Interview mit Gabriel Franco von Idle Hands

Your band is called IDLE HANDS – because of the movie?
No. In fact I had no idea the movie existed until after the fact.

What was your idea behind picking this as your bands name?
The band name is a reference to the old phrase „Idle Hands are the devil’s playthings“ – loosely meaning if you have nothing to do, you are more susceptible to partake in negative activities. Laziness, drinking, etc. … everything you do in life perpetuates itself. The more you do, the more you will end up doing, the more you don‘t, the more you won’t. So make sure you are always doing what you want to do.

Recently you were on tour with Gaahls Wyrd and Tribulation – how did this rather daring combination come about?
Our good friend and booking agent was in the right place at the right time and pitched us for the tour. The headliner management decided to give us a chance. We had a great time. Audiences generally seemed confused – except for Germany, they didn‘t give a shit: I got the impression that German metalheads were a bit more open-minded. That being said we made fans in every town and did very well. Plus the bands we were touring with were extremely welcoming of us and all were great friends by the end.

So did you feel appreciated by the black-metal-fans, did the concept work out?
Some were receptive, others were not. But that was expected. I mean I understand some people take their music more seriously than others. That has never been my objective. I’ve always just been trying to have fun. That being said we had many people comment that we surprised them and they were not expecting anything like us then bought a bunch of merch or something.

Do you hear Black Metal yourself, or what did you think about playing in this setting?
My favorite black metal bands are Satyricon and Dissection. However lately I‘ve been listening to more Uada and Mgła. And when I started this band the idea was to write black metal with clean vocals, but it evolved of course into whatever it is now. When this tour came along, I was very aware we were going to be the black sheep, but it still somehow felt like it worked, and I got a good gut feeling about it. So we took it and just got up there every night and did what we do. At the end of the day its just a concert,  you should be coming to have fun, and if you don’t it‘s not my fault – it’s yours.

Soon you will come back on tour – what do you expect from expect from the shows?
I expect nothing from anyone, all I can do is my best, every day. The rest will work itself out

You only have one EP and one album – how long will the setlist be?
We have many different shows, clubs, theaters, festivals. Opening, middle and headlining slots. To accomodate we have a 30, 40, 45-minute and one-hour-set. Unfortunately the longest we can play is an hour, thats all the material we have at the moment. But most shows we will be playing the 45 minutes set.

Are there songs that you actually don’t like to play live, but that you have to play so that the set has an adequate length?
No, if I thought any of our songs werent good enough, I wouldn‘t release them. However there are one or two that are very hard to sing. But we will play them.

Your new album is called „Mana“. What are the lyrics about and is there a connection between lyrics, title and artwork?
The lyrics vary from song to song but the overall messages are generally positive. I left most open to interpretation. The idea behind „Mana“ is the hope that the record instills a bit of magical power in the listener, and perhaps they walk away from the experience inspired to create some magic of their own.

The album is released on the German label Eisenwald. How did this collaboration come about?
They were the most trustworthy label I talked to. I was not looking for a big name, I was looking for a good deal. They gave it to us. My friend Jake from Uada put me in touch with the label head and the rest is history. We couldn‘t be happier and we plan to build our band, label, agents, crew up together over the coming years. As long as you are doing your part, you remain part of the team. No one gets tossed aside for someone bigger or better. This will be a team of trust.

The album is advertised as a mixture of NWOBHM, Occult Rock and the sleaze of the 80s – for me it sounds more like Post-Punk and New Wave, bands like Killing Joke or – more recently – Grave Pleasures – how do you see that?
I think someone wrote that about us, yes, there have been a lot of descriptions regarding the band, but no one seems to know the exact genre quite yet. I of course hope to keep it this way. Post-Punk is cool but we are not on our way down that path. Metal will always come first. If we ever got softer, I think it would be in more of a Journey- or classic-rock-direction, but with angry lyrics. Who knows, I just take it day by day and see what comes out.

You’re young musicians, you’re a new band – yet you play music that’s very retro – how come? What inspires young musicians about this style of music all of a sudden?
This is not all of the sudden, bands have been doing this since I started playing 10 years ago and longer than that. I chalk it up to the popularity of classic rock and the accessability of rock and roll instruments, mixed with parents passing there music down, plus a million other things. It has just permeated all genres of music. People want to rock, people want to live the lifestyle. Travelling, partying, creating… it‘s very enticing to a young person who’s never travelled far from home. I grew up watching videos of my favorite bands playing Wacken and just being completely astounded at the sheer magnitude of the whole thing. It just looked totally unreal. That‘s what got me hooked. From there, there was no definitive choice to play „retro music“ – I just play riffs I think sound good.

Do you see yourself there as part of a new scene generation, and are there bands that you would see as inspiration for this – on the one hand among the genre founders, but on the other hand also among the newcomers of the scene?
I don’t see myself as anything right now. I should hope we have any kind of lasting impact. But that is totally dependent on the quality of our music. I am inspired by bands old and new alike, yes. The old bands still have the better songwriting in my opinion, they had a bit more money to do spend, that may have something to do with it. But what I draw from the new bands is motivation, I look at someone my age, doing something I want to do and I say, well if they can do it then I surely can too!

Thank you for the interview! Please let us do a short brainstorming:
Germany: I love your beer and food. Bavaria is absolutely beautiful and you have a very rich history. Fantastic country for metal as well.
Joy Division: I have listened to „Love Will Tear Us Apart“ 1000 times and their album „Closer“ about 7 or 8. I did not enjoy „Closer“. I will continue to check out this band. They are a very hip band here in the USA
IDLE HANDS in 10 years: Headlining large venues or dissolved, whichever comes first. We will be working our asses off until it has played itself out. Whenever that day comes is and is not up to us. It is weird.
Donald Trump: We should be more friendly with our mexican neighbors
Your favorite album at the moment: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Once again thanks for your time. The last words are yours – is there anything left you want to tell our readers?
We are coming to Europe April 18th to June 1st. Tour dates are on our facebook page. Our album „Mana“ comes out May 10th via Eisenwald Records. We be selling it on the road as well. Pay attention to our facebook and instagram for announcements on that. I will most likely not be planning any small club tours of europe for the rest of this year. If we come back it will be as a support act so this is your chance to catch us playing all of our stuff up close and personal. Finally, thank you for caring about the band and the music. It is cliche and generic to say but we could not do it without each and every person who has taken an interested in our music and we are profoundly grateful.

https://youtu.be/0PVnML09w50

Publiziert am 14. April 2019 von Moritz Grütz