真实的自我 - 捷克Thrash Metal乐队Six Degrees Of Separation专访

今天采访到的是来自捷克的一支非常有资历的老牌Thrash Metal乐队Six Degrees Of Separation，成立于1996年的Six Degrees Of Separation最初以Doom Metal风格为主，后期改为现在的风格Thrash Metal，1997年发行了第一张Demo作品“Dark Ages”，就受到了广泛的关注，2002年在捷克厂牌Élysion Music发行了他们的第一张专辑“Moon 2002: Nocturnal Breed”，随后乐队保持2 - 3年发行一张专辑，可见乐队创作能力非常高效，在经过几张专辑的洗礼之后乐队决定放弃Doom Metal风格转变成为一支Thrash Metal风格的乐队，快速连续的Riff，悦耳的旋律和高亢激昂的演唱，让Six Degrees Of Separation乐队受到了更多的关注，2020年乐队在捷克MetalGate厂牌发行了他们的第七张正式专辑“Old Dogs”，今年乐队刚刚发布了他们的最新专辑“Never After”这也是乐队的第八张正式专辑，前不久杂志通过Hypnos乐队的Bruno与Six Degrees Of Separation乐队的Radek取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 R: 代表Radek）

Today's interview is with Six Degrees Of Separation, a veteran Thrash Metal band from the Czech Republic. Formed in 1996, Six Degrees Of Separation started out as a Doom Metal band, but later changed to their current style of Thrash Metal, releasing their first demo “Dark Ages” in 1997. The band received a lot of attention in 1997 with the release of their first demo “Dark Ages”, and in 2002 they released their first album “Moon 2002: Nocturnal Breed” on the Czech label Élysion Music. Breed”, the band kept on releasing an album every 2-3 years, which showed the band's efficient creative ability. After a few albums the band decided to abandon the Doom Metal style and become a Thrash Metal band, with fast continuous riffs, melodic tunes and soaring vocals. Degrees Of Separation received a lot of attention and in 2020 the band released their seventh album “Old Dogs” on the Czech label MetalGate, and this year the band has just released their latest album “Never After”. Never After”, the band's eighth album, the magazine contacted Radek of Six Degrees Of Separation through Bruno of Hypnos for an interview!

(V: for the author R: for Radek)

采访对象：Radek（Six Degrees Of Separation乐队主唱 / 贝斯手）

采访时间：2024.09.21

V: 你好兄弟很高兴见到你，非常感谢你参加这次采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访，首先向中国的乐迷们问个好，Six Degrees Of Separation乐队成立于1996年，是一支历史悠久的老牌乐队，当初是谁发起成立了这支乐队，Six Degrees Of Separation这个名字的有什么含义？

Hello brother nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview, I think this is the first time that your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, first of all say hello to Chinese fans, Six Degrees Of Separation was formed in 1996 is a band with a long history of veteran bands, who initiated the formation of this band in the first place, Six Degrees Of Separation? What is the meaning of the name Six Degrees Of Separation?

R: 你好，来自欧洲心脏最深处的所有中国重金属乐迷们，你们好！是的，你们完全正确，乐队Six Degrees of Separation很快将迎来成立30周年（实际上是在两年后）……当我（我叫Radek，艺名“Doctor”，担任贝斯手和大部分主唱）和Canni（吉他手）一起，和其他人一起在一个又旧又臭的地窖里开始演奏时，感觉就像昨天一样。但我们认识的时间更长，因为在Six Degrees Of Separation之前，还有另一个叫Abyss（成立于 1993 年）的乐队，你们会在那里找到我们两个。所以你们看……我们真的是音乐上的兄弟。

Hello buddy, best regards to all Chinese metal-heads from the very heart of Europe! Yes, you are completely right, the band Six Degrees of Separation will celebrate its 30th anniversary soon (in 2 years actually) ... and it still feels like yesterday to me when I (my name is Radek aka Doctor, bass guitar and most of the vocals) got together with Canni (guitar) and started playing in one old smelly basement with other guys. But we knew each other even longer, because before SDOS there was another band called Abyss (founded in 1993) and you would find both of us there too. So you see ... it has been really, really long musical brotherhood.

V: 作为一支老牌乐队，你们更换了很多成员，从最初的五重奏变成了现在的四重奏，为什么老成员会退出乐队？新成员是如何加入乐队的？你对他们的工作满意吗？

As a veteran band you've changed a lot of members and you've gone from being a quintet to a quartet now, why did the older members quit the band? How did new members join the band? Are you happy with their work?

