Tuesday, October 25, 2011

[Interview with Talbot] Doom-Crushing Mammoths Conquering The World


In a few days (29/10) Talbot, the Estonian duo of doom are going to visit Greece for a heavy head-crushing show in Athens. So I grabbed the chance and had a little talk with Jarmo Nuutre.

Thanos: Hey Jarmo, first of all give me a short bio about Talbot. 
Jarmo: We're coming from Estonia's capital Tallinn and we have been conquering the world actively since 2008. With Magnus Andre on bass guitar, synths, vocals and myself on drums, vocals and sometimes them both with some other lovely gadgets, we've created a unique sound of our own - massive, atmospheric and noisy with a nice amount of psychedelia on top of it.
We love to DIY. Besides Magnus being responsible for recording, we also self-released our EP "Tundra" in 2008 and album "EOS" in 2010 under my label - Talk Left-Handed. The band is also managed by me and we book our own gigs and tours.
"Tundra" was later re-released as a limited edition by ConSouling Sounds and "EOS" re-released by Slow Burn Records, and nominated for the Best Metal album of 2010 at Estonian Music Awards.

Thanos: I think you got your name from the legendary automotive marque? Is there a connection? Or something to do with what Talbot representing?
Jarmo: Yep, the name came from this car in deed, but we're not doing any representations for it. This name just suits with us and our music.

Thanos: So you’re a duo. I suppose it’s ok for recordings but when it comes to live performances, have you ever thought to use some extra members? I mean how easy is to reach the desired level in a live performance?
Jarmo: No, we have never thought about some other members and all of our songs are arranged by the way that we can play them by only two of us. And we always have our own sound engineer who keeps everything in order, sound wise.

Thanos: How would you describe what you’re playing to someone who haven’t heard anything from you? What are the main components of your sound?
Jarmo: In our music you can hear the lowest bass, the hardest drums and the catchiest melodies. Merry melodies that is.
Simply put - you can imagine how the ancient mammoth and concrete truck colliding in the swamp in slow motion.

Thanos: How the whole songwriting process works for you? What are the emotions you want people to receive when they hear your music?
Jarmo: It's not an easy question. It just happens and it all depends. We're capable of doing nothing in a very long time and doing a lot in a very short period. Like it happened with the EOS.
It's actually a bit hard to explain because we have no systematic songwriting process. It either happens or not.

Thanos: So far you’ve released two works, Tundra EP and EOS. Can you tell us a few things about them about the recordings and what feedback did you get?
Jarmo: Quite a different releases from each other. Both are with different moods and reflecting the time of their own. Kind of a two era's even. Tundra's soundscape is a bit cold and icy, while EOS is more spacey. We'll see how the next things will sound.

Thanos: You have already toured in half the world before, from Europe to Russia and Australia… And now you’re on the road again, finishing Tour De Balalaika. And you’re going to continue to Europe-Balkan and then Tour De Ninja… You have to be great fans of touring...
Jarmo: Yes, we do like it. It's always good fun.

Thanos: Allow me to ask you, what are your normal everyday jobs?
Jarmo: Magnus is a freelancer sound designer and I'm working as a tattoo artist in my tattoo shop and I'm also designing and printing the t-shirts for my brand Talk Left-Handed.

Thanos: Is it hard to combine your normal jobs with long-time tours like these?
Jarmo: No. We do what we like.

Thanos: Talbot is a quite DIY band. I mean you also have Talk Left Handed, you organize your tours by yourselves…. Have you ever thought that it would be better to be in a different label than yours?
Jarmo: It will happen when it's the right time for it. Everything will happen in it's own time.

Thanos: How difficult is to organize all these tours, book the venues and things like that?
Jarmo: It was a bit more difficult when we did the first tour three years ago, but since then it's been very easy.

Thanos: In the Balkan Tour, you’re visiting also Greece and I think for the first time. What’s your opinion about Greece from the things you’ve heard?
Jarmo: Magnus has been travelling there before actually. For me it's the first time in deed. We're expecting to see the Zeus's thunder strikes at our show and we heard that you've got good wine there.

Thanos: In Athens you’ll play along with two Greek bands, Weathers and Godsleep. Have you heard anything from them? Did you like it?
Jarmo: No, haven't heard yet, but we surely will check 'em out.

Thanos: Generally have you heard any Greek bands that you really liked?
Jarmo: So far we know the Rotting Christ and I'm sure we will know some more bands after visiting the Greece.

Thanos: Instead of asking you if you have checked any good bands lately, I want you to tell me about the scene in Estonia. How things in heavy sound go?  Any bands I should check out (except Talbot of course….)? 
Jarmo: Tolmunud Mesipuu and Shelton San for example would be worth checking.



Thanos: What difficulties an Estonian band confronts?
Jarmo: Mostly the financial & motivational difficulties.

Thanos: What should your Greek audience expect from your live show in Athens?
Jarmo: A heavy blast. 

Thanos: As we finish the interview I would like to ask you something more. Would you consider to play a gig somewhere as Alaska for example? Also, have you made any connections with scientists in Antarctica yet for playing a gig there?
Jarmo: Well, Alaska is in our plans as well, in the future. As for the Antarctica, then it will happen when it's the right time for it. I hope it to be soon enough.

Thanos: What are Talbot’s plans after the end of your Ninja tour (which is your last part)? Recordings, more lives, relaxing….
Jarmo: Yeah, “Tour de Ninja 2011” will finish our world tour and after that we'll relax a bit and continue working on the new material. We're quite eager for the next release already, so we're gonna work on it.

Thanos: Thank you for the chance. I wish you to have a great time in the rest of your tour. If you want to add anything the last words are yours.
Jarmo: Thank you as well & see you in Greece!

Find Talbot at their : Website # Facebook # Twitter # BigCartel
You can download (by paying anything you want) both Tundra and EOS from their bandcamp page.

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