trust between band and manager.

10. So, the Artist and Repertoire (A&R) at Roadrunner threw your demo in the bin. Shame. There are more labels out there than you think. If you have not sent a demo to 70 different labels than you are in the wrong industry.

11. Facebook and twitter are not the only social media. Remember MySpace and Youtube? How about college radio stations? Underground webzines? Even traditional local print? There are people looking for music news every day. That is 365 days of public attention per year.

12. Besides being able to network on the World Wide Web –its time to get out of the jam room and into the live music scene. 1 gig is worth 10 rehearsals.

13. And nothing beats a full house and real fans as opposed to 3000 “Likes” on Facebook.

14. A band will need to explore funding opportunities continuously. Get ready to beg, borrow, steal and recycle until the band obtains the money needed to get a kick up and about. How a band does it – that’s up to them. Just remember that there are a number of humble tarts out there willing to place money on something inherently valuable. So make sure your band is the hot shit!

15. Press kit please? A press kit contains the band’s essentials. These include:

a) Band Biography: These explain the Who? What? Where? When? of the band. It observes a brief history of the band.

b) Band Press releases and press clippings: The idea is to grab the attention of the reader as they read about the band written from another source.

c) Band Photographs: A visual stimuli is of utmost importance. A picture is 1000 words. A Cliché that runs blood true.

d) Band Gig List: Where has the band been jamming?

e) Demo CD with corresponding song list: Give the listener an ear orgasm of 3-4 of the bands best songs. Cannot decide which track? It should be the track that seizes the listener in 15 seconds or less.

f) Band Website/s: An internet presence is highly reputable.

g) Band Contact information: How can we get hold of you?

16. Note that the Press Kit needs to be in KISS format. In other words Keep It Simple, Stupid!

17. At number 12, I mentioned 1 gig is worth 10 rehearsals. Let me delve into performing. Performing is an art and the band is the artist. The artist needs to sell, sell, sell!

18. At sound check DO NOT work on band music rather work on sound.

19. At sound check DO NOT play your best licks in an idle moment.

20. If you change instruments a lot – sound check those songs

21. If there are a number of detailed changes, please write it down and hand a copy to the sound engineer. It should be common courtesy.

22. A band that has done 3 really awesome gigs cannot demand the attention of the industry gatekeepers. Here is the thing: If you went to play football with your friends and scored several times – you won’t be calling Manchester United!

23. With the above in mind, it is safe to say that at least 50 gigs get accumulated interest from the industry.

24. General musician etiquette both on-stage and off-stage is a must. Without that any band can kiss their dreams goodbye. Here is a quick run through of the P’s and Q’s:

a) Be punctual to the venue.

b) Be aware of the other bands on the billing and DO NOT badmouth them. Nobody likes a band who thinks their super high on their self esteem.

c) Be prepared for the gig; going beforehand to check the venue is an ideal. Know what the stage looks like and adjust your band accordingly.

d) Never play past your time.

e) Remember fans go to shows to see their favourite band. Make a point of meeting those who support your band. DO NOT sit in VIP the entire night swigging beer – go mingle and swig beer with the band supporters.

25. Lastly, your band sucks because you don’t have a back–up plan! The golden rule to any band is to ALWAYS have a back-up plan!

Published on Air Guitar Blog

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Feature on Sunrise

What started out as a band project between vocalist Konstantin Naumenko and guitarist Vitaliy Petrichenko turned out to be a zealous, die-hard and powerful band. They are from the Ukraine and their called Sunrise.

“Our country doesn’t have the infrastructure and metal culture as a whole. All our show-businesses are looping on trivial pop-music. We don’t have metal TV channels, and there’s only one radio station on which you can hear metal music,” explains Naumenko.

However, Sunrise has moved from the slow growth of Metal music to produce some fine compositions taking influence from their favourite Artists.

“The influences have been changing and still are through the time. On every album you can hear some new elements. The main influences come from bands like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica [as well as] from bands of other styles - For My Pain and Entwine,” adds Naumenko.

Listening to Sunrise music creates a very refreshing speed filled and closet thrash sound. Absolutely mind-blowing!

Naumenko informs “we have released two full-length albums and two singles. Every album shows a new step in the development and formation of our band. The first album, called Liberty, was published by Russian record label Metalism Records in 2007. It was our first big experience in songwriting and recording of our songs. It was hard because then we were the beginners and we hadn’t enough experience. But we had enthusiasm and aspiration, that’s why this album had been recorded. A big thanks to Slavik Malinin, the sound-engineer, for making that work! Then we took a thorough approach to record the second album, called Trust Your Soul. It was released in 2010 by Italian recording label EMMECIESSE /HEART OF STEEL RECORDS. By then we had vastly grown as musicians and composers. Due to labour and diligence of remarkable sound-engineers Alexey Shaddar and Max Morton this album managed to be embodied. It was very pleasant to work with these guys!”

