High
Fighter are perhaps my fave band I've reviewed and interviewed over
the last few years. They've released a stunning debut EP – The Goat
Ritual back in 2014. Since then I've kept a close eye on the band to
see what they're currently upto.
They've
had a busy couple of years since their inception. Major tours with
AHAB, Mammoth Storm have followed. Plus a well received appearance at
Desertfest Berlin.
Though
the next exciting chapter in High Fighter's action packed career
could be their most daunting yet. Their debut album – Scars &
Crosses – is about to be released on June 10th 2016 via Svart
Records. It's a superb debut album packed with huge sounds with tons
of heavy riffs and sinister vocals from lead singer – Mona. You can
read my review here.
I
wanted to catch up with the band before they release Scars &
Crosses. Mona and Ingwer kindly agreed to do another interview. The
first one you could read here. But that's not all....
NOPE.
High Fighter have kindly allowed us here at Outlaws to stream the
whole album in all it's vibrant Sludge/Stoner Metal technicolor
glory. So enjoy the album and read this fantastic interview at the
same time.
Hi,
High Fighter. Great to have you back. How are things with you today?
Thanks for doing this interview.
Cheers
Steve, we're alright, thanks! It's cool being back on Outlaws of the
Sun, thanks for having us!
So
let’s get straight down to it. Your new album – Scars And Crosses
– is about to be released. So how you feeling. Excited, Scared,
Hyper, Frightened.
Mona:
As you can imagine, we're pretty excited, of course!
Can
you tell our readers what people can expect from the album?
Ingwer:
People can expect the next step after 'The Goat Ritual'. I think the
record is more varied than the EP. It’s a mix between various
styles of heavy music, from blues to noise to metal and a lot of
stuff in between.
Mona:
I think especially playing live so much as we did after we released
'The Goat Ritual', also really got us together as a band in first
place, and effected our entire songwriting for the album. We have
found ourselves, and 'Scars & Crosses' feels way more homogenous
to me then it did on 'The Goat Ritual'. When we recorded this first
EP back in the end of 2014, you know we all just came out off
different bands with different backgrounds, also to that date we have
never stood on a stage together with High Fighter.
Nowadays
we have more found our place, sound and a common direction after
playing live a lot, but we also still try to always stay open minded
when it comes to combining different music styles with each other.
We're not a pure doom band, nor do we try to be a pure sludge or
stoner band. You will find a lot more in High Fighter as well as on
our upcoming album.
Well
I’m biased, as I’ve listened to this album and it’s a stunning
Stoner/Sludge Rock record. Are you afraid what people are going to
make of this record? I feel people are going to go crazy for this
album.
Mona:
We hope so, haha! Well, at least I think we leave enough space and
room in our music, so you do with this whatever you wanna do. If
you're a pure metal head, you will find a bit of what you need. If
you're a stoner, blues, sludge or doom enthusiast, like your tunes
melodic but mean and heavy on the other hand, we've got something for
you. I'm a fan of leaving enough space for your very own definition
and vibes you get with our sound.
Was
it an easy or hard album to write and record for?
Ingwer:
Some songs were done pretty fast and some needed a few months to
develop. The songwriting process started immediately after the
recording session of 'The Goat Ritual', but in the end there wasn’t
that much time, because of touring and other stuff.
Did
you ever expect you would be at this point in your career with High
Fighter releasing your debut album? As it didn’t seem so long ago
you released your debut EP.
Mona:
We're completely an underground band, we open at festivals, do all
our band stuff except of the recent label deal the DIY-way, and
what's probably the best part of it, we're a band having just a good
time – inside our rehearsal room or on the road. We work pretty
hard for what we do, try to get on many shows as we can, but it's
still coming out natural and more the kind of chilled way, everyone
gives his own input for High Fighter as he or she can. But yes, we're
still stoked about the reaction we already got with The Goat Ritual,
which used to be a rough demo only, as well as the first responses we
currently receive for our debut album 'Scars & Crosses'. But the
most exciting part of the High Fighter's journey to me, I feel lucky
to be able touring with this band and my best mates so much.
What
was the full recording process like this album? As you recorded your
debut EP over the course of a single weekend. Did you carry out the
same guerrilla style of DIY recording you did for this album.
Ingwer:
The recording process felt different than last time. We needed to
leave Hamburg, because we didn’t want to have our natural
environment around us. Our friends in AHAB told us about the Rama
Studio in Mannheim, so we went there for 10 days and recorded the
songs live, like the last time. On the one hand it was a lot of fun,
because Jens Siefert, the owner and audio engineer of the studio is a
nice guy and we did have the opportunity to use some very nice
vintage amps, but on the other hand it was also pretty exhausting due
to sickness.
Toshi
Kasai has mixed and mastered the new album. How did you get a legend
like Toshi involved?
Ingwer:
A few years ago Toshi has already mixed and mastered a song by
Constantins, Thomas’ and my old band Buffalo Hump. I just asked him
back then and he was interested in doing this. When we were talking
about recording the first High Fighter long-player, we showed that
song to Mona and Shi and they were impressed by the good sound. So we
decided to ask him to do the job and luckily he was interested
again.
Mona: Yea, having Toshi being a part of our first album, really means a lot to us. We're still stoked he was up for it, and how it turned out on the record. Toshi is amazing!
Mona: Yea, having Toshi being a part of our first album, really means a lot to us. We're still stoked he was up for it, and how it turned out on the record. Toshi is amazing!
