Morning Metal – Endemise Interview w/ Franky & Dale
Endemise – May 6th 2014
James Rockso, Ottawa Showbox
Guys, thanks for joining me. Let’s what you introduce yourself and your role in the band?
Franky: I’m Franky and I’m the vocalist of Endemise.
Dale: I am Dale and I play guitar, do backing vocals, and manage the band.
Where did the name, “Endemise” come from?
Franky: I’m not an original member so you would have to ask the other guys about that one.
Dale: We had a couple names before “Endemise” and back when the band was just myself, David and my buddy Adam we decided we wanted a name that wasn’t already out there. Something that would represent our band and our music. The name just kinda popped into my head one day and everyone in the band liked it.
Let’s talk about “Far From The Light”, tell us about the recording process, the experiences and the overall mood of the album.
Franky: Recording was a fairly long process, we spent around a year in the studio with Mike Bond at Pebble Studios and we were writing simultaneously. “Far From The Light” is a very dark album, lyrically, dealing with topics such was the occult, death, loss, and metaphysics. I wanted the lyrics to come across as sincere in a strange way, even though sometimes the subject matter may wander into the realm of fantasy.
Dale: Like Franky said, we spent over a year in the studio recording and I spent close to 3 ½ years writing the material for the record. It was kind of a slow time for us and the band and it took a while to get up and running again. I think the album is dark, heavy, melodic, and really shows the diversity we have together as a band. We worked with long time collaborator Mike Bond and he did an amazing job helping us get the sound we wanted out of this record.
Tell us about your the first single from the album, “Entranced By Twisting Skies”.
Franky: “Entranced by Twisting Skies” is the second song I had written after joining Endemise, previously we had played it live under the name “Annihilation Of Purity”. Lyrically it deals with the relinquishment of all forces in this world that represent good and light, and embracing all opposing forces that fall into the category of darkness and evil.
Dale: I finished entranced back in 2011 and we had actually been playing it live at our shows since then. When I finished writing this song I finally felt like I had found the sound Endemise was looking for.
How did Endemise get involved with Maple Metal Records?
Franky: We originally contacted them regarding distribution and ended up on their roster.
Dale: I had emailed John, the owner of the label, 2 of the songs off the record and he instantly liked the band and liked our music. John helped us throughout the final mixing and mastering process, being a producer himself, he gave us a lot of constructive criticism and helped us polish the final mix of the record.
You guys took part in the Wacken Metal Battle and the Heavy MTL, what was the experiences like and do you have part in any more of them coming up?
Franky: They were a lot of fun. It was nice to reach out to a new audience who may not have heard of us before. We also got to play with a lot of talented bands. As of right now we’re no longer in any competitions.
Dale: I agree with Franky, we had a ton of fun and met a lot of new friends.
Influence wise, for all of you; who do you look up to for your respective instrument?
Franky: As a vocalist , I’m influenced by Erik Danielsson of Watain, Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection, Nergal of Behemoth and Quorthon of Bathory. I have a lot of other influences but I would say that those four have really impacted my sound the most overall.
Dale: Although I am a guitarist, I look up to the people who can do it all. Artists like Christos Antoniou of Septic Flesh who not only writes all the guitar but scores entire orchestrations for the songs. Or Tuomas Saukkonen (Wolfheart, Black Sun Aeon, Before The Dawn, etc) who writes and records all instruments and vocals for hundreds of songs.
A continuation of that question – what drew you to death metal?
Franky: When I was younger I was attracted to punk and hardcore, eventually I kept searching for more intense and extreme music, leading me to Death Metal and Black Metal.
Dale: I agree with Franky, I think a lot of people start off listening to hard rock earlier in life then start branching off to punk and hardcore until you find a passion for different music and begin the search for the style of music that really catches your ear. I like a LOT of styles of music, but death metal, black metal and melodic metal are all styles that really keep me interested.
What do you think the overall impression death metal gives off now than it did when it was new?
Franky: I think to a younger generation it may feel more accessible, and with YouTube it’s always interesting to search for bands from all over the globe new or old, and with all this music easily available it’s a lot easier to find a band within the genre more to your liking than it was when it started out. Also the fact that these forms of extreme underground music are still going strong after 20 years is proof that this music isn’t going anywhere , and I think people like that form of passion in a genre.
Although “Far From The Light” was just recently released – I’m already pumped for new Endemise. You guys just released the killer cover track, “Virtues of the Beast” originally by Septicflesh – so this could be a two parter; Will we be seeing any new covers after that and when will we be hoping for new original material?
Franky: We also just did a cover of Dissections -Retribution, we probably won’t do another one for awhile, but there’s always a possibility, haha. As for new material we’ve already started writing for our new album and we’re planning a 2015 release. We may also release an EP or demo in between.
Dale: I for one just love making music. I love writing, recording, playing live. The more the better in my eyes. We have since already started writing for our new record set for 2015, which will also be our 10 year anniversary as a band so we are really going to go all out for this next record.
“Virtues of the Beast” – Endemise – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpIPGulwI0Q
Endemise has been around since 2005 and have already been considered by many to be one of the best death metal acts to come out of Canada, are you impressed with the metal community in Ottawa? How do you think it could be improved?
Franky: The Metal Community in Ottawa is great, although small, we have a lot of amazing talent here and promoters that truly care about the scene. For improvements I think the scene needs to start supporting our local acts more than they have been, there’s a tendency to only support your friends band and I think this is a shame, especially with the tremendous amount of talent here in Ottawa.
If you could collaborate with one local metal act – not death metal, who would you choose?
Franky: I’m a big fan of Ottawa black metal band Occult Burial.
Dale: I have a lot of friends in a lot of bands so this one is hard. It would be fun to tour or play shows with any of my friends in other genres and styles. If I had to choose one band, I would say Abraxas. They are an amazing group of dudes and I am a big fan of their music.
Where can we pick up “Far From The Light” and any Endemise merchandise available?
Franky: Far From The Light is available for purchase at HMV, CD Warehouse, or online at Amazon and various other online stores, and of course directly from us.
Dale: www.endemise.bigcartel.com for a physical copy or download from iTunes, bandcamp, and other online sites.
We’re almost half way through 2014, what should we be expecting from Endemise for the rest of 2014?
Franky: Lots of shows, tours, and some new music.
Guys, thanks again for taking the time to answer these for us at Ottawa Showbox.
Franky: No problem, thanks for having us.
Dale: No, thank you sir.
Endemise – https://www.facebook.com/Endemise
Stream “Far From The Light” – https://www.facebook.com/Endemise/app_132173876824108
James Rockso – Host of CKCU 93.1 FM’s “Morning Metal” & Producer/Engineer at “Pebble Studios”
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Morning-Metal/286205571505773
Interested in an interview or a review, send me a message from the link above!
Morning Metal 2014.