Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Ljubljana
Interview date: 13.12.2008
Dawn Patrol put out their long-awaited EP Before the Dawn this year. Even before it dropped, they had already conquered Slovenian stages and the Slovenian metal scene in just a few years of existence. After a healthy number of gigs, they’ve become one of the most popular metal acts on the Slovenian scene and a favorite of the local metal crowd. They proved at rehearsal that they’re a seriously tight crew, and after the session we got a fun interview out of it, waiting for you in the lines below.
RockLine: Let’s start by introducing the band.
Iztok: I don’t even know what to say about that. That I was bored and went looking for folks? (laughs)
RockLine: Hehe, you’re the only original member left?
Iztok: Yeah, actually there was no band at first, because it was just me and Lipnik, and we spent like three months looking for a drummer, and then he went off to Negligence.
Aleš: Saying “went off to some band,” like everyone needs to know that? (laughs)
Wuko: But it was Negligence who set it all up so we could find each other.
Iztok: Yeah, Zmazek, Negligence’s drummer, told me his buddy was just learning to play drums but didn’t have a band. I came to Ljubljana and ran into Wuko and told him we were playing in a band together (laughs).
RockLine: And what was your reaction when you found out you were in a band?
Iztok: He was drunk (laughs). We’re all just a bunch of drunks in this band (laughs). The next day I called him and we went to try things out at the Negligence space. They’re obviously our godfathers. We met Grega sober, though (laughs). Grega was with us until he quit studying and left Ljubljana. In the end we added drunk Jan and Aleš, who was singing at karaoke. We wouldn’t have gotten Aleš otherwise, because Wuko isn’t allowed into Orto, but it was Halloween, he was in costume, and the bouncers didn’t recognize him (laughs).
Ana: Well, that’s how we came to be.
Iztok: Yep, booze brought us together, so obviously Alcoholic really is autobiographical (laughs).
Jan: But officially, it was our love of music that brought us together (laughs).
RockLine: Alcoholic is the last song you wrote.
Iztok: Yeah, still in the prototype phase. We’ve already played it, though, first time in Kranj. It’s still a bit of improvisation.
RockLine: Great improvisation (laughs).
Aleš: I only knew one verse and I sang it three times.
Iztok: Don’t go saying stuff like that (laughs). You’re too honest.
RockLine: You sang for a while too, didn’t you?
Iztok: Yeah, but it’s not even worth mentioning. It wasn’t worth a mention.
Wuko: There’s a version of Rockstar with him on vocals too.
Jan: It’s better with Dejzi.
Iztok: Yeah, but we’ll also record a version with Aleš on vocals for the album.
RockLine: How come you didn’t record the song with Aleš for the EP already?
Iztok: It’s not recorded yet, so I don’t think it matters that much.
Wuko: Anyway, it’s on the EP as a bonus track.
RockLine: And why isn’t the song Ghost on the EP yet, was it written later?
Iztok: Yeah, it didn’t exist yet, or rather it was still in its infancy. We played it for the first time last year at Metal Mania. By then everything was already arranged, so there was no changing anything anymore.
RockLine: How did Dejzi end up singing Rockstar Ate My Hamster, anyway?
Ana: Didn’t he volunteer himself to sing that song?
Wuko: Right around then he started discovering he could actually sing a bit, so we gave it a shot.
Iztok: First we recorded my vocals, then he said next time he’d sing it, so we recorded him too. Later we wanted to play a few more gigs with Dejzi so he could sing a couple more songs, but he only did one, in Kranj.
RockLine: Why did it take so long to release the EP Before the Dawn? Because of the mixing?
Aleš: A couple of cables gave us trouble (laughs).
Jan: There were a lot of technical problems, yeah.
Wuko: It could’ve been done sooner, but for every instrument we recorded, we took a month’s break.
Iztok: In the meantime both Zmazek and Dejzi did a mix and we had to decide which one to go with. In the end we picked Zmazek’s mix.
RockLine: Will you record the album at Negligence’s too?
Iztok: Definitely, the gear’s good, only not for the drums, they’ll be recording theirs at RSL too.
Aleš: We don’t know the album title yet (laughs).
RockLine: Will the songs from the EP be on the album too?
Iztok: Rockstar for sure, we’ll probably re-record Fortress, and Ghost and Alcoholic will definitely be on the album.
RockLine: Have you tried sending anything abroad?
Iztok: Yeah, we have, but there’s no way. You have to be Iron Maiden already. You need a strategy and you have to send to the right labels, not go straight for Nuclear Blast from the start.
Aleš: I sent them our Myspace link (laughs).
RockLine: How do you write your songs?
Iztok: I write them and bring them to Ljubljana. We’re actually going to record a few ideas today. You get inspired…
Aleš: And where do you get that from? (laughs)
Wuko: Somebody comes in with a riff idea, plays it, and then the rest of us join in and put the songs together. Basically a song starts out of a jam.
Iztok: Most of it gets worked out at rehearsals, although last year we had a ton of gigs, so we treated rehearsals as gigs and gigs as rehearsals (laughs). Anyway, you can practice at home, only Aleš has it harder. Can you scream at work?
Aleš: Nah, it’s more of a quiet office (laughs).
RockLine: Aleš, do you write the lyrics?
Aleš: Yep.
RockLine: Only in English?
Aleš: In Slovenian too, but nobody likes them except me.
Ana: I do too, come on, write something in Slovenian.
Jan: No no no, this needs to be nipped in the bud (laughs).
Ana: Then the two of us will make our own solo project.
Iztok: And we’ll all play in it (laughs).
RockLine: Jan, is it hard to fit Dawn Patrol around playing with Omar?
Jan: Nah, no panic. The only thing is there’s a ton of material to learn.
Iztok: You’ll turn into a proper scholar yet.
RockLine: Do you have a rough idea of when you’ll release the album?
Iztok: If we go record in the spring…
Aleš: Don’t answer that, come on! (laughs)
Iztok: No, if we agreed we’re going in to record in May, we go record, and for as long as they give us.
RockLine: Recording is easier these days anyway, since every band has its own studio…
Iztok: Yeah, it’s a totally different world today.
RockLine: Aleš, do you have vocal training?
Aleš: Which bar, you mean? (laughs). Nah, I don’t practice enough.
Wuko: His practice is belting out beef when he’s drunk.
Aleš: Otherwise, no, I haven’t had any proper music lessons.
RockLine: What are the short-term and long-term plans for Dawn Patrol?
Jan: Mainly to get through this rehearsal (laughs).
Wuko: We also see an album somewhere in the future.
Iztok: Yeah, we basically know when we’re going in, it just depends on how ready we are. I hope as ready as possible.
Wuko: Well, now we have to write nine songs at home.
Aleš: Basically we’ll put in all the songs that are on the EP plus another three or so (laughs).
Iztok: The whole EP will be a bonus on the album (laughs).
Photos: Rok Erjavec
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