Jouissant d'une notoriété nouvelle, comparable à celle d'une bière trappiste dans un monde qui subit l'implacable dictature du consortium Carlsberg-Heineken, il nous arrive d'être sollicité par quelques jeunes groupes désireux de diffuser leur musique. C'est ainsi qu'on a été contacté par Twilight Train For Tomorrow, groupe prometteur venu de Russie qui propose une musique faisant la part belle au psychédélisme et autres expérimentations. Faisant fi des frontières et de la distance, on s'est entretenu avec le groupe dans un anglais des plus approximatifs, l'occasion de parler de leur musique, leurs influences et de la musique en Russie...
Enjoying a brand new fame, comparable to the one that has got a trappist beer in a world that undergoes the implacable dictatorship of the consortium Carlsberg-Heineken, it happens that young bands wishing to spread their music call on us. That's how we've been contacted by Twilight Train For Tomorrow, a promising band from Russia that plays a psychedelic music giving a good place to experimentations. Without paying attention to the borders and distance, and trying to make the most of our poor English skills we talked to the group, an opportunity to discuss about their music, their influences and the music in Russia...
All we know about you is the two first songs you posted on soundcloud. So first of all, can you tell us who you are ?
"Twilight Train For Tomorrow" is the first neo-psychedelic band from Moscow, Russia. The songs on soundcloud are part of our first single from the forthcoming full-length album, which will be released during the year. Now we are working on second single. The work is complicated by the fact that the band still is lacking in few members. Therefore, we are paying now more attention to the records in the studio than live performances.
You've said that your band is lacking in few members. Can you tell us more about the lineup of the band ?
Creative basis of the band are Ian /Storming Heaven/ (vocals, lyrics, rhythm-guitar), Anton (keys, design) and Michael (solo-guitar, drums). We are all familiar for a long time (since school) and everyone makes his own contribution to the work process. Sometimes we tried to find other members but they all turned out to be alien to the band's spirit and ideas, and left after a few rehearsals. It is so difficult to find the right people... Not only the participants but also the sound engineer and so on...
So what's the band spirit ? Your point of view on music and more especially on your own music ?
Oh, we can argue about it endlessly, it is more a philosophical point... Music is a matter of life, it can not be an optional hobby. Music should occupy the main place in heart, mind and soul of someone who decided to dedicate his life to it. If you can live without making music, you shouldn't make music. Music is a universal way of communication between people, between and epochs... We're going to include in our works these versatile cross-cultural elements through the use of different languages, ethnic instruments, different styles of sound and so on…
We do share your point of view. That's thanks to music if today a 20 years-old frenchy living in Scotland is talking to a Russian mate ! What you're saying about the use of different languages, ethnic instruments and so on, remind me of Anton Newcombe. Is he an influence for you ?
Certainly, I think that almost any neo-psychedelic band of the present was affected anyway by the Brian Jonestown Massacre... In fact, it is that old psychedelia of the 60th, but turned inside out and played absolutely in another way, painted by the personal attitude, personal point of view. And this attitude, this mood turned out to be very close to ours. How our keyboard player Anton says: "It is necessary to listen to the fucking Brian Jonestown Massacre, instead of speaking about them!"
In the beginning, when we first started to play, we were making something like acid punk/garage. But after listening to bands such as Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dead Skeletons and many others, we finally found our own style and understood what to do, which direction to go.
You will realise a full-legth album this year. Have you already written and recorded all the songs ? What can you tell us about this record and what should we expect from it ? You've said previously that you'd like to write some song in different languages. I guess you'll make songs in russian and english, but have you already write in other languages or plan to do it in a near future ?
How will the album be ? I only can speak in general terms, because when we are recording, we often improvise, and some of the ideas come into the recording process. Songs of the album will be very diversified in sound and mood. Some will be light and bright, according to the type of acoustic psychedelic, some will be hard-shoegaze, as if you were experiencing a bad-trip, there will be even meditation, mantra-like songs… Actually, neo-psychedelic is such a wide genre, that it can combine the elements of many genres and styles.
About languages ? It's a different story. We like to sing in Russian, because it is our mother tongue and therefore the only one that allow us to fully expressed all the poetry and the meaning of our songs, which is very important for this genre. Moreover, there is almost no neo-psychedelic bands in Russia, so we're one of the pioneers on this field in our country. But of course, there will be songs in other languages. For example, we want to write a song in Swedish.
