NOMAD SON
Hell Spawn » Interviews » NOMAD SON
It's evident if a band releases a great album you want to get all the inside information about it. Maltese Nomad Son scores for the second time with their new masterpiece "The eternal review", so the questions popped out spontaneously. Bass player Albert Bell acted as spokesman.
Hey guys, great to see you back so soon. I wasn't expecting it because it seems it has been quite busy times, Forsaken released "After the fall" last year, Frenzy Mono just brought out "O.B.E." and now a new Nomad Son album as well. You kept going while you were in the writing and recording drive?
It's been really non-stop for all of us ever since we got this band going. I mean we were all pretty busy with Forsaken and Frenzy Mono before, but now with Nomad Son also actively within the picture, all the work at different levels (writing songs, recording, band promotion, playing shows and touring) has really intensified. Shortly after we established Nomad Son we knew that this wasn't going to be a simple one-off project band, but something really intense and captivating. Once we set things in motion it was important to maintain the band's momentum and even build further on the band's solid foundations. So immediately after our debut "First Light" was unleashed we were immersed in the song writing for the new album whilst also maintaining a regular gigging schedule to continue to consolidate the band's increasing reputation as one of the most entertaining doom metal bands in Malta and abroad.
From what I saw, read, heard you and your debut was very well received and welcomed in the scene. Beyond expectations or were you confident enough that you would make a good start?
We were and remain quite confident in our song-writing abilities and our musicianship. Without trying to blow any trumpets, I think that we all have a wealth of experience both in the studio and on the live front and thus although the name "Nomad Son" was new to the scene when the debut was released, I think this experience gave us some advantage over what new bands made up of entirely unseasoned musicians would expect and go through. This said, however, I would say that we weren't expecting the magnitude and extent of the positive reactions to the band. Both the debut and our new album "The Eternal Return" have been really well received by the critics and fans alike and I really can't recall a show where we didn't manage to get the crowd behind us... it's been a fantastic and magical ride ever since we got together really... I am not a superstitious person or anything like that... but somehow it was like this band was meant to happen!
From the first album already you had quite a sound of your own, this new album seems a continuation, only the aggressive songs seem more aggressive, the epic tracks more epic. It's something like 'bigger, better, faster, more...'?
Yes, you're right. What we did on this album was amplify all the elements and ingredients that really worked well on the debut and take them to a further level. All the facets that are crucial to the band have been pushed up another notch to make the listener's experience of Nomad Son even more intense and invigorating. So basically we intensified the heavy doom elements, the progressive 70s touch, the dark and psychedelic shades of the band and our fascination for 80s heavy, epic and even horror metal... all these elements are even more pronounced now to make Nomad Son a heavier and meaner doom metal machine!
I saw you've worked with the same people and studio. And even prolonged the deal with Metal on Metal. Never change a winning team?
Exactly Pow. You've summed up our thinking perfectly... the formula we had for "First Light" worked really well... what was needed was just some fine tuning from our end really, while keeping the same alliance that brought the debut to such fine fruition. So "The Eternal Return" is the result of the grand Nomad Son, Temple Studios and Metal on Metal alliance once more! We also secured Jowita Kaminska's cover art talents again for the new album and we are all really pleased with her work once more.
Was the writing process for this second album much different than for the debut? "First light" came together very quickly after you guys met, has writing never stopped since then or did you really take a specific time out to sit down and write the songs for "The eternal return"?
