When did you first realise that COVID-19 was going to have an effect on your band?
That happened literally from one second to the other. We played our last shows at the beginning of march 2020. We played 4 shows in Germany that weekend, which were all we could realize of our album release tour. When we arrived back home to Hungary and were faced with how serious the situation in Italy had become, we realized immediately that this will change all of our plans. But we would have NEVER believed that this would take so long. We thought that it would “only” affect the summer. How wrong we were….
Initially, what was that whole situation like, and how did your band overcome/react to it?
It was a punch in the face. It took us a while to get up from this shock, but when we did, we saw the possibilities and started to focus on writing and recording. It is a situation that we could not and can’t change right now, so we decided to make the best of it.
Sure it’s something very unexpected but if you’ve been in a band for a long time, you face a lot of unexpected situations and you learn to take them as they are and learn to deal with each of them. So we just saw it as another challenge that we have to master somehow.
We’re in a very special situation: our fanbase is spread all over the world. Normally we mainly tour in Europe, that’s why many of our fans couldn’t see us live and won’t for a while, even when everything goes back to normal. The pandemic is a difficult situation but at least we can give our fans more Hellfreaks content than usual thanks to social media and youtube.
How has your creative process changed as a band over the last couple of months?
I don’t think that it has affected our creative process. Of course we’ve started working on new songs which is a bit difficult as we’ve only just released a full album and normally we take some time before we head back to songwriting. Our fans know that very well: we like to reinvent ourselves for each new record and that is a bit tricky right now. But we take on the challenge!
What’s been the hardest part about writing/doing music this way?
At first I would say the lack of input. But if I’m being honest that’s not true at all, as so many crazy things happened in 2020, we did not have to go on tour or even leave the house to face all that.
The hardest part is the timing for us. We released our 4th album ‘God On The Run’ in February, right when the first signals of the pandemic began in Hungary. We worked for 2 years intensively on this album and now, just a year later, without taking a breath (which would mean to go on tour in our case) we “have to” write again without doing the same again. Or at least that is what we fear the most – to repeat what we already did. Because NOT to repeat ourselves is the essence of our band.
What bands/artists have you been listening to over the last couple of months?
I’m very much into the new single releases of The Pretty Reckless, the new album of Yungblud. But I also started to listen to some Spiritbox and nordic folk music.
So, what do you think you’ve learnt the most from being a band through COVID-19?
I’m VERY grateful to our fans. The way they supported us in the last month was very heartwarming. It’s ironic – we’ve never been so far from meeting our fans, but I’ve never felt so close to them. I guess the lesson I’ve learned is that even if “one of our legs is broken” we can count on our fans to make the other stronger and to go further.
What kind of effect do you think that it’s had on the music industry all together, and how excited are you to see it return to normal?
It’s caused huge damage. Sure, artists find inspiration in damage, but the music industry itself, the clubs, the festivals, everyone who works behind the curtain, everyone is broken into pieces and many venues will not survive this. So even when we get back to normal, it will not be normal for many years. Not just venue wise but also for the bands, because clubs and festivals will only book those who fill the venue to 100% capacity, they will not have the luxury of taking any risks.
It’s strange to say, but I’m not excited, as I know, that it will not be how it was. But whatever the future brings us, we will take it and make the best of it. Of course I miss the stage like hell, but I’m also sick of hoping for something that has been becoming more unreachable by the day for a year now.
What tips/advice would you like to give to other bands who are also going through this?
The only advice I can give is what has worked for myself: we all love to write music. Let’s focus on this and remind yourself why you fell in love with this life. Creating music and writing songs is very satisfying – doesn’t matter if we can share that live or not. Thanks to the digital world there are no limits for that. The digital world is destroying so much, but it has its positive side as well and actually this is it. Use it.
https://www.thehellfreaks.com