Exposed Vocals Interviews Fervency
Fervency began in mid-2010 with Thomas Blæsbjerg (DK) on composition, analogues/synths gutars and bass and co-collaborator Calvin Batley (Uk/Lux) on vocals, lyrics, guitars and bass.
With a sound and vibe reminiscent of great acts as diverse as Depeche mode, Nick cave and Faith No More, the musical landscapes are deep and diverse bound together by the red line of the band, musically and lyrically, on a bed of alternative rock.
Deep, pulsing, analogue lines and smooth vocals, with unique and modern twists, the band focuses on metaphysical and spiritual perspectives, myths and explorations of modern philosophical schools of thought for inspiration. Marrying lyrical context to the dark and moody analogue-synth and guitar work, modern electronica fused with classic pop/rock composition works as a solid foundation for the male lead and brings excellent song writing and new ideas to the table.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Fervency: It’s a long story! I was born in England, in London. We moved to the west. To a county called Wiltshire in the countryside (shout out to Calne ) and then at the age of around eight my family moved across the world to Papua New Guinea. It was there I found an Iron Maiden tape called ‘Live after Death’ in a discount basket (99toya) and it wasn’t even the official double album it was split in two parts a dodgey pirate trade from Singapore or somewhere. ( I am not sure about copyright enforcement in the jungle…lol. Anyway, I looked at that cover and I was in love. I had to hear it. I got it home and I was sold. I wanted to sing like that. To play the guitar like that. To rock, like that!! That was when I knew for a fact I had to, when I was eight but I had wanted to play long before that. I had a toy guitar that I played and I wanted to learn violin from about five but it wasn’t possible for me back in England at that time. So it was in P.N.G. where I first got a guitar I could actually learn on…I haven’t really looked back.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Fervency: There was a discussion between Thomas Bleasbjerg and myself and it stuck. It just felt right. This act of passion. This complete and pure commitment of the human spirit. It is more than effort or motivation, it is of the soul, of the heart. It worked for us and it has stuck.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Fervency: It is a pleasure to make music. A calling. All our music is available for free and you can buy it. All advertising is good. We are a small band (though I am not sure that is entirely the point) and any listeners we can get due to the opportunity of a free listen is welcomed. If it was pure product and market value we would not be artists. Artists make what they make with or without the acceptance or even approval of anyone else because it is their calling. To be appreciated, paid, requested and have the energy of your labours returned is a great gift. We do sell our songs and hope to expand. For example, our next record, ‘Lowering Entropy’ out on 1.10.2016, will be available from our bandcamp –www.fervency.bandcamp.com -on vinyl too. That is not a money maker but it is a gift to a real fan. To someone that wants their tunes on a record. That experience of the packaging, the smell, the shout outs on the back and the feel. That tactile experience of me, the record and a band I love…Anyway, I digress; Sharing is caring! Yes we have music available at www.reverbnation.com/
fervencydk for free it is mp3 quality and yes we have bills to pay and lives and wives and kids too so we appreciate all purchases and look forward to fans hearing music for free saying “yes, this is something I enjoy. I will invest some of my hard earned money here.” And we, of Fervency thank you for it!
