Taking our educational mission to the next step, we of Painkiller present to you an interview our international corresponden Max-Leonhard von Schaper (Azchael) had with THE MIRE. Translation to Chinese was provided by Lavril Wang.
The Mire is a representative of the post metal / sludge genre and considered to be a MUST LISTEN TO in the internet underground. Read for yourself:
Azchael: Can you please introduce yourself and the band The Mire?
你们可以介绍一下自己和你们的乐队The Mire吗？
Robin (The Mire): Sure. My name’s Robin and I play guitar/vocals in The Mire along with Stan Critchley (Guitar), Blake Mostyn (Drums) and Jack Loudoun (Bass). As a band we all live and work in a city called Brighton on the south coast of England
当然，我是The Mire乐队的吉他手和和合声Robin, Stan Critchley也是我们的吉他手，鼓手Blake Mostyn，还有贝斯手Jack Loudoun。作为一个乐队，我们几个人全都生活工作在英国南海岸一个叫做布莱顿的城市。
Azchael: Which instruments are you using and which brand?
你们用的都是什么乐器，是什么牌子的？
Robin (The Mire): Not sure if I can recall exactly what the rhythm section is using at the moment, but my current primary guitar is an LTD MH-1000 deluxe with Seymour Duncan JB pickups which I use with a Peavey 6505 amp. Our other guitarist Stan also uses a 6505, but with a Gibson SG as his primary guitar
不知道我是否可以清楚地记得某段音乐是用的什么乐器，但是我的首选吉他是LTD MH-1000豪华版加Seymour Duncan JB拾音器配上百威6505 amp音箱。我们的另外一个吉他手也是用6505 amp的音箱，但是他的首选吉他是Gibson SG.
Azchael: What inspired you to be in a band and what made you to make music?
什么激发了你去玩乐队？是什么促使你去做音乐？
Robin (The Mire): For me music has been a big part of my life since I was very young and we have all played in bands for years. When we started The Mire we were looking to try and craft our own sound and experiment with combining melody and heaviness in an interesting way. The band has always been about trying to make music that we ourselves would like to listen to.
对于我来说，从很小的时候起音乐就已经占居了我生活的很大一部分。我们所有人都玩了很多年的乐队。刚开始组队The Mire的时候我们就想要试着演绎出自己的声音，并且尝试将深沉的东西与音乐以一种有趣的方式融为一体。我们一直在尝试做出我们自己也会很喜欢听的音乐。
Azchael: What’s the message of The Mire?
The Mire想要表达的中心灵魂是什么？
Robin (The Mire): The Mire has always been very introspective. For me writing and performing is a cathartic experience As far as messages go, we do have certain themes and concepts that tie each record together lyrically and tonally, although if you wanted a generalisation of what the band represents I’d say we’re making outsider music.
The Mire一直都在不断的思考。对于我，创作和表演都是一个净化的经历。至于传达的思想，每一个专辑我们都有确定的主题和观点把歌词与旋律结合在一起。如果你想要的是一个我们乐队总体上想要表达的思想，我可以说我们做的是非主流的边缘音乐。
Azchael: What do you think of metal music in China?
对于中国的金属音乐你们有什么看法？
Robin (The Mire): To be honest I haven’t heard many Chinese metal bands but it sounds like you guys have a very healthy scene and a great attitude. It’s awesome discovering different takes on heavy music from around the world. The great thing about this genre is that there will always be people who understand and identify with metal music no matter where they’re from.
说实话我并没有听过很多的中国金属乐队，但是似乎你们有一个很健康的金属圈和一种很积极的态度。找到世界上不同地方重口味音乐的不同之处是很棒的事情。这种风格最棒的地方就是无论人们从哪里来，他们总是能理解并认出金属类型的音乐。
Azchael: If you heard about it, how did you get to know about metal music in China?
如果你听说过中国的金属乐，你是从哪里了解到的？
Robin (The Mire): Youtube is definitely a great tool for finding new music from around the world.
Youtube是公认的用来找到全世界新的音乐很好用的工具。
Azchael: Would you like to come to China and tour? If yes, any places in mind that you definitely would like to see?
你们愿不愿意到中国巡演？如果愿意，有没有一些地方是一定想要去的？
Robin (The Mire): Absolutely, I’d personally love to visit Hong Kong and Beijing.
当然愿意，就个人而言我想要去香港和北京。
Azchael: Do you think it would be difficult for Chinese bands to tour in your country?
