TROLLGASM - ENTREVISTA

Good morning, that's everything for Dubbo, thank you very much for agreeing to answer these questions

1. How were the early Trollgasm? Preceding Brutal death band, and Gridcore, because forming a band of viking, folk and black as Trollgasm? What do you offer Trollgasm with respect to the other bands to which you belong?

Initially Trollgasm was going to be a one man project recording an off demo of grindcore with some slight folk elements and Norse themed lyrics. Kind of like if Haemorrhage wrote folk metal like Eluveitie's Ven EP. I spent a fair amount of time trying to make it work but it ended up sounded like a poor regurgitate knock off with awful guitar pro folk instruments. I was about to give up on it until I heard Isengard and Storm and decided to make it a more simple black Viking type thing instead. 

It wasn't until Nathan (drums) came to me with the start of songs like Heineken and Ride that we decided to do something with it. By that time people in Dubbo were getting sick of hearing deathgrind so it seemed like we could go from one extreme to the other.

2. How was the recording process of this EP "The Northern Winds"? Does it very difficult to work in the studio have to incorporate folk instrumentation such?

The folk instrumentation was the easy part. Money to record however, is what delayed the release two years. We did technically finish it at one point but we weren't too pleased with how robotic the violins sounded. So we enlisted the help of Grace to violins on the EP which made it sound 100 times better.

3. What are your sources of inspiration when composing and your main influences?

We have a lot of different inspirations both musically and lyrically and it shows in which ever of us writes most of the track. Nathan is really into bands like Korpiklaani and Turisas so a lot of his songs are either really party or super epic (Heed the Battle Call), whereas I'm more into really Viking black metal like Manegarm. Dani and Michael want to add as much death metal as possible.

Our lyrics started off the usual Scandinavian mythology but of late it's headed more towards partying, J.R.R. Tolkien and even video games (Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, even Legend of Zelda). So it'd a whole mass of things that form our sound despite us not really trying to do anything too abstract on the EP

4. Proceeding in a relatively small town like Dubbo (Australia), seems to have a scene quality extreme bands, what can you tell us about the extreme scene Dubbo?

A few years ago there was death and grind, even melodic death but not really much of a live scene. It was around 2010 when modern hardcore bands started taking over leaving really only one deathgrind band called Zombie Lolocaust (has featured every member of Trollgasm at one time or another). It's gotten a little more varied since then but the extreme music is still very small. We're actually getting another wave of thrash bands.

5. How were your beginnings in music? What is the first CD from your collection and which you are most proud to own?

My father was always playing the oldies like Cream, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin so it started very young, my brother Dani (bass) started getting into more modern metal like Slipknot, Rob Zombie, Spineshank etc so it just kind of grew. We both got into extreme metal like Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel not long after.

The first album I was really proud to own was probably Cannibal Corpse's butchered at birth, needless to say my mother wasn't too impressed haha.

6. How certain collaborations emerged that appear on the album in terms of vocals and guitars, Jesse McGunnigle I mean and Jorge Dominguez and Brandon Capriotti guitars to vocals?

In the case of Jesse and Jorge I've been a fan of their band Yonder Realm for quite a while and have spoken to them online for about as long as I've known of their band. During the process of recording we decided to do a lot of it at my home studio but ran into some problems getting acoustic guitar to sound any good so I hit up Jesse about it and he was more than happy. There was always planned to be a cool solo in Forest Warriors but to be honest, my soloing still sounds suite messy so I asked Jorge to lay one down. I met Brendon when his band Claim the Throne supported Finntroll in Aus and added him to facebook, sent him our demo tape to which he sent back massive package with CDs and shirts. We had just recorded Humppa Humppa and thought it had a slight resemblance to Claim the Throne's Triumph and Betond version of Two Pints of Honey and A Barrel Full of Beer and in true Aussie fashion was just so casual about saying yes. It’s a good feeling when so many musicians are more than happy to help with getting the sound we want.

7. Do you consider self-publishing as the only way to publicize your work?

Being from Dubbo we don't really have much in the way of publishing. Most people see Dubbo as a dirty hick town of dirt and tumble weed but it's not quite that bad and up until the last 6 months of so we weren't really gigging outside of Dubbo. So self-publishing seemed like the most efficient way to go. We have had a lot of support from Melbourne based label Aurora Australis Records though. So maybe he can publish future releases? Who knows?

8. How does the cover of the EP with music, lyrics and concept of the album? What you want to reflect the cover, who is the design?

The front cover is actually meant to be the back cover, Joel Patton moved state and lost a lot of his work and the front cover we did have had an orange tone through it which in the end we decided we didn’t like. The cover we used does somewhat get the message across of haunting, beautiful, atmospheres that you hear in Heed the Battle Call and the title track but not as much as the original before the orange was added. So we snatched a piece of art for the back covet from Onetwotree designs (with permission of course)

9. What are your plans for the band regarding upcoming releases, concerts, etc. ..?

We've got two metal fests booked for August and September as well as a support for Claim the Throne at some point around then so we're thinking of doing an 8 show tour of sorts and adding a whole bunch of rural gigs.

As for new releases we're working on two. A 5 track acoustic EP and a full length. We're taking a slightly different approach to these two releases. The full length we're hoping to have a more sinister atmosphere but more complex song writing on the guitars part. Whereas the acoustic EP we're getting a lot of ideas from bands like Opeth, Agalloch and even medieval bard music. Very different to the Northern Winds which was basically us trying to find a sound

10. Thank you very much for your time, if you want to add something for people who like Trollgasm, this is the place, thanks. I hope the questions are to your liking.

Thanks for showing interest in us, we're still a very small band but the response to this EP has been phenomenal. Can't have asked for anything more. Thanks to everyone that has gotten a copy and has shown we support. Hopefully you will hear more from us very soon!

Oh, and sorry if I rambled on a bit