Interview withDaniel Kleczynski (Fading Colours)
The last proper album of Polish project FADING COLOURS dates already back to 2002. In the course of this interview Daniel Kleczynski fills in on what happened in that time and gives away some interesting facts about the new album ‘Come’ as well.
Daniel Kleczynski (FC): In that time, in 2005, De Coy released her first solo album entitled ‘Pleasure for Nothing’, presenting moods that are a bit different from what she does here in the band. Neither Leszek nor I were involved in recording songs for that project, so it was really her vacation from us. I (Daniel) have been doing mainly game soundtracks, and as it usually takes roughly half a year to complete one, that kept me somewhat busy through the past years. Quite a lot changed in our personal lives, and I mean every single member of the band here. While of course some things were positive, we had also some very hard experiences, and this effectively has been reflected in lyrics and also the music released on the new FADING COLOURS’ album.
RoD: When did you decide that it’s about time to produce a new album together?
FC: Well, it was Leszek's idea and his stubbornness to make us finish this album. I say "finish", not "start" - it is no secret that we released the song ‘(I Had to) Come’ in its first version already in 2002. Early mixes of two other songs were released on some compilations in 2003. At that time we were in the process of making the new album, but then... everyone concentrated on his own personal life. In 2006 we agreed to resume the work. It took longer than we expected to finish it, as since then most tracks were re-mixed, some re-recorded, and finally we decided to add the second CD with new versions of some older songs. The material was ready in 2008, but for promotional reasons we moved the release date to early 2009.
RoD: The upcoming album is entitled ‘Come’ and I was wondering in which way the title is connected to the album’s theme, to its concept.
FC: The word "come" is related to the song ‘(I Had to) Come’. There is a line in the lyrics: "My finger points at you, my friend, I'm sorry that I had to come" - these are words spoken by a female personification of Death who comes to take a dying man with her. I must admit that I felt quite uneasy when we recorded vocals to this song, as our friend who did the English translation, committed a suicide a few months earlier. Sometime later I proposed this for the title of the whole record. That was a very hard period in my life and I started to understand these lyrics in my own personal way. So I came with the idea of putting the personification of Death on the cover. We, however, wanted to stay away from the usual "gothic" style, so the decision was to avoid skulls, pale faces, vampires and all that cheesy horror stuff. Instead, I wanted to show Death as a beautiful girl with no emotions on her face, with some old style radio valve emitting cold light, plugged in place of the heart. Death has no emotions. One day you suddenly meet her, she calmly says "come" and you can't refuse. Death can kill you, but in some cases she can also let you live, at the cost of depriving you of all feelings. And this is the leitmotiv of the new album.
RoD: The album comes as a Double CD, each with an own additional title. ‘I had to Come’ and ‘Time of Returning’ Are those different perspectives on the same topic, that is, the story behind ‘Come’?
FC: Well, as I already said, the title ‘I Had to Come’ is related to the lyrics. But at the same time it is also related to the band and to the album itself. This release was delayed a few times for various reasons, so this particular subtitle sounds like a kind of excuse, something like "OK, I'm late, but I have finally come" or "here I am“. The title of the second CD also has two meanings: First, it's the name of one of the included songs. Second, it means that the material presented here is not entirely new, that these are rather new versions of some older songs, and it is "time of their returning".
RoD: I was trying to figure out what the technical device within that black ball on the cover is. Is it a radio valve?
FC: Indeed, it is an old style valve. But it's not in a "ball" - it's placed inside a hole cut out in the chest. It's in place of the heart.
RoD: The opener of the first CD ‘Thorn’ features kind of a mantra chant. Is there any particular meaning to these words?
FC: No, there's no particular meaning of these words - at least we don't know it. It is simply a chant that suited here. I recorded it while working on the track as a quick-and-dirty placeholder, but then everyone liked it, so I decided not to write any lyrics.
RoD: Something that keeps appearing throughout the compositions is the use classical chorals. Does that found on a soft spot for classical music of yours?
FC: In fact I try to avoid choirs at all expenses, as this sound is a much overused cliché in dark and especially Gothic music. But at the same time De Coy is a trained classical vocalist and sometimes this simply fits her own voice best. There are a few songs (I won't disclose which ones exactly) in which some parts are sung by De Coy and some others are played by me using a sample library. And after some time even De Coy (!!!) can't tell which are hers and which are not. Personally, I listen to a lot of symphonic music, but using classical choirs in Fading Colours' songs have no relation to this, because the choirs here are used in a very un-symphonic way.
RoD: What’s the reason for the two slightly varying versions of ‘Be an Angel again’?
FC: The reason is simple: we had two versions and we could not decide which one is better. While the Clan of Xymox remix is stylish and very well made, the original version has also some unique power and better fits the rest of the material. So why not include both? I have been a fan of Front 242 for many years, and I absolutely loved what they did in 1993 on their albums ‘(Fuck Up) Evil’ and ‘(Evil) Off’: putting the same songs twice or even three times! And every version was equally good. That inspired us to put three different versions of ‘Be an Angel Again’ on this album - two on the first CD, and an additional dance floor remix one on the second.
RoD: Who’s the priestess of the unfulfilled?
FC: Well, this question should be rather addressed to De Coy, as she is the author of the lyrics. But in general I think that one should not explain poetry, so let's leave it unanswered...
RoD: Are you planning on touring with the new release and if so what’s expecting the attendees, any surprises?
FC: Yes, of course, we plan touring. At the moment we're about to start working on some video that we want to project during our gigs. This is going to take a few months, however, so I don't think it will be ready before summer. We did some early tests and the results are very positive. As for the music, the material will be generally based on ‘Come’, with only a couple of older songs. We also intend to gradually add some new tracks to avoid falling into a rut.
RoD: I know it’s a bit early for that but are there already plans for a next release?
FC: Yes, there are, and the work is in progress. This is going to be another concept album, maybe not as depressive as ‘Come’, and almost certainly not a double one. I think we will keep similar "weight" of the music and similar BPM tempos as now. Also, we would like to continue the tradition of inviting some guest stars, though we have not decided who it should be this time. I'm also considering releasing a slightly different version of ‘Come’ next year; something like "director's cut" in cinematography. Time will verify these plans. However, it is really far too early to disclose anything more about the future releases.
RoD: The famous last words as always belong to you.
FC: It must be said that we were of course tempted to do something more typical, something more towards dark electronic cliché, very easy to swallow by an average independent music fan. But instead of this we decided to take a risk and give the listener something much more personal - as personal as it can be. And we do hope people will appreciate this move. That's why this album has come...
RoD: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
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