SOURCE – Burden Of Grief has a new album, Unchained, on the rise. You have a way for fans to purchase it at your shows.
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – Of course, we always have a little sales-booth at our shows were get in touch with our fans and where they can purchase our music and merchandise. We also handle our little online-shop by our own. So fans can always get in touch with us.
SOURCE – Tell me about this album title? Does the album reflect this title?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – Many of our songs and especially the title-song Unchained deal with the daily modern slavery. It is about breaking out from all the chains and bondages you have in your live. We all love to be free, but are we actually free or do we only have commitments for that we are living?
We felt pretty much that it got always harder to find enough time for Burden Of Grief. We never intended to take 4 years to record a new album. But when we finally finished the production we really felt ‘free’. So for us it was definitely some kind of unchaining of our daily obligations.
SOURCE – You work with Dan Swanö. Can you give us a few details about recording this album?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – After we have successfully worked with Dan Swanö on our previous album Follow The Flames it was always clear that he will mix the new album as well. We have recorded the basic-tracks in our own little homestudios which gave us the advantage to take as much time as we needed. The way of recording has so much changed over the years, good recording equipement has become much more affordable. But on the other hand we always wanted and needed an experienced producer from outside who cares about a professional mix and mastering. And working with Dan is great. He is such a passionate guy who really cares about your music, regardless if you are a small band or a well-known act. He even started mixing the first songs while we were still recording the other songs. So we pretty much work simultaneously to save some time.
SOURCE – Which is more important in music – being intentionally novel and innovative or being consistent?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – You can’t answer that question easily. There are so many bands who have found their signature sound or their classic style at a very early stage. And they should avoid trying any experiments. I don’t wanna hear any innovations by bands like Motörhead, Slayer or Morbid Angel. But on the other hand there are also many bands who went through exciting developements. And if it comes to Burden Of Grief. I think that we are still on our way to our perfect record. We never had a so-called ‘classic’ album that we have released many years ago and that we try to repeat with every new album, like many other bands do. I am convinced that we are getting better with each new record. We absolutely don’t see any necessity to stay consistent to our old songs. But we also don’t want to be as innovative as possible. We always write music that we like to hear and to play. And it always comes from our heart, which is the most important thing for me.
SOURCE – Are there plans for a traditional video for that song or any others on the album?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – We talked about it from time to time. But we don’t have any specific ideas and we don’t want to spent much money for a boring videoclip. So… not at the moment…
SOURCE – What distinguishes art from entertainment, and if they overlap, is there a difference in goals between the two?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – I think art can be any kind of creative process. Any music is some kind of art, it just differs by the acceptance of the listeners. The more people you can touch with your art, the more entertaining it is actually. I think that’s the way you should see the differences.
I personally very like the music of Opeth as well as the music of Motörhead. The artistical approach might be different, but they are entertaining me the same way. But I think the goal should never be to be as art-full as possible or as entertaining as possible. Both approaches are dishonest, you will always hear if the music comes from your heart or from a drawing board
SOURCE – The music industry has had a lot of problems in the past few years. What can be done to fix it?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – If I had a masterplan for this problem, I could be a very rich man. The main problem is the decreasing esteem for music. Music nowadays is just a click on your smartphone, and people aren’t willing to pay for that. When I was a teenager I did several trips by bus to London where we did nothing else but combing through record-stores and purchasing vinyl. The feeling that we had when we grubbed through the vinyl-boxes and found something special is so extraordinary, and many younger kids will never know this feeling when they just download and copy music-files. But I am also sure that metal-fans are much more loyal to their favorite bands and willing to pay for CDs and LPs compared to just regular pop-music listeners.
SOURCE – Which aspect of your albums are you most proud of?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – Actually I think that we are not any of these bands who had their ‘classic’ album, their ‘Number Of The Beast’ record, many years ago and now try to repeat their old glory with every new record. We always try to surpass each previous record with the new one, in terms of the music and the production as well. And we are sure that we have reached it again. The new songs are an improvement compared to the records before, and the production is the best we ever had. This is the point we are most proud of.
SOURCE – What life lessons have affected how you live today?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – That’s a hard question and I fear that I have only a cliche answer. But you should really always trust in yourself and follow your own chosen way. Don’t ever align your way of life, or in case of a band your way of music to anybody elses conception. You may have a short-success if you adapt a kind of trend, but you will only have success in your life if you always follow your heart.
SOURCE – Do you have anything else to say to your fans out there?
Philipp Hanfland (Guitars) – I thank everybody who has supported us over the years, and I invite everybody, who don’t know our music, to explore it. It’s definitely worth it.
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