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Satyrian are one
of a new breed of Goth bands
leading the way for a major resurgence around the globe. With the
release of their limited edition digi-pack EP 'The Dark Gift' this month,
we catch up with guitarist Jan Yrlund to find out more.
MM - Hi
Jan,
firstly thanks for taking the time out of
what I'm sure is a busy
schedule to take part in this interview.
Jan -
No problem, it's a pleasure and there is
always time for an interview or a nice chat.
MM - Who had the initial idea
of remixing the tracks for the new release 'The Dark Gift'?
Jan -
It was basically my idea. I thought
that the song 'The Dark Gift' would be a nice one to make some remixes
from. This is also become kind of a tradition since after the previous album
'Eva' (though back then under our old moniker) we also released a MCD
containing some remixes. Furthermore, though I'm a metal head I
really enjoy listening to other genres as well and I'm am sure our
listeners will be as open minded. And as last, I've been active in
the Gothic club scene in Amsterdam for many years and really liked that
stuff that our DJ's were playing. The remix of 'No Tears, No Embrace'
I dedicated to our own Goth club "The Cave Of Satyr", which I
ran for some seven years in Amsterdam together with our bass player Milos
and some other friends. Unfortunately we had to close down a few
years back, but it sure was a very nice time we had there ...
So basically
I also sometimes make this kind of music in my small studio. On all
of our albums there are some danceable songs, though mostly disguised under
heavy guitars. On this release we just mixed those guitars a bit less
and added more electro and industrial touches to the songs. Though
said that I think Roman's 'Invistuc' might actually even be a heavier song
now than on the album ...
MM - How did you come to hook
up with TmV?
Jan -
I've known Timo (TimV) for a long time
already and he's from the same city of Tampere in Finland as I am. In
fact he played in the band Two witches after I left for the Netherlands and
couldn't therefore continue with the band. So we share a lot of
common friends too. With TimV and Jyrki Witch we have a project
together called 'SinMasters'. Basically we make a king of
fetish/dance/metal crossover with SM/fetish style lyrics. We've
played a couple of MCDs and are busy with the full length album now. TimV has his
own studio where we work and I really like his style so I asked him to make
two remixes for “The Dark Gift” and gladly he agreed. I’ve work with him
for remixes before and I knew what we would get, so it was a natural choice
to pick him up for this. Next to making remixes he also has his own one man
electro project called “ShadeFactory” and he owns a label called Actcom.
MM -
Of all the tracks off 'Eternitas' how did you decide which tracks lent
themselves more to the remix treatment than others?
Jan
-
With some tracks like
'The Dark Gift' and 'Invictus' it was quite obvious since these songs have
a steady constant beat on the album versions already. But some other
songs were not that obvious at all. In fact I like the remixes the
most when they completely change the character of the song and become
actually kind of “new songs” on their own. A good example of this is
the song 'Eternitas' of TimV. I had no clue how to do anything with
this because of the progressive character of the song. But TimV
turned things around, simplified the song to the essentials, made different
rhythms and beats to it and in the end it sounds very conclusive.
Also the Roman version of 'Invictus' is like a completely new song, except
for the chorus parts. As for the other songs I really wanted to do 'Ewigkeit',
because I like the album version so much. On the album it felt a bit
short, so I added a steady slow beat to it and made it much longer.
'Fall From Grace' then again was very challenging to make since it is
originally very fast and metal-like song. So I was a long time busy
with it to get it in the right shape. I tried to keep the same
grooving and pushing forward feel to it.
With 'No Tears, No Embrace' I
tried to create a kind of haunting and mystical atmosphere, not really
heavy or anything, more easy and poppy approach I guess.
There
might still have been maybe one or two other songs on the album which
could have been given a complete makeover, but I think this was already
quite enough.
MM -
Of the three tracks you remixed, what was
your favourite and why?
Jan
-
I think
'No Tears, No Embrace' is my favourite. That one I did first.
I really like the voice of Judith on this one and the song has a very nice
atmosphere with the wood instruments playing on the background. The
song is in the same time very open and wide so you don’t actually even
notice the dance-beat so much. It’s like a kind of punching train
rhythmically, but the singing and the instruments are very dreamy on the
top, so that creates a very special feeling to my taste. It’s like
two opposites combined.