As we have often explained before, most of the songs for "First Light" emerged spontaneously during our rehearsals at our studio at Mellieha. This said, we also spent some time on the pre-production for that album before hitting the studio, so what was required during the recording phase was some fine tuning on the arrangements level and further work on Jordan's vocal lines. David Vella's (our producer) input was indeed very noteworthy in this regard. The formula for "The Eternal Return" wasn't that different really... although perhaps this time I think we took a more refined approach to the song-writing and I think this is underscored in the quality of the songs on the new album. I am not saying that they are superior to the ones on the debut, as "First Light" still remains a fantastic album in my opinion, rich in spontaneity and charged with energy. However, the arrangements and transitions on the new album are somewhat more sophisticated and complex and this was necessary in the process of meeting the goals we set for ourselves on the new album. As I said before, we wanted to make the follow-up to the debut a richer and more intense experience and this required further fore-thought in the song-writing process. So in respect of quite a good number of the songs on the album these were already sketched out between Chris and myself before we even started rehearsing them with the rest of the guys. On the other hand, concurrently, work would be going on in our rehearsal studios on songs that developed collectively as a band as in the case of "The Vigil" or "Throne of Judgement". This combination of different song writing formulas helped to ensure the merging of the ethos of the band's approach on the debut and the increased sophistication we aspired for on the follow-up.
Lyrics and some vocal lines of Jordan as well seem more angry than those on the debut ("Guilty as sin" for instance sounds very threatening). Weren't the two last years fortunate ones? What's the reason for this more aggressive approach?
I am always amazed at Jordan's ability to interpret my lyrics so effectively. It does take some time normally for him to give the song-texts his own interpretation and personality, but once he internalizes them he becomes the perfect channel for the lyrics to come to life. This time round the album is less introspective than "First Light". "The Eternal Return" is much more of a sociological journey (on the lyrical level that is) than the debut. For this album, I tried to reach out and set my gaze on what is going around me so to speak rather than on focusing on personal experiences. As you can gauge from the lyrics, for the main, this metaphorical exploration into the midst of contemporary society wasn't such a pleasant one - on the other hand I came face to face with the brutal and de-humanized times that we live in, the totally blind, arrogant and alienated masses ("Comatose Souls"), persons who remain incapacitated and weak-willed and incapable of truly taking over the control of their lives ("Can't turn the Tide") and a depraved humanity that deserves the utmost form of condemnation and retribution ("Throne of Judgement"). "Guilty as Sin" then offers some insights on my recollections and experience of abuse of political power in Malta in the 80s; however, the lessons that may be gleaned from that period and the local socio-political context at that time are still very applicable today and in any social context. The song is intended to provoke listeners to think critically about what is going on around them and to heighten the importance of not taking fundamental liberties for granted. Democracy is such a fragile thing. If we are not vigilant it can easily wither away.
Albert, you wrote all lyrics (again), do you discuss subjects/themes and take some time out to explain which feelings you want Jordan then to express?
Each time I complete a new set of lyrics, I circulate copies of the song to all the guys in the band via email and when we meet up for rehearsals we always take some time to go through the lyrics together. Obviously, Jordan does take a stronger interest in the song-texts and we do spend considerable time together discussing the meaning of the texts when they are not too straightforward and various ideas for vocal lines too. However, as a lyricist, I appreciate the effort by all the guys and not just Jordan to grapple with the essence of each song text and its nexus to the overall atmosphere of the particular song in question. I think this is another reason why we all give our utmost in the studio or on stage. We all internalize the essence of each song to the extent that for each member all the songs become an extension of their personality. We all know what's going on both a lyrical and musical level. From my experience of playing in different bands over more than two decades now, I think this is a very rare quality in a band. We all take interest in all the important aspects that make up the band. It's not a simple ensemble of musicians just making sure that they play their individual parts right. There's real synergy in Nomad Son and I think this has been the most important factor behind the band's growth and development.
A date in Portugal (pretty soon) and a mini tour in the UK next February, it's a start...;-) More elaborate touring plans (Belgium's not that far away...)?
We're always in contact with different promoters, bands and so forth for other possibilities, Pow. However, we all have our own personal lives and family and work commitments so we simply can't tour abroad as much as we'd like. Malta's geographical isolation from the European mainland makes travelling for us much more difficult than it is for a band in Italy or Germany for example. This said, playing in as many different countries and places as possible is a main priority for Nomad Son and will remain so in future. At this stage only our upcoming show at the Pax Julia Metal Fest II in Portugal in October 2010 and three dates in England in February next year are confirmed. However, we are presently negotiating other gigs abroad and perhaps we might hit somewhere close to you soon to! So check out our MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/nomadsonmalta) regularly as all the relevant news on the band will be posted there.