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Fervency: Be well rehearsed and sincere and ready to work. Play as much as you can. Practice everyday. Take youtube lessons and expand your palate as a player no matter who you are there is a lot more to learn and you will not get through it all in this life time. Take control of your career by doing it every day so that you are always warmed up, hot and ready to go. On an admin level join the music union, if it exists in your country. Register all your music and have it copywritten. Make sure you have all your scrc numbers for every track and that you are ready for official releases. Those things are within your control and are choices. Make them today.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Fervency: Practice and rehearsals are for perfection and improvement. Live play is for excitement and love and joy. Just do what you do and love every minute of it. If you are well rehearsed it won’t be an issue and if you notice a booboo let it go. It is as nothing. Stay present and open your heart to what you are doing. Enjoy the show! If it helps then to notice mistakes is to not notice the good things. Enjoy it. Notice the good things. I realise I have not entirely answered the question. I don’t really make mistakes but I don’t care at all if I do. I play a lot of weird fusion and improve stuff too and there comes a point where you can noodle your way through anything! lol
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Fervency:We are looking forward to tour on this album specifically. If there are any bands out there that are a good fit for Fervency and are going to be on the road for a good while, then we are interested. As Thomas and I live in different countries one off shows have not been our thing. We did agree a couple of years ago to just be a recording band but…Fervency has become extremely important to us. We have invested a lot in the band and we are in love with the sound and the vision so after recording this album we just agreed that we want to go and play and do what musicians really do again. We simply need a proper logistical solution and we are primed for action! Here’s looking at you extremely successful dark wave, alternative rock bands with a love of 80’s stylisations, synths and weirdness. You’ll be needing us on your next arena tour!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Fervency: I gather my inspiration from all acts of Fervency. When I write the lyrics, Thomas presents me with music and I get to work in one take/sitting as we are about to record my vocals- a very seat of the pants affair which I love and is an integral part of our process. There are no real rules and it is true I may have heard some of the basic tracks and though about what I might like to write about on tracks before I arrive for recording but I tend to the let the music sink in and tell me its own story before I take action. The way I achieve this is by educating myself on things that are right to sing about in Fervency. I research for the year preceding recording and due to the themes of the band it is the nature of reality, modern physics and biology, mysticism and metaphysics that I think/learn about. The title of this album ‘Lowering Entropy’ pertains to Newton’s third law of thermal dynamics and is a measurement of order/disorder in a system(entropy). However, it is also the reference that one Dr Tom Campbell is using in his physics/metaphysics model Theory of Everything which is just as grand and amazing as it sounds. I suggest that anyone who is interested in : the universe and why. Life and why. You and why, go and read his trilogy My Big T.O.E. -What is interesting to note is that on the leading edge of science and research these are the guys that in twenty years every one will know and take for granted but right here, right now it is pioneering work. Fascinating stuff. The nature of reality and the meaning of life…what’s not to like ?
So to recap Thomas starts the compositions and I research, then I fly to Denmark and write lyrics song by song and record vocals. This can often lead to rearrangement of the basic tracks and then we go to my guitar parts and solos. That is a structure that we have used for three albums now and it is a well oiled machine. I love the act of improvising lyrics and guitars and yet there is a well understood, detail rich tapestry of music that Thomas has painstakingly manufactured and composed. I think it breathes life into our work and we are a perfect working team.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Fervency: I am a big metal fan and jazz fan as well as an alternative rock and avante garde lover, so I am afraid there are only classics! If you poke around you might find some E.L.O but I love them I am not sure that is embarrassing simply old school. Gong, maybe…do you remember Gong? Ha! I just got back into them the other day…genius!
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Fervency: Now you are talking! I would make a studio first and foremost and set up a big old tour. Breaking even is fine with enough money and all of our worries, logistically, have suddenly evaporated. It would be a real blessing and I am sure that we would thrive with that kind of investment as this is all we want to do. It would be fun to have a Fervency studio take apprentices and have the money to just visit all the people I research. See their labs etc…I think in this society money on that level means freedom. For people like us it is freedom to do more of what we already do. A glorious thought.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Fervency: Thomas has a bunch of vintage analogue gear that we record with from different decades and countries. Some really old and cool stuff. For me I am really happy with my guitars, basses, amps and mics. My recording solution could be upgraded ut it is great, really I feel blessed and look forward to just making more music.