Featuring John B from Analog Angel Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 28 december 2009 13:39
Thanks John B that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
1- For the first question will be - do you know the netherland?
Of course! I am a huge football fan and Holland always has one of the greatest teams! I have only been to Netherlands (Amsterdam) once but I would like to come back soon. We would love a Dutch promoter to take a chance on us and let us play there soon.We also played on the same bill recently as a very nice Dutch DJ called DJ Cubik.
2- Do you follow the electronic music scene, do you have any other favourite bands?
We have seen a number of electronic bands over the years including some of the greats like Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Human League, OMD, Fad Gadget......
Recently we have seen VNV Nation and Ayria. We also went to see Depeche - the first time they had played in Glasgow in over 20 years! We supported Global Citizen and Skinjob a couple of months ago and we are supporting Assemblage 23 in February in Glasgow. There are a few other bands that we look out for like Deviant and Mesh. Also, Nitzer Ebb are coming to Glasgow in February and we are looking forward to that - actually, I met Douglas McCarthy backstage at Depeche Mode in Los Angeles in August and he seemed like a decent lad.
3- Greetings John B could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project Analog Angel Please fill also a biographical resume about how,when and where...give us a more background information?
ANALOG ANGEL are a three piece act from Glasgow in Scotland. John B on vocals, Derek on Keys, and Robert on Keys. We all write and program as a team. We were called DOCTOR STRANGELOVE back in the early 1990's (with a slightly different line up) and re-formed in January 2009 as ANALOG ANGEL.We got back together as a result of our old promo video getting loads of hits on You Tube - the song was called Why Do You Do?At the moment we are trying to get the name of ANALOG ANGEL out there and play as many gigs as we can to promote our sound - we seem to have a lot of fans in Holland, Germany and Poland. Our record label - RAGE in EDEN - is actually from Poland
4- How did you start to make Electronica / Electro / New wave and what is gothic for you?
We started making electronica back in the 80's as young boys. We have always been interested in synths and old drum machines - I suppose our lives have been shaped in some way by the music created by some of the original synth bands and certainly as I was growing up Depeche Mode played a HUGE part in my life. Thankfully we have managed to create our own sound which we think sounds nothing like Depeche Mode - although we will always have some people compare us with them. Thats cool - being compared to one of the biggest bands ever is OK!! What is Gothic? We don't actually like putting things in little boxes and giving them a genre or a name. Gothic is whatever you want it to be. We have never said "Lets be Gothic" or "Lets make some Gothic music". We just make music that we like and for some reason a lot of people who see themselves as Gothic or living a Gothic lifestyle seem to like it. We are really happy with that because every single person we have come into contact with or have spoken to or e-mailed who is a Goth has been really nice and friendly.If Gothic is being into art and music. If Gothic is having a good time. If Gothic is wearing dark clothing. If Gothic is all the other stereotypes that folk want to give it - then we are Gothic. Be what you want to be.
5- What and who are some of your influences in Electronica / Electro / New wave ?
As I said earlier our influences are wide and varied. I am a huge DM fan but I also listen to a varied selection of music. I have several thousand CD's of different bands and artists. Almost forgot to mention Alan Wilder and Gary Numan. Derek listens to a wide selection too but his favourites would include New Order, YMO, Kraftwerk, PIL, The Clash....too many to name. Robert likes all sorts of electronica but also things like Elvis, Stevie Wonder and Blondie. I think he is also a secret Girls Aloud fan but don't tell anyone!!
6- What are your top ten favorite Electronica / Electro / New wave Club Songs of all time? Who are you influenced by? What would you consider your favorite cd's?
That is a BIG question!!! I think it changes depending on my mood or what I am listening to at the time.Off the top of my head without much thought some of my favourites would be Walking in My Shoes, Enjoy the Silence (Kevorkian remix), Family Man, Spark, anything from the first album by Mesh......too many to think of; it's making my head hurt!!!! :-) I am listening to the latest Mesh album at the moment.
7- Do you have a favourite track and album ?
Anything from Violator - opens with World in My Eyes and closes with Clean and everything in between is superb!!
8- So tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
Me? John Brown, singer with ANALOG ANGEL.Living life, making electronic music, getting the name of ANALOG ANGEL out there and trying to get people to listen.
Grateful to people like you for listening and giving us the opportunity to be heard.
9- By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
I like your questions so far - apart from number 6!!! Too difficult!! :-)
10 - What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
We don't have a motto or a meaning. We make nice electro. We have some dark lyrics to go with our synthpop. We have a touch of EBM in some of our songs. We don't try to be synth pop or EBM or any other style. We just write music that we like and thankfully other people seem to like it.
11 - What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
ANALOG ANGEL. There is no meaning behind it - we just like the name. I think it was one of the names that Robert thought of.We were called Dr. Strangelove originally - I think that there are still some MP3 and videos around from Dr Strangelove if you look hard enough - YouTube and places like that.
12- " debut album '"dischord" " where did the concept come from? and whats planned now that your album is finished? or anything else you're working on? Tell me why this title, dischord Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
DISCHORD. I think I came up with this name. Basically there was no concept to the album, it was a load of songs from different place and times in our lives and were a bit disjointed. The word discord would describe this type of situation so I added the letter H to the spelling to give it a more musical flavour (CHORD instead of CORD). Also, if you look at the cover art of the album you will see the relevance of this.....