R: 老乐队？听起来我们应该开始考虑退休计划了...... 8-) 我觉得我们算是幸运的，因为持久力或毅力可以说是我们的强项之一。SDOS的人员从未有过大的变动。只有一次在2004年第二张专辑"Triotus, Tricephalus and Tribadism"发行前不久，几位乐队成员决定离开乐队，当时我感到非常遗憾。有些是因为个人原因，有些是因为音乐品味的改变，有些可能只是太累了。当然这很有挑战性，但另一方面，这也是一个很好的机会，让我们继续前进，也许还能改变我们的声音。自2004年以来，我们一直保持着相同的阵容，这个阵容已经保持了20年！我们是Pickard--鼓手，Vlasa--吉他手兼主唱，Canni--吉他手，Doctor--贝斯手兼主唱，这也是我引以为豪的地方。

Veteran band? That sounds like we should start to think about retirement plans.. 8-) I think that we are sort of lucky, because durability or perseverance could be considered as one of our stronger sides. There has never been any significant fluctuation of people in SDOS. Only once, shortly before our second album "Triotus, Tricephalus and Tribadism" in 2004, several band members decided to leave the band, which I felt very sorry for at that time. Some due to personal reasons, some due to changing musical tastes, some may just have become too tired. Sure, it was challenging, but on the other hand also a great opportunity to move on and maybe to change our sound. Since 2004 we are holding the same line-up, the same line-up for 20 for years! We are: Pickard - drums, Vlasa - guitars & vocals, Canni - guitars, Doctor - bass & vocals. This is also something I am fairly proud of.

V: 你可以向我们介绍一下你们的歌曲创作经验，你的每张专辑在编曲方面都非常讲究，我相信你的歌曲创作经验会激励很多年轻的音乐家！

You can tell us a little bit about your songwriting experience, each of your albums is very elaborate in terms of arrangements, and your songwriting experience I'm sure will inspire a lot of young musicians!

R: 缪斯女神就是你所需要的，我的朋友。听起来很简单，对吗？事实上，这是整个歌曲创作过程中最棘手的部分。我想每个音乐家或艺术家都会同意这一点。缪斯女神就像一个不忠的仙女，来无影去无踪。有几天甚至几周，无论你多么渴望她的出现，她都不会来拜访你。然后她突然就来了，没人知道她会来多久，而你需要利用那个非常时刻。有时，她也会在非常不恰当的时候出现（等公交车、拜访朋友等）你唯一能做的就是最大限度地利用她提供的机会。在这一点上，我很庆幸如今的科技。如今每当灵感来临时，我都能将其直接录制到应用程序中，添加任何我想添加的乐器（即使是在机场候机或乘车旅行时），我还能将其雕刻成所需结构的原始形状，最重要的是，我还能将最初的想法保存下来，以便日后处理。当然这仅仅是个开始。每个想法和每个草稿都必须经过 SDOS 所有成员的评估。一旦我们一致同意都喜欢这首歌，我们就会开始编曲，加入旋律，加入和声，慢慢地将歌曲带入最后的音符。可想而知，这需要花费很多时间。

A muse is all you need, my friend. Sounds easy, right? The fact is that this is the most tricky part of the whole songwriting process. I think every musician or artist will agree. She, the muse, is like an unfaithful fairy which comes and leaves without warning. There are days and even weeks when she does not come to visit, no matter how much you crave for her appearance. Then suddenly, she arrives, no-one knows for how long, and you need to use that very moment. Sometimes she comes in very inappropriate moments too (while waiting for a bus, visiting friends etc). The only thing you can do is to maximize your possibilities to take what she offers. And this is the part when I am glad for technology available today. Nowadays whenever inspiration comes I am able to record it directly to an app, add whatever instruments I wish to (even when waiting at the airport or when traveling by car), I can carve it into raw shape of desired structure, and the most importantly, I can save the initial idea for later processing. And of course that is just the beginning. Every idea and every draft must come through assessment of all of the SDOS members. Once we agree we all like it, we start working on the arrangements of the song, putting down groove, adding harmonies, bringing it slowly to the final note mark. And that can take a lot of time, as you can imagine.

V: 你们的专辑在录制效果方面令人惊叹，你们是在哪个录音棚录制的？哪位制作人制作了你们的专辑？

Your albums have been amazing in terms of recording results, what studio did you record the albums in? Which producer produced your album?

R: 趣闻：在我们所有的 8 张专辑中，我们都与唯一的一位音响师、制作人Stanislav Valášek合作过。2002年我们在Shaark工作室录制首张专辑时遇到了他，自此我们的合作便一发不可收拾，我们再也没有寻找其他录音室的冲动。这家伙对音乐有惊人的感觉，能立即分辨出对错，质疑你的音乐决定并有自己的见解，这一点非常宝贵。对我们来说参观他的录音室总是一个特别的时刻......就像见到了许久未见的老朋友，他是我们所有录音的幕后功臣。

Fun-fact: On all our 8 albums we have worked and collaborated with one and only Stanislav Valášek, sound-engineer, producer and the owner of the small but famous Šopa Studio. We met him once in 2002 while recording our debut album in the Shaark studio and our ways never split since. We never felt any urge to search for another recording studio. This guy has amazing feel for music, capability of telling right from wrong approach immediately, question your musical decisions, and has his own vision. That is very valuable. Visiting his studio is always a special occasion for us. ...it is always like meeting good old friend you did not get to see for a long time. He is the guy behind all our recordings.

