/// band photos: @_jazzhooligan, slovenská verzia nižšie ///
1. Hello guys, could you start by introducing yourselves — who you are, what you do, and what’s been sparking your interest most these days?
Hi! We are Mike and Robert and we are making music together as a duo, called THOSAR. It's a strange time, full of world-weariness and wars, but somehow we shouldn't let it get us down. We make music, organize our own concerts, have regular jobs, participate in society, and try not to give up.
2. Thosar released their first album Omega in November 2020 — which, if I recall correctly, was the peak of the second Covid-19 wave. How did the birth of Thosar and your creative process in those early days reflect or get impacted by the global pandemic and all the chaos surrounding it?
The lockdown during the pandemic helped us somehow because the only thing we could do besides work was making music.
Robert: I started recording Drums in my parents basement and sent the files to Mike who did the rest of the magic.
Mike: Most of the songs were almost finished, Robert then completed the existing elements from memory, and all I had to do was record the bass and vocals. In retrospect, it was a great time. The downside, however, was the album release. We weren't really able to play live as much as we had hoped. It had both advantages and disadvantages.
jazzholigan.jpg)
3. How did the idea of a bass-and-drums lineup come to life? Were you confident about that setup from the start, or did you ever consider bringing in other instruments or musicians?
When we started both of us played in other bands which got less active at this time, so one day we met at a concert and decided to form a new kind of grindcore project with two other friends of ours. Once the others didn't show up so we ended up alone and said fuck it we gonna do it as a duo. As a duo we were really fast in writing songs, at the first gig we filled in for Robert's other band, we had a final rehearsal where we almost finished all the songs and had a jam-ready setlist, so for us it was clear that we will continue making music as THOSAR.
4. You play only with bass, drums, and vocals — yet your sound feels massive. Could you describe your gear and how it has evolved since the beginning? Are you still searching for new sonic improvements, or do you feel you’ve already found the sound that defines Thosar?
Robert: Mike is a real freak when it comes to sound and he constantly tries to improve his setup and had some bigger changes over the years, the drumset stayed basically the same since we started.
Mike: I would not say freak, but sound is somehow something fantastic and intangible for me. My life's goal used to be to find "my sound." Now I can say that it's a lifelong endeavor, and you never really find "the sound." That's what makes it all so wonderful. We've already found a direction with Thosar, but unfortunately it's impossible to say at this point what the next album will sound like for example. With Julian Jauk (grelle musik), we've found someone who captures our sound exactly as we want it to be on the recordings. There are simply too many factors involved. Over time, however, we've moved away from recording separately. We want to be in the same room and record everything together.
5. The new album title sounds both philosophical and ironic (and has kind of a Vulgar display of power vibe for me). What does The Bold Idea of Being Satisfied mean to you personally? How do the other lyrics on the album connect to this concept?
The title somehow came up in the songwriting process because we struggled to finish the songs and make them fit together on the album. It felt like we will never stop changing parts and fuck around with these songs but after a “magic” writing session one day we jammed the songs and left them like that.
The last thing to be finished in the songs are the lyrics we write about things that concern us and often criticize ourselves and the society we live in. We simply want to explore why we are always unsatisfied with everything, even though the things are not that bad as they seem.
6. I come more from the metal underground, and I’ve been noticing more and more punk and hardcore influences appearing in UG slow music — which I initially associated with the 90s death-doom scene — and I find that really exciting. What were your early influences, and what’s your view on the different approaches to slow and heavy music? In your opinion, what makes each of them unique in artistic expression, and how do they complement each other? Do you draw inspiration from both worlds — and if so, how?
Robert: As early influences i would mention Queen, The Who and AC/DC i went on listening to more and more punk rock thrash and death metal.
When all of that wasn’t hard enough anymore I listened to more grindcore and black metal but also I learned to know the stoner/psychodelic/doom stuff when I started hanging out with Mike more.
I think in our music there are tiny parts from all the mentioned genres in there but mostly we just love to mix up slow and fast parts because there's a nice “SPANNUNGSKURVE” then.
Mike: My background was in commercial music, pop punk, and classic emo/metalcore bands. I then learned guitar and drums, and played both very badly. After the school band, I stopped playing guitar. Music became more and more interesting to me when I started going out and to concerts! I picked up the guitar again when a friend asked me if I wanted to play harmonica and sing in his psychedelic band. From then on, I wanted to absorb everything related to cool music like punk/crust/doom/sludge/death etc.
jazzholigan.jpg)
7. Living in a neighboring north-east country that is quite underdeveloped — a bit of a variation of Mordor mindset, if you will — I’ve always perceived Austria as a land of milk and honey, the proud heir of the Roman Empire, home of Mozart and Strauss… basically, perfection everywhere. What’s the reality? Is that sentiment shared by you, and where does the dirt and sludge come from?
