Exclusive Interview with BLACK ANGEL

In this insightful interview with INFRARED MAGAZINE, we explore the creative universe of BLACK ANGEL, a compelling gothic rock band forged by the talents of Corey Landis and Matt Vowles. Based in Los Angeles, this duo has carved a niche in the music industry with their unique sound and artistic approach. We sit down with Matt Vowles, the English songwriter and producer who forms one half of this dynamic pair. Fresh from the release of their intriguing fifth album “Lascivious,” and already embarking on their sixth studio album, Vowles offers a window into the soul of BLACK ANGEL. He shares insights into the inspirations behind their latest album, details their distinctive songwriting process, and discusses the complexities of music promotion in the digital age. Additionally, Vowles touches on the importance of storytelling in music videos, the challenges faced by artists in touring, and hints at exciting future endeavors for BLACK ANGEL. Join us as we delve into the artistic ethos of Matt Vowles and the mesmerizing world of BLACK ANGEL.

INFRARED MAG: Hello and thank you for taking the time to sit down with us. Could you introduce the band to our readers with a brief background?

BLACK ANGEL: Yes, hello, we are a Black Angel, I am an English songwriter and Producer and my partner in crime is Corey who is American, we both live in Los Angeles, and we are essentially Black Angel. We have just finished our fifth album lascivious, and we are about to embark on a sixth studio album.

INFRARED MAG: What was the inspiration behind the latest release?

BLACK ANGEL: As the title suggests, lascivious, definitely one about sex and relationships, hopefully a little subdued and tone down, but all of the undertones are definitely there if you sit and listen.

INFRARED MAG: Are your songs created mostly the same way or does the process differ for different tracks?

BLACK ANGEL: Yes, good question, nearly all the tracks are created in the studio by me either coming up with a riff on the six string, electric guitar or electric bass, could be the 12 string acoustic or 12 string electric guitar to but everything stems from a musical idea that I’ve come up with, I tend to collect mini audio clips of ideas When they come about or I get inspired, and then when it comes to writing the album, I sit down and start listening through everything I have, and sift out the good from the bad and start the writing process.

INFRARED MAG: What, in your opinion is the mark of a good remix?

BLACK ANGEL: Another good question, we did a remix album called one a few years ago for Alzheimer’s. Charity and many of the remixes basically just popped a drum beat to our existing song, suffice to say they did not make it to the final album, I think a good remix, especially a dance remix is you take elements from the song, create new riffs, and essentially create a whole new song that reflects the original song, but does not sound necessarily the same, I think it’s never extremely difficult process to do.

INFRARED MAG: These days short-form videos and consistent content in variety are two of the biggest trends in music promotion. What do you see in the future of promotion?

BLACK ANGEL: The music industry is in a complete and utter mess, when things change way over a decade ago, where basically the big record companies disappeared for many reasons, and he gave pretty much everybody on the planet access and the possibility to release their own material, the pond has become increasingly wide and deep and not necessarily full of things that are good, I do like to get on my soapbox about this, I think the Record companies of the 80s were absolutely essential whereby ANR folks would find bands, nurture the talent, pair them up with great engineers and great producers, and create great records. This is why I think that the 80s music is the best sounding, most well-crafted and best produce music decade that has ever been, now it’s simply can be a case of, your computer coming up with the music, having some AI bot mix it in my street and then just ship it to one of the many online distribution companies that will put you up on iTunes next to Taylor Swift, in one respect this is amazing that anybody has this access to express himself, that, of course, is really important, the downside is, there is an awful lot of bad music out there, and it is really end Getting so much harder and harder every year to try and promote your music and get it heard so definitely music promotion is so, so difficult

INFRARED MAG: What sets the latest album apart from previous work? Would you go back and do things differently on a previous album if you had the opportunity?

BLACK ANGEL: Every album that we create I do like to come up with a slightly different sound but keep it within the all-encompassing line of Gothic rock, this may be different guitar tones. It may just be a different field for each album some tracks on one album may have a very Defined rock sound and on others it may be a more electronic overall production field, I definitely like to make all tracks on one particular album cohesive I think that’s really important to the listener and just going back a little our very first album and The Widow after I had released it, I just wasn’t happy with it as the years passed by so last year I completely remade it and released it and I’m now so much happier.

INFRARED MAG: How important is storytelling in songs and videos to you?

BLACK ANGEL: I think storytelling in videos is absolutely essential, and in fact, really, really difficult, I think it’s hard to come up with a short story that you can start to develop and summarize within three minutes, and also possibly and more than likely feature the band too, so it is really cool when fans can pull this off, definitely really important. Maybe for me not so much in the songs, as I tend to be more of a music rather than lyric person, but definitely in music videos I think is absolutely essential.

INFRARED MAG: Touring these days, it has been said is especially challenging for artists at least in terms of making a profit. What do you think it will take to turn that around and make it easier?

BLACK ANGEL: I don’t know if there’s an answer to this if I was a Venue or a promoter there is a bottom line, is the bands going to bring in enough supporters to pay for the venue, their time, and to actually make a profit, for us in Black Angel it’s more an opportunity to be able to play and share all music, it’s a little bit of been there done that, we’ve all driven around in the back of a van from Venue to Venue over the years and now we just like to be invited by selected promoters to go and play Larger events where we can actually travel and stay in some form of comfort, we don’t care whether we make any money out of it but the most important thing is that we will have a great experience and put on a really good show.

INFRARED MAG: Do you have a vision for how the new material will be represented in a live show? Are the tracks selected for live shows picked for any particular reason?

BLACK ANGEL: For me going to a life show I don’t want to go see a band doing acoustic set, I want to go and see the band live playing what I’ve loved, listening to on the album, of course they can be changes and new elements and hopefully some surprises but I essentially want to feel what I felt when listening to the music but now in a live setting, so for Black Angel, that’s something we definitely do and we do absolutely rely on some backing tracks to make sure we have at least a solid backbone for that to happen.

INFRARED MAG: What have you planned for the forthcoming months?

BLACK ANGEL: It’s going to be a couple of things, one thing is to try and actively seek out and arrange a live tour, it’s difficult, going back to your earlier question unless you are a big successful band. Promoters aren’t going to necessarily secure, and if you are a new up-and-coming fledgling band, then you have to put the time in and basically travel around in the back of a van sleeping on floors. We would like to get a West Coast or North American tour going so if there are any two managers out there that have heard on material please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Apart from that we will be working on our sixth studio album, and busily writing away over the coming months. Thanks for the great questions and appreciate you listening to us.