Interview med Fernando Ribeiro

Foto: Thomas Rungstrøm Foto: Thomas Rungstrøm

I forbindelse med deres genudgivelse af 'The Butterfly Effect', Covid-19 og deres kommende album, fik vi en snak med Fernando Ribeiro fra Moonspell!

1: Hvordan er tingene i Portugal lige nu, med Covid-19, lockdowns osv.?

Portugal er et meget lille land; vi har det samme befolkningstal som Sverige eller Danmark. Jeg tror faktisk, Danmark har færre end os på 10 millioner?

Ja, vi er på omkring 5 millioner.

Ja ok, så halvt så mange som os. Jeg tror, at vi var ret heldige, fordi vi er et lille land, så det gik fint. Jeg tror, vi lærte af de fejl, som vores naboland Spanien, deres regering og sundhedssystem begik. Lige nu er vi ved at være ude af karantænen, det er det ikke rigtig i nyhederne længere, fordi det ikke fylder så meget længere, det er ligesom i alle andre lande. Jeg mener, det er ikke så stor en ting for Portugal, naturligvis er en masse mennesker blevet påvirket, og økonomien vil – naturligvis – lide, men vi har færre end 2000 dødsfald, hvilket i forhold til kræft, bilulykker og influenza er ingenting. Men det er en underlig situation, ikke engang de mest dystopiske bøger kunne have forberedt os på dette, ikke engang mine egne apokalyptiske tekster kan sammenlignes med det. Men vi er dybest set bare portugisere, ikke? Vi forsøger at "gå mellem regndråberne " og at få vores liv tilbage til det normale. Men vi er et lille land, så jeg tror, det burde være lettere at styre, at regere i. Men for at føje til listen over problemer, så er det tidspunktet for de årlige sommerbrande – vores territorier brænder igen på grund af politiske fejltagelser, men tilsyneladende er Covid sådan en stor ting, at man kun taler om det, og alt andet bliver glemt. Jeg har ondt af de store lande som Brasilien, USA og Mexico, for det er bare matematik og statistik, hvis man ikke har et regulært sundhedssystem, som man investerer i. Jeg har ikke rigtig nogen teorier selv, men der er en masse mennesker, der siger, at det er naturens hævn eller en nedslagtning af gamle og svage mennesker, men det har intet at gøre med økologi eller sådan. Men katastrofer får folk til at sige skøre ting, ikke?

2: I disse dage spiller mange bands online-koncerter via streaming eller arbejder på nyt materiale. Hvad laver Moonspell, har hele denne lockdown tvunget jer til at arbejde eller til at blive inspireret?

Tja, sidste år turnerede vi og arbejdede meget, især i oktober-december.  Så vi skulle have haft et år fri alligevel, men det er klart, at vores planer blev påvirket, ligesom for enhver anden kunstner eller entertainer. Vi har brugt en masse tid på at arbejde på vores nye album, som sandsynligvis vil komme ud i 2021, virus eller ej, og forhåbentlig kan vi turnere med det. Vi tog os også tid til at være sammen med vores familier og til at slappe af og gå "off the radar", hvilket ikke er så dårligt. Vi er ikke de store sociale networkers – stor respekt til dem, der er – men jeg tror ikke, nogen vågner op og tænker på mig som en SoMe-fyr. Der er ikke nogen, der går op i, om jeg laver mad eller går på stranden!

Vi fik dog ingen støtte, fordi vi er på et tysk pladeselskab, hvor man arbejder under tyske arbejdslove, som ikke gælder for os i Portugal, så... det er noget, ingen rigtig tænker på, når de gerne vil starte et band!

Men det nye album har udviklet sig i løbet af denne tid. Vi skal optage det i Storbritannien, hvis vi får lov. Indtil videre er det ikke forbudt for portugisere at tage til Storbritannien, men skal i karantæne, hvilket er ret ironisk, da Storbritannien er et af de lande i Europa, som virkelig kæmper med Covid-19, og Boris Johnson, som ingen rigtig stemte på, den tredje premierminister i fem år er i gang med at ødelægge et af de ældste demokratier.