Every band knows that the best way to sell their music is to perform live gigs at every opportunity. Sunrise has taken to task and is expected to play at the largest festival in the Ukraine; Global East Open Air 2011.

“Yes, we are expecting a great deal from this show! And we are preparing very seriously, since we want to show that Ukrainian bands can play better than foreign stars! And of course it’s a big honor for us to play with metal monsters, at the same festival!”

However, it must be noted that the line-up of band members have changed over the past months as Naumenko includes, “There is no tragedy that our ways have dispersed. Everybody needs to move and develop, even in his own direction. The contribution of these people is certainly invaluable – our band has existed then and, as consequence, exists now due to them. Now I’m very glad to work with new musicians, Ruslan Vakulyuk (bass-guitar) and Alexey Shekhovtsov (solo-guitar). These guys are very talented and due to them you will hear the new level of our sound soon.”

So what is Sunrise currently working on now? Naumenko enlightens that the band are actively writing and recording the new songs. Sunrise is planning to record the new album in autumn which have a draft of ten new tracks.

Honestly, I cannot wait for the prowess of Sunrise and neither should you! Go visit the band’s official website at:

http://sunriseband.net/

http://www.myspace.com/sunrisekiev/

http://vkontakte.ru/club1715085/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53336388135&ref=mf/

I end off with Konstantin Naumenko’s last words: Don’t forget about the simple human values! Let’s make this world better!

Published on Air Guitar Blog

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Conversation with Troll Bends Fir

Move over Korpiklaani, there is a new Beer Metal Band from out of Town. Enter, Troll Bends Fir (Troll Gnet El) from Russia. This awesome Band is able to entwine Metal with a Folk approach which easily awakens the Beer Dancer in any listener! The music is catchy, invigorating and growing a large fan base across all social networks. My suggestion is Troll Bends Fir is best served loud with a six pack to friends!

Air Guitar recently did an E-mail interview with Troll Bends Fir:

1) If Troll Bends Fir had to create an Alcoholic Beverage; what would your ingredients be?

Never thought of it before, but it may be beer with a coniferous taste…

2) Troll Bends Fir has been a very hard-working band, long before the name change from Russian to English. How did this reflect in your work?

Actually, nothing has changed for Russia; we still use our Russian name here. However when we decided heading to Europe, we realised that it doesn’t sound cool written with Latin letters so we just translated it into English. Besides I think English name is easier for non-Russian speakers to remember.

3) Troll Bends Fir have played over 300 festivals as well as sharing the stage with other famous Metal bands. What were the highlights and low-lights of the European Festivals that you have played at? Which are the favourite?

Well, we’ve already played over 400 shows but mostly they were solo gigs and festivals in Russia. As I said before, we are at the beginning of conquering Europe and we’re satisfied with all gigs we had there.

4) Troll Bends Fir is going to play at the Seven Festival in Poland and MJR in Lithuania and Germany’s big Medieval Festival. What are your expectations for the upcoming festival? What should the fans expect on this festival?

We’re very glad to have an opportunity to play for a big amount of new people and in new places. It may sound too self-confidently but we know how people react to our music, so I hope that everything would go as always – from the second song at the latest the audience would dance and enjoy themselves.

5) Troll Bends Fir are compared to bands like Korpiklaani because the songs are folk/beer metal. How does this make you feel?

Have you ever tried to count the number of performers who sing about love? So are they all similar? We founded our band in 1999, started to play gigs in 2001 and even then we called our style “beer folk”, the main themes of our lyrics were also beer and alcohol parties. That’s why I don’t have any negative emotions when we’re compared to someone else. Moreover, it’s inevitable to be compared to the more famous band but I don’t care.

6) The Hoplnir EP is awesome! Can we expect an album soon?

We’re planning to release a full-length album in this September under a name “Brothers In Drinks”. It will consist of remastered EP “Hoplnir”, remastered EP “Octoberfest” and a bonus track – mutual song with Jonne Jarvela (Korpiklaani) “Humppa Is My Neighbour”, which is, as I believe, going to be a real blast haha).

7) What is Troll bends Fir take on the Russian Metal music scene? How has it progressed over the years and how significant is it towards Troll Bends Fir success?

It’s hard to say how Russian metal scene affected us because when all of us were teenagers we certainly listened to Russian metal music but much more to foreign music. After all those 12 years our band has existed, we became here in Russia a kind of classic band of the style and there’re young bands influenced by our music.

Talking about Russian metal scene, I can say that it was secluded till the recent time and people outside Russia could judge it only by few recordings and rare shows of few bands invited to festivals to bring some “exotic” sound. Fortunately, the situation is changing nowadays and we feel increasing interest to Russian bands, to which contributed such bands as Arkona.

8) Troll bends Fir sings primarily in Russian yet the Band is well received by the non-Russian speaking people. Did Troll Bends Fir expect that?

To be honest, we never thought about that, maybe it’s just a contemporary fashion for bands singing in their native language, because it’s a well-known thing that when you use your mother language you can put more emotions into your music.