Moonspell – 12-03-2015

Interview with: Fernando Ribeiro
By: Sabine van Gameren

Moonspell is on the road as we speak and with the release of their new album called “Extinct” the band has plenty to talk about. Fernando Ribeiro takes place at the couch to have a little chat with us.

Making of ‘Extinct’
Some fans of the band may say the album is quite different from its predecessor, but in fact the band has not taken too long after “AlphaNoir/Omega White” to start the ideas of this release. In fact, while preparing an album tour the Fernando said to have the inspiration for this release and so come the guys have started working on “Extinct” already quite some time ago. “The timing was odd, but the guys are very responsive so it all went fast forward to make an album out of our comfort zone”, Fernando explains, but this was all happening in a very premature state of the release. “We started working more on it nine months ago and six months ago we started working on it every day” he continues. The band worked with the Swedish Jens Bogren and according to Fernando they worked harder than ever before on this release.

The way the band took the album to the studio was still a bit open. In a way it seems better to have everything closed but when leaving it open for spontaneous events seem to have it advantages. “We kept the flow going, we did not force anything to end the song” Fernando tells and starts talking about times they used tables and lists in a studio to keep track they have all. A very restrictive way of recording an album. In the way they worked with ‘Extinct’ the has more freedom to do what feels natural. “The final results of ‘Extinct’ shows a bit of the freshness of method. It is not an album that is overproduced, over layered. I think it is an album that sounds really natural”, he concludes.

The album that is ‘Extinct’
After so many albums it may be an interesting task to keep coming with something new, but for Fernando one thing was clear and that it that the album must represent the band as they are now. “I am 40. All the other guys are 40 except Mike, he is 39. We wanted to make an album that sounds like it is made by an adult band” he explains when we talk about what it is that makes ‘Extinct’ what it is. The album has a catchiness over it and Fernando says it is not that much of an in your face album. “It is something that goes behind you and grabs you. It is more rock and roll than the other albums”.

The guys has no interest to compete with young Thrash Metal formations or the so-called ‘evil Black Metal’ formations out there but wanted to make it something of their own. “To embrace the sound of Moonspell and take it a bit further” Ribeiro tells.
Then we wanted to know what would be the main surprise for someone who has been following the band for a long time and that appears to be the vocals. Fernando: “I never really sung like how I am singing for ‘Extinct’. I definitely changed a lot, I challenged myself to become a better singer. To work on the English accent”.

How that relates to their fans is maybe a different thing, but he does not really seemed very concerned about it and it becomes clear that Fernando is a person that makes the music for him and how he wants it, of course with what the rest of the band wants and not much of a person that feels he needs to please people with his sound. He tells us also: “We have an audience that may be more happy with what we were doing on the 90’s, but this can get really boring and boredom is something I dread”. After that we got the example of a band that makes a dozen releases pirate themed or World War 2 themed and how that is simply not a Moonspell approach.

When turning the conversation back to ‘Extinct’ and its development we come to talk about the song ‘Maliginia’ which have gone through a heavy development from its initial idea towards the song now. It is a typical example of how keeping things a bit open benefits the song. Fernando says: “In the studio everything fell into place. And it became a really great song, one of my favourites of the album”.

Up next
When talking what is ahead for they express their plans to do some more touring. Another one in Europe, east side this time. USA maybe… but also some festivals are mentioned. For example, Fernando speaks of a special show at Wave Gothic Treffen, but upon the day of publication of this article there is no official statement about that show to be found anywhere. A little surprise from the guys perhaps, just not to be out there yet.

Photo’s by sabinevangameren.com

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