Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 07:09 PM by Nikos Nakos
The new album by one of the hottest heavy/hard rock bands of this planet should be big news for everyone. Red Fang return with “Only Ghosts” three years after their previous effort “Whales and Leeches”, which will be released next month on Relapse Records. The band answered some questions on Metal Invader about the record, touring and the band in general, while we’re waiting for their appearance at the Desertfest festival in Athens.
Greetings and welcome to Metal Invader. How’s it going with Red Fang lately?
Things are going great! New album coming out soon, and a new video for the song ‘Shadows’ just released yesterday.
“Only Ghosts” has almost arrived and it’s breathing down our necks. What should an avid fan of the band expect from it?
More Red Fang style rock. Once again we did not stick to any formula and so the album has a variety of flavors.
What does the album title mean and is there a concept behind the tracks, are they connected somehow? Or is this something that the listener should discover…
There’s not really a concept but there are some recurring themes. We do prefer that the listener figures out what the songs mean to them, rather than tell people what to think.
Who was the creator of the abstract artwork of “Only Ghosts”? You know that if you move the picture up and down, it will give you a seizure, therefore we like it.
The art work was done by Orion Landau, (who also did our last two album covers). He showed us the art and we instantly said “yes!”.
You have a very unique and recognizable sound. How would you describe Red Fang in a few words?
“Heavy Rock!”
Often you tend to have slower, sludgy parts in some of your tracks . From what musical elements is “Only Ghosts” comprised? Are there any surprises, anything that you’ve haven’t used in the past or something like that?
Like mentioned before, we don’t stick to a forumla or try to stay within a strict genre, so there’s lots of fast/punk-ish/rock songs and then there will be some slower/sludgy/doom-ish songs, etc… One thing that keeps us going musically is that we don’t care if a song fits a certain style, if we like it, then we go with it!
A special characteristic of the band is the ability to create fantastic video clips. Are there any tracks that you plan to release a video for, can you share any information about their release, filming ideas etc..?
Yes, we have been lucky to work with a friend of ours who is a director: Whitey McConnaughy. We just released our sixth video done with Whitey for the song “Shadows” on September 8th.
In your previous album, there was a guest appearance by Mike Scheidt from the giants YOB in the track “Dawn Rising”. Are there any guest musicians you have acquired this time?
There is one song that has a guest musician on it. Roger Manning Jr. (who was also a guest on Whales and Leeches) played keyboards on a song that will apear on the the deluxe version of the album.
What has changed since “Whales and Leeches”? It was a critically acclaimed record and set the bar rather high, do you think you have surpassed it with “Only Ghosts”?
We were able to spend more time writing and recording this one and we are really happy with it. We hope that people like it!
Your fanbase is a loyal one. What do you think makes the music of Red Fang addicting and what was it that got you to the level of success you are in your opinion?
We love our fans! I feel that we are lucky that people like what we do, because we aren’t writing to appeal to anyone else, we are writing music that appeals to us. Happily, people seem to like what we do.
How did the collaboration with the musicians from My Voice Music occur? Can you describe the experience?
We like to encourage young people to play music, we have done several events with School of Rock and this was similar. We spent a day writing and recording a song with some really talented kids, it was really fun.
Last year, you released the Volcom 7” and you delivered “Can’t Help Falling In Love” better than the king himself. Will there be more covers in the future and have you considered putting out a longer release with covers only?
We have thought about putting out a compilation of covers at some point and are always thinking of ideas for cover songs. So yes, at some point there will be a collection of the covers we have done.
The spirit of Red Fang is rebellious and humorous, while many of your lyrics are quite dark if you look at them closely. The video for “No Hope” is a good example of the contrast between lyrical content and the imagery you maintain. How should one approach the band and how serious are you at the end of the day?
We are serious about the music, but don’t wish to present a ‘tough guy’ image of us as people. I think the videos give us a chance to add some humor and fun to songs that are definitely darker and personal.
You are a band with a big live experience and you have been touring non stop for the last few years. How hard is it to be on the road all the time?
Being on the road is hard work, more than most people think it is. But at the same time, I think we all feel fortunate to be able to travel and play our music to enthusiastic crowds. Being away from our wives and girlfriends is probably the hardest part of touring.
When preparing for a concert, how do you guys pick tracks and do you often switch setlists to avoid monotony?
Setlists change depending on what we are feeling, but generally we’ll pick a batch of songs for a tour and make small adjustments to the set each night.
Among your stops in the upcoming European Tour is the Desertfest festival in Athens, so we will see you live here in Greece. Have you formed a setlist yet, are you going to play some of the new tracks there?
We haven’t finalized a set list for the upoming tour, but we’ll definitely be playing a lot of songs from the new album.
Thanks a lot for your time and the effort you put on this. The last words are yours, say anything you like to your Greek fans!
See you soon at Desertfest!
