written by Marko Jakob | 10.04.2022 |
Pix666: Hello and thanks for your time. How are you doing these days? How are the other guys from Antivalent?
Omar: Hello Pix666 we’re doing fine thank you. At the moment we’re working on new stuff and making plans for the future. So we’re keeping ourselves busy. 🙂
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. What kind of music do you make?
Omar: We like to describe ourself as an energetic and modern alternative rock band jet not sticking to a certain genre or style. We like to bend the rules in a way that the music we make still sounds us.
Pix666: Recently your new singles ‚Heavy‘ and ‚Raven‘ were released. How have the reactions been so far?
Omar: Well we have to say that the reaction to these singles took us by surprise in a very positive way. People really seem to like our new sound. We’ve also had good amount of national radio play with ‚Raven‘ and we’re very stoked about it. We think people are getting the hang of us. 😀
Pix666: Are you working on more songs at the moment – Can fans look forward to a new album from you in 2022?
Omar: We’re constantly working more or less on new stuff and making future plans on the side. We’ve worked a lot and put gallons of sweat and tears to the new material. That said, we definitely courage fans to look forward to the album. 😉
Pix666: How do you create your songs and what are your lyrics about?
Omar: It usually starts with a simple chord pattern or a melody hook. I like to demo things a lot usually with computer but time to time with my smartphone. From these demos I tend to construct the bigger picture of the song. When I think I have something that sounds pretty good I share the demo to the rest of the band for feedback. Our lyrics are most of the time about relationships, love and heartbreaks but with a not so obvious scenery.
Pix666: Did the Corona Pandemic influence your way of working?
Omar: Well obviously we got a lot of free time when all the venues were closed due to Corona. So we used all the free time we had and worked on an album. We had time to concentrate on our new stuff and hone it to a point that we all were 100% satisfied. So yeah…We definitely took advantage of the Corona Pandemic.
Pix666: Are there already plans for concerts in 2022?
Omar: We’re still finishing our debut album which is taking time obviously. After the album release our focus will be on stage and hopefully in a form of a tour. We’re planning the shows to happen in autumn 2022.
Pix666: You have released a video clip for each of your new singles. Where did you shoot the clips and how long does it actually take to shoot such clips?
Omar: It usually takes 1-2 days to shoot a music video for us but it all depends on the content. ‚Raven‘ took one day and ‚Heavy‘ 5 hours. We shot the music video for ‚Heavy‘ at our rehearsal space and in apartment. We decided that we’re gonna go with the closeup shots only from the band so we masked the space so it won’t look as a rehearsal space. 😀
Our videographer Mikko Parkkonen from Aarni Visuals knew a guy who was willing to lend us the apartment for the story shots. ‚Raven‘ was shot in an old warehouse by talented young media students form Seinäjoki university of applied sciences. We loved the vibe of it and the roughness fitted perfectly to the mood of the song.
Pix666: Your song ‘Saint Healer’ reminds me of the sound and energy of Placebo. What musical idols and inspirations do you have?
Omar: I really love the sound and mood of Placebo and Saint Healer got its part of inspiration form them for sure. Recently I’ve been listening to Nothing but Thieves and I’m really digging their sound. Their singer Conor Mason’s sound is something unbelievable. There are a lot of bands that have inspired us along our journey. Bands like Disco Ensemble, Biffy Clyro, Lapko, Placebo, Muse, HIM just to name a few.
Pix666: You’ve been on the road with Antivalent for more than five years now – what have been the most memorable experiences with the band so far?
Omar: Even though we’ve shared the stages with some of the Finlands biggest rock groups but I think the most memorable experience must be a short trip to a small gig we had quite near our home town few years a go. We drove like 20 km or so when suddenly something flew off from the left side of the front wheel to the other side of the road. It was quit of a jumps scare. We immediately stopped the car and went to look for the part that flew off. The part was a whole spring of the shock absorber. Luckily our friend that lived nearby lent us a car so we got in time to the show.
Pix666: Omar, do you have any dreams and wishes for the future – maybe a gig at a certain festival or a tour together with your favourite band?
Omar: We’ve always been thirsting for live and during the past few years our thirst has grown bigger and bigger. We’ve been mainly doing all sizes of club shows and less festivals. We hope that in the near future we’ll get some festival slots also. Cause we’re from Seinäjoki it would be crazy to say anything else than Provinssi Rock. But thinking widely a show in a club or festival in Germany would be fantastic. 😉
Pix666: As a musician, you surely spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to distract yourself – are there any interesting hobbies you pursue? 😊
Omar: I’m some sort of a movie buff so whenever I have time I definitely will watch a movie. I also get a lot of inspiration to the lyrics and sceneries from movies. Sci-fi is the way to go. 😉
Pix666: Do you have any other news about Antivalent, that you would like to share with the fans?
Omar: We might have a song or two in our sleeves before the album release. Let’s see. 😉
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck and stay healthy!
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