Men vi skal dertil, og vi skal arbejde med Jaime Gomez Arellano, der producerede Paradise Lost’s Obsidian-album, og vi vil samle brudstykker op her og der og forsøge at lave nogle demoer i september/oktober. Vi forsøger at få booket nogle shows, og 2021 vil forhåbentlig blive et travlt år for os, men 2020 bliver vi bare nødt til at sluge, hårdt, og håbe på det bedste!

Vi overvejede streaming, men jeg tror ikke, at Ricardo eller jeg, der spiller en akustisk guitar på sofaen, er noget, folk virkelig gider. Altså, folk keder sig, så de ser hvad som helst, men vi vil gerne lave noget ordentligt. Vi laver vores sædvanlige Halloweenshow i Lissabon, som vi streamer, og folk kan købe onlinebilletter til det, for tiden er desværre ikke til gratis ting. Så vi arbejder, ikke en masse eller hårdt, men smart. Musikere har brug for penge, men også opmærksomhed, men jeg tror, at det med Zoom og lignende under karantænen blev for meget, folk var konstant lige i hovedet på dig, og vi vil gerne respektere privatlivets fred for vores fans og gøre ting, der er umagen værd. Vi har lagt vores onlinefanclub, The Wolfpack, på Patreon, så vores fans kan finde sammen, og vi kan lave fede, meningsfulde ting. Altså, jeg kunne havet taget min telefon og filmet min kat, men jeg mener, hvorfor?

3: Ingen Moonspell albums er ens, og jeres sidste plade 1755 var et konceptalbum, så hvad kan vi fans forvente af det kommende album?

Altså 1755 var, som du sagde, et konceptalbum, så det var en pause fra vores musikalske udvikling. Men Moonspell er drevet af to ting: kedsomhed og eksistentialisme. Vi elsker det, vi laver, men vi kommer hurtigt til at kede os og bevæger os så videre. Da vi skrev Wolfheart for mange år siden, en plade jeg elsker og er stolt af, havde jeg aldrig forventet, at det ville blive et legendarisk album på den europæiske metalscene – men allerede da vi fortsatte med at lave Irreligious, husker jeg, at jeg kedede mig med de ting, vi havde gjort på Wolfheart. Det er lidt for tidligt at sige, hvordan det nye album bliver, men det vil formentlig fortsætte, hvor sange som "Breathe" eller "The Future is Dark” fra Extinct slap, så det bliver melodisk. Jeg sagde til de andre, at der ikke var nogen betingelser, og at de bare skulle gøre, hvad de ville! Jeg vil gerne lave et meget musikalsk album og uden dagsorden. Ikke en social kommentar, ikke noget mørkt, men lige hvad de vil, noget meget ægte – jeg er sikker på, det vil imponere folk! Så det vil blive anderledes i forhold til det, folk forventer, og det er også anderledes i forhold til det, jeg havde forventet. Da vi var færdige med turnéen med Rotting Christ, følte jeg, at vi var nødt til at prøve noget nyt, og vi var nødt til at være tro mod os selv, tro mod Moonspell. Vi var nødt til at holde op med at begrænse os til metal, til mørke, til gotisk – vi er nødt til at være fri og gøre, hvad vi har lyst til. Selvfølgelig vil det ikke lyde som Lady Gaga eller Madonna, men det er et album lavet af mænd, ikke drenge.

4: I har lige genudgivet Butterfly Effect, som fyldte 20 sidste år. Har det at gå tilbage til det album givet jer mulighed for at genopdage noget om jer selv?

