Agankast
- Atomkraft
Agankast is the new musical
endeavor of Rob Matthew famous from the legendary N.W.O.B.H.M. band Atomkraft.
He introduces a new era with a refreshing sound that takes the lead and
surely doesn't follow anyone! This interview starts from the past continues
to the present and gazes at the future in confidence! Yeah Rob the future
is indeed looking heavy!!!!
1. HELLO ROB! SINCE YOU HAVE A LONG STORY
IN METAL MUSIC, LET’S START FROM THE RECENT YEARS. TELL US WHEN YOU DECIDED
TO CREATE AGANKAST. CAN YOU TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE OTHER MUSICIANS
THAT PARTICIPATE IN THE BAND?
Agankast was formed in September 2004, myself:
Rob Matthew - Guitar, Allan Scott - Vocals, Jimmy Manningham - Guitar and
Ava Robertson on Drums. The band signifies a coming of full circle for
myself, and a wish to create something special.
2. AGANKAST IS A QUIET STRANGE NAME... WHAT DOES
IT MEAN AND HOW DID YOU CHOOSE IT?
Most of the Mp3s you hear on the site had
already been written, since the formation of the band in September 2004..and
the website was ready to go online.. yet I still did not have a band name..
I needed something that was going to reflect the classic metal approach
of Agankast. After two weeks of soul searching I came up with the name.
3. YOU HAVE ALREADY COMPOSED MANY SONGS, SO WHEN
SHOULD WE WAIT YOUR DEBUT ALBUM TO BE RELEASED? DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST
FROM A LABEL OR EVEN A DONE DEAL?
There are offers on the table at this moment
and much interest in the band but it is still very early days for Agankast,
The reaction is almost one of surprise… who are you- where have you come
from...we have arrived with great impact due to the quality of our song
Mp3s and our website... obviously we are not going to rush into any deals...
we want to establish ourselves with our fanbase and this is the reason
for the Free music on the site.
4. MOST OF THE SONGS THAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN
YOUR UPCOMING ALBUM ARE ALREADY ONLINE ON YOUR SITE IN GOOD QUALITY MP3S.
AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT THIS MIGHT MAKE PEOPLE NOT BUY YOUR ALBUM SINCE
THEY WILL ALREADY HAVE THE SONGS?
We have almost finished what will be Agankast’s
Debut Album...It will feature entirely new songs...and it will be available
to buy through the website...these will not be free downloads. Also a DVD
is in the pipeline. Of course all this could change overnight especially
with the Buzz that’s now surrounding the band.
5. ON YOUR SITE YOU HAVE ALSO GOT TRACKS THAT
WON’T BE INCLUDED IN YOUR ALBUM. WHY IS THAT? IS IT PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU
FEEL THEY DON’T FIT WITH THE OTHER SONGS?
Three of the Mp3s are Atomkraft songs which
Agankast have re-recorded. For copyright laws they will not appear on the
album. However I am considering recording more Atomkraft which may possibly
lead to an Atomkraft tribute in the future who knows? All of the songs
on the "Agankast" Debut are New. On the free Downloads most people’s Favourite
is "Butcher and the Clown" that song hit a peak, which our New material
would have to match and better... this we have done... with new songs:
"Suffocator-Dance of the dead -Fallen evil - and Study of a Dying man".
6. LET’S SAY A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICS. WHO
WRITES THEM AND WHAT KIND OF THEMES DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT?
Allan Scott the singer and myself write the
lyrics, in varying ways, sometimes Allan will have a full set of lyrics
to which I put music.. other times I write Music and lyrics we sometimes
write together. As happened for example on "Suffocator" we both wrote the
words prior to putting down the vocal track, we like this instantaneous
way of working because you get a real heartfelt performance on tape (disc).
7. OK, ROB YOU WERE MEMBER OF THE LEGENDARY N.W.O.B.H.M.
BAND ATOMKRAFT. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER OF THOSE YEARS? WHICH WERE THE REASONS
THAT MADE YOU SPLIT?
Ha Ha well what can you say about the Legendary
Atomkraft without upsetting all connected with the band… Firstly Atomkraft
is now in existence because of two people the first is Ged Cook Atomkraft’s
Drummer who was looking to form a Metal band in 1985 and the other was
his brother Eric Cook the then manager of rising Giants "Venom" the
whole North east England Nwobhm Scene existed in and around the Newcastle
Metal label Neat Records...
