Dremora - Female Fronted Symphonic Gothic Metal - Official Band News

Interview W/Tom Kampert of Dremora:
Current mood: excited
Category: Music

This is my exclusive interview w/Dremora Drummer Thomas Kampert who is the band’s leader, and founding member…..Dremora is a hot new, symphonic metal band on the rise which I strongly suggest you check out.   Dremora has a great sound that is all their own.

1.  Rock Zone: - What year was Dremora formed?

TK: - It was around August 2006 when the name was chosen, but I started putting the idea together in April of that year.

2.  Rock Zone: - How did you meet Juliana Novo and come to form Dremora?

TK: - We met on The Nightwish Forums during the time, they were auditioning a new Singer.  I posted a demo version of the song “Alone” there that had another girl from Sweeden singing on it.  Juliana liked the song and we started talking about collaborating.

3.  Rock Zone: - I understand that Juliana is no longer with the band…..Can you discuss why she is no longer with the band?  Have you found a replacement yet or even began your search for a new Singer yet?

TK: - Well there were several reasons.  The main reason was the fact that she was in Brazil, and I was here in Los Angeles putting the band together.  After a year she was still there, and I didn’t see that situation ever changing.  Dremora had to pass up several opportunities because of it.  I decided it was time to switch gears and only work with local people from now on.  So the answer to the question is yes I have been working with others since the end of 2007.  One of them happens to be a very promising female singer.  We haven’t made any official announcements yet about the new lineup or anything else really until we decide as a band with 100% certainty what is going on.

4.  Rock Zone: - You are the band’s Drummer, Keyboard Player, and songwriter…….Which of those roles are you most comfortable with?

TK: - As a Performer I have played both guitar and drums live as well as sang a few times.  I’ve always been a songwriter, and prefer to play drums.  So those are my two main roles in the band as of today.  Actually I have three, the third being male guttural vocals but this is likely only for recordings and not at live shows.  As for Keyboards I have only dabbled with them to help with songwriting.  At least for now.

5.  Rock Zone: - I would describe Dremora as Synthonic Metal…..Would you say that it’s a lot more difficult to write songs in that vein than your typical hard rock/metal tune?

TK: - I think writing any style of symphonic music is very challenging, and that is probably why you don’t really hear a whole lot of it in modern bands.  Composing the orchestration is actually one of my favorite elements of songwriting and something I have been continuing to study in more depth.  I really enjoy the extra creativity of having a full orchestra available at my fingertips.  It is the extra challenging aspect of symphonic metal that most attracts me to it over “standard 4 - piece ” stuff.  Not to say the band won’t ever release anything that isn’t symphonic.

6.  Rock Zone: - I understand that in 2008 that you plan to have Dremora start touring…..Once that happens do you plan to make it more of a band effort? Or will Dremora continue to center around you and the Lead Singer?

TK: - It is definitely a group effort from now on.  Our main goal for 2008 is to get the rest of the people we need, and to begin doing live shows.  When we can accomplish this goal depends on first finding the right people, getting more original songs completed, and then rehearsing everything until we are blue in the face.  We are not going to rush into it and we want to be totally ready to kick some ass at our debut show.  If it takes a few more months for everything to be perfect then that is ok with me.

7.  Rock Zone: - Who were the bands/musicians who had the greatest influence on you?

TK: - In my earlt years of metal definitely Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera were my top major influences.  In modern times the most influential symphonic metal bands have been Nightwish, Epica, and After Forever.  However I like so many different kinds of metal, Gothic, and other kinds of music all for their different elements.  For example, some people may have heard Tristania-style vocal melodies, or Elis-style piano influences on “Martyrs” and they wouldn’t have been wrong as I listen to those bands quite often too.  My influences truly come from everything I listen to.

8.  Rock Zone: - How did you come to name the band Dremora?

TK: - Well I was attempting to combine two words “Dream” and “Aura” together but other bands already used most of those combinations.  So I was looking in the “D” section of some online word list to get more ideas starting with those letters and “Dreamora” jumped out at me.  I liked it right away and it made my list of favorite names.  It made the final cut because in one word it conveys to me the imagery of a darker style of female fronted metal.

9.  Rock Zone: - Have you ever considered contacting film studios to feature your music on film soundtracks?

TK: - Yes actually I have considered this especially living in a a major film-making City and in fact I have a friend that just signed a song deal with a movie.  However, I do not think anything on “Martyrs” is really setup for that.  I definitely have things on the plate for our next album that would fit great in a film or game soundtrack.  Lets hope there is some interest from the industry when the next album is released.

