Exclusive Interview: Fixed Fight talk “Antebellum”!

The answer to the question what’s Copenhagen famous for is a simple one. Canals, the work of former resident and Children’s author Hans Christian Anderson, being the home of Carlsberg Beer, the Smørrebrød and bands like Ghost Iris and Fixed Fight. Teaming up with teamed up with legendary producer Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, August Burns Red, Sick of it All) for their last month released follow up to 2018’s “Empty Homes” titled “Antebellum“, Fixed Fight are hoping to leave the cold heart of the capital city of Denmark and spread their wings over international waters…

How have you found the reaction to “Antebellum” so far? “Really good so far. We’re still anxiously awaiting to see how much publicity we’re going to get from magazines and review sites and what not. For a small DIY band, it’s hard to get your name out there without label backing and PR agencies working behind the stage, so we rely on whatever work we can do ourselves, and word of mouth and support from our friends. But yeah, reactions so far have been overwhelmingly positive. People seem to dig it”

Of all the songs on the album, what made you choose “Synapse” for the music video that came before it? “Synapse is a song that sticks out a bit on the record, and it’s one of the songs that we’re the proudest of, because it’s so unlike the typical hardcore song. It has no chorus, no repeating elements, and it ends with this grandiose wall of atmospheric guitars and choirs. I guess we wanted to showcase the breadth of the record. It goes between short and sweet, like the title track, and more intricate stuff like Synapse. I also happened to find out about an old water reservoir that had been opened to public use, with these huge columns and insane acoustics, so when I wrote an email, half joking, asking if we were allowed to set off flame throwers 9 feet into the air in there, and they said yes, I kind of felt like we had to do it. I still have no idea why they would allow us to do that”

You’ve mentioned 90s inspirations in your blend of Metallic Hardcore and we’ve mentioned Earth Crisis in our review of the record but who would you say are the biggest influences on your sound? “You nailed it, dude, Earth Crisis is a very big influence. Snapcase too if we’re talking about 90’s bands. You can probably find some Botch and Converge elements in there, as well as Harm’s Way and Expire to mention some newer bands”

If you could bring a guest to a future recording, who would you like to bring and why? “We were talking about writing an email to Jamey Jasta asking to sing the chorus of “Punishment”, because it just seemed like such an obvious Hatebreed vibe, but we never actually got around to it. To be honest, we’re not very keen on the whole feature vocalist thing. Very often bands do it just to piggyback off whatever clout their feature has, regardless of whether it serves the song. At the same time, many artists put themselves up for hire on platforms like Featured X, and simply charge a fee to sing a few lines on a song they may or may not really care about. At that point it starts to feel a bit disingenuous, you know. We had Rasmus from Death to Seattle do feature vocals on Synapse, and that was strictly because he put a whole new spin on it. He really added to the song in a big way. All that being said, If I could have Jamey Jasta sing on a song I wrote, I’m not going to turn that down because, I mean, it’s Jamey Jasta”

What’s the scene like in Copenhagen? How has it helped you? “It’s great, very vibrant and alive. That is, when corona isn’t raining on everyone’s parade. There’s a good handful of venues for our style, so you rarely have to go very far for some DIY HC, punk, or metal shows on the weekends. It’s being kept alive by dedicated bands and bookers, who love the music and what they do. We owe them everything. Especially since the labels and the industry never lifted as much as a finger for us or countless other great underground bands”

What’s next for Fixed Fight? “We’re booking shows for the coming months now that a certain shitty little virus is starting to fuck off again. We’re going to set up a blast of a release party with a bunch of cool bands. We’re not confident enough to book tours yet due to the pandemic, but one can dream”