Twinmusix got to speak to Avatar about their upcoming tour and more.
TM - Hi, this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix, and we are here with Avatat. Thank you for having this interview with us today. We appreciate it.
AR - Thank you.
TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?
AR - I like to describe it, like watching a metal circus, because there are a lot of different elements that go into Avatar. Our music and our performance are particular, and peculiar. We are the only ones that can make the puzzle pieces fit, and I think that comes across in these shows. This will be our second time coming to Australia, our first time was a blast, and we wanted to come back and do a bigger set.
TM - What can fans expect from your Tour with Pantera and Metallica?
AR - They can expect a band that is pretending to be Starstruck by the whole thing. We did a run with Iron Maiden in Europe, and it was an arm Pincher. Our first show with Metallica will be intense and fierce. We hope the show will be really cool and special. The first show will be a practice as we are performing on Metallica's stage.
TM - How have fans responded to your new album "Don't Go In The Frost?
AR - We premiered the album live in Mexico City, and it was magical. From there, we went straight on a tour in the USA. Before you know it, it will be Christmas, and then we will have a short break, and then we will go back on a European run and a USA run. You can tell it's gone into the greater Avatar mythology, so people know these songs and know they have been there.
TM - What was your writing and recording process for "Don't Go In The Forest"?
AR - It was good because we went back to the studio where we recorded Feathers & Flesh in a village outside of Germany, and we recorded in a castle. The place exists because a Canadian guy got rich, and he sold what he came up with to Disney. Then he travelled the world with his family, and he thought it would be cool to have a European castle as his vacation home. He also thought, I might only be there for two weeks a year, and he put it to good use. It is a vintage studio full of vintage sound equipment. We recorded feathers and flesh there. We were on a European festival run, and we happened to be near the neighbourhood on a day off. We went over for a BBQ with friends, and it ended up in an impromptu session of the piano version of "Tower we put out", and that made us want to go back there. I like performing songs and like playing them live, but I did not like the studio, and I think it was because of my limited imagination of what you could actually do in a studio and do a recording. Then I started to enjoy the studio as a creative space more and more, so this album we have just done is the one I have enjoyed the most.
TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs, what band would it be, what song would it be, and would it be in your style or their style?
AR - I don't know if I have ever heard her do a cover, but Bjork comes to mind in her style.
TM - Who was the first band or Artist you saw live, and can you tell us a story?
AR - AC/DC with Megadeth opening, and I was 14 years old. We had been at a countryside place for the summer, and we got dropped off at the stadium, and it was great. It was on the "Stiff Upper Lip Tour", and it was in the local newspapers, and they got five out of five lighthouses after the show. It was when Angus swung on the big Hells Bells and did a striptease, and he planted the seeds about what a rock and roll show could be.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
AR - We are excited to come back for a second time, and here's to many more after that and make sure you come see us.
TM - Thank you for having this interview with us today. We appreciate it.
AR - Thank you.