Location: Rijeka / Croatia
Interview date: 15.11.2009
Croatian gothic doom metal outfit from Rijeka, Ashes You Leave will hit their 15th anniversary next year. The band has just released its new, fifth studio album “Songs Of The Lost” and is getting ready to promote it big time. Bassist Luka Petrović had a few words to say about the band for RockLine.
RockLine: How did the band come about, and how long has it been around?
Luka: The band was started by a handful of friends who wanted to make different music. We formed in 1995 under the name Icon, and in 1996 we changed it to Ashes You Leave. Back in 1995, still as Icon, we recorded our first demo, “…But Dreaming”. The following year, as Ashes You Leave, we recorded the demo “The Kingdom Before The Lies”, which got us our first record deal.
RockLine: Who’s in Ashes You Leave?
Luka: The lineup is Tamara Mulaosmanović on vocals and keyboards, Berislav Poje on vocals and guitar, Marta Batinić on violin, Matija Rempešić on guitar, Dalibor “Insanus” Frankić on drums, and Luka Petrović on bass.
RockLine: Where has Ashes You Leave played so far?
Luka: So far we’ve done three European tours, and we’ve played a ton of festivals abroad, both metal ones and ones that lean more toward mainstream music. Just to name a few: Summer Breeze, Wave Gotik Treffen, Brutal Assault, Metal Female Voices, Exit, Hartera, T-mobile INmusic, and we’ve even played a couple of festivals in Slovenia, like Metal Mania and Metal Dose.
RockLine: What do the band members do when they’re not busy with Ashes You Leave?
Luka: I graduated in hotel management, but I work as a lighting designer in a theater. Berislav is a senior medical technician working in a dialysis department, and he also works as an external associate at the Faculty of Medicine. Marta works at a local TV station as editor of a music show. Tamara is still studying economics, Dalibor works as a graphic designer, and Matija works at FINA (the Croatian central bank’s version, more or less).
RockLine: How do the people around you take your music, and do your parents and partners give you grief?
Luka: I don’t think we’d have achieved all this without our parents’ support. They’ve been by our side the whole time, cheering us on, and if we play anywhere near their homes, they come out to see us live. As for our partners, the girlfriends and boyfriends, we haven’t always gotten unconditional support, ha, ha, ha…
RockLine: Which show was the biggest one for Ahses You Leave, and which one holds a special place in your heart?
Luka: Hard to say, but it’s definitely one of the festival gigs. The one closest to my heart is Metal Female Voices. That was a truly gorgeous experience. Among the club shows, I have to single out one in Rijeka, which was for the promo of our new album. The atmosphere and the crowd there were simply unbelievable!!! In the end we played literally every song we know how to play.
RockLine: Who are the band’s musical role models?
Luka: In the early days, our idols were the founders of the British doom scene, like My Dying Bride, Anathema, Cathedral, Paradise Lost. It’s different today, since we’ve matured as musicians too. In our CD players you can find everything from Frank Zappa to Loreena McKennitt, and bands like Rotting Christ, Obscure and Suffocation.
RockLine: How would you describe the music you make?
Luka: These days it’s pretty hard to describe what we do. Journalists absolutely love slapping labels on bands and shoving them into all sorts of genres and subgenres. From the very beginning we’ve had a distinctive sound for a metal band. Considering that we’ve had a female vocalist from day one, and that we use violin and flute, we developed a sound all our own. Thanks to that, we were never forced to change our sound just to fit whatever trends were hot at the time. If I really have to stick a label on our music, I think the closest is gothic-doom metal.
RockLine: Who in the band contributes the most ideas for songs? Is the music written by individuals or as a collective?
Luka: Most of the music comes from our guitarist Berislav. On the new album, a few songs came together in collaboration with me and our violinist. As for pre-production and arrangements, that’s total team work. Everybody can chip in with their own ideas, since all our songs ultimately come to life in the rehearsal space where the band creates.
RockLine: Did you recently sign a new deal for the release of the new record?
