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By: Kara Hinman
Charnia is a relatively young post-metal band from Waasland in Belgium. They just released their debut album Dageraad on the excellent ConSouling Sounds label. Kara Hinman reviewed it for Ech(((o)))es and Dust calling it “a slow, heavy, deep, emotional, screamy, vibrant album.” Kara asked guitarist/vocalist Jelle Pieters some questions to find out more.
(((o))): Could you give us some background into the band, like who’s in it and when did it all start?
Jelle: Thibaud provides the vocals, Diederik plays bass, Seppe hits the drums and I play guitar (although I did the clean vocals on Dageraad). For some reason we just gravitated towards each other. Everything went quite natural, nothing was forced and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
(((o))): This genre of music is very particular. What are some of your inspirations for this sound?
Jelle: Our lives are the main inspiration. The screaming vocals are meant to showcase pain and suffering and the guitars create the landscape. The muddy fields of the Waasland. What you hear is what we are.
(((o))): I felt a lot of raw emotion on Dageraad. Where did that come from?
Jelle: We asked ourselves why we made music. We wanted to learn from the past, let it go and move on. That is what we write about and that is why we make music. Honesty is so important in music.
(((o))): On your Bandcamp page, it said Dageraad was recorded by Toby Vandenbempt in the woods of Daknam. Were you really out in the woods when recording or was that just where the studio was?
Jelle: Yes, we recorded in a cabin out in the woods where we rehearse and wrote the album. It’s not even a studio. We just played our songs and placed a few microphones in the room.
(((o))): What was it like recording with Toby?
Jelle: Toby is an old friend of mine who has basic understanding of what a recording process is like. Very basic, but it helped us a lot. The recording was quite simple. We used one mic for the guitar, one for the bass and 3 for the drums. Vocals were recorded in the basement. Everything was played and recorded live in one room (except for the vocals).
It took us two days to record everything but it could have been a lot faster if we weren’t so laid back.
(((o))): What’s the scene like in Waasland? Are there are a lot of shows going on there or do you travel a lot to play shows?
Jelle: To be honest, there isn’t a scene. You’ll have to travel to Kortrijk or Gent if you want to see a good show. Altough Jens from Cheap Drugs is organising some cool punk shows in Sint-Niklaas these days.
(((o))): Any plans of touring? If so, where to?
Jelle: We’ll book a tour when we’re ready. We see a lot of bands that are still searching for dates and a backline a few days before their tour starts. That’s not what we want plus we have a lot to do out here in Belgium as well. We’re a young band.
Let’s start with getting my driver’s license!
(((o))): What other bands could you see yourselves playing with?
Jelle: With bands that play honest music; bands that are not elbowing each other out of the way but who are open to work together.
(((o))): And lastly, 2014 has been a real interesting year for all kinds of different music releases. What are some of your favorites from this year (besides, of course, Dageraad)?
Jelle: I bought the new A Winged Victory For The Sullen album recently and I love it! The self-titled from Church Of Ra is also very interesting. This release has all the Church Of Ra bands contributing sounds to create one piece at the hand of Dehn Sora (Treha Sektori).
(((o))): Do you have anything to add?
Jelle: Thank you for being interested!
(Credit: Picture taken by Leon De Backer)
