Amnesiak – Interview
One of the most interesting bands to come into the dark alternative scene of London and beyond, Amnesiak presented themselves last year with a powerful debut album ‘Arkfiend’, unforgettable stage appearances, and haunting visuals. Yet, Fransceso Fonte and Grace Wilson are much more than great musicians, they are very interesting people who love writing and promoting good music with abundant dedication and energy. We had the chance to sit down with them in their living room which felt like a piano as the furniture is all black on white walls making me think of a piano and its black keys. We talked about killers, 60s music, their plans for the future and their album. We carried on talking about bands and gigs, festivals and club nights. The future definitely looks bright for this band and if by now you are not familiar with them, then this interview will persuade you to check them out.
“They told me if you do alternative music you’re not going to make it“
Blauerosen: Hi guys thank you for joining me in this interview. First of all, congratulations on the release of your beautiful debut album ‘Arkfiend’ last year. Could you tell us a little bit about the band’s name and why you chose it? In terms of the album, what inspired it?
Francesco: Thank you. The name has a mixture of meanings, and this is also true about the logo. There are so many symbols attached to the logo. We have been inspired by religions, esotericism, the behaviour of humanity throughout History, our place in the universe in the way ancient people viewed all this. The name of the band refers to the way we have forgotten our connection to the place we live in, which is just a small planet in the infinite universe or even multiverse. We forget that we are just a small part of it rather than the center of it. We seem to experience this loss of memory, amnesia, and forget about the fact that we should respect each other. Taking into account the state of the world right now, Amnesiak is talking about killers and wars, humans taking away human lives, giving into something that is not part of us – our evil side, and is standing against all that. Amnesiak is about loss of consciousness and putting on a costume and playing a part that we shouldn’t ever! This summarises the band’s concept and what Grace’s lyrics talk about. Together, we try to create the right atmosphere for each track.
Grace: We also write about crimes, and the fact that the victim’s life is only remembered for a short period of time, the media covers this story, and then they are forgotten. We research true crime and are interested in what goes through the killers’ minds and stimulates them. We want to give meaning to people who have been forgotten.
Francesco: For ‘Arkfriend’ we wanted to create a concept album and given the dark nature of the subject we think that the seven tracks were enough so that we didn’t end up with a very long album.
Blauerosen: You both had careers in music before Amnesiak, and I was wondering whether you found it difficult to let go of any constraints/influences before starting Amnesiak?
Grace: As far as I am concerned, I was doing dance music which I didn’t want to do. I was under a management and had a contract and was told that “if you do alternative music you’re not going to make it“. So now I am writing what I want to write about without worrying about ‘making it’. There are no difficulties now, I’m really enjoying it.
Francesco: For me it is quite different as I was always doing something I really wanted to do rather than consider signing to a record label …. For my previous project, 8snake I have been experimenting with goth, punk and progressive which is very weird and came quite spontaneously. I hadn’t realised I was doing something like that until I read some reviews and found myself in the description. Amnesiak was then challenging because when we decided to put the band together and Grace told me ‘I want to write about crimes‘ and I was like ‘ok…right’ and I had never been watching crime or horror movies or anything like that.
Grace (laughing): He hates it!
Francesco: …and I never had to write something that could be related to horror movies so that was quite challenging and interesting at the same time. So I thought ‘Let’s do it’.
Grace: Would you actually say that you like horror films now?
Francesco: No.
(everyone laughs)
Francesco: I can watch it though. Before, I completely refused to watch any of that, but now I can go through it.
Blauerosen: Now you’re forcing me to ask which was the latest horror film you watched.
Francesco: It was the one I watched on the plane while going to LA. ‘The Conjuring’. I watched the whole thing, so when we got there I was supposed to sleep, as one is supposed to do…well, I couldn’t. I was thinking ‘Why did I do that to myself?’.
Grace: It was good though, you enjoyed it, even though you act like you didn’t?
Francesco: Yeah…yeah…I would say it was interesting…
Blauerosen: In your gig at the Archway Tavern in London, we had the chance to enjoy the performative element of your music. You were all wearing masks on stage, and Grace, you were transformed into a sort of oracle. How important is the theatrical element for Amnesiak?
Grace: Thank you, I think it’s very important because I can’t really imagine with that kind of music going on stage wearing a t-shirt and jeans. It needs much more than that.
Francesco: I really need to impersonalise so that I can get into the atmosphere that we want to create, because even the way I play the drums is not the same as in rock and metal. I try to play in a way that has a more tribal character. The mask helps a lot imagining myself as part of a ceremony.
Blauerosen: Talking about visuals, I want to praise you for your video clips, and your album cover, the storytelling, the production, the symbolism. Could you talk a bit about your inspirations?
Francesco: We have to mention Darren Toms from Resonance Logistics who has played a big role when it comes to our visuals. We worked on the image of the band with him. We were looking to incorporate alchemy, esotericism and horror into our visual identity.
Grace: Our album cover is the work of Daria Endresen, a photographer from Iceland. She took the original shot of the man pictured in the cover and more elements were then added to it.
