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I had heard about Downlord prior to their gig with Slow Death Factory and Bolt Thrower at The Rock in Copenhagen in mid-April, but it wasn't until then I realized how great this band actually is. Their sound isn't typical Danish, English or American; it's a blend of all three and it gives their music a somewhat distinct feel. I recently asked vocalist Dave Ingram some questions about this and that and he wasn't late to reply to my well-thought out questions.
Could you start out by saying a little about Downlord as a lot of people probably haven't heard of you yet!
It began back in late 2004 - or thereabouts - when guitarist Rene Falther approached me to sing for his new project he was putting together. A couple of months went by and we then got together, with me bringing along my long-time buddy Donovan Spenceley as a second guitarist. We had some bassist problems, but that's sorted now as we have Thomas Fagerlind with us, and we currently don't have a full-time drummer, but we have recently been using our old drummer [still a good mate] Rasmus Schmidt for the live shows we played with Bolt Thrower, and a couple of months or so ago we worked with Reno Kiilerich. There's a lot of experienced players in the band, as we got former members of Bolt Thrower, Benediction, Iniquity, and Sacrificial in the band, plus there's several other bands we've been in so as a unit we're pretty experienced. It's a good working relationship.
Is there any meaning with the word Downlord or it just a result of toying with words?
Well, the name originally came at a party to 'choose a name' which turned into a mammoth drinking session. We were writing down just about anything that came to mind, and the next day we saw the word 'download', but I was so smashed that it looked like 'downlord' so it pretty much stuck from there. If you want to look at it a little more 'in-depth' then you could surmise that it means 'the lord who is down' [i.e. Satan] or even that it came from the period in my life when i suffered a severe depression. But in fact, it's neither of those....it was manufactured by booze.
You recently played three gigs in Denmark and Sweden along with your former band-mates in Bolt Thrower. How did that go?
Absolutely killer! The first and last show were totally amazing, a great response and we came away having made a whole bunch of new allies and friends. The one show in Gothenburg was okay, but not as the other two. Still, considering we've never been out playing live before and have no deal or full release then it was simply awesome!! It was great to hang out with the Bolt Thrower folks again, and I thank them from the bottom of my dark heart for those shows! Cheers guys!
I understand that these three gigs were your first. Is it possible that Downlord will be more active in the live environment from now on?
For Satan, YES! At the present time we're trying to organize a gig here in Copenhagen, again using Rasmus on drums, so as to get ourselves warmed up and ready for the next recording project we have in the pipeline.
You've been a part of the death metal scene since way back. Are there still new bands that inspire you or do you prefer the older bands?
It's a bit of both, really. I can listen to pretty much anything, as long as it has guitars and is written from the heart. A lot of people know already, but I'm very, very much into Queens Of The Stone Age right now. Its not a band you may expect a death metal singer to be into, but there's something about their music that just gets deep into me...I haven't felt so much about a bands music since I first heard Black Sabbath at seven years old - and that got me into metal.
Downlord musically sound like the most brutal you've done to date. Actually it sort of reminds me a bit of Napalm Death around Harmony Corruption!
Yeah, a lot of people have said that! It's cool, that album kicks ass! Therefore we're grateful for the comparison!
Did you only use Reno Kiilerich for session purposes or is he a part of the band?
He was just for sessions, even though we'd love to 'keep' him full-time. He's has a lot of projects he's working on, and we're damn proud of him! One of Denmark's own claws his way out of the sheep-village and does good in the world! Maybe we'll get to work with him again in the future, although at the moment he's real busy so we'll have to see.
Didn't you have former Iniquity skinsman Jesper Frost in the band at some point?
Yes, for a few months. He was with us while his other band was on hiatus, and after they began working again and he went back we decided we'd need someone 100% and fulltime, or at least someone like Reno who could do a professional recording in a very short time [which he did!] That's no disrespect to Jesper, 'cause I think he's a killer drummer! We'd love to have kept him in the Downlord ranks, but we'd need him here every rehearsal, all the time, and he'd got other musical commitments going on. He's still a good mate though.
You're about to record five new tracks and have nine more in the pipeline. It appears as if you're extremely productive!
We most certainly are! We've more than enough material to record a full length album; just the whole 'deal' thing takes time. We're currently thinking of financing the recording process ourselves, taking the album recording to a professional producer [Jacob Hansen, for example] and paying for a mix, and then approaching a label with an album all ready to roll. It would cut down on costs for them, plus give us the exposure. Alternatively, we'll record it and mix it, then put it online at our website www.downlord for free download.
So you're aiming to get signed at some point or is Downlord just a hobby band?
For sure, there's a label out there that'll get wise sooner or later. We're happy doing what we doing for the time being, with no constraints...though the backing of a label would help our exposure immensely, of course. As do interviews, which is why we're grateful for this one, my friend!
How much material do you have to pick from at the moment?
As I said, there's actually six we're working on now - we got another constructed recently - plus the nine others waiting, and then there's the tracks from the previous two demos, so in all it's about 21 songs in all. We may drop a couple along the way and cannibalize the riffs, but if it doesn't get as far as the desk, then we don't waste the creative energy on it. We have enough to work on as it is [laughs].
Lyrically what inspire you these days?
Life. Mine, yours, everybody's...plus I got a lot of anger and frustration to vent, so that's a good start! I still like the non-reality based lyrics, which you'll find on "Nailing You In" which is about a psychotic mortician, plus there's a lot of personal stuff from when I was ill. "Hate Brace" covers a lot of that, and is dedicated to my psychiatrist. Also, I got some issues I want to vent too, with a lot of people out there, so they're all included in the lyrics.
Are any of you currently involved in other bands besides Downlord?
Not as yet, though myself and Donovan have a lot of really cool ideas which we want to work on together. Thing is, I don't want to move any creativity away from Downlord just yet, so this is most defiantly our main project. We're happy to work together and proud of what we've achieved so far, and mostly done it on our own.
How did you eventually end up moving from England to Denmark?
I was on tour in 1995 around Europe and met a girl on tour when playing here in Copenhagen. We stayed in touch and after many visits to Denmark I decided to move here in 1998. I've never regretted that move, as I wouldn't be married to her or have my son now, nor would I be in the company of Donovan - he's a real good friend - or doing Downlord. After a couple of bad years in my life [my 'illness phase'] I'm finally happy with life, and living.
Anything you wish to add to conclude this interview?
Many thanks for the interview, cool questions. Greeting to all the [un]usual suspects out there... like Mads Haarløv, Corpus Mortale, all the characters at The Rock, and just about every fucker we know 'cause there's too many to write here! A big cheers/skål from Rene and Donovan, at my side as I type and grinding out the scratch tracks to "Smoke & Mirrors". For free MP3s and videos from Downlord, go point your browser to
www.downlord.dk or write to us at Lapdog1@mac.com.
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