1. Hi There! Congrats on the new album "Tried and Failed", can you tell us about the meaning of the title?
Martin C. (Drums): Hello there and thank you!! Tried & Failed, rise & fall, win & lose etc. is also the lyrical subject and deals with the phenomenon of human nature still striving for satisfaction over an over no matter how many failures one has been through. This applies to all kinds of scenarios, mostly relationships of all sorts. "Tried & Failed" carries a melancholic-dramatic yet positive and darker bizarre vibe throughout with symphonic, epic orchestrations stacking emotions on a large scale. There is no "carved in stone concept". I can understand one would suspect a certain concept though because of the storyline- kind of artwork. The thing is that we love playing with words and images. Or for example like the way we write music. We just get right to the process, being creative and find out while we are doing it, where it should go. The most head-work comes later. The base for it is provided by creatively expressing our emotions and abstract vision. So once we started working on the these songs, a certain spontaneous atmosphere inspired us for how we present our vision this time around. We are also not the kind of band recording the same album over and over again.
That's somewhat risky since you never know how the fans will react. To us it's most important to fully use the freedom of working on our art. After all the first album came about the same way and that's really where we have our own style. No matter how many things have changed throughout time, our albums all carry this unique EverEve type of sound.
2. What are the ideas behind the lyrics in the album?
Martin C.: Sorry but I ended up getting into the lyric thing already on your first question, but they go hand in hand with the title. The idea behind the title really provides you with tons of material as far the lyrical quantity goes. Like I said trying and failing and the consequences of it are applicable to numerous situations one might be in. Whether you experience in relationships (which covers a wide range of the kind), by dealing with yourself or while you're fighting for something relentlessly. Of course what also plays a big role is on what scale do you experience it? Is it to a larger degree one puts up a much more strenuous fight to not accept a failure and still striving for the goals one has aimed for. But no matter if large and strenuous or small and subconscious, the urge is there.
3. The sound, judging from the samples in your site, is excellent, how was it archived?
Martin C.: Thanks a lot! It’s always nice when people seem to hear how much effort we put in our work. Although we are aware of the fact that all tastes are different. About the facts of "Tried & Failed": We’ve pre-produced extensively in a smaller studio while writing the material and had quite a few changes made right before we went into the big studio. Pre-producing as much as we did had quite an impact on the outcome that way. Of course altogether it’s more work and you have to watch out that you don't get lost in a never ending process, but we did have a more elaborate, certain vision and therefore knew how to make each working step very productive.
As far as the sound of the outcome is concerned, it was part of our vision as well. We did concentrate on featuring our classical influences/epic side again, which we've already done especially on our first two albums. This time it was much harder to do so, since EverEve has also become heavily influenced by electronic sounds. So in order to take all those different components such as aggressive-metal guitars, acoustic drums, strings, orchestrations, keys, modern electro sounds, heavy bass, rather unconventional-emo vocals etc. and make it really work/sound good together, countless factors come into play and just eat up a lot of time (and nerves sometimes:). So I guess what was different this time is that we strongly went for a certain type of atmosphere which simply required more of everything. Sort of like the "more is more" approach. Especially when mixing the record this approach really came to the surface and had us mix the entire album quite a few times. In the end I think we can say that we've accomplished our mission rather well.
4. The band has always dealt with tragic ideas and emotions, why is that?
Martin C.: Actually I'd say we've always dealt with subjects that moved us, even on the positive side:) The majority of our compositions are based on minor chords instead of major chords, which sort of carry and call for more of those types of emotions. On the other hand it is a personal thing as well and singer MZ has always been involved in the lyrical aspect since the beginning. So his touch appears throughout. He also majored in psychology at the university and therefore has certain interest in exploring the depth of human nature. We also bring personal experiences into play, but never limit it to just one certain scenario.
5. How would you describe the new album when compared to your former releases, specifically the last one?
Martin C.: Different:) Not on purpose though. We never look back on what we've done and what has been, meaning like a reference. It's also much more exciting to listen to, for example the last couple of records in a row, that way. We don't wanna be stuck in time and get bored quick with things, so it's a good for us to work that way. I think we were still more experimenting on .enetics, simply because some aspects were still somewhat new to us. But with "Tried & Failed" everything was more settled in and we could focus on different things and more on the big picture. Absorbing what happens in each production process is probably the most important aspect of the former album recordings. That's the point, you don't take the album itself as a reference, but rather the experience you've gained which was automatically burnt in your memory.
