‘Click Interview’ with Male Tears: ‘A Cut-And-Dry Dance Album’
Male Tears has been set up by James Edward and later on joined by Frank Shark. After having released several productions they this year joined arms together with Avant! Records unleashing the newest full length “Krypt”. The sound is a mix of Dark-Pop, EBM and even New-Beat. It sounds retro-like and yet refreshing. I got in touch with James Edward to get more background information about this American band.
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: Let’s take off asking you about the origins and music background of Male Tears and what did you try to express by the band name?
James: I wanted to call the band something that sounded pretty and pathetic at the same time. I thought the name, Male Tears, would allude to something most of the world deems absolutely worthless.
Q: I noticed you released a serious number of productions in a rather short lapse of time. Where does this creative process comes from and what are the main sources of inspiration in music and lyrics?
James: We actively listen to all kinds of music to draw our inspiration from, both new and old, from the underground to the mainstream as well. We never stop listening to music so there’s always some new ideas we want to work on and that leads to a lot of music production, for our own output and for collaborative efforts with our contemporaries.
Q: You this year released your newest work “Krypt”. How did this work come to life and what have been the different stages to achieve the opus?
James: “Krypt” wasn’t always planned to be the record it became; we had moments of wanting to write ballads, various instrumental interludes and experimental sound collages- but we quickly got bored of the whole process and opted to put out a cut-and-dry dance album. Anything else meant for the record ended up on the cutting room floor, possibly for some other future release or reworking.
Q: “Krypt” sounds to me as the offspring between different influences; from EBM to New-Beat to Electro-Pop. It all sounds like a production without limits nor restrictions. Tell us a bit more about your ‘sound’ properly speaking and the equipment you’re using?
James: Production wise, we use the cheapest and most efficient way to achieve our sound, from pirated software to second hand, outdated hardware. Nothing fancy!
Q: I noticed the artwork is clearly inspired by horror themes and cartoons. It sounds pretty vintage-like but what did you try to express by the artwork and what’s the connection with the music and lyrics?
James: The album cover, designed by an Indonesian artist called Eye Dust, was inspired partly by 80’s Heavy-Metal artwork and horror movie posters of the same era. Truly, the intention was to create something that drew attention to itself without being too obnoxious, I’m not sure if we achieved the ‘not too obnoxious’ part but we’re happy with what the artist has done and feel it represents the music on the record
Q: Male Tears is also a live band so how do you transpose the music from the studio to the stage? And how important is the live image of the band?
James: We consider the band as a torch bearer for old school New-Wave duo’s and usually keep the live set up minimal; James on the microphone, Frank behind his synthesizers. Representing ourselves colorfully and extravagantly used to be a focus for our previous performances, but now- we’re transforming again and it’s going to be really different again.
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