An Interview with Galvano
Born the year 2005 in Gothenburg, Galvano released in the end of 2012 their debut full length album, Two Titans, through the newborn, U.K. based label, Devouter Records, establishing themselves as one of the most promising bands of the heavy scene. The first offering of this Swedish dynamic duo is the proof that huge things can come out of limited resources and so I was really curious to find out how they managed to create such a massive sound by just the two of them. So, here's my Q & A with Mattias, the guitarist and vocalist of Galvano.
Hey there Galvano! How's the first days of 2013 for You?
Hey! Start of 2013 has been pretty good so far. Freddy and I just started jamming again after a little break since we got back from tour. It’s great to get back into it.
Even though You were born about 8 years ago, in the year 2005, I can't resist but ask You to give us a mini bio of Yours, from day 1 to the release of Your debut, in order for all of us to have a better idea of who Galvano really are.
Well all right! It’s like this, Freddy and I have known each other since we were kids but became good friends around our twenties. We had both our own musical projects back then. After a few years when we were getting drunk we always ended up talking about maybe doing something together musically since my band had broken up and Freddy was pretty much done with the project he was in. So we borrowed a rehearsal room for a bit, both in love with heavy music we knew we wanted to create something in that vein with our own take on it. Fast-forward a few years, a few demos and a few bass players we in 2010 recorded one song called “The Librarian”, it was mixed/mastered by Billy Anderson and naturally sounds huge. This was as a three-piece and in 2011 released on a 10” split with the dudes from KASAN and a German label called SM Musik. Having played a few European and Swedish shows we were totally excited when we were asked by Sickmangettingsick Records if we wanted to go on tour for three weeks along side Alaskan from Canada. We had a blast. After that tour however our current bass player realized touring wasn’t for him so we mutually decided to part ways. Now, since day one Freddy and I would often rehearse as a duo for different reasons and in my writing it was always for guitar and drums. The bass player would then come in and add their part on top of that. So after all those years of restarting with different bass players we finally said, ok, let’s not do this anymore. Let’s just keep to the core of what we are and not look around for bass players anymore.
2012 must have been a really busy and exciting year for You since Your full length debut, Two Titans, was realesed by Devouter Records and You also toured through Europe. How do You feel about it? Was it worth of all the buzz?
It’s been a lot of stuff going on in getting the album come together. Touring is just icing on the cake, we fucking love to be on the road, playing shows. 2012 was a great year for us and we reached out to a lot of people with our music. The idea that what we do in a rehearsal room makes it possible for us to visit so many beautiful countries and meet great people is mind-boggling.
Almost all of the reviews I've read about Two Titans were positive. Truly positive. Were You expecting this great amount of really good feedback?
No way, when we’re creative and jamming out at our space and we are in that bubble there’s just no telling what people will think about it and you can’t start thinking about shit like that either. Sometimes when we rock out and get into a groove and I think, fuck this is so good I lift my head and look over at Freddy, if he’s blasting away over there on the drums with a big fucking smile on his face I know I’m right. Having said that, we felt that we had created something great with Two Titans. It’s so energetic and it’s such a release playing that set but I had never anticipated that kind of feedback and so many nice words about it.
One thing I noticed on most of those reviews, if not all, is that the term sludge steadily appears on them, with which I agree, but there are other terms like post rock, progressive, doom and even references in classic metal. Do You agree with any of those terms and how would You describe Your music to someone that have never heard not even a single tune of Yours?
The thing with genres is that it’s so limiting in describing what you do musically. If a magazine label you as a sludge or stoner or doom band people will always have different expectations on how you sound anyway. I understand it though there has to be something to refer to in describing all these bands you write about. What I can’t figure out though is the term “post”. I mean, take post metal or post rock for that matter. What the fuck does that even mean? It’s all transitions and interpretations of shit you dig and add more to, to make it develop. If a genre or era of music develops it becomes unknown territory and is bound to get a “post” stamp on it. Some think we have a progressive touch and I’d like to agree to that. Or at least in my mind when writing I tend to try and make all the parts go somewhere as opposed to infinite repetitions.
Now that Two Titans is a few months old, would You change something on it if given the opportunity to do so? And if the answer's yes, what whould that be and why?
