Interview- Freakangel

Like a steamroller of emotion, inter-wined with a touch of harsh-ebm and a driving force of an industrial/metal monster, meet Freakangel.

Glad you could join us Dmitry for this little interview!

As Freakangel has been around since late 2009, what possessed you to get into this genre and create the music that you are known for?

Hello and thank you! We all had some musical past before starting Freakangel. I was mostly working with Suicidal Romance (Infacted Recordings) in 2009, but something inside was telling me that I needed to try myself from a different angle. Maybe it happened because of my metal past or maybe because I was getting older and naïve romantic songs from gothic Suicidal Romance became a bit boring to me. I do not know... but I wanted to rage... this is for sure.

As I have wanted to know this for quite some time and I am sure this question is on the internet somewhere...BUT I shall ask the man himself: Why the name Freakangel?

This question is a pretty popular one. Freakangel is a game of words. It is some kind of contra of distinction. Maybe even grotesque at some point. People are taught to see angels as something beautiful but there is always a problem child, the white crow. We wanted to have a name with some protest in it. Protest against basic things or common sense.

I have been such a huge fan of The Faults of Humanity. Could you elaborate on the musical change from this album, and leading up to The Ones That Fall?

Thank You. The Faults of Humanity was a good start for us. I can't say that I love this album, but it really helped us to spread our name. The main problem with this album is that it's pretty cliché. To be honest, I never thought that something good would come out of it. I started Freakangel as a side project, because at first glance, it was somewhere deep. I was afraid of losing Suicidal Romance. That's why when we got some love from listeners we have decided to work on 100%. You can hear it in our second album Let It All End. Song structures became more complex. Also, as for The Ones to Fall, I'm very proud of this album because for the first time in FA's history we were working in the studio as a band. Everyone contributed 33.3%.We love electro music but at the same time we love metal. We are from Estonia and metal is popular here. So we are trying our best in combining two styles. Let's wait and see what future will bring.

In the past couple years alone its very noticeable and quite amazing how much you all have been able to promote, play, and put out quite a bit of ep's and albums. Was this difficult for you all to manage this much?

I'm working very hard on promoting Freakangel, but I still not sure how those things work. I send out ten emails and get a response only to one. Yes, we are on a label, but this is a different world. We love underground and in underground there are different rules. Every artist should remember that labels can't and will not cover you for 100%. Writing music and touring is a bit different thing. But then again, it gets only harder to get your band on the road. It looks that people prefer to see the same band from month to month and promoters/bookers are happy to book the same band because they are sure that they won’t lose any money and at the same time no need for a huge promotion. It just gets ugly.  

What have been some of the most stand-out events or shows that Freakangel has been part of that you could give us a couple stories from?

To be honest, there is no difference to us if it’s a small club or huge festival. Every show is very important to us and trust me they are never the same. They are all stand-out events for us. We enjoy every second of being out on the road. It's a great experience and a real adventure. I am very thankful that I am still able to enjoy those things.

Are freakangel currently working on a new album right now?

We are working pretty slowly during summer combining remixing works, traveling and spending time with our loved ones. We have some rough demos, but still not sure in which direction we should go. But to answer your question short... yes, we are working on a new album right now.

Between the members of Freakangel, is there any side projects currently from any of the folks involved in this project?

Art and Roman are playing death metal in Beyond the Structure. Be sure to check them out as they have released their debut album not that long ago. And me, well, I'm trying to resurrect Suicidal Romance from time to time. Let's wait and see!

Does the future hold a US tour?

This is our dream and I really tend to believe that dreams are here to come true. We have no current plans at the moment, but we are working hard to make it happen.

What are your views on the current state of industrial/ebm?

There are some great bands out there. We love Shiv-R and Terrolokaust but there is a huge problem once again. As I have said before, it's pretty hard to spread your name around. I mean with the internet, it has been easy to spread your music, but at the same time it became even easier to get lost in the pile of shitty tracks that are being released those days. Every second cyber/goth/whatever youngster with Fruity Loops thinks that he is another Suicide Commando. The only solution for this situation is doing some live shows. As I have said before it gets dirty those days and it is pretty hard to book a gig if you are a newcomer. I think that this is our main problem. If it will be solved somehow then industrial/ebm scene will rise once again.

Take a Listen: The Book of Violence

What current bands/projects have you been really stoked on this year?

I've heard preview from Shiv-r's new album and this is something really great! Be sure to check it out when it will be released. Also there was a pretty nice release from William Control – Neuromancer and Thomas Azier. Thanks to him, I reinvented electro pop for myself.

Thank you so much Dmitry for taking a couple minutes to give us some more insight to Freakangel, any last words you would like to add?

Thank you for your time and your questions! I really hope to see all of you out on the road one day!