V: 你们的Logo设计是我见过的最特别的，是谁设计的？你们的专辑封面设计也非常精美，是谁为你们设计的？

You guys have the most unusual logo design I've ever seen, who designed your logo and your album artwork is beautifully designed, who designed the artwork for you?

R: 我们一直使用的两个乐队Logo都是由朋友设计的，他们恰好也是视觉艺术家。卷曲和老气的那个更符合我们的“忧郁”风格。另一个则表达了我们更有活力的一面。至于专辑封面，每一张都有自己的故事。同样有些封面是由朋友或聘请的艺术家创作的，有些则是我们自己创作的，谢谢你很高兴你喜欢。

Both of the band logos we have been using were created by friends who also happen to be visual artists. The curly and older one is more corresponding to our doomy roots. The other one expresses our more energized side. Regarding the album covers, each of them has story of its own. And again, some of them were created by friends or hired artists, some of them were created by ourselves. And thank you, I am glad you like it.

V: 梦想、抑郁、技术是你们的一些音乐主题，你们为什么选择它们，你们想通过这样的音乐主题表达什么？你有歌词部分吗？谁写的这些歌词？他的灵感来源是什么？

Dreams, Depression, Technology are some of your musical themes, why did you choose them and what do you want to do with them? Do you have a lyrics section and who writes these lyrics for you? What is his inspiration?

R: 最大的灵感当然是生活本身。我们每个人，全世界数十亿张无名的面孔，都在面对自己的恐惧、害怕、痛苦、成功、失落、爱情、背叛、幸福或抑郁。这就是我们炖菜的大熔炉。我认为，歌词是我们表达的重要工具，不应被忽视或低估。Pickard（我们的鼓手）是大部分歌词的作者。

The biggest inspiration is the life itself, of course. Each of us, each of the billions of nameless faces all Around the world is facing his/her own fears, phobias, pains, successes, loses, loves, betrayals, happiness or depression. And that is the melting pot which we serving our stew from. Imho the lyrics are very important tool of our expression and they shouldn't stay overlooked or underestimated. Pickard (our drummer) is the author of most of them.

V: 你们与MetalGate和Élysion Music这两个厂牌合作发行过专辑，你们是如何与这两个厂牌取得联系并进行合作的？你对他们的工作满意吗？

You've released albums with two labels, MetalGate and Élysion Music, how did you get in touch with these two labels to collaborate? Were you satisfied with their work?

R: 当然，我非常满意。Élysion是第一个对出版我们的音乐感兴趣的唱片公司。这真是梦想成真。他们将我们带入音乐行业，向我们展示了音乐行业的运作方式。他们发行了我们的三张专辑。MetalGate是另一个伟大的经历，他们帮助我们向更多的听众推广我们的音乐，就像Elysion一样，他们发行了我们的其他三张专辑。能与这两家唱片公司合作，是我们的荣幸，也是一次很好的经历。

Very satisfied, of course. Élysion was the very first label which showed any interest in publishing our music. It was a dream come true. They have brought us to the music industry and showed us how things work. They have released our three first albums. MetalGate was another great experience, they helped us to promote our music to wider audience and just like Elysion, they released our other 3 albums. It was an honor and a great experience to work with both of these labels.

V: 你们的乐队最初以Doom Metal起家，后来改成了Thrash Metal，为什么要改变风格？

Your band started out as Doom Metal and then you changed to Thrash Metal, why did you change your style?

R: 实际上，我们从来都不是真正的Doom Metal，也不是真正的Thrash Metal。我把我们的音乐称为我们喜欢的音乐（当然主要是金属）风格的温和混合体。我想我们的音乐是旋律性和攻击性的混合，有一点渐进性，人声也不常见。我们的音乐经常被描述为很容易辨认，这是因为上述特征在某种程度上使我们的声音独一无二，至少公关人员是这么认为的。但是给我们贴标签似乎并不是一件容易的事，大多数人也不会同意这样的说法。我认为我们正在快速接近Dad-metal的时代。我们为什么要改变风格呢？我认为我们从未意识到我们已经改变了风格，而且是在什么时候。这不是我们的决定，也不是我们的目标，它就这么发生了。虽然上面提到的乐队成员的变化可能与此有关。

Well, it's actually never been true doom metal, and it's never really been thrash metal either. I would call our music gentle mixture of whatever musical (mostly metal, of course) styles we like. Mixture of melodic and aggressive, a bit of progression, with uncommon vocals, I guess.

