ADDICTION FOR DESTRUCTION – The Russian roulette
Interview with D. McKay
1. Congratulations for your work guys. Your killer sound brought me in memory a lot of the great bands in the 80s. Please let me know all the details about the band…
Thank you for your words! We started in June 2010. I always dreamed about a band like this since I saw Aerosmith on MTV in 1993 or 1994, I guess. I was in different bands since I was 16, but all that bands were little wrong for me. Anyway, they gave me a lot of experience in touring, recording etc. I met Antony Nabo, our original drummer, on our common friends’ birthday party and we decided to start. Antony had a lot of years of experience on stage too, so it was very comfortable to play with him. We weren’t kids which starting a band with playing cover versions etc. We put some ads in social networks (yes, times when guys like us used music magazines and guitar stores for ads are unfortunately over) to find a guitarist and a singer. And we found Tom Spice and his classmate Danny. Practically from the start we made first demo and booked some local shows. For the moment only Tom and I left from the original line up. Now we have Henning Nielsen from Denmark on the guitar and Krock on the drums.
2. You come from Russia, a nation that was introduced to the American 80s sound after the Moscow Peace Festival in the late 80s. How important was that festival for the American rock invasion in Russia?
I was too young that time to be there. But I think for all people it was like looking at space aliens alive. It was a big shock for usual Russian rock fan to see all that bands live after years of listening bootleg cassettes and LPs, watching bad quality VHSs. I think this festival made a lot to break some kind of invisible border which soviet people had in their minds.
3. How popular is the hard rock sound in Russia and how easy is to get the gigs around the country?
Classic bands like Deep Purple, Scorpions, Alice Cooper etc are really popular around the country. They have regular tours all around Russia and stable fan base. But unfortunately it’s hard to bring a new name to that old school fans. Moreover if a new name is Russian, most of them don’t care at all… But in big cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg it’s always cool to play gigs.
4. How would you comment on the Pussy Riot case?
It’s not about music, only about politics. We are about music, no comments on politics.
5. Where did you record your album and please describe us the process of the recordings
We recorded album at Parametrica studio in Moscow. It’s one of the best top-class studios in Russia. I think they’re the only ones who have such stuff like Studer tape recorder, vintage Neve mixer from the 70th etc. The recording process started in October 2011. We recorded 5 songs during first session and took a break to mix “Feelin’ Fine” for video. In the process of mixing we realized that we made something wrong. We didn’t like the sound, it was too much compressed, songs were poorly arranged etc. During the next session we decided to find another sound and re-recorded all the songs and also recorded the rest of the album tracks. After we thought everything was done we found that rhythm guitars and bass were recorded wrong. We re-recorded guitars and bass, bass was re-recorded actually 2 times with different settings. Then it was vocals/backing vocals session, I think it took 2 or 3 months.
We worked with really experienced sound engineers, which recorded a lot of really hit albums in Russia. And they gave us a lot of knowledge about recording process and about sound creating. We learned a lot about playing like a band, about groove and arrangement. We worked with some professional musicians on recording some guitar parts and backing vocals. Their level as musicians showed us something to strive for. We’re really proud of that record, you can hear all the difference between what the band was before and after just after listening to early demo tapes and an album. Even a “Feelin’ Fine” song in a single version, that was taken from the first sessions of an album recording, shows it all, all big changes that happened to a band during one year.
6. Do you have any plans of visiting the States for further promotion and live dates?
Yes, we have such plans but I can’t tell any exact information about it now. We’ll announce it later.
7. What are the most important aspects of the band which keep the band united?
I think the main thing is mutual respect between band mates. Being in band is like a partnership, band mates must trust and respect each other, without that band won’t work.
8. How do you position the band in the word of the digital music and internet promotion?
Our label distributes album through iTunes, Amazon, Media Markt and all other sellers of digital music formats. Times changed and we can’t ignore internet for sales and promotion, it’s very easy and comfortable way to bring you music to people.
9. What makes an indie band successful in the eyes of the Russian audience?
If you’re a Russian band and you have record deal, tours and media appearances abroad (in the States or in EU – it doesn’t matter so much) it’s a good way to reach higher positions on Russian market. But anyway it’s not guaranteed.
10. Please let me know about your future plans
We have to go on tour first of all. We have some confirmed dates for spring 2013, but we’re still looking for more. We want to make this tour as long as possible. Now I can say for sure that we’re coming to Italy at the end of March’2013. Than we have plans to film one or two new videos, one of them for Neon Light Resurrection song. Also very soon we’ll have a new web site and merch. Stay tuned and see you on the shows!
Info: http://www.afd-official.com/
