All Interviews
L.O.S.T.
L.O.S.T.
Posted on Mar 8, 2006
by Anders
This time around a Romanian band has been in the interrogation-room. L.O.S.T. delivers death/doom metal painted with great atmospheres, a travel trough emotions, up and downs, their debut mini CD "Last Breath" offers it all. I got in touch with bassist, vocalist and lyric-writer Vlad (V) and keyboarder Dragos (D) to get more info about the band, to talk about the music and what to expect of the band in the future...
Hi there, how are things I Romania these days?
D: Cold and refreshing
V: Surprisingly, more and more concerts with local and international bands, which is very good in my opinion.
Will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us how you ended up on the path of metal?
D: A fascination that kept growing since my teen days.
V: Well, to be short, all of us used to play together a few years ago in Abigail, so we have been friends for a very long time, some of us starting back in 1995. I can't really remember how I exactly got into metal music, but I'm sure that it was after the Romanian revolution in 1989, after that event we were free to listen to the music we wanted.
A small introduction of the rest of the band will be great as well!
V: BB Hanneman is our guitarist and vocalist, he has an impressive background in the Romanian scene (like all of us actually, but he has been involved in the bigger number of bands, like Adrenaline, Cronos, Abigail, Icon Of Sin and Magma). Dragos played keyboards with us in Abigail, since '96-'97, and George, the drummer, also played in Abigail and Dust before L.O.S.T. As for myself, bass and vocals, I was involved in other bands like Abigail, Tornado and Cronos. We all had an official album recorded with Abigail, '98's "Sonnets", and I've also recorded an album with Cronos, "… Si Voi Ucide Timpul".
L.O.S.T. is a relatively new band on the scene, the band was formed back in 2004, under which circumstances was the band formed?
D: Strong bonds – as friends and colleagues in our ex-bands. And we wanted to play a different music, in a way closer to the music we liked, in a way just closer to the music we wanted to play.
V: After one of our rehearsals with Abigail back in 2004, the three of us decided to go on separate ways – and I'm talking about Dragos, George and myself. After a short period of time (actually in that very evening) we contacted BB, who had been out of the scene for quite a while, but he said 'yes' instantly, so here we are now…
What do you want to accomplish with the band?
V: Most of our goals are already accomplished … I mean, we released an album, we have palyed a lot of shows, we already have some devoted fans and generally a great audience. Now our goal is at least to maintain this level and obviously to progress. To record a new album, to play outside Romania and to reach an international audience.
The band name L.O.S.T., I guess it has the meaning "lost", but do the 4 letters also hide a meaning, since they are separated by punctuations?
V: Yes, our name came from "Lost" and it has a very personal meaning for us, which we won't disclose in the near future … All we can say is: four letters, four points, four members.
Who are the musical masterminds in the band?
D: We all contribute. Of course, several themes are developed from an original guitar motif, others from an original bass or keyboard motif, but others started even from drums.
How does the band work when you are writing music and arranging songs?
V: We are all bringing our ideas to the rehearsals where we work on them. Actually Dragos responded in the previous answer.
What do you wish to tell with your music?
V: We believe we are expressing ourselves in our songs. We are playing the kind of music we like the most, and as far as the lyrics are concerned, they're kind of personal, written as first and second person, based on real or fictional experiences.
Where do you find inspiration when you write music?
V: We don't know. There are periods when we are very inspired and in the mood of composing songs, and everything flows. We are not following any trend or music style. The same with the lyrics, I can only write when I feel I have something to express in words.
Can you pull out 3 bands that have meant a lot to your way of thinking music and the sound of L.O.S.T.?
D: Maybe some older bands like Obituary, Slayer, BoltThrower and… Cronos, without any specific songs to be mentioned. But these are not necessarily our preferred bands or musical style …
When people listen to your music, what do you then want them to feel and imagine?
V: We are overwhelmed when people come to us saying that they are finding themselves in our lyrics, or when our words helped them to pass a kind of darker period in their lives. But we don't focus on something specifically and we are not expecting all people to understand or to feel the same as us. But it's great when it happens.
What is the band offering lyrically?
V: More than we said above we won't describe our lyrics, because we are leaving to our audience the choice to discover, analyze and comprehend our lyrics from their very own personal point of view.
Who is writing the lyrics in the band?
V: I'm writing all the lyrics … or have been until now, at least.
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics found?
V: As I said above, there are personal experiences that I sometime feel to express into lyrics, lyrics that all the time are written after the music has been composed.
Do you have a message within the lyrics and how important are the lyrics compared to the music?
V: No, we don't have a straight message, as a political, social a religious one. Obviously, people are more focused on music first, but I hope that the lyrics also are appreciated.
Last year you released your debut mini-album "Last Breath", how do you feel about the album today, now when you have gotten a little distance to it?
D: Paradoxically I like it more now than then, but also I don't feel myself represented by this material, as the band has moved on, by means of expression, in defining itself.
V: Every time there are things that you feel you could have done better, and so is this case, but this do not mean that we are unhappy with our first album, it is just that we hope the next one will be much better. Our debut CD was quite an achievement for us, and it happened sooner than expected by anyone, so we're still enjoying it.
