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But We Try It is a new thrashcore band from Wuppertal (Germany). Their debut Dead Lights was released via Massacre Records and as they are nobodies to most, frontman Jörn answered my questions about the band.
Please tell us a bit about the beginning of BWTI!
Stefan and Tim knew each other quite a long time from the Wuppertal metal scene. They both played in bands and also had one or two shows together, but they had no regular contact. This changed three years ago, when both coincidentally were offered a job in the same printing company. There the idea to start something together came to life. Stefan's band split up and Tim was the singer of a emo-band until then, but necessarily wanted to play guitar in a metal band. First rehearsal started in late 2007 with Tim, Stefan and Mark. The chemistry was right and the backbone of But We Try It was born. After casting a lot of lead guitar players they found Dominik by coincidence on MySpace. And last but not least I joined the band shortly after that.
Why did you choose this name?
The name was Tim's idea. We didn't want that 'typical' metal hardcore bad-boy-name, preferably with 'blood' or 'death' or something like that in it. It represents pretty well where we come from and where we want to go. We all have been making music for a very long time and our dream was always to get the opportunity to come around and experience this whole 'Rock'n'Roll Thing'. Of course we know that it is increasingly difficult for new bands and the chances are more than low, but who has not tried has already lost.
'Hard times ... but we try it'
How do you write songs? As a band or do you have a main songwriter?
Tim and Dominik are showing their riff ideas in the rehearsal room or they are sending the sound files to the rest of the band. Stefan and Mark are looking to bring in new ideas to the songs and when the song is more or less ready, I get in touch with the material and look where I can bring in my vocals.
All the lyrics are written by myself. I am working on one side with personal experiences and things I saw. Then they are usually somewhat cryptic and give the space to empathize and allow their own interpretations. On the other hand, I write about maladministration in the world, things that really piss me off in today's society.
Which bands / artists inspired you? Musically? Lyrically? What are you listening to these days?
Dead Lights is simply our idea of a modern metal album or simply the intersection of our musical tastes in the band.
For example I'm a huge Maiden fan, actually I come from the old school hardcore scene. Dominik is really into progressive metal. Mark listens to bands such as Lamb Of God and Slayer, Stefan generally likes death metal and Tim loves Darkest Hour and the good old 90's metalcore.
Please tell us about the recordings of Dead Lights!
The time in the Woodhouse Studio in Hagen was exciting, but very intense. We worked really hard there and meticulously checked every note, every bump, every grunt ... hahaha, no shit! Therefore, there is no studio video diary. We were just there to record a good album, no questions asked. After two weeks of recording we started working on the mix with Siggi Bemm. We have deliberately chosen the Woodhouse, because it stands for a modern sound with a old school touch. We simply didn't want the kind of polished high-end sound which one hears everywhere these days.
Who did the artwork? And how is it linked to the title?
Our drummer Marc has his own design company (www.mb-darkside.com) and so usually he is in charge of the website and design stuff. We allowed ourselves a little too much time before we started to bother about the cover art and at the time where we had to decide on how it should be like, Mark was at full capacity with external orders. So we made the best of the situation and started a cover competition on MySpace. The only task was to make a design on the basis of the album title Dead Lights. We got by far more submissions than expected with really interesting and partly funny interpretations of our album title. In the end the cover art by Heavensend Design won the competition.
How does it feel to have your full-length debut album in stores?
Really, really amazing! We've put so much effort into our debut - album and now all the work finally pays off. Me and guys are totally proud of it. And we hope that we'll establish our band in the heavy music scene through the next years.
Which songs represent BWTI best in your opinion? And which one would you like to do a video clip for?
This is a really hard question... every song represents the band in its own way. Some are more melodic and some just kick ass. But in the end, I would say it's The Gift And The Curse. It's the first single of the album and a video to this song is coming soon as well. I hope it will be released in march.
Towards the end of the album the songs seem to become more melodic... Is this the way your going to?
Oh, yes you're right...and it was intended that way. We tried to compose a homogeneous album. And I think it was well done. ;-) We haven't started the song-writing for the next album, but perhaps it gets more melodic...we'll see.
Even if you are adding screams and growls, the vocals seem to be a bit one-dimensional... Are the melodic guitars added as a counterpart?
It's just my style of singing. For me it's a way to let out my frustration and all the anger inside of me. Therefore, my singing is really harsh. The melodic guitars are no counterparts, because they were there before my screams, so if you want the screaming is more the counterpart to the guitars. But there will be more singing parts in the future, I promise. ;)
Will you play some (local) shows? Anything on the way?
Yeah, we just confirmed a few first shows for this year. At February 24th we'll play in Cologne together with Deadlock, in a venue called Underground. In January we've inked a deal with GoDownBelieving, a booking agency from Cologne. At the moment we're planning a tour for this year. I think great things will come out soon.
What's your goal for 2011?
For this year our primary focus will be on playing a European tour and as many festivals and shows in general as we can. We want to convince new audiences and a
have a good time with them.
I have to thank Jörn for answering my question and taking my criticism lightly - and at the end of the day it's all a matter of taste when it comes to music.
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