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Fervency: Right now we have invested in a radio plugging firm called Bluesoap in England. They are pushing the album for mainstream/alt radio play all over the globe as well as thousands of blogs and hopefully reviews. Like I said, we are totally into Fervency and we think this album is the beginning of our break through and so we are pushing. A part of that is hiring a team to get us real exposure, with great contacts so we start to make real waves.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Fervency: I think it would be great to play a bill with Depeche mode, Kraft werk, Fields of Nephilim, P.J Harvey, Faith No More and us because it would be the perfect concert for fans of that sound. The six of us under the title ‘Dark Romance’ or something….it’s a winner!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Fervency: Well 1.10.2016 the new album is out, so ‘Lowering Entropy’ is what’s fresh with us. It is an amazing album and we are looking forward to the reviews and the response from our fans and hopefully crossing over , reaching out and finding new listeners. It’s fabulous. We have hit our peak in formula and really honed what the band is about with ‘Lowering Entropy’ so, yeah- Exciting!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Fervency: I suppose I would be teaching the little I knew. Music is deep. If you think you know something it is the joy of ignorance that supports your position it is wheels, within, wheels, within, wheels. All the universe is there. Other than music I would and do write poetry and prose. I am working on a novel and I love screen play so I have a full screen play that I have for the book I am finishing called The Intas Chronicles: Boodicca…I guess you can tell it is epic, sci-fi fantasy adventure. The title says it all. So, I would be writing and honing that craft as much as I could I love it. To be honest, I think of writing and music, poetry and voice as one master craft that are pure reflections of each other that derive each other: a bardic art if you will that represents the world from your point of view and thus represents the people of your sort and tells histories, speaks of futures, discusses issues to be resolved and how, spreads knowledge and most importantly fills the world with passion, love, understanding, joy and full on goodness. No matter how brutal and heavy your tunes, your fans are loving it. It always boils down to love.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Fervency: It was ‘Live after Death’ by Iron Maiden in a 99toya for sale basket in Goroko, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. I loved the picture of Eddie on the front and I knew I had to have it. What was going through my 8 year old head was something like, ‘Coooooooooool.’ I was not wrong. It was indeed cool.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Fervency: Calendars and patience. Try not to lose faith and create or be within emotional resistance. You really have to embrace whatever you are doing, when you are doing it or life will not work for you. Balance is a requirement of personal growth and will lead to acceptance of your self and duties. Appreciation of what you do have and not thinking for a second about what you don’t is a part of this. For example complaining about the time you just don’t have won’t help you. Snatching five minutes here and there will help. You can go to bed at 21;00 hrs and rise and shine at 05:00 if you have the will. That won’t work for everyone but the point is valid. Make a plan, stay positive, be a balanced person and work on that balance through acceptance and appreciation, cleansing yourself of weakness and complaint, fear and ego and rocking like the beast you are. To be productive is desperately exciting. Make a plan and stick to it. Find a date stick it in your calendar and go and do your thing.
There is a difference between practice and rehearsal. Practice is by far the most important because it is the honing of you as a player whilst rehearsal is of specific songs etc. Make sure you practice as close to every day as possible and you will find everything a lot easier, even if you can’t do a projects’ rehearsal. Not meeting the other musicians in a band before you turn up to play or record is fairly common among good musicians and it works because they practice.
So, to reiterate. Appreciate what you have and make the most of it. Stay positive and practice. Be balanced and you will receive the idea of balance in your life because of attitude, far more than juggling. Make plans and stick to them and accept it when you can’t, stay focussed do whatever gets in the way and enjoy the sense of hunger that builds and then really, really enjoy it when you are free- Just do your best and keep pushing forward. Communicate, so everyone knows what is happening. Beyond that I would say to anyone, ‘Don’t stress! It is a labour of love. Feel the love and enjoy!’
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Fervency: Buy our album. Fervency Lowering Entropy has received a review from a German site she wolf and we were overjoyed to see the positive feedback with a score of 9/10http://www.she-wolf.eu/review-
fervency-lowering-entropy- alternative-rock-alternative- pop/ It is in German but a decent translate programme online can help the uninitiated. Anyway, it is a wonderful response and we look forward to more of the same. We love this album and are stoked to share it and can not wait to crack on and make another one! So yeah, look for Fervency, join our mailing list, like and share on facebook and twitter, soundcloud and youtube. Do visit our reverbnation site as there is lots of free tuneage, new and old as well as the blog where I write a bit about the lyrics and the odd thought here and there, quite fun for me and maybe for anyone interested in what goes through a chaps mind when faced with a song that needs to be written and how I approach it. For good quality, high resolution stuff you are going to have to order cd, or vinyl , or download from our bandcamp. If you like vinyl, in October you can order the new album on vinyl (which is fun) or we have the usual digital stuff. So come and check us out, get into a little dark romance, great songs, deep male vocals, synths and guitars and buckets of love and rock. Stay fervent!
