Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 08:28 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Hail from Athens Greece. How does it feel to return in music business? How proud can an artist feel when he finally sees his work printed?
Cheers from Franconia, the kingdom of beer! Actually we are not returning to the music business with CFS. The band has not existed for a long time now. Repulsive Echo went to the graveyard, dug us up and revived our music. The music, not the band.
Nevertheless we are of course very proud to get some attention now and having a real release in our hands excites us even more. Thanks again to REPULSIVE ECHO for making this happen!
How did you react when a small independent label from Greece, after such a long time, wanted to release your music?
At first with disbelief. I (Stephan) first assumed it was a mistake or a joke. On my YouTube channel one day a message popped up from REPULSIVE ECHO. They wanted to do something with CFS. I had uploaded a couple of our songs there. I thought either this is a mix-up, or they’re out of their minds. Then we were of course very psyched, although we still couldn’t quite believe it.
Tell us more about your past. Give us a small bio, when did you form, why did some members leave and why did the band come to an end, as many readers may haven’t heard your name as they are aging less than 30 years old…
The foundation of the band actually goes back to the year 1990. However, it was a long way from the idea to the actual band to exist. It took until the beginning of 1993 that the final rehearsal room was ready. Before that we had already built a rehearsal room elsewhere, which was demolished with the whole building just after its completion. One of the reasons why everything took so long.
First of all our first bass-player Sascha, with whom me and Marcus founded “Call”, left. He suddenly didn’t feel like playing in a band anymore right after the second room was finished. The demon of Techno stole him from us. Our second bass-player Corrado left next, for reasons I can barely remember. There were disagreements. But he was actually a nice guy, with whom I ate a lot of pizza and also had good stuff to smoke after rehearsals, when the others had already left. Well, bass-players …
Then I left the band about a year before it entirely broke up. Bands are like marriages. If the harmony is fucked, you better move on.
The band then broke up in 1997. Why I don’t know. Didn’t interest me that much at the time, I’m afraid.
Which were your bigger influences? Who was the artist or the band that made you wanted to form a group or to become musicians?
Bands like PARADISE LOST, TIAMAT, MY DYING BRIDE, CATHEDRAL inspired us to go in a more doomy direction and to look for something special to elevate our rough sound. This resulted in finding Sabine who played the flute. Before that it were of course bands like DEATH, AUTOPSY, BENEDICTION, CARCASS or OBITUARY, etc. that made us want to start a Death Metal-band. And prior to that the Thrash-bands of the 80’s made us think about starting an own band for the first time. When you have a certain age everything actually started with Thrash Metal.
Can you perhaps tell us what each song on the compilation album is about, lyrically? Who was responsible about the lyrics?
Marcus was responsible for most of the lyrics. As far as the compilation is concerned it’s even all the lyrics included there. I try to do justice to each song with a few words since I’m not the actual author of the lyrics.
NOSFERATU is about the famous silent movie vampire, probably known to most cinephiles.
ANGUISH TO LIVE is about how life often sucks. You can either learn to swim in shit or get drowned in it.
REVE NOIR or Death in other words. Life is a prison. Death sets you free.
SADISTIC LIFE INSIDE is about being possessed by an evil entity which is altering the way you perceive the world. And not in a good way.
SORROW AND AVIDITY is short and sweet about necrophilia. A grave, a corpse and probably no condom. Irresponsible.
MENTALLY DECEASED is a song about the loss of one’s mind and consciousness due to dying and the freedom that might come with it. Or might not?
WHITE FUNERAL suggests that we should celebrate death for a change instead of mourning.
How did you compose the songs, which was the writing procedure?
As far as the music goes, it were usually Marcus and me meeting first and working on stuff. It was pretty much like playing Ping Pong. Then lyrics were written, usually by Marcus. Finally the others would come in and contribute their parts.
Which are the main differences between 90’s and nowadays for a new band to start its carreer?
The biggest difference surely was that there hasn’t been any Internet back then. Drawing attention to your band was much harder than today. For a halfway decent demo you usually had to enter a studio. Today, everyone carries around a music-studio in their pocket. And also a film- and TV-studio. Showing yourself to the world via YouTube is no big deal anymore. That must be additionally motivating. But being so available right away doesn’t necessarily always be advantageous. Obscurity can also pay off in the long run, like in our case I presume.
Are you still a fan of Extreme sound or Heavy Metal?
Absolutely. That never leaves your system. But at some point you also get more open for all kinds of other music. And then you circle back home again and again so to speak. Home is where your past is buried. How poetic. I need medicine.
What does the future hold for Call From Subconscious?
We will be accepted into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME for sure and get knighted by Queen Merkel. That’s the unlikely future. More likely is that there is no future for CFS, because CFS doesn’t exist anymore. But the past lives, due to REPULSIVE ECHO!
Are you contacting with the other guys from the band all these years that you were split up?
Partly yes. Me, Marcus and Sabine for instance have our little occasional music-projects together. Marcus is constantly making music. BRLABL and NIRUTOK are his bands.
The closing is yours.
Upload your old demos somewhere. As you can see, something nice can happen. Buy our album so that REPULSIVE ECHO still can afford some Ouzo in the future. Form a band. And thanks to you for the interview! ??
