Triggerfinger interview with drummer Mario Goossens talks about their album By Absense of the Sun. Triggerfinger is a Rock/Alternative/Classic Rock band Antwer, Belgium.
Triggerfinger Interview
– What’s new in the world of Triggerfinger?
Embarking on a trans-Canadian tour with Big Sugar, a band who were actually responsible for the start of Triggerfinger. Ruben Block – our singer and main songwriter – was such a big fan of Gordie’s guitar playing and singing so he decided to start a band with guitars and HUGE riffs. The start of Triggerfinger. We were at NxNE a couple years ago, that was fun… but this is the first time we’ve done a real tour on this side of the Atlantic.
– How was the recording process for your album By Absence of the Sun?
We were in Los Angeles, CA for about 7 weeks recording the album with producer/engineer Greg Gordon. Greg has worked with Slayer, Run DMC as well as Nick Cave and has become a good friend. The album itself was mostly written while we were on the road. We had to postpone the recording 4 times because of additional touring commitments after a successful European run with our previous ‘All this Dancin’ Around’ album. We recorded at the Sunset Sound studios in LA. Because of our intense touring schedule we had very little time to rehearse, so it took a while before we had all the new material lined up, and then we started sculpting every song in the right direction.
– How did you go about making the artwork?
Kevin Westenberg is an American photographer who lives in London. He did covers for British papers & magazines, album covers, band pictures for many great artists such as White Stripes, Soundgarden or Nick Cave. Ruben and Kevin had this idea to attempt to get a hold of a “Stanley Kubrick” kind of vibe – check The Shining – and we thought it worked out pretty well. We shot the cover picture in a beautiful old hotel in the city center of Brussels. Once the picture was taken, we were like…. riiiiiiiight! This is it! Hope you can spot the humour in it as well.
- Are the equipment and instruments used on stage mostly the same as the ones used on the albums?
When it comes to the gear we use, I have to admit we’re total nerds! I think all three of us know exactly what we want sound-wise, so we spend our time looking for the right stuff. On stage we use different gear than what we use in the studio. This often results in smaller amps, vintage gear, and more old school drums. This works better in a studio but you can’t take it on tour because this stuff can be too fragile for traveling.
– Vinyl is making a comeback. Do you have a personal preference? Is your band producing on vinyl?
We’ve always produced vinyl versions of our albums. It’s something we grew up with. The smell, the feel, and the sound are so nice. If you put on a vinyl record, you have to listen and pay attention, cause after a few songs you need to turn it – remember that! I prefer vinyl but I’m not against downloading or streaming. I do that too because it’s fast and helps you to look for new things very quickly. A few weeks after the release of our album in Benelux, it appeared that we’d sold almost the same amount of albums as CDs. We try to make sure the vinyl edition looks and feels good, and that it’s more than just the same album on a different carrier. The artwork – in this case the picture from Kevin Westenberg – comes out beautifully as well. That’s a big PLUS. I hear people appreciate vinyl albums because of that as well. Right on!
– How many shows do you play per year on average, and how crazy does the schedule get?
It depends, like on the last album BY ABSENCE OF THE SUN, we toured for almost two years and did around 180 shows. With our previous album we toured for four years in Europe because in the course of our campaign new elements kept popping up – a ‘viral’ hit single from a radio session extended the life of that album for another two years. Totally unexpected, but that way, new European markets opened up so we just didn’t stop touring.
– What would be some of your main musical influences today?
I think these influences are quite diverse, from The Cramps to Public Enemy. Our bass player Paul has a rather ‘blues’ coloured past. Ruben listened to a lot of rockabilly and punk rock when he was a young skater. I was more a of hard rock or metal dude. I guess you can say Led Zeppelin, The Who or Glen Campbell were important influences for us as well, both in music and attitude.
– Without social media could bands today manage to survive?
I don’t know, but it’s definitely an important tool and by all means, social media helped us a lot. Before we even released our previous albums we sold out 1800 capacity venues in Belgium and Holland, mainly because we had a good, interactive Facebook page and Twitter account – we hardly got any radio support in those days (2009-2010). People go out looking for what they like on the Internet if they can’t hear it on the radio.
– What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
Don’t know what could be a surprise to you… You guys familiar with Jacques Brel, Adamo? Wu Tang, perhaps? Hip-hop may not be an obvious thing to like for most people in our audience, but all three of us love it… it’s today’s punk rock.
– Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now?
Space space space space invaders – lots of new and alien sounds! I hope it will get crazy again, because these days there’s a lot of musical narrow-mindedness, and too many restrictions. I hope that would change.
Check out Triggerfinger online https://www.facebook.com/triggerfingerpage
The Cat Empire Interview | Felix Riebl