The friendly staff of dagheisha.com did not only put up a very pleasing review but an interview and both in Italian. They can be found right at their website. What we have here are the translated versions sp prepare for a long read:
Please introduce the concept behind Utopia:Banished and how the project did evolve since the early days..
utopia:banished delivers the soundtrack to what surrounds us right now. It says that we technically could achieve a better place than this but we're disabled intellectually and in many other ways...
I started u:b as a one-man-project somewhen after the turn of the century... so this is in my head for a long time now.
When I figured which knobs to turn to make a song sound good I started releasing CDs, I scored a short film and did some sounddesign for a theatre play
I kept making music by myself until the release of the Dirtward album. The project became a band. We're playing live, having our times, doing the songs...
And this comes together in “Escape Strategies”, our new EP.
Your name remember us the mighty Napalm Death's album. How did you come up with it?
Lately it became some kind of quality-check for us... Like “You remember Napalm Death? Thumbs up!” But when I chose the name I wasn't listening to them. It was no reference to ND.
I loved the sound and the meaning of the words itself, the relevance of the name and so I took it.
Later on a friend reminded me about the connection to Napalm Death but how couldn't I be fine with that even more?
What are your main reference points as far as music is concerned?
I can say that I listen to a lot of music. Rock, Punk, old TripHop records, Dubsep, Postrock, Breakcore and many things that don't really fit into any genre. Records I bought lately have been the new Mogwai album, an old Therapy? record and this new live recording by Tom Waits. But I guess my evergreens will be (and stay) The Doors, Deftones, Massive Attack, Tool and, well, Nine Inch Nails...
Can you say something about your musical background?
I started playing guitar when I was a teenager. I went from punkrock to metal to deathmetal and played in several bands. Then I discovered the computer as an instrument and bought my first synthesizer.
From there on it all went pretty weird...
You're not more a one man project. Please show us all the other members that will play with you in tour...
First I have to point out that they are not “members that will play with you”. We're a four-piece, more than the sum of the pieces. Sounds corny but it's important.
Alright then, we have Benny who plays drums and percussion. An impulsive polyrhythm addict who provides the right pulse. He was the one who dropped me a mail saying “wanna jam”? And this was actually the big bang for u:b becoming a band.
Constantin plays synths and sampler and I know him for almost 10 years now. He became our interim-keyboarder as he was willing to help out while we were looking for someone else to do that job. When he was in we secretly stopped searching...
Michael plays bass and he's something like the proto-bass-player. He has a heart of gold and is lazy as hell. When you're in trouble late in the night and someone has to pick you up, he will be there in a minute. But he wouldn't ever manage to show up on time for a rehearsal.
What are the main differences between these five songs and the debut album?
Dirtward (which was only our full length debut, two EPs came before) was a giant project that got me working on it for more than two years. I was trying to program the hell out of the record for the best and the worst of it.
I still love this album and I am proud of it but when you do it all by yourself there's noone to hold you back when you through more and more sounds and noises into the songs. Looking back I have to admit that some songs appear a little overloaded...
The new songs, arranged by a whole band, are more elegant in the Mohammad Ali way. They dance around you like a butterfly before they get ready to know you out. More attack and release...
What albums inspired you in terms of production?
I like edgy productions such as the roughness of “ACME” from the John Spencer Blues Explosion and nearly all Tom Waits albums since “Rain Dogs”. Tool have great productions and, when it comes to strange sounds, there's nothing like Amon Tobin. The “Splinter Cell” record is simply amazing.
The latest Deftones album “Diamond Eyes” is mint as well. Such a modern (I can't find a better word for such sound) and heavy record though I like the drumsound on “White Pony” better.
You see, I can honor a good, clever production in many ways. Sometimes I find myself thinking “The song is crap, the melody is stolen, the lyrics are hilarious, the voice is annoying and the synths are cheap but the snare sounds sooo good!”
Guess we could do a whole interview just about the production of records...
I really love the artwork with all those exit signs. Did you ever find yourself in a hotel destroyed by the flames?
No, actually not. Can't say that I yearn for such situation that much...
What's your hand in the upper picture?
Mine? Guess it's the second from the left. Are you into handreading?
