THEATRE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS PEPLER
WEBSITE: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Theatre/54012357382?ref=ts
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Experimental / Hardcore

WHAT FUELS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR YOU GUYS AND WHAT INSPIRES THE BAND THE MOST TO WRITE THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU DO?

As a band we draw influences from everything around us whether it is our beliefs, music, design, photography, dreams, stories, and our life experiences. When writing for the band we look towards writing music that has an emotive quality and that the music itself reflects the messages portrayed within the song. We aim to broaden the usual topic matter that is so frequent within today’s music.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN PERFORMING TOGETHER AND HOW DID IT ALL START?

The band began as an idea last year after the demise of our previous bands. We wanted to work on something that was fresh and more diverse than our last projects. The band finally came together towards the latter half of the year and we began writing. It was a difficult period for us as we were trying to find our feet and develop our own sound. We worked on songs and scrapped many until we got four songs that we could use to be gig ready.

We began our gigging stage fairly recently in February and have played small shows to get back into the motions of live performances. Our next show will be on the 11th of April and will form part of the Give Life Tour. We’re very excited for that as we’ll be playing with some of South Africa’s best Hardcore and Metalcore acts.

YOU LIST SCHALK VENTER ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ART DIRECTION. IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU THINK THE VISUAL PART OF PRESENTING YOUR BAND IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR “SOUND” AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO PRESENT YOURSELVES VISUALLY?

We think that as a band it’s really important to set the right image with out losing sight of what the band’s main focuses are. People perceive the band as a whole and what you do as an individual plays a lot into your bands public perception. Theatre is not an overly image conscience band and we try to focus more on the band’s outlook from the fans point of view rather than our own.

We want to be engaging with our fan base and not have them feel disconnected from us. We want to talk with our fans and connect with them on a more personal level. Schalk Venter has been a good friend of ours for some time and he understands our mindset. With his visuals we hope to achieve Theatre’s band ethics.

THEATRE DEFINITELY HAS AN EXPERIMENTAL SIDE. IS IT SOMETIMES HARD TO DECIDE IF SOMETHING WILL WORK OR FIT INTO A SONG AND NOT JUST SOUND WRONG WHEN WRITING NEW MATERIAL?

Yeah, it’s always difficult trying to push an invisible barrier. We carefully breakdown the songs critically, to see where parts fit and how they transition into the other parts. We’re always careful to be mindful not to add parts that may sound like filler material. Any one can write a song. It takes a lot of skill to be able to write a great song that people will remember.

I REMEMBER SOMEONE TELLING ME ONCE THAT IF YOU MAKE MUSIC YOU MUST FIND YOUR SOUND AND STICK TO IT SO THAT PEOPLE WILL IDENTIFY YOUR MUSIC EASIER, BUT IN A DAY AND AGE WHERE IT IS INCREASINGLY HARDER TO DO THAT AND SOUND ORIGINAL DO YOU THINK IT IS JUST NATURAL FOR A BAND’S SOUND TO KEEP ON EVOLVING?

We think it’s very easy to use copy paste formulas when writing songs. It works for some bands and it gets them large fan bases. We tend to try and stay away from that sort of mindset. It takes away from the music and people can feel the dishonesty within it. The music starts to become sub-standard and disconnected. As a band we’re slowly developing into a sound that we can call our own. We take influences from all over and try broadening on them to push our own sound further. We think people will relate more too honest music than something that feels manufactured and contrived.

YOU HAVE POSTED A FEW LIVE VIDEOS ONLINE SO FAR. TELL US MORE ABOUT THEM AND IS THIS A WAY TO CREATE A BIT OF “HYPE” BEFORE YOU UNLEASH ANY STUDIO RECORDINGS?

Our videos are there to give people an insight into our sound. Our videos show the good and the bad parts of our performances. We wanted to give an honest view of our music rather than polish it up and show only the good parts. As for the hype aspect, the videos serve as a small taste of things to come before we get into the recording stage.

DOES YOUR MUSIC CARRY ANY MASSAGES OR REFERENCES THAT FANS CAN RELATE TO OR DO YOU JUST PLAY FROM THE HART AND HOPE IT REACHES SOMEONE IN SOME POSITIVE SHAPE OR FORM?

Each of our songs holds some form of positive message and each serves an important purpose, whether it is to inspire, exhort, captivate, or to simply make people think. We try to write music that will change people’s perceptions not only to hardcore music, but to life as well. With this type of music there is no need to verbally share a message, it will naturally occur.

YOU GUYS SEEM TO REALLY BE IN THE MUSIC GAME FOR THE LOVE OF MAKING MUSIC AND PERFORMING LIVE, BUT EVEN IF YOU LIKE DOING SOMETHING THERE HAS TO BE CERTAIN CHALLENGES ALONG THE ROAD?

You will always find challenges in life, wherever you are, and this includes playing in a band. At the best of times, we function as a substantial unit; however there are always small challenges on the road, such as writer's block, contradictive ideas, fuel, practice times, etc. We all lead separate lives; Theatre is what brings us together.

WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS PERFORMED SO FAR AND DO YOU SEE ANY DOORS OPENING FOR YOU TO PLAY BIGGER SHOWS AND LARGER VENUES IN THE FUTURE?

Performance wise we’ve played at the Shed Skatepark in Stellenbosch as part of their 1in30 gig program that will happen every month with different bands. The shows are aimed at giving an all age’s event to kids who can’t get into the club type shows. The music promotes a positive place where people can enjoy themselves and appreciate local music.

Otherwise, other shows are being organised through friends of ours and event organisers. We hope that these shows will get our band some exposure with new fan bases both young and older and also lead to a more frequent gigging cycle. We’re lucky to have made contacts through our older bands and this should be an advantage for us in the gigging scene. We’re a band that loves the performance aspect of music and jump at the chance to play shows.

WHAT WORDS WOULD YOU USE TO SUM UP THE EMOTIONS THAT YOU FEEL WHEN BLASTING A CROWD WITH WAVES OF DISTORTION AND EMOTION URGED ON WITH A SCREAMING VOICE?

Passionate, dramatic and expressive.

DO YOU HAVE TO BECOME “ANOTHER PERSON” ON STAGE TO PROJECT THAT ENERGY THAT IS NEEDED TO EXCITE A CROWD TO THE POINT WHERE THEY ARE COMPLETELY 100% INTO YOUR PERFORMANCE?

As a band there should be the right level of musicality within a show and the performance aspect. We aim to deliver shows to the crowd that makes them feel apart of Theatre. Crowd interaction is very important to us and we think that’s where our music makes the connection. The more energy put out by the crowd only fuels us more. On that note we don’t become different people on stage, we just be ourselves and feel the music.

I GUESS WITH A BAND NAME LIKE “THEATRE” YOU WERE BORN TO PERFORM. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU GUYS IN 2009?

(Laughs) Theatre has only just scratched the surface. Be on the lookout for new songs, loads more shows, and some song recordings in due time. We will also have some merch out during the course of the year.

ANY LAST COMMENTS / ADVICE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We’d just like to thank everyone that’s supported us thus far. The music is as much for you guys as it is for us. Interact, participate. Let’s break down the walls and see what we are really made of...

Hope to see you at the next show.