How was the album received by the press?
V: Very well I would say, by both national and international press. Good reviews everywhere. You can find some of them on our discussion forum.
Did you establish a fan-base with it and how have the metal society reacted to the album?
V: Well, the fan-base was established, more due to our live shows, which every time have received a great feedback from the audience, and that was also where we noticed that the audience already knew some of our songs, especially the freely-distributed ones via the internet. However, the CD sales went pretty good as well at our shows. As far as the metal society is concerned, we were described as the new-comer with the fastest impact on the scene, which says a lot …
What did you expect of the album when it was released and did it fulfil your expectations?
D: I expected it to be a gate to the Romanian metal scene and from this point of view it entirely fulfilled my expectations. The real satisfaction came though when the same material was well received in other countries, too.
V: Mostly yes. But I would like to have more promotion and distribution for it internationally, and we're working on this.
Considering it is a while since "Last Breath" was released, are you working on new material as we speak?
V: Definitely yes. We already have material for a full-length album, but we're not in a hurry actually, we will wait until we'll have even more songs to choose from, and we also waiting for the right time to release it, when we will be done with the upcoming album.
How much new material do you have ready, and can you give a hint of in which direction the material has taken, some song titles, coming album title etc…?
V: There are 8 new songs: 'Nowhere To Run', 'Becoming A Lie', 'Closure', 'Remains Of Pain', 'Rise', 'This Is My Life', 'O Viata' and a fast and short untitled one that is closing our live shows. Most likely the album title will be chosen from those song titles and musically the style won't change drastically.
Will the next release from L.O.S.T. be a full length album and do you have a label lined up for it and when can we expect to see/hear new material from you?
V: Yes, it will be a full-length, and it's 99% sure that it will be released by the same label that released "Last Breath", which is Meta4 Productions. We are expecting to have it ready this summer.
How do you look upon the future of L.O.S.T.?
V: I'm just hoping that we will find the time, strength and ambition to continue what we achieved so far. More shows, records, distribution and eventually sales is what we're hoping for.
Do you care to share your 5 all time favourite albums with the readers of Nocturnal Horde?
D:
My Dying Bride – Turn Loose The Swans
Paradise Lost – Shades Of God
Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction
Judas Priest – Angel Of Retribution
Psychotic Waltz – A Social Grace
V: I cannot point out a top 5, as I'm listening to a wide range of rock music, but I can mention all the early Metallica and Maiden releases, Alice In Chains (simply one of the best bands ever), mid-Paradise Lost and mid-Sepultura.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
V: Thank you for your interest! Keep up the good work and we'll be in touch. Best wishes to you and to our fans, that can contact us at band@we-are-lost.com. Please do also check out our website, www.we-are-lost.com. Thanks again and take care!
D: Cold and refreshing
V: Surprisingly, more and more concerts with local and international bands, which is very good in my opinion.
Will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us how you ended up on the path of metal?
D: A fascination that kept growing since my teen days.
V: Well, to be short, all of us used to play together a few years ago in Abigail, so we have been friends for a very long time, some of us starting back in 1995. I can't really remember how I exactly got into metal music, but I'm sure that it was after the Romanian revolution in 1989, after that event we were free to listen to the music we wanted.
A small introduction of the rest of the band will be great as well!
V: BB Hanneman is our guitarist and vocalist, he has an impressive background in the Romanian scene (like all of us actually, but he has been involved in the bigger number of bands, like Adrenaline, Cronos, Abigail, Icon Of Sin and Magma). Dragos played keyboards with us in Abigail, since '96-'97, and George, the drummer, also played in Abigail and Dust before L.O.S.T. As for myself, bass and vocals, I was involved in other bands like Abigail, Tornado and Cronos. We all had an official album recorded with Abigail, '98's "Sonnets", and I've also recorded an album with Cronos, "… Si Voi Ucide Timpul".
L.O.S.T. is a relatively new band on the scene, the band was formed back in 2004, under which circumstances was the band formed?
D: Strong bonds – as friends and colleagues in our ex-bands. And we wanted to play a different music, in a way closer to the music we liked, in a way just closer to the music we wanted to play.
V: After one of our rehearsals with Abigail back in 2004, the three of us decided to go on separate ways – and I'm talking about Dragos, George and myself. After a short period of time (actually in that very evening) we contacted BB, who had been out of the scene for quite a while, but he said 'yes' instantly, so here we are now…
What do you want to accomplish with the band?
V: Most of our goals are already accomplished … I mean, we released an album, we have palyed a lot of shows, we already have some devoted fans and generally a great audience. Now our goal is at least to maintain this level and obviously to progress. To record a new album, to play outside Romania and to reach an international audience.
The band name L.O.S.T., I guess it has the meaning "lost", but do the 4 letters also hide a meaning, since they are separated by punctuations?
V: Yes, our name came from "Lost" and it has a very personal meaning for us, which we won't disclose in the near future … All we can say is: four letters, four points, four members.
Who are the musical masterminds in the band?
