SOURCE – Where do you see the biggest transformations and differences on the first Oceans album The Sun and the Cold compared to your past release Into The Void EP with the band?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – I don’t see that much difference to be honest. The songs on Into The Void were originally supposed to be on the debut album. But when we signed the contract with Nuclear Blast the release date got pushed back very far. So we decided on releasing them as an EP and write a couple of new songs to complete the album again.
SOURCE – Overall I feel the band can blend together the feel of death and thrash with extra nuances of atmospherical and traditional metal in the mix, floating seamlessly song to song. How important is the balance between heaviness and intricacy against creating parts that are also catchy with a bit of a groove to them?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – Most important! OCEANS is all about contrast: light and dark, loud and quiet, despair and hope. We try to express that in our visuals, lyrics and of course in our music too. It is the key component of everything we do.
SOURCE – Are you satisfied with where Oceans is in terms of band status and career development, or are there always newer elements or visions that you want to achieve to keep you moving and motivated further down the road?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – Well, of course we are more than happy about how things turned out so far. Signing with Nuclear Blast before playing a single live show – I don’t know if anyone did that before honestly. Now The Sun and the Cold is out and everyone lives it, even the critics calling us ‘the new big thing’. So how could we not be satisfied with that? It is beyond all expectations and I’m very grateful. But of course we’re motivated by that too and will continue to work hard to bring OCEANS to the top. We want to tour Europe, but also North and South America, Japan, Russia… you name it man. We’re hungry for more.
SOURCE – What are the difficulties for a band of your stature to deal with in order to get to the next level of respect, admiration, and more solid footing within the international scene?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – As profane as it sounds: money. Pushing your band costs so much money. You need to constantly spend on advertising on social media, produce merchandise and hell: touring is so expensive! We have not only put an incredible amount of hard work, time and passion into OCEANS, but also a shitton of money, haha. We’re all working day jobs and everything we can put aside goes into the band.
SOURCE – What would you like to see in the music scene as we enter a new decade?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – The same as ever: more respect for each other and less elitism. We’re in this together man, why do people always have to hate on others?
SOURCE – What types of hobbies or activities do the members of Oceans like to engage in away from the music to sort of recharge their batteries?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – Music is basically the thing we do to recharge our batteries. Or it was, but now it has become so time and energy consuming that I probably need to find another hobby to recharge from that again, haha. Sports are always great. Unfortunately I’m a lazy fuck when it comes to that, bit at least I try. Thomas is visiting a lot of concerts all the time and likes to travel a lot. Patrick has his family akd started a second career as a writer not long a ago. He actually wrote a children’s book, believe it or not.
SOURCE – What worries you most about the world that we live in today? What do you think the average person needs to pay more attention to so that the world can be a better, safer place for future generations to enjoy and treasure?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – Besides the environmental issues we have on hand I think we as a society still need to adapt to the digitalization. Social Media, Turbocapitalism… the times are so fast, it has made us sick and numb. More and more people are suffering from mental illness. Burn-out has become a problem for people under 30 and some people even brag about it. It’s a downward spiral and the only ones that profit from it are those at the top. So I’d say: take more care of yourself and your own mental health. Respect others, even if they have differing opinions and treat the world we live in with the respect it deserves.
SOURCE – What is planned for 2020, outside the release of the album?
Timo Rotten (Vocals) – We’re going on tour through Europe with Equilibrium, Lord of the Lost and Nailed to Obscurity right now. I’m really looking forward to that. Besides we’re working on more shows for this year and have a couple of festivals coming up. And hopefully we’ll find the time to work on album #2. Cheers man and all the best!
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Oceans
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