Sensory Gate - January 2010

Interview with

Max Iannuzzelli & Andrea Pozzi of Sensory Gate

With the release of their debut album ‘Ianus’ on 29th January on MHz Records, the duo SENSORY GATE enrich the musical landscape with an early gem of the New Year. As a lot of questions came up after listening to the album, we simply approached Max and Andi with the request for an interview, and both were more than just eager to talk about their firstborn among other things regarding SENSORY GATE.

Reflections of Darkness (RoD): First some general things before we start talking about the album. Give us a brief introduction of how SENSORY GATE came into being in the first place?
Andi: After being part of the “Zosma Project”, I decided to start a solo project to realize my own perspectives about music. I began to do some remixes for some artists, than later on I started alone with the Dante-project, before Max reached the project, too. We had also a guitar-player fix in the Dante-project, but in pursuance of different views he quit the band last year. SG is now definitely Max and me and we started the works for ‘Ianus’ as a duo with some guest-musicians.

RoD: What’s the band name standing for?
Andi: SG stands for a gate which you must pass through, to find a place with different sensations and a wider reality.

RoD: At which point did you actually start considering writing tracks for a full-length release?
Max: In 2008, we did a song (‘New Dawn’) for a sampler and we had a few more ideas in the drawer. This way the idea was born to write some more tracks and do an album.

RoD: How long have you been working on the record until everything was completed?
Max: We started end of 2008 / beginning of 2009. The recordings were finished September 2009, and we got the Master-CD in November. So we can say it took a whole year of work we also had to reconcile with our day jobs and family life.

RoD: When would you say you reached the point where a concept took shape?
Max: It’s been there all along. While writing lyrics and music we were sticking to a kind of golden thread, particularly in the lyrics.

RoD: The bits of information the press text revealed made quite curious already about the concept of your debut album. Maybe you can give us a more detailed elaboration of the concept behind ‘Ianus’?
Max: The basic theme was the past and things that happened there, and at the same time trying to take a look into the future without losing sight of the “status quo”. We looked into our past, present and possible future, like the ancient god ‘Ianus’. Life is in a constant flow, moves in a circle, starts at itself and returns to its source - the cycle of life everyone relives.

RoD: Have you ever thought about having your songs remixed by other artists and add them to the album track list or would that have destroyed the conceptual structure of the album for you?
Andi: No, we think an album should have a beginning and an end, without interruptions. There are remixes done, but we will use them otherwise.

RoD: Let’s switch to some of the graphical stuff now. On the front cover a clear night sky bright with stars unfolds with a meteorite or asteroid overshadowing many of them. Why was that picture chosen to represent the album visually?
Max: You can see a piece of the Saturn-moon ‘Ianus’ on the artwork as a reference to the god ‘Ianus’. We had this idea, because it's more mystical, deeper and sublime. It just reflects the atmosphere of the album perfectly.
Andi: Clarity and perception create relief and everything remains in orbit, otherwise everything will fall onto you like a meteorite! That's my personal point of view about the artwork.

RoD: Amongst others, Salt is credited for being one of those working on the artwork. I’ve already seen some of his impressive works for other artists before and was quite surprised about that fact. How did you get in contact with him?
Max: Well, Salt is a close friend of Boris May and Maurizio Blanco (MHz Records and KLANGSTABIL). That’s how the contact came about. He liked the concept and also the music. He put the finishing touches on it after Alia and Boris did the main part of the work. Andi and me love Salt’s artworks, so it's great to have him on board.

RoD: Bernard Le Sigue is known to many as being the former bass player of DIORAMA. How come he’s plucking the strings on SENSORY GATE tracks now?
Max: After he quit DIORAMA, my wife Alia and I remained in close contact with Bernard. He listened to the music during the production and he offered to play some bass-lines if we wanted to. It's great to have him playing on our album, not only because of his particular way of playing, but also as a friend.

RoD: Now we’re going to start talking about some of the album tracks, starting with the album opener ‘Crowd’ speaking of a group of people travelling into the unknown, leaving familiar ground. Why are they doing it?
Andi: I had an instrumental idea and I imagined a crowd travelling in search of something, to fill the emptiness inside. I chose the subway-station of Tokyo to get the right feeling. I passed this idea over to Max.
Max: The song came just in time, because I had some lyrics ready in this direction. Do you know the feeling that you have to leave a certain place before you get totally mad? The crowd in the song is searching for a better place to live, because they’ve got enough of this world and the kind to live in it. Look, the world is going down the drain and politicians don’t care, like the biggest part of mankind. What are the results of the climate-conference in Copenhagen? I'm sure, nothing will happen to save our planet and I don't know how much longer humanity will be able to survive on earth!

RoD: Other than the above mentioned song ‘Laying Hopes’ strikes rather reflective tones, a mood capable of making somebody burst into tears. Is it based on personal events?
Max: Yes, of course! I had some disappointing events in my life, in particular caused by false “friends”. I hate dishonesty, and in the spoken part I see them frozen in an icy lake and only the faces are free of ice. It's the way Dante punished the souls in hell for dishonesty and betrayal.

RoD: Why did you use spoken-word in parts of the vocals to ‘Hallowed’, rather than singing everything?
Max: Because the first part is a kind of request and I like to combine different styles to perform with my voice. At the beginning, the spoken words were more distorted to create an inhuman atmosphere, but now we hold them a bit cleaner. I generally like spoken words in music, like ANNE CLARK uses them for instance.

RoD: The track ‘In The Distance’ carries the additional title ‘The black monolith’. What is the symbolical meaning of this monolith?
Andi: The Monolith is a symbol for everything that will destroy and weaken. Imagine a desert with this black monolith which sucks like a vacuum cleaner all the positive vibes. I was inspired by the movie “2001 - a space odyssey” directed by Stanley Kubrick.

RoD: On ‘Streets’, even more than on ‘In The Distance’, vocal duties are being shared with Alia, adding another interesting facet to the music. How did she end up singing on some of the tracks?
Andi: Oh, I love Alia’s voice very much, soft, fragile but also firm and we felt the need to have a female voice on ‘Streets’, melding with the male one.
Max: For ‘In The Distance’ it was Alia’s idea to sing that short kind of echo upon listening to the demo-track. I loved it immediately, so we did it.

RoD: Recently it has been confirmed that you’ll be having your first live appearance at well-known Nocturnal Culture Nights Festival in September. Already nervous?
Andi: Yes, I'm nervous (hahahaha)
Max: Yes, it's normal to be nervous. But we hope it won’t be the first concert of SENSORY GATE. It’s just the first confirmed show.

RoD: How’s a SENSORY GATE live performance going to look like? Any special things you’ve planned already?
Andi: For my part not really. Just going out to play and have fun.
Max: I will try not to fall down from the stage (hahahahaha). I have some ideas, but it's difficult to realize them at a festival show by daylight etc. I want to emphasize on the lyrics and the music with an honest performance. Maybe in the future we will use some effects with lights and a background screen, but these are dreams for the future!

RoD: Are you maybe already collecting ideas for a follow-up to ‘Ianus’. I know it’s quite early for that kind of question but I’m curious.
Max: Yes, we are working on a new concept - lyrically and musically. It will be more of a reflective concept, less personal. More about civilisation and its symptoms!
Andi: Soon we’ll start putting it together. But wherever it ends, it will be 100% SENSORY GATE!

RoD: We’ve reached the end already. Any last words?
Andi: Forward - Backward (hahahaha)
Max: That's a good one (hahahahaha). I’d like to say “thank you” to all the people who still believe in us and for the support! Thanks a lot for the interview!

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