Austria is a nice country for sure but if you dig deeper there's A LOT of shit going on especially political wise. And if you look at the rest of the world, Austria is just a very little part of it looks pretty shitty for our future with wars going on everywhere, people destroying nature and burning the planet. The political attitude of everyone here is truly frightening, we also want to use our music to work against this hatred, exclusion, and stupidity.
8. The new album is set to release on October 17th via Grazil Records and features artwork by Nekrodeus’ singer, Stefan Rindler. How did you connect with the label and Stefan, and are there any interesting stories or memorable moments from writing and recording? How difficult was it to write and complete the new material compared to your previous work?
Clemens Pecher from Grazil Records supports us from day one! Grazil Records is a great platform for underground music. It's a true DIY label, because we still make almost everything ourselves, haha.
Stefan has also been part of this Grazil cosmos for a long time. Stefan approached us back in 2020 and said he had a good idea for a shirt design. He has been with us since THOSAR began, we played a lot of shows with his bands NEKRODEUS and SATURNISTS. He makes a valuable contribution to the underground scene in Graz. We asked Stefan to design the album cover for "The Bold Idea of Being Satisfied" and mentioned we had a few ideas. He confidently said, "I have a better idea!" We met at his apartment, and he presented the complete artwork concept to us! We were completely blown away! The concept outlines a children's story about a caterpillar that’s called “The very hungry caterpillar”.
10. Do you plan any extensive touring with the new album, and if so, in which regions? What is your usual approach to tour management — do you reach out in advance to known promoters and peer bands in other countries, or do you prefer experimenting and searching for new locations and audiences?
We did a tour with 8 shows through Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France right after the album came out together with our friends from the Vienna based band CHOROSIA which was a lot of fun! When we plan a tour we try to do a mix of unknown locations and some we have already been to so we have a few “safe spaces”. We are grateful that our friend Susi alias “DARK DAYS AHEAD BOOKING” helps us with organizing tours so it's a lot easier for us.
11. Are you in contact with any bands in Slovakia or the Czech Republic? Have you ever played in these countries, and do you have any interesting experiences to share?
We only played three shows in the Czech Republic till now and sadly not a single one in Slovakia. Also we have no contacts in this area which sucks. Hit us up if you know someone organizing shows. We would love to visit these countries more often!
12. Going back to the pandemic and lockdown era — that time was really quiet, with only a handful of semi-illegal venues hosting gigs. I felt it was something like a restart, with people used to bigger venues suddenly rediscovering underground garages, etc. Do you feel that period actually helped the UG scene, gaining more followers — maybe even from the younger generation?
It might have helped some people to find out how cool smaller shows are and it was nice to see that people were craving for concerts when it was possible again so the venues were always full. Also there were a lot of new bands coming up after the pandemic because people had lots of time to make music.
13. A frontman of a well-known Polish metal band recently said that young people shouldn’t start new bands because the scene is oversaturated — that they should rather go to university and find proper jobs instead. What do you think about this kind of ‘mentoring’ advice?
That's kind of a weird opinion to be honest because it seems like he sees making music is only a job like a plumber or an electrician. Creating music or art in general can be such a relief and a healthy thing to do for struggling souls so everybody should grab an instrument and just go for it!
14. What’s your opinion on AI in art, and where do you think the boundaries lie? Is it acceptable for AI to assist in creating content — like artwork, music, or lyrics — or only in the technical process, such as recording and production? Or should we all just return to analog?
Mike: I believe AI has no place in art, it has no soul and no story. Even if people have to add certain texts. I can't relate to it and don't want to. I find it highly problematic that bands are releasing AI artwork these days. If I recognize an AI cover, I'm 95% sure I won't listen to that band. To me, it's a sign that the project has no soul.
Of course, we don't have to remain completely analog, we naturally use translation tools, which probably already qualify as AI. I would never let an AI tool write or edit a song for me. It shouldn't be polished and is allowed to contain mistakes. It's also impossible to say for sure whether any plugin in a DAW already contains AI. Complete hiding is no longer possible. But things that you consciously choose to use shouldn't contain AI in my opinion. Guess we are kind of old school in this matter.
15. There are people who say that every new music is just a repetition of something that was already here - do you agree with that statement?