MM -
You have been quoted as saying that this
new release is an add on to 'Eternitas', did you ever consider the thought
of releasing both as one special edition digi pack or even a limited
addition double cd?
Jan -
Maybe one day we will if there comes
another reprinted version of the album, but this time I felt like that
these versions would not have fitted together with the album versions –
they are quite different in the end. Also we didn’t have these ready
a half a year ago, so these are made specially for this release. We
have still a couple of alternative mixes of the album songs we might
release somehow. I call it an “add on” to the album, because I
believe that these will be interesting to hear for the people who know the
album versions already. At the same time this release is meant for
club and airplay, so I think that in this way these wouldn’t have fitted
to the album as such, maybe rather indeed as an extra CD next to it.
MM -
The three versions of the title track
'The Dark Gift' are all completely different, do you have a personal
favourite?
Jan -
Yes it is amazing
how the song completely changes only by changing the order of the parts,
the rhythm and some sounds. I find that very fascinating. That
is also the reason for asking two guys doing their own versions of the
same song. They never heard the other versions while making these,
so it is really cool to notice how different the remixes became. I
like both of them. I like TimV’s version because he added a lot of
new melodies to the song and made the parts of Kemi really simple: only
bass, bass drum and this haunting melody on the background. You can
hardly get any more simple than that, but it really works and sounds cool.
The version of Roman I like a lot too, it has a steady beat going and is
in this way perhaps more suitable for club playing. He also built it
up really cool, the chorus gets heavier and that is really nicely done.
MM -
It's been some six months since the
release of 'Eternatis', how has the album been received with both your
fans and the media as a whole?
Jan
-
We are
very happy with the response. The reviews actually were more
rewarding that we would have expected. So that is very nice to
notice. Also we get a lot of mail, especially from the USA and that is
something new too. I really can’ t complain. It took a long
time to make and release the album so it feels very good that people seem
to appreciate our hard work.
MM - Do you think these
new versions of the songs will go down well with your fans?
Jan -
Ha ha, that is a very good question.
Honestly, I have no clue. Probably some people will hate these since
they are not metal at all, but hopefully some open minded fans will like
them and take them as a nice alternative or at least as an interesting
experiment. And of course we also hope to find some new listeners,
who maybe wouldn’t like the album versions so much. Actually we are
kind of crossing musical borders here and I think it’s great that we have
the chance to do it. I wouldn’t mind doing acoustic or complete
orchestral versions either. So I really like it when you don’ t have
to limit yourself to certain categories or expectations. You could
hear that already on the album, where we have a lot of different
atmospheres from folk to gothic metal there. Now we took these
experiments a step further, but we are not turning into a dance-act or
anything, no worries about that!
MM -
Do you think that this new release
will bring the band a wider audience and perhaps bring with it a whole new
fan base?
Jan -
I hope we would get
some club play and perhaps some new listeners from that scene, but it’s
not like any calculated goal or anything. We just felt like making
alternatives and see how the songs would become when giving them an
alternative spin. It’s like a musical experiment in that way, and
definitely made from the musicians point of view. It’s nice to experiment
with sounds and mixes and luckily we can do that with Satyrian.
MM - What does the future hold
for Satyrian? Are there any planned live dates or are you working on
the new album?
Jan
-
Yes, I’m
currently busy writing new songs and we have already quite a few ready.
I think Satyrian will take more a shape of a project next time and perhaps
we will invite some interesting guests for the recordings. It’s all
still a little bit in a planning state, but there are already plenty of
ideas. I also hope that the other members will contribute some song
material. Anyway, we are busy with writing and preparations…
MM - What for you has been the
highlight of 2006 so far and what do you have planned for 2007?
Jan
-
I think
the release itself was the highlight for us since we had waited for it for
quite a long time. And as for 2007, I’m already looking forward
getting back to the studio and to start recording again.
MM -
Finally do you have any messages for all
your fans out there?
Jan -
I hope people will enjoy 'Eternitas'
and 'The Dark Gift' as much as we enjoyed making them. Hopefully
we’ll see you on the road one day, cheers and thanks for the support!
MM - We'd like to thank Jan for
taking the time out of his very busy schedule to talk to us today and wish him
and the rest of the band every success with the new release.
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