Sing Your Prayers: Stereoboard Interview Amenra At Damnation Festival 2012 (Interview)
Monday, 26 November 2012
Written by Ben Bland
Stereoboard spoke to Amenra frontman Colin H. Van Eeckhout at Damnation Festival in Leeds earlier this month, ahead of the release of the band’s astonishing new album 'Mass V'.
Talking now about 'Mass V' then; could you tell me a little about where you feel this record stands in your discography and how it leads on from previous releases?
We just went our way like we always do, I suppose. As always, the songwriting process took time and it was important for us not to rush things. That is something we are always aware of, but then it also takes some time to find something that all five of us are satisfied with. Amenra is a very democratic process in that regard, but I suppose that contributes to the fact that we always throw away more than we use. It is always us just jamming and trying to translate what we are feeling into the music and I guess that means that each record is always reflective of a certain period of time.
Would it be fair to say that you have quite an unusual way of working together as a band?
I think it is a fairly abstract process, yes. Some bands seem to want to work to a blueprint the whole time, almost planning out the record before it is written. We do not care about that. We always end up with an album that is very consistent, I think, so it works for us and that is the main thing.
Compared to a lot of bands around that are inspired by the likes of Isis and Neurosis, Amenra seem to have a very individual sound. You can see the reference points but there is a distinctive tone to what you do. Has that always been something at the forefront of your mind?
Well, first of all, I would say that it is important but not so much in the way that we are all massive gear freaks trying to create a particular guitar tone or anything like that. I mean, some of us in the band are still using the same gear now that we were using ten years ago. We aren’t trying to create something that is reliant on the guitar and the amp. What makes a good record is what comes from the heart, it is the way it feels not just the way it sounds. I think that maybe helps to make us distinctive, but then again we also have what I still consider to be quite a distinctive way of writing as well. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for us to let things grow and develop. Some bands would worry about losing the audience’s attention by letting certain ideas go on for too long, for example, but we don’t really care about that. We just know for ourselves when we think something has worked and fitted into place; that is our only real consideration.
I know all the members of Amenra are also involved in other projects. Does that have a major impact upon the work you produce as a group?
The other projects do have an impact, yes. We have been playing together in bands a long time; Mathieu (J. Vandekerckhove, guitarist) and I have been playing together since I was fifteen years old, for example. We have learnt to play together and have become so attached to each other than it doesn’t matter if we are also throwing ourselves into other things. We all have different bands now and grown as musicians as a result, helping the influences of Amenra and making Amenra progressively stronger and more interesting. Also, more rewarding I think in the long run...
I suppose it must prevent Amenra from ever becoming stale...
Yeah I guess. I mean if you only have one band for twenty years... I can’t imagine that. Your tastes change, your personality changes over all that time. It doesn’t surprise me that so many bands split up at the slightest divergence in opinions if they only have one project they can invest their ideas in!
There seems to be a very strong spiritual element to everything Amenra does. What can you tell me about that?
There is a very strong spiritual and moral element to the whole thing. Amenra is largely about trying to be the best person that you can be. A lot of music scenes seem to be all about the competition, but I don’t see the point in that. We choose to do the opposite and work as a family, trying to uplift each other and others too if we can.
I imagine the music is also very draining, both to write and perform...
Especially the performing I think, because it is something we have to do. We cannot answer why because we do not know; we just know that we have to do it. It can be very difficult because sometimes we do not feel like being serious and absorbing ourselves in the serious nature of our performances but we have to do it because it does not make sense otherwise. We never put on a show just to entertain or to get paid. I do not think that is respectful to the medium of music to do things in that way. I would almost say that we quite often do not even enjoy playing the live shows. We would rather sit here and chat shit with each other and drink beers you know? We are just like normal people in that regard, but instead we have to invest our energy in the performance. We have to get ourselves in a certain frame of mind. A dark cloud comes down and all of a sudden everything is not funny anymore. However, putting that 100% focus into it is what makes it an eventually cleansing and healing experience and that is necessary for us I think.
I know you have played a lot of shows in the past in what are quite unusual locations for your kind of music, in chapels for example. Is that part of a conscious to transcend the usual experience people receive from a so-called ‘rock show’?
Very much so I think. At the beginning, when we were a smaller band we often had to open shows, like at open air festivals, for example. We used to have to play in circus tents and in the sun and all that, which obviously is completely insane given the nature of our sound. We decided that we had to try and do something that made sense to us instead so we started thinking about the way we could use the world around us to our advantage in that sense. If we want to play in a forest then we will play in a forest. I mean, why not? The chapels and the churches really grew on us as potential venues because they help us transcend the physical element of our shows I think. The church was originally built as a venue for mass and for spiritual behaviour, and I think that is what we try to do on stage.
The last show we did in a church was last year, on the 15th May, and that was a very important show for a number of reasons for me because that is the day of my birth and also the day I buried my father. That show was certainly a sort of mass for me I think, not that we put it on the flyer or anything. There is no need for others to know but it helps the show carry greater meaning and make more sense for me. Hopefully others can find that meaning in our shows as well. When we did that show we had a lot of our side-projects involved, the other ‘Church of Ra’ bands as well so that was fantastic.
As the show was getting going I noticed a man walking around that was involved with the church. I was really worried because I thought he might put an end to the show as we were using the venue in a different way. I really thought he was just going to tell us to get the fuck out of there to be honest. In the end he just walked around and looked and listened. At the end of the show he came up to one of our friends and just said “I am really glad, after all these years, to see the church used for what it was intended for”. That is a crazy thing because I know that person does not like the music we do, but he understood what we were trying to communicate through our music. He understood the message. That was really such a compliment. It was a beautiful thing to hear.
From what you have said I gather that Amenra has, in a way, a purpose with regard to trying to heal and to change people, and I think that can definitely be picked up from the lyrics as well. Do you think music really can change people?
Maybe not on its own but maybe if it is made by certain people who have certain important things to say. That is what we hope. I mean, it’s a pretty sad world out there and each of us is all on our own really. It is nice to have people around you to help, and I think music can be there to help as well. We want to influence people to look beyond stupid differences and to come together I suppose because it is important. A lot of the world functions based on differences and negative energy. Life is too short for that. I guess this is our counter movement. We are preaching unity whilst keeping everyone’s own individuality...
That man at the church you mentioned before, I guess he is the perfect example of that really...
Yeah absolutely, someone from a totally different background, but there is that connection. The ‘Church of Ra’ features not just us as musicians but also painters and dancers and photographers and others. We are all different but there is something that connects us I think and we can all pick up on that. Even in interviews I think you can gauge whether someone really understands what Amenra is all about, whether they really ‘get it’ or not...
Do I get it?
I think so (laughs), I think so. I mean, I can never be sure but I hope so...
'Mass V' is out today via Neurot Recordings. Amenra will be returning to London in 2013 for a one-off UK show.
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Talking now about 'Mass V' then; could you tell me a little about where you feel this record stands in your discography and how it leads on from previous releases?
