Italians Do it Better with FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
By Chelf
When they promised they could cure our pain with sugar we knew it was time to have a chat with Fleshgod Apocalypse, not only about their fifth studio album, -out on the 24th of May- but also about spontaneity, costumes, Bach and Italian cultural ties. If Italians indeed do it better, I take it upon me to find out the hows the whys the whens.
Ciao e benvenuto a MHF MAGAZINE. While writing and composing Veleno you guys removed all sorts of distractions to focus on the process entirely. Is coming back from that stage easy, like a muscle memory?
Hi all! Well, we collected material for about three years and then we took a proper break at the last stage of songwriting, to focus only on the album. So we actually had some little “interruptions” while writing part of the material but I don’t think it’s been a bad thing. Sometimes going back to the writing process with a live mood keeps you more focused on what’s important in the music, which is “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, and makes you avoid any superfluous thing. So yes, it’s like a muscle memory, and every time you “resume”, you’re actually bringing more experience to the table.
How do you distance yourselves from the day to day struggles during the creation phase?
We don’t do it. We let our lives and feelings penetrate the music. It’s the only way to be completely sincere and honest. When you stop this connection then you’re faking, and our listeners don’t deserve fake music. They have to feel what we feel, bare the burdens we bare, appreciate what life brings both in a positive or negative way. We are what you hear.
When we think of FA we think of scripted content, epic videos and costumes. How does spontaneity fit in this frame?
Drama is one of the oldest art expression in history. We love to integrate visual forms of art into our primary one, which is music. And this doesn’t subtract any spontaneity at all, it fits perfectly with the concept behind the band. To us, being in a band doesn’t mean just writing and performing songs, it’s also entertaining people, especially live. Artistically speaking, we have a wider idea of music performance and these visual elements are just additional means which allow us to express ourselves in full.
What do you think Bach and Beethoven think of your music?
I think they wouldn’t like it, too noisy maybe, ahah! But for sure they would have applauded our will to push the limits and surpass the boundaries, like they did in their music. First rule is breaking the rules!
Your latest piece of work, Veleno, serves as a direct cultural tie to your home country. Why is that important to you?
Well, Italy has seen better times politically and socially but, on the artistic side though, being Italian is still such a privilege. We are a country with one of the oldest and richest artistic heritages. For instance, we laid the basis for “Opera Lirica”. How could we underrate or miss this incredible patrimony while creating our music? It’s our roots. That’s also why chose this name, “Veleno”. I know it might not be enough but we wanted to pay tribute in some way to our beautiful country by using an Italian word as a title.
Do you ever improvise when you are on stage?
Well, it depends on what you mean when saying “improvise”. Let’s say that we interpret in a slightly different way every night. As humans and not only artists, we obviously don’t feel the same every day, so our performances might change a bit depending on our feelings, but this makes them all unique, which is a great thing.
What do you do with your stage costumes after the gigs?
Ah! Good question! We’d like to burn them, but they’re unique pieces of art so… we just have to “survive” them, eheh.
Do you ever feel under-rehearsed?
Is there any band that feels rehearsed? Ahah! Don’t think so! We never feel 100% ready until we hit the stage, then adrenaline does the rest luckily and we finally become lions!
What’s the Italian formula for killing our pain with sugar?
Art is the best painkiller. And love. When you love life and you make room for art in you existence than you will feel complete and totally relieved from pain.
Say the world ends tonight. What would be the best epilogue?
Well it should be like a proper Judgement Day! Imagine all the people who lived honestly and loving others enjoying their last few seconds on this planet and celebrating life till the very end, while haters and assholes eat their own shit and complain for the time they wasted in their lives. It would be such a great ending. To see those fuckers realizing how much of their existence got lost in bullshit just for money, power or envy must be very entertaining ahah… and then cosmic silence.
MHF Magazine/Chelf
