Interview with Kitty Saric from Decadence. | FESTIVALPHOTO
Interview with Kitty Saric from Decadence. |
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 Photo by: Gustaf Sandholm Andersson Decadence is a Swedish Metal band and promoter of the Underground music scene with DIY (Do-It-Yourself) as the main message. The band plays melodic thrash metal and has toured in many European countries. The lyrics are often about personal struggle, suffering, depression and anger. On the first of November this year they released their sixth album "Six Tape", so in this interview i put the band and Kitty Saric under the spotlight. Here in this unique interview you gonna find out about the new album, tourplans, tips and tricks together with how Kitty is keeping her voice razor sharp along with her impressive hairlength. Read all about it and enjoy. How is everything in the Decadence camp? Busy and lots of fun promoting our new album ‘Six tape’! I see and I understand. As you said you recently released your sixth album "Six Tape", you can tell us a little about it and the work behind it. Indeed! The expectations were high on this album and so we set the bar high on ourselves as well when creating it. That means in compositions, technically and in our actual performance. We’re still standing strong with Underground music ideals after all these years, and for ‘Six Tape’, all tracks are again available for free share, as well as a physical album for the die-hard fans. Our statement is that anything is possible with the right mindset and that there is pride in creating something from scratch, to be rebels and dare to do things your own way. That is also how we create music to inspire people to do the same. ‘Six Tape’ personifies this statement and is praising independence. This is seen throughout the album, both in the titles and twisted into the sentences while the music itself is energetic and intense. It’s Thrash Metal at heart and something both old schoolers and new wavers could enjoy. I understand and I think it´s cool that you sharing it for free as well you do a physical album for the die-hard fans. Glad I got one from you, thanks! And once again, Lawrence Dinamarca (Nightrage /Loch Vostok /Carnal Forge) is behind the drums, what is it like to work with him? Yes, and we are very happy about that! Lawrence is such an easy going guy who is super talented and also just a great friend. You can also hear his work in the bands "Carnal Forge" and "Loch Vostok" among others. Also, our former guitarist Kristian Gustavsson is doing a guest solo on the track ‘Latex Rituals’ whom we are happy to have onboard with his excellent skills. You can hear his work in bands like "Prosector" and "Bleeding Utopia". Cool, and I did´nt know about Kristian Gustavsson. Can you tell us about what the lyrics are about on this album? “Six Tape” is a word mash up of mixtape, number six in our discography and erotica in playful double-meanings that is twisted into the lyrics that are praising independence. I share things in the lyrics that are motivating to me, ways of thought to get through situations, how we feel our place is in the scene and what we want to communicate to people. Plus, we are a band with Thrash Metal at heart after all, that means ranting about the ‘system’ here and there too! That´s a cool and good mix I think, and I can hear and sense the meaning in the lyrics here and there. But do the lyrics differ from other albums? I like symbolism and reading through the lyrics over the years will show that on each album. There are thoughts, ideas, feelings, dreams and experiences that I twist around. All titles on the albums and songs are symbolic. Often they are analogies meaning that I can mean one thing but I’m relating it to another symbolism or metaphor. That is especially the case on “Six Tape” where the titles at first glance seem something more erotic than what the lyrics are as a whole. The reason for that is that I want the readers and listeners to relate to things, situations, people, experiences, thoughts etc. that are personal to them and not only get my side of the story. Both this album and the previous album that was also our comeback album ‘Undergrounder’ are extra hard in emphasizing our Independent, underground and DIY attitude to things than maybe before. Wow, I truly get it now. I like the symbolism or metaphor and the depth that it´s bring. Can you tell how you and Kenneth Lantz create music and lyrics, who does what so to speak? For the first four albums we split the song-writing part 50/50. Since ‘Undergrounder’ Kenneth is solely responsible for the song-writing and I continue writing the lyrics. It’s a good set up because then I can focus more on the management part of Decadence. Okey, sound pretty straight forward. You have a so-called DIY management (Do-It-Yourself), how come? Besides creating music, Decadence does what large record companies and distributors do, on a smaller scale but independently; recordings, pressing, marketing, selling, distributing and managing. We do this with a company behind us that I run, Heavy Dose (re-named since our comeback, known as HTI Records in the past). Decadence chose the alternative path by choice. Our philosophy was to give everything we have got and go where it would lead us, even if it meant remaining as a non-commercialized Underground band. You simply have to set your goals from the start to know where you are heading. Our passion is in creating our own music and everything around it. If you have that same passion, it does not matter if you become world-famous or not. I often hear that Decadence is ‘the most underrated band in Metal’. When I hear that my thought on it is; we decided not to go big, as a consequence we remained Underground. But, we stayed true to our ideology and that for us is what success is. I see but you should be able to get help from established management and record companies? And reach a little more "public" space. That option probably exists, but we like it the way it is too! It’s a part of who we are. Okey, I understand I guess. Good to be a small part of spreading the word about you anyhow. Do you have any tour plans and what do they look like? Since