Dawn Of Despair Interview

1. Can you give us a brief history of the band?

In 2006 Dawn of Despair was founded by me as a solo-project.My aim was to create emotional and melancholic music which describes the mood of my soul. I had moments in my life filled with pain and anguish, and I wanted to let this feelings become a sound. I wrote three songs and recorded them in 2007. After a year or so I wrote some more songs and recorded the first album in the beginning of 2008. In the following months I was looking for talented and experienced musicians in order to let Dawn of Despair become a real band. In September 2008 the “solo-project-file” was finally closed.

2. How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

It’s melancholic Metal with mournful melodies and clean vocals.

3. What is the meaning behind the band's name?

Dawn of Despair means that you’re waking up in the morning realizing that a new day has come which is filled with pain and despair because of life’s brunt you had and have to bear.

4. Have you received any label interest yet?

Unfortunately not, but we hope to find one really soon.

5. I noticed you had Katatonia listed as a main influence, have you ever thought of mixing their old vocal style with your sound,

I think the music would sound really good if you mixed harsh vocals with clean vocals?Personally I’m a big fan of the old Katatonia style (but I also love the new one... Katatonia is the best!), but I don’t want to mix the vocals. From the beginning I knew that there shall only be clean vocals for Dawn of Despair.

6. Have you played any live shows yet, and if so how would you describe your live show?

We will play our very first show on the 20th June, and the next ones will follow in August and October. We can’t await the moment we’re standing on the stage and perform our songs!

7. How would you describe the musical progress over the years?

In the beginning Dawn of Despair has been a solo-project and I wrote all music/lyrics by myself. But now we are consisting of six individuals inside the band and every one has his own influences. So the music will become more varied now and it’s really exciting to see how the music’s growing and growing."

8. What direction do you see the band heading into during the future?

I think we have found our way, and we’ll keep on writing great emotional songs (at least we hope so), songs which are touching the heart of the lost. Furthermore we hope to find a good label to release our music.

9. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?

The lyrics are about fear, darkness, coldness, despair, resignation and the loss of love, but also about hope and inner rebellion. Everyone in the band is able to identify him- and herself with the lyrics because of similar experiences he or she has made in the past. As I said in the beginning it’s about personal things in my life and I think the best way to handle these feelings and emotions is to write lyrics and music about them.

10. What are your main influences music wise or non music wise?

I guess it’s a mix of both. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but after situations like seeing the sunset, watching the dying of the day, standing in the rain and many more moments like that I’m able to hear the soundtrack of this specific situation and it’s a big influence to me at writing songs or just listening to music. And I know that all of us six feel this way.

11. What are you listening to nowadays and what are some good bands or releases that you would recommend?

In the moment I listen to Black Sun Aeon very often, a new band from Finland... these guys are really amazing! In the band we all share a similar liking of music with little differences, for example Lars who loves My Dying Bride or Phil who’s totally besotted with Pink Floyd and Anathema… But in general I’m not so into nowadays bands... most of the best music seems to be already written... except Dawn of Despair of course, haha!

12. Does Occultism play any role in the music or life?

In my life it does but not inside Dawn of Despair.

13. Are there any good films or books that you would recommend?

I’m a huge fan of Braveheart, for me it’s the best movie ever made and I’ve watched it over 130 times right now... I’m also totally into The Lord of the Rings, it’s really a masterpiece.Also The Excorcist, Saw, The Ring..Books I prefer are also the stuff from J.R.R Tolkien and books about occultism, for example.

14. How would you describe the gothic/doom metal scene in Germany?

In Germany we have some many good gothic and doom bands with devoted fans, and also some not-so-good-bands... I think it’s the same like in other countries. And of course everything’s subjective.

15. Any final words?

For people who like melancholic music: Come and check out Dawn of Despair at http://www.myspace.com/dawnofdespairmusicLife is pain.

16. Thanks for the interview?

Thank you very much for this interview and your interest in Dawn of Despair, we really appreciate that!