Reflections Of Darkness are happy to present their interview number eleven. Today we have a guest from Estonia – Dmitry Darling who is the man behind FREAKANGEL and SUICIDAL ROMANCE. He is not only a talented musician, but also owner of many beautiful and different tattoos.

Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: When did you get your first tattoo and what was it? Did it take much time until you decided to get it done?

Dmitry: My first tattoo was made when I was still in high-school… sweet 16. I had a friend who was five years older than me, but already worked in a tattoo studio and was known for doing some wicked tattoos. He also made me lots of piercings before I came up with an ”idea” of my tattoo. I wanted to have something “tribal-ish“ on my shoulder and in an hour it was ready. Many people become puzzled when they start thinking about their first tattoo. In my case, I have skipped all this shit about thinking and went stupid without any hesitations. Good for me. Because if you want to start somewhere… just go and start. If you won’t do it when you want it… well… you will never do it.

RoD: How many tattoos do you have? Could you please tell us their story?

Dmitry: I can not say how many tattoos I do have because they are all tied together… well… most of them. I have some separate tattoos on my legs… Mr Johnny Cash and my tribute to John Woo’s “Hard-boiled” with Chow Yun-Fat are located there. Talking about other tattoos… well… they all got connected and I really do not remember what is where and why. Fuck… I just enjoy what I have. You know, sometimes it’s like reading a book that you have already read. Standing in front of the mirror and thinking… damn… I totally forgot that I have you here. Sweet.

RoD: Have you already got all the tattoos that you wanted or will you get some new ones in the future?

Dmitry: I’m getting older and “smarter”… or whatever… and yeah, I’m getting new ideas pretty often… we are working on my back and on my neck at the moment, so yeah, I still have some time before doing something new, but I will definitely get something new as soon as we will be ready with what we are doing at the moment… as long as I have some spare places there and there I’m sure that I won’t stop doing tattoos.

RoD: Have all your tattoos been done by one tattoo artist or by different ones? How do you choose the tattoo artist? In addition, who draws your sketches?

Dmitry: No, there are three persons in my life who were able to “draw” on me. Jan, who made me my first tattoo and who lives in Norway now. Then there is Konstantin from Auriga Tattoo – the one who left most significant marks on me. He is a great guy and I’m very happy that we’ve found a common language with him and that we’ve established good friendly relations. I do not think I ever go to another tattoo artist, and not because of the fact that for regular customers there is a good offer, but only because I appreciate our friendship and constancy… oh and there is my wife who used me as her “guinea pig” in the times of learning how to make tattoos.

RoD: Getting tattooed hurts, how do you cope with the pain during the sessions?

Dmitry: When I was younger I was less sensitive to pain… at least it’s what I used to think because now, yeah, it hurts as hell. Maybe it’s because all my “painless” places are already covered up… that’s the reason why my back is not completed yet… So my idea was to switch to the neck, and this place is less painful than my back. Normally two hours of nonstop tattooing is my limit.

RoD: Do you regret getting tattooed sometimes?

Dmitry: No, why should I regret what I did? There is no such thing as a regret… but there is experience. A couple of times you will do something that not fit, then paint it over, then think again and paint it all over again. In fact, I only have covered two tattoos and not because of the regret. I just needed to connected few things there and there and some bitches were in between.

RoD: What is your taboo in terms of tattoos? What kind of tattoo would you never get done and don’t like to see on other people?

Dmitry: I am a very open-minded person and I do not climb into the affairs of others, I do not care what people are doing in their bedrooms or what tattoos they have. I am totally Ok with every tattoo as long as this tattoo is not shoved up my ass. I mean… you have it… I can see it… now chill the fuck out. I would never do anything that is somehow connected to politics. Fuck this shit.

RoD: Some people say that the drive to acquire body art is addictive while others say it fails to meet the true definition of an addiction, simply calling it a passion. Is it really impossible to stop?

Dmitry: In my case it might be true… the problem here is that I’m a collector. I collect video games, movies, music, figures from the comics and etc. So receiving tattoos is another addiction of mine… and yeah, one more thing, I feel completely naked, if I imagine myself without tattoos. But shhhh, it’s a secret.

RoD: Last Year’s tattoos are a new trend; many people do not care about the meaning, they just want to have something coloured on the skin, to be in trend. Those people often just go into a tattoo salon and ask which drafts they have. Tattoo artists are not artists any more, they produce consumer goods. Not all of them, of course. How do you feel about this situation?

Dmitry: As I said before, I do not care. Let them do what they want. They are pleased to be “trendy”, and tattoo artists like to get paid. Everyone is happy.

RoD: I would like to talk about the social aspect of tattoos, too. Previously, many people believed that if you have a tattoo, you will be never be successful and will not find a “good” job. Have this state of mind and people’s perceptions changed or are these prejudices still alive?

