Matt Connarton Unleashed: Factory of Art

0:00 Speaker 1: The song is Blessing in disguise. The band is Factory of Art, and I think we have a couple of guys from Factory of Art on Skype with us. Hello, can you guys hear me?

0:10 Speaker 2: Hey? Hello?

0:11 Speaker 3: Here is still at a fun factory of Art and the best drama of the world rather is with me today?

0:19 Speaker 1: Okay, Well, welcome guys.

0:22 Speaker 2: How thank you?

0:25 Speaker 1: How are you are you? Are you on the road right now?

0:29 Speaker 2: Yeah? We are not on the road, but on the boat.

0:31 Speaker 3: We play a show tonight on a little metal cruise in a New York Berlin.

0:37 Speaker 1: Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Is the weather. They're a good good cruise weather.

0:42 Speaker 2: Oh very fine.

0:43 Speaker 3: It's not too hot, but it's sunny, and a lot of guys are here on a boat, and we hope we will play a good show tonight, but not as factory of Art. I told you earlier that we have a cover. Ohject we play songs of Inhale on Umstein a CDC and so on. Yeah, tonight is party. Tonight is not the Factory of Art show, it's a factory on the cover.

1:12 Speaker 1: Sure, Oh I gotcha, I got cha. Now that's cool though, that you get to play on a cruise and congratulations by the way on the album. And I love these songs. I mean this is next level. Blessing in Disguise is such an interesting song. You know, it's it's got you know, kind of the power metal thing. But there's also there's also some curveballs in there. There's some things you don't necessarily expect to hear. At one point it sounds almost like a Moog keyboard is in there, or a Wurlitzer or something.

1:41 Speaker 1: It's really interesting.

1:43 Speaker 3: Oh, thank you very much. It's it's so nice to hear that. Because we are very proud. Now the album is ready. We had a very good record release show in Leipsish in June, and the first reviews on the album in the German underground press are very very good.

2:04 Speaker 2: We are very happy with this.

2:05 Speaker 3: Sure and sure it's it's so nice that you like it.

2:11 Speaker 2: Uh, it's it's it's great.

2:13 Speaker 3: The best review says twelve from ten points okay to scale.

2:20 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, excellent, excellent. Now are you guys getting to play these songs live? I I know tonight you're not because you're doing the covers, But do you guys have a lot of opportunities to play these songs live.

2:34 Speaker 3: We played some shows with a new new material. Now we have a little break. It's summertime here and we're too late to be booked on the great festivals here in Germany. We have to try it in the next month. Is in the next year. Yeah, we have some gigs in Leipzig in Germany.

2:54 Speaker 2: At all. It's great.

2:59 Speaker 3: It's a great adventure for us to play the new material live on stage. But it's not the thing that we have a tour. That's yeah, that's the thing we have to work about in the next month.

3:12 Speaker 1: Is okay? Okay? Is it challenging to play the new material live because, like I said, it's it's it's pretty loud.

3:22 Speaker 3: There we were under a bridge, that's why.

3:28 Speaker 2: A little bit too loud.

3:29 Speaker 1: Yet, Yeah, that makes sense, that makes sense. So the boat, the boat is in motion. Is it challenging to play these songs live, because, like I said, it's you know, it's not your standard power metal. There's some there's some other things going on. It's very complex.

3:46 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a it's a challenge for us. It was a challenge for us, but we were well prepared for the first show, our record release.

3:54 Speaker 2: Show, like this.

3:55 Speaker 3: We had all our vocal singers guest singers.

4:01 Speaker 2: On stage during the show. That was so so nice.

4:05 Speaker 3: And we we trained very very hard to give the best on stage.

4:12 Speaker 2: It's it's a challenge for us. You're right, yeah, yeah?

4:15 Speaker 1: Do you I mean, are you able to play like when you do these shows? Do you just focus on the newer material because you you got you guys have been around for more than three decades, right.

4:27 Speaker 2: Yeah, so it is.

4:29 Speaker 3: We just last week we we created a new Settlers a mix of the new album and older songs. And now we have the ninety one hundred minute show program and we have I think seven new tracks and.