No, we’re very pleased with how it came out.
Since, we're already into Two Titans would You please give some more details about it? Like, is there any lyrical concept to it and why is it called Two Titans? Does it have something to do with the line up of the band?
A lot of our songs share the same lyrical content but in different shapes or hidden in fictive and abstract stories. It’s not because of lack of ideas but rather the topics are a way to deal with certain things. Two Titans is a concept album that deals with being in control of your mind and not to fall into traps that makes you question your own reality. Some years ago I was suffering from panic disorder to the point that before I knew what it was I was certain I was about to die on a few occasions. I would go down to the hospital in the middle of the night with a pounding chest and trouble breathing but they always sent me home saying it was nothing to worry about and all tests were ok. I’m now better at controlling this and I can spot the signals before they bloom out. For me, this is what Two Titans is about, having a shadow on your shoulder ready to strike at any given time. Hopefully it will mean something different to others we all have our dark shit to battle. And yes, it’s also a celebration to our first release as a duo.
The production of the album is really topnotch and fits perfectly to Your relenteless tunes. Who's responsible for that?
We recorded in a really great studio, actually Entombed is recording their new album there right now. We did all the tracking but the vocals there in two days. The vocals and all of Hyperion we recorded at our own space. I asked a friend of ours, Oskar Karlsson to come down for an hour or two to dial in some compression and stuff which he was kind enough to do then we did all of the mixing/mastering ourselves.
How does it feel to produce such heavy tunes without having a bass player in the band? I suppose it's pretty difficult thing to do and was wondering if You ever gave a seriously thought of adding one more person in the group?
Well, to create a heavy sound is really about equipment, having enough shit to create the sound you want. I’ve found the stuff that works for me and that I’m happy with. The task at hand really is to keep things interesting without that element available to you. We try not to focus too much on the fact that we are only two but instead to get over the hurdles it presents. By now you already know we had a bunch of bass players so yeah, we tried that. Would we ever get a bass player again? We haven’t closed that door but for now we are really happy just being the two of us.
Two Titans is out through newborn label Devouter Records. How do You guys got in touch with the label and how satisfied are You from Your relation with them until now? Shall we expect more releases out from this partnership?
Phil got in touch with us in February of 2012, wow almost a year ago actually. Time flies. Anyway, he was interested in releasing some stuff with us and as we were in the process of writing new stuff we were all for it. It’s been a great process and Phil is real genuine and serious about his label. Hopefully he wants to work together again for the next album.
Recently You toured Europe. Any good stories from that tour You may wanna share with us?
Tours are weird, they’re all a big story on it’s own, everything blends together. It’s always little things that you remember and laugh at later. But you probably wouldn’t think it was funny if I told you. But no, nothing big this time around.
Are there any plans of more touring in the forseeable future and is there any real possibility of including Greece in one of Your next tours across the continent?
Yes, we will head out on another Euro tour in October, which will be an awesome tour, details about that later. Hopefully we can do some small runs before that but I’m having another kid in April so I need to take some time off for that. Greece, well we go where people want us to go but for sure we’d love to come.
Speaking of plans, what shall we expect from You in 2013? Shall we expect any new tunes from You this year?
I doubt you’ll see a new Galvano record out in 2013 but we have started to write new material for another album already.
It's still the first days of the year, so I couldn't resist to ask You about Your favorite tunes of 2012 and also, if there's any band or album You're looking forward to listening to in 2013?
I thought Pallbearer, Om, Eagle Twin and Meshuggah released really good records last year. I’m not really tuned in with what’s being released next year but I would lie if I said I’m not interested in hearing Black Sabbath’s new album.
And as we're approaching the end of this interview, I think it would be interesting if Your share with us Your wildest ambitions and dreams regarding Galvano. What's Your biggest goal?
We want to be able to play as much as possible and continue to release albums, meet great people and win the lottery.
That's all from me folks. Thank You very much for this interview! The epilogue is Yours.
Thanks so much for taking interest in our band it’s very humbling that people want to know more about us and our music. Please pick up our album and thanks for supporting us and Devouter Records!
Devouter Records: Official Website
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