Først og fremmest, en stor del af at genudgive vores ældre album havde intet at gøre med nostalgi, det handlede om, at de var helt udsolgt. Folk ville have dem, de var udsolgt, så vi var nødt til at gøre noget.  Så Alma Matter Records, vores eget lille selskab, gik sammen med Napalm Records om at gøre noget virkelig, virkelig cool. Butterfly Effect er et helt vanvittigt album, apropos ingen betingelser. Butterfly Effect kom lige efter Sin/Pecado-albummet, et album, som både var elsket og hadet, ikke rigtig på grund af selve albummet, men fordi det ikke rigtig matchede metalscenen på det tidspunkt. Så svaret på det var at lave et skørt album i en skør tid. Jeg var drevet af, at vi var på vej ind i et nyt årtusinde, hvilket var et godt tidspunkt at være i live på, men også en skør tid på grund af alle de tossede teorier som Y2K, fly, der ville falde ned fra himlen, computere, der ville overtage osv. Det ønskede vi at udnytte, så indspilningen fandt sted i London, og resultatet er, hvad det er; Moonspell med elektronik, avantgarde, snavs og vanvid uden tanke på vores black eller gotiske metalrødder. Jeg tror det største ved genudgivelsen er, at folk nu hører det igen 20 år senere, og jeg har endda læst, at nogle mennesker online undskylder for ikke at kunne lide albummet, da det udkom første gang. Det er en god ting ved musik, nogle gange får jeg plader og undrer mig over, hvad fanden bandet har gang i, og så er der noget, der fanger min opmærksomhed, og så kommer jeg ind i det på en eller anden måde, nogle gange endda meget mere end jeg normalt ville. Det er en forskel mellem pop og metal, tror jeg. Hvis du ikke forstår pop, får du svært ved at forstå det senere, hvor metal på en eller anden måde skal vokse på dig, hvilket betyder, at det holder længere. Det næste bliver en genudgivelse af Darkness and Hope og The Anti-Dote, eller det er i hvert fald planen, og vi vil lave en ultraspeciel genudgivelse af Irreligious, fordi den bliver ved med at blive udsolgt, selv efter alle disse år – hvilket er fantastisk! Vi vil også genoptage vores black metalprojekt, Dæmonarch frem og også genudgive Hermeticum-albummet.

5: Lisboa Under the Spell, som I udgav i 2018, virkede som et ekstremt ambitiøst show. Hvordan var det at udføre sådan et massivt show?

Det var et mareridt! Jeg tror ikke, at jeg nogensinde har været så træt, som jeg var den dag, vi ønskede at lave et særligt show, hvor vi både spillede Wolfheart og Irreligion, men vi ønskede også at støtte Extinct, som på optagelsestidspunktet var vores seneste album. Vi lavede showet i Portugal, i Lissabon, og mange af seerne kom fra hele verden både for at besøge Portugal, men også for at se showet, hvilket var virkelig fantastisk. Jeg husker, at jeg var i stormens øje med videoholdet og lydholdet, og da vi lavede lydtjek, ville videoholdet filme, og da vi lavede video, ville lydfolkene lave lydtjek, så jeg bare var nødt til at holde mine øjne på prisen, men wow! Vi ønskede, at det ikke bare skulle være et godt show, men også en fantastisk dvd som The Wall eller The Song Remains the Same, med masser af detaljer for folk derhjemme – så det var et stort projekt. Men den dag, især koncertdagen, var bare et helvede, og jeg er meget glad for, at vi overhovedet ikke virkede trætte eller vrede, for jeg tror, vi spillede Wolfheart tre gange den dag, så vores folk og fansene havde det fantastisk, selvfølgelig fordi de elsker sangene. Når du udgiver live albums – jeg er ikke den største fan af livealbums selv, altså jeg kan godt lide Live After Death eller Earth Inferno – tror jeg, at man virkelig er nødt til at gøre en indsats og lægge en masse i puljen for at gøre det specielt, forstår du? Det er en gave for enhver Moonspellfan!

1: How are things in Portugal right now, with Covid-19, lockdowns etc?

