Porter is a progressive alternative rock band hailing from Germany. They’ve been on the scene for a while now, but it was their brand new single ‘Sally’ that really caught my attention! I then dived a little further into their discography and discovered a seriously tight and impressive act who, I believe, deserves a bigger audience!
Intrigued to know more about the band, I was thrilled when they agreed to an interview! Taking us through some of their early influences, the themes explored in their upcoming concept album ‘Genosha’, and why they are fully committed to the DIY aspect of music making, please welcome our new friends Porter!
Hi guys, I can’t wait to introduce you to our ever-expanding audience! Before we get into the nitty-gritty, could you tell us a little bit about your musical journey as a band? What has led you to where you are today?
Hi Jeremy, thank you very much for your time. We’ve been making music together for quite a long time. Some of us have been since school. We are a band made up of very different members and we all have extremely different influences. Of course, the basis is somehow always guitar-based music. Some of us are clearly influenced by the more extreme genres like metal, punk and hardcore, so bands like Mastodon and Opeth are definitely important, but also Boysetsfire and Iron Maiden. On the other hand, there are other influences from the indie and singer/songwriter scene, but also wave and post-punk, which certainly contribute a lot to Porter’s pronounced penchant for melody.
The Chamaeleons were definitely an early influence here, but also Joy Divison. When we started recording ‘Genosha’ in 2017, we had a pretty clear musical vision for a new direction for the band. Then personal, very tragic incidents put us on ice for 6 years, which ultimately culminated in us needing a new singer. Fortunately, we found one in Raimund and so we’ve been going full throttle for a year now to bring ‘Gensoha’ into the world. It feels very, very good and directional at the moment. A bit like a rebirth, a new beginning. So we have also arrived at this point here and now through a few imponderables and strokes of fate.
‘Sally’ absolutely bangs! I’ve fallen incredibly hard for it! Lyrically, it addresses the deadly serious issue of violence against women and girls. What inspired you to tackle such a crucial topic?
I have to expand a little, if I may. The whole album is based on a premise in which ‘Gensoha’ depicts a separate, fictional world that is, however, very similar to our real world. Our drummer Markus has been writing the lyrics so far and at some point came up with the idea of a small parallel universe, a burning glass that focuses on various aspects of the current problems on this planet. However, here we have the opportunity to illuminate the story of individual characters who all live in this world and have to struggle with the adversities that prevail there.
At the moment, we have to observe in a very real way that totalitarian and fascist structures seem to be consolidating worldwide, even here in Germany. As a band, we can’t just bang out some fantasy lyrics, we want to set an example for tolerance and democracy. That has always been the basic note in our lyrics, but on ‘Genosha’ it is now more concrete. Our core conceptual questions are “What kind of world do we want to live in”, “How much freedom is enough to feel truly free” and “How much coercion leads to a life determined by others”.
It is obvious that we live in a patriarchal structure in this world. It is also obvious that women suffer as a result. Violence against women, be it psychological, physical and very often also sexual, is omnipresent and it takes all of us to break this vicious circle. ‘Sally’ is an example of a woman who has grown up in the knowledge that she simply has to comply with male instructions, and that her own thoughts count for nothing. But we don’t just want to portray Sally as a victim; in the end, a spark flashes through that shows that Sally still has this last remnant inside her that makes her rebel. And Sally, all over the world, needs our help.
Another tune that I’ve really been enjoying is ‘Tax Free Hollows’ – it’s pure power! What does the song mean to you and do you remember its “birth” so to speak?
Our guitarist Lars came into the rehearsal room one day with this all-dominant riff and I seem to remember that it came into his head ages ago. Lars has always had the habit of going to bed with his guitar and, whenever he thinks of something exciting, recording it with a recorder so that he doesn’t forget it. So the riff to ‘Tax Free Hollows’ is basically – don’t let me lie – 20 years old. We then moulded it further and further as a band until this pretty powerful song was there in its entirety. As the lyrics prepared us very well for what we wanted to say with ‘Genosha’ as a whole, we also released the song as the first single.
‘Tax Free Hollows’ – the song as well as the video – is about a society that indulges in seemingly endless diplomatic debates instead of striving for real solutions, which can be quite painful. Some react with agony and apathy in the face of almost unsolvable problems, while others celebrate an apocalyptic ego party so as not to have to see the end coming. In a meandering time loop of repetitive actions and behaviours, a paralysing cycle is established here as normality, which appears to have no consequences whatsoever and leads to nothing except appeasing each other with the most diverse means. In the end, all of this works in a system that very few of us have asked for, defined by simple minds that only think about themselves, and reap their short-term benefits on the backs of everyone. All right? 😉
We’re always intrigued by the different approaches that bands and artists turn to in their creative process or processes. Can you tell our readers a bit about yours? How do you take an idea and turn it into a complete song?
