The Erkonauts: Performing Under Pressure

It feels like I Want It To End, the third album from Swiss prog-punk metallers THE ERKONAUTS, was a long time coming. After the initial success of back to back albums in 2016 and 2017, listeners had to wait three years to hear what the band would do next. When it finally arrived it did not disappoint. The album is an impressive 40 minutes of forward-thinking music which is somehow both catchy and progressive. However, according to singer/bassist Ales Campanelli, the band’s founder and songwriter, things were touch and go for a while.

“Honestly, maybe one and a half years ago I was really wondering ‘what am I doing? Is it worth it? Should I continue?’ I know that most musicians say ‘yeah everything is fine… everything is awesome…’ but that was not the case. I was a little bit disillusioned, a little bit disappointed, angry, plus [I’d had] personal tragedies. So I was really wondering should I keep going? And then I did.”

Fortunately for us he did. Things came together pretty quickly after that. “We worked extremely fast on composing the music. That meant that when the music was done we were directly in the studio. So I had to write the lyrics, and write and sing the vocal parts directly there, and that was extremely stressful.”

The added pressure turned out to be a sort of blessing in disguise for Campanelli. “Songs like Caravaggio, if I think about them too much then I hate my voice and I don’t do it. So there was no time to question, because it’s too sensitive for me, I’m very self conscious about that. It Could Be Over Soon and Caravaggio are songs that needed the urgency to be made, that’s why they’re more sincere, more personal. If I took too much time to think about it then I wouldn’t have done them. I would have gone to the things that I know I’m comfortable with.”

The result is a record Campanelli has described as his most personal, most honest, darkest work. Musically it draws comparisons to bands as varied and exciting as GOJIRA and SYSTEM OF A DOWN, but some may be surprised to hear that Campanelli doesn’t spend too much time listening to modern metal bands.

“If I had to pick a favourite band, it would be THE SCORPIONS – of course more the 70s stuff they did. I really like that they were trying a lot of different things. I’m not really into the ballad stuff, but what they did in the 70s really influenced me a lot. A lot of 70s bands like URIAH HEEP, those are really bands that I admire a lot. I don’t listen to a lot of music when I’m working because otherwise it stays in my head. Most of the bands I listen to the most I’ve been listening to my whole life.”

It’s a similar story for Campanelli‘s lyrical inspirations, where he again cites 70s rockers including Ronnie James Dio and SKYCLAD‘s Martin Walkyier. He also draws a lot of inspiration from classic literature. “I like great authors, like I think everybody does – the classics. I really enjoy them and they’re not classics for no reason. Personally I’m a huge fan of Lewis Carroll. Alice In Wonderland is maybe my favourite story ever. I love the Sherlock Holmes novels – pretty much a lot of English authors from that time. I’m really happy reading them and re-reading them, that’s my go to place.”

On I Want It To End this influence is most obvious on the album’s third track, Five Orange Seeds. The song is a heavy, GOJIRA-esque rager which takes it’s name from the Sherlock Holmes story ‘Five Orange Pips.’ It’s also been accompanied by a rich, animated music video which depicts the story.

It’s clear THE ERKONAUTS have pushed themselves technically on I Want It To End. Campanelli himself is responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping moments of technicality, particularly in the form of some impressive slapped bass-lines. “I’ve always seemed to pay a lot of attention to the way things should be done. I’ve been doing that for a long time, but recently, I feel more comfortable trying new stuff.”

The record also reunited Campanelli with an earlier ERKONAUTS drummer, Kevin Choiral. “When Phil Rudd came back to ACDC, Brian Johnson said ‘it’s like wearing an old pair of comfortable jeans’ – that’s exactly what it was for us. We’d been playing together for maybe ten years, maybe more, so when he came back it was very easy.”

For all their technicality however, Campanelli stresses the importance of not losing sight of what matters. “When I listen to bands that are really brilliant technically, it starts to feel like school after a while. Like once I’m done hallucinating for five minutes, then the rest of the show I’m saying ‘oh yeah they’re using that, that’s very hard...’ I’m not listening to the music anymore. So we try to keep ‘the song.’ That’s where the punk influences come from – if you have to explain it then it wasn’t clear! We like to keep the focus, keep the songs short, if necessary – if there’s a longer song we’re not gonna cut it – but we try to keep things to the point! If it’s technical there it is but that’s not the goal.”

Like so many, Campanelli can’t wait to share the songs on I Want It To End with a live audience. For now however, he’s just glad it’s out there for the world to hear. “People seem to like it, which means the world to me. Right now I’m in a better place, obviously, and I’m really happy to have something that really expresses the moment [I was in] because that’s a moment I will not be able to recreate. It was a state of mind I never had before, I think it’s good to be honest about it. Now it’s out and it really feels like I’m a different person now. When I listen to it and I’m like “oh my God I was not happy” and it makes me laugh now. Now it’s all good, it’s all happiness – it’s out, people like it and I’m relieved.”

I Want It To End is out now via self-release.

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