Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? FOREVER ENDS TODAY

What made you call the band "Forever Ends Today"? For us, it is a reminder that if we want to live our lives and enjoy it, we have to do it now. Nobody knows tomorrow, and promises or good intentions only last so long.

How was the band formed? The three of Borsti, James and myself played together in several projects before. We added Niklas and Yannick, and Voilá!

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We are all from the industrial-heritage area "Ruhrgebiet" from NRW, Germany. We all met in Dortmund, where we study at the same university. Borsti, who actually started playing guitar, is now or fronter and shouter. Yannick and I play the guitar, I do the clean vocals and Yannick backs me up there. James at the bass and Niklas at Drums complete our five-piece.

What were the ambitions of the band when you started? Since we all played in lots of other bands before FOREVER ENDS TODAY, we really wanted to push this project to our limits. We are all university students, so we have the time to really dig into the bandwork. We are very grateful that all of our plans worked out so far.

Could you explain your music to someone that hasn't heard you yet? We try to combine modern metalcore/postcore sound with real high quality electro/dubstep elements. We take great pride in producing our electro elements ourselves and want to show that metalcore/postcore does not have to have simple and one-dimensional, cheap electro parts.

Where was your first gig? We had the honor to play our very first gig in Vienna, Austria in the legendary U4 discotheque.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Basically, Yannick and myself are responsible for the basic structures. We are also the only ones to write the electro parts, so basically we have no choice. Once we created the first drafts, everybody contributes ideas, parts and arrangements. As far as lyrics are concerned, the three of us at the mics split the duty.

Who has the best sense of humor in the band? Hard to tell. We all are having lots of fun when we are together, having crazy ideas and being jerks. If I had to chose, I'd say Yannick is the most flashy and extroverted guy in the band, so he gets my vote.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? As stupid as it sounds, for now really everything is going the right way. We are really blessed the way things came together. Genre-wise, we count ourselves to the Metalcore/Postcore/Electro scene.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We felt that dubstep and metalcore really are just the same idea of music with different instruments, so we wanted to combine them. The raw energy of a breakdown is the same as the energy of a potent bassdrop. Our songs really deal with what we encounter in our lives and what goes on with us. So they are as multi-faceted as live can be.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Although we do a cover or remix from time to time, we really think it is about original songs. We put out our first album with 10 songs and are currently working on new material as well. The said album is called WE ARE THE FUN IN FUNERAL and can be streamed on YouTube and Spotify and purchased via iTunes, amazonMP3 or as a physical copy in our facebook merch shop.

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Actually, we do. We shot a music video for our first single of the album, called "... So I Became A Phoenix". There is also a lyric video for the title track "We Are The Fun In Funeral", as well as some live footage. We also did a little video for our cover of "Gangnam Style" which can be found there. Our new cover song (released end January) with a lyric video will be upped there as well.

How old are you?/What got you started in music? I am 25 and the oldest member of FOREVER ENDS TODAY. The others range from 22 through 25. I can safely say that we all grew up with music all around us and had the opportunity to learn instruments, play in bands or orchestras, sing in choirs etc. beginning in our childhood. We are really thankful that our environment and families enabled us to do so.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Differs. I played my first show with my first band when I was 14; on the other hand, Niklas had his first show with us in Vienna.

What year was the band started? We started in September 2012, publishing our Gangnam Style cover back then when the hype was hardest.

Best/worst gig you've played? It is hard to tell the best gig. We had a huge headlining spot on an open air festival in Munich, hundreds of people dancing and partying and singing along. This was maybe the biggest show we played and therefore the most remarkable. But we also had wonderful club shows with nice bands from our area as well as with international bands from overseas, they all had their bright moments.

What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We have some shows throughout Germany planned and scheduled, and lots of kilometres to go. Small highlight will be a support show for THE COLOR MORALE in Cologne in March.

Where have you played from then till now? We played shows throughout whole Germany and the neighbour countries. We had the honor to actually play all the big cities of our home country (Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dusseldorf, as well as the big cities of the Ruhrgebiet).

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? This is hard to tell. We've seen lots of amazing live bands. My personal favorites lately have been Architects.

Is it always the same songs live? We have a core set consisting of the song off of our debut, but we try to vary this. We add a cover song here and there and once even covered the band performing after us.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Really a lot of gigs were huge steps for us. But of course, the shows with bands that are generally bigger than we are and therefore have a larger crowd that doesn't already know us can push a band the most.