Sometimes it feels a bit like that, especially when writing songs there often comes a moment where we think we stole something from a song we know but mostly it's just near to that and maybe music is not only about what is played and more about who plays it. That's why raw record mixes are better to really hear what the band is able to play, in modern metal a lot of bands sound exactly the same because everyone wants this polished record sound which they can't reproduce in live settings often.
16. Are you fan of horror movies - if yes, which of the recent horror movies did you enjoy? If not what kind of cinema do you dig?
Both of us are not big movie nerds, but for me i can say i love the lord of the rings and everything around it, it's just such an epic story.
jazzholigan.jpg)
17. What recent albums, music videos and books does the band recommend?
We would recommend checking out the Grazil Records Bands, the rooster is very big and versatile. We have some pretty good underground stuff going on! Watch music videos made by Kuro.Simon, he made the three videos from our actual records! He is an awesome artist! Unfortunately we don't have that much time to read books.
18. Is there someone with whom you’d like to read an interview on Jablká ďaleko od stromu?
Chorosia
Nekrodeus
19. (Thank you for the interview) Any last words?
Veľmi ďakujem Tom!
Možno sa niekedy uvidíme na koncerte!
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Links:
https://thosar.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/thosarband/
https://www.instagram.com/thosar_band/
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1. Ahojte, mohli by ste sa na úvod predstaviť — kto ste, čo robíte a čo vás v poslednom čase najviac zaujíma?
Ahoj! Sme Mike a Robert a spolu tvoríme hudobné duo THOSAR. Je to zvláštna doba, plná únnavy zo sveta a vojen, ale aj tak by sme si to nemali nechať pokaziť. Robíme hudbu, organizujeme vlastné koncerty, máme normálne práce, sme súčasťou spoločnosti a snažíme sa nevzdať.
2. Thosar vydali svoj debutový album Omega v novembri 2020 — ak si správne pamätám, bolo to presne v čase vrcholiacej druhej vlny Covidu-19. Ako vznik kapely a tvorivý proces v týchto prvých dňoch ovplyvnila pandémia a chaos okolo nej?
Lockdown počas pandémie nám vlastne trochu pomohol, lebo okrem práce sme nemohli robiť nič iné než tvoriť hudbu.
Robert: Začal som nahrávať bicie v pivnici mojich rodičov a posielal som stopy Mikemu, ktorý urobil ostanú mágiu.
Mike: Väčšina piesní bola takmer hotová, Robert potom doplnil existujúce časti spamäti a mne už stačilo len nahrať basu a vokály. Keď sa na to pozeráme späť, bolo to super obdobie. Nevýhodou však bolo vydanie albumu — nemohli sme hrať naživo tak často, ako sme dúfali. Malo to výhody aj nevýhody.
3. Ako vznikol nápad hrať v zostave len basgitara, bicie a vokál? Boli ste si od začiatku istí, že to bude fungovať, alebo ste uvažovali aj nad ďalšími nástrojmi či členmi?
Keď sme začínali, obaja sme hrali aj v iných kapelách, ktoré vtedy trochu utíchali, takže raz sme sa stretli na koncerte a rozhodli sa založiť nový grindcore projekt s ďalšími dvoma kamarátmi. Keď ostatní prestali chodiť, zostali sme sami dvaja a povedali sme si: „Do riti, spravíme to ako duo.“
Ako duo sme boli extrémne rýchli v písaní skladieb. Na prvom koncerte, kde sme zaskakovali za Robertovu inú kapelu, sme mali poslednú skúšku, počas ktorej sme takmer dokončili všetky songy - mali sme pripravený set. Takže nám bolo jasné, že budeme pokračovať ako THOSAR.
4. Hráte len s basou, bicími a vokálom - a predsa je váš zvuk mega hutný. Vedeli by ste opísať svoj gear a ako sa vyvíjal? Stále hľadáte nové možnosti, alebo máte pocit, že váš „typický zvuk“ je už nájdený?
Robert: Mike je totálny maniak, čo sa týka zvuku - neustále sa snaží vylepšovať svoj setup a roky v ňom prebehli aj veľké zmeny. Bicie ostali prakticky rovnaké.
Mike: Nepovedal by som maniak, ale zvuk je pre mňa niečo magické a neuchopiteľné. Mojím životným cieľom bolo nájsť „svoj zvuk“. Dnes viem, že je to celoživotná cesta a človek ho vlastne nikdy úplne nenájde - a to je na tom krásne. S Thosar sme už našli určitý smer, ale je nemožné povedať, ako bude znieť ďalší album. S Julianom Jaukom (grelle musik) sme našli človeka, ktorý zachytí presne to, čo od nahrávok chceme. Zapojených je proste priveľa faktorov. Postupne sme však odišli od nahrávania oddelene - chceme byť v jednej miestnosti a nahrať všetko spolu.
