The Inquisition: 017.Long Distance Calling

1. How did you came up with the name of the band? 

We were on a festival as fans and were waiting for Tool to play. In the change over break we saw a video on one of the video walls with a song called "Long Distance Call" by the French band Phoenix. At this time we just started the band and were looking for a band name and once we saw this title on the screen we found or band name :) I think the name really fits well to our band's sound. 

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

Well mainly it's really jamming around but sometimes it also happens that somebody comes up with a riff and then we take it from there. So there is no formula, but we are pretty good at jamming I guess. That's why we just did an instrumental live jam EP. We entered the studio with nothing (no riffs, no parts, nothing) and just jammed around and recorded it. The vibe is really cool. The EP is called "Nighthawk" and can be purchased via www.longdistancecalling.de/shop from August 1st on. 

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

That's totally different for everybody in the band. We have a lot of different influences and everybody like different bands, haha. I think we all can agree on Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, maybe Anathema and Opeth as well, but we are very open when it comes to influences. The whole life is an influence on everything we are doing of course. 

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

For me personal I would say "Mer De Noms" or "Thirteenth Step" from A Perfect Circle or "Lateralus" from Tool. I know it's more than one, haha. 

5. What's the first record you've ever bought ? 

I think it was "Extreme Agression" from Kreator in 1989, I loved the CD even though I don't listen a lot to metal anymore but I still like Pantera, old Metallica and some other stuff. 

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with ? 

A Perfect Circle / Tool 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Definitely. Internet is a great and terrible thing at the same time. All bands lose money because of the download and streaming thing but on the other hand it really helps to spread the name at least. We were really surprised when we played Athens the first time and the show was sold out which we never expected. 

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like spotify? 

This is difficult and you can discuss this like forever and you will never find the "truth". Like I said, the payment for music nowadays is pretty poor compared to like 20 years ago, but for example we did the "Nighthawk" jam EP (see above) as a pledge music campaign (crowdfunding), and this is definitely a really cool thing. Of course it's cool that you can listen to music like on Spotify, pretty much all the time but it doesn't help the artist. Buy a CD/vinyl/shirt and come to the show, that really helps a band and you can feel the connection between the band and the fans. If nobody pays for music anymore, there won't be many good bands anymore sometime soon, because you need money to have the freedom and time to focus on your art. 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Hopefully on stage :) 

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Totally. Of course it's much cooler if you have a vinyl in your hands, but the album artwork is still part of the whole "package" and the visual aspect of the idea behind the album. The album artwork should be as good as the music. 

11. What is you favorite album cover? 

"Dark Side Of The Moon" / Pink Floyd 

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

I am still going for CDs, I am to lazy for vinyl, haha. Yeah, vinyl is increasing pretty well, we also feel this, and I think it's because the people who buy it are the ones who still appreciate art and most of them don´t buy CDs anymore and vinyl instead. Hopefully those people will survive, haha. 

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band? 

There's tons of it really. We played a lot of shows during the last 7 years and we had everything from a broken tire on the nightlight, to missing a guy from the tour in a city (because he was staying with a chick), crazy shows in Russia or simply the fact to play with bands that you look up to like Dredg, Opeth, Anathema etc and we appreciate all this a lot!

Long Distance Calling recently released an EP called "Nighthawk" through PledgeMusic and it's going to be up for sale from August 1st.

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