1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
First of all I would like to say hi to you and “TheTrueBringerOfDeathZine” readers. As you probably know, since the start of 2016 we have a new drummer, Herman “Herzu” Heidel and thus we have reformed Blacksheep. Since then we were mainly into rehearsing and adding a new approach to the rhythm parts. There is not much live activity in the summer, we use this time to strengthen the bond between us. We have released a new single, called “Gunsmoke”, that can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLabCWK90g. We are currently developing a video for this track.
2.You have a new album coming out later this year, how would you describe
the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it
differ from the album you had released in 2014?
We already started to work on some new material, but I trust is too early to say that there will be a new album this year. In may, we released a new single called “Gunsmoke” and there you can find a hint about the musical direction that we follow. I think that the main difference from the material released in 2014 is the fact that now we are working together to bring out the best from the songs, unlike in 2014 when it was one man’s idea. I think is it very important to collaborate with the right persons and to share mainly the same musical vision, but from different points of view. That’s the main thing that we achieved from the beginning of Blacksheep as a band.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with
the music?
We deal mainly with social and personal issues. To be fair, I never covered this area before, I was not interested to bring out this kind of subjects, but it came naturally when Blacksheep started to take form. Mainly we speak about globalisation, fencing of the individual freedom, lack of opportunities, manipulation of the individuals things that are not recent, but are happening way before we even started to notice them, things that go unseen day by day, but turn out to be very obvious when you take a step back. From here to each individual’s personal drama is just a step and everyone lives it alone in a full crowd since people are mainly focused to pay attention to simple things that distract them daily and gives them false comfort.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Blacksheep"?
I trust that the name speaks for itself, it bears the meaning known to all. I found that suitable for the direction that the band took since the beginning. I found that name funny and meaningful. Ij just came to me, I didn’t do any research, not even to find out if another band already has or had this name, I simply didn’t gave a fuck, I really like this name. J
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also
how would you describe your stage performance?
We really like to be on the stage, I can tell you that. J Every show for us was important and the best at its time. We enjoyed playing at Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Metalhead Meeting Fest, Posada Rock, Rockstadt Club, Question Mark and so on an so forth. We were very fortunate to have the chance to share the stage with great foreign and local bands that we respect. The stage performance is mainly focused on energy, trying to find the most direct connection with the audience, to deliver the message in the strongest and straightforward way.
6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We’ll see abut that when the material will be out. At this moment we are mainly busy rehearsing, writing new songs, prepairing for the autumn ahead. J In the summer there is less activity, since people is mostly interested in spending their holidays. We have a few shows in the autumn and we will complete the list as we go.
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received
any interest?
We didn’t payed too much effort finding a label to be honest. We received interest from local promoters and organisers but at this time our main goals is to keep rehearsing, writing new stuff, play the shows, recording new songs and maybe a videoclip. I think the most important thing for us right now is to make us heard (and seen).
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of
death metal?
The feedback that we received was positive, we are happy to see that people still are keen to the oldschool music, the straightforward message, that “rock/metal” attitude of party, booze and rock’n’roll. An interesting facts is that the people from South America are very interested in our music, they really love this combination of rock, heavy metal, hard rock and growled vocals, we received dozens of messages. On local plan is the same, we have a good feedback, people love to express themselves at the concerts on our music, which is I reckon very appropriate for that.
Even though nowadays metal music entered the sphere of shallow consumerism as is treated as a product that is always at hand and there is an questionable affinity for what is most recent in terms of music, there is still a strong interest in things built to last.
9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these
days that some of the band members are a part of?
I am glad you asked this question. All the guys except me are involved in another projects, with different musical styles J. For example our drummer “Herzu” is playing with his other band Breathelast and they did accomplished a lot (more on http://www.breathelast.com) , Andrei Costan in playing with Psychogod and they released an album called “Destroy to create – Create to destroy”, you can find more about on http://www.psychogod.ro/. But probably the most versatile and more implicated in other projects is Silviu Ruta, our bass player. He is playing with a successful Romanian hip-hop act called Macanache (https://www.facebook.com/MACANACHEINTERZIS/), but also with Shesdead – alternative/psychedelic (https://www.facebook.com/shesdeadromania/) and also a cover band called Fling. (https://www.facebook.com/flingband/). I am not involved with another bands, but I still find that pleasure to compose and record music by myself at home.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The main thing that we have accomplished musically is that we managed to develop a style of our own and that’s important to us. On short term I see the band recording a diversified material, but with Blacksheep mark all over it.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influenceon your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Really nowadays I listen very much to Spiritual Beggars, Helloween and Scorpions J. As influence I will not refer to a band, but to a “habit” that was very present in the 90’, that almost each death metal album had “that one track” that either was a cover after a heavy metal band played in a death metal style, either a song written different from the rest of the album, with a more melodic approach, mid tempo and so on. That used to be the third or the last track of the album J.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I like to travel a lot, to find new places, new food according to the specific of the area. Some sort of culinary tourism, I dare say. And that is leading me to my next hobby that is cooking J. I also like football and wine tasting, or according to the case getting wasted J. And, then is the almighty whisky.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to express some of our points of view and to salute all your readers. Thank you guys, you rule!
