RockStar Leandra Ghoulish talks about Angelus Novus new album and fans negative response, and says: “it’s okay to be protective of our music”
RockStar Leandra Ghoulish of Angelus Novus, welcome back to The Sewers! We congratulate you here and now.
Hey, hi, what’s up?
Good, thank you. How have you been?
Great, yeah.
Your new album, As Though, is out, and your fans are having a hard time with it.
Having a hard time with it?
Well, so to speak.
Okay, yeah, we all have hard times sometimes. We’re evolving, we’re transforming, I guess it’s hard.
Many of your fans said they wished you wouldn’t do too many songs from As Though on your upcoming tour.
Yeah, we all have hopes, too.
You sound upset. Perhaps disappointed.
No, of course not. Once you put yourself out there you don’t know what to expect. And I always put myself out there with my music. Once it’s out there it’s out of my hands, you know? I can tell you we had a hard time with this album, I mean it was hard coz we put our hearts and souls into making it. So it’s okay if some people are having a hard time with it, coz we had a hard time making it. Bottom line, I’m really happy with it and proud of it.
Well doesn’t that make it even more upsetting? That many of your fans aren’t feeling the same?
No, I mean it took us two years to make it. So I think a few weeks isn’t enough time to say people aren’t feeling it.
It must be so frustrating, you can spend months and years so invested in something, that people can just dismiss in a minute or even less.
Well that’s life, you can die in a minute or even less, you know? I’m not gonna get all mournful now about how As Though was accepted, you know? I mean I think it’s gonna grow on people, but even if it doesn’t, it’s our fifth album and I’m happy about it, I’m happy we went with what we wanted to do.
Bassist Lenny Sinn said in an interview to The Passing Stones Magazine last week she’d thought the Angelus crowd to be more “musically progressive”. some didn’t appreciate her saying that.
Oh that’s Lenny, she’s like that. I mean even back in 2010 she was pissed that people liked “Silence” more than “Welcome to the Petting Corner”, coz she thought it’s the best song in Dislocated. I mean it gets to you, of course, I’m not gonna lie about it, I think it’s okay to be protective of our music, to some degree.
You’re going on your summer tour in about two months, how are you feeling about it?
I feel good about it, I love being tour, it’s great.
Have your thought about your setlist yet?
No, we don’t think about it this early on. We have an idea of it, each has his or her own, and then we talk about it like two weeks before the first concert and figure it out. It’s usually me and Marcus on the same page, and Lenny and Jules on the other. Makes sense kinda. We’re starting the tour with the festivals so the set is slightly different, you know.
What are you saying then?
I’m saying a festival set has a different vibe, it’s slightly shorter, it has to be tighter, you know, and usually we like it louder.
So is this your answer to your fans?
What was the question again?
Some of the Angelus fans said they wished you wouldn’t play a lot of the new material this tour.
Oh that, yeah. Okay so that’s my answer, great.
What is?
Whatever, what you thought it was.
I’m not so sure right now what it was –
Do you wanna ask me if we’re gonna play more songs from previous albums?
I guess that’s what your crowd wants to know.
Okay so they can fucking ask me.
Right, so are you going to –
We didn’t come up with the fucking setlist yet, I just told you. We don’t think about it this fucking early on.
Right, of course. It is too soon.
But you know, it’s a stupid question. I mean of course we wanna play new material. It’s what we live now, it’s what we’re into, so what kind of question is it anyway? I mean how fake, how detached from your creative self must you be, to put on a show without including what you’re most passionate about? I wouldn’t wanna go to a concert like that, you know?
Fair enough. Can we talk about “Persecution Complex”, the album’s closing song?
Sure yeah.
Do you find it might resonate with what the band’s going through right now?
Oh god, fuck, it’s not what it’s about, you know? I mean don’t take it so fucking literally, you know? The last line in it, that goes something like “no matter how fast you run, you can’t undo what’s been done” is like a description of what life is in general. I mean you get to a certain point sometimes when you look at your life and you realize that ninety percent of your actions and choices are triggered by some escape mechanism you’ve developed to avoid or forget previous actions and choices. And it’s, I mean think about it, it makes you start thinking whether there is an original, pure choice to set off the rest of them, a choice you’ve made that precedes any distortion, prejudice or momentary ill-judgment. I mean in the core of it, it makes you question who you are. That’s what “Persecution Complex” is about.
I guess you can say what you call “escape mechanisms” are also part of who you are.
Oh yeah, totally, but it’s not what it’s about. What I’m saying is that in the music we make, I do sometimes find that original choice, and I’m always trying to follow to wherever it leads, coz I know it’s coming from a place of truth, or even better – authenticity. Trying to turn otherwise is just totally against my instinct. And I guess that’s the answer to the question.
The Sewers respect your answer, even though it’s rather vague.
Who cares if you respect my answer –
So who’s your warm up band for the festival tour?
Oh yeah, one is an unknown band we’ve been following, Stella Dragon, they’re great, they’re coming with us to Coachella. The other is Neon Waterfall, of whom we’re old fans, it’s gonna be great. And we’re always on the lookout for warm up bands, like remembering where we came from and all that.
Well we’ll be keeping track, and we wish you all the best on your upcoming summer tour.
Great, thanks. We’re waiting for it. It’s gonna be great.
We congratulate you here and now.
Okay great.
The Sewers 