Architecture Of Aggression
Metal 4 Africa’s metal minded Darkfiend joined us as a guest writer to interview a couple of MotherFUDD’s most talented bands. AoA are one of them!
Interview by: Darkfiend (from the all inspiring Metal 4 Africa.com)
DF: Hi Guys. It’s great to have this chance to interview one of what must be South Africa’s most extreme metal acts. Please introduce yourselves.
AOA:
Van: Hi I am Van666 guitarist and vocalist for Architecture of Aggression.
Anton: I’m Anton, drummer and vocalist for the band
William: Will here, I’m the bassist for AoA. Also do a lot of the production of intros, outros etc.
DF: You guys have been on the scene for a long time now. You’ve played pretty much all over the country and beyond, and rumor has it that you’ve been banned from some number of venues for all sorts of reasons. But first things first: Let’s talk briefly about the origins of the band. Did this all start with two kids growing up and wanting to play music, or did the journey begin later in life when Van and Anton began crossing paths with other like-minded thinkers?
AOA:
V: We’ve been on the scene for 15 years now. We got banned from performing at Zeplins night club in Pta. back in 2005 after our Manifest Destiny CD launch for being too controversial. It started with two kids growing up and wanting to play music. Our dad got us into playing music. Looking back it was a way for him to keep us home and out of trouble and finding a way for us to focus our teenage anger and energy in a positive and creative way.
A: Yip, it kept me off the streets and out of trouble! I was a real juvenile delinquent!!! Our dad was a muso, so we grew up spending Saturdays at band practice. Think that’s where the seeds were planted and it was helped along with my dad actively encouraging us to make music
DF: On the topic of “thinkers”, it is evident that Architecture of Aggression has a very specific view-point on religion which we’d not like to get too much into now (we want people to acquire your new album for that), but we’d like to learn more about the relationship between the actual music and then the message behind it? Would you say that your musical inspiration stems solely from this specific message you convey, or do you write about other stuff too?
V: We usually develop our musical ideas and lyrical/concept ideas separate from each other and then combine them in the end. We love to play music and usually have a 10 min jam before rehearsing our songs, which we also record and gives us a lot of ideas for new songs. We also love reading and researching topics of interest to us. So our music is not solely inspired by our message, but also at the same time our music is the means by which we express our views on life.
A: We deal with a lot of inequities of our civilization, from the ancient to the modern! Our new Album focuses solely on religion and how it spreads and what evil it inflicts. Our previous album (Democracy: Consent to domination) dealt with the topic of politics with a smattering of religion thrown in there. The next concept might well actually deal with Ancient Civilizations and their origins! You never know what to expect from us! Education through Death Meatl! Lol
W: It is certainly a “pet hate” but not at all our only inspiration. Our previous album, Democracy: Consent to Domination, dealt with the global political system and how it’s rigged. 9/11 being an inside job etc… People tend to focus on our anti-religious stance because it’s so controversial but the reality is that we draw influence from all sorts of stuff we see that’s wrong with the world. Personally I’d like to do an album on the monetary system. That’s my biggest grudge at the moment.
DF: Your strong viewpoints must pick up a lot of flack from various sources, although I’m sure that there are many who flock beneath the AOA banner simply out of principle, or for the enjoyment of the music for music’s sake. Do you feel that your standpoint on global affairs has hindered your path forward as professional musicians, or is this band more about a quest of spiritual or self-realization for you guys? Maybe I’m missing the point completely!
V: South Africa is still very conservative on many levels compared to Europe and other first world countries especially on the subject of religion. We are part of a revolution that wants to free this country of its past shackles and I guess our unpopular viewpoints and statements has made things more difficult for us especially when it comes to sponsorships, printing merch and playing certain festivals. But at the same time controversy creates interest. Things are getting better and easier as a new open minded generation emerges thanks to the internet and free flow of information.
A: Mmm…. good question! I don’t think it’s hindered us much seeing as we are already in an extreme genre and it has provided us with great, albeit unexpected press coverage! If a venue or fest don’t want us to play there, then it’s surely the wrong venue for us! Still waiting for a call inviting us to play at a church! heh heh heeee
W: Everyone in the music scene wants success. Sure. And from that perspective, our stance on religion, for example, has certainly slowed progress. That’s fine. Success is not why we do this. We do it because we love what we do and we believe utterly in it. So yes- its more of a quest than about being in a “band” and being famous.
DF: Tell us a little more about the new album and what listeners, old and new, can expect.
V: Musically I think it is our best work to date. It is the fastest ,most aggressive and progressive music we have ever written. We are very proud! Lots of crazy riffs, solos, bass lines and drums. We like to challenge ourselves. It is also a great concept album dealing with Monotheism and it’s negative influence on the world both past and present.
A: What Van said! It is definitely our most expansive work to date, from concept, music even the artwork! Including intros, interludes, keyboards, spoken word pieces and an outro!
W: Technical brutality!!! Its the best thing we’ve done hands down. It is more than a concept album, it is quite literally written as one work. It deals with monotheism, more specifically Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
DF: It has been interesting to note that you are quite happy to invite people to download your album for free. This seems to be quite a point of contention amidst various musicians from all genres these days, but we see more and more artists giving in to making their music available for free. Can you tell us a little about you decision?
V: Being a artist from a third world country and stuck smack in the middle of the world with lack of funds it seemed logical to make our music available for free down load and available for an international audience to enjoy. We read a book on this subject that suggested and convinced us that this is the way of the future and in our best interest. Historically most band have never made much out of CD sales. The record companies do. Bands make money from touring. How do you tour when people don’t know your music? Easy, give it away for free and create interest.