D: We all contribute. Of course, several themes are developed from an original guitar motif, others from an original bass or keyboard motif, but others started even from drums.
How does the band work when you are writing music and arranging songs?
V: We are all bringing our ideas to the rehearsals where we work on them. Actually Dragos responded in the previous answer.
What do you wish to tell with your music?
V: We believe we are expressing ourselves in our songs. We are playing the kind of music we like the most, and as far as the lyrics are concerned, they're kind of personal, written as first and second person, based on real or fictional experiences.
Where do you find inspiration when you write music?
V: We don't know. There are periods when we are very inspired and in the mood of composing songs, and everything flows. We are not following any trend or music style. The same with the lyrics, I can only write when I feel I have something to express in words.
Can you pull out 3 bands that have meant a lot to your way of thinking music and the sound of L.O.S.T.?
D: Maybe some older bands like Obituary, Slayer, BoltThrower and… Cronos, without any specific songs to be mentioned. But these are not necessarily our preferred bands or musical style …
When people listen to your music, what do you then want them to feel and imagine?
V: We are overwhelmed when people come to us saying that they are finding themselves in our lyrics, or when our words helped them to pass a kind of darker period in their lives. But we don't focus on something specifically and we are not expecting all people to understand or to feel the same as us. But it's great when it happens.
What is the band offering lyrically?
V: More than we said above we won't describe our lyrics, because we are leaving to our audience the choice to discover, analyze and comprehend our lyrics from their very own personal point of view.
Who is writing the lyrics in the band?
V: I'm writing all the lyrics … or have been until now, at least.
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics found?
V: As I said above, there are personal experiences that I sometime feel to express into lyrics, lyrics that all the time are written after the music has been composed.
Do you have a message within the lyrics and how important are the lyrics compared to the music?
V: No, we don't have a straight message, as a political, social a religious one. Obviously, people are more focused on music first, but I hope that the lyrics also are appreciated.
Last year you released your debut mini-album "Last Breath", how do you feel about the album today, now when you have gotten a little distance to it?
D: Paradoxically I like it more now than then, but also I don't feel myself represented by this material, as the band has moved on, by means of expression, in defining itself.
V: Every time there are things that you feel you could have done better, and so is this case, but this do not mean that we are unhappy with our first album, it is just that we hope the next one will be much better. Our debut CD was quite an achievement for us, and it happened sooner than expected by anyone, so we're still enjoying it.
How was the album received by the press?
V: Very well I would say, by both national and international press. Good reviews everywhere. You can find some of them on our discussion forum.
Did you establish a fan-base with it and how have the metal society reacted to the album?
V: Well, the fan-base was established, more due to our live shows, which every time have received a great feedback from the audience, and that was also where we noticed that the audience already knew some of our songs, especially the freely-distributed ones via the internet. However, the CD sales went pretty good as well at our shows. As far as the metal society is concerned, we were described as the new-comer with the fastest impact on the scene, which says a lot …
What did you expect of the album when it was released and did it fulfil your expectations?
D: I expected it to be a gate to the Romanian metal scene and from this point of view it entirely fulfilled my expectations. The real satisfaction came though when the same material was well received in other countries, too.
V: Mostly yes. But I would like to have more promotion and distribution for it internationally, and we're working on this.
Considering it is a while since "Last Breath" was released, are you working on new material as we speak?
V: Definitely yes. We already have material for a full-length album, but we're not in a hurry actually, we will wait until we'll have even more songs to choose from, and we also waiting for the right time to release it, when we will be done with the upcoming album.
How much new material do you have ready, and can you give a hint of in which direction the material has taken, some song titles, coming album title etc…?
V: There are 8 new songs: 'Nowhere To Run', 'Becoming A Lie', 'Closure', 'Remains Of Pain', 'Rise', 'This Is My Life', 'O Viata' and a fast and short untitled one that is closing our live shows. Most likely the album title will be chosen from those song titles and musically the style won't change drastically.
Will the next release from L.O.S.T. be a full length album and do you have a label lined up for it and when can we expect to see/hear new material from you?
V: Yes, it will be a full-length, and it's 99% sure that it will be released by the same label that released "Last Breath", which is Meta4 Productions. We are expecting to have it ready this summer.
How do you look upon the future of L.O.S.T.?
V: I'm just hoping that we will find the time, strength and ambition to continue what we achieved so far. More shows, records, distribution and eventually sales is what we're hoping for.
Do you care to share your 5 all time favourite albums with the readers of Nocturnal Horde?
D:
My Dying Bride – Turn Loose The Swans
Paradise Lost – Shades Of God
Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction
Judas Priest – Angel Of Retribution
Psychotic Waltz – A Social Grace
V: I cannot point out a top 5, as I'm listening to a wide range of rock music, but I can mention all the early Metallica and Maiden releases, Alice In Chains (simply one of the best bands ever), mid-Paradise Lost and mid-Sepultura.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
V: Thank you for your interest! Keep up the good work and we'll be in touch. Best wishes to you and to our fans, that can contact us at band@we-are-lost.com. Please do also check out our website, www.we-are-lost.com. Thanks again and take care!
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