Interview Hippotraktor

Discover Hippotraktor's journey from a trio to a vibrant quintet with vocalists, weaving intricate melodies and themes, culminating in their upcoming album 'Stasis' and exciting live performances.

1. Can you tell us about the evolution of Hippotraktor from a three-piece instrumental outfit to a five-piece band with vocalists?

I got bored with backing tracks and started complaining about it to Stefan at a bar. The rest is history. Stefan and Sander were happy to join as they were fans of the band and felt they had something to contribute to make it even bigger.

2. How has the addition of guitarist/vocalist Sander Rom and percussionist/vocalist Stefan De Graef influenced the band's sound and creative process?

It hasn’t influenced my creative process much if I’m honest. I still write pretty much the same instrumental songs, and after I send them to Stefan who then writes vocals to it. This collaboration is what lifts the songs to a new level as it is Stefan’s duty to add to what’s already there and to make the songs even more interesting. This is also how we approached the songwriting for ‘Meridian’ (2021) and it seems to be the way to go for us.

3. What inspired the concept and narrative behind your upcoming album “Stasis"?

If I had to sum up Stasis in one word it would be ‘Impunity’. I’ll add an analogy: as a species, we don’t seem to have evolved much past the playground fase, e.g., if you’re bigger, you’re better. Make of that what you will. As we get a little older and are confronted with ‘the adult world,’ we see so much corruption, inequality and inconsistency in treatment of human beings and are worried about the direction in which we are evolving. We are burning with frustration from being a part of a cold, lifeless mechanism that is supposed to serve us but is really causing worldwide suffering and keeping us detached from each other. The feeling that ‘the powers that be’ get away with everything and that the world doesn’t seem to change (fast enough), is one of the things ‘Stasis’ refers to.

4. How does "Stasis" differ from your debut album "Meridian" in terms of musical style and thematic exploration?

With Stasis I’ve put a lot more thought into the storytelling. Considerable effort has gone into attention to detail, especially in how parts fit together, who plays what and why. The result is a complex mixture of progressions all fitting together to serve a greater whole. Conceptually, we wrote a new story around the same protagonist from ‘Meridian,’ who is now confronted with other human beings for the first time ever. This created the opportunity to incorporate more personal emotions into the lyrics as they are more grounded in our own experience.

5. Could you share some insights into the songwriting and composition process for "Stasis"? How do you collaborate as a band to create such intricate and dynamic music?

I write the music, and Stefan writes the lyrics and vocal parts. That’s how it’s been so far. That being said, we all bring something to the table in terms of tone and interpretation of the parts. The album Stasis was by far the most difficult piece of music I’ve ever written, and I’ve gotten stuck numerous times. Pretty much every band member helped me out at some point, showing me a simple solution to a problem I couldn’t figure out.

6. The lead single from "Stasis," "Silver Tongue," has been described as melodically rich with a blend of close harmonies and post-metal elements. What was the inspiration behind this particular track?

With Silver Tongue I wanted to create a sonic resemblance of decay. The opening of the song has a near perfect, Instagram-filter quality to it, but things quickly take a rather disconcerting turn. This being said, I don’t think anything particular, aside from the album concept, inspired the creation of this song, for me anyway.

7. How does the accompanying one-take performance video for "Silver Tongue" contribute to the overall storytelling and impact of the song?

The one-take performance video of Silver Tongue was mostly a reference to our first Meridian single Manifest The Mountain, which was also a one-take. We wanted to take it one step further, and a lighting element to it instead of a cool looking location. Fun fact: my girlfriend Eline was actually on a bicycle with a light mounted on top of it riding circles around us the whole time to create the fragmentation of light.

8. What themes or messages do you hope listeners will take away from “Stasis"?

I hope some of our listeners might wonder what would happen if we were to collectively start believing in humanity, instead of deities.

9. How do you balance the aggressive, heavy elements of your music with the more atmospheric and melodic aspects?

A lot of trial and error. Too much of anything will start to feel like over saturation, especially in our sort of music where most things are either on or off. The element of surprise is extremely important to us and we want to catch people off guard with our music while stile writing cohesive songs.

10. Can you discuss any challenges or memorable moments you encountered while recording “Stasis"?

I tested positive for Covid the evening before we were supposed to start recording drums and bass in the studio, which had been booked for months. We went to the studio anyway and luckily nobody got ill aside me. Everyone in the band was really pushed to their limits to perform these tracks with the exact right intensity and we’re proud of what everyone laid down.

11. How do you see Hippotraktor's music evolving in the future? Are there any new directions or experiments you're excited to explore?

I’m really looking forward to implement everything I’ve learned whilst writing Stasis. The challenge for the next album will be to keep it simple. A good riff is a good riff.

12. Finally, what are your plans for promoting "Stasis" after its release, and do you have any upcoming live performances or tours scheduled?

We’re really looking forward to the Stasis release show at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on the 7th of June 2024. This will be a double bill release show with our brothers from Cobra The Impaler. We’ll also be playing amazing festivals like Alcatraz in Belgium and Motorcultor in France, among others. We’re also planning some European tours at the end of the year and at the start of 2025.   

hippotraktor | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

(1) Facebook

Pelagic Records (@pelagic_records) • Photos et vidéos Instagram