K: There have been some changes in the band lately - why, what changed and how is it going to influence the music of D'Archangel? Do you plan to change the lineup again? ;)

-Angelo (voc): The only change is a new guitarist. Due to a prolonged absence of Łukasz in our country (our previous guitarist), we decided to ask Marek to play with us, a long time friend of ours, and he agreed. Still, we might cooperate with Łukasz again in the future. I think the change doesn't mean that much to our music, maybe we'll get a more rocky from time to time. Other lineup moves are not gonna happen. We have an additional member who plays with us live - Einar, taking care of loops and the drum machine.

K: The next concert (17.06.2006) is bringing some covers played by you. What songs are we talking about and what's your interpretation of them? Do you plan to release some of them on the album?

-A: Tee idea for more covers came with the idea for the event itself, as it's going to be BACK TO THE 80s, a very popular party at the Liverpool club. We are going to play some evergreens from that era, rather similar to the originals, maybe a bit harsher. You can expect Tears For Fears' "Shout", Depeche Mode's "Never Let Me Down Again", maybe Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". And more, of course. We have also planned a surprise for the end - we are going to play a new hit of a well known band that has been playing since the 80s till today.

K: d'Archangel is on the scene since 2001, and so far you have just released a single self-titled demo. Why are you not more active and why do we have to wait so long for your first LP?

-A: No idea, really - maybe I'm too lazy. It must be my fault, maybe I don't compose enough stuff and do it infrequently, but this might be caused by my approach to music - I don't come up with songs just for the sake of creating one - I need my own imperatives to drive me home - and this doesn't happen too often :-) . If we play some music, it's been carefully worked on, you can sense our feelings in the tracks. I am not interested in banging out 10 new tracks a month, cause they would amount to nothing. Let the others work on serial musical manufacturing. I prefer to have a single good record than put out ten mediocre ones.

K: d'Archangel has got 3 tracks on "The Best of Polish Synth vol 1" compilation - there have been voices (e.g. the review of this release is HERE) that you just don't fit with the others present on the record. Why have you decided to publish your music as synth pop - do you think that your music fits the genre?

-A: I don't know, I haven't thought much about that. I listen to such music really occasionally, it's hard for me to compare this, we are not really synth pop - we have guitars, riffs, a real bas guitar instead of some computerised noises, it's more rock than anything else. Only the melodies seem to be more new-romantic-gothic-poplike. It was great to appear on the compilation anyway, there are some really good tracks there... On the other hand, there's some stuff that shouldn't have been released at all - neither on this album, nor or any other :) . I hope that we don't fit with the latter.

K: A question about WGT 2005 - how did you get to play there, how were you received and are you going to play more gigs abroad?

-A: We sent an application and we were invited, just like that - it's all Jarek's doing, he's our manager. It's a great place with great, warm-hearted and open-minded people - they liked our music, there was a lot of applause and fun in front of the stage - and they heard us for the first time ever! Impossible in Poland, unfortunately. We seem to have sad and tired people here, not having fun, just standing in their gloom, observing the concert and getting tired of standing. I think I'm like that, too - forever a sleeper. Maybe it's the climate :-) . As for now, more visits abroad depend on the release of our record.

K: Rumour has it that you are working on the first LP - can you say anything about that, is it going to be something like the demo you've released?

-A: Yeah, we have already recorded the music, now it's all about polishing the material, mixing it and... we'll see. We have recorded the album in Germany, with the producer who made records for Wolfsheim, so we might be really connected with synthpop. The record will be similar to what you heard on "_Demo"

K: The band is very popular in Wrocław, but you don't play too much around Poland. What's the reason, and are you going to change that in connection with the album release - are you planning to tour the country?

-A: It's really hard to play around Poland, whenever we're outside Wrocław, we have to pay some extra money for transportation and the gigs ourselves - hard to tour this way, isn't it? There's no real music market in Poland, no money, nobody is going to pay less known bands, for there is no money to pay with. In richer countries it's just a different story. Here, we'll have a ruin for another decade or so, with Mandarynas (Mandaryna is a Polish pop star - ed.) singing in front of shopping centres.

K: What are you plans for the nearest future?

-A: Well, we're playing, trying to get by, everyone needs a hobby, eh? We shall roam a bit as d'Archangel, and we are definitely going to record the best record this world has ever heard :-) . I have an idea to create something new, some project, I'm trying to write some new wannabe-hits. And there's some new material for d'A in the works as well. Steffan (bass and lyrics in d'A) is also working on his new project. Still, d'Archangel isn't going anywhere.

K: Is there something you would especially wish to achieve as a band? Some specific gig you'd like to play, or maybe an album you'd like to record?

-A: There's no wishing about the album - we are going to focus on creating it. We don't have any special wishes, I think (I would like the spring to be a bit warmer, cause I'm freezing).

K: And the last question - 30.06.2006 is the day you are going to support APB in KRaków. Will it be an important gig for you? How do you feel in general before this event?

-A: We're feeling great, I'm really happy - it's not your average everyday band we're going to support, they are really famous, and are a bit like us (of course keeping the proportions in mind... ah, whatever! they stole some hits from us!:-) I really hope to talk to them in Kraków. And have a drink or two. And then, they are going to support us. But that will be a totally different gig!:-).
Greetings from the band,
- Angelo

www.darchangel.pl

• Blue Moon Festival #2 - 2006-07-11 (Live reports)
• DarkBeat Festival - 2006-03-27 (Live reports)
• d'Archangel - _demo - 2005-10-09 (Music reviews)

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