The five piece prog-rockers from Bryansk are back with album number four! Tomatrax caught up with the band to talk about their latest work.
It's been two years since the last interview, what has changed since then?Dima: Almost all of us faced some serious changes in our lives during the nearest two years, but, in spite of the difficulties, we finally managed to compose new tracks and to record them. Anyway, it took us more time than we used to spend making our previous releases. First records were made in June 2017, and, as usual, we continued to compose new tracks during that time, trying to keep our own sound and also to add something new and to experiment.
Konstantin: Yeah, and the desire to experiment expanded our horizons. I think we became less conservative, within a genre, I mean.
You've just released album number four, how does it have it out?Dima: The album was released on the 15 th of November on Ricco Label and is available now in all digital stores. I would like it if as much people as possible listened to that. Falls Feather is interesting, a little bit unusual, but certainly a very important album for us.
Konstantin: An album release is like summarizing, a point where your trials, emotions and memories are behind and you are open to something new. It's also a kind of gift which you present to yourself.
You've said how the album took longer to make than your previous releases, what caused the work to take longer?Konstantin: I think, that's because of our strong desire to make it really well and thoroughly.
Sergey: Yeah, we wanted this album to be thoughtful and well-verified and tried to make each track as close to the ideal as possible. And it also seems to me that we finally recorded very self-sufficient tracks, and that's fine.
Where did the title Falls Feather come from?Igor: That's an often asked question. I had a dream where our band was travelling somewhere and I was wasting time surfing the internet and, suddenly, faced the news title "Jet Plane's new album "Falls Feather" will be released soon". In reality, we never discussed the possible album title so, in a night dream, I was very dissatisfied that one of us named the album without consulting the rest of the band. And I remember that I yelled something like "Dima, why didn't you discuss that with us?!! Furthermore, what does this strange title "Falls Feather" mean?". When I woke up, this dream seemed to me very funny, because, in reality, Dima also makes sometimes different things which no one asks him to do (without consulting anyone of course). So, during the next rehearsal, I told the guys that story. Everyone laughed that day. But finally, we decided to use this title. We didn't have any better variants. So why not?
What made you pick 'Ocean' as the album's single?Sergey: 'Ocean' sounds fresh and dynamic, and it's not like anything from our previous releases. So that's a nice choice to draw attention - and that's the main task of a single.
Dima: 'Ocean' is a good example of collective creativity. Max composed the main theme, and Sergey came up with a continuation. There is also a nice violin solo and some strange "electronic" sounds in the heavy parts which are performed on the violin as well. "Ocean" has an excellent structure: parts of the track exchange each other, evolving and getting more dynamic over time.
What was the inspiration behind the "feather" video for 'All through the day'?Dima: I filmed that feather about half a year ago. It was dangling in the wind, being caught with a spiderweb just opposite my home's window. I recalled that when we decided to name the album "Falls Feather", and I thought that this video could be used for album visualization. 'All through the day' track's rhythm goes well together with antsy feather's movements in the wind, and, as for me, this rhythmical similarity was the main inspirational point.
The album is much more guitar driven and heavy than your previous albums, what inspired this direction?Max: Yeah, the album turned out loud! That's what I love. It's a real New Year gift. To be honest, there were not so many positive things in my life during the last two years, and, in some measure, I poured oil on flames. The guys felt that and reflected in the music, which is always a synthesis of all the band members' ideas and thoughts.
Sergey: We never think about the album stylistics beforehand, so "Falls Feather" is what it turned out to be. There is always an element of occasion in the composing process, something what is never being discussed and just turns out by itself. Our task is to give a final form to all these occasions.
The songs 'Morendo' and 'Tea' each feature vocals, what inspired you to include non-instrumental songs on this album?Igor: I wouldn't say that these tracks are non-instrumental. Many bands use different samples with some phrases from films or some retro songs or musical pieces. But that doesn't make their tracks non-instrumental. In fact, we did the same thing. The difference is that we wanted to include in 'Tea' a monologue which had never been talked before and in 'Morendo' we wanted to hear an old vinyl with an opera piece which existed only in our minds. So, we had to make these samples ourselves. And in fact, they appear not so often during the tracks, so as for me, the tracks are still purely instrumental.
Konstantin: 'Morendo' turned out to be an extraordinary track. Mostly thanks to Igor. It reminds me the soundtracks to Jarmusch's films, combined with a symphonic orchestra.
Other than the opening track, each song has a one word title, was there any intention behind this?Igor: Not at all. It's just a result of the imagination crisis which took place after we had finished composing the first track. Ha-ha-ha.
What was the inspiration behind your album's cover?Max: That's me in the photo. I'm naked and chasing seagulls across a river somewhere in the south of Russia. There were several photos, and all of them were taken occasionally. I received them just when we were into the recording process. One day, we gathered at Igor's home. I drank pretty much, showed these photos to the guys and said that it would be a nice album cover (it was a joke for that moment, moreover, I meant another photo from the range - more uncensored one). But to my surprise, the guys said that they liked the idea. And to be honest, the cover is cool, isn't it? There is no falsity or simulation, it's natural 'cause it's real. Later, when I heard all the new tracks of Falls Feather together, I thought that it was a right choice. The music harmonizes the cover.
Check out Jet Plane's Facebook page to find out more!