Here all Local Metal Musicians hung out including
Tony Dolan, who had struck up a friendship with Venom’s Cronos. Cook and
Dolan agreed to work together and set up auditions for a guitarist. At
this point I myself was a 15 year old school dropout Practising Guitar
night and Day… I was very much aware of the local Metal scene and
had already had a couple of band auditions ..One of which had been Ged
Cook’s previous band "Tysondog" also Brian Ross "Blitzkrieg" had auditioned
for my own band but I think he felt sick when he saw how young we were.
By this time I had begun sending tapes of my guitar playing into Neat Records...
I also realised Venom’s Abaddon would walk past my house every day at 5pm
so I made sure that my Amp was Cranked right up when he came past my house..
the look of bemusement on his face was hilarious. This ploy however worked,
because when my tapes were listened to at Neat Records I was getting a
recommendation from Abaddon. Everything in those days happened so quick
so that an audition with Cook and Dolan resulted in being offered to join
them there and then... I accepted and at this point as far as I was concerned
we were all together forming a New band, the name " Atomkraft " was never
mentioned. Atomkraft recorded a demo for Neat and we got a record deal
straight away...Dolan and myself began writing songs at my house for the
Future warriors album...Trading riffs and personal song material to and
fro cultimating in the music for Future Warriors, Starchild, Warzone, and
This Planets burning. I had no involvement in the writing of Dolan’s own
compositions which were… Dead man’s hand, Pour the Metal in, and Death
Valley...but did plaster my own riffs all over these songs. Future Warriors
was Released on Neat Records soon after. Touring developed in Europe during
85-86 a new demo album was being worked out, when Tony Dolan left the band
"Atomkraft " this was a personnel blow to me but I was not going to Pack
it in... I knew the band politics between the Cook Brothers and Dolan but
this I thought could have sorted itself out. With Dolan gone, Cook introduced
new Bass player DC Rage and ex- Avenger Ian Davison Swift. We began rehearsals
and I wrote the music and Swift the lyrics for new songs ..Protector and
Queen of Death....Queen of Death was Released in 86.
The end of 1986 saw the return to the Atomkraft
Circus of Tony Dolan on Rhythm Guitar, Atomkraft went back on the road
and began to get a great reputation as a live and... Highlights were Poznan
in front of 25 thousand people and the Dynamo fest in Holland in front
of 12 thousand. In 1987 Atomkraft released "conductors of noise" Minus
DC rage who was strangely ousted to allow Tony Dolan to return to bass
guitar...I had written four songs for this album but only one appeared
the Matthew/Swift composition "Tutonic Pain" however this would not even
have appeared if I had not threatened to leave the band if at least one
of my songs were not included... the remainder of the album was all Dolan
compositions. Highlights of the year for me was playing the Hammersmith
Odean in London. By the beginning of 1988 I was feeling like Atomkraft
was coming to an end...the Backstabbing , and Mistrust of each other is
something you can only really find in a Rock ‘n’ Roll band. I myself was
at the grand old age of 18 and a bit and had began to question where my
musical royalties were at this time. In 3 years of Atomkraft , I had not
received a penny... now I understood that it costs money to record albums
and pay for a tour bus....but no money at all?...not one cent in 3 years,
I never had my own Amplifier in 3 years of Atomkraft, LOL Total insanity...the
gear we recorded and toured with was Venom’s. Atomkraft were demo-ing material
for an album to be called " Atomized" which would include three of Matthew/Swift
compositions, Dance of the Immortals, Devil’s reign and No escape...no
deal was ever signed for these songs so if they appear anywhere and I am
not aware of it, then something will have to be done. My last gig with
Atomkraft was March 1989, we had performed in Aberdeen...half way through
the set I walked off stage leaving the rest of the band continuing playing,
I stood at the bar and watched the band. At the end of the show I went
backstage... and any normal band would have been angry and said what were
you doing... this however was Atomkraft and not a word was said, on the
way back to Newcastle, the tour bus dropped me off at my house and I knew
then that was it I had had enough, I left Atomkraft... Months later as
I am aware Tony Dolan left Atomkraft to replace Cronos as singer for Venom,
Ged continued with Atomkraft for a few more months but with the two main
songwriters gone... he had major problems and Atomkraft ground to a halt.