Dmitry: It’s pretty hard to say… in Estonia I have not seen such problems, but again, it all depends on with whom you are communicating and how are communicating. I love music, but I was never ashamed of the fact that I am working on a normal, so-called “day job”, but even there I have not seen any problems.

RoD: Which advice would you give to people who are going to get their first tattoo? How to choose a tattoo artist? Colour or black and white? Any practical advice?
Dmitry: Everything is simple. Either you do this or you do not. Do not fuck around… make a decision once and forever.

Project by Daria Tessa and Daniela Vorndran, Interview by Daria Tessa.

We would like to thank you for your support! We’ve come a long way, from where we began. To express our gratitude we have decided to make “The Show Of Violence” available FOR FREE on YouTube starting from October 9, 2015! We salute you for your support! THANK YOU!

“It’s not too often that industrial bands release live albums, let alone full blown live videos. But Freakangel is one of those exceptions. Recorded during their extended “The Ones To Fall” tour last winter, they are to release the 11-track counting live download album “The Show Of Violence” via Bandcamp (pre-orders available) and several other download stores.

The live album acts as a closing chapter for the band’s 3 first albums (plus multiple EP releases) before returning with a next full length studio album in 2016. Unlike many other industrial bands, what you get live from Freakangel is quite different from the studio versions. “The Show Of Violence” therefor gives you the opportunity to rediscover the band’s discography in alternative live versions.

The concert was recorded at the Rockstar’s Club in the band’s very own city Tallinn – Estonia, and was also filmed using 5 different cameras. The video of the live concert will be spread for free on several internet platforms.

A live video teaser of this soon to be released free video concert can be seen below.” (c) SIDE-LINE MUSIC MAGAZINE

06.02.15 St. Petersburg, RU – Phoenix Concert Hall
06.03.15 London, UK – Club Antichrist
07.03.15 Athens, GR – Second Skin Club
24.04.15 Tartu, EST – Club Rock’N’Roll
25.04.15 Tallinn, EST – Rockstar’s Club
29.04.15 Riga, LV – Depo
30.04.15 Lodz, PL – Club Luka
01.05.15 Zielona Gora, PL – 4 Roze Dla Lucienne
02.05.15 Munich, DE – Dark Munich Festival
03.05.15 Hamburg, DE – Kaiserkeller
15.05.15 Narva, EST – RoRo Art Club

Like a steamroller of emotion, inter-wined with a touch of harsh-ebm and a driving force of an industrial/metal monster, meet Freakangel. Glad you could join us Dmitry for this little interview! As Freakangel has been around since late 2009, what possessed you to get into this genre and create the music that you are known for?

Hello and thank you! We all had some musical past before starting Freakangel. I was mostly working with Suicidal Romance (Infacted Recordings) in 2009, but something inside was telling me that I needed to try myself from a different angle. Maybe it happened because of my metal past or maybe because I was getting older and naïve romantic songs from gothic Suicidal Romance became a bit boring to me. I do not know… but I wanted to rage… this is for sure.

As I have wanted to know this for quite some time and I am sure this question is on the internet somewhere… But I shall ask the man himself: Why the name Freakangel?

This question is a pretty popular one. Freakangel is a game of words. It is some kind of contra of distinction. Maybe even grotesque at some point. People are taught to see angels as something beautiful but there is always a problem child, the white crow. We wanted to have a name with some protest in it. Protest against basic things or common sense.

I have been such a huge fan of The Faults of Humanity. Could you elaborate on the musical change from this album, and leading up to The Ones That Fall?

Thank You. The Faults of Humanity was a good start for us. I can’t say that I love this album, but it really helped us to spread our name. The main problem with this album is that it’s pretty cliché. To be honest, I never thought that something good would come out of it. I started Freakangel as a side project, because at first glance, it was somewhere deep. I was afraid of losing Suicidal Romance. That’s why when we got some love from listeners we have decided to work on 100%. You can hear it in our second album Let It All End. Song structures became more complex. Also, as for The Ones to Fall, I’m very proud of this album because for the first time in FA’s history we were working in the studio as a band. Everyone contributed 33.3%.We love electro music but at the same time we love metal. We are from Estonia and metal is popular here. So we are trying our best in combining two styles. Let’s wait and see what future will bring.

In the past couple years alone its very noticeable and quite amazing how much you all have been able to promote, play, and put out quite a bit of ep’s and albums. Was this difficult for you all to manage this much?

I’m working very hard on promoting Freakangel, but I still not sure how those things work. I send out ten emails and get a response only to one. Yes, we are on a label, but this is a different world. We love underground and in underground there are different rules. Every artist should remember that labels can’t and will not cover you for 100%. Writing music and touring is a bit different thing. But then again, it gets only harder to get your band on the road. It looks that people prefer to see the same band from month to month and promoters/bookers are happy to book the same band because they are sure that they won’t lose any money and at the same time no need for a huge promotion. It just gets ugly.

