Featuring F.Y.L | Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl | 19 Jan 2009
Thanks F.Y.L. that you have found time to give answers to these questions, so tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
Well,first of all thank you for your interest in us.What to say, we are friends till the early 90’s and grow up in music together for a few years.We miss separate our ways maybe at the ‘96-’97 and meet each other again in 2007.During a Nitzer Ebb show.This is the point of departure of F.Y.L.For us it’s important to be friends more than be a band.When we started with F.Y.L. it was just two friends exposing their ideas and concepts of their electronic music vision.Few months later, we were played in a Spanish online radio.After that everything starts to go faster and arrived the live shows.Now working hard in promotion and new releases.
Tell one secret about yourself or the band that you have never told to anyone?
If we do that it won’t be a secret.
how and why did you come about starting F.Y.L.? what else inspires you to create?
Well, there was not an idea of creating a band, it was just two friends who like electronic music and one day decide to try something together.We both made music by our own, and that’s all.There wasn’t a plan or something like that. Just two friends sharing ideas until one day we decide to give us a name.Inspiration is all around. We don’t have political ideas or something like that to inspire our self on lyrics and in what refers to music, we both listen to the same bands,so influences are the same.We like industrial sounds and electronic music.That’s our inspiration.
The electronic world we live in Ok tell me a few things about F.Y.L. How did you decide to form this project, give us a lil background information In the beginning we were just trying to do something for us. There wasn’t the idea of a band.It just arrives.Xavi has his own solo project and Jordi was making music for his own.So just join both projects and F.Y.L. appeared.
Let's talk about your debut EP "DESOLATION" where did the concept come from? and whats planned now that your album is finished? upcoming shows or anything else you're working on Jan, X-Fusion/Noisuf-X?
The idea of “desolation” began when we finished “no future”,(the first song of CD).It sounds great!! There was an evolution in our sound and we love it, so we decide to continue this way. When we finished the second one “uniformed disease” there was a continuity in the lyrics idea so we decide to make some more songs in this way.
The idea was to talk about how we are destroying the world we live in how we are creating DESOLATION in our cities, in our countries…….Now that is finished we just want to continue working in more ideas we have.
We’re looking for some shows while we work in new songs, we don’t like to finish and stop.To work with Jan has been a great experience, so we would like to repeat in the next CD.
How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this EP?
For the moment there’s no tour,just looking for some dates to live shows and do the public presentation of the CD.
Can you tell us a bit more about Jan, X-Fusion/Noisuf-X?
We just have kind and gratefulness words for him He’s is a great professional and it has been a pleasure to work with him.Hope work with him again in the future.
What are your views on the current state of the electro scene in Barcelona Spanje in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
There are a lot a bands arising in Barcelona the problem is that there are no label to sign and nobody is betting for us.Adding that people just go to the famous band shows,so it’s hard to play live here.We don’t know how it goes in other countries but suppose that happens the same.We are doing a no commercial music and labels,radio stations
and people are not really interested.
you have very nice EP "DESOLATION" 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?
“desolation” lyrics idea born when we decide to talk about the economical world crisis we are living. The idea began with “no future” which talks about it.The hard situation for young people who could not find a way to get their dreams or illusions while politicians look to other way and increase their money.We are really proud with the result of the CD, we like it. It has been hard to finish it but the effort is worth it.We don’t have a certain way of working, sometimes we have the lyrics and try to find the best music for it other times we have a bass-line we like and just develop it to a song. As we say, we don’t have a way, we just improvise Do you agree with all these different types of music in the scene? Everything that has a beat and electro elements is EBM to most people.To your opinion how should an EBM band sound like and what should we expect from you in the EBM scene? We don’t think we are the most adapted to talk about this.Of course not everything that uses synths or is electro is EBM.If we look back in time EBM is a repetitive bass sequenced and a hard percussion.Today is hard to find bands this way.That’s not worst or better. Time changes and the way to create is different, so music evolves the same way.We don’t considerate F.Y.L. as an EBM band,we just make electronic music.Maybe we have songs that sound EBM but not all.
What is currently inspiring your material as an artist?
At lyrics we are interesting in everything that happens all over the world and in personal and internal reflections.