You represent three different bands actually. Do you see that interest in one of those, be it Forsaken, Nomad Son or Frenzy Mono, pulls along interest in the two other as well? Or do they really stand alone?
Obviously when Nomad Son first started off, it attracted the interest of both Forsaken and Frenzy Mono fans as both these bands have their own strong fan base locally and (especially in Forsaken's case) abroad. However, Nomad Son has its own unique approach, sound and identity and although some comparisons to our other bands may be made and are justifiable, it would be totally mistaken for someone to consider Nomad Son as a simple extension of Forsaken or Frenzy Mono. This band is a totally separate entity, with its own ambitions, goals and dynamic and can indeed stand tall and proud on its own two feet as is the case with both Frenzy Mono and Forsaken too.
No plans to tour with all three bands on one bill? Would be a great night...
This is not on the cards yet Pow... but I won't rule it out from actually happening in future!
Next to the upcoming gigs, any other future plans you'd like to unfold?
Right now we're working hard on a new live set for the Portugal and UK shows and for the ones we have planned here locally. This will incorporate songs from both "First Light" and "The Eternal Return". We are also hoping that "The Eternal Return" will also see the light of day shortly on vinyl. Metal On Metal Records informed us that they are also really keen on this so I am confident that the vinyl release will be a reality soon. A third album is obviously also in our plans and we're already talking about the general direction for that one and I'm sure that the song-writing will start soon... but we don't want to rush things. At this stage we're enjoying the reactions to the new album and promoting it. But you can be rest assured that it won't be long till we start throwing some heavy riffs about in our studio in Mellieha!
Thanx very much for your time and the interview. A lot of success with the excellent album and all you're up to!
Thank you Pow for the excellent questions and for all the support you've given to Nomad Son over the years. Much appreciated, brother. To those of you out there reading this, you can check out some sample tracks from both the debut and the new album on our MySpace page. Should you find our doom appetizing you can get the album directly from the band (just drop us a line at [email protected], from our record label (www.metal-on-metal.com) or from the Metalzone shops in your country. We also hope to meet as many of us on the road as possible, so if we're ever close to a place near you, come along and join us for some headbanging doom metal, beer fuelled madness! Doom Has Risen!
http://www.myspace.com/nomadsonmalta
Pow
It's been really non-stop for all of us ever since we got this band going. I mean we were all pretty busy with Forsaken and Frenzy Mono before, but now with Nomad Son also actively within the picture, all the work at different levels (writing songs, recording, band promotion, playing shows and touring) has really intensified. Shortly after we established Nomad Son we knew that this wasn't going to be a simple one-off project band, but something really intense and captivating. Once we set things in motion it was important to maintain the band's momentum and even build further on the band's solid foundations. So immediately after our debut "First Light" was unleashed we were immersed in the song writing for the new album whilst also maintaining a regular gigging schedule to continue to consolidate the band's increasing reputation as one of the most entertaining doom metal bands in Malta and abroad.
From what I saw, read, heard you and your debut was very well received and welcomed in the scene. Beyond expectations or were you confident enough that you would make a good start?
We were and remain quite confident in our song-writing abilities and our musicianship. Without trying to blow any trumpets, I think that we all have a wealth of experience both in the studio and on the live front and thus although the name "Nomad Son" was new to the scene when the debut was released, I think this experience gave us some advantage over what new bands made up of entirely unseasoned musicians would expect and go through. This said, however, I would say that we weren't expecting the magnitude and extent of the positive reactions to the band. Both the debut and our new album "The Eternal Return" have been really well received by the critics and fans alike and I really can't recall a show where we didn't manage to get the crowd behind us... it's been a fantastic and magical ride ever since we got together really... I am not a superstitious person or anything like that... but somehow it was like this band was meant to happen!
From the first album already you had quite a sound of your own, this new album seems a continuation, only the aggressive songs seem more aggressive, the epic tracks more epic. It's something like 'bigger, better, faster, more...'?
