ABSALEM – Interview with Gina, Miguel and rest of the band

Currently, a growling woman on vocals in a metal band is not a surprise, and even she attracts attention. ABSALEM is another Spanish band of this type. You will know about their debut album, sexist teases and Polish tourists in Spain from the following interview…

You’ve been exist since 2016. Are these your first steps as musicians in a band?

ABSALEM: No, they aren’t for most of us, except from Gina we have all been in a music band or project beforehand.

In Spain, you are not the only band in which a woman sings and growls. Do you know or meet other bands of this type?

ABSALEM: Of course, right now there are several bands with a female singer. We like seeing more and more women being inspired by bands like us, and hopefully in the future we see even more metal bands with female singers, drummers, guitarists, bassists, etc.

They grow like mushrooms after the rain… An example of this is the young American-French band ASHES ARISE. The members are women they play Extreme Metal. Great band!.. And do you know Spanish band [IN MUTE]? It is the most extreme band from Spain, in which a woman growls up. At least such information accompanies their promotion. Do you know the band?

ABSALEM: Yes, we definitely know them! We shared stage with them at our hometown last winter, and it was great. Besides, we share record label with them, so for sure we will be seeing them again in the future.

Usually, each vocalist follows someone. Gina, who is the model for you?

Gin: My role models range from Amy Winehouse to Peggy Lee, etc. And talking about growls, I usually enjoy singers like Phil Bozeman from Whitechapel or Tatiana Shmayluk, from Jinjer. I will never be able to choose only one as a favourite or as a main influence.

Gina, do you growl intuitively, or did you learn special techniques to extract this voice to not injure the vocal cords?

Gin: I sing clean vocals since childhood, and I like metal since then too, so I did not see a reason not to continue learning techniques as a singer, including growls, and have this as a challenge to learn hot to do it right, and not damage my vocal chords. Without a doubt, it is a complicated process. It starts sounding like shit, but by being constant and eager to improve, and listening to anyone who had something to teach me, I was able to increase the modulation in both higher and lower registries, that’s how I really started to gain some good and deep tones.

Currently, a growling woman on vocals in a metal band is no surprise, and even attracts attention. Gina, did you meet any sexist fans during the concerts?

Gin: Unfortunately, yes. Both in concerts as audience, or record reviews. In general I see it and live it daily. It is not something that is only seeing in the music scene if you are a woman, I see that being a woman, in your life in general, you will live sexist situations. Sometimes you just ignore it, sometimes you condemn it. It tires the fuck out of you, but you have to fight against it.

Where will you play this year?

Miguel: This year we are concentrating all our efforts in touring Spain. Unfortunately, during the last months of 2017, Álvaro, one of our guitarrists, quit the band, and we had to start from scratch and couldn’t do any shows for a couple of months. Luckily, soon we found Carlos “Mercury”, who was a fan and friend beforehand to fill in the role as guitar player, so after many rehearsals, when we felt we were ready again to hit the road, we started booking some shows. To this point, we have played a couple of shows with him, but after the summer we will be touring the south of Spain, Galicia, and hopefully Madrid, so Europe will have to wait until next year.

What subjects are important to you in the texts?

ABSALEM: Life, nature, our own experiences… For Absalem, lyrics are a really important part, and we like to give the listener the privilege to discover their own take on the lyrics.

How should the album title be interpreted? Is it a word’s game? Like “chaos evolution”…

ABSALEM: Indeed is a play on words combining the two concepts. “From chaos comes evolution”. For us, this made-up term implies that through experience and errors, we learn and evolve as human beings.

Your debut album was released by Art. Gates Records. I think the choice was obvious…

Miguel: Of course. It was pretty obvious to us. They really support the metal scene at Spain, and are one of the biggest labels in the genre, so for us, they were the best option to work with, and from the beginning, when we showed them some demos, they supported us.

This label brings together Spanish bands. How does cooperation work with the label?

Miguel: Great! It is great. They have put us in the spotlight, and made easier for us to make a name for ourselves. Besides, they have always supported all our musical decisions (Like recording and mixing the album in my own studio instead of going somewhere else). We learn from them every single day, and hope to become better musicians and professionals in the future.

What is the album according of You? I’m asking for self-advertisement 😊

Miguel: It is a mix of all of our experience in life and music. We have put our souls into making this album, and we really enjoy playing every single song. For us there are no filler songs in this record, and that is why we feel so proud about it. The good thing about this, is you will find different types of songs throughout the album, because we wrote each one of them in a moment when we felt that way, so for sure you won’t be bored while listening to it!

Do you have any ideas for the next material in your mind?

Miguel: Yes. We are already working in new ideas and songs. Actually, we never stopped writing. Burned to ashes was the last song to be writen for the album, and it was so raw, so different to the rest of the material, that we felt that meant the end of an era for us, that is why it closes “Chaosvolution”, it marks the start of the new material to come, and for now, it is sounding heavier, more extreme, but without losing the melody.

In most of Europe, summer is the time of holidays. This year, many Poles leave for Spain on vacation. I’m Polish, so I’m also curious about how do you perceive Poles – tourists? Do they behave correctly? 😊

ABSALEM: You are great! You know many nationalities come to Spain for holidays, but Polish are one of the greatest! And besides, you usually introduce us to many great import beer brands from your country! We truly hope we can play at your country next summer, so let every polish festival know we are open for hiring next summer!

Do you leave somewhere on vacation?

Miguel: We are playing our final summer show at Béjar (Salamanca) in mid august. Then each one of us will take a couple of weeks to rest, and we will come back during september with a mini tour through Andalucia (South of Spain). Myself, I will be enjoying some beach time at Alicante, on the East of Spain, so hopefully I will get to meet many polish people over there!

Ok. Thank you for the interview and good luck on the music scene! I leave the ending for you…

ABSALEM: Thank YOU indeed. And thanks to everyone that has listened to our record. And if you haven’t, please, feel free to hit us on Spotify, Youtube, or any othe digital platform, and let us know of what you think in our social media (@Absalemband), either if you like it or not! We appreciate all types of critics, and they help us grow and improve.

https://www.facebook.com/absalemband/

Home: Parczew (Poland). Interests / Hobbies: music, musical journalism, oriental studies, anthropology, psychology, medicine, sociology. Favourite music genres: first of all the all genres of Metal, Hardcore and Progressive Rock as well as Gothic, Ambient, Classical Music, Ethnic Music, Sacred Music, Choral Music, Soundtracks, New Age Music, Folk Music i sometimes Jazz, Electro, Experimental or Alternative Music... He co-founded magazine & webzine Born To Die'zine as Gnom.
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