Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Juseph Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
First of all, thanks for the opportunity to expose ourselves. It’s our first foreign interview! We are a post-rock/metal band from Portugal. The band began on 2010 by the name of Joseph - three guys, two guitars and drums. Later we got a bassist and since then we have played a lot of gigs in our country between 2010/2012 with some of the most known bands of our underground scene, like Process of Guilt, Men Eater, Eak, among others. Last year we recorded our debut EP and with that record a new band name emerged, JUSEPH. We are still promoting that record today.

2.A year ago you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
We all have different influences, but it’s obvious that we have common artists and ideas that we like. The principles of our music are ambient deep riffs, instrumental rock, sludge. We have tried to achieve those in our record. The EP is composed by 5 tracks, each one tells some part of our history since 2010 to nowadays.

3.What are some of the themes and images the band brings out with the music?
It’s a tricky question. We don’t think many times about it but maybe landscapes, ambient stuff, universe, rage. It’s hard to know how people can feel and describe our music by themes, we don’t have lyrics, no story can be told, each one of us can feel the music in a different way, the listener creates its own emotional path.

4.All of the music is instrumental, are there any plans on using vocals in the future?
It is in our plans do something with vocals, we already have a new song with a little vocal part. We are thinking to add some new elements in a future record, not only vocals but maybe synth and an extra guitar. But our main focus in the composition will always be instrumental tracks.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Juseph'?
We like short names, it’s easy for people to remember, easy to spell. We haven’t any story or inspiration behind the name, we know, it’s sad. The idea was to get a short name. As we said, the first was Joseph, in order to not confuse our fans we came out with JUSEPH because it’s more unique and different from the original name. Only a letter can change a lot of things in this kind of industry, web search, etc.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
All concerts in our little hometown, Vale de Cambra, are special. We are playing for our friends and family. But maybe our DIY gig at “Milhões de Festa” at 2012 edition was one of the most important in our short career. It’s a great alternative festival in our country with lot of bands from all over the world. On stage we try always to do our best, we don’t have any special arrangements for the performance, each one of us try to pass the message that we are feeling with our songs deeply.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We hope someday have any tour in Europe but it is a hard task nowadays. Maybe with the second record and with the help of a label or a promoter we can get to some gigs outside of our country. The main plan today is to continue playing “Novae” EP as many times as possible and start composing the next record. It should be a full-length and we hope that in early 2015 have some news about it.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Of course we are looking for a label but it will be a goal to consider more seriously for the next record. We have to choose well because the right partner in music business is very important to reach some new level in our career, even on the underground music scene.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
During the future we know that we have to experiment new things, we are doing that already. Nowadays, people have a lot of music and a lot of new bands to listen to. Musically, the bands today should have something that can be distinct from each others. It’s not something new but we think that we have some identity in our music. The idea is to surpass ourselves on the future records.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

ISIS, Pelican, Russian Circles, Cult of Luna, for sure are the most important bands that musically influence our style. But here is some examples of what we are listening in the last week:

Leandro Sousa Bastos (guitarist): Year of no Light, Marriages, Jakob, This Will Destroy You, Sensible Soccers, Maserati;

Pedro Simões (guitarist): Warpaint, Jack White, Swans, Every Time I Die, BEAK, Black Mills;

Pedro Bastos (bassist): Old Man Gloom, Amenra, Oathbreaker, Converge, Code Orange;

Marcos Martins (drummer): Baptists, Cult of Luna, Amenra, Zozobra, Nails, Converge;

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
We are from a country with lot of tradition in food and wine, so we are all good food and drink lovers. We also like cinema, TV series, hang out with friends, drink some beers. We are normal guys with a normal life.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Portugal is a little country but with a lot of great bands. Worldwide people, promoters and labels should pay more attention to our music industry. Without help from people outside we can’t cross any borderlines!

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