How big crowds do you usually play for? Varies. Everything between 50 and 500 is the tenor. But mostly smaller clubs and venues, around 150-300 people. This seems to be the size that our genre is generally limited to.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? We are working on new songs and really want to throw out a new release (EP or LP has yet to be clarified). Also, we want to play shows a lot, especially with larger, international bands or supports on festivals.

Where do you usually play? Until now, we are focusing on Germany and more closely the area we come from.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? When our intro kicks in, we rally up in a circle and shout at each other to start the energy.

What are your goals with your music? Honestly, we just want people to have a good time listening to our songs and seeing us live. We are not the dreaming ones wanting to make this world a better place with our music or to change the world with what we deliver.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? When we got signed by our label. That really gave us a push. Shout-Out to our fellas in redfield records!

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? As we implement very modern dubstep and club sounds, we listen to the modern scene a lot. But of course, as far as song structures, melodies, ideas are concerned, everything can spark you off.

What are your sources of inspiration? Mostly the great artists and musicians our time has to offer. This does not mean they have to be famous or well known.

What's the first step when making a new song? Making a new project in Cubase. We write our songs on the computer to produce the electro elements in it.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? As long as you support the bands you listen to in one way or the other, it is fine. If you buy a shirt or come to a show, I don't mind people pirating the albums. As long as you support the bands that really mean something to you, it is fine. But I know, lots of people just download stuff and listen to it, maybe throw a facebook like, and that's it. If you want some band or artist to be able to continue to produce his music, there is no way around giving him money to do so. People forget that.

What would be your dreams for the band? I hope that we can continue to do what we do and continue to grow. As long as we all have a good time, stay close and enjoy what we have right now, I'm fine with it.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Personally, I really like modern electro. But as a student of Music, I enjoy so much, from classical pieces over old-school rock and pop to the modern scenes. I really have a weak spot for radio music as well, no matter how hard people from our genre hate the big popstars.

What do you hold most dear? My friends and family and music as such.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? I guess if I somehow was unable to make or listen to music or if the people I love the most would come to harm.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Actually I really don't think that much when I perform. Sometimes I hope that the complex technical apparatus we devised for our live shows doesn't give up, that's all.

Have you been part of any other projects? I produce and record a lot of music, so I really get in touch with lots of bands and sometimes play with them, time permitting. Professionally, I focus on FOREVER ENDS TODAY as much as possible, though I play with a cover-band now and then to earn money (playing on weddings, company's festivals etc.)

Have you been in any other bands? Before FOREVER ENDS TODAY, I founded and played with lots of bands. But since we came up with our idea for this project, I cast everything else aside.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I am a university student right now. Besides that, I teach music and musical instruments at various local facilities for a living.

How important are your fans? As much as I like the music we do, it really comes down to the feedback of our fans. I think I'd be unhappy if we only played for ourselves and made music just for the five of us. So the fans really are everything for the band.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? A fan and friend we got to know via our band has our logo tattoed on his bicep. This is a great honor and humbles me everytime I think of it.

How often do you rehearse? When there are shows to be played, we rehearse twice a week. But we meet to work for the band every day.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? I like all of our songs. We play "Disturb the Waters" as the last song of our live set since it has such a hymnic ending, so I go with this one for the first. Second one probably would be "All Hail The Queen Of Sheba" or "We Are The Fun In Funeral" for their driving dubstep parts.

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? I say the dream of one day being able to do so. That is my vision and I work for this.

Do you have any webpages?

At the moment, we are perfectly fine with just having a facebook page:
facebook.com/foreverendstoday

Describe your show, visually and musically. We really have a fast and energetic stage show. We jump around, dance, shout, bang, mosh and fly all over the place. Musically, we try to deliver our songs as close to the record as possible.

How do you view the music industry of today? I think it is changing. The time of giant bands and giant labels is over with the web and the possibility to produce HQ-music easily at home. Don't be surprised if CDs vanish completely in the next decades; and if people buy the music directly from the artists.

What advice would you like to give other bands? Do something special. Especially in our genre, nobody needs another Asking Alexandria, another Parkway Drive or another same-old same-old. If you want to achieve something, you have to have your own consistent style.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Finding a way to the audience. It is incredibly hard to find good shows, or incredibly expensive to tour. All the other stuff, like production, videos, photos, press, publicity, also cost giant amounts of cash.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence? A innovative and highly energetic fusion of moder postmetalcore and dubstep/electro.

What is your favorite crappy instrument? A kazoo. It sounds like a dying smurf.