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Published on Sunday, 22 September 2013 19:18
Interview with: Nino Sable
Conducted by: T.V.
The announcement of new Aeon Sable album came as a surprise around two months ago and here we are, witnessing another masterpiece made by one of the most creative duo in gothic rock genre, if we can still consider their music to be labeled as such. I believe that all of you listened over and over again to their previous albums Per Aspera Ad Astra (released in 2010), and last years masterpiece Saturn Return. On 4th October Germans Aeon Sable will release another chapter of sensational dark journey named Aequinoctium, an album that continues where Saturn Return left of, released again like their two previous albums via German label AF-music. Din-Tah Aeon and N1n0 Sable are the two responsible for this genre expansive music and we did already our second interview with vocalist Nino, where he revealed some of the background regarding the new (mini) album (the first one can be read over HERE). In between the interview you can listen to exclusive pre-release premiere of all songs featured on the album. Enjoy!
T.R.: When we talked for the last time you said that exact words: "We need round about two-three years to finish an album.".But, here you are in less than a year with Aequinoctium... Was this kind of a sudden spring of inspiration?
Nino: Yes, indeed. We didn’t expected inspiration coming back so soon. But the stages and the traveling inspired us and so we could do it in just a few months. If you’re inspired everything is fine.
T.R.: It's even more surprising because of the fact that you've been busy with your other two projects Melanculia and 
Deied...
Nino: Oh – we are hard working men. We have been collecting some output (Melanculia and Deied) because of Aeon Sable taking a big place in our lives – yes – it’s right - we released two Aeon Sable albums, one Melanculia and one Deied album this year. Sorry.
T.R.: What can you tell me about the album title, any deeper meaning behind it?
Nino: Oh yes, we choose Aequinoctium because it stands for the duality of things. On equinox light and darkness evades the earth the same way. And we believe in duality. We know that even the brightest person fights his ego from time to time.
T.R.: After hearing the first unveiled track, "Tenfifteen", I've noticed that you used a slightly different productional approach than on Saturn Return, not to mention Per Aspera Ad Astra.
Nino: Oh really? The production took place at the same place as always, maybe it has to do with our practice. But we didn’t try to break through – we wanted to create an update to Saturn Return. But yeah, "Tenfifteen" is a little bit outstanding, could be compared a little bit to our "Dancefloor Satellite".
T.R.: So, who did all the production, mixing and mastering this time?
Nino: We are still doing all the mastering and mixing and producing on our own, like always.
T.R.: We all heard "Tenfifteen", but what can you tell me about other tracks?
Nino: "Tenfifteen" is, as I said before, a track similar to "Dancefloor Satellite" – with a catchy beat, programmed for the dancefloors but the other tracks are more like the tracks you are used to hear from us.
T.R.: You have a new live line-up... Were those guys in any way involved in the making of album? Nino: No! But the musicians are essential to play on stage. Our usual guitar hero #2 had to leave us because he didn’t had the time to rock the stages with us. We miss him, but we know that the new one is as talented as Wishbone was. The bass player is still the same, Quoth, the guy that played with us since February.
T.R.: Have you thought about bringing a real drummer of flesh and blood? Nino: Yes, actually we are thinking about it… But we didn’t came to a decision yet.
T.R.: Your previous masterpiece Saturn Return also brought Aeon Sable for the first time on the stage. How are you satisfied with live experiences so far? Nino: We loved it. We played the first time in a small town called Mülheim and the audition was so great (and the sound so bad) our second concert was in Austria (at the Emergency Exit Festival) and everything was simply perfect – the sound, the lights, the fog! And that was the point on which we decided: This is it – this is what we want.
T.R.: You must already have a track that lifts up the audience the most. Which is it? Nino: I don’t know… at the end there is always someone asking us to play "Praying Mantis" – I love the track. I love to shout at the end and let it all out and it seems that the audience loves it too. The strange thing is that the audience seems to be very satisfied after we play "Praying Mantis", afterwards all the people is just calm and silent. And the people have been freaking out on "Dancefloor Satellite" of course.
T.R.: And can you reveal me which songs are permanent on your live playlist? Beside of course "Praying Mantis" and
"Dancefloor Satellite".Nino: We are able to play almost every
Aeon Sable track live. But we often use the two mentioned before followed by "Dead End", "Algorithm Of None", "Agnosia", "At The Edge Of The World", "New Breed"...
T.R.: What about one of my favourites, "Exodus"?Nino: We tried that during the rehearsals – but I cannot sing it live anymore. I had some big trouble with my voice after releasing
Per Aspera Ad Astra. Once after a
Melanculia concert my voice was gone for one week and after that time I wasn’t able to sing that part in high voice "at the fall of man"... Maybe in one year I’ll be able to do that again.
T.R.: Let's hope so! Ok, let's return to your new album... It seems that this time there were no doubts about if releasing it on a CD edition, like it happened with Saturn Return? Nino: No – this time a cd version is safe. We took the money from the sales from
Saturn Return and invested in the production of
Aequinoctium. But this time there is no vinyl.
T.R.: I believe that also vinyl comes in time haha... Ok, I'm through almost all the songs on Aequinoctium and it's amazing! I'm noticing that beside before mentioned "Tenfifteen", the other tracks lean even more into post-rock and shoegaze side that it was the case on Saturn Return?Nino: Realy? Well we are always trying to get more and more sophisticated. I wouldn’t call it shoegaze (because I don’t even know what it means) but Post Rock fits. "Dark post rock" sounds like a completely new level. But to be true we didn’t try to do things diferent – for us it is the same feeling and mood as we had during the production of
Saturn Return. I still see
Aequinoctium as an update to
Saturn Return.
