Aghor Interview

Hi,

 

Here’s the interview:

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Aghor is a rather fresh blood - our first rehearsal together was in March 2013. Although the band itself is young, one can not tell the same about the musicians. It is perhaps not that usual, that three guys in their 40s create a new band and start making music that was in the early 1990s played by 17-18 year old guys :) But what can you do if the old love just won’t fade away. And we are not THAT old that we should automatically switch to safe old school heavy or rock music :)

2.So far you have released a demo and a full length album, can you tell us a little bit more about your musical sound?

The main thing that we are trying to maintain in our sound is simplicity and organics. We are definitely not interested in using modern sounds. Of course we are still living in 21st century and we’re not recording drums with one mike, and we’re not recording on analogue for purely practical reasons. Concerning the guitar sounds I personally believe that much has to do with the person, who’s playing the music. I, for instance, do not consider myself a guitarist, but several years of playing guitar tend to leave a mark and I have realized that individual playing style gives music its sound. I’m quite a pedant about my sound and over the years I have understood that a cheap pedal makes a cheap sound, therefore, if you care at least somewhat about your sound you should definitely invest into it, at least for the experience.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

We do not have a main theme as such in our lyrics. All in all, it’s about a perception of a human’ dark side.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Aghor'?

Aghor doesn’t actually mean anything. The name is inspired by Indian asceticgurus - the Aghori, who are practicing morbid rituals.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

I think that we have not had a bad performance so far. Every gig is different in terms of its feeling. It doesn’t matter for us if the club has 10 or 1000 people  - we are not making any discounts. I believe that the word ‘organic’ best describes our shows. We do not have special effects or synchronized choreography - damn, how could anyone even image such things with old school music? :)

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We are of course dreaming about it and we are willing to perform everywhere we are invited to (I hereby make a short commercial brake and invite gig organizers to invite us to play - we are cheap :) ).

In reality it would definitely be wise not to give concerts every week in your homeland and perhaps select more where and when to play, especially if you do not wish to bore your audience. But we would certainly be willing to play abroad!

7.The album was released on Offense Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Offense Records was created mainly to offer output to my own projects. I’m also involved in a UG death/black metal zine Offense zine (which second issue was recently released) and we decided that the record company would also be called Offense Records. Actually in the beginning our plans were bigger: we tried to concentrate on vinyl releases only, but due to lack of resources and scarce interest it was not possible. I myself prefer vinyl as an original and best format for that type of music. Digital distribution is suitable for a wider audience.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and punk?

Feedback has been surprisingly positive! I know that old school death metal is “in”right now but I can assure that we are not trying to take advantage of this situation, although our timing sure was good. More and more old death metal bands are making comeback, which is very welcome! Somehow, old death metal band comebacks are much more successful than comebacks of thrash metal bands, who, with great expectations, managed to produce rather mediocre albums.

9.What is going on with the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are involved with?

I and Mantas (bass) are playing in another joint project called Sorts, which is a mixture of black and death metal. Sorts has released a full-lenght album "Product Of Decadence" and several shorter releases. I also play in an international project Põhjast, which sounds like a viking-age Bathory and Memento Mori. It is an Estonia-Canadian-Finnish project that includes members from bands such as Metsatöll, Akitsa,Thesyre, Barren Earth and Rytmihäiriö. Mantas is also playing in a rock’n’roll group and our drummer, Rain, has another stoner rock project.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I don’t think that we would totally change our music in the future, although I do not like to give concrete promises about us not going to do this or that. Music is, after all, a way to express oneself and you should make music that makes you feel good. This, to my opinion, is the basis of everything.

11.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?

I listen to all sorts of stuff. The only styles that do not impress me are rap, hip-hop and modern metal. Lets’ say that both The Smiths and Electro Hippies can inspire me to write music :) But I tend to listen to music much less than before. I think that I listen to music consciously - I like to listen to 1 record at a time, alone, accompanied by a few beers. The format should then be vinyl of course :)

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

As I told before one of my hobbies is Offense zine. This zine is also international and everyone interested in co-works are more than welcome to contact me! One of my greatest interests is hiking and spending time in nature. With my girlfriend we are trying to hike and discover new places in Estonian nature every weekend. Domestic tourism is somewhat undervalued - especially if you live in such a country as Estonia that has a very versatile and rich nature. Although Estonia does not have high mountains or wide rivers we have diverse landforms and lots of forests. Estonia also has a very well operating State Forest Management Centre, that has built lots of hiking trails and cabins in the wood for everyone to use. I recommend everyone interested in undisturbed nature and peace & quiet to visit Estonia.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview. I hope I was able to make at least some of the readers interested in our band. You can get more information from the links below. Feedback is always welcome!

http://aghor.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/aghorofficial

www.pohjast.com

www.offensezine.com

https://www.facebook.com/Pohjast

https://www.facebook.com/OffenseZine

https://www.facebook.com/sortsofficial