First of all I would like to say hi to you and “TheTrueBringerOfDeathZine” readers. As you probably know, since the start of 2016 we have a new drummer, Herman “Herzu” Heidel and thus we have reformed Blacksheep. Since then we were mainly into rehearsing and adding a new approach to the rhythm parts. There is not much live activity in the summer, we use this time to strengthen the bond between us. We have released a new single, called “Gunsmoke”, that can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLabCWK90g. We are currently developing a video for this track.
2.You have a new album coming out later this year, how would you describe
the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it
differ from the album you had released in 2014?
We already started to work on some new material, but I trust is too early to say that there will be a new album this year. In may, we released a new single called “Gunsmoke” and there you can find a hint about the musical direction that we follow. I think that the main difference from the material released in 2014 is the fact that now we are working together to bring out the best from the songs, unlike in 2014 when it was one man’s idea. I think is it very important to collaborate with the right persons and to share mainly the same musical vision, but from different points of view. That’s the main thing that we achieved from the beginning of Blacksheep as a band.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with
the music?
We deal mainly with social and personal issues. To be fair, I never covered this area before, I was not interested to bring out this kind of subjects, but it came naturally when Blacksheep started to take form. Mainly we speak about globalisation, fencing of the individual freedom, lack of opportunities, manipulation of the individuals things that are not recent, but are happening way before we even started to notice them, things that go unseen day by day, but turn out to be very obvious when you take a step back. From here to each individual’s personal drama is just a step and everyone lives it alone in a full crowd since people are mainly focused to pay attention to simple things that distract them daily and gives them false comfort.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Blacksheep"?
I trust that the name speaks for itself, it bears the meaning known to all. I found that suitable for the direction that the band took since the beginning. I found that name funny and meaningful. Ij just came to me, I didn’t do any research, not even to find out if another band already has or had this name, I simply didn’t gave a fuck, I really like this name. J
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also
how would you describe your stage performance?
We really like to be on the stage, I can tell you that. J Every show for us was important and the best at its time. We enjoyed playing at Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Metalhead Meeting Fest, Posada Rock, Rockstadt Club, Question Mark and so on an so forth. We were very fortunate to have the chance to share the stage with great foreign and local bands that we respect. The stage performance is mainly focused on energy, trying to find the most direct connection with the audience, to deliver the message in the strongest and straightforward way.
6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We’ll see abut that when the material will be out. At this moment we are mainly busy rehearsing, writing new songs, prepairing for the autumn ahead. J In the summer there is less activity, since people is mostly interested in spending their holidays. We have a few shows in the autumn and we will complete the list as we go.
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received
any interest?
We didn’t payed too much effort finding a label to be honest. We received interest from local promoters and organisers but at this time our main goals is to keep rehearsing, writing new stuff, play the shows, recording new songs and maybe a videoclip. I think the most important thing for us right now is to make us heard (and seen).
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of
death metal?
The feedback that we received was positive, we are happy to see that people still are keen to the oldschool music, the straightforward message, that “rock/metal” attitude of party, booze and rock’n’roll. An interesting facts is that the people from South America are very interested in our music, they really love this combination of rock, heavy metal, hard rock and growled vocals, we received dozens of messages. On local plan is the same, we have a good feedback, people love to express themselves at the concerts on our music, which is I reckon very appropriate for that.
Even though nowadays metal music entered the sphere of shallow consumerism as is treated as a product that is always at hand and there is an questionable affinity for what is most recent in terms of music, there is still a strong interest in things built to last.
9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these
days that some of the band members are a part of?
I am glad you asked this question. All the guys except me are involved in another projects, with different musical styles J. For example our drummer “Herzu” is playing with his other band Breathelast and they did accomplished a lot (more on http://www.breathelast.com) , Andrei Costan in playing with Psychogod and they released an album called “Destroy to create – Create to destroy”, you can find more about on http://www.psychogod.ro/. But probably the most versatile and more implicated in other projects is Silviu Ruta, our bass player. He is playing with a successful Romanian hip-hop act called Macanache (https://www.facebook.com/MACANACHEINTERZIS/), but also with Shesdead – alternative/psychedelic (https://www.facebook.com/shesdeadromania/) and also a cover band called Fling. (https://www.facebook.com/flingband/). I am not involved with another bands, but I still find that pleasure to compose and record music by myself at home.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The main thing that we have accomplished musically is that we managed to develop a style of our own and that’s important to us. On short term I see the band recording a diversified material, but with Blacksheep mark all over it.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influenceon your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Really nowadays I listen very much to Spiritual Beggars, Helloween and Scorpions J. As influence I will not refer to a band, but to a “habit” that was very present in the 90’, that almost each death metal album had “that one track” that either was a cover after a heavy metal band played in a death metal style, either a song written different from the rest of the album, with a more melodic approach, mid tempo and so on. That used to be the third or the last track of the album J.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I like to travel a lot, to find new places, new food according to the specific of the area. Some sort of culinary tourism, I dare say. And that is leading me to my next hobby that is cooking J. I also like football and wine tasting, or according to the case getting wasted J. And, then is the almighty whisky.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to express some of our points of view and to salute all your readers. Thank you guys, you rule!
