“Besides working for world peace and harmony through our music, we have to……”
“Besides working for world peace and harmony through our music, we have to……”
THE EMOTIONAL
What inspired the name of the band
and what are your influences
The name The Golden Leaves, is a big compromise. David, the emotional, wanted something to reflect his personality as daddy’s golden boy. So he wanted the name “The Golden Voice of an Angel and the Questions of Life”. Javier, the bad boy, wanted to spin further on his promising rap career, so he wanted the name “The Fall of Lil’ Overweight”. Torleiv, being feed up with the argument, pushed through the name “The Golden Leaves”. We’re all happy about that now. We all have our different influences. The drummer, Christian, used to live next to a construction site, and that’s where his hard stumping and rhythm come from. Arthur is influenced by the steady rumble from the railroad he grew up beneath. That’s why he finds comfort in the deep bass sound. The rest of the band has more traditional inspirations, like Torleiv who always wanted to be the next Eddie Van Halen. Just look at his hair!
How do you approach songwriting?
Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
A song must come of its own free will. Usually, it comes from a feeling, or something seen or heard. Insomnia is a good example. Not that I will say more about that, take a listen for yourself! Often, when we’re writing songs, Javier pulls an idea out of a bodily opening, brush it of, and show us what he found. Then we work further on that idea.
FREE WILL
FREE WILL
How do you approach songwriting?
Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
A song must come of its own free will. Usually, it comes from a feeling, or something seen or heard. Insomnia is a good example. Not that I will say more about that, take a listen for yourself! Often, when we’re writing songs, Javier pulls an idea out of a bodily opening, brush it of, and show us what he found. Then we work further on that idea.
SOMETHING BIGGER
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
We write what we find amusing or interesting. It’s hard to explain why we do it, but our personal interests are a big part of it. We want our music to have meaning, not that we try to say something bigger with every song, but there is always a story or a theme we want to tell you.
How do you decide what songs to perform live,
how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Time is a big factor here. We have some “slow” songs, like The Fall and Dear Solider, and if we have the time for it, we love to bring the audience down to a calm mood around the middle of the show. If we play for more than an hour, it’s nice to give the audience a break from the headbanging and fist-pumping. If we have a short show, 30-45 minutes, we give all we got, and leave you breathless behind. Then the tempo will be high and the brakes short. For the live settings we usually and intros, bridges and outros that will leave you gasping for air.
BREATHLESS BEHIND
BREATHLESS BEHIND
How do you decide what songs to perform live,
how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Time is a big factor here. We have some “slow” songs, like The Fall and Dear Solider, and if we have the time for it, we love to bring the audience down to a calm mood around the middle of the show. If we play for more than an hour, it’s nice to give the audience a break from the headbanging and fist-pumping. If we have a short show, 30-45 minutes, we give all we got, and leave you breathless behind. Then the tempo will be high and the brakes short. For the live settings we usually and intros, bridges and outros that will leave you gasping for air.
WORLD PEACE
What are your plans for the future?
Besides working for world peace and harmony through our music, we have to focus on getting in tune with a new drummer. Unfortunately, we lost our beloved Christian to a medical study in Poland.