‘Click Interview’ with Frontier Guards: ‘The Album Is A Reflection On What I Do’

Czech artist Martin Pavlik is now active under the Frontier Guards moniker for several years. He released two albums on Aliens Production, one album on UTSC and another on Advoxya Records. His fifth full length #You# saw him moving back to Aliens Production. The opus is a sophisticated and refined piece mixing elements of IDM, ambient-electro and down-tempo. The music has something visionary-like while #You# might be  considered as the artist’s best work to date. Frontier Guards remains one of those talented artists who never got the deserved recognition.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: #You# is your fifth full length album under the Frontier Guards moniker. The album sounds a bit like a move back to your early influences, but can you tell us a bit more about the concept and the writing  and what have been the main differences/evolutions compared to previous works?

Martin: The album was released very quickly in a matter of weeks. Unlike the rest of the album, it is a relaxed album with a slow pace and softer themes lacking vocals. The album was dedicated to a specific person (see the inner cover of the CD) and describes a certain life experience, the relationship of two people and in relation to their surroundings, landscape, nature.

There were some compositions on the album, which I only wore in my head for many years, only now it was my turn to write these ideas into my notes. Primarily, it is about the relationship of two people, what can happen between them, what can be wrong / remedied.

Q: What has been your main focus in the writing and production of #You# and what have been the main instruments/equipment you’ve used to compose the album?

Martin: I composed the whole album in REASON 10. And the most important instrumental part of the album was the piano, which I consider to be the most elegant instrument.

Q: How do we have to understand the title of the album and what did you try to express by the cover of the album?

Martin: It’s more into interpretation. The album was dedicated to a specific person with the nickname ‘FOX’. But everyone can find him/herself in it; for everyone who wants to identify with this album. The album is a reflection on what I do, how I behave and how my surroundings react to it. Furthermore, it is possible to perceive the album as well as how one treats his surroundings – nature. How he can interact with nature and how he can be in conflict with nature – wage war with nature.

Q: #You# has been again released on Aliens Production, which also released both debut albums. Why did you leave the label after the “Interface”-album (2013) and why did you finally joined back hands again with the label?

Martin: There was nothing wrong with leaving and returning to the Aliens Label, it was a development.

Q: What can you tell us about the clip of the new album’s title song?

Martin: The clip was created by colleague Stefan Kollarik and the main idea of the clip is the face, the female face. The word YOU is instantly linked to the idea of someone specific, and a woman’s (anonymous) face suits the clip best.

Q: Any news about your other (side) projects?

Martin: Patrik Lev and I dusted up one older project …… and you will be among the first ones to be informed about it. For now, the whole thing is in a very advanced preparation.