The Crest Interview

Shadowy is an adjective that would be more than a severe understatement to describe the haunting Gothic rock of The Crest. Masterminded by guitarist Kristian and fronted by the vampish Nell (Theatre Of Tragedy), The Crest throw down some supernatural sounds on "Vain City Chronicles" that shun the overly commercial sound of Evanescence for a Type O Negative vibe in terms of the group's overall impact. Here's what Nell had to relay about her feelings and thoughts about The Crest and happenings surrounding this ghoulish sounding bunch.

The Gauntlet: When The Crest initially formed, did you have the intention of pursuing a career with the band?

Nell: No, not really. I never really thought of that. Of course we wanted to play gigs, but a career? The reason we still play together is because we like it. We've decided when the day comes and it's not fun anymore, it's over. We're really happy about being able to do so many gigs, and that people actually like what we're doing.

The Gauntlet: What were the forces that brought the band together?

Nell: The forces of friendship and coincidence, Kristian and I started the band in 1995, and since then there's been a lot of people involved. Magnus came along in1998, his skills on the bass guitar are amazing and he's my brother, so we sort of knew him. Stian became a part of the band in 1999, and he'd been a good friend of the three of us for a long while, always enthusiastic, pushing us forward. Klaus joined as a session drummer for the Mortiis-tour 2002, and after that no one had the heart telling him to leave. No, seriously; he's a great drummer, and we're privileged to have him in the band.

The Gauntlet: What are the personalities of the band members as individuals? How do these individual personalities mesh together in order to form The Crest?

Nell: I can only answer from my point of view. Don't know if we all agree on this, but who cares, Kristian is the Master of The Crest. Without him, there is no band. Simply because he's the one making all the music. When he's having little inspiration, Stian and Magnus are there trying to cheer the band up. Their philosophy seems to be: Don't let 99 bad jokes prevent you from going for number 100! In the middle of that, Klaus is entertaining us with his sick mind, telling absurdities that no one could ever dream of exceeding, nor comprehend. I'm just the singer...

The Gauntlet: How did you decide upon the name of the group? What significance does it bear for you?

Nell: It sounds like a dark rock band. The decision was made in a hurry some time in 1998 I think. The band recorded the very first demo under the name The Covent, a name we all liked very much. Unfortunately there were plenty of bands called Covenant, and after a few mix-ups, we just went through the dictionary on the letter C. After a while we all got used to it, and now it's a household brand, isn't it? The cool thing about the name is that it doesn't give away what kind of music we play. It could be anything from jazz to grindcore. But the name itself doesn't really mean anything to us.

The Gauntlet: Having been a band now for almost a decade, what are some of the lessons you have learned about the music industry in general?

Nell: We had rather high expectations when we released our debut album, but we landed flat-face pretty soon. After a while you adjust your ambitions and expectations to a level where you don't get too bummed out if nothing happens in, say... 9 years.

The Gauntlet: What do you feel is the most appropriate description of your music?

Nell: The music we play could be described as melodic rock, or hard rock. But with the history of the band and the past image and everything, we always end up being described as Goth Metal, which we are not to happy about. I honestly don't see how people listening to old Theatre of Tragedy or Nightwish or whatever; can get anything out of our records. There's a melancholic feel to our music, but melancholy is not the main ingredient. We would feel more at home touring with Foo Fighters than Nightwish, to put it that way.

The Gauntlet: Why did the group decide to take a break in 2003?

Nell: No creativity. Which means Kristian was pretty fed up. I guess Kristian just got tired of it all; being in charge of everything regarding the band. And he needed this break to clear his head. Even before The Crest had this break, I and he had been talking about doing something more electronic. Rustflower Inc was born, and that sort of kept us busy. And at the same time, Theatre of Tragedy gave me a call and asked if I wanted to join. So this was a busy time making demos. Kristian also started up another band, called Amarillo, playing "stoner-rock" so we were both very busy on different musical projects.

The Gauntlet: With members engaged in various projects, is it difficult for you to juggle various musical projects at once? What effect does this have upon The Crest?

Nell: Most of all it makes it difficult for us planning and actually to have rehearsals. Before our last release-concert, we were able to have 4 rehearsals in two months. Great! Still we always get through a concert. Imagine how good we could be if we just had more rehearsal-time on our hands.

