Interview- Interlace

Band: Interlace Interviewer: Jeremy Eckhart Date: 03/28/05

I sent off a few questions to the up and coming poular Swedish band Interlace recently, and learned a little more about this elusive industrial project that has been on everybody's radars lately.

Interlace paint a vivid musical picture of a bleak and decaying world, where technology and humanity blend to form a new breed, and I invite you to join me as I venture into it to speak with band member Oscar Wilkensen.

Grave Concerns: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I really appreciate it. How have things been going for interlace since the release of "Imago"?

Oscar Wilkenson: Very well, thank you. Imago reached the #1 position in the German Alternative Charts, and we are nominated best artist of the year at the upcoming Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards. We are currently doing some tour planning, and will hopefully be able to meet our audience a lot during the rest of 2005. Unfortunately there are no plans for North America as of yet, but we would love to take our show across the Atlantic.

GC: Could you please introduce us to the members of Interlace and describe what each member contributes to the band?

O.W.: Right from the beginning, we decided not to talk publicly about our personal selves. We feel that Interlace is a valuable project in its own right and that the information necessary to understand and appreciate it is already there, in the art itself.

GC: What led to the forming of Interlace? Please give us a breif history of how the group came together.

O.W.: We have collaborated in various artistic projects for over a decade now, and the seeds for Interlace were sown early on in the relationship. However, we didn’t feel that we had the adequate resources to realize Interlace until 2001, when we got together and wrote Innuendo.

GC: Outside of the band, are you guys close? Is this just a musical project or a combination of music and friendship?

O.W.: The rationale behind our artistic collaboration isn’t friendship. Nevertheless, we’re all close friends.

GC: It appears that the track "Master" has been incredibly successful in many countries and went straight to #1 in the NAC (Nordic alternative charts) as well as in the DAC (German alternative charts) and is quickly gaining popularity on many dancefloors here in the states. Has this response to your music suprised you?

O.W.: I couldn’t honestly say it has. We’ve all worked with music for so many years now, constantly doing our best to hone our skills and find new means of expression. Needless to say we’re sincerely thankful for the appreciation, but we do feel that this project is well worth the acclaim it receives.

GC: Have you ever heard any of your music played in the clubs? If so, what was that experience like and how did the crowd react?

O.W.: Admittedly I rarely go to clubs, but on occasion I’ve heard Interlace being played on dance floors. It’s obviously nice that people like to dance to our tracks, but Interlace was never intended to be a club project and we believe that our listeners generally prefer to enjoy our music in other contexts.

GC: I must say the new album is very good and quite the departure from "Under the Sky" and pushes Interlace in a whole new direction musically and vocally. What factors led to the decision to take Interlace and its sound into such darker realms with the album "Imago"?

O.W.: We don’t really feel that the step from Under the Sky to Imago is that big. We made the decision with Interlace to start off musically at a familiar place as far as the listener is concerned and then include more and more of our own creative approach as the project progresses, hence the relative simplicity of Innuendo compared to Imago. But we think of this process in evolutionary terms; a gradual refinement rather than big leaps in either direction. It’s important to us that our listeners can rely on us – that no-one buys an Interlace album under the assumption that it would resemble previous Interlace releases, only to find out that we’ve suddenly decided to explore completely different territories under the same name.

GC: I have read a couple of reviews that equated you to Skinny Puppy and early Front Line Assembly. How do you feel about such comparisons?

O.W.: As I mentioned earlier, we decided to let our original influences shine through on Innuendo. Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly were among those influences, so in all fairness I can’t accuse anyone for comparing our debut with their sound. However, the further we develop Interlace, the more obvious it becomes that writers that hang on to those comparisons don’t explore much music outside the very limited genre that we’re sorted into. An equally tragic and amusing example of this is the frequently occurring comparisons between Interlace and industrial/EBM acts none of us has ever listened to.

GC: What are some of the pros and cons concerning the electronic-industrial scene in your country and the way it is accepted by the media or the fans?

O.W.: The Swedish electro-industrial scene is quite small, synthpop being the big thing here. But although the important markets for Interlace are found in continental Europe and North America, we value our Scandinavian fanbase a lot. Also, public attention such as SAMA nominations could be interpreted as a swing towards harder, more industrial preferences in the Swedish alternative scene.

