PRIEST INTERVIEW
Hello Metal Mad TV and thank you for having us!
We are Priest, a brand new synth band from Sweden.
NAYA ZAMIEL: First of all, I want to thank you for the opportunity you have given me. My respect to all.
PUPPET MASTER: The pleasure is all mine! We´re glad you like it.
NZ: Well, I'm really intrigued by the Priest concept. How does the idea of doing the group start? Why choose the name PRIEST?
PM: The name came first, in a dream of fog, wires and light. This was back in Berlin 2010. Some people may think we´re breaking the law like a Judas for using it, but since we´re not doing metal we got our backs covered I think. Priest is simply a cool name for a synth band having technology as it´s religion. We find Mr. Halfords use of leather and studs inspiring though.
NZ: Particularly, in my case, every time I hear a new song from you I go back to the old Goth school and the darkwave or even feel the EBM in my body, however I would like to know. For you Is there any musical genre in which they are defined?
PM: That´s nice to hear! On the first album we go back to the eras we love and try to blend it with our own style. We´re all fans of EBM, Techno and the New Romantic style in the 80´s as well as Big Beat, Gabber and other styles coming out from the 90´s. We try to move between genres effortlessly.
NZ: Who were your main influences?
PM: Depeche Mode, Skinny Puppy, DAF, Darkthrone, Bach, Hocico, Goblin, Front 242, Beatles and much more…
NZ: How do you decide to remain anonymous? What motivates them?
PM: It adds a bit of mystique, doesn’t it? When you grow up reading superhero comics, masked vigilantes always have a place in your heart. Remember, remember…
NZ: Was it difficult to compose the first song?
PM: Not really, the musical composition for The Pit went very quick, but the lyrics took a while to write because there were two separate visions involved. After Alpha finally produced it we ended up with a pretty fine track I think.
NZ: The use of colors and alchemical elements Do they have any particular purpose? The question arises when we observe the first images published on his facebook page, I remember wandering in it note that at first the logo was red, but by the time his first single "The Pit" was released the colors were changed to a blue And even The orientation of your logo, change.
PM: Alchemy is a pouring well of inspiration. The symbols are often very beautiful and they contain a lot of meaning.
Color is a powerful tool and we use it to exaggerate the feeling of a song. The Pit is from the heart, while The Cross is portraying a frozen mind and so on…
The cover and logo was of course flipped because Reloader was the b-side!
NZ: I have analyzed a thousand times its songs, its lyrics, you know humans are like that, not practical always looking for three feet to the cat, however, my mind is a bit confused sometimes What inspires each one Of the songs?
PM: I think a song should contain an enigma – a little puzzle to solve. But just as a magic trick it can loose it´s magnetism when you know the answer.
The inspiration comes from real human memories as well as writings, movies and comic books.
NZ: I do not like lying, so I will be honest with you. The first song I heard was "Reloader" after "The Cross" and finally "The Pit", songs loaded with many emotions, like a simple human, remove you to the most bitter feeling hidden in your heart. The question to be raised here, and I clarify, I do it with the utmost respect. Can the machines get to feel something? Call it love, fear, sadness ... Because in particular "The Cross" transports me to a tragic love story with a very sad ending.
PM: Good, me neither! With an extremely layered and deep programming, a machine sure can feel emotions. Aren’t humans machines made of flesh and blood? For example: in ´Star Trek´ we meet Data´s brother Lore, who had an emotion implant – he didn’t end up very nice, did he? In the end we see that Data, the only character without ability to feel emotion, turned out to be the most human of them all.
NZ: What concept do you have about humanity? What message do they have for us?
PM: We think that humans merging with technology are the next step in evolution. Questions like controllable lifespan, Ai as an entity with “human” rights, various types of implants and advanced limbs that improve the human body will soon be more common. Humanity also faces challenges in how to confront this. Will the human race continue to live within the machines or will it be terminated by them?
NZ: I always take things for granted, and I want to think that they are aware of the number of fans they have in North America and Latin America, so I set out to investigate the most important questions they wanted to ask, one of those Proposed questions are in the previous section, however the following were the most concurrent.
Is there a specific date for a first album?
PM: Not yet, but we´ll announce it soon.
NZ: In the future, do you plan to start a Tour?
PM: Yes, hopefully we start touring in the fall.
NZ: If so, would they consider some dates for France, United States and, of course, Mexico?
PM: Of course, three of our absolute favorite places! As we just started out, we´ll probably take Berlin before Manhattan, but we can´t wait for the opportunity to perform in your home countries!
NZ: Again, thank you for the attention and the opportunity.
PM: You´ll hear more from us in the near future! We love you and you love us!
Best wishes,