10.  Rock Zone: - Why did you choose to only release a 4 track (EP) rather than a full length CD?

TK: - Good question as I have asked myself this too because it was a very expensive and time-consuming ordeal to go through for 23 minutes of material.  The main reason initially was that I wanted to get something out in 2007 to start building a name for the band, to have something in hand to promote with, and most importantly to help find other musicians to join.  It’s too hard to describe this sound to someone, and without a pro package people don’t take you as a serious act.  It is easier if you have a CD to hand out.  One major hurdle in today’s world is that most magazines, radio stations, webzines, record labels, etc will not review or play an album unless it is on CD in a professionally packaged press kit, and almost no one accepts MP3’s or digital kits yet.  So I went through major, personal expense and about 6 months of additional time to press and then promote “Martyrs” myself.  It was a hell of a lot of work, but I learned many lessons from it.  I am glad I did though as it has done it’s intended job and helped me find other musicians, and also provided us with some other opportunities.  Will we ever release a single or (EP) on CD again?  Not as long as we are independent as it is too time and cost prhibitive.

11.  Rock Zone: - What has been the reaction to Dremora so far?

TK: - Overall the reaction has been quite positive even if accompanied by the occasional “head scratcing” from those not yet familliar with female fronted metal.  I think we probably at this time have more fans outside the states because the rest of the world is already familiar with this kind of music which makes it easy to classify.  It is harder to sell a new style of music to the American public.  However, that is begining to change.  I run into more and more people here aware of the big European bands, and almost all of them in turn like Dremora.  It is a good sign and we are still growing a fan base even with very little promotion going on right now.  A lot of people ask when they can see us live, and are eager to hear what we are going to come up with next.

12.  Rock Zone: - Who do you think is Dremora’s target audience?

TK: - The music seems to be most popular with people already familiar with other female fronted rock and metal that are somewhwere between the ages of 15 and 30.  It is really a 50/50 audience in regards to gender too.  Overseas that covers a lot of people but here in the States it is still an exclusive cult.  However, there are a lot of of older folks from all over the place that really enjoy the music.  We think it is great we have such a wide audience available.  We hope it will be much wider once we can do some live shows.  There is only so much you can do online to get noticed, and the time investment vs.  return ratio on the internet is pretty low.

13.  Rock Zone: - How well has your (EP) Martyrs been selling?

TK: - The album sold about as well as I expected and I assume it will continue to sell for some time.  However, it has been over 7 months since release and the promotinal cycle for it is over now so I am no longer concearned too much about that album.  It was never meant to be a for profit release, but a loss leader just to get the music out there and heard.  Right now we are putting all our effort into future material.  We will continue selling “Martyrs” until they either sell out of stock, or it’s paid for.  Whichever happens first.  I would like to mention though we did just close a compliation deal with Sonic Cathedral.  They are in cooperation with Nuclear Blast Records, The End Records, Ascendance Records, and Sirenette music, to release in May “A World Of Sirens” - a two CD set featuring music from female-fronted bands from over 13 countries.  Two of my favorite big bands on it are  After Forever and Epica.  Dremora is very excited to be part of this and it should definitely help make more people aware of our music.  We’ll have all the details on our website www.dremora.net in May once it is available for purchase.

14.  Rock Zone: - Has Dremora been approached by any labels?

TK: - Not any ’serious’ labels worth mentioning.  I expect after we get on the road a bit, build a bigger fan base, and release this next full-length album that this will change.  “Martyrs” was only sent to a few labels because I knew from talking to some industry people that there was really no chance of cutting a deal with the situation back in 2007.  We are on track now to persue this avenue again in 2009, but this time much more seriously and with better material.  We would eventually like to get picked up by an indie metal label.

15.  Rock Zone: - What’s your favorite track off of “Martyrs”?

TK: - Oh that is like an impossible question seeing that I wrote them all.  Haha.  I have to say “Martyrs And Madmen” is my favorite from a listener standpoint, but technically as an artist my favorite is “Fair Haven”.  That was the most difficult and time consuming of all the songs on the (EP) to write and record.  I would like to re-mix one or both of these songs with the new lineup, and re-release them as bonus tracks on a future album.

16.  Rock Zone: - What can fans expect from Dremora in 2008 and beyond?

TK: - Well we are going to be very busy over the next few months writing more new material, and doing some mad rehearsing.  I can say that there will for sure be some big changes and announcements coming, but we have a lot of preparation to do first.  We still need to pursue filling out the lineup as well.  We very much look forward to our debut concert, and we will work hard at accomplishing this goal as soon as possible.  It will be well worth the wait.  The plan is to release our first full-length album in 2009, and start doing some serious touring by then.  The new album will contain more aggressive songs.  So let us hope everyone else will have this same reaction.  We think all these efforts and changes will make us a bigger player and eventually will provide us with a means to finally meet our fans in other states, or if we are very lucky other countries.  So stay tuned and stay metal!

End Of Interview: