Black Pitch Sunset
What’s your favourite, the one song of Black Pitch Sunset you are most excited to perform on stage?
“Two songs! My favourite is “Weeping Willow” because it is the most ‘me’. The only one where I first wrote the lyrics and their melody and then we added the instrumental part. Normally it is the other way round. The other song would be “Hit Me Where It Hurts” from my vocalist’s point of view.”
I see, I like “Weeping Willow” and how it builds up tension, too. Slow beginning, very melancholic until it explodes. Your lyrics are very heavy stuff. The message is very strong and one should listen carefully. We laugh again. Look, I grew up with a lot of bands with kind of ‘Neanderthal’ lyrics and now I face your demanding lyrics…
“I just wanted to write a very honest song with no happy ending out of the feeling only to satisfy the masses. I had not been me so it remained as it is now.”
Why should you? If we wanted that, we listened to Kylie Minogue’s “I should be so lucky”. Not that it is a bad pop-song, it certainly also had its eligibility somewhere.
“That’s the point, I’m not against mainstream music. It has always had its place and it is always happy. But it is always so political correct, and you must be careful what you are singing about. It must be happy. That’s the advantage of Underground music of any genre, it has less limitations. You can speak out your mind. It is just honest music and that’s most important, honesty. So, I just wanted to do this song.”
Social Media
Let’s hope for a lot of clicks on Spotify then, even if it doesn’t make you rich but expands your range.
“Yeah, sure we won’t become rich from it but it is one of the few platforms where you can reach people, find new people, increase your range, become known. I listen to Spotify too, and discover a lot of bands there. My heart bleeds though when I see albums fading away because everybody wants just one song, next band. I grew up with albums. I remember when my older sister listened to Offspring or Queen. it was always about the entire album. When I now hear an Offspring song, I still know which song would come next. It is gone! Nowadays no one knows if the song is released on an album, or the name of album.”
I also liked the old vinyls I grew up with, 30 x 30 cm, lovely cover art and not that small CD-covers. So much to detect on them.
We talk about the pros and cons of the different types of media, only to finally agree that streaming platforms help to distribute new music and hope people will then buy CDs or visit a concert.
Idols and role models
Do you have idols? I think I noticed some influences of other female vocalists.
“Hm, maybe yes. Not really my role models nowadays but some female vocalists shaped me.” Now it’s Shaky Sue’s turn to ‘cat in’ as one of her cats Now one of Shakey Sue’s cats passes the screen. Thank The Highest Being, we are tied now, sweet little, mean beasts… “I remember when I first listened to The Distillers or Walls Of Jericho; they were a blast. The whole of idea of women who sing and don’t come up with the usual female mainstream attitude of ‘sex sells’. It was even worse than it still is now! It was an eye-opener for me to realize that it is possible. At that time, I only knew it the other way, the usual way. They surely influenced me, and of course, there is Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless. She is great, great attitude. They might all not be the technically best singers but that’s not the point.”
Well, Taylor Momsen is a quite good artist, she knows what she is doing.
“Yeah, with all her ups and downs. She was a teenage idol and Disney star, and simply decided to stop it to become a metal musician. Considering her young age, she already made very sophisticated music as if she was young in age with an elder soul. She was about sixteen when she made that step. Sixteen! No more save income, but I become a rock musician and am what I am, not what others tell me.”
Rehearsal
That’s what makes all the difference and her not just another Disney princess, not less but also not more. Let’s talk about your vocal techniques, have you studied vocal techniques?
“In the beginning I cared less, didn’t take it too serious. I was more or less still in my teenage years when I started singing, and had somebody told me then, this band would still exist fourteen years later, I had not believed it. It was merely a hobby, and as a student for Environmental Engineering I had no money to take professional lessons anyway. In 2015, when we decided to continue and become even better, I started to take lessons, well indeed even a bit earlier.”
How often?
“I have lessons with my vocal-coach every or latest other week. It’s someone who knows a lot about screaming and other metal techniques. It is like a training. It’s like going to a gym, if I don’t do it on a regular base it fades away. I live in a typical small apartment in Budapest. It was a very big game changer, when I could convert my storage into a rehearsal room in 2016. I didn’t have to drive through the whole city anymore. I can practice now whenever I want as long as I want, no matter which time. I can scream, I can shout, nobody hears me, that’s a fantastic game changer.”
Luxury of own rehearsal room
Imagine you dream about a verse line and suddenly wake up with it in your mind. You can simply go and record it on the spot.
“Exactly, that is not uncommon for us anyway, especially when we record demos, have an idea, whatever. And that can happen at one or two o’clock in the middle of the night!”
Sure, that’s why you are an artist. It is not a nine-to-five job.
“True, and spoken for myself especially. It has always been like this, when it is getting dark I’m getting into the mood of creativity. During the daylight and in summer when it hot outside I have no ideas. But when it becomes dark and cold I am inspired and creative.”
Lyrics, heavy and dark stuff
That fits to your lyrics again. They are dark and heavy as written at two o’clock in the morning.
Dark mood, good laughters. “It has always been like this. I have always preferred dark lyrics. Even on “God On The Run” which is a somehow ‘happier’ album. The lyrics are still quite dark. We don’t make happy music at all.”
