This interview was made to Daniel S. Lowndes one a few months before he left the band.
Hope you enjoy it.
IMINDAIN INTERVIEW
1 - For a start can you do a little bio about the band for the readers that doesnt know the band?
We formed in 2002 mainly from the remains of two local metal bands. Since then we’ve released 2 demos, and have just completed our debut album which is soon to be released on Weird Truth Productions. Since our inception in 2002, we’ve had many line-up changes. Myself, Lee (vocals), and Chick (guitar) are the only original members left now, but we do not see this as a problem though, as the members who have left had little or no input in the music anyway.
2 - Some months ago Weird Truth anounced that is going to release your debut album and a split with Ataraixe, how did the deal with the label apear? Did you send the demos for some labels or was the label that got your demo and contact you?
Well, originally I contacted Makoto (the man behind Weird Truth) about trading him for our second demo – Monolithium. We traded some CDs, and he told me that he was a big fan of the demo. Once we had plans to record our debut album, I contacted several labels who we liked about releasing the album, and Makoto offered us the best deal. So far, he has been supportive of us and has gone far beyond what we expected of him to help us. We could not be more pleased so far with Weird Truth, and we look forwards to the actual release of the album. Of course, we are also very pleased to be on the same label as bands we greatly respect as well such as Worship and Mournful Congregation.
3 - Since 2002 Imindain relased 2 demos and already have 2 more releases announced this year, so i can say that your band is a very active band in terms of composition and rehearsal. How do you compose your songs? Is everything done in rehearsal room or a member shows a riff or a melody for a song and the music develops from there?
We have as you say plans to put out two releases this year. I would not say we have been any more productive than usual though. Some of the songs on the album are two to three years old now, so we have certainly taken our time with the writing process.
Concerning activity and writing, we practice regularly once a week and we do our best to get as much done as possible. The creative process is never set in stone. Generally, I write the skeleton structure of the music, and then all the other members will add their own parts, or rework parts. I can be a bit of a control freak at times; I am very meticulous about my own work as well. A lot of the time, we will finish a song, and then at the next practice I decide we should re-write parts. Although this slows things down, it makes sure that the music is as good as we can get it.
4 - “And the Living Shall Envy the Dead” is the name for your debut album. Can you give is some more info about this release? For you which are the main differences between the upcoming debut and your previnious releases?
The album is finished and recorded now. We are just waiting for the artwork to be completed now, which should not take too long. Eddie Ruffles (formerly bassist/vocalist of Detrimentum, and current vocalist for Infected Disarray) is currently working on it and I can promise that it will certainly be worth the wait to see it. The artwork is somewhat epic, and the album will be released as a five panel digipack.
People will be familiar with some songs on the album, as we have re-recorded the tracks from our Monolithium demo, but there is a fair share of new material as well. Certainly, the production is a huge step forwards from the two demos, it sounds huge, dense and absolutely crushing. I think our musicianship has definitely improved as well, and there are more interesting and original elements to the music than ever before.
5 – I know that the mixing for the album was done by Greg Chandler (member of Esoteric) on the Priory Studios. Are you happy with the final result?
Very much so. As I mentioned before, I am very critical of my own work, and as I have recorded the whole album myself with my own equipment, apart from the drums, I will always pick out problems with it. However, we went to the Priory not knowing what to expect, but we are more than happy with the work Greg has done on the album. He was easy to work with, knew exactly what we wanted, and got the results above our expectations. I do not like to review it myself, as I look at my own works very differently than I would look at someone else’s, but I think, it is very good. It is easily my proudest release yet.
6 - You also have the split with the french band Ataraxie coming this year, and the concept behind this relase is very interesting. Was the label that propose this or the ideia came from the bands?
No, Weird Truth had nothing to do with the idea. The theme of the split is the cult German band Bethlehem. Both bands will be covering a Bethlehem song, and will be contributing original material as well. I think the idea was spawned by me and Jo (Ataraxie) talking one night on the internet about our mutual admiration for the band, and I said that it would be a cool idea to do something in tribute of the band who have influenced us both so much. I did not expect anything of it, but Jo thought it was an excellent idea and suggested that our two bands do a split release.