What have been some of the most stand-out events or shows that Freakangel has been part of that you could give us a couple stories from?

To be honest, there is no difference to us if it’s a small club or huge festival. Every show is very important to us and trust me they are never the same. They are all stand-out events for us. We enjoy every second of being out on the road. It’s a great experience and a real adventure. I am very thankful that I am still able to enjoy those things.

Are freakangel currently working on a new album right now?

We are working pretty slowly during summer combining remixing works, traveling and spending time with our loved ones. We have some rough demos, but still not sure in which direction we should go. But to answer your question short… yes, we are working on a new album right now.

Between the members of Freakangel, is there any side projects currently from any of the folks involved in this project?

Art and Roman are playing death metal in Beyond the Structure. Be sure to check them out as they have released their debut album not that long ago. And me, well, I’m trying to resurrect Suicidal Romance from time to time. Let’s wait and see!

Does the future hold a US tour?

This is our dream and I really tend to believe that dreams are here to come true. We have no current plans at the moment, but we are working hard to make it happen.

What are your views on the current state of industrial/ebm?

There are some great bands out there. We love Shiv-R and Terrolokaust but there is a huge problem once again. As I have said before, it’s pretty hard to spread your name around. I mean with the internet, it has been easy to spread your music, but at the same time it became even easier to get lost in the pile of shitty tracks that are being released those days. Every second cyber/goth/whatever youngster with Fruity Loops thinks that he is another Suicide Commando. The only solution for this situation is doing some live shows. As I have said before it gets dirty those days and it is pretty hard to book a gig if you are a newcomer. I think that this is our main problem. If it will be solved somehow then industrial/ebm scene will rise once again.

What current bands/projects have you been really stoked on this year?

I’ve heard preview from Shiv-r’s new album and this is something really great! Be sure to check it out when it will be released. Also there was a pretty nice release from William Control – Neuromancer and Thomas Azier. Thanks to him, I reinvented electro pop for myself.

Thank you so much Dmitry for taking a couple minutes to give us some more insight to Freakangel, any last words you would like to add?

Thank you for your time and your questions! I really hope to see all of you out on the road one day!

NS: How did Freakangel come together?

FA: Freakangel was created in 2009. During those times I was working mostly with my electronic band Suicidal Romance. It was some kind of electro-goth mixed with pop and some dark electro there and there. We were signed to Germany based Infacted Recordings and have released 2 albums when I’ve decided to form Freakangel as a side project so I could express a bit different emotions through different kind of music. Slowly after releasing third album for Suicidal Romance I’ve lost almost all interest in this band and so I’ve put a lot of effort and all my spare time in Freakangel. It’s when FA became a band from being just a side-project. You can hear this difference in our second album “Let It All End” and especially in our third album “The Ones To Fall”. Our debut “The Faults Of Humanity” was written 90% by me when while recording/writing sessions of our third album every member did around 33,3%.

NS: Who are you inspired by and at the same time how do you hope to inspire future artists?

FA: Freakangel is a three piece band. Everyone is open to all genres of music, but still prefers something that suits him most. We all have metal past. It’s Estonia after all. We all love metal here. But at the same time I think it would be fair to mention that we are influenced by Mr. Manson’s first works (“The Portrait Of An American Family” and “Anichrist Superstar”). Not that we are trying to copy his work or something… it’s just music that we grew up listening to. Same words can go to The Prodigy (“The Fat Of The Land” mostly) and Alice Cooper (“Brutal Planet” kicks ass). Today it became pretty easy to write electronic music. Go get yourself a laptop… download FruityLoops from “thepiratebay” and you are settled down to go. We really hope that one day those people will learn how to play real instruments instead of just standing behind their laptops. We have nothing against it… it’s just that we really hope to inspire electronic musicians from our scene to combine real instruments with synthetic sound. There are so many borders considering music styles. Forget about them. Be free. Create.

NS: Ultimately what persuaded you guys to get involved in music?

FA: I think it’s because of our love for music. Being young we really enjoyed supporting our local scene and visiting almost all possible gigs that were available in our town. Starting from punk rock to death metal. We are still doing so but not that often as before. What I’m trying to say is that we always wanted to do something with music right from the beginning. Maybe we were born under the “rock’n’roll” star… who knows. At the moment we all working on new demos for Freakangel while I’m trying to resurrect Suicidal Romance at the same time and while two other guys are playing death metal in Beyond The Structure and some crust punk from times to time. We can’t live without music anymore.