“Happy” Body Bag
There is one particular song on Pitch Black Sunset with very extreme lyrics in disguise while the song sounds very happy itself. In my review I will write ‘It would be the Happy Metal Song if there weren’t the very mean lyrics…’!
“You mean “Body Bag”! I can’t do it any other way.” Shakey Sue laughs again. “I can’t write happy songs and lyrics. I can write about everything which depresses and frightens me. But I believe it gives the song a value. It means a lot to me if it helps someone who has to go through the same problems and situations. We are lucky because we have very honest fans, and very often, I get messages from them who a song helped them through a crisis and sad stories. They could recover due to it, gain energy. That’s really something, it means a lot to me!”
Next cat, this time my other one having a look into the camera, cuddling time. As if she understood what we were talking about! Cats are mysterious! Cat talk time again…
Sports
We use the break to jump to from mental to physical health. Do you work out frequently?
“Very important for me for two reasons. I grew up with a lot of sports. I was professional gymnast and even part of the national team. Sadly, I had a very heavy injury and operation at the spine. I had even to learn to walk normally again. Bad story… Even though the operation happened about 20 years ago, I still have to work out, and train my musculature to keep it on the level. If I don’t and it weakens I might not even be able to get out of bed. It has already happened when I cared less and then made only one wrong move – hospital bed for the next couple of weeks… I need to pay a lot of attention and listen carefully to the signals of my body to avoid it. Beside that I also need it mentally”
Health Issues
How do you manage it on tour, sitting in the tour bus for hours, sleeping in strange positions or on bad mattresses, etc.?
“Come to our shows and you will understand that they replace a complete work-out program in the gym. Sitting in the tour bus is difficult though. I need to find a good position and when I get out, I first need to stretch out or I move like an old granny.” Laughters. “I really have to care! If I don’t do it I’m broken. We once had a gig in Vienna, a two hours’ drive from Budapest. One week before I made a wrong move, a sneezing, whatever. Somehow I managed to make it to the show, half sitting, half laying, the guys helped me lot. But then I had to perform! When you sing you use your abdominal and back muscles for example. It was a very cautious show but I wanted to and I made it… The audience was nice anyway, I explained what happened and they understood and were very respectful.”
The worse option would have been to cancel the show…
“It only happened to us once that we had to cancel due to health issues. I simply had no voice anymore.”
Food and beverages
By the way, what’s your favourite beverage or food on tour, especially to keep your voice in shape? Pizza and beer as often offered by the venue might not be helpful.
“I don’t like pizza, and beer makes me too tired. So these are no options anyway. Like a little witch, I always have some fresh ginger with me. I cut it into small pieces and chew it. It is quite hot but it helps a lot. I don’t like hot food apart from this exception. But ginger is very good for your voice. In case of beverages, I am quite boring. You can’t make me drunken because I avoid alcohol. If at all, I’d take a sip of wine. I have never understood the concept of drinking too much to feel better. It would make me insecure as it is a loss of self-control. But alcohol has never been an issue in my family. When I was younger, I used to laugh about my parents when they shared a bottle of beer and could not even finish it. Now I’m no better. Drinking too much alcohol is not funny, and I don’t need it. I have no health reasons to do so though. But it has always been like this and more intuitive, being sportive is helpful too.”
What’s your favourite food apart from ginger?
“I like Asian food, Thai food in particular, even though it can be very hot I can always find something mild to my taste.”
Cities and Countries
You said, you’re living in Budapest. Would you otherwise prefer to live in a big city or prefer countryside?
“In Hungary, I couldn’t live in a small town. It is sad to say to but it is boring and frustrating to live outside of Budapest. Further on, I have always lived in big cities so I’m used to it. But if we lived somewhere else, like at the Mediterranean Sea I’d love to live in a small village or the countryside, say in Tuscany or Greece. In Budapest, we’re living in the apartment my mum already grew up at. It is my mother’s. If we had to rent one in this size of just 60 square meters from an estate agent, we hardly could afford it and would maybe need to move.”
You said, you have toured a lot of countries. Which country would you like to visit as your once-in-lifetime experience?
“Japan, with or without band though I’d prefer together with them, so I can have the feeling I it deserved. It is on top of the bucket list. Latin America, Mexico would be a dream. For no particular reasons, we have a very big fan-base there!”
Finally the Fans
By the way, where do you have the most fans anyway?
“Difficult. What I see are the YouTube watchers and Spotify listeners. Top countries are UK, USA, Germany, France, Hungary. Web shop orders come in from everywhere around the world.”
I think, with quite an overdraft we are now at the end of the interview. Do you have questions now?
“Yeah, true, but no problem. It was good fun. No, no questions. I really have to thank you to be able to speak German again. Thank you for your patience when I didn’t find the right word or phrase on the spot but I was happy to train my skills, and keep them alive. I liked that you didn’t ask the ‘usual’ ten questions, about the band name etc. It was cool, thank you”
I have to thank you for your time. See you on the tour once the dates are fixed.
Save the date, 14th April 2023
Now we have to wait for the album release first. You can read a review here soon. And the tour dates will follow once they are fixed. Patience is the key. It is worth it. Believe me.
!
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Endless efforts, proof reading and additional editing by MuumiKatja
Snapshots from “Weeping Willow” and taken during the interview by Friend.X