Luka: A year ago we signed with the Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records, and our new, fifth studio album, “Songs Of The Lost”, is coming out on it this October.
RockLine: The band’s name sounds a bit unusual. Where did you get the idea for it?
Luka: Like I said earlier, the band was born under the heavy influence of the British doom scene. The name itself is a kind of tribute to Cathedral, since it’s borrowed from one of their songs.
RockLine: Are the band members self-taught, or did you go to music school?
Luka: Our singer finished music school for piano, and our violinist for violin. The rest of us are all self-taught. We’ve had our own music instructors, but none of us ever attended music school.
RockLine: Which musician from the Croatian scene would you maybe like to work with in the future, and have you already worked with any of them in the past?
Luka: We’ve played with plenty of them, but we’ve never thought about collaborating with anyone.
RockLine: Are you maybe cooking up any side projects in the band, that is, do the members have a desire to start solo musical projects?
Luka: Our drummer also plays in a band called Czaar, while our violinist plays in an instrumental band called Miševi. Dalibor, the drummer, is one of the founders and the guitarist of the legendary Croatian black metal band Castrum. They’ve been inactive for a while now, but there’s always a chance they’ll get back together. Right now we’re much more focused on Ashes You Leave, so side projects aren’t our priority at the moment.
RockLine: How do you manage to balance your private lives with your commitments to the band?
Luka: It’s tough, but we pull it off in the end. Even though we’re not a band that tours a lot, we already have plenty of obligations to the band, and everyone except Tamara and me also has a full-time job. Sometimes juggling it all takes seriously good time management, but with a bit of sacrifice and a few sleepless nights, anything is possible.
RockLine: What are your plans for the future?
Luka: In October the promo for our new album kicks off in Germany, so we’ve got a few shows waiting for us there next year. For next year we’ve got Wave Gothic Treffen confirmed, and a few more gigs are in the process of being locked in. The basic plan is to promote “Songs Of The Lost” live as much as possible, both on tour and at festivals. We’re also lining up a video shoot, and there’s new material in the works already.
Luka: On behalf of the band, I’d like to thank you, your readers, and all of our fans in Slovenia for the support.
interview by: Denis Begić
Slovenian translation edited by: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Ashes You Leave
RockLine: How did the band start? How long has it been around?
Luka: The band was formed by a handful of friends who wanted to make different music. It was founded in 1995 under the name Icon, and in 1996 it changed its name to Ashes You Leave. In 1995, under the name Icon, the band recorded its first demo …But dreaming. The following year the band recorded its first demo under the name Ashes you leave, The kingdom before the lies, which led to signing our first contract.
RockLine: Who’s in the band?
Luka: The band is: Tamara Mulaosmanović: vocals and keyboards, Berislav Poje: vocals and guitar, Marta Batinić: violin, Matija Rempešić: guitar, Dalibor Insanus Frankić: drums, and Luka Petrović on bass guitar.
RockLine: Where have you played so far?
Luka: Well, so far we’ve done three European tours, and we’ve played a lot of festivals too, both metal and mainstream. Just to list a few: Summer breeze, Wave gotik treffen, Brutal assault, Metal female voices, Exit, Hartera, T-mobile INmusic, and we even played a couple of festivals in Slovenia, like Metal mania and Metal dose.
RockLine: What do the band members do besides playing in the band?
Luka: Personally, I graduated in hotel management, and I work as a lighting designer in a theater. Berislav is a senior medical technician and works in the dialysis department at a hospital, and also as an external associate at the Faculty of Medicine. Marta works at a local TV station and is the editor of a music show. Tamara is still studying at the Faculty of Economics. Dalibor works as a graphic designer, and Matija works at FINA (the Croatian central bank’s version).
RockLine: How does the people around you react to the music you play? I mean your parents, boyfriends/girlfriends and so on… Do they support you?
