Kendra: When it came time to record Lieder, were you channeling any of your influences in particular?

von Konow: Lieder is the story of my journey through music. It has all the elements from all of the great pieces that I have listened to and played in my life, from Bowie and Scott Walker to Rammstein and opera. When I started to plan the concept of the album I came up with the idea of completely liberating myself from the traditional form of a rock band. This allowed me to broaden the sound and to expand the boundaries of storytelling by sheer music. Influences and associations started to flow free and so my songs became a synthesis of them and my own insights. This mixture draws a picture of myself. Fragments and moments of life are filtered through me into complete scenes. And this is what any art really is about.

Kendra: Being a rock artist who has a bit of an artsy vibe, are there any Finnish works of art that you’d compare your latest release to?

von Konow: As a rock artist I consider myself as a vagabond figure who travels across cultures and is a vampire for music that has been made with heart and brain. Finland is traditionally very heavy rock oriented in music, and melancholic Eastern influences have been strong through the ages. For me, Brit glam, the 80’s synth pop and French chanson influences have been significantly more important than the native music culture. But I think I am a Finnish artist in sense of being drawn to gloomy and murky waters. In addition, the contemporary visual art scene in Finland is quite interesting and gives me as much inspiration as any other international art.

Kendra: Comparable to Bowie and Nick Cave, two very eccentric men – would you say you have that same sense about yourself?

von Konow: David Bowie and Nick Cave has always been my idols and I feel that my new songs resonate with their way of seeing the universe. They are both visionaries and interpreters of the world. For me, Cave is an expert of violent emotions, whereas Bowie is the master of superb images, and both elements are at the core of my album.

von Konow’s Favorite Place in Finland: Jurmo Island

Kendra: When you started out in music, did you stay local in Finland or travel to play shows?

von Konow: I have performed in many bands both as a vocalist and as an instrumentalist. These bands brought me to Baltic countries and to France and Spain. What is exciting is that audiences behave very differently in different places: in South, people want to dance and chill, in the north, attitudes are more serious but become delirious.

Kendra: Lastly, what will you be filling your time with musically in the coming months?

von Konow: At the moment I’m busy rehearsing the live act version of the album Lieder. Line-up is Timo Vikkula, guitars and keyboards, Jari Kääriäinen, keyboards and Ville Särmä drums. In addition, to live band we use an abundance of background tracks so that we can keep the lavish orchestral sound similar to recorded versions. I’m also already working on new material that will be released after the album Lieder.

The post Follow the ‘Lieder’ with von Konow appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Kendra: When did you first know you wanted to get into music?

David Fonseca: When I heard the Pixies. They sounded very different from everything else and they made it look pretty easy. So I thought, why not give it a shot? My first songs were heavily inspired by them, the whole calm verse/angry chorus thing. But then I go into R.E.M. and a lot of new wave bands like The Cars and I went to a different place musically.

Kendra: Is being a musician a commonality where you live?

David: Not exactly, specially if you want it to be a real job. Most musicians have second jobs and do a lot of different things so they can keep doing music, so it’s a hard choice. There are more musicians now than ever, but I feel that it’s still very difficult for most of them to keep this activity as their main job.

Kendra: Music stores here in the US are becoming less and less. What about in Portugal?

David: I guess it’s the same here. Truth be told, the numbers for sold records are at their lowest point ever, which probably indicates that streaming and digital music will conquer all and music stores will become a special place for a special product, like vinyl or special editions.

Kendra: Let us know what you’re up right now musically speaking. Are you writing, recording, touring?

David: Right now I’m still touring my last record, it has a little more than a year. I’m also producing a very special record that I still can’t speak of. And I’m always recording and searching for new ideas for a new album, it’s what happens when you own your own studio and play a lot of instruments. I’m always on to something.

The post David Fonseca Always On To Something in Portugal appeared first on ZO Magazine.