ASSEMBLENT – Interview with Daniel

Assemblent is one of my favorite up coming new bands. They are all so talented along with their cool and brutal vocals, “Sérgio Marques”. The band is coming originally from Portugal, and I think that whenever you hear the name of this country, it remind us immediate of one of the most Portuguese successful bands, “Moonspell”, but our band is little different.
Our humble and down-to-earth guitarist of this unique band, has agreed to do this interview with us, despite his full-time schedule, yet he was very generous and put us on his time table!

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Tell us few words about Assemblent…

In 1998 me, Carlos (the bass player) and César (former drummer) decided to form a covers band, named Dawn, to have some fun. Assemblent born from Dawn, in 2002, consequence of our will to express our ideas and feelings to everyone. In 2003 we record our first demo with three songs, and in 2004 we recorded our first álbum, still not edited. The current line-up of Assemblent is: Sérgio Marques- vocals; Daniel Campos- guitars; Carlos Santos- Bass : Pedro – keyboards, and Nuno Baiăo Drums.

Why the name Assemblent?

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The name Assemblent means a gathering. In our case, a gathering of five people, with different personalities, but with a common goal – metal.

When did you start playing guitar?

I started playing guitar in 1997.

Did any band or one player motivate you to play?

There are many bands that motivated me for the guitar. When I started playing, Nirvana was a big boost for me, the songs were easy to play. At the time, we were all very into the grunge scene so my first motivating player would be Kurt Cobain. But I always strived to know more and search my real path and nowadays my influences go far from grunge. The band: Moonspell, for releasing the darker and heavy side within me, the player: Bill Steer and Mike Amott from Carcass (but there are many other players and bands that caused a deep impact in the player and musician that I am today).

When did you decide to make music your life?

Music is my paralel activity, we are still setting our path, discover our place in the music world. We always took the band seriously, and we always took every step with our feet on the ground.

What would you be if you weren't a guitarist?

Im currently studying Environmental Engineering, so I probavly would be an Engineer

What difficulty you (as a band) have faced so far?

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We still face some difficulties in doing shows, here in Portugal there aren´t many places that dedicate their venues to heavy sounds, and at the current time it has been a quest to find a label to edit our álbum, but we are working very hard to solve this problem. The biggest problem yet faced was when we lost our original drummer, it was very hard to us, but we are recovering well and happy with the new member, Nuno.

Was it easy at all to record a demo?

The first demo that we recorded, in 2003, was a pretty good studio effort. Things seemed easy, but the final result wasnt that good, we were still a bit green. The álbum, in 2004, was definitly hard, the risk was higher, and we wanted to make the best that we could do at the time. I think we achieved it with a big help of our producer Miguel Fonseca (former portuguese metal icon from Thormenthor and currently with Bizarra Locomotiva, MOFO and Plastica), though there are always some things you wished they went another way, or better done.

I see that you have the taste of your fellow Portugese Band, Moonspell…

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Yes, we have Fernando Ribeiro (Moonspell's vocals), singing in a track called Silent Cries. It was a dream come true. Moonspell is the missing link between us, and we decide to invite him to sing as a way to pay tribute to a band that we all liked. We were very proud of ourselves when he listened to our tracks and agreed in colaborating with us.

Who helps in the Progress of writting and composing?

All the writting and composing on this album were all made by me. But the rest of the guys always help me to materialize my ideas so I always think of the songs as a joint effort.

Have you performed outside Portugal?

Not yet, we are hoping that the album brakes our frontiers.

What is the exact genre of Assemblent?

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Assemblent is Metal, it isnt any particular genre, it has a taste of doom, goth, and death, being this last genre the most present one, in its melodic approach.

What do you do guys away from Assemblent?

Well, as I said before, Im studying and Im also the merchandiser for Moonspell here in Portugal, Sérgio works with sound and image, Carlos also studies, Anthropology, as well as Pedro, Geography, and Nuno is a session player.

Are there any side project for any of the Assemblent Members?

Sérgio plays in another band called Urban Sins, Nuno plays with some portuguese artists from other genres, and Pedro plays in an orchestra.

Where do you wish to perform the most?

I think, for now the biggest venues here in Portugal, like Lisbon Coliseum and Porto Coliseum, but my favourite place would be Hard Club.

How's the metal scene in Portugal?

There isnt anyits a bit sad. We dont have any circuit for the bands and I think even the bands dont help each other that muchits like save yourselves politic. So there isnt much to say about that

What are Assemblent Planes for the futur?

Release the album and give as many shows as we can.

Final Word…

Thanks a lot for your interest on us, keep supporting metal and take care

Thank you very much for your time Daniel, take care you too!

The band official Links:
www.assemblent.com
www.myspace.com/assemblent