6. I understand you've used some orchestral arrangements, on what songs, and what was the procedure in recording them?
Martin C.: There are strings on almost every song. They are not always "in your face" but they're there. These are hi-end orchestra files from our fifth element Joerg Huettner who has been heavily involved in working such Hollywood major motion pictures such as Catwoman, The Ring 2 and Batman Begins amongst others. The string arrangements on "Tried & Failed" were then composed by us and him together.
7. It has always been difficult for me to define the band's music, how would you describe it?
Martin C.: You are not the only one:) This is a reflection of how we are in the personal and creative sense. But you never get out of being categorized and put in a drawer. We say, we are not the drawer, we are the entire armoire! But I guess if you try looking us up in the record store you'll find us somewhere in the Gothic section. With the release of E-Mania we called it Cyber-Goth-Metal. By now this term is a legitimate label in Europe for quite a few bands. We didn't even take it all that serious since we don't like being categorized and were rather kidding with that label. With "Tried & Failed" a lot of journalists call it "Symphonic Metal". I can't really relate to that, although the album certainly has a symphonic touch, but there is so much more happening on the album. So if take all those different labels you'd probably get an idea of what EverEve sounds like:)!
8. You did a few covers in the past; the first I remember is House Of The Rising Sun, why was it chosen to be covered?
Martin C.: That was just about the time when I joined the band and as far as I know it was a real spontaneous thing, which turned out to everybody’s liking and so the guys went for it. It was not really planned at all, just fucking around and experimenting...
9. And why Fade to Grey?
Martin C.: "Fade to grey" was on E-Mania, directly after Regret with House on it. So it was a phase where we liked to mutilate real classic hits and turn them inside out the way we just wanted to go off on. Plus when MZ took over the vocals on E-Mania there was obviously a new component. During that period I happened to listen Fade to grey on the radio and somehow it hit me like "... sure this is not like MZ, but in a way they both embody the same vibe despite their obvious differences". So I suggested it, we tried it and there was this great lively feeling again, the way it should feel. That's how we ended up doing it.
10. Any covers on the new album? If yes, which ones, and if not, why not?
Martin C.: This sort of relates to what I've already mentioned before: With the new album we were more settled in than with the past three records and we were able to focus on different things, which had also an effect on whether we'd have a cover again or not-we just didn't even come to think about it and so it didn't happen.
11. What are the band's plans as for touring?
Martin C.: That is in the works as we speak and I can't inform you about any specifics yet, because nothing has been finalized so far. We are definitely looking to tour also more extensively abroad. Right now there are talks about single shows and festivals in Germany and Russia for the beginning of the year. I wish I could tell we'll also be able to play in Israel soon, but that's rather difficult unfortunately. We'd love to visit your country though!
12. What were the influences on the band from a musical point of view?
Martin C.: Well, of course I could tell what each one of us is listening to, but that wouldn't really be answering you question since influences/inspirations vary and sneak up on you and you don't really register it. So it could be anything you hear whether it's on the radio, at someone's house, some party, in someone's car or on TV or even some noises from outside on the street.
13. there's a promotional photo of you guys in the site with two girls, well, examining each other, care to explain?
Martin C.: Sure, I would like to explain, but what else is there to say, really??:)
Photo by: Markus Richter
14. I just wanted to finish this on a personal note, and state that the band has always been a favorite of mine, and wish you luck with the new release.
Martin C.: Thank you very much Alon! And of course thanks to all our supporters in Israel!! It's great to know there are people there enjoying our music. That's the beauty of music, it connects you with people everywhere and let's us share the something we have in common, without even knowing each other. So like I said, the next wishful step would be visiting you guys out there and celebrate our new album "Tried & Failed" live together!!! We can only keep on working together that this will be reality some day! We just finished a video for "You're Mine" of the new album and that would at least be a chance to see and hear us in Israel.
Take care & peace,
Martin C.
That's it, thanks for doing this interview!
Alon Miasnikov
Israel 29/08/05
