1. Hello my friend, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Hey Edu, thank you for interviewing us. We are doing quite good, and we (all four of us) gathered in our studio room to answer your questions.
I think the room look like you would expect it. Not too big, a huge drum kit that takes half of the space, lots of guitars and three towers of Cabinets with Amplifiers on top. Ah yeah and of course a sofa.
2. Would we start with the origin of the band, both in terms of ideologically and musically, your aims in shaping the direction of Coal And Steel?
When we started playing together, we fist did it mainly for fun. It was always Hardrock or Heavy Metal, because of our influences. And that translated into our own music. We only play and write songs that we all like and enjoy playing. So sometimes its Heavy Metal and sometimes more Rock. Coming back to your Question, the Band shapes depending on our mood and liking.
3. Looking back at your beginning (2019), what would you say was the biggest success in your career and what was the biggest mistake or setback?
We thought a lot about it, and we concluded that we never really had a big mistake or setback. Hopefully it stays that way. Probably our biggest success was our participation at the local Newcomer Contest, that is sponsored by the local radio. We participated twice. Once in 2021 and the second time in 2022 where we reached the final. It was a lot of fun, lots of people where there and we made a bit of money.
4. The debut album "Miners For Real" is already out one month ago. Why did it take so long to release a complete album?
The recording and mixing took some time. We are all working or studying full time, so our time was limited on weekends and that obviously stretches everything out. But we always knew that we’ll eventually are able to release it.
5. Musical structure in the album sounds really “technical”, It seems you fell as really keen on the technical side of the music. Regarding all these, can you explain the song writing process of these songs?
Most of the time Nico, our lead singer and guitarist, he comes up with a new riff and we start jamming with it. Then we start throwing new ideas in there as well. And when the basic framework is built, we start tweaking around, adding tiny bits to perfect it. Usually that process takes some time until we have a finished song.
6. 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?
Yeah, it was our first time in a recording studio, and we had a lot of fun. But because of our jobs we had limited time, so we worked during the week and spend our weekends in the studio. Additionally, we had to pause some weekends because of other bookings. All in all, just for recording we spend in the studio around 3-4 months.
7. You mix traditional heavy metal with a pinch of Hard Rock. What are your musical influences that contribute significantly to the songwriting?
We would say bands like: Metallica, Motörhead, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and a bit of German underground Punk-Rock. Bands which influenced our live and taste in music.
8. What makes the perfect Coal And Steel song? Is there one on the album in particular that encapsulates this?
The answer to this question is simple and strait forward. It’s “Miners For Real” and “Coal in the Blood”, but “Miners For Real” is our title song. Both Songs represent us and our origin. Miners For Real isn’t the most technical song, but a very catchy one. Specially on gigs it’s the best song to sing along. Everyone can sing the chorus even if it’s the their first time.
Coal in the Blood is definitely one of the more technical songs. The guitar riff is difficult but very pleasing listening to.
9. 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.
So far we are not focusing on the visual aspect. Our focus is fully on live performance. For us, it’s very that our songs perform as good or even better live on stage than on the album. We can always make a video based on an already existing song. But for now it’s not our focus.
10. What kind of feelings do you have at the moment when everything is done, the album is coming out, in general are you personally pleased with the way how the album turned out in terms of production and mixing?
It’s a great feeling. Finally we can spread our music. Our expectations were definitely met. Amazing that our music reached to south America. Everyone is listening to our music around the World.
Yes we are pleased how the album turned out. Obviously there is always room for improvement. Who doesn’t want to improve and write better lyrics, riffs, etc. But at the end it all comes down to mixing and mastering. Miners For Real is our first album. We made mistakes, learned a lot and want to continue.
11. How would you describe the band in terms of your live performances? What have been some of your favourite venues and shows through the career that you’ve played?
We would describe our live performance as honest, authentic, energetic. We want everyone to enjoy our performance and to have fun. We want to entertain and give the audience a great experience.
Our best show was the Final of the Newcomer Contest last year. The venue was amazing and the audience created an amazing atmosphere.
12. Do you have a special “dream” to achieve in music? Like playing a special show, doing a special recording or playing with a special musician?
The biggest dream would be to financially live from our music. You want to make money while doing what you like. Additionally it would be an honour to play alongside our idols/heroes. For example, being the supporting act for Metallica, performing for thousands of people, meeting and chatting with them backstage. That would be a dream.
13. Let’s finish this interview by looking into the future. What would you like your band to be known for?
Good music, authentic live shows, high spirit, representing our origin in our music.
After a show people should be amazed and think about how good and amazing our concert was. We want them to have a great time.
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