Interview with PHAL:ANGST
Phal:angst is an electronic Industrial and analog Post Rock band from Vienna, Austria, they’ve been making music for 16 years all answers by Alfred
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Alicia
Can you introduce the band?
Alfred
We are four people that also form the band’s name:
Ph: Philipp, who does vocals, metallophone, harp and additional electronics
al: Alfred, who plays the guitar
:: Julia on bass
Angst: Dion, who does the electronics
Alicia
Where did the name come from?
Alfred
See your first question. Philipp and me (Alfred) used to have an industrial punk duo called PHAL, named from a combination of our first names. Dion did solo industrial / ambient / noise music under the moniker PROJEKT ANGST. When we merged we called the project, which at first was just a few semi-improvised live sessions together, “Phal:Angst”. Later we brought in a bass player and became a real band.
Alicia
Your album just came out. Can you tell us about the recording process?
Alfred
It was quite elaborate for our standards. Long time collaborator Alexandr Vatagin recorded the electronics, after that we went to another studio to record the guitars as the guy running this (Alex Lausch) is quite well known here for being a guitar expert, then the rest was recorded by Alex Vatagin again. He also served as a producer and modified quite a lot of the sound. He’s really good and knows us well, and I’d say one could credit him like a 5th bandmember on this album. The album was mixed by Tobias Wöhrer. Then we sent out the stems to our remixers and let them do what they do. Alex Vatagin did the final mastering again then. The whole process took us about 8 months, which I think is crazy for us. But we are very happy with the final result.
Alicia
Do you have plans to tour this release?
Alfred
Not really. We are not exactly young, most of us have dayjobs and/or children. We can’t make a living of being musicians. Finding time for it is always a challenge, so we just play in Vienna and nearby, and a few times a year we fan out for a couple of shows in neighbouring countries here.
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Alicia
How do you feel about the reception its gotten so far?
Alfred
We are overwhelmed! Sure, we put in all our efforts and did proper promotion with the previous 2 albums as well, and they also got great reception. But this here beats it all in terms of quality and quantity. It’s balm for the soul. Every album one step forward so far.
Alicia
Can you tell us about the music scene where you’re from?
Alfred
The musical background of most of the band is the anarchist D.I.Y. Punk/Hardcore scene. We mostly played in Punk/Hardcore bands which were based in the D.I.Y. scene, toured squats, etc. But we evolved big time musically, which was a bit hard for us regarding live-gigs for a while. Punk squats are not really so keen on our type of music. But in the meantime we have found our place, which is somewhere between the art and goth scenes and open minded punks. But anyway, we don’t have very much time for playing live. Julia, who joined us in 2015, comes from the experimental /psychedelic rock /gothic scene, and worked as a professional Dj in the nineties. Julia and Dion also have a history in media activism, i.e. free radio.
Alicia
Was music something you’ve always wanted to do?
Alfred
I have been doing music since I was 13, I always played guitar, did singing as well, played in metal bands, later punk, stoner, folk, sludge, etc. It has been part of my whole life so far, hard to imagine without it. Guess it’s similar at least with Dion (ANGST), he switched to doing solo electronics in the field of industrial, ambient and noise after his punk bands. He’s more of a technical guy and is happy to work with complicated machines. Julia and Philipp have also always been somehow involved in and surrounded by music, although they didn’t have so much band intensity at an early age.
Alicia
Is there anything in the works you can tell us about?
Alfred
Yes, there will be a few more “Whiteout” remixes coming. This time all from Austrian artists we respect a lot. A 3rd video will be released in March. And we have just started writing our next album. But this usually takes us a few years, so you will probably have to be patient.
Alicia
Is there anything you want to share or promote?
Alfred
Anti-Assholeism is always a good thing to promote and recommended for everyone. We try to. And of course we would be happy if you buy our albums. Thanks for doing this interview with us!
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