Left Behind Left Within é o título do debute do projeto Traffic A.M. um mix de dark wave, pos punk, e o início da EBM, vide Klinik e adjacentes.
Mas o Traffic A.M. se apega muito mais no que tange ao mundo denso e porque não tenso e cinzento da cold wave do que na emb, e já por este motivo atraia e cativa muito mais este que vos escreve, uma conjunção do passado com o futuro, digestível para poucos mas, vejam bem, só por citar o From The Lion´s Mouth do The Sound merece toda a credibilidade possível.
***** Interview with Traffic A.M. *****
Q. When did Traffic AM start, tell us about the history
Stefan: We met in 2007 for the first time. Micha shared a similar taste in music and so the idea to start a common music project took shape soon. We exchanged ideas via internet and I visited him occasionally on the weekends. Our first song that also defined the Traffic A.M. concept in its existing form was „Filthy Emptiness“. That was in early 2009. We recorded other songs like „Waiting“ and „Ocean On The Screen“ and were asked by Plastic Frog Records to make a full album, which was a great opportunity for us. Everything evolved quite naturally because the chemistry between Micha and me is just right, we always had a common vision concerning our music.
Michael: Because of that it didn't take long to start work on our second album which was released by Seja Records in 2012.
Q: Who are your influences?
Michael: I'm absolutely influenced by the spirit of the 80s, including the aspects of cold war, Thatcherism, industrial pollution and so on. No question my musical influences are defined by New Wave, Post Punk and early Industrial
Stefan: I totally correspond to this. Apart from music, cold war and the Chernobyl incident had an impact on my worldview. The media landscape and urban architecture, alienation and personal experiences are also important aspects for the Traffic A.M. concept. Literature is important, too, Ballard, Kafka, John Brunner and Cormac McCarthy, only to name a few.
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Michael:
The Sound - From The Lions Mouth
The Cure - Pornography
The Klinik - Melting Close & Sabotage
Skinny Puppy - Remission
Chameleons - Script Of The Bridge
Stefan:
The Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
Lycia - A Day In The Stark Corner
Killing Joke - Night Time
Portishead - Portishead
The Doors - The Doors
Q. How do you feel playing live?
Stefan: We were asked several times to do live gigs but unfortunately, we didn't manage to prepare properly. We live in different cities, so it's quite difficult for us to rehearse. But we'll see what time will bring, a concert would be a pleasure for us.
Q. How do you describe TRAFFIC AM´s sounds?
Michael: We try to reflect modern life as we see and feel it. Paranoia, television, concrete buildings, diappointment but also the beauty in all those things. Like a light between the shadows, one could say.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
Stefan: Micha often sent me raw demo recordings that we both change into complete songs. But we also did some songs completely from scratch together. Being together in the studio has always been a creative time for us.
Michael: We both do programming on the songs, drums, synths and so on. But there are some tasks that are split up clearly between us. Stefan writes all of the lyrics and delivers all vocals. I am responsible for mixing and recording. Bass and guitar are played by me on most of the songs. But it's necessary for the music to leave a big space for ideas and experiments, and so we try many things and keep ourselves open-minded.
Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
Stefan: That's hard to answer. I must admit that most albums I buy were originally released in the 70s and 80s. And I'm grateful that so many recordings from that era are made available again.
Some newer artists I like are Automelodi and The Blue Angel Lounge. A highly underrated album is „Here Are The Roses“ by Dragons, but that was released in 2007, so it's not that new any more.
Michael: I also don't spend too much time in listening to new music. Some artists I like are Ascetic, KVB, Circa Tapes, In Death It Ends and Niton Decay (note: Stefan's solo project)
Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
Michael: We both think that most cover versions are redundant. The only thing we planned to do was a cover of a song called „Dismissal“ by Lycia that was never released officially. But we'll see if that will happen.
Stefan: At least we have the artist's permssion to do so, that's important for us to know.
By the way, before Traffic A.M. even existed Micha and I recorded a cover of „The Figurehead“ by The Cure. I don't like that version that much, but it was an important step for our collaboration.
Q: What´s the plans for future....
Michael: We want to do more songs and started working on a mini album entitled „Body Chemistry“. We need to take our time for that so we can't tell when it will be released.
Stefan: We're both very busy at the moment as we had to face a lot of changes in our lives. It's impossible for the moment but it would be great to deliver some stage performance in the future.
Q: Any parting words?
Stefan and Michael: we want to thank Johan from Seja Records for his great support. And our friends and beloved ones for being there for us. That is especially Cindy, Michaela and Rainer.
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Thanks guys
https://www.facebook.com/trafficam
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UU46Yc8lbmOR5WD3bMf4WzmA