Interview with OLD RUINS
We had a conversation with Ersin (Guitars). Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Thank you for the Interview, Ersin, Guitar for Old Ruins here !
Tell us a few things about OLD RUINS (Members, Starting Year etc).
Alex (Drums) and Christian (Vocals, Lead guitar) started some jam sessions in 2019 and wanted to do something darker and took inspiration from Diablo as the theme and for the soundscape it was somewhat of a mix between I and Demonaz. It was purely just for fun, as a Studio project. Then Alex played me (Ersin/Guitar) something they recorded and i was hooked and on that evening i also came up with the name. Oliver is the younger brother of Christian and wanted to learn the Bass, so we took him in also. And then after some more Songs written, we released the EP, just to see, if people would like it, and they did. Then we did the Album and so forth.
You have recently released your album ''Always Heading East''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
As Music cant be really objectively quantified, there was no difference between the audience and the press really. It was a mixed bag, some really loved it to the moon and back, and some didn't like aspects of it, but no one really said, its shit as a whole. So i take it as a Win. Of course there will be your arm-crossed-corpsepaint-wearing-people who will say: „well this doesn't sound trve or kvlt, this is too clean, where is Satan? ThIs iS nOt BleEcK MeEtÖl“. To them i say, a very friendly: fuck you.
Label or DIY and why?
DIY is cool, but very hard work. Even if you DIY at first, a Label or Promo Agency can get you somewhere, where you would not maybe have gotten on your own. I know its the Internet Age, but if you don't have a Mailchain, which gets Read by the publications around the World, you will have a tough time, getting your work out there in more capacity. Both have their merits and pro's and con's. Weigh them accordingly and you will have a positive experience.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
It is not a funny or weird story, but we had a gig planned and were finished with the Album. But our Drummer slipped in the Bathroom and cut his arm open on the sink he fell on. We didn't know, if we would play the gig, but decided to go anyway, because the line up was cool and we wanted to show, that we still were there and everything. But we also took the Drum recordings and had them on a Laptop, so we could still play live, if we wanted to. We debated to the last minute if it was a good idea and if we really want to do it, and we just did it, because we didn't want to let the people down. Of course we had Alex's blessing before we did this.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
I know i will get hanged for this, but for me its Digital. The convinience is unbeatable. Don't get me wrong, i like every type of Media, the Music comes in, but i prefer Digital, because in the spur of the moment i can go online and listen to something if i wanted to. I love Vinyl because of its warmth and everything, Tape sounded cool, for its time, CDs i grew up with, but its Digital for me.
Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
Death! And Dissection, Bolt Thrower, Immortal, Entombed, mgla, Bathory, Sulphur Aeon, Wilt, Chapel of Disease, Hällas, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple … oh, you meant our Bands influence? Immortal, and the two solo projects of Abbath and Demonaz, I & Demonaz, and a lot of Bathory. But when we write, we try not to limit ourselves, that's why we heard from people, that we were more like Göteborg MDM or straight up Bathory Worship, because we try to do things, that come naturally and evolve unhindered by constraints. Just because i call my music Black Metal, i can't play a Neo Classical Solo? Again: a very friendly fuck you if you don't like it, you don't have to, but if i like a neo classical solo, and it fits perfectly somewhere, i will use it.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
Nothing Extra actually. Because if you take the time to rehearse and practice, then you take time to record the album, in between you you take the time to play gigs, do interviews, do photoshoots or video shoots … Everybody is sacrificing enough with their time for this and people have families doing this, then you (not specifically you guys) want them to „sacrifice“ more ? What is there more to Sacrifice than Time ? Of course if you play one gig a year and wonder, why nobody is interested in you, then maybe you should be more out there and invest more time, but some people cant or wont comprimise and that i totally get. If you want more, you have to do more, that's a law of nature.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
A show, where i play everything perfectly and don't hate myself afterward and no, sadly that wasn't the case yet (hahahaha). But a perfect live Show would be with Immortal or Demonaz or I and some other cool Black Metal acts, because it would be awesome to share the stage with some of our heroes. But as it is right now, i would take a show with Immortal and or Abbath.
What attributes do you think that a new Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
Be You ! Nobody is you, you may have something in common with somebody else, but nobody is you, in your essence. Take that, turn it up to 11 and then let it go. If you are a cunt, maybe you shouldn't turn that up to 11, but people will tell you if you are, then don't be.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
We owe many followers to the YouTube Channel „Black Metal Promotion“, so yes, you should use Digital Platforms and don't be afraid if your Music gets pirated, because it will find its way to the bay, anyway. Piracy is a very effective tool for marketing, because if people find it good, then they will support you no matter what, but you do have people who cant afford to buy physical stuff, so what ? They will still get your music to other people, and then they do, ect.ect. And from there you maybe get people who will buy your stuff. Word of Mouth Publicity is the best publicity you can have. What i would want from the Pirates is, just release it on the actual release date please, and not before it :D
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Germany (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
Well, it morphed over the years, as any scene really does. Up and coming Bands are a few, like Smorrah (our singer, Christian, plays the Bass there), Sphynx, Teutonic Slaughter … here in the Ruhr Area its mostly Thrash, but we have some outliars, like Sulphur Aeon, Blodtake, Voids Embrace and a few others, who do more like Melodic Death, Black or Death Metal. We dont have Fanzines im aware of really, one Webzine called Moshpit Passion, who are doing really awesome and Metal Clubs that are staples in the scene since the 80's and 90's like Helvete, Turock, Don't Panic, Junkyard and some others.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
Frighteningly little actually, I know Suicidal Angels and love the Band and also Automaton (fuck, what a behemoth Talos is, if you don't know it, listen to it), but if you have more tips, I would love to listen to more from my brothers across the Aegean Sea (my family is actually from Turkey;) )
The last 3 years, worldwide in the world, we have faced many dark, strange & new situations in our everyday life (covid, lock-down etc.) Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
For us, i think it was more positive, because we could polish everything up in a way, and get our sound and then release something, when everyone was starving for new music. In that way it helped us out really, because in most early phases of a band, you don't really get to do that and find your sound couple releases after, but yeah, it showed us, that taking more time creatively is really beneficial.
What are your future plans?
The Story of our Concept isn't finished, so we will work on more Songs in the coming times and try to fit it to the Story and of course play more shows and try to see, where this all takes us.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
No, thank you for the interview, if you guys want to check out more about us Old Ruins, just look us up on our socials and on YouTube and everything. Cheers ;)
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
PS. Many thanks to Markus (https://www.facebook.com/MetalMessage.Global) for this interview (Cheers mate!)
OLD RUINS CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/OldRuinsGE/
https://www.instagram.com/oldruins.official/
https://oldruins.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/16B7r7ccFBc2CGIdwzxSWA