Planet Loud – Hi guys, thanks for your time, what have you been doing today?
Marionette – Hi, it’s good of you to have us! I’ve been hard at work in school, doing some design stuff for an assignment. I’ve also read your review of our album, which I enjoyed since you seem to get what we’re about. The rest of the guys have been working their asses off at their various jobs to make some money for touring!
Planet Loud – So, for those of our readers who don’t know who Marionette are, can you give us a quick history?
Marionette – Certainly. Marionette was formed in 2005, though the current lineup is fairly recent, dating back to 2006. We’ve released one demo and, just last month, a full-length cd with this lineup. We’ve also competed in several “battle of the bands”-style contests, winning some of them and going quite far in the rest. This generated publicity, which led to gigs, which led to getting noticed by Pivotal Management, which led to getting noticed by Listenable, which led to getting signed. Playing live coupled with lots of hard work has given us a strong position around here, one that we aim to export come fall. Marionette is all about the passion of the live experience. To take this outside Sweden is our top priority right now.
Planet Loud – How did you end up signing to Listenable?
Marionette – We got a really nice deal with Pivotal Management, who made sure our demo reached Laurent at Listenable. Apparently he really liked it! After a pre-production with a few more songs, Listenable became convinced and signed us. We’ve had a wonderful relationship with Listenable this far. After hearing many nightmare stories about bands getting shitted by the music business, it’s nice to be positively surprised and work with a label that truly believes in what you do, while at the same time tackling the sometimes grim realities of the business.
Planet Loud – Your image is inspired by the Japanese Visual Kei scene. Can you tell me what it is that inspires you about this scene?
Marionette – If I really try to sum it all up, I’d say it’s the idea of the eyes being as important as the ears when experiencing a band. Our main goal is to deliver an experience. Therefore, we want to speak to every sense available. To us it seems that several japanese bands understand this on a different level than many western bands. The willingness to express yourself through every route available to you, the realization that a live show is dramaturgy as much as musical performance; this is what we see in many japanese bands, and what inspires us about the visual kei scene in general.
Planet Loud – Was it a planned look or is it something you’ve just incorporated into the band?
Marionette – Actually it just happened. Many of us are into japanese bands as well as visual kei, and have been for quite some time. So it was only natural for us to, in our own way, do what the bands we liked did well. It’s no stranger than fans of norwegian black metal forming a band and utilizing corpse paint: really! Also it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see more young bands influenced by the biggest japanese musical exports popping up in during the coming years.
Planet Loud – What about the live show / videos, how much importance is put on the visual aspect of the band?
Marionette – A lot, but not as much as we’d like, due to financial constraints. Like I said earlier, we want to deliver an experience, and we believe strongly that the visual representation of the band shapes the experience of the listener. But the music comes first. So the limited resources we have go to equipment, transport, merch and recordings. We try to do as much as possible visually, but everything costs. Having said that, you can accomplish a lot with energy and imagination. We’ve manufactured banner-shaped backdrops ourselves, for instance. As we grow, so will the visual experience of seeing Marionette live.
Planet Loud – Have you ever been over to Japan as a tourist or in the band?
Marionette – Sadly, no. We’re still very young and haven’t really had any chances to make the kind of money you need for a good Japan experience.
Planet Loud – What do you expect it would be like?
Marionette – Expensive. Initial fascination and joy at the hospitality and culture slowly transforming to paranoia and alienation as you realize you’ll always be an outsider. I’m also really curious as to how the japanese audience would receive us. Many newer Japanese bands who want to make it big in the West distance themselves from the visual kei style, but I don’t know how this is perceived in Japan, or what audiences there would think of a band so obviously influenced by japanese bands. In the West, a lot of people shake their heads at certain japanese bands trying to emulate western bands and getting it all wrong. Then again, “getting it all wrong” sometimes creates something unique that western audiences absolutely fall in love with. I have no idea if the reverse could be true for western bands emulating japanese bands in front of japanese crowds, but time will surely tell. We’d love to play in Japan!
Planet Loud – What about lyrically then, what inspires the songs on the album?
Marionette – “Spite” is about going your own way, no matter how the structures of society, culture and gender try to shape you. It’s about building your own new world together with people like you, no matter how the old world tries to punish you and label you for doing so. It’s about the strength you feel when you know you’re right and they’re wrong, it’s about turning your back on everyone who tries to judge you, it’s about falling in love with the wrong girl, taking her hand and walking away into the night while buildings collapse and cities burn behind you. It’s about the purity and power of hate and love, it’s about the constantly exploding sweat-blood-spit-soaked communion that is playing live, it’s about finding out who you are through the pain of growing. It’s about spite.
Planet Loud – The music is inspired by some obvious genres – Swedish metal being one – who would you say your main influences are?
Marionette – From the Swedish metal scene, I’d have to go with the obvious and say In Flames. We have huge respect for this band and are proud to label them as one of our influences. Another swedish band that influence our songwriting a lot is Raised Fist, loved by every member of Marionette. Going outside of Sweden and to a more individual level, Strapping Young Lad is a huge influence that I think shines through a lot on our debut. We also get much inspiration from videogame music and movie soundtracks; big parts of what people see as our originality comes from these influences, I think.
Planet Considering you’re inspired by a scene that has inspired many generic band, how difficult is it to stay original when writing?
Marionette – I think the main thing here is that although we’re rooted in the swedish metal scene, our influences come from many (and sometimes unexpected) places. And allthough lots of bands could say that while still being unoriginal, we actually have those influences shaping the songwriting. If you want to be original, you have to love music, not just a particular type of music. This is very true in Marionette. Anyone can fall in love with At The Gates, learn the guitar and emulate. But to be original, you have to love, learn, and know music as a phenomenon rather than an obscure genre. Knowing and consuming music in this wider sense leads to understanding it in a wider sense, which gives you a broader perspective that will definitely affect your songwriting. I think this is the path Marionette has embarked upon.
Planet Loud – Thanks for your time, any final words?
Marionette – Thank you, and glad you liked the album! Remember this day, and remember being one of the first to hear about Marionette. These are the first steps towards something new, beautiful, and terrifying.
Interview by Graham Finney