Portugal is a very small country; we have the same population as Sweden or Denmark. Actually, I think Denmark has less than us at 10 million?

Yeah, we are at roughly 5 million.

Yeah ok, so half of us. I think we got very lucky, because we are a small country, so things went fine. I think we learned from the mistakes of our neighbor country Spain, their government and health system. Right now we are getting out of the quarantine, it’s not really on the news anymore because it’s not that big a deal anymore; it’s just like any other country. I mean, it’s not that a big deal for Portugal, sure a lot of people suffered and the economy will – obviously – suffer, but I mean we have less than 2000 deaths, which is nothing compared to cancer, car crashes, the flu. But it’s a weird situation, not even the most dystopian books could have prepared us for this, not even my own apocalyptic lyrics can compare to it. But we are basically just being Portuguese you know? Trying to “go between the drops of rain”, trying to get our lives back to normal. But we are a small country so I guess it should be easier to govern, to rule. But to add to the list of issues, it’s the time of the annual summer fires – our territories are burning again due to political mistakes and obviously the Covid is such a big thing, so you only talk about that and everything else is forgotten. I feel sorry for the big countries like Brazil, the US, Mexico because it is just math’s and statistics if you don’t have a regular health system that you invest. I don’t really have any theories myself, but there are a lot of people saying that it’s natures revenge or a culling of old and weak people, but this has nothing to do with ecology or such. But catastrophes make people say crazy things, right?

2: These days a lot of bands are doing online concerts via streaming or working on new material. What is Moonspell doing, has this whole lockdown forced you into working or being inspired?

Well last year we toured and worked a lot, especially during October-December. So we were supposed to have a year off anyways, but clearly our plans were affected like any other artist or entertainer. We’ve spent a lot of time working on our new album, which will probably come out in 2021 virus or not and hopefully we can tour with it. We also took some time to be with our families and to relax and go “off the radar”, which isn’t a bad thing. We are not big social networkers, though huge respect to those who are, but I don’t think anyone wakes up and thinks of me as a SoMe guy. No one really cares if I’m cooking or going to the beach!

We didn’t get any support though, because we are on a German label that uses the German labor laws which doesn’t apply to us in Portugal so… That’s something no one really thinks about when they want to start a band!

But the new album is something that has evolved during this time. We are going to record it in the UK, if we will be permitted. So far Portuguese people aren’t banned from entering the UK but we’ll have to be quarantined, which is very ironic knowing that the UK is one of the countries in Europe which is really struggling with Covid-19 and Boris Johnson who no one really voted for, the third prime minister in five years ruining one of the oldest democracies.

But we are going there, and we’ll be working with Jaime Gomez Arellano who did Paradise Lost’s Obsidian album and we’ll be picking up pieces here and there and try to make some demos in September/October. We are trying to book some shows and 2021 will, hopefully, be a busy year for us, but 2020 is something we’ll just have to swallow, hard, and hope for the best!

We thought about streaming, but I don’t think that me or Ricardo, playing an acoustic guitar on the couch is something that people really care about. I mean, sure, people are bored, so they’ll watch anything, but we want to present something decent. We’ll do our usual Halloween show in Lisbon, which we’ll stream, and people can buy online tickets for it because now is not the time for free things sadly. So, we are working, not a lot or hard, but smart. Musicians need money, but also attention, but I think that with Zoom and everything like that in the quarantine it became too much, people were constantly in your face and we want to respect the privacy of our fans and do stuff that is worth their while. We are doing our online fanclub, The Wolfpack, via Patreon so our fans can connect, and we can do cool, meaningful stuff. I mean sure, I could pick up my phone and film my cat but, I mean, why?

3: No two Moonspell records are alike, and your last record 1755 was a concept album, so what can we fans expect from the upcoming album?

