The Ocean Collective interview
2018 was a great year for metal and one of the reasons was Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, the 7th album from German progressive band The Ocean Collective. The album came 5 years after their previous album Pelagial. Phanerozoic consists of 2 volumes, the second will be released in 2020. The albums have been described by the band as the missing link between the albums Precambrian and Heliocentric / Anthropocentric.
The Ocean Collective are touring 5 cities across India starting this week, in support of their album. I spoke to guitarist and primary songwriter Robin Staps ahead of the tour about Phanerozoic, Pelagic Records and their expectations from the shows.
Hi Robin, it has been a couple months since the release of Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic. How has the response to the album been?
It’s been absolutely great so far! Fans and journalists seem to love it. We’re surprised by how positive people react to some of the newer songs, even only a few weeks after the album was out people who came out to the shows of our recent European tour seemed to know the new tracks very well. I think the new album “reconsiles” the old The Ocean of “Precambrian” times with the newer The Ocean with Loic Rossetti on vocals (since 2010). The album has a similar vibe as “Precambrian”, but at the same time it features Loic’s vocals. I think it is the album that is closer than any other to representing how I always wanted this band to sound.
The album is the recording debut of bassist Mattias Hägerstrand and drummer Paul Seidel. How did they become a part of the collective?
It’s been organic changes that just happened. 5 years is a long time, and a lot of dispositions of life can change during such a period of time. Luc and Jona, the former guitarist and drummer, had been in the band since 2008, and by the time we released Pelagial, it just didn’t feel right anymore.. not for them, and not for us. Paul Seidel, the new drummer, joined in late 2013, and he is still in the band. He also works for my label Pelagic and it’s hard for me to imagine that there was a time with this band when he was not in it, haha… Mattias, the current bass player, played with me in another band called THE OLD WIND, so we’ve also known for a while. So the only really new guy is David, our new guitar player. The current lineup is the strongest that this band has ever had. We’re all in it for the right reasons, we have grown up and got passed any ego issues and we just really enjoy the privilege that is playing in this band right now… it has never felt as good as now!
How do you get together members of the collective?
It’s usually people I already now or have worked with in one way or another. For example, Mattias, our bass player… I know him through Tomas Hallbom, former vocalist of Breach, with whom I started andother band called The Old Wind in 2014. Mattias was the bass player of that band. Peter Voigtmann, our new synth guy, used to be our lighting guy and has toured with us since 2013. He knew every song we have played in the past 5 years in and out, every detail of it, and he was playing along to the songs on the lighting desk, like a band member, just one that is not on stage with us. Peter is also an excellent drummer (he plays in a band called Heads. out of Berlin), and he has a solo project called Shrivel, where he explores electronic soundscapes. I’m really into that, and so I asked him to contribute some electronics to our new album… and what started as a vague idea quickly solidified, when he got back to us with awesome, tasty soundscapes and textures, that really added something to the songs. So in the end, he was playing over pretty much every part in every song, and his contribution coloured the guitar tone, and hence influenced the overall sound of the record in a significant way… so it was only natural for us to ask him to join the band.
What was the writing and recording process for Phanerozoic I? Are the arrangements finalized before recording or is there improvisation in the studio? What approach do you prefer?
Everything is finalized before we enter the studio. I wrote most of Phanerozoic by myself in Spain in a house by the sea, where I wrote everything since the -centrics. What was different this time was that we actually rehearsed before recording the record.. we rehearsed for a month straight, every day, and really tested the songs in the room, and fine-tuned details, so that by the time we entered the studio in January, everything was 100% clear and ready to go, and I think you can feel that when you listen to the record, it feels less constructed and more immediate somehow. Pelagial was a studio-album. We never played that record as a band, before we recorded it… we only started rehearsing for the tours after the recording session was done.
We recorded at Sundlaugin studios in Iceland, surrounded by overwhelming nature, and that was the perfect setting for making a bleak and cold sounding record. There was a waterfall right behind the studio, a massive snowstorm raging half of the time and everything just naturally fell into place.
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) performs vocals on Devonian: Nascent. How did he become a part of the recording?
