Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands?

Hans (H): Yes. Soar and at the moment Mang Ont(drums) and Fhtagn(guitar), some bands and projects that have not worked out

Esko (E): I jammed a little with other people before this band, but have not had a band before Mang Ont.

Tarmo (T): haven't had any band experience before. Only jammed and experimented by myself.

How is it that you started playing music?

H: met the right people who had same interest, and thats how it went.

E: Started to learn guitar by myself ten years ago, and

T: Just went to have a lunch with one beer with my coworker at that time, years ago. Randomly we started talking about music and guitars. Not planned at all but back to home we walked already as novice musicians - acoustic guitars hanging over our shoulders (bought from local store)

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?

Hans Horn, drums, 42

Esko Kuldkepp, guitar, drone synth, 31

Tarmo Vikat, guitar, 37

Have you had other previous members? Yes, we had bass player/singer

Did you make music even when you were young?

H: nothing that could be called music exactly

E: played some synth for fun, but nothing serious

T: nope, didn't have any experience with any musical instruments in my childhood and even later

Where are you from? Tartu, Estonia

What year did the band form? Band was formed in year 2012

What's your style of genre? Stoner doom

What inspires you?

H: Good music,movies

E: I have not tracked down what exactly inspires me, it comes and goes, sometimes for months.

T: different moods at different times

How often and where do you reherse? We reherse one or two times a week.

How have you developed since you started with the music?

H: for sure we play now better, have worked with the sound, lots of new and better gear.

E: yes the guitar playing skills have improved, also searching some new ways to make music, interesting sounds or noise.

T: better intuition for jamming and better musical hearing is developed for sure

Do you have other interests of work outside the band?

H: not really, most of the time they are related to music, collect records, musical gear intrigues, a little bit of sports

E: Play some volleyball sometimes

T: some spiritual self-development and understanding the world around us better

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? It could be, that the life would be easier with booking agency. But because we may not have enough resources to pay the agency, we book by ourself at the moment

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? we have our own Studio, where we record and rehearsing, but when its a good deal, then lets go.

What made you decide to make this music?

H: there aren't lots of choices - I make music I like.

E: It just was a natural development for me, and its still changing a little, taking new shades.

T: I've always felt a connection to long heavy riffs rather than fast-picking guitar sounds

What are your songs about? Although we don't have vocals, our songs are inspired by the era of Mammoths, harsh and cold weather and ice age

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? At the moment we do not have lyrics nor vocals but when we had a singer, he wrote the lyrics. Also we got support from one poet whom we know.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? H: remembering when we started, then the music was first. E: If i write down some riffs, then I don't think about lyrics, for me the music is fundamental T: I feel thinking about lyrics is not my strong side - rather start with music

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Sometimes in rehearsal room, sometimes jamming alone at home.

Have you done any covers live? No we have not.

What language do you sing in? Some time ago when we had lyrics, they were in Estonian

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? We think that so far the least was seven and the most about a hundred

What ages are most of your concert attendants? Around 18-50

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? At the moment we have a certain set of songs. If the audience has listened them for a while and our new songs will get ready, we'll change the set

Do you have a regular place you play live often? So far we have played only in Estonia, mostly in Tartu and Tallinn (but a few gigs also in other places). Most frequently visited places by us for playing are Rock 'n Roll, Underground, Genialistide Klubi in Tartu and Rockstars and Tapper in Tallinn

What was your latest gig? In 13 june in the city Rakvere, in a place called Kära Kants.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Fortunately no

Where have you played live this year? In Estonia: Tartu, Tallinn, Rakvere

Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We are trying to reach our neighbour countries - Finland and Latvia.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We made T-shirts for sale this year. Our first EP album "4 aastat" is available on bandcamp - free for downloads but support is welcome of course :)

Where can people buy your merchandise? Straight from us or via bandcamp.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?

H: Mp3 is carbage, downloading music is just informative for me, i prefer records.

T: it's clear that music industry is changing nowadays. As CD doesn't have any real advantages over MP3, I see vinyl making some comeback for audiophiles.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?

H: Yes it is, people preferences have changed, its easier to download for free or to buy the record

T: Sure it is. On one hand mp3 is just easier to download and carry with you than CD or other format. On other hand the other formats which were difficult to copy in home conditions, seemed to me rather temporary way to make business on the big picture.

What do you think of my work? Good if someone bothers. Also, it's welcome to answer those questions and raise our awareness of music industry and your awareness of us at the same time.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business?

H: Better then nothing.

E: we will see.

T: the readers might have chance to know us better.

Do you have any role models or idols?

H: Synonamess Botch, Spaghetti Monster for example. Although I don't have particular "gods", there are some few acts whom I'm following, for example Trent Reznor,Justin Broadrick, Scott Kelly, Steve von Till, Aaron Turner etc. Those guys just know how to make music which has certainly affected me at least in some way.

E: I do not

T: nope

Why do you think that they exist? There have always been gods.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?

H: whe get inspiration straight from other bands, it tends to be copying, though good bands and good music, make always a good mood.

E: Sometimes are the new bands inspiring, sometimes i go back listening to older bands,

T: listening other bands music is a good way to educate yourself musically. It doesn't matter too much whether they're old or active

What have been your biggest obstacles? Due to everyone has very different work schedule, it's difficult to find time to do rehearsals.  

What advice would you give other bands or artists? We don't have too much experience with the band yet but here are some things worth considering: - band members need to have similar objectives and they need to want to make a great band - investments to good instruments and other gear will pay off - compile a decent set of music for live shows - practise at least once a week

How do you get psyched for a gig?

H: sometimes some beer.

E: it just kicks in when you are on stage

T: usually I just somehow enter my own magical realm automatically but sometimes also couple of beers could help :)

Do you have any new material? We are waiting for 1st generation Sunn Model T amp, currently being built by Vand Daal (local electronics gurus). The plan is to start recording new material soon.

What are your web sites?

mangont.bandcamp.com https://www.facebook.com/ManGOnT https://soundcloud.com/mang-ont

How can people reach you? By facebook or by e-mail and of course by seeing us in gigs.

What are your plans for the future?

H: Lots of performing and recording.

E: to get more to perform outside of Estonia, and to get even better in what we do.

T: keep going with live shows, create more and more new interesting music and introduce the band to the possible fans in other countries.