5. Nový album má názov, ktorý pôsobí filozoficky aj ironicky (a trochu mi pripomína Vulgar Display of Power). Čo pre vás osobne znamená The Bold Idea of Being Satisfied? Ako s tým súvisia ďalšie texty?
Názov vznikol počas skladania, keď sme bojovali s dokončovaním piesní a s tým, aby spolu na albume ladili. Mali sme pocit, že nikdy neprestaneme niečo meniť a hrabať sa v tom, ale potom prišla „magická“ skladateľská session, zahrali sme to a nechali tak.
Texty sme dokončovali až ako posledné - píšeme o veciach, ktoré nás trápia, často kritizujeme seba aj spoločnosť. Chceme skúmať, prečo sme stále nespokojní, hoci veci často nie sú až také zlé, ako sa zdajú.
6. Pochádzam z metalového UG a všímam si narastajúci vplyv punku a hardcoru v pomalej hudbe - v žánroch, ktoré som kedysi spájal hlavne s death-doomom 90. rokov. Čo boli vaše rané vplyvy a ako vnímate rôzne prístupy k pomalej a ťažkej hudbe? Čím sú jedinečné a ako sa dopĺňajú?
Robert: Na začiatku to boli Queen, The Who a AC/DC, potom čoraz viac punk rock, thrash a death metal. Keď mi to už nebolo dosť tvrdé, prišiel grindcore a black metal - ale spoznal som aj stoner/psychedelic/doom, keď som začal tráviť viac času s Mikom. V našej hudbe sú malé kúsky všetkých týchto žánrov, ale hlavne radi miešame pomalé a rýchle pasáže, lebo je tam dobrá „napäťová krivka“.
Mike: Ja som začínal pri komerčnej hudbe, pop punku a emo/metalcore. Naučil som sa hrať na gitaru a bicie, ale oboje veľmi zle. Po školskej kapele som gitaru odložil. Hudba ma začala fascinovať, keď som začal chodiť na koncerty. Znovu som siahol po gitare, keď ma kamarát pozval, či nechcem hrať harmoniku a spievať v jeho psychedelickej kapele. Odtiaľ už viedla cesta ku všetkému „cool“ - punk/crust/doom/sludge/death…
.
7. Žijem v susednom, pomerne zaostalom severovýchodnom štáte - tak trochu variácia na mindset Mordoru - a vždy som Rakúsko vnímal ako krajinu hojnosti, dediča Rímskej ríše, domov Mozarta a Straussa… vlastne dokonalosť. Aká je realita podľa vás? A odkiaľ sa berie ten „špinavý“ element vašej hudby?
Rakúsko je fajn krajina, ale keď sa pozriete hlbšie, deje sa tu KOPEC sračiek, najmä politicky. A v kontexte sveta je Rakúsko len malý kúsok - budúcnosť vyzerá dosť biedne: vojny, ničenie prírody, klimatická kríza… Politická nálada je tu naozaj desivá. Aj preto chceme hudbou bojovať proti nenávisti, vylučovaniu a hlúposti.
8. Nový album vychádza 17. októbra pod Grazil Records a obal vytvoril spevák Nekrodeus, Stefan Rindler. Ako ste sa spojili s labelom a so Stefanom? Máte nejaké zaujímavé momenty z tvorby?
Clemens Pecher z Grazil Records nás podporuje od prvého dňa! Je to skvelá platforma pre UG hudbu, pravý DIY label - veľa vecí si stále robíme sami, haha.
Stefan je súčasťou „Grazil sveta“ už dlho. V roku 2020 nás oslovil s nápadom na dizajn trička. Hrali sme veľa koncertov s jeho kapelami NEKRODEUS a SATURNISTS. Prispieva k UG scéne v Grazi obrovským spôsobom.
Požiadali sme ho, aby navrhol obal albumu The Bold Idea of Being Satisfied. Povedali sme mu pár nápadov a on na to: „Mám lepší!“ Stretli sme sa uňho doma a on nám rovno predstavil kompletný koncept. Boli sme úplne ohromení. Koncept vychádza z detskej knihy The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
9. Plánujete s novým albumom väčšie turné? Ako k turné pristupujete - bookujete osvedčené kontakty, alebo radšej skúšate nové miesta?
