Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Aleksandar: Unfortunately no, we haven’t.

Have you been part of any other projects?/Have you been in any other bands?

Aleksandar: Right now I don’t have any side projects or bands, Anguish Sublime is the only one and my main focus. As I already mentioned, I was a member of the metal band “Raspad Sistema”, and at one point Arpad, me and 2 more started a project named “Synthesis Diabolique”, but that didn’t last long.

Arpad is an active member of a doom metal band “Tales of Dark…”, was a member of another doom metal band called “Senium” and grindcore band “Anus Dei”.

Andras is currently a member of “Divlje Jagode”, “Pero Defformero”, “Metalliron”  and “Groundless”. He took part in many other bands, some of them  are “Tales of Dark…”, “Amok”, “Amentes”, “Charlie B”, “Osmi Dan”, ...

What are the plans for the rest of the year? Aleksandar: We hope that this year we manage to come out with 2 new releases, one EP and on LP, and there is a big chance that we will manage to do that.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Aleksandar: I would say that it is the music itself. The creative work, the need of self-expression, bears enough energy and gives back all you need to keep you working and creating. Having a positive response from people regarding your work is a nice bonus, and it also means a lot.

How important are your fans? Aleksandar: I think that fans are crucial for every band or artist in general. As I said, you can create without support of fans, but if that support is there, all of the work gets a higher purpose. It is very fulfilling to know that someone else is finding something in whatever you’re creating. And, of course, if there’s a lot of them, it is an even better feeling :)

What are your sources of inspiration? Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern?

Aleksandar: Honestly, it depends on the mood - and I would say that my main source of inspiration is life itself, with all the good and the bad things it bears.

As for the other bands, sometimes it suits me to investigate and search for inspiration in something new, so I follow all these social groups and communities in search for something that I might like, and sometimes it happens that I find some inspiration there. But I would say that I still miss that feel that metal bands had in the late 80’s and especially in the 90’s - to me that period was the peak for metal music, and for me it beared the most inspirational power.

What's the first step when making a new song? Aleksandar: I would say having the inspiration for it :) After the inspiration is there, everything else comes to place automatically. Usually, when I feel like playing, I play, and if that “jamming” and improvisation results with something I like, it almost always evolves  into a song. I guess it is the similar case with Arpad and the lyrics he writes.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Aleksandar: I listen to a lot of different bands and even genres besides Anguish Sublime and metal. I like listening to classics, ost, classical rock and pop artists, music from games, etc. It depends on the mood.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? How do you view the music industry of today? Aleksandar: I kind of have a mixed feelings about it. From one perspective, I have nothing against it. I would say that the state that we’re now in is allowing everybody to present and, let’s say, publish his/her/their own music, thus allowing anyone to get it and listen to it, which makes both artist’s and consumer’s life easier. But it all also introduces the problem with actually being noticed in the sea of artists that are promoting their own work, it became very hard to filter out the things you like - this is the other side of the coin. I also think that supporting the artist by buying albums and merch is a significant contribution to artist’s future work.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Aleksandar: Unfortunately, music is simply not enough to keep us alive. So, we all have “regular” jobs

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? What advice would you like to give other bands? Aleksandar: I’d say them to be true to themselves, to make no compromise when making their own music, but to do it always the best they can. At the end of day you are the one that needs to live with your music, and you are the first that needs to be happy with it. There will always be some that will not like you, and there will be those that support you. Stay true to the end, stay metal! \m/