Luka: I don’t think we’d be where we are without our parents’ support. They’re really all behind us, cheering us on, supporting us, and when we play nearby they come to our gigs too. As for girlfriends and boyfriends, the support wasn’t always unconditional there hahahaha
RockLine: What was your biggest gig, and what was your favorite?
Luka: It’s hard to say which was the biggest gig; it would surely be one of the festivals: Summer breeze, Metal female voices or Brutal assault. Personally, of the festival shows, the one I remember most fondly is Metal female voices. That was a truly wonderful experience. Among the club shows I have to mention the promo for our new album in Rijeka. The atmosphere and the crowd were simply unbelievable!!! In the end we played literally every song we knew.
RockLine: Who are the band’s musical role models?
Luka: In the early days, our role models were the founders of the British doom scene: My dying bride, Anathema, Paradise lost and Cathedral. It’s different today, we’ve grown up both as musicians and as listeners. Today in our players you can find everything from Zappa to Loreena McKennitt, all the way to Rotting Christ, Obscure and Suffocation.
RockLine: How would you describe the music you make?
Luka: It’s pretty hard to describe what we do. Journalists really love to label bands and sort them into all kinds of genres and subgenres. From the very beginning we’ve had a pretty distinctive sound for a metal band. Considering that since the band’s start our lead vocalist has been female, and that we’ve had violin and flute as permanent members, we created a sound of our own. Thanks to that, we’ve never had to change our sound during our career just to fit into whatever styles were current at the time. If we really have to label our music, I think the closest is gothic-doom metal.
RockLine: Who writes the band’s songs the most? Do you create collectively or individually?
Luka: Well, most of the music is credited to our guitarist Berislav. On the new album a few songs came about in collaboration with me and our violinist. As for pre-production and arrangements, that’s entirely teamwork. Anyone can put forward their idea, and in the end all our songs are started and finished in the band’s rehearsal room.
RockLine: Have you signed with a label? Do you have any plans regarding that?
Luka: A year ago we already signed a contract with the Greek label Sleaszy rider records. Our fifth album, Songs of the lost, is expected out in September.
RockLine: The band’s name is a bit unusual. How did you come up with it?
Luka: Like I said earlier, at the start of our career the band was under strong influence from the British doom scene. The name itself is a sort of tribute to Cathedral and is taken from the title of their song of the same name.
RockLine: Are the band members self-taught or did you attend music school?
Luka: Our singer finished music school for piano and our violinist for violin. The rest of us are all self-taught. We had music instructors but we never attended music schools.
RockLine: Which musician from the Croatian scene would you like to work with? Have you maybe already worked with someone or played at the same festival?
Luka: Well, we’ve played with many Croatian musicians, but collaborating with anyone… hm, we’ve never thought about it 🙂
RockLine: Are you preparing any projects? Do any band members maybe have aspirations for a solo project?
Luka: Our drummer also plays in a band called Czaar, while our violinist Marta plays in the instrumental band Miševi. Our drummer Dalibor is one of the founders and the guitarist of the legendary Croatian black metal band Castrum. They’ve been inactive for a long time, but there’s always a chance of getting back together. For now we’re much more focused on Ashes you leave, so solo projects aren’t a priority at the moment.
RockLine: Do you manage to balance your private life with playing in the band and your outside jobs?
Luka: It’s hard, but we manage in the end. Even though we’re not a band that tours a lot, we have quite a few obligations to the band, and all the members except me and Tamara have full-time jobs. Sometimes balancing obligations really calls for very good time management, but with a little sacrifice and lost sleep, everything is possible.
RockLine: What are your plans for the future?
Luka: The promo for our new album in Germany already starts in the 10th month, so a few gigs await us up there. Next year we’re confirmed for Wave gothic treffen, and a few more shows are in the confirmation phase. The main plan is to promote this album live as much as possible, both with a tour and with festivals. We’re also preparing a video shoot, as well as new material.
I want to thank you and all your readers, as well as all the fans in Slovenia, for the support.
On behalf of Ashes you leave,
Luka Petrović
interview by: Denis Begić
edited by: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Ashes You Leave
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