T.R.: Dark post-rock must be the right description of both albums. Some months ago it was announced that Aequinoctium will be just an EP. When and why have you decided to make another full-lenght?Nino: Well the announcement we did a few months ago was not right, but it is difficult to define.
Aequinoctium is not a real full length album and it is not even an EP. With 35 Minutes
Aequinoctium is something in between. Let’s call it a mini-album.
T.R.: Ok, so let's say it's a mini-album, even though there were many full-lenght albums with less minutes of playing time released before. You said a couple of times that Aequinoctium is a continuation of Saturn Return, but still, where are the differences between both albums? Nino: I don’t think that there is a big difference between
Saturn Return and
Aequinoctium. Maybe
Aequinoctium is more sophisticated because we learned how to handle our gear and we bought new and better equipment. But, I think that in terms of creativity both albums are at the same level.
T.R.: Can we say it's also a bit softer? Nino: Maybe. If you listen carefully you’ll notice that I could have shouted at the end of "Drawing Circles Square" and "Secret Flower" but the thing is – we are not a metal band. And I personally adore bands like
Les Discrets and
Amesoeurs – both bands play metal while the vocals are pretty soft and gentle. I wanted to bring a little bit of that attitude into
Aeon Sable. But it doesn’t mean that we are getting softer, we are just following other paths right now. Who knows how our next album will sound like.
T.R.: Yeah, I expected harsher vocal approach in those songs, but it's very effective also this way! I like it! Again album will be released on AF-music record label, what is a logical decision as you are a working with that label...Nino: Well, AF-music underlines our attitude. Our labelboss never comments what we do, he never criticizes, he supports us and sells our music as it is. AF-music is an indie label with indie attitude, so why not? If you are a band and if you only want to make music, AF-music is the best label you can imagine.
T.R.: Some pretty good albums were released under AF-music banner. Still, what's your personal position or responsibilities in the label?Nino: I forgot to mention that I’m a co-worker at AF-music, haha, sorry. I do a lot of design works for the label and I develop strategies for some bands in order to make them more popular. Sometimes I build a website for a band or I prepare the layout of the CD’s for the printery... things like that. It’s not a real position where I get money from – it’s more the passion to music that leads me to "help" a band.
T.R.: Shall we expext a video clip for any of the songs out of Aequinoctium?Nino: We hope so. We are planning one and we already talked to some guys who wanted to support us but all of them think that we
are millionaires and so we cannot promise anything. Let’s see.
T.R.: And if there will be a video which song will you use this time? Nino: We are undecided between "Tenfifteen" and "Secret Flower".
T.R.: I forgot to ask you about the lyrics on your new album. Can you share some words with that matter with us?Nino: You can get all our lyrics at our facebook – go to pictures, albums, "Aequinoctium Songbook" (
LINK). We really dislike to talk about our lyrics – everyone should to take our words and interpret them however he likes to. There are several ways to see things, everyone has its own way to see the world.
T.R.: I know, but still there must be something that inspires you. I find most of your lyrics very methaphorical... Nino: You are completely right. They all are absolutely metaphorical. Life is the root of our inspiration, the seamless boring day-by-day situations. We get impressions and mix them up with our knowledge in order to obtain an expressional media. Sometimes the mixing process is so complex that our lyrics get this philosophical and metaphorical touch.
T.R.: Ok, earlier this year you gave an opportunity to your fans to do a remix of "Dancefloor Satellite". What's the real point in doing things like that? Nino: We like to interact with our fans and friends. Do you remember how music business was 20 years ago? Imagine you are seventeen years old and you get the chance to remix a song of a real band. The remixes, the free "dying motion" editions of songs... this is a trademark of
Aeon Sable. We are all individual artists.
T.R.: Ok, Nino! What's spinning in your music player in the last times? Nino: I don’t know the albums, but I’ve been listening to the
Angels Of Liberty,
Les Discrets,
Merciful Nuns,
The Blue Angel Lounge and
Netherbird in the last time.
T.R.: Tell me, which singer was the main influence of yours? Nino: Unfortunately there is no main influence. Every musical style has his own idols. Can you remember the metal band
Sanctuary (later
Nevermore) – that was one of the first influences, followed by Phil Anselmo, Max Cavalera, later I started to listen to
The Doors –
Jim Morrison was really good – I love
Iggy Pop and
Peter Murphy because they are so wrong sometimes – Fernando Ribeiro from
Moonspell was a great inspiration and a lot of black and death metal singers.
T.R.: Interesting! So, what can we expect from Aeon Sable in the future?Nino: Some concerts and some goodies in between, maybe another "stormed" edition of a
Melanculia track or another "dying motion" remake of one of our songs and far away in the future a new album.
T.R.: It seems that you have a steady concept of artwork for your albums. It's there anything that could be unveiled
behind this approach? Nino: You know that I studied design and I must admit that I love design. Nowadays there are only a few bands worldwide using a “corporate identitiy” and I think this is very important. Take a look at the albums of
The Sisters Of Mercy and
Merciful Nuns they all have the same layout. This underlines my understanding of art and design. If you buy a CD from
Aeon Sable you'll get something that fits 100% to all the other cd's of
Aeon Sable you have at home
T.R.: Have you ever done or played live a cover song?Nino: No. We had been thinking about that but Din and I have the opinion that there will never be a better version than the original.
T.R.: Good thinking. Ok, I could ask you thousands more things, but let's finish here and I'll let you to say whatever you want now at the end... Nino: Well – thank you for inviting me. It’s always a pleasure. Thank you for reading this interview until this point. If you are interested in more, visit our website or/and follow us on our social networks. Dark greetz from Germany.
Website, Facebook, Bandcamp
Aeon Sable articles: Interview no.1, Saturn Return review, Videos
Photos by: JRM