Our music is often described as easily recognizable due to the above mentioned attributes that somehow make our sound unique, well, at least that is what publicists think. But attaching a label seems not an easy task and most people would not agree on the same. I think we are fast approaching a time when Dad-metal will be just about right.

And why have we changed the style? I do not think we’ve ever realised we did, and when. It’s not like we have decided on it, or have aimed for it. It just happened. Although the above mentioned change in band members may have had something to do with it.

V: 首先祝贺你们的新专辑2020年发行，这张专辑已经发行四年了，但它仍然是一张经典专辑，精彩的编曲、尖锐的旋律、出色的唱功，每一个细节都渗透着你们的才华，你们对新专辑有什么看法？你对新专辑有什么看法，与旧专辑相比有何不同？

First of all, congratulations on the release of your new album in 2020, it's been four years since the album but it's still a classic album, wonderful arrangements, sharp riffs, great vocals, every detail oozes your talent, what are your thoughts on the new album? What are your thoughts on the new album and how does it compare to the old one?

R: 请允许我纠正您的错误（恕我直言）：我们刚刚发行了一张全新的录音室专辑（第八张）名为“Never After”，这张专辑刚发行没几天，你可以在所有常用的发行平台（Spotify、Apple Music、Youtube......）上查看。总之你的问题可能是指2020年的那张名为"Old Dogs"的旧专辑，谢谢您的夸奖。实际上编曲是我们这些年来一直在努力改进的东西：写出一首具有强大音乐结构和或多或少隐藏在歌词中的信息的坚实歌曲，我们的每一首歌都是这样的，至少我们已经尝试过了。

Let me kindly correct you (with all due respect): We have just released a brand new studio album (our eighth one), named "Never After" ... it's been out just a few days, so feel free to check it out on all usual distributing platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, ...).

Anyway, in your question you were probably talking about the older album from 2020 named "Old Dogs". Thank you for the nice words. Arrangements are actually something what we are trying to work on and improve during all those years: to write a solid song with strong musical structure and more or less hidden message in the lyrics. Each and every one of our songs was meant to be like that. We have tried, at least.

V: 你们乐队在202年有哪些新的计划，比如创作、录制新歌或参加一些音乐节？

What are some of the new things you have coming up for your band in 2024, such as writing, recording some new songs or playing some festivals, can you give some information to people?

R: 除了上面提到的“Never After”专辑，我们还在继续创作新歌。目前我们正在完成3首新歌，还有一些新歌正在路上，我们已经在期待着一旦我们准备好了就去录音室录音。我们还希望能在今年和明年的一些演出中为我们的新专辑助阵。

Besides the above mentioned "Never After" album we keep on working on new stuff. Currently we are finishing 3 new songs, some more are on the way, and we are already looking forward to go to the recording studio once we feel we are ready. We also hope that we will be able to support our new album on some gigs this and next year.

V: 你们参加过很多音乐节，有没有哪些音乐节给你们留下了深刻的印象，能跟我们说说当时的气氛吗？

You guys have been to a lot of festivals, are there any festivals that have left a lasting impression on you and can you tell us a little bit about the atmosphere?

R: 当然，有些演出永远不会从我们的脑海和记忆中消失。有些演出规模很大（Masters of Rock、Brutal Assault）有些则很小但也许正因为如此才更紧张、更亲密。一般来说我总是尽量把这当作最后一次登台，因为谁也不知道我们还能有多少次机会，我相信只有这样你才能保持你的真实性和面子。

Of course there were gigs that will never vanish from our minds and memories. Some of them were pretty large (Masters of Rock, Brutal Assault), some of them were pretty small, but maybe more intense or intimate just because of that. In general I always try to come to the stage like it is the last time. Because no-one knows how many more times will we be allowed to. I believe that only that way you can keep your authenticity, and face.

V: Six Degrees of Separation是一支经典的捷克乐队，我会一直支持和关注你们，也希望通过这次采访能让更多的中国歌迷关注、支持和喜欢你们的作品，最后你有什么想对中国歌迷说的吗？

Six Degrees of Separation is a classic Czech band, I will always support and follow your band, and I hope that this interview will bring more Chinese fans to follow, support and enjoy your work, is there anything you would like to say to your Chinese fans?

R: 谢谢你，兄弟，让我们有机会向中国观众和金属乐迷介绍Six Degrees of Separation乐队！我们向大家致以诚挚的问候！

Thank you, brother, for the opportunity to introduce Six Degrees of Separation to Chinese audience and metal-heads! We are sending our regards to all of you!