EMQ’s With IN WE FALL
EMQ’s With IN WE FALL
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Portuguese Alt Metallers, In We Fall. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Carlos, 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?
I’m Carlos and I play guitar in the band In We Fall. The band started in late 2022 when I reached out to our drummer Fred to see if he knew anyone who would be interested in starting a project from scratch, as I had some songs and ideas written. He immediately responded saying he was interested and he might know someone who would potentially be interested in singing for said project. That was Daniel, our lead singer and guitar player, who showed interest right away, since he also had some songs in the drawer. Then all we needed was a bass player and I immediately thought of Luis, who I had known since we were kids and used to jam together a lot. Fred and Daniel also knew each other from when they were kids, having actually started their first garage band together. So it all came full circle. After that, it was a matter of deciding what direction we wanted to take this project in. We all liked a lot of different music so we figured we needed to narrow down some guidelines to define the basis for our sound. We all shared a love for 90’s-00’s Alternative Rock and Metal genres/sub-genres so those became the pillars of our sound song-writing wise. From there we started writing and trying to add individual elements from each of us from Prog, Nu-Metal, Grunge, Alternative Rock, etc. trying to find our identity along the way while focusing on writing songs that we felt were coherent and that we were proud of. When we all agreed on which songs would collectively make sense in an album setting, we started recording our debut full-length called “Inner Self” that came out 13th December, 2024 via Eclipse Records, who we also signed with in 2024. We are currently on a national tour promoting our record.
How did you come up with your band name?
The band name came from the idea of us falling together down the rabbit hole and emerging stronger as a unit from the other side. It´s really connected to the acceptance of an inevitable fall in everyone’s life but also rising from it stronger than before and sharing that human relatable experience among us.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from a small town in northern Portugal called Vila Real. There isn´t much of a genre-specific scene but rather a lot of diversity given that there are some Hip-Hop artists, some Alt-Rock/Indie Rock bands, some more Traditional Heavy Metal bands, Progressive bands, etc. So every project has something different to bring to the table despite not belonging to a specific movement. We sort of fill the slot between Alternative Metal/Rock with some influences from Prog, Grunge and some other stuff.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our latest release is actually our debut album called “Inner Self” wich came out December 13th, 2024. It is our first recording effort, and we are very proud of the way it came out, as we did everything ourselves – the writing, arranging, producing, recording, mixing and mastering. Our lead singer Daniel has a recording studio/rehearsal room and he was in charge of the main efforts of mixing and mastering at EvoluiSom Studios.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Personally, it´s really hard to narrow it down. I really love a lot of different music. I started out with Rock and Metal as a whole, exploring the endless sub-genres that category encompasses and that is probably what I consume the most throughout my life. Then a fell in love with Blues, then Classical music, then with Jazz, Funk, R&B, etc. I know everyone in the band has a lot of different influences from various genres and categories, so narrowing it down for the sake of the project became kind of a necessity and as our tastes overlapped in Alternative Metal/Rock music from 90’s-00’s, it made sense to steer the project in that direction. Sonically, I think all the band members can agree on influences such as Alter Bridge, Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, Crossfade, Nothingface, Alice in Chains, Tool, etc. But that really is an oversimplification, because our sound draws from a ton of other stuff.
What first got you into music?
As a listener, I first got into music mostly through my father’s record collection. He had a lot of stuff from Queen, to Aerosmith, AC/DC, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Pink Floyd…and countless others. My first contact with music was with those albums and bands and to this day I think it shaped me in a way. From there on, I was obsessed, always listening to music and wanting to discover new things. As a guitarist, it was actually my mom who gave the main incentive. After listening religiously to all those bands I referenced, I had a lot of interest in learning either drums or guitar but mainly guitar. That being said, I was a very shy kid and if my mom hadn’t given me the push to go and learn, it probably wouldn’t have happened, or it would have happened way later on.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I think a collaboration with the Alter Bridge guys would fit us like a glove. We draw influence from them, although maybe not in an obvious way, but we really identify ourselves with their approach to songwriting and creative choices within it.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
The obvious choice would be Evil Live because it’s right here in our country and it would be full circle. Other than that there are so many great festivals in Europe that make that choice a hard one but probably playing Resurrection Fest or Hellfest would be amazing.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
It’s a pretty uninteresting answer but we really have never received anything crazy from fans. Just a lot of support from people after shows.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
We just hope you like our freshly released album as much as we are proud of it, and that hopefully, people relate to our music because, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Another tough question but to keep in the Rock/Metal world, the first name that came up in my head was Randy Rhoads. Such a talented musician. I always wondered, since I was a kid, what kind of music he would have created if he wasn’t taken from us so soon.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
It’s pretty redundant to say this but making music, being creative and creating new things that didn’t exist so far. It’s always a constant search for something we think it’s worthwhile to say in a musical/artistic way rather than a non-artistic way. It’s the most self-rewarding thing I can think of for myself. The thing I probably hate the most about being a musician is, generally speaking, society not valuing art enough. Not only music, but all art. Thinking it is something secondary or non-essential as if it’s something to discard when it’s quite the opposite. I hate that really simplistic way of thinking about art.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Probably get rid of the people in positions of massive power whose only incentive is to profit vastly from music while the people making it get laughable amounts. The whole system is unfair and one of the main things causing said injustice is the exclusively corporate mentality behind it. It obviously has a huge business component to it, because all musicians want and need to make a living doing it. But when people in charge almost always neglect musical aspects in favour of monetary ones, it snowballs into a depressing and tasteless way of thinking about art and artistic expression.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Really hard question but the first album that crossed my mind was “Ghosts” by Big Wreck. I really love Big Wreck and “Ghosts” was the record that got me into them. It has got everything, the hooks, the melodies, the riffs, the lyrics, the production, the playing… I just think of it as a perfect album and a masterclass in songwriting.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
I grew up on CD’s so I’ll say CD’s to keep it simple. But really any way of buying and consuming music as much as you can is great.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Not sure about the best, but I´ll say the most surprising one was our first gig. We played in our hometown in a winter festival called “Boreal” and it was a really awesome debut and a great way of starting out. A lot of Portuguese bands played that festival and The Last Internationale also played there.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Honestly, I don’t imagine myself doing anything other than what I do. Being a musician in 2024 can mean so many things that it really opens up a lot of possibilities (although not easy ones sometimes). So even if not playing, I would probably be doing something music-adjacent that involved contact with music somehow.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
I’ll choose really randomly and say the first names that pop into my head: Mark Tremonti, Ian Thornley, Slash, Eric Johnson and Jimmy Page. I guess I only chose guitarists and living ones so it would theoretically work out.
What’s next for the band?
Right now we want to play as much as we can to promote the album and to take our music to as many people as possible.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
You can get news and updates from In We Fall in any of these platforms:
https://www.instagram.com/inwefall/#
https://www.facebook.com/inwefall
https://www.youtube.com/@inwefall
https://inwefall.bandcamp.com/album/inner-self
https://www.tiktok.com/@inwefall
https://www.threads.net/@inwefall
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?
I’m pretty sure I’ll fail this one but I’ll say a Cob.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Just to tell everyone to go check out In We Fall at our social media platforms and go listen to our music, and if you like it, consider buying the album or merch… We are really proud of the way the album we released and hope people like it as much as we do and react to it. Also, we hope to see you on the road as much as we can.
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 both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
