| 1.
I'm here with András Perneczky of the Hungarian band, Aebsence,
and I guess I should start with origins. Whence the name - Aebsence?
Whereabouts was it discovered and why? András Perneczky: I founded the band in 1995 with drummer Attila Máthé, and bassist László Liwa joined us in a year. Lacking a singer, in the beginning we played instrumental progressive metal. Even then we were thinking about including folk elements by violin but we didn’t succeed in that, so the new concept was about implementing these folk elements into the vocals. Singer Péter Budai, who, with his own band tried to accomplish the same, came into view then. The name was rounded up by Attila, who got a dictionary and started browsing it from the beginning. He found that the word ABSENCE has a secondary medical meaning: a momentary faint. He found that very expressive, so we published our first demo under the name ABSENCE. As we found several bands called ABSENCE on the Web, we distinguished ourselves by inserting an E into it: since then we’re treading our path as AEBSENCE. 2. Your style of music is very unique, but at the same time very modern and catchy. I like it! Are there any specific references (other bands, books, traditions, etc...) to this style? András Perneczky: We were always striving for uniqueness, and this intent is not limited to Hungarian folk song parts or folk instruments but also includes song structures, rhythms, guitar riffs and so on. Of course we don’t see ourselves as pioneers just because of doing folk metal but we hope that we’ve managed to bring something new to metal. About our influences: It was rather the impact of music, not field work done on our nation’s roots in a library. And even this musical influence came rather from the direction of metal, than from folk. This is well reflected in our music. As we all came from different musical directions, I’d just list the common favorites: Tool, Anthrax, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Barbaro, Muzsikás (the latter two are Hungarian bands). 3. As I was reading through your bands' profile, I noticed that Aebsence was self-produced!? Wow! I couldn't believe how great the production was. How difficult was it to record and master an album on your own? András Perneczky: We let the mixing and mastering to be done by professionals, of course. But apart from that, we’ve done everything by ourselves, from roading to gig management to promotion to album cover design. And this has a heavy effect on how well known we are... :-) Actually, the most difficult task was not recording and producing, but raising the funds. We wanted to make the most out of this record. We aimed for the best Hungarian metal studio and we’ve had the records manufactured in Austria. We had to give up many things for that but it was well worth it. We’ve put our hearts and souls into this album! 4. It's completely unfair for a band in your country (Hungary) to be ridiculed for the style of music Aebsence performs. Why are critics in Hungary so biased as opposed to other surrounding countries? András Perneczky: There were but a few dispraises in the national and foreign press, 99% of the reviews are appreciative. This record is irreceptible for people who are not open to something new, they find it a heap of chaotic, hard-to-recall things. You either love it or hate it, but it never goes by you unnoticed. The negative reviews mostly came from ’true metal’ zines, so we finished promotion in this sector, although we think this album is also for them, just like for any metal fan. 5. So, playing in live settings must be equally as difficult to assemble as an album is? András Perneczky: Thanks God, it isn’t. Of course you have the opportunity, but there are but a few venues which are really suitable for gigs. Mostly there are no lights, sound systems, stages -- I’d rather call these places pubs. And the venues which do have the proper conditions prefer to let more popular, trendier bands play. We live in a small town near Budapest, but our home is happy to have the highest-standard underground rock club of the whole country (called Trafo Club), so we usually play a few times a year here. And we are also receiving more and more invitations to smaller metal festivals. 6. What sorts of musical acts do you prefer to play/tour with? András Perneczky: Practically we’d be eager to play with anyone who’d bring us along... :-) 7. So as you should know, I find nothing wrong in your musical direction... keep the traditional roots man! What can we expect musically with a follow-up album? András Perneczky: I don’t know it yet, we are progressing quite slowly with the new songs, but in general, I’d like to make a rawer, harder, hotter album. 8. Any final comments you'd like to collaborate? András Perneczky: We’d like to thank you for the support and the opportunity to introduce ourselves on the pages of Metal Fanatix. Unfortunately we don’t see any realistic chances at the moment to play live in the US, so I’d rather encourage any open metal fans to visit our web page, download our album, and if they like it, try to buy it and spread the AEBSENCE disease! :-) www.aebsence.com |
