written by Marko Jakob | 12.01.2022 |
Pix666: Hello Alex. Thank you for your time for the little interview. I hope you had a lovely Christmas time and a good start to the new year?!
Alex: Happy new year Marko. Actually I stayed home and also placed 5 friends in quarantine, since Santa gave me covid as a present. But everyone is fine. Hope your year started better than mine!
Pix666: Yes, thank you, everything is actually ok with me. Alex, please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. How did you meet as a band? What kind of music does The Black Capes make?
Alex: Dear readers, I am a member of a gothic rock band, with emphasis on rock, from Athens Greece. We are The Black Capes, and we have been around since 2016. We have all been in local bands and knew each other for a long time, but had never played together. We always talked about how we love traditional goth rock and how we always wanted to play in such a band, so we created one. We have released 2 albums and our new 3rd one is coming out this March.
Pix666: What are your personal favourite bands and what was your inspiration to become a musician?
Alex: From our era, I would say The Kentucky Vampires, Then Comes Silence, A Cloud of Ravens, Motuvius Rex, Black Angel, Twin tribes and Guillotine Dream. As for inspiration there’s a lot, but The Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Paradise Lost, Type O Negative, Bauhaus and The Cure were for sure a big influence.
Pix666: Your last album ‘Lullabies for the dead’ was released right at the beginning of the pandemic. Did you have to change many plans, then cancel many concerts?
Alex: Well besides canceling shows, the hardest part was that the album couldn’t even get to the record stores, so not only people couldn’t see us perform, but also were not able to at least grab a copy of our work. But I’m not complaining, because many friends in bands had to cancel entire tours that they were planning months before.
Pix666: How frustrating was all this for you and the band?
Alex: The uncertainty of when we will be allowed to perform again was the worst part. No one knew how long it would take for things to get back to normal. I mean, I saw many fellow musicians starting to quit their bands and change careers and this made it even worse for the rest of us. I think what kept us going was the decision to compose and record the new album, it kept us sane and made us remember why we do what we do.
Pix666: Now there is a new sign of life from The Black Capes. About two weeks ago you released your new video clip ‘The Rejects Anthem’ and the release of the upcoming album ‘Looks Like Death’ is approaching. How did the work on the album go – were there any differences to the other productions regarding restrictions due to the pandemic and are there any musical differences on ‘Looks Like Death’ compared to your previous albums?
Alex: Actually we were not allowed to be on the streets due to the lockdown. So it was an adventure to get to the studio everyday for two months and not get caught. Here there was a fine if you were out and the police found you without having a good excuse. Αs for musical differences I’d say the new album is closer to darkwave and goth rock, and not as heavy as the previous ones.
Pix666: In which versions will the album be available and can it already be pre-ordered somewhere?
Alex: It will be on black and turquoise vinyl, on cd and digital. We have opened the pre-order for the digital part of the release on our bandcamp page.
Pix666: I saw your beautiful ‘Lullabies for the dead’ shirt with the bat. Will there be shirts or other merch for the new album as well?
Alex: We love having new merch. Actually we always have new merch with each album and ‘Looks Like Death’ will have its own line of T-shirts and tote bags.
Pix666: Where do you get the ideas for your songs, which topics do you mainly deal with? How do you generally create your songs – is there a certain plan? Who in the band is responsible for what?
Alex: We all compose music in the band and we love it, because it makes our music colorful and you can listen to a bit of everyone in a song, no matter who had the main idea for it. This album has more to do with social issues. My wife has some issues with anxiety and depression, and living with her has made me see what it’s like to have this in your life, and I wanted to talk about it, so I wrote the lyrics for The Beast Within.
Increase in reported cases of domestic violence to helplines, women’s refuges/shelters and the police, linked to COVID-19 was another thing we wanted to talk about, and that is how the lyrics for Reset came to be. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people is another matter we felt we had to talk about, and that is what we did in Love is Love. George Floyd’s death and what followed was another thing that inspired us, and we wrote Asphyxiate. This album means a lot to us.
Pix666: You’ve been on the road with The Black Capes for about five years now. What have been the best experiences with the band so far?
Alex: I would say our shows with Perturbator and Theatre of Hate.
Pix666: …and what are your dreams and wishes for The Black Capes for the future? Maybe a gig at the legendary Wave Gotik Treffen?
Alex: Festivals are great, but I think everybody in the band dreams of a U.S. tour and we think it’s the right time for us to do it.
Pix666: As a musician, you certainly spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to get your mind off things – are there any interesting hobbies that you pursue?
Alex: I love reading, so I spent a lot of time doing that. Besides books I read a lot of graphic novels. Recently I started writing my own book but it needs a lot of time that I don’t have, so it goes really slow. I’m also a huge D&D fan, and every Sunday I DM for my friends.
Pix666: Do you have any other news, that you would like to share with the fans?
Alex: All in good time. Stay tuned on our social media, cause this year will be full of surprises.
Pix666: Alex, thank you very much for the interesting answers – good luck with the new album and stay healthy.
https://www.facebook.com/Theblackcapes/
https://theblackcapes.bandcamp.com/
photos © The Black Capes