We tried to be a bit different in making the album. All electronic music just now is really clinical - even the stuff made using old analogue kit. We recorded everything without using quantization so that there was a rough, live sound to it. The vocals were all recorded as first takes with no double tracking or pitch correction. So there are a few tuning and timing issues on there but that is what we were aiming for and I think it worked quite well.
13- When's the new album coming out?
We are working on new material at the moment.
14 -How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?
We are playing some gigs on the back of the album and they are going well. We are currently looking for a promoter to take us on so that we can come to places like mainland Europe to play some gigs.
15- What do you think of a modern Electronica and about Electronica / Electro / New wave scene?
Ther are some great bands out there at the moment - I was listening to Mesh earlier and now I am listening to Assemblage 23. Next up on my i-pod is Covenant then And One.
16- Our usual question - what is music for you?
Music is always there in my life. Whether it is playing on the big system at home, the i-pod or just in my head!!
Playing live is the best though - especially when you look out and see the crowd getting into it!
17- What was your best live experience so far?
In our current set-up we have played mostly small gigs. We played at the Depeche Mode pre-show in Glasgow two weeks ago which was pretty cool. We are looking forward to our support slot with Assemblage 23 in February.
18- Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member
John B - vocals
Derek - Keys
Robert - Keys
19 -What are your views on the current state of this Electronica / Electro / New wave scene in Glasgow, Scotland .in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
The scene in Glasgow right now is getting better. There is one venue in particular which is really embracing the electronic scene. One of the co-owners is an old electro head (I know he won't mind me calling him that!). The venue is the Classic Grand and recently they have hosted VNV Nation, Ayria, Grendel and soon they will have Assemblage 23, Deviant and ANALOG ANGEL!
20- you have very nice numbers` .............. tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work? How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
Our songs are all written as a team. Someone will come up with the original idea and we will work on it as a team. Usually a chord progression, a certain sound or scenario will inspire the song concept. It usually ends up as a synthpop song with some dark or sexual lyrics - I can't explain it!
21-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
As I said earlier - I don't like genres. Everything needs to be put into little compartments these days. We just write what comes naturally to us and people can put into whatever category or genre they want - we don't mind.
22- Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you ?
It is hard to say - we have been away for a number of years. What I can say is that it is easier to get your music out there due to the internet.
23-So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
Influences just now - life, family, friends, music, love, hate, TV, internet, my new softsynth for my Apple Mac........
24-What is currently inspiring your material as an artist? tell me all about the Electronica / Electro / New wave scene of Glasgow, Scotland ?
We try not to be inspired or influenced by other bands or artists but I suppose it will always happen. You discover influences in all sorts of places. I was listening to The Thompson Twins, Linkin Park, Robert Gorl and Tears for Fears yesterday so who knows what my next song will sound like!!
25-Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
Don't really know to be honest. We haven't really had a lot of press - so if any music journos are looking in please feel free to contact us!!
26-what is the key to making music from Analog Angel and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
At the moment we are inspired just to keep writing, coming up with ideas, playing gigs - not by any great driving force but just because we are enjoying writing again. I am being inspired right now by Robert Gorl again as he has just come onto the i-pod - Night full of Tension album.
27-How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth- Electronica / Electro / New wave music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind ?
I think we need to accept that at the level of ANALOG ANGEL we just need to accept that downloads are unavoidable. We as a band have to see the positive side of it and the good promotion that comes from it. People are downloading our songs and if they like it they know that they can always come and buy the CD. We never reformed for the money so it is not a big deal to us to be honest. On a bigger scale - VNV Nation, Assemblage 23, even DM - it could be disastrous in terms of financial loss. They will need to develop new strategies to make sure they are earning.
28-If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
Come see us live. Give us a listen and if you like what you hear let us know. Let promoters and DJs know. We want to come play some music for you.The album can be downloaded from our site - give it a listen and get us to your local venue!!
29-Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
Our plans.Promote the album as much as we can, play some really good live gigs and get the name of ANALOG ANGEL noticed.Working on new material at the moment - we have already played one of the tracks live and it went down realy well.
30-It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
The pleasure was all mine - your site looks awesome!! Thanks for the opportunity to get to the fans of this music and hopefully they will like what they hear. I have the feeling that our next album will have a slightly harder sound to it - the new songs and demos certainly sound a bit edgier.
31-and what is next on Glasgow, Scotland agenda?
Next on the Glasgow agenda? Try to put us back on the electro map. The Classic Grand venue is helping to do that and hopefully ANALOG ANGEL can play it's part too.
32-thanks for your time! great work on the albums and good luck with everything.any How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
The album can be downloaded from our own website.The promo video for our new album is on YouTube - the song is called TOUCHED. It was filmed in Glasgow - we have been told that it has a touch of EBM to it - we will let you decide!
33-Were you asked to play or did you have to ask for a slot?
We were contacted by Ruud - he obviously knows good music!!! :-)
Thank you for having us and we wish you and everyone reading a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
John B
ANALOG ANGEL
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