1. How did you find each other, we gave you the idea to make music together and briefly your beginnings.
We all know us a long time and played in a couple of other bands before e.g. Mandatory or Destroyer from Germany. So we decided it was time for playing some death metal again.
2. What was the reason into making death metal music and whom are the gateway entries for your discoveries getting into extreme music?
For me this was in the early 90s when i was listening slayer and a friend from school gave me a mixed tape with death metal bands. Since then I was hooked and death metal has always been a mistress.
3. How important is a band’s name? is it important that people can identify with it?
These days it is hard to have a matching name since most are already taken. I find a name and also a cover very important since you can already tell what the music roughly sounds like most of the time.
4. You guys have put out your debut demo titled “Vulgar Surgery” and was released last May and Rawskull recordz handled the CDs and Tapes are available from Into it Records.. How was the overall reception from the media press and what was the inspiration into writing this 5 tracks?
Reactions I am aware if were mainly really positiv. We did not approach media in a broader way and I am also not the best in promoting the own stuff I guess we could do a bit more on that front. Inspiration was to play some death metal in the vein we like it raw dirty and catchy.
5. Musicians often have a single favourite spot on each recording they make. What would be your moment of joy on this particular demo?
Puh probably the beginning of the song vulgar-surgery is what I like most but usually this changes over time.
6. Is every member of Charred Remains involved in the composition of your songs and general artistic choices? Can you tell us a bit more about your own creative process and what inspires you both as musicians and lyricists?
No unfortunately I do the music and lyrics the others so far just support the vision but maybe this will change in the future.
And I would not call myself a musician I know that the thick strings of the guitar are north and the thins are south and I enjoy making terrible noises on the guitar. Inspiration for the music is probably all old thrash and death metal I enjoy but the music is not aimed to a particular band. The rough vision was how could a combination of motörhead and repulsion sound like. The words are just horror stories inspired by horror movies that to me is the best fit for the kind of death metal we play.
7. What are some techniques you haven’t used on your current demo that you would love to experiment with in future releases?
Maybe not a technique but on the demo we mainly play fast or faster for the first album I force myself to do one slow track.
8. Tell us about the recording sessions, how did it go? Was it your first time in the studio? How long did it take you to finish everything?
I have a home studio so we could record easily in the rehearsal room and polish it afterwards by ourselves since we wanted it rather raw we did not overthink everything. We have been in studios before so everyome knew what to do.
9. Were there any songs that didn’t make it onto demo or did you use all of the material you wrote?
Yes we have recorded a motörhead cover of poison that was not finished in time but probably will find its way on one of the next releases.
10. When you write, are you also thinking about how the music may translate live or perhaps how a video may be used to promote a given song? I guess the music comes first but I’m interested in how soon the visual aspects become important.
Our stuff is pretty straight forward and we all do not like crazy outfits so it will be just a bunch of beerdrinkers in jeans and shirt . But we plan to first get an album together before playing live. Other members are also playing in other bands we are a bit older with wifes and children so time is a bit limited. In the past with other bands we played more live and recorded less and now we wanted to do it the other way round.
11. When checking today’s extreme music scene, do you miss the ancient days? In which records were made with high spirit, communications were made more sincerely and honestly. What are the main differences for you?
Puh I am not sure if this was different in the old days I guess you had the problem of people promising too much or trying to rip a band off also in the old days. We also had our share of this in the past. In general we are lucky with our first release with rawskull recordz and into it records both very good to work with.
12. Who would you say are your current favourite bands in Germany, and anywhere else, I’m always keen to discover more great music. I find a lot of people just refuse to open their eyes (ears) and give some of the newer stuff a go. Any thoughts?
Absolutely there are some nice new bands and though I also have a tendency to listen to old stuff I force myself to check out new stuff. From germany I like feaces christ and Repulsive feast. And international newer bands I like are e.g. Molder and dripping decay.
13. What ways has been the best for you in order to promote the band? What do you do to reach as many interest as possible?
We need to do a bit more on that front. We have a bandcamp and instagram page but could improve the self marketing definetly.
14. A fairly common question to ask these days, but what are your views on the whole digital age. Postage to many other countries is now utterly outrageous. Is this affecting your sales in any major way?
To me that is a curse and a blessing. When I remember growing up we only could copy stuff on tape from friends since buying everything was impossible. These days anyone with internet access can dig out the obscurest recordings and does not need to pay to listen to it comparable to adult movies history. So before if you found something it probably stayed longer on the record player as these days where the next band is just 2 clicks away. I still buy vinyl if I like a record but will also check stuff out first online. I think luckily in the underground there are still many maniacs supporting bands and buying phisical releases and for us this is a hobby so we are not aiming for a platinum record or need to rely on money made from sales.
15. Tell us about your live appearances, do you already have some gigs scheduled? How important is live performance for Charred Remains? Do you play often? If so how does your show looks like?
No we haven t played live yet. We first want to concentrate on making a full length and after that see if there is enough time beside the other bands to do some gigs.
16. As a metal band do you feel that you’re a part of a greater worldwide community of metalheads?
In general I would say yes except if there is a certain elitism or arrogance that you come across also from time to time.
17. Before Ending this interview, Why should everyone check out Charred Remains and what does your music offer in comparison to other bands playing the same genre as you do?
If you enjoy trash and death from the 80s without much foreplay and you do not believe that a good song needs 20 riffs check us out on bandcamp. Or if you have a too high IQ and want to decrease this a little bit I also recommend listening to our demo.
18. Last but not least, what are your biggest hopes for the upcoming half of the year? What do we need more of, and what do we need less of?
To have a bit more time, beer and luck to finish work for the upcoming album. And also a Splitt will be hopefully finished soon and may see the light of day later this year.
What we need less of is price increases especially for vinyl records and concerts.
19. I like to thank you for your time into doing this. Any final thoughts or words to the fans reading this?
Thanks a lot for the interest! Open a beer check out our demo on bandcamp and make yourself a relaxing evening.
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