The Gauntlet: Why did you choose to go with Top Room Studio to record the new record?
Nell: This time we wanted a studio pretty much close to where we live. "Top Room Studio" is an hour driving from us, so that suited the band very well. We also wanted to find a studio that would take care of The Crests guitar sound. On "Letters From Fire" we sort of failed in that issue. Our bass-player had been to "Top Room" together with another band, and that, combined with other friends recommending, made us choose this studio. It's best known for its extreme metal productions, but that suited us well as we wanted a rawer sound this time. And it's been a pleasure working with B�rge. He engineered and mixed the album in accordance with the band's wishes. The band recorded all the instruments alone, so the whole feeling and recording process was very different from the last album, which was more of a Band versus Producer issue.. That said, I don't think we would be able to produce a good album alone back in 2001.

The Gauntlet: The music of The Crest bears both metal and pop influences. How did this mixture of styles materialize? Did all of the songs that were recorded at this session make the album?

Nell: There were more songs, but we never recorded them. This time, all the songs were more or less done when the day appeared that we should start the recording. So it was an easy choice.

The Gauntlet: How do you feel that the new material measures up against Letters From Fire?

Nell: I have to admit that I like this one better. We're a step closer at getting where we want to be in a musical way. We've got more guitars, live drums and even better songs, I think�

The Gauntlet: Why did you choose Vain City Chronicles as the title of the record?

Nell: The working title for this album was "Phoenix Red". Just to give us the feeling that there was an actual album in progress, not just a handful of scattered ideas. After the album was finished, we looked at the title again, and soon settled for "Vain City Chronicles". It sounds to us like the title of a classic rock album, kind of old-school. Also, the words fit in with the overall feeling in the lyrics, so... It's not like a story or theme runs like a scarlet thread through all and every songs on this album. They all have their own story, just like articles in a newspaper. We also didn't want this album to be as "solemn" as our last one were, and as a lot of the gothic music often is, if you know what I mean. Therefore, "Vain City Chronicles". I like the title! It sounds like a decent, honest rock album.

The Gauntlet: What are your plans for live performances in the second half of 2005?

Nell: Because of different matters, this seems to be a quiet fall for us. Hopefully we'll be able to get together all of us to rehearsals towards new material and stuff, away from everyday life, for a little while.

The Gauntlet: What emotions are in the air during one of your concerts? Do you purposely set out to create a certain atmosphere?

Nell: I hope people feel happy, but at the same time get touched by a bittersweet sadness. Life is good, and we should be filling up our lives with things that make us happy. But life is never this uncomplicated. When I hear a sad song that goes straight into my heart and soul, it makes me happy and at the same time I want to cry. That's at least the atmosphere I want to create during a concert.

The Gauntlet: There has been somewhat of a revival of catchier, more pop-oriented metal in the past couple of years as newer fans are finding bands, both old and new, that play a more melodic, yet dark style of music. Do you feel that The Crest is a factor in this resurgence?

Nell: I remember a few years back, all these bands popping up, sounding very much like us, just a little bit more pop. I remember thinking some ugly thoughts back then. But now.. I don't really care. We play the kind of music we like, and will always do. The day we'll get at the point when the band no longer give us anything, we'll quit. Not because anyone else has taken our place, or are doing what we do. This is not a competition. But if we could sell some more records because we're playing "the right kind of music" at the time� Sure, I'll buy me something nice. More importantly, selling records will "buy" us more time to spend on the band and the music, which will result in better records and gigs (hopefully).

The Gauntlet: What are some of the bands that you would most like to share a stage with?

Nell: Stage; I wouldn't really care. But backstage, no, seriously; Paradise Lost is a good band, and might be a good match musically. I don't know�. I like doing concert with the Crest, whether we're alone or not.

The Gauntlet: What do you think it will take for a band such as yourselves to realize acceptance in a major way?

Nell: Of course good management, a record-label with a large promotion-budget, and we would have to be on the road for quite a while. At least that's how the old heroes did it. Now it's more to do with "who knows who" it seems. We don't care. In thirty years from now, looking back on a handful of quality records will be more important than having a wall full of gold- or platinum plated junk, he-he. As long as some people appreciate our music, and we're enjoying what we're doing... Still though; it would be fun to be able to tour the world and have a big party with all of you some day!