Po vydaní albumu sme absolvovali turné s ôsmimi koncertmi v Rakúsku, Švajčiarsku, Nemecku a Francúzsku, spolu s našimi kamarátmi z Viedne, kapelou CHOROSIA - a bola to veľká zábava!
Pri plánovaní turné sa snažíme kombinovať nové miesta a „bezpečné“ miesta, kde už poznáme publikum.
Sme vďační našej kamarátke Susi („DARK DAYS AHEAD BOOKING“), ktorá nám veľmi pomáha s organizáciou - vďaka nej je to oveľa jednoduchšie.
10. Ste v kontakte s kapelami zo Slovenska alebo Česka? Hrali ste tu niekedy a máte nejaké zážitky?
Doteraz sme odohrali len tri koncerty v Česku a ani jeden na Slovensku. A nemáme tu žiadne kontakty, čo je naprd. Ozvite sa, ak niekoho poznáte - radi by sme tieto krajiny navštevovali častejšie!
11. Počas pandémie boli koncerty minimálne, často len v pololegálnych priestoroch. Videli ste aj vy, že to undergroundu paradoxne pomohlo?
Možno to niektorým ľuďom pomohlo objaviť, aké super malé koncerty sú. A bolo krásne vidieť, ako ľudia hneď po uvoľnení opatrení túžili po koncertoch - kluby boli plné. Vzniklo aj veľa nových kapiel, lebo mali ľudia čas tvoriť hudbu.
12. Člen známej poľskej metalovej kapely nedávno povedal, že mladí by nemali zakladať nové kapely, lebo scéna je presýtená - vraj by mali radšej ísť na univerzitu a nájsť si normálnu prácu. Čo si o tom myslíte?
Úprimne, je to dosť divný názor. Znie to, akoby hudbu vnímal len ako remeslo - ako inštalatér či elektrikár. Tvorenie hudby alebo umenia môže byť obrovská úľava a veľmi zdravá vec pre ľudí, ktorí bojujú sami so sebou. Takže každý by mal chytiť nástroj a proste to skúsiť!
13. Aký je váš názor na AI v umení? Kde sú hranice jej využitia - v obsahu či len v technických procesoch? Alebo by sme sa mali vrátiť k analógu?
Mike: Podľa mňa AI nemá v umení čo hľadať - nemá dušu ani príbeh. Je mi extrémne nesympatické, keď kapely vydávajú AI obaly. Keď spoznám, že je obal z AI, na 95 % si tú kapelu ani nepustím. Je to pre mňa znak, že projekt nemá dušu.
Samozrejme, nemusíme byť úplne analógoví - používame prekladače, čo už je do istej miery AI. Ale nikdy by som neurobil to, že AI vytvorí alebo upraví pieseň. Hudba má byť nedokonalá. A ťažko povedať, či nejaký plugin v DAW už neobsahuje AI… Nedá sa úplne uniknúť. Ale veci, ktoré si VEDOME vyberieš použiť, by podľa mňa AI obsahovať nemali. V tomto sme asi stará škola.
14. Niektorí hovoria, že nová hudba je len opakovanie toho, čo tu už bolo — súhlasíte?
Občas to tak pôsobí. Najmä pri písaní songov prichádza moment, keď si povieme: „Toto je kradnuté!“ Zvyčajne to ale nie je úplne ono - skôr podobnosť. Hudba často nie je o tom, čo sa hrá, ale kto to hrá. Aj preto sú surové mixy často lepšie - ukážu, čo kapela reálne dokáže. V modernom metale znejú mnohé kapely rovnako, lebo chcú „dokonalý“ zvuk, ktorý však naživo nedokážu zopakovať.
15. Ste fanúšikmi hororov? Ak áno, ktoré novšie filmy by ste odporučili? Ak nie - aký typ filmu vás baví?
Ani jeden z nás nie je veľký filmový fanatik, ale za seba môžem povedať, že milujem Pána prsteňov a všetko okolo toho - je to epický príbeh.
16. Aké nové albumy, videá alebo knihy odporúčate?
Odporúčame skontrolovať kapely z Grazil Records - je to veľký a pestrý roster. Máme tu fakt skvelé undergroundové veci! Pozrite si videá, ktoré robí Kuro.Simon - spravil všetky tri klipy z nášho nového albumu. Je to výnimočný umelec! Žiaľ, nemáme veľa času čítať knihy.
17. Je niekto, s kým by ste radi videli rozhovor v Jablká ďaleko od stromu?
Chorosia
Nekrodeus
18. (Ďakujem za rozhovor.) Posledné slová?
Veľmi ďakujeme, Tom!
Možno sa niekedy uvidíme na koncerte!
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