Interview: Alien Weaponry

 INTERVIEW WITH 



After working on ‘Tangaroa’ for so long, how does it feel to finally release it?


We're absolutely over the moon to finally have the album out, it's been finished since mid-February but of course you need to spend a lot of time building up to the release so it does so with a bang. That time spent waiting and not being able to show the world is a super long and somewhat painful wait.

 

Which song on ‘Tangaroa’ are you most proud of?


I (Henry) would definitely have to say Kai Whatu, the super proggy riffs in that song were definitely a challenge to both write and play in the studio but damn does it feel good to get it spot on! The subject fits so well with the instrumentals, being about Kereopa Te Rau who was infamous for eating his enemies eyeballs, hence the nickname Kai Whatu (eye eater)


How do you think ‘Tangaroa’ compares with ‘Tū’?


I think it definitely holds its own while being very different to Tū, it still has all of the elements that represent Alien Weaponry's signature sound. We've definitely got a much more progressive approach with the instrumentals in this album, while still trying to keep an energy that invokes headbanging and moshing instead of confused beat finding. The mix is also where most people will hear a difference with it being more old school and less over produced sounding than most modern metal albums, understandably this catches a lot of people off guard but it makes for a very live sounding album with tons of character.


Do you think your music has impacted the use of Te Reo in New Zealand


While I feel it's made an impact, I think it's hard to say honestly. Not having any sort of statistics on how our music has affected the use of the Māori language, I feel it could be interesting to see how many people have been inspired through what we do. I'm just glad every time I see or hear The Reo Māori being used with passion.


Have you seen this impact overseas?


We have! In Switzerland of all places, we had a couple of Dutch guys talking to us after a show saying they had enrolled in a Māori course at university because of Alien Weaponry. I honestly feel like that was the moment we realized how much of an impact something as objectively trivial as music could have on people's lives.


Do you think the response you receive to ‘Tangaroa’ will be different from the response to ‘Tu’?


I would certainly hope so! While we still want the response to be positive I feel like getting the same response would mean we hadn't created something that stood apart from Tū in any major way which I feel isn't the case.


Do you think your older age and higher maturity changed your songwriting for ‘Tangaroa’?


Age: possibly. Maturity: we're still about 8 mentally, haha. All joking aside I feel the things that really changed the way we looked at songwriting was seeing how audiences reacted not only to our music but to other bands as well. Having spent so much time touring, we've had the privilege to see some of the world's most talented bands and musicians do their thing. I think that's had a massive impact with us knowing what works well live and gets things absolutely pumping while also not being a constant 100% wall of noise.


What was your inspiration for the different aspects of the new album? (concept, music, lyrics etc)


While I feel like I may have answered a fair bit of this one in the last question, I guess thematically we've definitely been shaped by our personal experiences these past few years. Being older we definitely have more to share and have found better ways of expressing ourselves with our music, things are constantly changing in our lives and that makes for an ever changing way of writing music. I feel like this really describes the album concept, writing, lyrics etc. etc. perfectly. It's a very organic coming together of our past few years.


What do you think is the biggest strength of the album?


Is it biassed if I say drums??? On a serious note though I think the biggest strength of this album isn't just one thing, this might be because I find it hard to pick favourites though. I feel like the thought that has gone into it has been not only in the songs but in the artwork, the stories, the music videos and the way it all comes together. That and it's different to what people are used to which means it will stand out to most.

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