The Puppetz - Interview

I've heard a number of people complaining about how hard it is to find new music. Oddly we've found it relatively straight forward to find new bands, including bands outside of the UK. After hearing the excellent Slovene band "Elvis Jackson" we stumbled across the Puppetz, who very nicely take time out of their schedule to chat to us.

How did the band members meet and who came up with the band name "Puppetz"? Were there any other suggestions for the band name that were nearly chosen?

We met in a way, which for those times, was a bit funny. We were all chatting
in mIRC at the time and were all fans of the same music group, so when we realised that we each actually played instruments... it was inevitable. We were all clear on the name, because we all liked it for some time. We can't actually remember any alternatives, so they must have all been pretty bad...

Who inspired you to first become musicians, and who are your current influences?

Some of us were musicians by heart, so we played instruments already before we formed a band, but the band that got us together and started this common mentality was KORN. Today influences come from everywhere, and we like the British scene. We have become less attached to a certain style though, as we like to listen to anything from classical to rock, metal, pop, and we guess the result contains a bit of everything... It's really nice to play music, just creating what you feel like.

How would you describe your own music to people, in theUKfor example, who may not have heard your songs before?

In our first album you will find a lot of differing emotions, with simple but powerful melodies. We always like to make our music as listenable and as easy to understand as possible. However in our new creations, we realised that due to all catastrophes that are happening at the moment (recessions, and all these things going on at the moment), people are in need for some moral support and positive feelings, so the music is much more positive and inspiring. Catchy melodies and big choruses to make you want to sing along!

When you first started out you did do some cover songs, but after a while started writing your own songs. Were you a bit nervous about making that change?

We started with some covers, just to learn to play together as a band, we were all amateurs and just started learning music. We needed some guidance, however being musicians we started creating music from day one. But after a lot of playing, our own music started to come together, and it was really exciting to start working on our own ideas.

A lot of European acts end up writing a lot of their material in English, has there been pressure on you to do the same?

Yes, actually there were many requests to do this, but it's our wish to do so in order to bring our music closer to people outside of our country. But first we wanted to present ourselves in our native language that really tells you what we're all about. We think, talk, live, in our language so it's an honest way to make music. But our plan is to really catch the essence of the lyrics and present songs in a more universal way.

And while we're talking about song writing, what things in particular do you draw your inspiration from for your music?

Inspiration comes from living. We write music about things we are missing in our lives right now. We have an amazing chance to create our own music so whenever we feel like there's something missing in the musical environment we're in we go towards this goal. We'd be inspired by a nice song, a good soundtrack, a morning sunrise... anything that catches our attention.

What so far have been the highlights for you as "The Puppetz"?

We think that every one of our songs is sort of a highlight for us, a new child, a new painting, a creation that is made and will be displayed and broadcasted in the same way for time to come... but in terms of achievements we were really happy to play at MTV acoustic, support some really good bands from our country, performed some concerts abroad that got really good responses...

Which bands would you love to tour with but haven't yet done so?

Uf this is a good one. We would love to tour with some big bands like The Nationals, Editors, The Wombats, The Kooks… It's really hard to say exactly which one. We would really like to try going on a British tour, or some other countries in the world.

Your latest video, Gledalisce sanj (which I think is Theatre of Dreams?) has you playing in quite confined spaces! Who came up with that concept, and why that particular one? How much input do you have in the production of the music videos?

We are really happy and proud about that video. We wanted to make a video with some really unconventional ideas, places... The initial idea was ours, we recorded it in the house of our guitarist and when choosing the spots for the video we came up with this shot of a wardrobe in a completely black space that gave us a good concept. We just want to be a part of a process where we can decide about how to bring images closer to music. After that the professionals do their work and make it look good!

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

It seems your guitarists have an extensive collection of guitars, ranging from Ibanez Jems, Gibsons to Fender Telecasters! Which are their favourite to use and why?

Good question, guitarists like to talk about their guitars! We've used every possible guitar throughout the years, starting with some Ibanez 7 string guitars and other down tuned 6 strings, later we discovered the wonderful sound of a Telecaster... Right now we prefer the Tele and Gibson. They really possess the sound that we like and you just can't get a sound out of them that you wouldn't love. Telecaster has so much character, but you need to be careful where you use it as sometimes it sounds almost too special, where with Gibson you just get this classic rock sound that works all the time. The Ibanez JEM is a great performing guitar as it's really easy to play. But our money goes to Tele and Les Paul right now!

I caught bits of the Eurovision song contest, and was very surprised that the Slovenian entry, Maja Keuc, didn't end up a lot higher then she did. Do you think it's all just a gotten bit political when it comes down to the votes?

I think you make a good point, we believe that quality of music plays a role way too low to make it a fair contest. Maja had a really good song that sounded like a really well produced single. But we guess it's like you said, it's more of a show with the results already placed before the start.

And finally, what do the Puppetz have planned over the next year or so?

We wish to sum up all the music that is laying around, just pick up the projects and sit down in the studio and finalise them, producing a meaningful product. But first of all, there is a new single that we really like because it's another special song, a display of our current state of minds and certainly a video with some really interesting concept, something we haven't seen anyone done before, at least not in this particular way. We are really looking forward to showing it all to our listeners and fans. Thank you for having us in the interview.

If you'd like to find out more about The Puppetz you can find their official site here: http://www.facebook.com/puppetzofficial