What would you like to escape today? Maybe my questions..
I want to escape from nearly all things that diguise themselves as “important”. TV, advertising, fashion... and especially from the people who believe in such things.
Do you know what's the new religion? It's shopping! In 2010 seven million people went to Dubai (“Do-buy”) because it has amazing possibilities for shoppers. Seven million people! That's more than half of the amount of Muslims who went to Mecca which is their holiest place on the entire planet!
Fugazi once said “it's not what they're selling, it's what you're buying” and this pretty much sums it all up.
Ok, I got a run, can I get one more?
Check the increasing rates of plastic surgery in the United States on girls under the age of 21.
“Hey daughter, you'll turn 18 years next month, I thought I was going to present you a six-weeks-journey around the world.”
“Oh daddy, I think I want new boobs instead!”
What I want to escape from? From all that fake!
Btw: there's nothing wrong with your questions...
What's gonna happen after everything falls into place?
Then everything will be just where it belongs. And it would have happened all naturally... Everything would be ok and we could start pushing the boundaries of happiness and creativity. It's a cheap fantasy in a luxurious dress.
It will never happen, we're all going down...
Is Germany a good place to play this kind of music?
Maybe Italy would be a better one? Any weddings or communions we should play at?
Seriously, I don't really know. We had awesome experiences at shows and total letdowns as well. Venues have a hard time these days so they prefer acts who bring fashionable stuff. Which is basically “Hardcore”. Guys who bring their mates along so the money is safe. They prefer scene-acts and we don't have a scene. I can't really blame them for trying to pay the bills but they'd better be ready for what comes afterwards.
Though Mogwai told us that “Hardcore will never die but you will” the hardcore scene as we have it today will just decease as every other scene did.
What do you aim to create with your lyrics?
If people listen, fine, if they think about, perfect! But I will not give any explanations.
What should we expect in terms of sound from the next full length?
We're still trying to merge electronic right into the core of rocksongs but it's too soon to tell. I'm writing songs constantly but only a few are chosen for utopia:banished. To witness the progress of what we're doing simply come to our shows. We tend to include new songs into our sets.
Any release date?
Not this year.
What about some underground bands that you think deserve attention?
Oh, there are a few: “Guns of Brixton” for example are absolutely stunning. They got a very rare but effective genremix going on... real slow and heavy postrock crossed with elements of Dub. Their last record “Cap Adare” was one of my favourites last year.
Or Blindead from Poland. Very dark, dronie and, once again, heavy.
“Forrest Swords” and “Downliners Sekt” bring fresh, new variations of Dubstep into play. Both acts are very worthy...
And, if you are into real crazyness you should check out “City Weezel” from France. They are nothing less than the heirs of Frank Zappa. Plus their singer is Irish!
Well, guess it should be obvious for any reader to check the Aentitainment backcatalogue and shop to find more inspiring music...
What's your favourite Nine Inch Nails's album?
And with your last question the NIN-syndrome returns... This is something I would love to escape from, but alright, I can't deny, so: I choose The Downward Spiral. To me it's very close to the perfect record coming in a totally unique look, sound and feel.
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THE REVIEW OF "ESCAPE STRATEGIES"
Surprising comeback from this german project merging drum n' bass, industrial and trip hop.
More than four years passed since that “Dirtward” that didn't escaped too much from the rigid boundaries imposed by Nine Inch Nails, “Fragile” era.
“Escape Strategies” is made out of five songs that could be played together in very different places. Think to a classic english garage club, where indie generations meet at night time,
stratified and confused, to enjoy improvisations and sub-urban poetry.
At the same time, think of a typical suburb stage, where you play in front of 200 persons that never heard your name and will soon forget your faces.
Finally, image an alternative disco, where once upon a time raves were the big thing and now you can take some picture of end-of-the-world catharsis.
“Knives” convulsions help listeners to choose not too easy ways, while “Breach” is a nice mix of Dredg and Burial, with Chris' vocals that have incredibly improved. “Everything Falls Into Place” portraits our years decadence. “Untitled n. 4” opens to the future with a veil of hope and “Pass the Flask” tears it off, cuts its low-quality tissue. If the next album will be on the same standards, we'll have an absolute masterpiece in hand .
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