Horse the Band: playing loud and smiling while they do it

Metalfan:  Hello! How are things going with HORSE the Band lately?
Nathan Winneke: Hello, things are going fine. I just woke up and im in Tel Aviv.  I just ate a huge breakfast and I am smiling.

Metalfan:  I know that you will play in Romania on 22 (Craiova) and 23 April (Cluj), why not also in Bucharest?
Nathan Winneke: I think that our attempts to play there never came to fruition.

Metalfan: Please make a short history of the band for our readers...
Nathan Winneke: HORSE the band was started by Erik the keyboard player and David the guitar player when they were in high school. Previously they were collegues in a play-by-mail wrestling league but when that got old they started a band.

Metalfan: Why HORSE the Band? What does this name mean?
Nathan Winneke: Originally we were just called HORSE but some woman named horse tried to sue us. We decided to keep the name and just distinguish between HORSE the band and HORSE the woman.

Metalfan: How would you describe your music?
Nathan Winneke: Heavy beautiful and fairly fast post-pre-metalcore with keyboards that are rich and gigantic and remind you of old 8-bit video games.

Metalfan: Some people think that you are Nintendocore, do you consider yourself the inventors of this genre?
Nathan Winneke: Yes and no. Our sound is unique but its not really a genre until there are more brutal bands using keyboards as a primary instrument instead of just ambient filler.

Metalfan:  Ok, lets talk about your latest album, "A Natural Death", could you make a short descreption of each song?
Nathan Winneke: NO. I would end up on writing a novel about the wonders of life and the tiny invisible nuances that compose the fabric of reality.

Metalfan:  Which is the main theme of the album??
Nathan Winneke: The secret underlying theme is the 'empty plain' concept. That even though you can look out on a vast empty plain and it seems vacant and barren there are an infinite number of little wonders thriving from plants and insects to microscopic organisms. The idea is the little invisible wonders in life that are always there. If you read the lyrics 'empty plain' comes up alot. Obviously there are alot of nature themes as well.

Metalfan:  Who comes up with the ideeas for your artwork of your albums? For example how would you describe the artwork of "A Natural Death"?
Nathan Winneke: All our albums have been done by different people. Erik thought this one up but it was made by an outside artist as a giant carved wood block with a photo collage attached to it.

Metalfan:  Where did you have record it? How did the work with producer Brian Virtue go?
Nathan Winneke: We recorded it in Brian Virtues house in L.A. He is a nice man.

Metalfan:  Do you compose on the road? When you are on tour?
Nathan Winneke: No not really.

Metalfan:  Ok, now lets return to your European tour, what do you expect from this tour?
Nathan Winneke: Lots of crazy people having mad crazy fun.

Metalfan:  What should expect your fans from Romania from you?
Nathan Winneke: Expect us to play loud, exciting music and to smile while we do it.

Metalfan:  Which was the most insane thing that you have done in a concert?
Nathan Winneke: I pissed in some guys face once. Hahahaha!!! Just kidding.

Metalfan:  Thank you for the interview, in the end would you like to tell something to our readers?
Nathan Winneke: YES.
 10010101101010101011010010101000010101101011010100101011010111110101001. Thanks.