GC:The spectacular cover art on "Imago" was done by Dave McKean and beautifullly captures the macabre and sinister themes of the album. How did you come to work with Dave and how was that experience?

O.W.: Teiaiel, with whom we’ve been working closely ever since Innuendo, agreed to do the cover art for Imago. At that time she lived in London, creating digital effects for Dave’s movie Mirror Mask. Teiaiel told Dave about Interlace and asked if he was interested in doing the design together with her. He agreed, and that’s how their collaboration came about. We provided them with the conceptual design documentation for Imago, but didn’t interfere in the actual visualization since we are quite aware of their creative capacity. The result, I agree, is astonishing, and we feel that it captures the conceptual themes of Imago well.

GC: Interlace has been quoted as describing their complex new work as an hourlong journey, an evolution reflecting the inner struggles of humanity and the harsh reality in which we live. What kind of state of mind did you have to reach to stay concurrent with the themes of the album?. Were there any elaborate processes involved?

O.W.: Just for the record, those kind of promotional texts are written by our labels and not by ourselves. For each release we provide our labels with a summary of the concept documentation for the corresponding phase, and leave it up to them to write the sales pitches. But in answer to your question, I believe that all artists eventually learn how to reach a state of consciousness that allows them to communicate efficiently. For Interlace this is to a large extent a collective process, emotionally as well as intellectually.

GC: What song do you think is the most integral and strongest part of the new album and could you please tell us your reasoning behind your choice?

O.W.: Besides being strong and interesting in their own right, we wanted each track on Imago to contribute to the main themes and concept of the phase. In some instances we also included bridges, or references, to past or future phases for the sake of the overarching concept of Interlace. As for which part of Imago that contributes the most, I wouldn’t want to mention any particular track on the expense of the others.

GC: Are you happy with the album and the response Interlace is getting, or are there territories previously unknown that you would like to explore now that you have gained some major respect in the musical world?

O.W.: Interlace’s evolution has progressed according to plan, and we’re pleased both with our own achievements and the response we’ve received up until now. But just as you point out, there are always new territories to explore, and we hope to be able to gradually expand the scope of Interlace. Unfortunately, time and resources always seem to get in the way of creativity, but this appears to be a universal phenomenon that you just have to cope with.

GC:You have been working with Artoffact Records for a while now. How did you come to call Artoffact home and how has that relationship treated Interlace?

O.W.: Artoffact contacted Memento Materia with a request, and the following negotiations resulted in Artoffact licensing Interlace for North America. We’re happy with having Artoffact representing us – besides being a competent and dedicated label, we feel that they appreciate the artistic and conceptual dimensions of Interlace and do their best to support them.

GC: What about the German based Dependent-Records? Did you shop around for a distributor or did they contact you?

O.W.: It was basically the same procedure as with Artoffact.

GC: Recently, Interlace finished a European tour with Suicide Commando and Tactical Sekt. How did the tour go and were there any memorable moment that stick out in your mind?

O.W.: The tour went very well and was a great experience, especially in regard to the people we met: the other bands, the crew, the audiences.

GC: Any moments you wish that you could forget?

O.W.: No, not really.

GC: What is in the works for Interlace in the future? Will we see the third cycle take birth anytime soon?

O.W.: Yes, the next cycle will be initiated in a foreseeable future. In a sense we have already began introducing some aspects of this third phase through our live show – mainly subtle references to things to come. While it’s very important to us that each new phase feels fresh and interesting to our audience, we want our concept to emerge more and more clearly as the evolution progresses, and we hope that such phase-bridging elements might contribute to a certain déja vu feeling and a growing understanding of what Interlace is all about.

GC: Are there any bands out there that Interlace thinks we should be watching for?

O.W.: There are so many great bands out there, and our only recommendation is to actively explore as many artists and genres as possible.

GC: Once again, thank you for talking with me. Any closing comments, last words, or shameless plugs?

O.W.: Thank you! We hope to get the opportunity to come to America and play sometime soon.

Check out their website at:

www.designforanewbreed.com

or at:

www.artoffact.com

© 2005