EMQ’s With Revenge Of The Fallen
EMQ’s With Revenge Of The Fallen
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Portuguese Metal/ Metalcore band, Revenge Of The Fallen. Huge thanks to them for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
We are Revenge Of The Fallen, and we’re a Portuguese Metal band that loves to flirt with other genres. We have done some orchestral stuff on a couple of songs and we like to add many electronic music textures to our songs. This band was formed in 2017, but had a slow start, because some band members were already on other musical projects. That would quickly change when in the beginning of 2018 we played our first gig, in a club in our hometown. That was the spark we needed to fuel this project and make us work a little more enthusiastically and more focused on ROTF. In the same year we recorded our first EP “Pareidolia”, our first ever record. It had a very interesting response amidst the Portuguese underground scene, which led us to try and make more music, better music. That would come to life in October 2019, when we released the 2nd EP “UnBroken”. We had a more focused approach to some issues, like life and personal relationships, as human beings in an ever more demanding world. 2020 would be our greatest year, in terms of concerts, for we already had a very interesting and long schedule with booked gigs until the end of the year.
Then the Covid 19 pandemic struck and, much like everyone else on the planet, we were locked at home. This would come out very fruitful for our side, because it gave us the time we needed to reconfigure our future and to make the decision to record a full album, that would be the 2022 “Echo Chambers”.
How did you come up with your band name?
It always meant the same for us: all of us (all) have failed somewhere during our existence. We have fallen. And we demanded ourselves to stand up again and try again. That’s what we wanted when we started this project: to tell people we weren’t giving up that easily, not without a fight. The message was sent, and we like to think it was received. So, to anyone out there that might feel an outsider and wants to make a stand, wants to rise again after a curveball life might have thrown, let our music be your soundtrack!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Death Metal is, as far as Metal music concerns, the main musical genre around. Though we listen to it and even flirt with it in a moment or so in a song or two, it’s never going to be the main genre of this band. In all seriousness what separates this band from the bands around us is precisely the fact that we’re committed to be as diverse and inclusive as we can. There are no boundaries and no barriers we can cross. We already have enough of that in everyday life. So, in our perception of things, as long as we have the will to do it, we will always try to “paint” our music with the colours we find suitable for the “painting” (music), instead of painting it one colour only.
What is your latest release?
Our latest release is the “Echo Chambers” album, which was released last April. It is our most rewarding experience ever. We wrote and recorded it during the pandemic, so it’s our little beacon of light shining and guiding the way through the darkness. It was a very realistic approach to life, and it was a very well spent time. The result was far better than we expected and that reflected on the dynamic of the band. We have more fun playing these songs than any other older ones, and we had this incredible and amazing positive feedback from people.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Many people and many things influence us, our state of mind, our spirit. And that, of course, determines the music we end up doing. We know it would sound better if we pointed out this or that band as a reference or influence, but the fact is it wouldn’t just be enough or correct.
There’s more in our music than that. It contains a whole universe, so why be focused on just one planet’s species?
What first got you into music?
Music has this kind of spirituality in it. It’s like a calling or something like that. If you get around an instrument, it kind of lures you in, drives you into making something with it. Ever seen a kid saying no to the possibility of sitting on a drum kit and smashing the heck out of it? But of course, having older family members or friends, who were already listening to music, or some of them already playing an instrument, led us to this fascinating world.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
This would be a list so long that it would bore the hell out of people, mainly because we admire this variety of artists from so many genres. Nevertheless, it would be fascinating to collaborate with musicians from other genres and come up with something we haven’t done before, which is, ultimately, the main goal for us as musicians: to create new stuff instead of replicating formulas.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
We’ve grown up most of our adolescent years and already as grown men, seeing these major European festivals, with bands we’ve always looked up to, so we’d risk to say that Resurrection in Spain, Download in the UK or Graspop in Belgium to name a few… But there are so many more, perhaps not with the magnitude or name of the mentioned above, that are also very interesting and appealing to us.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Statistically there are zero situations to describe something on the likes of what you wanted us to say. From the common point of view of the band, at least. If asked privately to the band members, there might be a story or two though.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
The music that we create is dear to us. It comes to represent our feelings and state of mind and soul. We make the music we do because we feel it. We write the lyrics we do, because we experience it. If someone out there can relate this deeply to our music, it’s phenomenal and we’ll be forever grateful.
We’ll keep on making this happen as long as we possibly can.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
No one, really. People have an expiration date, rock stars are no exception.
Therefore, living life to the fullest and trying to leave this world a better place is something that we aspire to do. So, there you go: like we’ll have our time, so does everyone else, and so did they. Make the best out of it.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Being able to create something out of nothing. The long hours experimenting the songs in the rehearsal room, trying different approaches, strums or patterns. The process of creation is admirable. There’s nothing that gets on our nerves to a point of hating, per se, but soundchecks take the first prize in the “Most boring moments” competition!
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Maybe the royalties artists get from their music. Not only on the streaming services. This is something that has been debated for so long now, even when physical copies of the records were the biggest revenue. Labels would pay an almost invisible fee to artists, sometimes with a belligerent attitude. We’ve seen this here in Portugal. And that evolved to the streaming services nowadays. It’s a matter of opinion, but we’d like to see all artists get a bigger piece of the pay, after all, it’s their art, no one else’s.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
That wouldn’t get a lot of consensus on this band, for each one of us would tell you a different answer.
And that’s the beauty of it, many different influences make something more creative and more unique. If we all liked the same, we’d be doing the same music genre someone did 30 years ago or something like that, and we’re really not into that copycat thing.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Each to his own. While vinyl has that more warm sound that we all know and love, cassettes made part of our early teenage years and kids today won’t have the pleasure to spend time rewind a tape with a pen! CD’s came to bring the quality that cassettes were missing, but like most download formats, they lack that analogue feeling. Surrendered to MP3, like everyone, but Vinyl FTW.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
We are a positive band. We have played amazing shows that filled our hearts and ego with tremendous joy, and quite frankly we’re forever grateful to the people who came to see us live in this journey of ours. Still, we keep on pushing forward, so it’s very likely to assume that “the best is yet to come”.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Chefs. We are great cooks, all of us! We’ve said this a couple of times, so even if it’s a lie, it sort of becomes true now, so… let’s keep this alive!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
We could choose a lot of different and interesting people, and all of us would have different stances on it, from musicians, to politicians, activists or just people who we admire and respect. So rather than that, because the Christmas season is almost coming up, we’d invite 5 homeless people and try to make, at least, the best we could, even if for one meal only.
What’s next for the band?
We’re still promoting “Echo Chambers”, for the remainder of this year and for the next one. Still, we’re already making new music that may become the next ROTF album and we’re planning to take our music outside Portugal, to a more diverse audience. The future is an open canvas and we’re much delighted with the possibilities!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
For sure! Follow us on social media to get the latest news from us:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revengeofthefallenpt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revenge_of.the_fallen/
YouTube: https://twitter.com/ROTFmetal
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2mgEoEU
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2nOXr9q
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
Before or after Brexit? Well, we’d shoot for Tea Cake, if we’re talking about Britain. It makes sense to us!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you very much for this chat, it’s been our pleasure. Please keep up with the wonderful work and hope to talk to you again soon!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
