http://www.nonpop.de/nonpop/index.php?nav=1&area=1&p=articles&action=showdetails&id=3172&artpage=2&type=special
NONPOP - Artikel > Interviews > Musiker > Quintessenz: MILITIA



Tony F.

Quintessenz: MILITIA

Fünf Fragen an...


Quintessenz: MILITIA
Kategorie: Spezial
Wörter: 1089
Erstellt: 19.10.2017
Kaufen bei: Amazon


Schrift vergrößern Schrift verkleinern

What was the reason for re-recording „New European Order“ instead of working on a new album?

We received a request from RODOLFO PROTTI from Old Europa Cafe label in Italy indicating he would like to re-release the former MILITIA-albums, starting with “New European Order”. It seemed there was enough interest for the album - which was sold out long ago - to go for a new edition. MILITIA agreed, but on the condition that we could redo the complete album. We weren’t satisfied with the sound quality and the way it was recorded any longer, and since I run my own recording studio, this would give us the opportunity of releasing a complete fresh album.  We were planning the recordings for a new album at that moment, so we decided to start with the re-recordings for “New European Order” first and do the recordings for the new studio album in September of this year.

What are the biggest changes and why did you made them?

First of all we had too little time and not enough money to record the album as we would have like back in 1996. Recording the album costed a lot of money so we had to reduce the recordings in some way. On the other hand, the studio engineer didn’t assist us as we would have hoped when recording this “first major” Militia album. Most of the time we did the recordings, mixing and mastering ourselves. Nevertheless, for me it was an interesting process and the start of learning how to do the recordings myself and actually opening a real recording studio many years later. 

So for the new edition we added lots of percussion tracks, more spoken word and more lyrics. I used more and better microphones to capture the percussion instruments and we used high quality compressors and effect machines. In all you hear more instruments involved, some of them we collected during the following years after recording the original album, so a lot of self-made instruments that are featuring on the new album cannot be heard on the original one. We kept the original “mood” though, but the overall sound now is richer and cleaner so to speak.


MILITIA

How did you feel revisiting the old material and “meeting” your younger self? Was it a kind of special experience?

What struck me was that I could drum even faster now than I did back then, perhaps it was because I was nervous when playing in a big studio in those days? I kept the original sound scapes and electronic music part of the first album, but I was more “into the music” now I guess. I also added a few texts, sort of social and historical update if you like. 

I intended at first to have the four other Militia members - PAUL, DIANA, JÉRÔME und RENÉE - play the percussion instruments as well, but in the end I decided to play and record all instrument layers and vocals on my own. I’d written all of the percussion layers back then, so playing them once more was easy to do by myself. It also kept the recording process short and effective, no rehearsals with the other band members needed. It also meant that I can focus with them on the new studio recordings, the ones for the “Ambiorix” project we’re going to release.

I think in some interviews years ago you said that “New European Order” described the state of the world at that time. Do you still agree to that statement and how do you judge the further development regarding the state of the world since the release of “New European Order”?

I immediately felt that I had to “update” the album, especially concerning the lyrics. Lot has happened since 1996, not only politically looking at the world around us, but my own social and political views have evolved, which is quite normal I guess. On the other hand, the social elements we focused on regarding the original album haven’t changed that much either: there’s still an economic crisis going on and I don’t think there’s been one moment of peace looking at the entire world since back in the days of writing and recording “New European Order”.  

It’s like history repeats itself, we humans don’t draw any lessons from the past. That’s why we want to record a new album dedicated to the Gaul king Ambiorix and his struggle against the Roman occupation in the region where I live now. What happened in 54 B.C. still happens now, so that album will be sort of “conclusion” , a resume in which we’ll put the Gaul war against the Romans as an example of what people still have been doing before and since that event: fighting, exploiting and abusing for whatever political, military or religious reasons and other driving forces.

Are there any further plans for Militia so far?

Starting with the recordings for the “Ambiorix” project. The album is based on the “De Bello Gallico” writings by Julius Caesar. We are looking for various forms of collaboration with the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren - a town next to the town I live in and “hometown” of Ambiorix -, we’ll renew our contacts with JOHN KENNY, famous for playing the carnyx, a Gaul musical instrument of war, we contacted professor EMMANUEL  DUPRAZ from the University of Brussels, he’ll translate our lyrics into the Gaul language - as far as this is possible - and we’ll contact a former teacher of Latin to help us with the “Roman” part of the lyrics. The basic music tape is nearly finished - just one track to go - and we’ll start rehearsing and recording the percussion parts from this month on. It’ll be Old Europa Cafe who will release the album which is quite interesting being on Italian label, call it “collaborating with the former enemy”… I hope Ambiorix doesn’t turn around in his grave, wherever that may be.


 
Tony F. für nonpop.de


Verweise zum Artikel:
» MILITIA @ Facebook
» MILITIA HOMEPAGE

Themenbezogene Artikel:
» MILITIA: New European Order
» Militia :: Everything Is One

Themenbezogene Newsmeldungen:
» MILITIA: "'Power, Propaganda, Production!"

Anzeige: Abebooks.de - 100 Mio. neue, gebrauchte und antiquarische Bücher
Namentlich gekennzeichnete Beiträge spiegeln ausschließlich die Meinung des jeweiligen Verfassers bzw. Interviewpartners wieder. Nachdruck (auch auszugsweise) nur mit schriftlicher Genehmigung durch den Betreiber dieser Seite.
Link-Code zu diesem Artikel:
Wöchentliche Artikelübersicht per Mail
Werde NONPOP- Redakteur...
» Diesen Artikel bewerten
» Kommentar zum Artikel verfassen
NONPOP RADIO
Nonpop Radio starten:

Hier Popup
Ebay- Angebote zum Thema:
Militia