Vor ihrer Show im WERK 21 am 30. April 2010 stand die höchstsympathische Band zu einem spontanen Interview zur Verfügung.
Ricky: Hello, would you introduce yourself and the band shortly?
Vigil: My name is Vigil and I’m the singer for THE GHOST INSIDE.
Ricky: First of all: You were a victim of the volcano in Iceland. How were your feelings when you’ve read, that the european airports are closed?
Vigil: It’s terrible. We actually didn’t even know that it was cancelled, because we knew that the volcano errupted, but we didn’t know that the flights got cancelled. We got to the airport and our flight was the first that was cancelled. So we were waiting at the airport for a whole day and then we went back. And we had a week to wait until we finally left.
Ricky: But you really quick found a new flight.
Vigil: Yeah, it took like a week to clear up and then we got booked again and three of us left a day earlier and the other three the next day and we all met up in Rosswein for the first show.
Ricky: So you’re happy to be here?
Vigil: Oh yeah, definitely.
Ricky: Other Bands have cancelled their whole tour – for example RAISED FIST. That’s very band for them.
Vigil: We knew that a lot of people wanted to see us. And the rest of the tour was still very long. We only missed a week of like fives. If we had missed another week we really would have to figure it out. But as I said, the people here want to see us and we didn’t want to stay at home for four weeks. We rather want to be on tour.
Ricky: You’re for the second time in Europe. What do you feel when you’re once again so far away from home just for playing hardcore music?
Vigil: It’s unbelievable. When I’ve started being in a band, I’ve never thought that I’d ever be part of something like this. I’ve never thought that I’d be able to play in Switzerland and to be able to walk in Zürich… just for screaming into a microphone. It’s crazy being able to go somewhere where they can sing along to the song but afterwards they can barely speak english. I’ve never thought when I wrote the songs that I would be here now. I was up late in night writing songs because I couldn’t sleep… and now I’m on another continent playing shows for people that don’t even speak english. It’s really cool, it’s an amazing experience.
Ricky: And you’re a very young band too.
Vigil: Yes, our first song came out a little bit over two years ago. Technically we’ve been a little bit longer than that. Our first record was released 2008. So we’re together for like two years.
Ricky: And now you really made it in that short period of time.
Vigil: I don’t know, but we’ve done more than we’ve ever thought we would. We’ve done pretty well and we’re very pleased and happy about that.
Ricky: How much do you see of europe (cities etc) on this tour? Or do you spend most time on the road?
Vigil: At the first time we’ve been with “Never Say Die”-Tour, we were in a bus. And a bus drives through the night and stops at the venue. You can walk around the venue. And that’s it. Luckily on this tour, we’re on a van. So we’re able to tell the driver “hey, we wanna go see this” or “we wanna get up early and drive there” – a lot more freedom to explore. And a lot of us like walking, so we walk around places, take the train into the city and do whatever we want. So we were able to see a lot of Europe.
Ricky: How old are you guys and how much time are you investing in the band and the music at the moment?
Vigil: The youngest member is 21 and I’m the oldest and I’m 26. And we put everything into the band. None of us has a job, we don’t work, we’re on tour all the time. Since we released our CD, we have been on tour. We’re only home for like two weeks at the moment.
Ricky: So you gave up your jobs and the band was your chance to reach something in your life?
Vigil: In the beginning we had jobs and our places to live. Then we got to the point where we had to choose between going forward and be a full-time band or taking a step back. But we decided to give it a shot, we wanted to do it.
Ricky: But you really hadn’t that good jobs at that time and had the opportunity to be a band?
Vigil: None of us had really good jobs. I had the best job, I was the manager of a grocery store, so I made a pretty good amount of money – but this is way better than working. Singing is a lot more important for me than working.
Ricky: I often try to compare the bands from Europe with the ones from America. But it seems that nearly all the bands in Europe never make it to a full time band.
Vigil: In America, you can tour a lot and longer. You can play for 2 months and never be at the same place. You can go up to Canada or Mexiko. You’ve just far more places to play.
Ricky: Last time you we’re the first band which had to play on the “Never Say Die”-tour. How’s the feeling to play in smaller clubs?
Vigil: It’s good. It’s a lot more humbeling and personal. As where “Never Say Die” we’ve played in front of more people, but it was more like a concert than a show. Now, we can react with the fans, smaller stages, no barriers. It’s different but it’s good. Both tours are fun, but this tour is more like how we are.
One of the shows on this tour (Austria) was on a big stage, because there were like 500 presale-tickets. So it was the same stage as “Never Say Die” and our biggest show on this tour.
Ricky: How do you experience hardcore as a lifestyle on this tour? I guess there’s a kind of broad attitudes among the bands. There’s DEEZ NUTS with lyrics like “tonight we’re gonna party, like there’s no tomorrow” and on the other hand we have AWAKEN DEMONS, who have been well-known for their vegan edge-messages.
Vigil: It’s cool, because every band [on this tour] has a different style of hardcore. Hardcore is a very general description. There’s Metalcore, straight up-hardcore and all kind of different subgenres and stuff. And every band brings a different element into it. AWAKEN DEMONS is more like the heavier band, BREAK EVEN is the more traditional and emotional, DEEZ NUTS is the party- and Hang out-hardcore and we’re heavy too. Almost like AWAKEN DEMOS. But it’s cool to have such different bands doing one tour.
Ricky: And what can you tell us about the audience on this tour?
Vigil: Oh, Europe is a lot different than America. In Europe, people are a lot more honest. They’re more straight forward, they don’t have a problem to come to you and tell you that you didn’t play that good. In America, that doesn’t really happen. I don’t wanna say, the audience in Europe is more serious, but people here feel more and appreciate it a lot more. People here give the show a bigger importance.
Ricky: Though a lot of bands use clean vocals in nearly every refrain, you still provide hardcore with moshparts. How did you come up playing such straight kick ass-music?
Vigil: I think we like to write music that we actually would listen. If we weren’t THE GHOST INSIDE, we would listen THE GHOST INSIDE. About the clean vocals… I can’t sing anyway. We’re a hardcore band, and we want to stay kind of true. We don’t want to try to be the most popular band and we’re just doing the music we all like.
Ricky: You’ve just recorded your second Album. What can we expect?
Vigil: The new record [“Returners”] is a lot more “put together”. The first record [“Fury And The Fallen Ones”] was written in like one month. For the new record, we had a lot more time to structure songs. And we had an idea and direction where it should go. It’s still the same style, just more mature. “Returners” will be a better “Fury And The Fallen Ones”. If you love “Fury And The Fallen Ones”, you will love the new record.
Ricky: When I was on your myspace-page, I was kind of surprised about the preorder-packages. 2 T-Shirts, 1 hoodie and the CD just for 50$. Do you still earn money with such offers or do you just want to push CD sales in the first week? I’ve once read that if you sell a lot of CDs in the first week, you will become more attractive for organisators and agencies.
Vigil: That’s the idea behind it. With that offer, we give away CDs for free. If you choose the most expensive offer, you just pay for the clothes. We want to make our CD more accessible to people. We’re not trying to make money. We’re not a band that is trying to become millionaires. I don’t need to own nice things. To be here in Switzerland is enough for me. We don’t need to make extra 10$ per person.
Ricky: Last but not at least: What do you know about switzerland?
Vigil: I don’t know very much about Switzerland. I just know that I like the chocolate and that the alps are beautiful.
Ricky: So, thank you for your time and your honest answers!
by Ricky |