Interviews: Time,The Valuator

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Post-Hardcore band Time, The Valuator, from Germany. Check out this band and give them a like on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Phil: It was honestly just making jokes about band names til Justin (ex-guitarist) and I came across "Time, the Destroyer" which had that really METAL feeling to it. We wanted something more unreveiling, so we tried to replace the last word and ended with Time, The Valuator.

2. Why did you want to play this genre? 

Yunus: Because this is just my genre and I listen to music like this every day. I think I can speak for the rest of the band that we want to create music that we would jam ourselves among our favorite bands.

Felix: I Love the mix of melodic and technical songs. This genre give us many possibilities to express our musical creativity almost without any boundaries.

Rene: I always liked the modern approach on Progressive Rock and Metal but also the catchiness of Alternative Rock. To be honest, I just write what I'd like to listen to myself, so it can be a bunch of influences from different genres thrown in there. That's why our album is going to be very diverse.

Phil: Essentially all I wanted to do from the beginning was to create something fresh and not overdone, getting out of your comfort zone, you know? The plan was to write intelligent rock music which also stayed connectable to most people, although we just wanted to write what we like ourselves the most.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed? 

Yeah we were all hanging around alot, coming from the same area, playing shows with different bands. When we saw that we were unhappy with how our projects were going, some of us left and wanted to make a fresh start.

4. Each band member favourite band? 

Felix: There are so many great Bands so it's tough to choose, so I just mostly jump through the genres Pop-Punk, Metalcore and Rock. There are two bands that impressed me continously and those are After The Burial and Born Of Osiris. Great sound and great live shows.

Rene: Tough for me, since I love a lot of bands equally. If I had to choose, it would be Radiohead.

Phil: I agree with Rene alot on this, lots of love for some bands but I was connected to Peter Gabriel's music at the age of 3 and his music still speaks to me the most.

Yunus: I enjoy a lot of bands from the modern progressive movement. If i had to pick my favourite one, it would be Northlane.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Yunus: Bands like Periphery and Animals as Leaders but also bands like Radiohead, Incubus and Bonobo. 

Rene: The ability to amplify feelings because of an arrangement of notes, an important part of how music works. I've always been most intrigued by music that just let me get lost in it, like a good book, movie or show. I really like melodies to tell a story and that is what I want to do. I want to tell stories through sound.

Phil: I know this is a boring thing to say, but for me the most influential thing is life. I write my parts about what's bugging me, including the big and the little questions. That way I can stay authentic at what I'm doing lyrically. Music wise it's probably a mix of what made us the musicians we are today, so definitely a lot of bands from different ages, but that's more subconscious. Actively we're just writing what sounds fucking good to us.

6. Where was your last gig? 

Yunus: Olgas Rock Oberhausen with my other band Ankerkette.

Rene: Mine was my old bands farewell show in summer 2016 which also was an EP release show of our buddies The Pariah. It was in Druckluft, a small but nice venue in Oberhausen, very Punk Rock.

Phil: The last full show I played, was with my old band Neberu in the middle of 2015 in Berlin. I did some guest performances since then. Shoutout to Breathe Atlantis!

7. Where would you like to act? 

Rene: Around the world! I've never been touring and I have huge respect of by hearsay, but I definitely want to do it. Touring the US would be a blast one day.

Yunus: Touring the US would be awesome, yeah. Or maybe Vans Warped Tour.

Phil: Anywhere, yeah. I've toured Europe two years back, it was a small and exhausting tour, but really worth it. Send us anywhere! If we can, we're going.

8. Whom would you like to feature with? 

Yunus: Chris Baretto, Lukas Magyar and Aaron Marshall.

Felix: I'd like to work with Dallas Green. I love the emotional depth of his voice and lyrics.

Rene: Dustin Kensrue, Hayley Williams, Ashe O' Hara, Anthony Green, Lynn Gunn, to name a few.

Phil: I'd love to work with Matt Healy of the 1975. His writing is just really original to me and in some parts a little influential. Other than that I really like the unique voices like Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Chino Moreno of Deftones and, of course, Peter Gabriel. 

9. Whom not? 

Felix: Nazis 

Rene: Any kind of extremist.

Phil: Any kind of rock/popstar that is incapable of writing for themselves. They're solely a product of marketing, not of their own creativity.

Yunus: Lars Ulrich

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

Felix: 10 min before every show I have stage fright, but it dissppears after a second of the first song. My tip: Stage fright is normal, it is even helpful to stay focused. It is like jumping into cold water. 

Rene: Oh yes, I was even told how weird I moved at my first shows with my former bands. I was so nervous that I fucked stuff up and my derailing facial expressions gave it away easily. But over the years it became better. Connect with your band mates on stage. It really helps if you are friends, so it becomes more like a fun rehearsal to you. Also don't fear that someone might hear mistakes you make. It's a huge wall of sound mostly so a small fuckup would barely be noticed.

Yunus: I just try to have fun with my bandmates and an important issue is to eat enough before stage fright hits because I can't eat with this weird feeling in my stomach so I'm pretty fucked after the gig. 

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Yunus: Skyharbor, because I rarely heard such a well executed mix of a variety of genres in one band. Guiding Lights is an immersive experience, totally amazing.

Felix: There were many bands that inspired me. In the recent years it was After the Burial. They were the first band I heard that incorporated 8-string guitars into their style. At that time, it was very new to me and impressed me a lot.

Rene: Bands that continue reinventing themselves. In that case, Radiohead, Muse and Thrice are big influences on my songwriting and approach on music. What inspires me about them is that they never lose their identity even though they change their style and still create something fresh and unique yet the delivery of emotion is always on point. It's a huge objective for me as a musician to develop my own unique style that can be recognized beyond genre boundaries.

Phil: Well for me it would be Peter Gabriel, Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson and The 1975. I consider them true artists.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

Yunus: A fan asked me to give her access backstage so she can walk into the Eskimo Callboy tour bus.

Felix: "Would you give me your guitar?" 

Phil: Well there was a girl at the age of 14/15 at one of my old bands shows and she wanted to have her boobs signed. Of course I did not do that. For me personally it didn't get any weirder than that.

13. What do you think of your fans? 

Felix: I am overwhelmed and grateful every time I hear about people listening to our music and love it just as much as we do.

Rene: There's a huge enthusiasm that comes across the comments and the words. It's my first time writing songs for a signed band that does music videos, so the feedback is overwhelming to me in a good way. 

The greatest moment is when someone is intrigued by our music on a really emotional level. I always enjoyed listening to music that could do that to me, so I'm even more motivated to write when people can connect to it.

Phil: Everytime I don't feel like writing anything new, they remind me of how they're so grateful for what we do. They keep us going.

Yunus: I love our fans. They're pretty lovely and I'm thankful for all those warm words.

14. What do you think of our site? 

We really like that you bring up unknown underground artist and give them some exposure. There's some gems in the music scene that need recognition.

15. Something to add?

Thank you for featuring us, it's a pleasure! We are working hard on our first album to release it this year. It's going to be awesome!