Why the name ‘Passages?’
It is metaphorical for the musical passages we are taking in our careers at the moment, we have all these different “passages” we can take and it’s about us finding the one that we enjoy the most and going ahead in that direction.
Was it more challenging releasing just 5 tracks instead of a full album?
With an EP you are left with fewer songs to choose from to play live which can be quite challenging. Other than that I think a full album is definitely a bigger challenge in all regards.
How has the reception been towards the video ‘Never Going Back’ and do you plan to release more videos from the album?
We have had great response from the video. It was shot beautifully and it really portrayed the emotion that we wanted to achieve. It was also the first video we have done where the band doesn’t appear at all which was something new for us and our fans. We are preparing another video for the Passages EP so look out for that.
You worked with Peach van Pletzen (of Yesterday’s Pupil). How would you describe his producing style and the experience of working with him?
Peach is a classic guy, he is fun to work with and he likes to experiment out of the box. He has a lot of experience with electronic production which we ended up marrying to our live rock sound. The outcome was something quite different from our other albums, which is what made working with him really enjoyable.
You’ve been lauded for your live performances. What do you think sets you apart from other live performances?
We have really put in the 10 000 hours into our instruments, we are all studied musicians and we are constantly either producing, teaching or involved in other audio fields which all contributes to our understanding of live performance at our concerts.
You suffered a great misfortune last year at Oppikoppi when your equipment was stolen. Has that put you off music festivals?
It has put us off of Oppikoppi just because of the way they handled the whole theft, but we haven’t been put off the other music festivals and we still performing at whichever ones invite us. However we are paranoid about our gear and we try keep our eyes on the stuff at all times.
Image: mixedapples.co.za