Yes, you're right. What we did on this album was amplify all the elements and ingredients that really worked well on the debut and take them to a further level. All the facets that are crucial to the band have been pushed up another notch to make the listener's experience of Nomad Son even more intense and invigorating. So basically we intensified the heavy doom elements, the progressive 70s touch, the dark and psychedelic shades of the band and our fascination for 80s heavy, epic and even horror metal... all these elements are even more pronounced now to make Nomad Son a heavier and meaner doom metal machine!
I saw you've worked with the same people and studio. And even prolonged the deal with Metal on Metal. Never change a winning team?
Exactly Pow. You've summed up our thinking perfectly... the formula we had for "First Light" worked really well... what was needed was just some fine tuning from our end really, while keeping the same alliance that brought the debut to such fine fruition. So "The Eternal Return" is the result of the grand Nomad Son, Temple Studios and Metal on Metal alliance once more! We also secured Jowita Kaminska's cover art talents again for the new album and we are all really pleased with her work once more.
Was the writing process for this second album much different than for the debut? "First light" came together very quickly after you guys met, has writing never stopped since then or did you really take a specific time out to sit down and write the songs for "The eternal return"?
As we have often explained before, most of the songs for "First Light" emerged spontaneously during our rehearsals at our studio at Mellieha. This said, we also spent some time on the pre-production for that album before hitting the studio, so what was required during the recording phase was some fine tuning on the arrangements level and further work on Jordan's vocal lines. David Vella's (our producer) input was indeed very noteworthy in this regard. The formula for "The Eternal Return" wasn't that different really... although perhaps this time I think we took a more refined approach to the song-writing and I think this is underscored in the quality of the songs on the new album. I am not saying that they are superior to the ones on the debut, as "First Light" still remains a fantastic album in my opinion, rich in spontaneity and charged with energy. However, the arrangements and transitions on the new album are somewhat more sophisticated and complex and this was necessary in the process of meeting the goals we set for ourselves on the new album. As I said before, we wanted to make the follow-up to the debut a richer and more intense experience and this required further fore-thought in the song-writing process. So in respect of quite a good number of the songs on the album these were already sketched out between Chris and myself before we even started rehearsing them with the rest of the guys. On the other hand, concurrently, work would be going on in our rehearsal studios on songs that developed collectively as a band as in the case of "The Vigil" or "Throne of Judgement". This combination of different song writing formulas helped to ensure the merging of the ethos of the band's approach on the debut and the increased sophistication we aspired for on the follow-up.
Lyrics and some vocal lines of Jordan as well seem more angry than those on the debut ("Guilty as sin" for instance sounds very threatening). Weren't the two last years fortunate ones? What's the reason for this more aggressive approach?
I am always amazed at Jordan's ability to interpret my lyrics so effectively. It does take some time normally for him to give the song-texts his own interpretation and personality, but once he internalizes them he becomes the perfect channel for the lyrics to come to life. This time round the album is less introspective than "First Light". "The Eternal Return" is much more of a sociological journey (on the lyrical level that is) than the debut. For this album, I tried to reach out and set my gaze on what is going around me so to speak rather than on focusing on personal experiences. As you can gauge from the lyrics, for the main, this metaphorical exploration into the midst of contemporary society wasn't such a pleasant one - on the other hand I came face to face with the brutal and de-humanized times that we live in, the totally blind, arrogant and alienated masses ("Comatose Souls"), persons who remain incapacitated and weak-willed and incapable of truly taking over the control of their lives ("Can't turn the Tide") and a depraved humanity that deserves the utmost form of condemnation and retribution ("Throne of Judgement"). "Guilty as Sin" then offers some insights on my recollections and experience of abuse of political power in Malta in the 80s; however, the lessons that may be gleaned from that period and the local socio-political context at that time are still very applicable today and in any social context. The song is intended to provoke listeners to think critically about what is going on around them and to heighten the importance of not taking fundamental liberties for granted. Democracy is such a fragile thing. If we are not vigilant it can easily wither away.
Albert, you wrote all lyrics (again), do you discuss subjects/themes and take some time out to explain which feelings you want Jordan then to express?