We’ve been in touch with Jonas already in 2007, before Precambrian was released, and we were discussing a guest appearance with him back then, but it didn’t work out for timing reasons. Last year, we played a one-off show with Katatonia in Romania, and we revisited that idea… this time with more time to do it. Jonas was down, and so I sent him the pre-productions of this track, for which I could very well imagine his voice. He got back to us with vocal demos that were so stunningly awesome that our jaws dropped, and what you hear on the album is very very close to these initial demos. It was a great experience, this collaboration… that type of experience when you don’t have to explain someone what to do, when it just naturally feels like everything is in the right place.
You also run Pelagic Records. How you manage between band and the label?
We’ve been very active with Pelagic in the past 2 years, the label has grown a lot and we now ha have a catalogue of 128 releases… so this is taking up more and more time, and the reason why we could be so active in the last 2 years is because there was less activity with The Ocean… we took some time off after the Pelagial touring cycle, and that made space for Pelagic. I have to balance it. Pelagic Records wouldn’t exist without The Ocean, but the label is becoming more imoportant and more time-consuming. I run it with Paul, who is also the drummer in The Ocean. Luckily, we can work remote, from our laptops, so we can still keep up with things when we’re on tour… Steve and Dennis at home take care of the logistics while Paul and me are on tour.
2018 was a great year for metal. What were you favourite albums (metal and non metal) that were released in the past year?
SCRAPS OF TAPE – The Will To Burn
ANCESTORS – Suspended In Reflections
LOW – Double Negative
FUTURE USSES- The Existential Haunting
SUMAC – Love In Shadow
ABRAHAM– Look Here Comes The Dark
LLNN – Deads
What’s currently on your playlist?
NEROCHE – The Crooked Mile
LOVE SEX MACHINE – Asexual Anger
MARIKA HACKMAN – We Slept At Last
SCHMECKEFUCHS – Bucht der Träumer set / Fusion 2018 set
SPOTLIGHTS – Seismic
LINGUA IGNOTA – All Bitches Die
KIASMOS – Kiasmos
BA§RK PSYCHOSIS – Codename: Dustsucker
BLUENECK – King Nine
DARK SKY – Othona
You have performed around the world. What have been the memorable shows so far?
The ones in far away places off the beaten track of international touring routes. For example, Quito in Ecuador. It was a small bar show but very passionate crowd, and we had lovely hosts that showed us around and welcomed us at their homes. Or Tomsk, Siberia… super intense show. Santiago de Chile was one of my favourite shows. The last time we played NYC at Studio. I would have never expected that we have fans in Siberia that know the lyrics of our songs. We just played a sold out hometown show in Berlin at my favourite venue in town, Lido, that was also a magic night.
Do you prefer performing at Club shows or on bigger stages?
I definitely prefer small, intimate club shows. There is just usually better, rawer energy and a more intense vibe between band a crowd. That said, we have played some big open air festivals that were super special and rank high in our top 10 of best shows ever played. The 2 times we did Hellfest, Graspop or the first time we played Summer Breeze were some of the best shows we’ve ever played.
You are less than a couple weeks away from your first tour of India. How does it feel?
I’m actually sitting on the plane en route to Kiev and then Delhi, while answering this interview. It feels great! We’re tired from the past few weeks of shipping thousands of The Ocean wooden box sets, and the Christmas shows we have just finished here in Germany… but very happy to have the chance to escape the European winter now, and hang out in India! Loic, David and I are meeting up with our friend Craig Murray in Jodhpur to shoot a video clip for Permian: The Great Dying, before tour start… so that should be cool.
What are you looking forward to at the shows?
I’m super curious how it will be. We’ve only ever been to India once before, we were invited to play a festival in Bangalore but ended up in a shitty situation, didn’t play the festival and only did a last minute club show instead. I have been travelling through Kerala many years ago though, so I have some idea of what India is like. And I love it. We’re looking forward to meet new people and play music and party, and eat epic curry feasts every morning, lunch and afternooN!
What can fans expect from your set?
We are playing a mixed setlist of older and newer material, with a focus on the new album, Phanerozoic… but also some Pelagial, Heliocentric and Precambrian songs.
Thanks for answering all our questions. Do you have any final words?
I think you’ve pretty much covered it all, thanks for the exposure and your time!
The tour kicks off on Thursday, 10th January in Delhi. Check the poster below for more details. Buy your Tickets here
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