Out of the few bands from Portugal that became internationally well-known, SINISTRO seemed to have almost immediate success – which is surely thanks to the energetic live performances by front woman Patrícia Andrade. The following interview serves answers to questions like why the charismatic singer still also approves more quiet shows, what else was important for the band’s success as well as that of their latest album „Sangue Cássia“ and for what reason it can sometimes be helpful to talk to strangers on the street.
The music that you play with SINISTRO is categorized as doom rock by your record label. However, you also play quite heavy metal stuff. Where would you yourself rather put your music?
We still don´t know, how we can categorize SINISTRO. We can say that we are in doom, metal and rock. We think that we are somwhere in this “trio”, but at the same time, we don´t belong entirely to them in a traditional way. Maybe we are in a “no man´s land”, we are on a frontier. Mainly, we love to search, explore genres, ambients, according to our feelings and aesthetics.
Even though your band is still quite young, you already accomplished much: over 8.000 likes on Facebook, a contract with Season Of Mist, a tour with Paradise Lost. What, do you think, is the reason for you being so much more successful than most bands in the underground?
The fact of having someone who listens to us and felt that we could be a good band to work with, who saw potential, our manager Simon Fulleman, was very important to “spread the word”. A label and an agency that believe was also very important, and, of course a tour with Paradise Lost also. Before we played in Roadburn, Graspop, we played with Cult of Luna, Mono and Alcest, Subrosa. Basically, playing live is very important too. I believe that there are very good bands that just need to be discovered, need to work a lot, play live and be passionate. It’s a combination of many things. The cliché of being „at the right place at the right time” helps a lot.
You recently released „Sangue Cássia“, your third record. People say that the third album is the decisive one that shows if a band is meant to stay. Do you think there’s some truth to that?
In this case it means that we want to stay and be heard for a longer time, that´s our truth and will be… We hope that people agree.
Is there, in your opinion, something that especially sets your latest record apart from your first two albums or did you rather stick to your already known style while improving it a bit?
“Sangue Cássia” reflects the natural process of SINISTRO that was moved by intuition since the first album. It is the continuation of that process but more mature, more conscious in developing the ideas and the way we want to express them.
In your perception, how was the feedback to your new album – also compared to its predecessor?
Until now, it’s a very good feedback.
Is there a song on „Sangue Cássia“ that you think to be especially well accomplished? If so, which one and why?
“Cosmos Controle” gathers several ambients and moods during the whole song. If it was a written story, it would be easier to identify introduction, development and conclusion on this song. It is more complete. And it was the first one to be composed, the motto for the album.
While most of your tracks are quite extensive, „Petalas“ is notably shorter. How do you decide which tracks should be longer or shorter?
We compose and we listen to it at the end of the process. If it makes sense to all of us, if we feel it, we finish the song. More so than thinking it should be longer or shorter. For us, intuition is very important during our composition time.
How would you translate the album’s title and in which way is it related to the lyrics?
“Sangue Cássia” means “Blood Cássia”. Cássia is related with fragrance. It is connected to the lyrics concerning the essence of life, what makes you alive, your fears, your thoughts, how you reflect about existence and its meaning. The lyrics speak about people, their stories, feelings and thoughts.
As far as I know, each track on „Sangue Cássia“ tells its own story. Can you give us an example on that?
Yes. Each song has a person behind it, a real person, a moment of one’s life. “Gardénia” is about a lady living on the street with her dog. I met her on the street and we started to talk and she shared her life, her fears and memories with me. Sometimes people need to talk to strangers to exorcise anguish, to regret the past, to cry about the future. It makes it easier. People are a great inspiration and you learn a lot from them. The inspiration is a great a way to search about existence, life.
Your lyrics are completely written in Portuguese. Do you think that this makes it harder for you to become wider known or is it even an advantage considering your authenticity, that attracts more listeners?
The barrier of the language became an advantage. Even if people don´t understand, they feel it. I´m always using the word “feeling” to explain. But it is a simple and strong word to express what we do. It´s all about communication. Music can communicate above language. We love to express ourselves in Portuguese and open more doors to us, more than we can imagine. So, it was not an obstacle. And for us it is a privilege and an honour.
Your guitars are mostly slow, raw and not so much melodic. What purpose does this serve in your music and do you think that there’s a risk, that some listeners might find them to be too monotonous?
Take for example the guitars on “Pétalas”, we consider them not so raw and slow. We like to explore contrasts. Slow, raw guitars in contrast with melodic keyboards and vocals. Yes, of course it´s a risk. Everything related with creating something is a risk. But it has to be done. If you think too much when your create there´s a risk of becoming monotonous too. Or you think too much to achieve perfection so that you block and do nothing. That´s sadder than risking it and people not liking what you´ve done. The more you do albums, write books, do plays, the bigger gets the risk. You´re more exposed, naturally. People create expectations according to what they “see” from your past works. The risk grows. But still, it is a beautiful risk.
At your live shows you sometimes move as if you’re being possessed, sometimes more calm and darkly seductive. Are you really doing this because you’re so taken by the music or is it rather a conscious act to create a more intense experience for the audience?
Feeling what you´re playing/singing, feeling the sounds/words has an impact on you as a performer. The way you feel is a part of how you communicate with the audience. You cannot dissociate one thing from another. It’s not an “effect” to create an experience. It´s a feeling to share an experience.
What do think about bands that stand completely still during their performance? Can this also have a certain appeal in your opinion or do you think this would be against the purpose of a concert?
Nothing is against the purpose of a concert concerning the performance. Everything is allowed, everything is appealing, it depends on how you feel and give the energy to the audience. There´s no formulas. It doesn´t matter if you are moving or standing still. Standing still can be more powerful than moving. Sometimes, less is more. It is very subjective. The most important thing is to feel and share.
If I remember it correctly, when you played a show with Paradise Lost in Vienna, you didn’t have a bassist with you, so the bass wasn’t played live, right? What was the reason for this?
It was a very hard decision for all. Fernando had to stay at home.
What are your next plans for SINISTRO?
Next to Inferno, in May we go to Chile to Spider Inferno Fest and in July Metal Days in Slovenia. And there are more news coming soon…
We are getting close to the end of our interview. Let’s now go through our traditional Metal1.Info-Brainstorming:
Horror: David Hasselhoff
Colonialism: Old
Extreme metal: Norway
Supernatural phenomena: David Hasselhoff in Germany
Favorite album: Several
SINISTRO in five years: Not even God knows…
So, that’s that. Thanks again for your answers, I’ll leave the final words to you:
Obrigada (Thank you), Metal1! Hope to see you soon and share our experience!
19. April 2018 Stephan Rajchl