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BIO | INTERVIEW
2006 - Rob Frannsen about 'War'
Yo Rob! How are you and how’s it to have the new album out soon? What are your feelings about ‘War’?
I am very exited about getting this album finally out! We have been working hard over the last couple of years touring for "In Love With The End" and have grown a lot as a band in that period. We feel this is the best stuff we have done ever and we can't wait for the world to hear this stuff.
What would you say are the biggest differences compared to ‘In Love With The End’?
I would say that we have tried to make the record more dynamical, meaning we thrown in our groove, mid-tempo stuff, but also a lot of fast paced riffing again. We have put in some melodic accents and over-all tried to be more diverse, whilst staying in the frame of what we were doing the past 8 years; being aggressive, hard and heavy. That is the biggest thing that is different I guess... I am happy that it still is BFP but with the addition of some new aspects.
The album deals with a lot of social criticism – what exactly inspired you while writing the lyrics?
It's just how we view the world. The world seems to be on such a way down on all kind of levels it is ridiculous. Environment, poverty, war, violence, you name it. Not just on a global level but in your backyard as well, so to speak... It's not just a war literally...but also one on a personal level or within society that we refer to. We just feel not being critical or having an opinion is an option anymore. Coptic times ;)
For the first time your new guitarist Dominic (ex-ZERO MENTALITY) was involved in the Songwriting… how is it working with him?
Very good actually. He contributed a lot of ideas to the songwriting process and he turned out to be the perfect guy to work with for the direction we wanted this record to go. Dom has known this band for long and helped out of times when necessary. He felt where we were heading and understood the band as it was/is.
On the new album there are four guest appearances – could you introduce all of them to our readers and tell the story that lies behind every cooperation?
Well, we have Barney from NAPALM DEATH on "Behind Enemy Lines". We asked Barney because he is one of the coolest and nicest guys we've met over the last 2 years with this band. Besides that he seemed to be the right choice because Barney is known to have a critical opinion towards a lot of things that we address on “War” as well, so... Besides that, NAPALM DEATH is as legendary as it gets in extreme metal. We all like that band. Jan Chris of GOREFEST we asked for the same reasons kind of. Jan Chris has been showing a lot of interest in BFP ever since "In Love With The End" came out and we got to know eachother better over the last year. He was stoked to do the guestvocal part. Of course GOREFEST is one of the best extreme metal bands ever to emerge out of Holland, so we consider that an honour too. Lou of SICK OF IT ALL we asked for the same reasons. SOIA has been a very socio-critical band over the years and have been going on ever since the early eighties. I got nothing but respect for that band. I remember ordering their first 7" in the States and getting it in my mailbox. That band ha stood the test of time in all it's greatness. An honour to have Lou cooperate on this as well. Pepe from HATESPHERE; that dude is one of the craziest guitarplayers we know. He is a friend and of course we needed some danish input in a song again this time. That solo rips and he was happy to come and do it, so cool! BARCODE crew did the backing vocals.awesome guys. They always help us out when in antfarm for backing vocals. They did an awesome job again!
You just had a small time off before you’ll start your tour with NAPALM DEATH in mid October – what do you expect of it?
Oh, we expect it to be a good time. Lots of fun and good shows. We have shared a bus with NAPALM DEATH last Persistence Tour and that was loads of fun. We get along well and the tour looks great! We are set out to crush all those venues and I am sure ND are too, so that will be cool. We are happy to be on the road again and play in front of people that go off. We'll be introducing a lot of new songs along with the old stuff, so...
How’s it being on tour all the time?! Last year as well as this year must have been one big gig for BORN FROM PAIN...!?
More or less yes...hehe... Well, of course it is tiring at times and of course at times you'd rather be home, but we are driven and we know what we are fighting for here. We love the music, we love this band. It's all we ever dreamed of. I would die just sitting at home leading a "regular" life. The experiences, the people you meet, the things that happen on the road have made me the kind of person I am today as well. It's a 2-edged sword, but the "better edge" stays on top for me...
Your album will be released shortly before the tour with Barney & co. ends, so what are your plans right up?
First off, we will be celebrating the release of this record with our friends and people who love the band at our 2 releaseshows. One in Holland and one in Germany. Both in the areas we live in. 2 Of us live in the Ruhrgebiet area nowadays so that is home to us too, especially since this band has always had an immense support over there too. The other one is in Brunssum in the direct area the rest lives and we all originally come from. The shows are at small venues, cause we want a party atmosphere. This is to have a good time and celebrate. We will be taking it easy on North western Europe so shortly after that tour, going into areas at the deges of Europe. Greece, Russia, Portugal, that kind of stuff. After that we head out for the States and after that we embark on our headline trip over here. Should be cool. Lots more in the pipeline.
What are your current musical favourites?
Oh, I've been listening a lot old VOIVOD, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, new MAIDEN, new ZERO MENTALITY, new THE SETUP, lots of old 80's metal, JOHNNY CASH, TERROR, COLD WORLD, lots of stuff....
Here’s the space for what you always wanted to tell...
Come out and check us out on our tour with NAPALM DEATH. Come up and say hi. Be strong, don't let this world grind you down. Check out “War” cause it won't dissapoint you.
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