we are an Independent band we are not bound to specific tours, we go where we are asked to come, whenever. The good part about being an Underground band is that you can do whatever you want out of the norm. I can see the freedom there, I´ll hope I can enjoy your live shows in a near future then. What tips would you give young musicians out there? I wrote a chronicle on the music industry about a month ago that’s called “Independent Music Does Not Have Souls For Sale” that’s up on our website and Facebook where you can also get some insights in the stuff behind the scenes of an Independent band like Decadence. The purpose of this text is to highlight the difference in being an Independent band versus a commercialized machinery. It’s important to note here that I’m not saying one is better than the other, it’s simply two different paths you can take that both have advantages and disadvantages. We chose the alternative path of remaining Underground, and if that chronicle could share some insights to other bands who are or are considering to do the same, then the purpose has been reached. Debate is probably needed on these topics and I’d only be glad if this text could help stir things around and let the discussions go free. I’m also open to writing more chronicles like this in the future so I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for input on which subjects that would be of interest. Cool, I´ll read that ASAP. As a group you have existed for fifteen years, how do you think the scene has changed over the years? Sixteen and counting even! The biggest change is probably the movement from the physical to the digital and record labels not having the same hold on musicians anymore. Yeah, and I don´t know if that´s good or bad. We´ll have to discuss that an other time. Why do you think you have "survived" for as long as you have as a group? Because we are having fun! For an Independent band like Decadence, what we do is a professional hobby. For us, there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you work with it halfheartedly. On the contrary, it is all that work you put into it while earning money somewhere else and saving the passion for what you love to do with your hobby. There is a charm in that mindset that I love. The purpose of ‘a hobby’ isn’t necessarily to drive sales. The purpose of it is to do what you love to do and share it with people who love it too and that’s what we do. I totally get that and can relate to that. And if you had to pick a song as a favorite from "Six Tape", which one would it be and why? Damn that’s hard! Probably as hard as it was deciding the tracklist (hardest album to do that for us ever actually!). But okay, I’ll pick ‘Red Façade Hotel’ because it’s super fun to sing, I get to do my Thrash, I get to do my one breath chorus high pitches and it has such a nice 80’s feel to it somehow. Plus the lyrics remind me of some things in my life that makes me feel at ease. Good answer there. And I´ll guess you get this question often but what have you done to get as long hair as you have? I just let it grow! And don’t trust the commercials and hair dressers. Just leave it be and it’ll be fine. Once again a good answer, go your own way in life. Do you have any tricks to keep your voice on top? Well, I have my own tricks that might not work for everyone. Or maybe it’s just in the hair [laughs]. I think it´s in the hair just like for Simson [laughs]. But what kind of trick is it that you use? I stay in shape by daily weight lifting and by running. For me, a strong body and good cardio means everything. I can see that. Have you taken singing lessons or are you self-taught? Self-taught. That is impressive, bet it has been a long way getting where you are at. Which gig through your career is the one you remember the most? All our promotion is pushed by fans for fans through street teams, fan clubs and Metalheads from all over the world. In addition to amazing fan driven concerts, one memorable concert is when we visited Venezuela to co-headline with Hirax, a show that became the summing up of the 10 years together with Decadence and the Venezuelan fans still celebrate anniversaries from that show every year on that date since! And with that, I’m happy to say that we are open to book shows again, so we’re back for real! Sounds amazing. So what do your future plans look like in short? To share ‘Six Tape’, gather up as much feedback as possible so that we can keep improving, being on the stake-out for new cool merch and booking shows! That your fans are loyal and help you is something that I have understood over the years, what would you say it means for you as a band and you in private? I’m so impressed with Decadence fans. They are really what has made this band and what has brought us back to doing this again. I’m so grateful for that and want to make sure everyone knows who made this band, and that’s not me or Kenneth, it’s all of you fans out there. In the chorus of the ‘Undergrounder’-track ‘Manifesto’ there is a line that goes: “The one who is many”. That is referring to Decadence and all the fans around us carrying the band forward. That is our biggest accomplishment. Both for the band as a whole, but for me personally as well. Once agan, I´m glad to a part of that group than. What do you prefer and what do you do in your spare time? I touched upon it in an earlier question, but I live an active lifestyle so when I’m not doing music you’ll most likely find me pumping iron at the gym or out in the woods running trails. Can you end this interview with a few words for the readers and fans out there. Thank you, Festivalphoto and all who read through this interview for supporting Decadence. Keep fighting for what you believe in, because if there’s a will, there’s a way. Something, I keep telling myself after all these years. I hope you all will get a real adrenalin rush after blasting ‘Six Tape and see you around! Thanks, and if you wanna check out mor about the band you´ll find it all on their homepage. //Grimgoth™ - http://grimgoth.blogg.se |
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| Writer: Grimgoth | ||
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