Oh, it is a painful question... To take a broad view, the situation is a bit depressing. The matter is that we practically have no system of support, promotion and producing for young musicians, indie-movement is badly developed. Everyone as a result fights for himself, looks for the suitable sound producers, suitable studio. If there is abroad a system of labels which are strongly interested in search for young musicians, here such labels are pretty rare. This shitty situation needs to be changed and we hope it slowly will. Today everything keeps on shoulders of certain enthusiasts. But sometimes really good independent bands appears, who make their own way, for example, Scofferlane, Valery and the Greedies, Maygley, Was She a Vampire, Amazing Electronic Talking Cave (it’s the guy who sang in Newcombe’s song “Detka! Detka! Detka!"), the Cavestompers... But all these band are known to only narrow circle of judges and interested persons. In the past we had some really great groups such as Civil Defense (Egor and the Fucked-Ups) and Aquarium, but it's absolutely another story.
Of course it's right, everyone today can be heard. But it's not really the point. Europe and USA have different attitude towards music and the musicians. Because it is important not only to be heard - the quality of recording studios, broad-minded engineers, the ability to give concerts and to publish music on physical media are very actual too... All this is possible in Russia, but at a rather low level if you haven't got your own studio. In the case of experimental music, it is especially thorny question. Many of our musicians are recording abroad just to have a high-quality sound.
Yes, almost by ourselves. As we were convinced in the early records, you can not trust an unfamiliar sound engineers to produce your song. They turn it into a heavy-metal or the devil knows what. Now we control every step and tell sound engineer what to do. In the future we want to learn all these computer soft for music. It's the only way to get what you want. And in general, we want to develop a neo-psychedelic culture, to acquaint people with real good, revolutionary music of our time…
We also hope to let out a new material soon. Listen to the music, make the music, break on through to the other side! Thanks for this great possibility to tell about ourselves.
Thank you guys !
Free download of their first self-titled EP and the single In The Wake Of These Eyes on twilighttrainfortomorrow.bandcamp.com
We do share your point of view. That's thanks to music if today a 20 years-old frenchy living in Scotland is talking to a Russian mate ! What you're saying about the use of different languages, ethnic instruments and so on, remind me of Anton Newcombe. Is he an influence for you ?
Certainly, I think that almost any neo-psychedelic band of the present was affected anyway by the Brian Jonestown Massacre... In fact, it is that old psychedelia of the 60th, but turned inside out and played absolutely in another way, painted by the personal attitude, personal point of view. And this attitude, this mood turned out to be very close to ours. How our keyboard player Anton says: "It is necessary to listen to the fucking Brian Jonestown Massacre, instead of speaking about them!"
In the beginning, when we first started to play, we were making something like acid punk/garage. But after listening to bands such as Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dead Skeletons and many others, we finally found our own style and understood what to do, which direction to go.
You will realise a full-legth album this year. Have you already written and recorded all the songs ? What can you tell us about this record and what should we expect from it ? You've said previously that you'd like to write some song in different languages. I guess you'll make songs in russian and english, but have you already write in other languages or plan to do it in a near future ?
How will the album be ? I only can speak in general terms, because when we are recording, we often improvise, and some of the ideas come into the recording process. Songs of the album will be very diversified in sound and mood. Some will be light and bright, according to the type of acoustic psychedelic, some will be hard-shoegaze, as if you were experiencing a bad-trip, there will be even meditation, mantra-like songs… Actually, neo-psychedelic is such a wide genre, that it can combine the elements of many genres and styles.
About languages ? It's a different story. We like to sing in Russian, because it is our mother tongue and therefore the only one that allow us to fully expressed all the poetry and the meaning of our songs, which is very important for this genre. Moreover, there is almost no neo-psychedelic bands in Russia, so we're one of the pioneers on this field in our country. But of course, there will be songs in other languages. For example, we want to write a song in Swedish.
I wanted to talk about the music in Russia but I guess you just do so... How do you feel the things are going in your country ?
But now with internet, things are going much more easier and faster for small bands. Because of blogs, youtube, facebook and all that stuff everybody can have the chance to be heard, wherever they came from, aren't they ?
So how do you manage recording ? Do you produce your song by yourserlves ?
Yes I guess that experimental music can only make sense if it's entirely made by those who are making the experimentations... I think we know much more about you and your project now, so the next step will be to listen to your music. Hope you'll release new material pretty soon.
Thank you guys !
Free download of their first self-titled EP and the single In The Wake Of These Eyes on twilighttrainfortomorrow.bandcamp.com
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