At music we try to find some new sound everyday and use them in our music.We don’t have a way to work, so when we find a new sound or a new lyric just try to develop it to a complete song
How did you come up with the name of your band, F.Y.L. (Fifteen Years Later)? what is the key to making music from F.Y.L.? and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
Fifteen Years Later…this is the time have been friends. We were friends as teens and fifteen years later we met each other again. The band name is something personal, has a meaning for us.We get inspiration everywhere. Sometimes we are in a bar having a drink and an idea comes to us. Other times we expend ours in front of synth or computer trying to find a sound or a melody and nothing comes.We are inspirited of everything such as lyrics as at music.The idea of create music is what make us continue and grow, everyday we search for something new to develop in a song.
What ideas, movements and personalities would you say were crucial for the definition and development of F.Y.L as a creative entity?
There is just one simple idea,we love electronic music and we want to do electronic music. That’s all.
If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
Just one simple thing. F.Y.L. as band has no political ideas.We are apolitical.We don’t believe in any religion.We just believe in people.
Tell us a little bit more about F.Y.L .What do you do in your spare time?
Jordi:I have a hobby,I love bikes and when my wife allows me and have a sunny weekend,I love riding my bike. More than a hobby it’s a passion,hehehe Of course I love be at home with my wife.
Xavi: I’m informatics, and thankfully I work on it but in my free time I continue plugged to my computer, always looking for new software, virtual synth, and why not, have fun with a videogame just to free my mind.
What do you think of its intermingling with the electro,Darkwave and EBM scenes? while electro is your main musical pallet,what other music do you listen to?
We agree with this intermingling, why has to be separate all this music? That’s what makes music so big, you can listen to many different kind of music and different bands the same night at the same club.Jordi: I also like good rock bands,most of them Spanish,but I like bands like Metallica,Crematory, nirvana,…
Xavi:I also like so many kind of bands, from ramnsteinn to U2 and many more this way and also like techno-pop music, what always can give me an idea.
How long have you been in the music industry and how has it changed over time? Now I have to ask, what's the inspiration for the F.Y.L. story?
We are not really in music industry,for the moment we are looking for a label to sign.But that’s a really hard work, harder than create songs.This e.p. is inspirited as the name indicates in desolation in the world.How we are destroying our world and our future with politicians,wars, hypocrisy…
Tell us a few words about the concept of this album.
We don’t like the idea of a desolated world,wars all over the planet,political corruption,difference between social classes…We try to share our opinion at respect.
Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
Of course we continue working in new songs for next album. Don’t want to say more about that because maybe we decide to change the way it goes.
Can you tell us something about the beginnings of F.Y.L. How and why did you begin to make music? Why various electronic styles? tell us about your unique style of music and who are your major influences? Where do you typically get your inspiration for numbers?
The beginnings of F.Y.L. … good question. We both were making music by our side until one day we decide to work together. There was nothing more than two friends having fun playing electronic music.One day somebody ask for the name of the band and we didn’t know what to answer so decide that we must have a name, we search for something personal for us, not the typical aggressive name, so we decide to use this name, Fifteen Years Later.
It means the time we have been friends and as we decide to work together when we met again we thought it was a good name.The name has a meaning for us.We have been influenced for the 90’s EBM and Darkwave bands like Project Pitchfork,calva y nada,Placebo Effect,leather strip…But we can not say that we are influenced by a band, just for a kind of music.We can get inspiration everywhere, sometimes Jordi is riding his bike and a lyric comes or Xavi is at work and a melody appears in is brain……Everywhere is good for inspiration, you just have to free your mind and be receptive.
Are you working on any current or future projects?
We are always working on new songs.We don’t like to finish a CD and stop and wait for success,we’re always looking for more and more songs.
On question about influences and inspirations about Barcelona Spanje? Are you currently working on or planning any new releases? What is the future for your music? were you living?
Barcelona inspires us because is the town we live but don’t like to talk only about our town problems or social themes.We live in a big planet with a lot of problems.Why just talk about ours?We hope to continue creating more songs and continue with the live shows.As a band we love to play live. We enjoy with that.
It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity, Well, any last words to your ebm-industrial fans? and what is next on the the Barcelona Spanje agenda?
We are trying to close dates for next shows, hope there will be many.We just want to thank our fans their support, THANK YOU!!
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