We are pleased to offer you in this article an interview with a project that offers Progressive and Post-Metal sounds contaminated by different genres and styles, whose new album “Imparted I – Imparted II” released on July 2022. Welcome Gob Ribbons.
Hi, how are you?
Cyrill: “Fine, thanks for having us!“
Your genre is Progressive Rock and Post-Metal with different contaminations, where does your passion for these sounds come from?
Cyrill: “When we first started making music in this formation, we jammed a lot. Most of the early jams could best be described as Stoner Rock, so that’s what we aimed to do with our first songs. But our passion for soundscaping, long tracks with a wide range of dynamics and bands like Leech and Long Distance Calling gradually pushed us more and more into Post-Rock territory. While getting more proficient on our instruments, we also started to incorporate more progressive elements into our sound. Even though my bandmates didn’t admit it at first, I always felt that our sound is heavier than most Post/Prog-Rock and could easily be described as Metal. Only after being booked by concert promoters such as “Metal Apocalypse” and “Nothing but Metal” did they see it the same way.“
Pascal: “Same as Cyrill but I think most of our sound isn’t exactly what ‘metal-heads’ would view as their favorite genre. But some of it sure is at the very edge of progressive-rock to metal. And I think for non metal-heads, we are metal. As for the ‘passion’, I get bored playing mundane stuff over and over again, so I like to spice it up with some unexpected twists or a bit more complicated rhythms, this is also true for listening.“
Your new album “Imparted I – Imparted II” released on July 2022, how would you describe this work?
Pascal: “In short, I would describe it as “dreamy but heavy” and “simple but exciting”. The production on the album is a lot mor mellow as compared to our live sound. That makes it different to other recordings, since the songs are still really heavy at times. The album also features a lot of diversity, for example is ‘Galina’ light and cute but ‘Erratic’ on the other hand is as metal as it gets.“
Long tracks with elaborate textures, how has the sound evolved compared to your previous work?
Pascal: “I think our older work is a bit more ‘straight forward’ when it comes to the songwriting. I guess ‘Hegemony’ and ‘Conceiver’ are exceptions. We experimented a lot with more complicated stuff to play as well as very quiet parts, where one instrument needs to ‘lead’ the rest. That can be very hard when you don’t have many notes to play and no in-ear click track. We went from being post- stoner rock to post- progressive rock. There are also parts that are more metal than before.“
The lyrics are also very intense, what themes do they deal with?
Leo: “Generally speaking the broad theme for Imparted is the exploration of the human need to create art to construct meaning. Imparted I: The Age of Comparison is the dissecting mind that looks back into history and tries to use the intellect to make sense of the present and craft a future. Imparted II: The Delian Diver is the raw emotional aspect that wants to be heard and seen for what it is. These are of course just overarching themes and the songs themselves all tell their separate stories. I mostly write the lyrics from the perspective of different characters, even within a single song so it can be hard to summarize but as an example „Age of
Comparison“ has two Voices in it. One is the herald of an era that seeks to consult the past and practices cultural comparisons in order to craft a perceived perfect future, while the other is the personified contamination of ideology that comes along with said era.“
Your music is full of contaminations of different genres and styles, how do you compose the songs?
Cyrill: “Most songs of our new record were written be Leo (the vocalist) and myself (the guitarist). I have a very intuitive way of writing riffs and chord progressions, often based on ideas from recorded jams (that’s why we record every jam). Leo on the other hand has much more knowledge of music theory and a great passion for progressive or classically inspired chords and melodies. These two perspectives combined with my experience of production and mixing result (mostly) in a very fruitful collaboration. Together with the whole band and our producer Anna Murphy we refined the songs before, and to some extent also while, recording it in the studio.“
Your music is very refined and engaging, it would be interesting to hear it live, do you have plans in this regard?
Pascal: “Sadly, there isn’t much going on at the moment. We’re trying to play some shows at festivals in summer, but we don’t know how busy we are going to be just yet.“
Music and Progressive Rock are evolving, how do you see the future of your genre?
Cyrill: “I’m a huge fan of Plini for many years now, and in my opinion his sound together with bands like Animals as Leaders, Polyphia, VOLA and others have shown what is possible for modern Prog. I really like where this is going, but I’m also a huge admirer of more old-school bands like Tool, Porcupine Tree and Opeth and think that sound like theirs will always have a big and supportive fanbase.“
Yours is a very interesting album full of ideas, do you already have plans for future releases?
Pascal: “Of course! But first, we have to write some songs. There will be long ones again but maybe also our first sub 4 minutes song. I guess genre wise, we’ll head more in a prog-rock and metal direction but we will never abandon our postrock roots and will therefore also incorporate some spacey parts/ songs as well.“
The music market has changed a lot in the last few years, how difficult is it to establish yourself with a more sophisticated music genre like yours?
Leo: “I‘d say it‘s pretty rough. You kind of need to be born a businessperson with a lot of commitment besides just writing and performing music. I wouldn‘t say it‘s something inherent to the genre though, as any emerging artist has their hurdles to overcome when it comes to getting their art heard or seen. Some genres just have a wider possible audience but I‘d say the process is pretty similar.“
What advice would you give to a young band approaching the modern music scene with Progressive Rock sounds?
Leo: “Listen to many different genres and make your own synthesis. The more varied the input,
the more nuanced the output.“
Pascal: “When I look at the demographics of our spotify listeners, I’d say we are still a young
band. So I guess my advice would be, to not forget ‘older’ people when you do social media
stuff and shows. But I also think that reaching young fans is important. That’s maybe something
we could do better yourself.“
As usual, I’ll leave the last question free to allow you to talk about any topic of your choice not touched upon in the previous questions.
Pascal: “Make live performances cool again! I feel like, I’m the youngest in the room … Since 10
years! Also, support your local artists, their shows are way cheaper, closer and just as fun 😉“
I thank Gob Ribbons for the pleasant interview, wishing them all the best for the continuation of
their musical career.
Purchase the album on Bandcamp: https://gobribbons.bandcamp.com/album/imparted-ii-the-delian-diver
Lineup:
Manuel Luthiger / Bass
Pascal Furrer / Drums
Leandro Stalder / Vocals
Aurel Schüpbach / Keys
Cyrill Durrer / Guitar