So, about Gospelheim, what exactly does this name mean to you? How did you get to choose it?
Ricardo - Two words that crossed my mind one day, at that point, Praise Be and Voyeuristic Schism had been written and a lot of heavy religious topics were circling around my head. The word “Gospel” seemed poignant in terms of how the concept of truth is so ambiguous in the internet age with this wide array of misinformation. The idea of “Heim’ came from Norse mythology which translates to something like home or realm. So these two words together represent for me a utopian concept, an all knowing place where all the answers are. There is no such thing, which is fine. How boring life would be if we had all the answers?
Being a band formed during the worst times of the last few years, with isolation due to COVID and all, how has your journey been?
Coco - I joined the band in February 2020, we started working on the songs in terms of performance - this excitement was suffocated very quickly due to the lockdown that followed in the next two weeks since my audition. At first we were uncertain how we could make any substantial progress being in isolation, so we kept in touch and used that time to get familiar with the material that was written prior to the pandemic. Thankfully, Ricardo is fairly well organized, so we had all the demos for Ritual and Repetition available to us, and we could utilize that time to make decisions on which songs to include on the album, and in what order of and other technicalities. By the time we could rehearse again, we were familiar with the material, and we were prepared to record. Due to further Covid restrictions, we had to postpone the recording twice, and that was probably the most uncertain time for us. But we managed to complete the recording at No Studio with the help of Joe Clayton in November 2020.
How did Gospelheim start? Would you like to tell your and our readers about the members and a bit of the history of the band? Was Gospelheim projected to be a thing to spend the time during the isolation period, or did you actually have plans and hopes of getting where you are today?
Ricardo - Gospelheim started as a project in my head and in my demos. I was away from playing in bands for about 8 years, but through my close friend Chris French, I went back to the rehearsal room to work on a project called Agvirre. This allowed me to meet musicians again and when Coco's name was thrown my way, I sent her a few demos and invited her for a jam. Gospelheim was designed to form a live experience, a marriage between sound and vision, in our case, black and white films. However, very early we found that most venues are not equipped to accommodate this type of show, so we’ve only been able to use the projector in very few shows unfortunately. We also had a hard time finding a steady and reliable guitarist so we played a number of shows a 3 piece which wasn’t ideal since the songs and the album were designed for 2 guitars. But earlier this year we managed to finally become a four piece with Jordan Sheffield on guitar, and Rob Kendrick on drums, who played for Hecate Enthroned.
How do you think pandemic changed the music industry, now that things are calmer?
Coco - I think the situation after the restrictions were removed was rather chaotic - many people didn’t engage in attending live shows immediately because of the uncertainty surrounding their health and safety. More so, many shows were frequently cancelled or postponed because of Covid infections amongst crew members and performers. This can be quite frustrating and disheartening for concert goers, especially after such a long time of being deprived of the live music experience. This still persists to this day, and many tours are being cancelled or postponed, partially because of Covid, and some political changes like Brexit and the rising cost of living. It might take a while for the music industry to fully recover from that damage.
Ricardo - My biggest concern is touring. First the pandemic, now there’s the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the effects of Brexit. In the metal world, the majority of bands and artists don’t sell records like they used to 20 odd years ago, and touring is the main source of income for most artists. With cancellations, everyone's affected including road crew members and the venues themselves. We have been asked a lot if we are going on tour at some point, we will see what opportunities arise next year and hopefully play outside the UK too.
There are a lot of influences in your music. How would you describe the music you play?
Coco - I think we purposefully avoid being tied to any existing genres, because the sound of Gospelheim came out with a good degree of variety, mixing elements of black metal, blues and goth. With clean vocals on top, it may have created some elements of confusion and surprise in some people, but we were quite eager to take our chances and see what happens. The incorporation of various influences opens a lot more possibilities, than following or representing a particular genre. The overall sound, just as much as the lyrical themes are meant to encourage people to embrace new perspectives and become more open-minded.
