Infidel Interview #131: Fatal Casualties

First off, just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. Could you start off by giving a little information about you to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, and where you live would be pretty standard?

Stefan Ljungdahl, lives in Stockholm.

Ivan Hirvonen, lives in Stockholm.

How do you enjoy where you live? Is there a vibrant music community where you are? Would you say you find that your local scene influences your attitude and/or creativity?

S: Stockholm is a nice town. I wouldnt say that I find the Music scene very inspiring though.

I: Unfortunatelly quite a many good Stockholm venues have closed during the last years.

What do you feel separates your music from the rest of the music in the Industrial music scene?

S: I Think our songs float in and out of the industrial genre really. We're not locked to a particular sound or genre and that makes us very dynamic.

What would you say are your favorite themes and topics that inspire you to compose? What draws you to those themes?

S: I've Always found myself drawn to the darker sides of music and art. It comes naturally somehow.

I: Yes, dark is the light!

The interview continues after this video and all further streaming and picture content...

Industrial and Attitude seem to go hand in hand. With global war, civil unrest, injustice, and political revolution being primary musical themes that dominate your music, how do you feel nowadays about the current state of world affairs?

I: It´s not a musical theme in our music, but the state of the world is quite a big mess.

What do you see in the near, and far, future for your creative output?

I: I hope we can explore our live shows more.

When you first started making music, was there a particular sound or artistic/musical influence that you would say was your biggest inspiration to start pursuing the creative path yourself?

S: The Cure, Depeche Mode and Front 242 were probably the ones responsible for getting us started in the first place.

When it comes to your musical self and your real-world self, would you say that there is a separation? Do you find yourself getting into a character or mindset when you create, or do you find your music is a representation of your day to day self?

S: Like I touched on earlier I probably dive into the darker sides of myself when writing.

I: I want to get in the "vibe" when I write and sing the lyrics to the music I receive from Stefan. Sometimes I find the "vibe/flow" quite fast, and sometimes it can be a struggle to get there. I guess it´s about my own daily mode I´m in, and no, for me it´s never about getting into a character.

Are you musically self-taught? Or have you had mentors along the way to help you develop?

S: Self-taught.

I: Self-taught.

When it comes to composing music, do you approach things with a clear vision in mind, or do you prefer to let songs feel themselves out? Do you have any particular techniques or tricks you use to keep yourself creative and consistent?

S: Most of the times I have a pretty clear vision of what I want to do but Im never particularly precious about it. A big part of the bands soul is that we want to keep our minds open for new ideas and for different ways to make them work.

I: I guess I never reach my first vision I had in mind. It ends up to something else. We´re good with keeping our minds open.

When it comes to making music it can be difficult to balance atmosphere, song progression, musicality, and excitement. Do you have any tricks, techniques, or methods that you commonly use to help your music sound coherent and engaging?

S: the basic idea is that I want to stay interested, and a little bit uncertain of what is actually going on. Then if its the atmosphere or the melody or whatever, it varies.

I: No tricks going on here. Just 100% pure love to explore, and to experiment.

Do you spend a lot of time crafting your own sounds? Or do you value song crafting and effects tweaking more? Or do you find it's a balance between the two? What' your relationships with presets? When you make music are you primarily a hardware or software oriented musician? Or do you do a fusion of both? Are there any particular instruments, programs, or effects that you would say are vital to you making music?

S: Its definitely a balance between the two. Presets can be a good starting point but most of the times you want something "extra". We use both hardware and software. I like a lot of Native Instruments stuff, softube has some really nice mixing-tools. In hardware we use stuff from analogue solutions, MakeNoise, Moog and korg.

Do you ever find it difficult to balance the creative and technical aspects of musical creation? How do you strike the balance for the need to craft and tweak your effects and sounds, in contrast to actually just getting the song itself created with structure and melody? What sort of element of creation do you prefer, the sonic shaping or the song creation?

S: Tweaking sounds is such a big part of our songwriting so I think we differ a bit from "normal" bands there. Then of course, there are always occasions when you have no idea of what youre doing and what is happening, but somehow you always come out on the other side.

Playing live shows, recording new tracks, attempting to go live the life that gives you the experiences that inspires it all... it can be difficult to balance the time. Do you have any particular methods that you use to keep yourself focused or balanced in your direction?

I: I beleive it´s a constant progress and challange!

For fans who have not seen you yet, when it comes to your live show, how would you describe yourself thematically and visually? Are you an energy and audience driven band in the live atmosphere? Or would you consider yourself to be more thematic or presentation oriented?

I: We don´t know ourselfs, so It´s still left for us to explore. The kind of person I am, I beleive and wish that we can contribute to a "visuall theatrical expression" on our live shows.

Have you had any particular moment(s) that you would like to share, that you would consider to be a crowning achievement in your musical career so far, or moments that you would say truly continue to inspire you to pursue your artistic path? What are some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your musical career?

S: Having a song remixed by Daniel B of front 242 felt like pretty cool thing.

What sort of new bands have come out in recent years that have caught your attention? Is there any bands out there you see yourself, or would like to, remix or collaborate with in the future?

S: Ive always said that I would love to be involved in something with David Lynch, in one way or another.

I: I hope that Thåström and Nick Cave will dare to make a guest appearance with us.

Promotion can be one of the most difficult things in the music industry. Do you have an agent that helps book shows and manage your online presence, or have you decided to trek it out without and mantle the reigns of the social media apparatus yourself? Is it difficult engaging the online world consistently and originally, or do you find it easy?

I: Nope, we get no help from anyone. But I beleive we´re at a point where a good agent could help us.

So if you´re a agent and believe that you can help us - you´re welcome to get in touch!

Outside of music, what are some of your favorite past times and emotional engagements?

S: Football and my family.

I: Cycling and my family.

Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?

I: Stay curious and welcome to explore our music, new art is on the way ️

Get the full lowdown on Fatal Casualities on their official website:

http://www.fatalcasualties.com/

Follow their latest activities on their official Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FatalCasualtiesBand/

Download their latest album "Filter" on Seja Record's Bandcamp:

https://sejarecords.bandcamp.com/album/fatal-casualties-filter

Stream their music on their Soundcloud channel:

https://soundcloud.com/fatalcasualties

Catch their video content on their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jBBn0tSp01Um5CzNB6XKA

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