Benjamin Buss - Guitars and Keyboard
Conducted 2-7-06
Q.
First of all congratulations on Razorbliss! The album is outstanding! For listeners who may not know Flowing Tears, describe your sound.
A.
Hey, it・s up to you journalists to descibe bands! ;-) But If I had to give a short describtion then I・d go for melancholic heavy music. I・m not that happy with being descibed as Gothic or Gothmetal as I think we sound quite different from what・s nowadys being labelled as Gothic metal....
Q.
I noticed a great deal of detail in the songs on Razorbliss, little things that really filled out the sound, for example on the song "undying" there is a sound like a hammer hitting metal in the background. How much thought and time is spent on such fine details?
A.
I・m a freak concerning details in songs. I love records that offer new elements and little details even after you・ve listened to it for 50 times... So I spend a lot of time elaborating little details once the overall stucture of a song is set. In some cases it even happened that such little details as that hammer-sound in "Undying" are initial starts for a song.
Q.
On the album Helen's voice gives the songs a rich, warm tone that fits in perfectly with the music. Do you prefer that sound over the popular soprano style we see so much in the Gothic metal scene these days?
A.
Definetely. To be honest, I don・t like all that typical female fronted gothmetal stuff, as to me all these soprano-angels sound all the same. It・s just a matter of taste I guess, but in Flowing tears we consciously stay away from stuff like that. Helen・s voice is very different from the standard female metal voice and that・s something we have developed as a kind of trademark. In the future we will even enforce that.
Q.
So tell us a little about the next album. How are things going as far as the writing?
A.
We have 5 or 6 songs ready and we・re working out the rest of the material actually. We didn・t want to hurry up this time, but take some time for experiments instead. I don・t see a point in releasing a new album year by year without having a good inspiration for wrinting an album. After we had finished touring for "Razorbliss" we took a short break and tried to broaden our horizons, which brought a lot of new aspects and influences into the band. The songs we have by now sound much more dynamic and groovy than the stuff on "Razorbliss" - and some steps more heavy.
Q.
How do you feel about videos? Do you think that they are important for bands to make? Any plans for a DVD?
A.
Well, in the US a video might be essential for a good promotion but here in Europe it isn・t as there are no bigger TV stations where heavy music gets any airplay, so at least for the european market it would be a waste of money to produce a video. We・re just about to spread our wings towards america, so maybe for the next album we・ll make a video - but I don・t really care about that as right now all that・s important for us is to focus on the upcoming album.
Q.
As far as touring goes, do you think it will ever be possible to see Flowing Tears in the U.S.?
A.
I hope so!!! For "Razorbliss" we really toured our asses off in europe and we・ll go to south america for a few shows before the new album will be released, but so far we never considered touring in the U.S. - I think it depends on how "Razorbliss" sells over there....
Q.
Now a few questions about the band. What bands are out right now that you feel really stand out from the rest?
A.
Katatonia. The Gathering. Paradise lost.
Q.
Is Flowing Tears the only band the members play in?
A.
More or less. Some of us have some side projects, but nothing really worth being mentioned. FT takes most of our time in the meantime so we dno・t really have the time to do anything besides FT.
Q.
Do the members of Flowing tears have to balance other careers with the making of the music?
A.
No.