4:51 Speaker 2: Three or four of the both former earlier albums.

4:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, I assume, I mean obviously, I don't know that I've listened to anything like really early from you guys. Has the sound changed over the years. I would imagine it has somewhat, right, Yeah.

5:09 Speaker 2: So it is.

5:10 Speaker 3: The sound changed, the songwriting process changed a little bit. But when we play on stage new material or all of material, it's the same band, it's the same sound, and that I think it's a unit. The people like the old songs too. We play the best of them, I think, and it's a good it's a good mix of all and and people say, oh yeah, nice to have the new material. Ah, but it's nice to hear songs again that we never heard for twenty years live on stage.

5:54 Speaker 1: Yeah. I was gonna say, so. There must be people who've been there from the beginning, right, Do you see people at the shows who you remember from way back in the beginning when they first started to come out and see the band.

6:05 Speaker 2: Yeah, still of them are still alive.

6:08 Speaker 3: Yeah, and uh best best for us is that these people uh uh, the the die hard from fans from the first hour of the band say, it's so nice that you are back. And we like our new material too. I think it's for the for the for the people. It's nice to have the best of both worlds.

6:35 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt when you guys, when you guys do shows with the new material, are you doing festivals or have you been able to do any of those this summer?

6:50 Speaker 2: Yeah?

6:51 Speaker 3: We we played two shows, uh, two slots at festivals, but we were so so heavy that we played the whole new album in in on these two festivals.

7:08 Speaker 2: For it.

7:09 Speaker 3: It was for us to to to train our new material. The people asked us, oh, would you play some some older songs, and we said, sorry, not tonight. We want to show you that the whole new album. And uh yeah, that's why it was very nice. But it was an interesting effect for us.

7:31 Speaker 2: The people heard very very with I don't know the English word of maxim. We both don't know.

7:43 Speaker 3: They heard the new material and we're and but they needed a little bit time to understand it.

7:52 Speaker 1: Sure, sure, no, that makes sense, but nice to have.

7:58 Speaker 3: We sell our albums, our physical albums on our merg stand and it works, but only it works if you play a good show, right why And that's why we try to make it very good.

8:16 Speaker 2: Every every night tonight we have the cover program. It's nice to have for us, but we try to.

8:28 Speaker 3: Reach the people with a few informations about our Factory of Art project.

8:34 Speaker 2: Let's see how it works tonight.

8:37 Speaker 1: Yeah. I would imagine your music too. You must see like multiple generations. I assume you see young people at your shows too, right, because you you have music, I feel it's timeless. I feel that probably anyone of any age could get into what you're doing. Do you see a lot of young people at your shows?

8:54 Speaker 3: You're absolutely right, it's when you hear in Germany go to a festival, you have a mixture of people elder people, young people, and we have.

9:09 Speaker 2: Good response of both of them. You're right, it's it's.

9:16 Speaker 3: Seems we weself cannot say it's time this, but if you say it, the people say, okay, it's it's it's a I think, Uh.

9:28 Speaker 2: That's the truth. That's that's the truth. Yeah, and.

9:32 Speaker 3: This is this is our experiences of the last two shows.

9:37 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent, excellent. Are you guys, are are you getting any traction at radio or radio stations they're playing you. I don't know what the what the situation is with radio in that part of the world currently, if there's a format that supports what you're doing. But I'm curious, I don't.

9:58 Speaker 3: We like the American and radio scene very much. Every time when i'm as a tourist a'm in in the States, I like it.

10:09 Speaker 2: So very much. But here in Germany it's so commercial. Yeah, it's so commercial there we have with our music no chance. But there is a really great and.

10:24 Speaker 3: Interesting underground radio scene and these guys are loving the new album and we have airplay in Internet ratings stations here in Germany.

10:36 Speaker 1: Oh, excellent, excellent, very good, Yeah, very good.

10:40 Speaker 3: We are an album of the months June or July in five or six radio stations here in Germany. And that's for us a very good thing.

10:51 Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, yeah, congratulations on that. That is outstanding. Well, listen, guys, it's great to speak with you. We'll we'll let you go. It sounds like there's a band. Is there a band on stage right now? Or is that a stereo?

