Druma Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Maike: Druma was founded around 2018 in Hamburg. Our drummer Pablo and I had been rehearsal roommates for a couple of years already, with our bands Benthic and Teryky. I started practicing rough vocals in these times and was looking for musicians to test that out. Pablo had free capacities, and so he joined the club. Initially, the project wasn't supposed to become a band... However, we changed plans soon and decided to do exactly this – making a band out of it :)

Pablo: 

We found Jose and Daniel on guitars, Marcus on bass. 2020 was the point we were ready to play live, although there hasn’t been much live playing at that time the pandemic stroke. Daniel left the band in the meantime, which means we are one guitar player short at the moment. But our friend Sebastian from Benthic is helping us out live.

 

2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Pablo: That’s a hard question for me to answer, as I lack an objective perspective. I think that „Sores Of Our Time“ sounds more focused, compact and a little heavier than „Dawning“. On the other hand we have a clean singing part on the new album, so I think it’s also more versatile.

 

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new album and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?

Maike: I write about topics that concern me, mostly social struggles and political issues. Sometimes there's as well a strong personal conjunction. „First World“ for instance is about the situation at the EU's external borders and the fact, that we treat refugees worse than animals. „Until The End“ is about gender roles and how they restrict individuals - and finally all of us as a society.

In terms of songwriting in general, we stick to what we've done since the beginning: Most of the songwriting happens in our rehearsal room, and everyone is involved.

We maybe became a bit more flexible over the years. Not just the guitar players, but as well our drummer Pablo or our bass player Marcus bring riffs from time to time. And if one of the guitar players drops out for a rehearsal, it may happen that our bass player switches to guitars, and I switch to bass guitar. At least a good occasion to change perspectives :)

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Druma'?

Pablo: Druma means tree in Sanskrit (among other translations). I stumbled upon the term in a documentation. Honestly, I can’t remember what exactly it was about, but the word sounded cool, looked nice and it’s easy to remember. So sadly no meaningful story here. 

 

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

Jose: The Artwork somehow reflects the social and political criticism also found in the lyrics throughout the album.

The Cover depicts both physical and mental aspects of nature and humanity. The image of lungs is like an example of the Roschach Test in that it intertwines the two.

As you can see, the image is part of a damaged wall,  which symbolizes the deterioration of mental, physical, and environmental health mainly inflicted on by man. 

 

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Pablo: We had a lot of great shows over the last years, it’s hard for me to pick the best ones. Our first show in our home town got stuck in my head, because it was very nice and very weird at the same time. Due to covid restrictions, the audience was seated, which of course I’ve never experienced before and it was very hard to read the room. I had no idea if anyone like what we were doing. Fortunately, the audience did like it, and in the end, they showed us that overwhelmingly. But it sure was a weird experience.

Marcus: We really played some great shows, but the Paranoya Festival in Radebeul near Dresden has remained in my memory. Organized by a great crew, this festival takes place somewhere in the middle of nowhere. A lot of people come there and the atmosphere is overwhelming!

 

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Pablo: We got some live dates coming up and hopefully we will add some more shows soon. We don’t do bigger tours, as it’s very hard for smaller bands to book longer runs. Plus we all got jobs and some of us have kids. 

 

8.Currently the band is signed to 'Moment Of Collapse Records', how did you get in contact with this label?

Pablo: We knew Basti from Moment Of Collapse and he even played bass with us in an early incarnation of Druma. So it was obvious to ask him, if Moment of Collapse would release our album. Luckily they agreed and we are very happy with the partnership.

 

 

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and sludge metal?

Pablo: Worldwide is a big word for a tiny band like ours, we have only played in Germany so far. There have been some airplays on foreign (internet) radios I am aware of, but we haven’t got much reactions from abroad. At our shows the reactions are mostly very nice. There’s almost always someone coming to us and telling us that he/she/they liked it and that’s of course always a nice thing to hear. And it makes the gear carrying afterwards a lot easier. :-)

 

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Pablo: There’s been some talking about the direction we will be heading in the future, but time will tell what the outcome will be. Most of the time, writing a new song starts with a riff that someone comes up with and from there, the song takes its own path. One part leads to the next, and there usually isn't a pre-made plan. But we want to try to open ourselves up to some new influences, so that writing new songs remains exciting for us.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

 

Pablo: I think every music I’ve listened to extensively has had an influence on my drumming and songwriting. I’ve been listening to heavy music since my childhood, Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, later it was more chaotic Hardcore like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Nowadays, I'm listening to a lot of Black Metal again, even though it can be really exhausting to shift through all the NSBM crap to make sure I don't accidentally support any right-wing morons. 

Maike: For me, creating songs is primarily creating sound and atmosphere. Thus, influences come from music of high intensity, that pulls you as a listener literally inside! Two examples are Morrow's „The Quiet Earth“ or Celeste's „Assassine(s)“. 

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Marcus: Recently, we've unfortunately noticed that NSBM- and sketchy bands, as well as bands with discriminatory statements, seem to be gaining more visibility again - even in venues that didn't host this type of bands before! This somehow fits our current political situation. We ourselves occasionally receive booking requests where the lineup includes bands with connections to the right-wing scene, or which at least don't mind playing shows with such bands. That's obviously out of the question for us.

I wish bands would always be careful about who they share the stage with. Also that show organizers thoroughly research the political affiliations of the bands they are hosting, and where and with whom they have played. And that operators of social media channels always keep an eye on what the bands they offer a platform stay for, and what they represent. It would be nice if a zero-tolerance policy was implemented to nip all this shit in the bud.

Maike: Besides, I really, really hope to see more women or not cis-male persons on stage soon!! We urgently need more visibility, especially in metal lineups. In some of the reviews about our new album, we were called „the guys“, „gentlemen“ and something similar... obviously, there's still a long way to go.

As well, we are currently looking for a new band member on guitars or bass, preferably FLINTA – and it's anything but easy to find such a person.

Pablo: Thanks a lot for the interview! It’s very nice to see people supporting the DIY scene. Hope to catch you and some of your readers at one of our shows soon. Or at any other show. Go to shows at your local DIY venues, I guess that’s what it comes down to. :-)

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