Francesco: We thought that this actually fit the music and the concept of the album. When it comes to the videos, we worked with Richard Oakes from Dark Fable Media. He has been amazing and has also been closely collaborating with Darren. We have been lucky to have met these two people and to create a strong impact with our visuals. For the video of our previous single ‘Flamed In Solitude’ which was about Joan of Ark, Richard was instrumental into putting together our idea of talking about the similarities between the 16th century and now if one thinks about the war and the mess and the patriarchal model. For me this video is very strong and manages to combine the old and the new, touching on topics that are still relevant today. So these two people are not just collaborators but very important people for us.
Blauerosen: I’ve been to two other events you organize in London, ‘LAVA’ and ‘Sunday Lullaby’ and I can’t tell you how relaxed I feel every time I attend these nights. I feel them as a gathering between friends in a city that doesn’t promote friendship. You are both great hosts, something rare for band members and I needed to tell you this. But apart from that you seem committed to promoting good music and a good vibe. Tell us a little bit more about these events.
Francesco: ‘Sunday Lullaby’ started in 2015 in a time when there were not many alternative club events happening and it was the idea of my best friend Steffy. It is more focused on chilling alternative music of any gender. For LAVA I was inspired by another older club night I used to do, always with Steffy which was dedicated to Rammstein which also went well but after some weird rumours started spreading about Till (frontman of Rammstein), we didn’t want to be involved in any of that so we stopped the event for a year. Then Covid happened.. after that I came out with the idea of LAVA inspired by a Ministry track, thinking how I missed an industrial club night.
Blauerosen: Last weekend you performed live as part of a great line-up and the event has a free entry. I feel I should praise you for doing this too in a city that seems to be so ‘hungry’ for money. I feel there is more to this choice of no charge. Is this the case?
Francesco: We have a good relationship with the promoter and we are not performing to make money out of this. We are just very happy to play live.
Blauerosen: What kind of music are you listening to now?
Grace: Oh right now. I’m a very 60s person so I like The Doors, Cramps, Sex Pistols. Right now it’s The Doors.
Francesco: I don’t really have much time to listen to music as I am working on a new album for 8snake. I am currently listening to Tool and Killing Joke mainly. Obviously, meditation and ambient music is always part of my life.
Grace: …and Mark Lanegan.
Francesco: And Mark Lanegan of course.
Blauerosen: You just said that as if you already knew my next question! I saw on your social media that you recently visited Mark Lanegan’s grave and I wanted to ask you what impact did his music have on you and whether he has influenced Amnesiak in any way.
Grace, Francesco: I think he has. Yes!
Grace: I just love how he writes, his voice, his lyrics, are so meaningful. He was one of the best voices for me, after Jim Morrison.
Francesco: What I find incredibly interesting in his music, is the simplicity of the lyrics. Minimal, essential, super amazing sound and even the instrumental parts sound like poetry. I think after Jim Morrison, he has been my main inspiration.
Blauerosen: Francesco you had another project 8snake. Is that still active?
Francesco: It is still active despite the fact that the band faced many difficulties. For this band, I have been working with a drummer for 13 years but then he became very busy with his day job and focused on his career so I had to look for another drummer. To be honest with you he was so good that it was very difficult to replace him. We released the song ‘The Unreliable‘ in 2023 and together with ‘Another End‘ which was released in 2022, where Grace provides the vocals, they were supposed to be part of the new album. This drummer is not in the band anymore and I thought that it was about time I wrote some new stuff. In the meantime, we decided to put Amnesiak together. Together with Douglas Wheeler (bass) so hopefully by the end of this year we will be able to release the whole album.
Blauerosen: London is experiencing a crisis in its nightlife and gigs seem to be quite sporadic. What challenges does this create for a new band like Amnesiak?
Grace: Yes I think it does, but it also seems that new events come up.
Francesco: It definitely affects us but we also don’t suffer much from this as we are focusing more on cities outside of London. In London, the cost to book a venue is MAD. There is a great effort in putting on an alternative/underground event, and if one already needs to spend so much money on the venue there’s nothing left for advertising, bands etc.
Grace: Exactly.
Blauerosen: In your debut album there is one cover of ‘White Rabbit’ originally from Jefferson Airplane. What was it about this song that made you want to cover it?
Grace: I’ve always loved it and Jefferson Airplane have always been a great influence for me, and I always thought that it would be good to make it sound more goth, more haunting so I asked Fran ‘Should we do it?’ and he said ‘Yeah we can totally do that’ and so we did and I think it sounds amazing.
Francesco: We play a different, longer version during our live shows.
Blauerosen: Finally, we know that in April you will be opening for Nosferatu and congratulations in advance for being part of this line-up. If you were to create the perfect line-up with any band in the world, who else would be in it and where would you like this to happen?
Grace: Probably, Chelsea Wolfe, Messa…hmmm do they have to be alive?
Blauerosen: Well, let’s stick with musicians/bands that are still alive.
Francesco: Dead Can Dance
Grace: Even Bauhaus I would love to be performing with them.
Blauerosen: That would be a great line-up indeed. Thank you guys for a great chat and for your sincerity.
Francesco/Grace: Thank you for these very interesting questions. We really enjoyed this!
The next LAVA event is on Friday February 13 at the Big Red with free entry while Amnesiak will perform live on Sunday February 15 at the Dublin Castle.
Blaue Rosen 