Well 1755 was, as you said, a concept album, so that was a break from our musical progress. But Moonspell is driven by two things: boredom and existentialism. We love what we do, but we quickly get bored by it and then move on. When we did Wolfheart many years ago, a record I love and am proud of – I never expected it to become a legendary album in the European metal scene – but already when we moved on to do the Irreligious, I remember I was bored of the things we’d done on Wolfheart. It’s a bit early to say what the new album will be like, but it will probably pick up on where songs like “Breathe” or “The Future is Dark” from Extinct left off, so it’ll be melodic. I told the other guys that, there are no strings attached just do whatever you want! I want to do a very musical album and with no agenda. Not a social commentary, not something dark just whatever they want, something very genuine – I’m sure it’ll amaze people! So it’ll be different from what people will expect and it’s different from what I expected too. When we finished the tour with Rotting Christ, I felt that we had to do something new and we had to be true to ourselves, true to Moonspell. We had to stop limiting our selves to metal, to darkness, to gothic – we have to be free and do whatever we want. Of course it won’t sound like Lady Gaga or Madonna, but it’s an album made by men; not boys.

4: You just re-released Butterfly Effect, which turned 20 last year. Did going back to that particular album allow you to rediscover something about yourself?

First of all, a big part of re-releasing our older album had nothing to do with nostalgia; it was all about the fact that they were totally sold out. People wanted them, they were sold out, so we had to do something. So Alma Matter Records, our own little label, teamed up with Napalm Records to make something really, really cool. Butterfly Effect is a very crazy album, talking about no strings attached. Butterfly Effect came just after the Sin/Pecado album, an album which was both very loved and very hated, not really because of the album itself, but because it didn’t really match the metal scene of the time. So, the answer to that, was to do a crazy album in a crazy time. I was driven by the fact that we were about to enter a new millennium, which was a great time to be alive, but also a crazy time because of all the mad theories like Y2K, planes falling out of the sky, computers taking over etc. We wanted to tap into that, so the recording was taking place in London and the result is what it is; Moonspell with electronics, avantgarde, dirty and craziness with no care for our black or gothic metal roots. I think the greatest thing about the re-release is, that people are now hearing it again 20 years later and I even read some people, online, apologizing for not liking the album when it first came out. That’s a good thing about music, sometimes I get records and I wonder, what the fuck are these guys doing, and then something catches my attention and then I get into it somehow, sometimes even much more than I’d normally do. That’s a difference between pop and metal I think. If you don’t get into pop you’ll have a hard time getting into it later, where metal kinda needs to grow on you which means it’ll last longer. Next up we’ll do a re-release of Darkness and Hope and The Antidote at least that’s the plan and we’ll do an ultra-special re-release of Irreligious because that one keeps selling out even after all these years – which is great! We’ll also pick up our black metal project, Dæmonarch, and re-release the Hermeticum record as well.

5: Lisboa Under the Spell, which you released in 2018, seemed like an extremely ambitious show. How was it to perform such a massive show?

It was a nightmare! I don’t think I’d ever been so tired as I was that day, we wanted to make a special show where we played both Wolfheart and Irreligious but we also wanted to support Extinct which, at the time of the recording, was our latest album. We did the show in Portugal, in Lisbon, and a lot of the viewers came from all over the world both to visit Portugal but also to see the show, which was really great. I remember that I was in the eye of the storm with the video crew and the sound crew, and when we were doing soundcheck the video crew wanted to do video, and when we were doing video the sound crew wanted us to do soundcheck, so I just had to keep my eyes on the prize but wow! We wanted it to be, not just a great show, but also a great dvd like The Wall or The Song Remains the Same, with lots of details for people at home – so it’s a great release. But the day, especially the gig day, was just hell and I’m very happy that we didn’t seem tired or angry at all, because I think we played Wolfheart three times that day, so the crew and the fans were having a great time because they love the songs of course. I think when you release live albums, I’m not the biggest fan of live albums myself, I mean I like Live After Death or Earth Inferno – you have to really make an effort and put a lot into the pot to make it special you know? It’s a feast for any Moonspell fan really.