Each time I complete a new set of lyrics, I circulate copies of the song to all the guys in the band via email and when we meet up for rehearsals we always take some time to go through the lyrics together. Obviously, Jordan does take a stronger interest in the song-texts and we do spend considerable time together discussing the meaning of the texts when they are not too straightforward and various ideas for vocal lines too. However, as a lyricist, I appreciate the effort by all the guys and not just Jordan to grapple with the essence of each song text and its nexus to the overall atmosphere of the particular song in question. I think this is another reason why we all give our utmost in the studio or on stage. We all internalize the essence of each song to the extent that for each member all the songs become an extension of their personality. We all know what's going on both a lyrical and musical level. From my experience of playing in different bands over more than two decades now, I think this is a very rare quality in a band. We all take interest in all the important aspects that make up the band. It's not a simple ensemble of musicians just making sure that they play their individual parts right. There's real synergy in Nomad Son and I think this has been the most important factor behind the band's growth and development.
A date in Portugal (pretty soon) and a mini tour in the UK next February, it's a start...;-) More elaborate touring plans (Belgium's not that far away...)?
We're always in contact with different promoters, bands and so forth for other possibilities, Pow. However, we all have our own personal lives and family and work commitments so we simply can't tour abroad as much as we'd like. Malta's geographical isolation from the European mainland makes travelling for us much more difficult than it is for a band in Italy or Germany for example. This said, playing in as many different countries and places as possible is a main priority for Nomad Son and will remain so in future. At this stage only our upcoming show at the Pax Julia Metal Fest II in Portugal in October 2010 and three dates in England in February next year are confirmed. However, we are presently negotiating other gigs abroad and perhaps we might hit somewhere close to you soon to! So check out our MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/nomadsonmalta) regularly as all the relevant news on the band will be posted there.
You represent three different bands actually. Do you see that interest in one of those, be it Forsaken, Nomad Son or Frenzy Mono, pulls along interest in the two other as well? Or do they really stand alone?
Obviously when Nomad Son first started off, it attracted the interest of both Forsaken and Frenzy Mono fans as both these bands have their own strong fan base locally and (especially in Forsaken's case) abroad. However, Nomad Son has its own unique approach, sound and identity and although some comparisons to our other bands may be made and are justifiable, it would be totally mistaken for someone to consider Nomad Son as a simple extension of Forsaken or Frenzy Mono. This band is a totally separate entity, with its own ambitions, goals and dynamic and can indeed stand tall and proud on its own two feet as is the case with both Frenzy Mono and Forsaken too.
No plans to tour with all three bands on one bill? Would be a great night...
This is not on the cards yet Pow... but I won't rule it out from actually happening in future!
Next to the upcoming gigs, any other future plans you'd like to unfold?
Right now we're working hard on a new live set for the Portugal and UK shows and for the ones we have planned here locally. This will incorporate songs from both "First Light" and "The Eternal Return". We are also hoping that "The Eternal Return" will also see the light of day shortly on vinyl. Metal On Metal Records informed us that they are also really keen on this so I am confident that the vinyl release will be a reality soon. A third album is obviously also in our plans and we're already talking about the general direction for that one and I'm sure that the song-writing will start soon... but we don't want to rush things. At this stage we're enjoying the reactions to the new album and promoting it. But you can be rest assured that it won't be long till we start throwing some heavy riffs about in our studio in Mellieha!
Thanx very much for your time and the interview. A lot of success with the excellent album and all you're up to!
Thank you Pow for the excellent questions and for all the support you've given to Nomad Son over the years. Much appreciated, brother. To those of you out there reading this, you can check out some sample tracks from both the debut and the new album on our MySpace page. Should you find our doom appetizing you can get the album directly from the band (just drop us a line at [email protected], from our record label (www.metal-on-metal.com) or from the Metalzone shops in your country. We also hope to meet as many of us on the road as possible, so if we're ever close to a place near you, come along and join us for some headbanging doom metal, beer fuelled madness! Doom Has Risen!
http://www.myspace.com/nomadsonmalta
Pow
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