A Q&A with Non Talkers
Marco Brantner from country acoustic Portuguese-Belgian combo Non Talkers…
How did you get the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
‘Pendulum of Time’ is the most soulful song of the EP and we thought it would make sense to use it as the EP title. This song acts like an introspective on the entirety of your life on earth and that’s why we find it so powerful. Especially when you come to a certain age you really can relate to it, everybody already looked back and made a balance of what their life was until this moment and travelled in thoughts of what it could have been when other choices would have been made.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
The hardest part was to choose the songs to be included, define our sound and image. We had a big help from the drummer and producer Hugo Danin, who mentored us on that process.
Who did Hugo Danin bring to it?
Hugo Danin produced it and João Bessa recorded, mixed and mastered it. Hugo is a top drummer but also very experienced and skilled in music and João Bessa is one of the greatest sound engineers in Portugal. Hugo gathered a team of outstanding musicians who worked on the arrangements and sounds for the songs and Bessa pulled out the sound quality that Hugo envisioned.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
I think mostly the listener should enjoy an EP that is recorded organically with beautiful instruments that support greatly our genuine feelings in the songs.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Most of the times our songs start with a riff or melody and after we try to think of lyrics we feel will suit the mood and vibe of the track.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
Our influences when it comes to writing songs are way too many and we can’t even tell exactly where the inspiration comes from. About defining the sound for our EP we felt that we wanted a sound that was very acoustic based but with some nice subtle modern sounds and we’ve listened to great artists like Mumford and Sons, Ryan Adams, The Lumineers, etc.
When the world is back to normal where would like to tour, and why?
We like to travel a lot, so there are plenty of countries where we would like to perform. We’ve never been to the United States for example, where a lot of our influences come from, so that’s definitely a country where we would like to tour one day.
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
If they would be looking for the catchiest song to get a good vibe I would say ‘Fire Burning in my Veins”, if they would be looking for something more soulful and deep I would recommend ‘Pendulum of Time’.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
We love what we do and we feel very blessed for being able to enjoy music. We just look forward to performing some great shows and keep recording music.
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
We hope you’ve enjoyed the show and hopefully see you soon again.
For more info visit: facebook.com/nontalkersofficial