11:06 Speaker 2: Yeah?

11:06 Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, as another band on stage. We look for the quietest place on this boat. But we have to go swim if you want to have it still.

11:20 Speaker 1: I understand, I completely understand. No, it sounds like a great time. It sounds fun. And uh uh when when do you guys play? Is it in a few hours or is it soon?

11:29 Speaker 2: Yeah? We have we have just have time.

11:31 Speaker 3: We have uh stage time is here in Germany seven pm? Yeah, it means to an half hour. We have to go on stage and we play our open promsdike.

11:45 Speaker 1: Usher excellent.

11:49 Speaker 2: From a from a little German band. I've seen the.

11:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've seen Ramstein. I can't pronounce it correctly but my American mouth, but but I've seen Ramstein live and it's it's quite a show. In fact, the times that I've seen them, if you're close enough to the stage, you can feel the heat coming from the pyro, which is a little scary.

12:13 Speaker 2: But.

12:16 Speaker 3: There's a nice story of our earlier days. I played two shows as local support with rumsheine In in the late nineties in Leipzigh. It was a great experience for us. But they were so fantastic, so good as well as little stage as well, a hall, not a stadium, but it was so great for us, and and it's what was nice too to meet the guys.

12:43 Speaker 2: It us is the time of their first album, had the light? Now in these times the bridge? May we come under the bridge? Sorry, it will be allowed for a few seconds.

12:56 Speaker 1: Oh that's okay, Yeah.

12:59 Speaker 2: They've got here we go. Oh see legs have a paranoid Yeah, yes, they are prying here. It's so nice.

13:09 Speaker 1: Yeah, so there we go, there we go.

13:14 Speaker 2: Sorry, now it's better.

13:15 Speaker 1: They should put some soundproofing panels under the bridge for when that happens.

13:20 Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, we went through and everything's fine, I hope, yes, yes, yeah, And we play some songs. Tonight Helps Bells is the second song from Acy DC and our less song. Sure, Motorhead is of Space and then we have fifteen, sixteen, twenty twenty tracks to play tonight.

13:42 Speaker 2: We are the last band headline on you Boo and Cool. It's nice.

13:48 Speaker 1: Yeah, I hear I hear a Black Sabbath Paranoid in the background. It sounds good.

13:54 Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, yeah.

13:56 Speaker 1: Whoever that band is, they sound good, but you will sound even better, I have no doubt.

14:00 Speaker 2: I hope that will. We try it.

14:05 Speaker 3: You know, it's it's it's party time for us tonight, but we want to we want to play a good show.

14:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, you guys are amazing. Like I said, I love the album, Thank you so much for sending it to us, and I love these songs. I'm gonna let you go in a moment so you can you can get back to it. But I have a question. What song should I finish the segment with. I opened with the single of course, Blessing in Disguise, But do you guys have a suggestion on what you would like me to end the segment with.

14:37 Speaker 3: Just let's let us talks launch bick to Life, Back to the Life.

14:42 Speaker 2: Back to the Life. The lasted tracks the title track would be.

14:45 Speaker 1: Nice, Okay, okay, yeah, we can go with that. Very cool, very cool, all right, And what should our listeners know? What should our listeners know here in America about how to find you guys online to keep up with what you're doing. Anything special you want them to.

15:00 Speaker 3: No, yeah, sure, we have a new system. You find everything about Factory of Art.

15:08 Speaker 2: On the Factory Minus minus Art dot band.

15:16 Speaker 1: Okay, and we'll share the link out too to make sure people have it. But very good, very good. All right, Hey guys, thank you so much. Have a great show tonight. We'll let you go so we can hit this track. But I really appreciate you joining us today.

15:30 Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Think it's nice to be with you and the best greetings from Berlin from the boat Factory.

15:39 Speaker 1: All right, guys, thank you so much. Take care, have fun. Yep, you too, al all right, bye bye? All right, Factory of Art. What a great band. We will play this next to finish out the segment. This is a track called back to Life. Back to the Life rather from, of course, their album of the same name, the title track Factory of Art. I definitely recommend you check them out. Great guys, and I love their music.