I returned to Art college and then onto university... Dolan continued with
Venom for a few years, before beginning a new career in acting... The Cook
brothers teamed up with Abaddon and continued new musical industry ventures
in Newcastle and DC rage and Swift returned to Civvy street.
8. RECENTLY YOU HAVE RELEASED A COLLECTION WITH
ALL THE ATOMKRAFT SONGS THROUGH NOISE/SANCTUARY. SO ARE THERE STILL PEOPLE
INTERESTED IN LISTENING TO GOOD OLD HEAVY METAL? DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR MUSIC
HAS “MOVED” THE NEW GENERATION OF METALHEADS TOO?
At the end of the day Atomkraft were a great
band and the poor sound quality of early Atomkraft is now sort of cool,
very much of its time" lo-fi" . The 80s was a good time for Metal and a
lot of interesting things were happening, a melting pot and this is what
people like about Atomkraft their uniqueness. The Atomkraft- Anthology
release on Sanctuary includes all, well almost all of our stuff...and you
can hear how far we developed in three short years...that is the astonishing
thing about Atomkraft. And as for Old school cool well the New Metalheads
are digging with the help of the internet and discovering bands like Atomkraft.
9. IN THIS COMPILATION YOU HAVE INCLUDED PREVIOUS
UNRELEASED TRACKS AS WELL. IS THERE ANY OTHER MATERIAL FROM THOSE YEARS
THAT YOU PLAN TO INCLUDE IN A FUTURE RELEASE?
At some point I would like to re-record some
more Atomkraft...a lot of the songs would benefit enormously from modern
recording technology...in other words "owning your own Amp".
10. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS QUESTION, BUT DO YOU PLAN
TO REUNITE AND RELEASE A NEW ALBUM UNDER THE NAME OF ATOMKRAFT? DO YOU
KNOW WHAT THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BAND DO NOW? ARE YOU STILL IN TOUCH?
I really could not say about an Atomkraft
reunion...Maybe who knows.
11. NOW I WOULD LIKE YOU TO COMPARE AGANKAST AND
ATOMKRAFT AND TELL ME WHICH THE SIMILARITIES AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
THESE 2 GROUPS ARE. DO YOU THINK THAT THERE ARE MOMENTS AND MUSICAL FRAGMENTS
IN YOUR NEW BAND THAT CONTINUE THE LEGACY OF ATOMKRAFT?
The Legacy of Atomkraft will continue through
Agankast simply because I was a major part of that band, it’s inevitable
" what" Agankast’s sound will be....but I will say this, Agankast can move
further and higher, with age has come a better understanding of Music and
the songs that I and Allan are writing now are some of the best of my Life,
there is an Excitement and Bite to what Agankast are doing and that is
something I have not encountered for a long time.
12. LET’S IMAGINE THAT I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF YOUR
MUSIC. SO HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE TO ME THE MUSIC THAT AGANKAST PLAY?
Agankast follows the rules of Classic Heavy
Metal, like say: Judas priest or Maiden...Old school Heavy Metal bands
did not follow trends.. they made them. That is why they all sounded different
to one another.. Ozzy, Sabbath, ACDC, Rush, Motorhead, that’s my "old school".
I am not saying we are in that league they are the Metal gods, but Agankast
have it within them.
13. WHAT KIND OF EMOTIONS AND IDEAS DO YOU WANT
TO CREATE TO THE LISTENER THROUGH YOUR MUSIC?
The main emotion we want to create is "hairs
on the back of the neck standing up" that’s the best one...your winning
when that happens.
14. LET’S SAY THAT YOU ARE GIVEN A BIG BUDGET
TO DO A VIDEO CLIP, WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO VISUALIZE AND
HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
I think "Two Wicked Sisters" would be a good
one, we would hire a small hall out in the wilderness of the Highlands,
get all the Locals along for a knees up, some traditional Scottish dancing....
Allan and myself dressed up as the Pantomime Wicked sisters, LOL .....
of course it would all have to end in Disaster...Something Bloodthirsty.
15. ROB THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW! THESE LAST LINES
BELONG TO YOU AND LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS OF BEHIND THE VEIL…
Finally I would like to say thank you Nick
for the interview and continued success with Behind the Veil Webzine...Cheers
mate and to the Behind the Veil Readers: Check out our Music,
a band is nothing without its Fans, and Discover Agankast now .The future
is looking Good and its looking damn Heavy.
Best Rob.
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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