Zur deutschen Version geht es hier.
After accompanying OCEANS in Leipzig during their tour with SEPTICFLESH last year, two things became clear to us: We had to see them on a headlining tour and we had to do an interview. With the concert review, we did our duty regarding the first point, and now we’re bringing you the interview! Read here what inspires singer Timo in particular, what he learned about himself on this tour, and what’s next for the band next year.
Thanks again to lightinmirror.de for the pictures!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: Describe OCEANS to someone who has never heard you before!
Timo: We are a mix of what would happen if KORN played Death Metal. That’s what OCEANS would sound like!
SV: What is your biggest source of inspiration for music?
Timo: KORN is definitely part of the answer again, they’re my all-time favorite band, but basically my inspiration comes from listening to other music. I listen to all the stuff from my youth over and over again, but newer music is also very inspiring. It’s just the love of listening to music and making music.
SV: How does this listening to music and being inspired by it manifest itself in the singles you’ve released recently?
Timo: Ghosts sounds like GOJIRA at the beginning [he laughs], which is a pretty obvious reference. Otherwise, I don’t think it manifests itself that much anymore because we’ve slowly found our style. We don’t poach around as much anymore. We also don’t want to be influenced so strongly anymore. When we were working on the last album, there was a wave of new, popular hardcore bands, such as THRONE, and we all liked them, which you can hear a little bit on the album. We want to shield ourselves from that a bit at the moment. We don’t want to be constantly influenced by trends, but rather lock ourselves away in our mental little room and do our own thing.
SV: The single Still Not Okay features Fabian from EQUILIBRIUM. Why did you choose him for this feature?
Timo: We were on tour together and it was just cool! We spent four weeks together, he’s super nice, we had a lot of fun, and he was up for it. So we just did it! It was that simple. We’re working on the We Are Not Okay II EP, and on We Are Not Okay I, we had a guest feature on every song. We thought about doing that again. But then we realized that it’s not so easy anymore. During the pandemic and lockdown, everyone had time, but now everyone is on tour and busy. It wasn’t easy to get so many guest artists, and we wanted to ask some well-known people. But if you don’t have any personal contacts, you have to go through management and ask if they’re even interested, and in the end, that costs money. We didn’t want that, so we decided on a more personal approach, and it worked really well with Fabian. He’s an amazing singer and he can do a lot!
SV: That’s right, we’ve already experienced that! The last single that was released was Atlas. Why is this song particularly worth listening to for you?
Timo: My first impulse was to say that the lyrics are just very personal, and then I realized that this is the case with all of our songs. But Atlas is something special, it hits you a little more than our other songs because it’s so emotional.
SV: We’ll definitely listen to it later, and we’re looking forward to it! You’re now on your first headlining tour. How does it feel to be able to do that now?
Timo: All kinds of feelings at once! It’s crazy and just super awesome! We’re having a lot of fun finally being able to play such a long set. It means we can finally add songs to our repertoire that we’ve never played live before. That gives us the opportunity to do a bit of fan service with the setlist. It’s great that we can play for longer than 30 minutes and don’t just have to warm up the crowd. We have the opportunity to take our foot off the gas pedal in between and incorporate a few quiet moments. It’s a lot of fun! The shows are really cool in general. It’s simply something else when you play in front of people who are only there for you. We’ve had a few shows where the atmosphere was electric because everyone was singing along and really into it. There may not be a thousand people, but even the hundred who are there for you and sing along to every line are incredibly awesome! On the other hand, all the work and responsibility lies with us. It’s a lot of pressure and it’s also very exhausting. I think when the tour is over, we’ll all need to go to a health resort.
SV: It’s not an easy step for a band to play their first headlining tour. What did you learn about yourself during this tour?
Timo: That I have no limits when it comes to the band. I slept very little and worked all the more. I’m basically on social media around the clock, which is pretty crazy. The best part was actually that I had certain expectations at the very beginning, that lots of people would come and so on. Then it started and the numbers weren’t what we had expected, so I was rather demotivated. But then we changed our perspective and realized that it’s really awesome. When 150 people come to see you, that’s awesome! It was very exciting to see how you can change your perspective and turn something that totally brings you down into something that everyone enjoys and is fully motivated to do.
SV: In your opinion, what are people who don’t see you live on this tour missing out on?
Timo: I think we’re a very intense band. We had a gig in Wiesloch, a place I didn’t know before. There was a couple in the crowd who stopped moving after a few songs, just held each other in their arms and looked at us with deadly seriousness. I spent the whole show wondering what was going on with them. After the show, they told our guitarist that they were just so moved at that moment that they couldn’t move anymore. We just knocked them out emotionally. That’s how I would describe us. We knock you out emotionally.
SV: 2025 is coming to an end and 2026 is just around the corner. What are some of the plans you’re currently pursuing that you can maybe tease a little bit?
Timo: Nothing is set in stone yet, so I can really only tease plans, and they’re the same as for any band. We’ll see if we can play festivals, and we definitely want to do another headlining tour next fall. That makes sense now, we’re laying the groundwork for it, and we have to build on that and just do it again next year.
SV: And finally, what is something you’ve always wanted to say or talk about in an interview, but have never been asked about?
Timo: What is the best GOREFEST album out there? The answer is Rise to Ruin. You’re welcome. Best songs and the coolest snare on the planet!
We just love OCEANS for their infectious energy and I’m sure that this wasn’t the last you read of them here! Stay tuned here for more awesome content that we have planned in the next coming weeks though. It’s going to be amazing!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 