The Hybridize Festival embarked on its tour across Germany at the end of February 2019. Four dates of harsh electronic music with hard electronic bands as Funker Vogt and Agonoize, and Swedish synthpop act Vanguard used as live bait to haul in people to the festival.
Patrik Hansson and Jonas Olofsson formed Vanguard already in 2008. Four years later, they released their debut album “Sanctuary”, a futurepop infused synthpop adventure that brought them onto the scene in Sweden but more importantly in Germany.
Four albums later we sat down with Patrik and Jonas ahead of their first Hybridize gig to talk about their latest, slightly rougher, album “Manifest”, reaching out to new fans in Germany and an aging scene that are having difficulties catching young people’s attention. The article includes exclusive live and interview pictures. [more...]
Over the last decade they’ve produced eleven solid albums plus several remix albums veering from stereoscopic EBM to spiky aggrotech. In September 2018 Funker Vogt released their latest album ”Wastelands”, marking over two decades of their existence whilst cementing their new, and at the same time old, home at RepoRecords.
“Wastelands” sees the German trio scaling new creative heights with re-energised confidence and with a creative productivity never seen in the band’s history before. When new singer Chris L. (Agonoize), Gerrit Thomas and René Dornbusch came to Hamburg with the Hybridize Festival tour we sat down for a chat about Funker Vogt 2.0, the new band setup in general and the impact of Chris’ being the new vocalist in particular, and the politics of an apolitical band. [more...]
The louder side of the Wall of Sound – A Place to Bury Strangers interviewed
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What makes a show something you remember for years? Does loud noise cause severe hearing loss? Are you one of those thinking that The Jesus and Mary Chain landmark “Psychocandy” is the epitome of dirty, gritty and loud music? It’s obvious that you haven’t listened even to A Place to Bury Strangers. If you expect to get home from a standard gig experience with a typical decibel level just under 100dB you apparently haven’t been to a show by these noise heroes - there will be broken gear and walls of sound louder than anything you’ve ever heard.
Being hailed as the loudest band in New York with their feedback-drenched, experimental noise rock and shoegaze sound and the aggressive high energy live shows, A Place to Bury Strangers found their way to Hamburg and LOGO to do another “Pinned” tour show. Dion, Oliver and new drummer Lia met up with Release in Hamburg, taking the interview out in the shadow on the street for a chat about about their passion for the DIY approach, endless repairs of gear and their recipe for bold intensity and aggressive aesthetic. Don’t miss our interview and live pictures. [more...]
Ronan Harris is on the crest of the electronic music wave with his tenth VNV Nation studio album “Noire”, released in October last year on his own label. The combination of danceable beats, synthpop, EBM and atmospheric pieces of classical music telling stories of grandeur have contributed to the legendary status VNV Nation righteously can claim after staying at the top of the electronic scene for more than twenty years.
Much has changed since former album “Transnational”; Mark Jackson left in 2017 and at present VNV Nation is touring the world as a four-piece. In between the first and second leg of this world tour, we sat down with Ronan Harris in his hometown Hamburg to have an interesting chat about “Noire”, the surreal video experience in Tokyo and creative control. We learned that he has made six albums outside VNV Nation, that he hates the word futurepop and a lot more. We also took some photos, at the interview and at the concert.
The last few years have seen the arrival of bands such as Actors, Then Comes Silence, The Foreign Resort and The KVB, contributing to a vibrant and exciting new wave of post-punk and coldwave. One of these electrifying new bands that struck a special chord with us is Toronto two-piece TRAITRS, formed in 2015. Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker joined forces with producer Josh Korody and together they created the signature sound of TRAITRS.
In 2016 “Rites and Ritual” was released, 2017 saw the arrival of EP:s “Speak in Tongue” and “Heretic”. And in May 2018 they had a breakthrough on the scene with “Butcher’s Coin”, a record filled with a lot of emotions and, above all, it was an album showcasing great song-writing skills.
In February and March, they will tour the Nordic countries. Release sat down with Sean and Shawn when they visited Hamburg to chat about writing “Butcher’s Coin”, their interest in horror and occult aesthetics, the difference between Toronto and Europe and being overwhelmed by the reception of the European audience. After a horrifying coffee incident and much fascination about how much coffee an ordinary mop can hold, we started off the interview and photo session. [more...]
After a five-year hiatus, Henric de La Cour returned with his third full-length solo album “Gimme Daggers” 2018. He describes the album was hardest to date to complete, but apparently the effort paid off as it is all over Release Magazine’s Best of 2018 lists. Peter Marchione from Release caught up with him at his gig at the Blå book release party in his native town Eskilstuna, Sweden – where it all began. [more...]
Many of new wave’s greatest bands simply couldn’t keep up with the change of the times, and, just like disco acts, many of them simply faded from view by the mid 80:s – or changed their sound. Fast forward 30 years and the 21st century offers a range of new and interestering “new new wave” bands foiled in bits and pieces of post-punk, electronic dance music and synthpop chords.
However, rather than turning to the UK, the major new wave country in the 1980:s, one of the more interesting new acts has its origin in Italy. Release sat down in Hamburg with Turin based four-piece We Are Waves, who recently released their third album, “HOLD”, filled with flanger effects, lots of treble and mid frequencies, and chorus pedaled bass lines, bringing back memories of the early 1980:s. But their not after nostalgia, instead they want to make a fresh take inspired from the heroes of old like The Cure, Joy Division and Killing Joke and new music like Editors, Gesaffelstein and Moderat. [more...]
Twentyfour years ago, De/Vision released their debut album “World without End” and the synthpop duo started six years prior. So 2018 they celebrate their 30th anniversary and when they made a stopover in Hamburg on their “Citybeats Tour” Release sat down with Thomas Adam from the band. He talked about their long career and diminishing record sales in the digital age. We also shot some exclusive interview and live pictures.
We have interviewed Front Line Assembly numerous times but Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber are as busy as always. There’s lots of new stuff to talk about like two FLA albums, a single with Robert Görl, a massive tour, Rhys’ solo album and new Delerium. We sat down with Bill Leeb in Hamburg for a long chat about creating gaming soundtracks, the upcoming album, collaborations and side projects. 34 years into his career – older and wiser – he also reflects on the past, and looks into the future. We also had a photo session with Bill and Rhys, and shot them live as well.
We spoke to Paul Hartnoll, one half of the legendary electronica group Orbital. Now they say you should never meet your heroes, but we can tell you that doesn’t apply here. So sit back and follow us through some interesting tales about everything from the new album to Brexit to the 90:s, including a couple exclusives. [more...]