你会不会认为中国乐队到英国巡演很困难？
Robin (The Mire): Touring over here is a lot harder than it used to be due to the financial crisis, but I think if a band played the right cities as part of a solid bill they’d definitely have an awesome time. That’s what it’s all about in the end.
由于经济危机的原因到英国巡演会比以前难得多，但是我认为如果选对了城市来充实一下费用，他们肯定会度过很棒的时光。说到底也都是和费用有关。
Azchael: Where do you see the future of metal? The Mire plays so called “Post Metal”, is that the future direction of metal?
你认为金属乐的未来会是怎样？The Mire做的是所谓的“后金属”乐，这将会是金属未来的方向吗？
Robin (The Mire): I think the artists that push the envelope creatively and pursue a more progressive style of metal will be the ones carry the entire genre forward. As for labels like ‘post-metal’, I’m not even sure what they mean anymore. I’d prefer to think of us as a progressive heavy band. 我认为那些推动整体具有创造力的音乐人和追求革新的金属风格会成为带动整个类型向前发展的所在。对于后金属的标签，我甚至不能确定它倒是什么。我更倾向于把我们当成一个革新的重型乐队。
Azchael: From my understanding, The Mire got known to many people via the help of the internet and especially got distributed via music blogs.
How do you see the internet as a decisive factor for bands to breakthrough? 据我所知，很多人是通过网络和一些关于音乐的博客了解The Mire的。对于网络成为很多乐队出名的重要因素这一事实，你是怎么看的？
Robin (The Mire): Yes, the internet has been invaluable in getting our name out there and I think it’s great how people are sharing and discussing our music through blogs and other forums. I think for smaller bands like us, encouraging the digital distribution and sharing of music online is definitely a good thing even if we don’t make any money from it directly. At the end of the day we’re doing this because we love making music and it’s great that the internet allows so many people from around the world to hear and enjoy it.
是的，网络是我们让大家熟知的非常重要的工具，我认为人们通过博客和一些论坛来分享和讨论我们的音乐是一件很好的事情。我觉得向我们这样的小乐队，鼓励网络宣传和在线分享音乐绝对是一件好事，即使我们不能从中直接获利。说到底我们做这些是因为热爱音乐，通过网络能让全世界这么多人来聆听和享受音乐是一件伟大的事情。
Azchael: How difficult is it for you in your country to support yourself by making music?
在你们的国家通过做音乐来维持你们自己的生活有多困难？
Robin (The Mire): Fairly difficult, but the way we get by is to try and handle everything ourselves, be it the recording process, management, album artwork etc, while also working our regular jobs. As I said before we’re all in it for the music and we all make sacrifices so we can continue doing what we love.
相当困难，但是我们的方式是尽量由我们自己来掌握所有的事情，录制，管理，专辑，设计工作等等，同时我们也要正常的上班。就像我之前说的，我们是全部投入在音乐中同时也做出了牺牲，所以才能够继续做我们热爱的事情。
Azchael: How is the scene in your area? Are there many people interested in the music you are making or you have to tour further away?
在你们那边摇滚圈是什么样的情况？有很多人喜欢你们的音乐吗？还是你们要到较远的地方巡演？
Robin (The Mire): In our city there’s not really a huge demand for the kind of music we play, but we’ve toured the UK a few times and there’s definitely certain places that are really into what we’re doing with The Mire. Europe seems to have a far larger appetite for progressive metal and we are looking to do some touring out there hopefully this year.
在我们的城市，我们的音乐并不是有很大的市场，但是在英国巡演过几次，有一些城市绝对是很喜欢The Mire的音乐。在欧洲对于革新金属乐似乎有着更大的市场，我们也希望今年能在欧洲有一些巡演。
Azchael: If someone in China would like to get your CDs or other merchandize, how can they get it?
在中国如果有人想要买你们的CD或者其他一些商品，在哪里可以买得到？
Robin (The Mire): Right now our mini album ‘ Volume: II’ is available to purchase through iTunes, however all physical copies have now sold out.
现在我们的迷你专辑“Volume: II’”可以通过iTunes买到，但是CD都已经买完了。
Azchael: What is your plan for the nex t 12 months?
你们下一年的计划是什么？
Robin (The Mire): We’re currently writing a full length album and we’re just about to shoot our second music video. Beyond that, the plan is to keep making music and playing by our own rules.
我们现在正在创作一个完整的专辑，也准备录制第二个MV。除了这些，就是继续按照我们自己的想法做音乐。
Read more:
- The Mire on MySpace
- The Mire on Facebook
- The Mire on Last.fm