Were
you apprehensive sending your music to someone as highly influential
such as Toshi, to mix and master your album?
Ingwer:
Well, maybe a little bit, but actually we didn’t think too much
about it.
Obviously
you’re happy with the final results. What does Toshi bring to the
High Fighter sound?
Ingwer:
He brings warm and natural vibes to the sound and he also keeps it
rough, which I do like a lot. The record is not overproduced at all,
but we have to give credits for that to Jens Siefert of Rama Studio
as well. Both of them did good jobs.
The
album is being released on ace cult record label – Svart Records.
How did you get involved with them?
Mona:
In early 2016, we sent out some super rough demos to several labels.
Svart Records were one of the first, who immediately showed up their
interest. To be honest with you Steve, it's been even my personal
dream-choice and I was hoping to hear back from Svart. Am a big fan
of their roster and work, and we're stoked to have found a home on
such cool label for our first album!
Did
you have any other offers from labels to release your album?
Mona:
Yea, there were a few more labels interested in working with us, but
at this point we had to go with Svart. It felt this would be a
perfect match and they totally understand and dig our sound. And so
far, we're more than happy with them, feel home and very welcome in
such great company.
Congrats
on getting the album released on vinyl. Did you have any input into
the design of the vinyl or did you leave that upto the label.
Mona:
Thanks! And we cannot wait to hold these Vinyls in our hands.
Unfortunately the release of our LPs will be a bit delayed, since
pressing machines are usually blocked by major labels, so smaller
record companies have to wait until it's “their turn”, which
kinda sucks, but the wait until latest early July will be worth it.
As we do 3 different Vinyl editions, and all of them look amazing!
Svart let us chose, and the designs as well as choice of editions
were totally up to us.
The
album cover is stunning. Can you tell us more about it, who designed
it, what it means to you as a band?
Mona:
Thanks mate, again we have worked with Dominic Sohor, he's such a rad
and talented artwork artist and from the UK. Dominic has been already
responsible for the stunning album cover of 'The Goat Ritual' back in
2014, but again we just shared our music, a rough vision and the
album lyrics with him. None of his drafts or the final result for the
upcoming album were changed from our end, he just totally gets our
sound and vibe with his very special art. I love it. One day I will
even ink some of his magic he is going to draw for me personally
under my skin! But what's impressing me most, Dominic is deeply
reading between the lines of my lyrics, so this is very personal and
special to me. His artwork perfectly fits to our sound, and
represents the pain & beauty in one picture.
'Scars & Crosses' deals about a dark past, about the wounds and scars of your soul that life may have given you. It's about your inner demons, a life between heaven and hell, this is why I also chose the cross as a symbol or metaphor as the roots of all evil. But it's also about to learn to live with those scars, even people in society or in any relationships will find your scars as a bad attitude, a bad character. On this album we say no, it's not. Learn to also love those who have their scars, we all have them...these darkest days, moments and demons in life. Your entire history, our scars engrave us, they belong to you as much as the good sides.
'Scars & Crosses' deals about a dark past, about the wounds and scars of your soul that life may have given you. It's about your inner demons, a life between heaven and hell, this is why I also chose the cross as a symbol or metaphor as the roots of all evil. But it's also about to learn to live with those scars, even people in society or in any relationships will find your scars as a bad attitude, a bad character. On this album we say no, it's not. Learn to also love those who have their scars, we all have them...these darkest days, moments and demons in life. Your entire history, our scars engrave us, they belong to you as much as the good sides.
Will
you be touring this record heavily? As you’ve done a lot of
gigs/tours recently.
Ingwer:
We will tour parts of Europe this July with EARTH SHIP and MAMMOTH
STORM, and there will be some festival gigs and single shows around
the summer. Maybe there will be another tour by the end of the year.
We will keep you up to date, but do hope to play live this year again
as much as we can!
Thanks
for doing this interview. Best of luck with the record.
Mona:
Steve, thank you. For your massive and continued support since day 1
of High Fighter. You rule, and so does Outlaws of the Sun. Keep up
the great work & amazing support for this scene. Cheers for the
chat, stay high & hopefully see you soon on the road!
Thanks
to High Fighter for doing this interview. Special thanks to Mona and
Svart Records for letting us stream the brilliant new album. Scars &
Crosses is a must have album. Buy your copies here from June 10th
2016 via Svart Records.
Words
by Steve Howe and High Fighter
Links:
10.06. Hamburg, Album Release show - w/ Jucifer & The Moth
17.06. Würzburg - w/ The Midnight Ghost Train
18.06. Karlsruhe - w/ The Midnight Ghost Train
02.07. Stadtfest Mücheln
Album Release Tour, w/ EARTH SHIP & MAMMOTH STORM:
22.07.: Kiel, DE - Kieler Schaubude
23.07.: Naaldwijk / Den Haag, NL - De Flatertheek
24.07.: Le Havre, FR - Mac Daid's
25.07.: Nantes, FR - Le Ferrailleur
26.07.: Köln, DE - Underground
27.07.: Weinheim, DE - Cafe Central
28.07.: Berlin, DE - Badehaus Szimpla
29.07.: Erfurt, DE - From Hell
30.07.: Hamburg, DE - Fundbureau
17.08. Dinkelsbühl - Summer Breeze Festival
03.09. MetallerGrillen
10.09. Open Air Fraureuth