The songwriting process is always pretty much the same for us. One of the guitarists, usually Lars, comes into the rehearsal room with a rough song idea and plays it to the rest of us. Then we jam along and shape the song piece by piece, each with our own ideas, until at some point it’s simply a Porter song. So as far as that’s concerned, we still work very analogue, all together in the rehearsal room. That’s no longer a matter of course these days. But we just enjoy it, that’s what a band is for. As I said, the lyrics are written by our drummer Markus, who always has a bunch of lyrics ready. This is how the musical idea and the lyrical inspiration come together to form a great whole. However, the content of ‘Genosha’ is far more than the sum of its parts. I think that has already become clear. The nice thing about the band is basically that each of us has his own area for which he is responsible and in which there is a great deal of trust between us. Lars, for example, set up his own studio during the pandemic and developed his recording and mixing skills to such an extent that we now only sound the way we do thanks to him. For the first time, we’re really happy with what we’re putting out!
What are your thoughts regarding the music industry of today? And, if you were able to, what changes would you make to it?
We are a band that does everything ourselves. From production and videos to social media and marketing, we are completely committed to the DIY concept. Fortunately, we have nothing to do with the “music industry” – unless you would count yourself as part of the music industry 😉
We can just be artists and do whatever we want. It’s not that we haven’t made the “mistake” of signing contracts in the past that dictated one or two conditions that weren’t in the band’s favour, but that was a long time ago and is over. We’re grown up, we all have our jobs, we don’t have to make a living from music and therefore don’t have to submit to anyone. That’s a really good feeling. You might notice that we’re relatively energised at the moment and are up for everything that’s happening and what’s to come.
Who would you put down as some of the band’s biggest musical influences and who would you ultimately credit for helping shape and mould your overall sound?
Our overall sound, as it can ultimately be heard on ‘Genosha’, is certainly the responsibility of Lars, who alone has brought us incredibly forward in terms of recording over the last few years. Apart from the preferences of the individual members, of course, which have a huge influence on the overall sound of Porter, a very important step that we took in the production of the album is probably the fact that we went into a studio specially designed for the drums. And for the first time in our career. That was incredibly beneficial, as we always record drums and bass together, and we immediately had a very good basis to build on after these sessions.
Our entire musical direction on ‘Gensoha’ is quite a bit heavier than on previous releases. Well, this new direction is probably due to our musical preferences, which to a large extent lie very much in the heavier genres, as well as the fact that the world is not necessarily becoming a more peaceful or liberal place. In these times, as democrats and open-minded people, it is important to speak out loudly against this and that is exactly what we are doing.
There are certainly countless musical influences, as each of us has our own taste in music. I’ve already done a bit of name-dropping above. Perhaps it’s fair to say that if each of us had the sole say in Porter, we’d probably make our own style of music. And the way we work, we are Porter.
Which of your lyrics would you like to see printed on a T-shirt?
Oh, that’s difficult! On the one hand, we’ve already made merchandise shirts with individual, catchy slogans from our songs on them. On the other hand, it shortens the lyrics to a single statement and doesn’t really do the lyrics justice. But they are close to our hearts, so we are ambivalent about it. Maybe it is – and the shirt already exists – ‘GENOSHA IN MY VEINS’. It doesn’t necessarily refer to individual songs but stands for the whole album and the fact that we are all part of this world and therefore also part of all the problems.
Thanks so much for chatting with us guys! Before we let you go, do you have a release date in mind for ‘Genosha’? Also, I guess in a broader sense, what do you hope for in your musical future?
Nice of you to ask. As far as our release strategy is concerned, we’ve just undergone a change on the fly, so to speak. Originally we wanted to release 2 or 3 singles first and then the whole album. But we realised that it’s difficult for us to make some songs more important than others because of their status as singles. After all, ‘Genosha’ is an overall concept and each song plays its own role. What’s more, in the age of streaming, an album no longer counts as much for many people, but it does for us as artists. Nowadays, songs are lucky enough to end up individually in various playlists and nobody asks about the album context. That’s why we basically do two things. We orientate ourselves on the release method in hip-hop and gradually release the whole album as individual singles, with each song also having its own video. Only then will ‘Genosha’ be released as an album in its entirety, accompanied by a high-quality vinyl version. In this way, we can satisfy the hunger of the “streaming machine” for singles, but also pursue our artistic passion for the art form of albums. Nothing will change for the fans, because the only thing that will only be available from us for money is the album on vinyl. So, to answer your question, ‘Genosha’ will be released physically and digitally in late summer. And if we can still make a wish, it’s for a lot of people who care about what we’re doing and that we can play a few great gigs after the release.