NS: I see you did a remix for 3TEETH on their track “Final Product”. What was that experience like and in what ways do you determine what artists to mix?

FA: Yes, it was one of the easiest remixes I’ve done. It’s just like I’ve started following the flow right from the first notes. Everything else just came itself after demo structure was ready. I really love when this kind of magic happens. Actually it was my first experience in remixing someone just for pure fun. I mean… they had some kind of contest on their Facebook page. I had some spare time and decided to take a part in it. Why not? Mostly when I’m asked about remixing someone I really need to have a listen of their music first. I can remix almost every track, but I really want this process to be fun… and it can’t bring any joy if I do not like the music of the band, I’ve been asked to remix.

NS: Out of everything you’re involved in musically, which one do you prefer the most?

FA: I think that touring is the most interesting thing that musician can have in his life. Being able to get from one country to another meeting all new people on the road is such a wonderful feeling. Different nations, different interests… damn… it’s all so damn crazy. Love it.

NS: I’ve been on Freakangel’s official youtube channel, and they contain so much dark imagery. Are your ideas ever part of the concept of these videos?

FA: I think that every band should have some kind of image to express themselves or their music. Music is art. That makes us an artist and everyone should play their role when they are on stage. It gets only better if in real life you feel exactly the same way as you feel being on stage. All I’m trying to say is that this is how we feel. We are true to ourselves. We play this kind of music not because we are trying to conquer the world… it’s just because we like what we are doing and this is how we feel it.

NS: Tell us about the collaboration with Emelie Nicolai for the song “Porcelain Doll” ?

FA: Emelie is from PsyAviah. We are on the same Belgian label Alfa Matrix and we have done remixing works of each other since 2009. So we knew each other for sometime before we have decided to ask her to be our guest not only on “Porcelain Doll” but on the whole album “Let It All End”. I think it was a great co-work. Everything went really smoothly. Emelie gave pretty interesting KMFDM’ish feeling to our music, especially if you will take a listen to “Mutual Forms of Bleeding”. I really hope that we will be able to work once again one day. She is a real pro.

NS: Do you feel any obligation to keep outdoing your prior work when constructing your next chapter?

FA: No, I wouldn’t say that we want to outdo our prior work… what we are really trying to do is to keep our own sound that listeners are familiar with and to add something new that we have not tried before. That’s why all our albums are pretty different, but listening to them it’s pretty easy to say that “oh… those are Freakangel guys”. Some listeners might be against it because they were listening to our music since our first album and they expect us to release the same music. But it’s impossible… at least it’s impossible for us. We are growing up… something happens in our life from time to time and we just can’t be the same for years. Our music is our reflection… and we do change a lot with time.

NS: What’s the best way to deal with people who are constantly comparing your work to other more mainstream artists?

FA: It’s their choice. I really do not care about it. If they hear something that from their point of view reminds of someone else… then why not. Everyone can say what they think, but it does not mind that I will agree with it. Mostly I take a giggle and skip those comments for good. Sometime people compare us to bands that I’ve never heard before or the ones that are just very different from our musical style. Lets face it. It’s internet. People say things. I can deal with it. No problems here. No harm done.

NS: What is it like being a band from Estonia who receives attention from American fans and/or artists?

FA: Estonia was always friends with America. Our president was raised in America and etc… The problem is that we have never been there… and we are really working hard on being able to get our asses to the states. Talking about attention. Well… getting attention is always good. If we get attention then it means that we are doing something probably right. Lets hope that we will be able to stay in the same flow.

NS: Do you believe Europe is more inclined towards aggressive industrial music than the US?

FA: No. I would not say so. I really like American industrial music. It has it’s own sound and this sound is more suitable for me than we have in Europe. Old NIN, Ministry, Skinny Puppy… Manson. I might be deaf, but this is how real industrial should sound.

NS: Are you planning on moving over to an American label any time soon?

FA: Few years ago I was able to release Suicidal Romance “Shattered Heart Reflections” on Metropolis Records under Infacted license… and I really hope that one day I would be able to do the same with Freakangel. I think that our music suits American soil very well. As I said before we are working pretty hard at the moment to be able to spread our name around the states. I will cross my fingers and hope that this will happen sooner or later… preferably sooner rather than later.

NS: What have you learned so far that has changed how you think about the music business?

FA: I think that the most important rule to remember is that in our scene artist should be ready to do almost everything by himself. Yes, there are labels, but you won’t be able to reach anything sitting on your ass. Learn to communicate. Make friends on the road and be thankful to people that are ready to help you out. In music the passions enjoy themselves.

NS: Do you have any other comments you’d like to add?

FA: Thank you for your time and your questions.Readers be sure to check http://www.freakangel.net Bookers, promoters… if You are reading this then feel free to get in touch with us! Rock n’ Roll.