A:….and to the muso’s so dead set against it!? As soon as you’ve sold one album, you can bet your ass it’s available for free download somewhere on the web and you have Fuck-all control over this! Rather give it away at your own terms. Plus people love free shit!
W: We recorded this album out of our own pockets as a personal investment. We are not looking to make that money back. And we want people to hear it. Consequently it costs us nothing for any one to copy the zeros and ones. But it does cost us to print CD’s. So you aint getting those for free! Honestly, if someone doesn’t want me to listen to their music unless I pay for it, I don’t want to fucking hear their music. There is a very strong movement towards having your music available for free on line and I do believe that if artists and record companies don’t adapt they will be left behind. Property is theft.
DF: Have you been touring the album as yet, or any tour planned to promote it around the country?
V: Now that we have finally launched our new album we can start focusing on touring it. Join Architecture of Aggression on face book for updates.
A: We definitely want to hit the whole of S.A. and the neighbouring states (Botswana, Namibia even maybe Mocambique)
W: We are planning to tour in April and May. Can’t wait for that. Touring is one of the biggest rewards for recording an album. We love touring and we’re damn good at it.
DF: Can you list just a few of your favorite tour adventures to date, and some of the more interesting bands or peopleyou’ve met along the way?
V: One of the craziest tours we did was The Domination tour with RHUTZ in 2006. Complete debauchery and mayhem! Playing Windhoek and Botswana was great! New cultural experiences. We love playing new towns and countries. South Africa has great talent and I enjoyed most of the bands we have had the fortune of playing with.
A: “Domination” felt like the Pantera home videos! I’m just glad we survived! I know this sounds Gay coming from a metalhead but one of the best experiences I’ve gotten from touring is seeing this beautiful country in it’s entirety! All the weird and wacky little towns, gorges, gulley’s, mountains, oceans etc. Okay Hendrina doesn’t really count but it was Interesting!
W: Touring Botswana. That was eye opening.
DF: Tell us about the upcoming MotherFudd Festival: What slot are you playing, and what do you think of the line-up?
V: Mother Fudd is always a blast with great bands, fans, stage, sound and lights! As Metal as it gets. We are playing at 23:00 pm on Friday 12 March 2010. Great line up!
A: I’m glad we’re playing the Friday! So we can drink, party and rock out for the remainder of the weekend!
DF: This will not be your first MotherFudd by any means or measure. Are you planning anything special or out of the ordinary to keep old supporters invigorated, or do you have a set act that you wish to follow?
V: We have almost 30 songs to choose from so every time we play Mother Fudd our set is different. People can expect to hear lots of the new material mixed up with some classics.
A: Ditto
DF: These days, there are a lot of “festival events” going down. In your long history, would you say that SA Metal as reached it’s prime?
V: No not it’s prime yet. Lots of room for growth. I have a Spanish friend living in S.A. that told me our scene reminds her of their local scene 10 years ago. Spain has a very big and strong Metal scene nowadays with lots of local and international bands touring there. The Metal scene is stronger that ever and still growing. I expect to see more festivals and new bands in the future as well as lots of the old festivals getting more Metal acts on the bill as well as more international acts touring our country.
A: We are far from being completely professional here but getting closer every day of every month! The S.A. Metal Scene has yet to fully explode….. But that day is going to come and great things are going to happen!
W: Most definitely not! It will have reached its prime when we have bands like devil driver, Cryptopsy and Dying Fetus touring here regularly and opening for our acts over seas! Think Big for fuck sakes.
DF: We seem to be living in a time where the internet makes all things possible. This is great for the self-interests of an individual, but does not always necessarily serve to the benefit of a greater good. In the context of SA metal, we have witnessed many fly-by-nights in terms of would-be promoters, record labels, agencies, festivals and such. With the years that you have spent as an active entity within the local scene, you must surely have developed some insight. What has aroused your interest in recent times that can be seen as positive developments within local metal as an “industry”?
V: Where to start? When we started there where only a hand full of Metal bands and half didn’t know what they where doing.. These days there are hundreds if not more and the quality and skill of a lot of the younger bands are amazing. Also there are a lot more venues and festivals these days for new bands to play. Because of the internet you can now down load lessons from your favorite players at any time and advertise your band and gigs to a much wider audience. Local Metal recordings have improved a lot in the last couple of years, and lots I feel are of international quality. Turn outs of both sexes at Metal shows these days are amazing. Back in the day it was only guys and one or two scary chicks! Lol.
A: stay away from record labels, they only exist to fuck you! Unless they can give you proper distribution etc. But from our experiences, in this country, DO IT YOURSELF!!!!
DF: Which was the last band you saw live that was really impressive?
V: Carcass at Witchfest 2008.
A: Azrail, Bile of Man and Dean Crescent
W: Rhutz!
DF: If you were given the choice of any band from any country that you could do a hometown gig with, who would it be and why?
V: Cryptopsy from Canada! I feel that they are probably the best extreme metal band with some of the best chops on the planet and we could learn a lot from them as musicians and as a band. They are true innovators!
A: Failing that…. Death (R.I.P. Chuck)
DF: So besides a hometown show with Cryptopsy, what other milestones are the Architecture of Aggression crew aspiring towards?
V: Constantly touring the world with the best bands in the business and making new albums that are always better than the previous ones and bettering our selves as musicians, challenging and inspiring each other.
W: Writing music!!!
DF: Anything you would like to add that we have not yet touched on?
V: No.
http://www.aoa666.com
