These guys got in touch with me directly after my recent interview with ASH IS A ROBOT. THE YEAR, their pals from Portugal, officially got together in the Summer of 2012 and have already released a nice debut album full of melodic riffs and breakdowns, all packed up in a catchy form, perfect for fans of melodic and energetic post hardcore / metalcore tunes with clean vocals and positive vibes. Here’s my introduction to their work and a quick interview revealing something more.
Hey guys! Thanks for reaching out! So, you’re good pals with ASH IS A ROBOT and that’s how you found me, huh?
AIAR are brothers indeed ;) But we knew IDIOTEQ before..
We only finished our promo newsletter last week, so, only last week we could reach online mags, blogs, etc.. :)
Yeah man. Lots of exciting news coming up, right? What are you promoting or raising awareness of?
We´ve been promoting our self-titled debut since March/April. We released our first video in September (“Suck My Teeth”). A European Tour is being scheduled for the beginning of 2014. The next shows will be supporting YOUR DEMISE on their Farewell Tour here in Portugal. The next video will be out before 2014, for the song “Sex With The T-Rex”. Lots of things coming up ;)
Cool. Shoot me a few lines about how guys formed this pack.
We´ve been around since 2001. Friends for a long time, same taste in music, the same old story… We had a former project called MY CUBIC EMOTION and last year we decided we wanted to do something a little bit heavier, so we started this new band, THE YEAR. Since we´ve been together for so long, and things kept working that way, it made sense keeping the exact same members. It´s pretty much it.. ;)
What’s the story behind the name? Damn, it’s sooo hard to find you guys online!
Haha :)
It´s true… We are kind of restarting, so it´s still difficult to find us.. And the name is not that unique to be easily found…
This part is taken from our bio but it´s the best explanation ;) We knew we were looking for a simple, short but strong name, a name that reflected the sound we were looking to produce. This year has definitely been the year of change, not only did we shift from out previous style as a band but we felt it paramount to create the beats, breakdowns and overall tunes that kept our fans wanting more.
What caused that change? Also, when did you guys discover post hardcore and the sound you’re trying to develop now?
We felt the need to be more coherent and musically more organized and direct… As we are into this kind of music, we want to jump, bang our heads, scream and get the kids to jump and scream with us! Our old project wasn´t that different. But it missed the simple and direct factor that we we were looking for. We all discovered this kind of music a long ago and it became a passion since then.
Musically and lyrically, who are you mostly influenced by?
Mostly, our influences are our lives and how we experience them… The life on the road, the relations created and how they are so empty sometimes. We are not “big” in the scene nor something like that, but we have already an interesting story to tell over these ten years together.
Religion and the fear of growing up are also themes that come up sometimes.
It’s been only one year since you guys formed and there’s already a full length waiting for the audience. Why did you decide to act so fast?
THE YEAR was like a natural extension of our previous years as a band. So we did want to have this fast start. We had enough material to write a new record, so we decided to go straight to that part
How was the recording process? Where did you record it?
We recorded our debut album with our good friend and producer Vasco Ramos (MORE THAN A THOUSAND) and Tiago Carvalho (engineer), at Poison Apple Studios, in Lisbon. The recording took about 4 months and it was very nice but wearing experience. Vasco is an extremely focused person and helped us a lot defining this new path. We pushed ourselves to the limit and we are extremely happy with the result.
How many shows have you guys played so far? How are the responses at gigs so far?
We played about 15 shows since we released our album. Not much, but we are focusing on this next year to hit back the road. Portugal and Spain, a European tour and probably a Brazilian run too.
What do you think of your local music scene?
Our local music scene is almost dead. There are 2 bands in our hometown. It used to be much more active… Even in Portugal, kids are not what they used to be.
Whoow. Now that’s a pity man!
What has been the best experience so far in the band?
Maybe when we went to Barcelona, Spain to play BN Fest 13. All 5 of us in one car, a 12 hours drive to play a single show and then straight to Portugal again to play the next gig. That was stupid hahah… But we had fun, and that´s what matters… But we decided we´ll never do that again it those conditions.
Alright. So what’s up next then? What style are you planning to steer your project into in the future? What goals do you set for the upcoming months?
We will release a new video, hopefully play a lot of shows in Portugal and a lot of other countries. We´re not thinking about a new album yet, but we thought about dropping out a new single song in the beginning of the year, we will see then. In what concerns to the future, THE YEAR will get heavier, that´s for sure!!
Thank you for your time! Wish you all the best on your way, guys! Cheers!
Thank you for the opportunity Karol!!
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