Ricardo - For me Gospelheim is essentially a rock band. Nothing was preconceived, it just happened by accident. Of course for marketing purposes we’ve had to come up with some definitions but they’re still very limiting and don’t represent our sound accurately. We’d like to allow people to make up their own minds.
What are your lyrics usually about? Where do you get the inspiration to write them?
Coco - The lyrics on Ritual and Repetition mostly touch on subjects such as morality and its origins, which is often orchestrated by religious values. Developing one’s own moral compass can be challenging, and relying on readily available solutions professed by religion is much easier - this, combined with social influences of tradition and upbringing offers a seemingly reliable foundation that guides human behaviou. In some cases, the religious values can be so thoroughly absorbed by people that even the most absurd rules and ideas are justified and perpetuated by the followers. This is where the necessity of critical thinking is most prominent. The lyrical themes in Gospelheim aim to show different perspectives for approaching the role of religion in society, and hopefully encourage the listeners to look critically at the world around them, and their personal value systems. In a way, being able to dissect one’s own morality and look at the outside influences that directed it could be an important step for self-development. It opens more possibilities for reaching new horizons in connecting and interacting with others.
Ricardo - When I look back now at the lyrics, I feel as if they’re a proposal for swapping places and attempting to walk in somebody’s else’s shoes and vice-versa. The attempt of trying to see things, understand certain outcomes and circumstances from someone else’s perspective. Like an exchange of reactions and opinions, which can be quite challenging and uncomfortable at first.
Gospelheim just released the debut album "Ritual & Repetition". How do you feel about it and how do you see the reception of the public?"
Ricardo - I think the coolest thing is to hear your own band on vinyl. It has been a long process, from recording to mixing and for the label to get hold of a pressing plant that would deliver the album in 2022. As far as reception goes, the reviews so far have been very positive. The thing I am most happy with is that people are listening to the whole album and notice the importance of its sequencing, how songs were carefully placed in a particular order. It was a balance very hard to find, but so far, it looks like it is paying off.
You have been quite active with shows and everything. From this side, it gives the impression that Gospelheim is like a phenomena where everything has been happening quite fast. Do you feel this way or is it an impression from who has been on the outside?
Ricardo - It’s been crazy indeed. There is always a next show to prepare for, new merch to look into. But our main focus is the live show. We feel we are nowhere near to delivering the live show we dream about, in terms of visuals, lightshow, props etc. So in that sense, things feel like they are moving a bit slow. But we are trying to be patient and do the best we can with what tools are available to us at the moment. The spacing between shows allows us more time to rehearse, so we might throw a surprise or two in the setlist next year.
Coco - The preparation for the album release was a very lengthy process, so it feels like we’ve been waiting to see the results of the work we’ve put into it for a long time. After all, the album was recorded in 2020, and it took a lot of patience from us to see this through. So, generally it feels like things have been progressing quite slowly, and only now we can see the effects of the work we did years ago. Nonetheless, the reception of the album was great so far, and all the reviews are quite flattering! We hope that we’ll get to play a bigger variety of shows and perform to new audiences next year.
Earlier this year, Gospelheim signed a deal with Prophecy Productions. How did this happen, and how do you feel about it?
Ricardo - We have a friend that works in PR and he helped us contact Prophecy. They liked what they heard and wrote back to us. We feel blessed to be in this position with just one album. When we contacted Prophecy we only had done one show, But we believed in our sound and figured that more people might enjoy it if exposed to it, and that is where we need a label like Prophecy and their distribution channels. They’ve done a fantastic job so far.
What else is new? What can we expect from Gospelheim in the near future?
Coco - Right now we’re mostly focusing on perfecting our live performance and adjusting the technical aspects of it to fit different settings and venues we might perform at. We also have a few shows coming up early next year, and we might have a little surprise or two.
Ricardo - We will tour if possible, and we might start playing some new material live, to expand and extend our live show,
Is there any last message you'd like to leave to your followers?
Ricardo & Coco - Thank you for the incredible support so far, come to our shows, you won’t be disappointed.
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