7 - Why you decide to choose that particular album from all the Bethlehem discography? Will the other tracks beside the cover have a Bethlehm touch?
It was purely chance that both bands decided to do a cover from “Dictus Te Necare”. For me, that was the first album by Bethlehem I heard, and is still to this day one of my all time favorites. I cannot think of another album that possesses such a crushing, yet bizarre atmosphere. I think it is a truly genuine and unique masterpiece in the metal genre, everything about it is fantastic. Some of the themes of Bethlehem also coincide with themes of Imindain, which probably helps, but it is only by chance.
As for the new tracks on the split, yes – they will be very different from what you can expect from us. The two tracks are a lot more mid-tempo than usual, and there are even some blasting sections. Musically it takes a more obvious inspiration from Bethlehem, but also in places reminds me of early Cathedral and Autopsy as well. We will not be continuing this style past this split though, although some similar influences may creep up from time to time in the future.
8 – I read that you´re looking for a cello player, why did you decide to start looking for a cello player? Was the direction of the new songs that influenced your decision or you just want to try it to see where it goes and the feeling that a cello gives to your music?
This did not quite turn out how we had hoped. We got literally no feedback at all, so we gave up on the idea. We wanted to experiment with a cello player to give our music an extra dimension and to be able to do more with our harmonies and more melodic parts. However, not even a week back we have added a third guitarist to our ranks and have almost finished a new track for album number two. Now that Mark is in the band, we already sound infinitely heavier, the melodic parts are more interesting musically and it gives us more room to work dynamically.
9 – You´ve done some gig in the past, how did the audience in general react to your sound?
Varied would be an understatement. Turnouts at UK gigs are very unpredictable, as are the reactions. They seem to be quite extreme though, people seem to either love us or hate us. Personally, I could not care less if people like us or not, we are not trying to appeal to anyone but ourselves.
10 – Listening to your demo “Monolithium” the band that comes to my mind is the early sound of the Norwegian band Funeral wich are the bands that inpired you the most?
Thank you, to me that is a huge compliment! I am not so sure about the other members of the band, but I am a huge fan of Funeral’s first two albums, and they definitely are an inspiration to me. Funeral are certainly not an influence in our music that many people usually notice though. I suppose other influences would include Anathema (with Darren White), Evoken, Asunder, Primordial, Mournful Congregation, Celtic Frost, Bethlehem, and Decomposed. I suppose I can only really speak for myself though, each member is into different music and our separate influences make us sound like Imindain.
11 - Of all the imindain songs, which, in your opinion is the best music to introduce the band to someone that doesnt knows the band?
That is a very difficult question to ask really. Many of our songs are very different from one another, and different people will enjoy different elements of each song. “Black Water” seems to be the song that most people enjoy. Personally, I am very proud of “Nausea” and “The Buried Room”. I would also say the new material we are writing, but that is not going to be heard by anyone for quite some time.
12 - For last! Which are the main subjects that you aproach with the lyrics? Are you the responsable for the lyrics or like most of the bands is the vocalist responsibility?
No, I have no input in the lyrical department, nor does any member of the band other than Lee. We feel it is best that Lee writes the lyrics himself so they are 100% personal to him, and therefore it keeps the music more “emotionally pure”.
Lyrically I think we are quite a broad band and perhaps quite different to other doom bands as well. We steer well clear of such tired, cheesy and emotionally void subjects such as romance, romantic tragedies and other doom clichés and look generally at much darker and bigger subjects. Mental illnesses, and apocalyptic themes, are quite prevalent in our music. The newer material also features some more socially based lyrics. A common ground amongst the band is our hatred of modern society, and the stupidity and mediocrity of many people’s existence.
13 – Dan thanks for your time, if you want, you can say some final words.
Thank you very much for your interest, support and the for giving me the chance to do this interview Mario! To everyone else, keep an eye out for our debut album “And the Living Shall Envy the Dead” which we hope to be out in a couple of months time on Weird Truth Productions. Check out our website at www.imindain.com, and we have some samples from the album at www.myspace.com/imindain.com
IMINDIAN
