Zoltan Farkas

Ektomorf

It's Sunday evening and I'm waiting for a phone call from Ektomorf's Zoltan Farkas. I was looking forward to this interview since I had previously listened to their brand new CD Outcast and reviewed it. I had many questions to ask Zoltan and he was kind enough to answer them all. So, at about 7:30 pm, the phone rang and I heard Zoltan's voice...
By Yiannis Dafopoulos
November 2, 2006
Zoltan Farkas (Ektomorf) interview
First of all thanks for taking the time for this interview and congratulations on your new CD!

Thank you very much, man, thanks...

This is your second interview with Metal Temple. Haven't you got tired of us yet? We're getting pretty annoying...

No man, no... Not at all! [Laughs]

So, have you given many interviews for your new CD until now?

Yeah, I have been giving interviews all day long but it's really good because the new album is out so... It's good.

This is your seventh full-length album. When you first started as a band, did you believe that you could reach this height?

No, man! However, I always believed in what I do and I love what I do, but if somebody told us that we would reach here, we wouldn't believe it. Especially because we come from Hungary. It's really amazing!

Which bands have influenced your music?

The biggest influence is Metallica. I got my first Metallica record when I was like fourteen, Master Of Puppets. It is the biggest influence in my life and later on came Slayer, Reign In Blood, Sepultura, the Beneath The Remains album. Later many more bands like Machine Head and Static-X. It was a very big influence for me when I was listening to the Static-X album called Start A War.I think it's something amazing! I am also influenced by Rock & Roll bands but my basic influence is Metallica.

It's just that I think that your music has many similarities with Soulfly...

Oh, man... I am really tired of this! Many people say this. Please let's talk about something else...

How come you decided to record a cover for Prodigy's Fuel My Fire?

Because I love the band. I like Prodigy a lot. I was listening to the album The Fat Of The Land and while I was listening to the song I thought that this could be an Ektomorf song because it's simple and the lyrics are really fucking heavy and straight...

Prodigy have many songs that could be played as Metal songs...

Yeah, I know... I think no band did this before...

You see, I had a band and when I proposed it to the others, they didn't accept it! The same song, two years ago!

The same song? Really? It's an amazing song! In my opinion, it is a Punk song.

A Punk/Hardcore song!

Exactly! And I like Punk/Hardcore a lot so I was like Let's try it! I told the other guys let's just play it and it sounded really good! And when we played it live, I saw that people loved it too. So we liked it, people liked it and here it is... I just want to see if Prodigy like it because I will send it to them...

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

You know, I like running and exercising but mostly music. Listening to music, playing music... Music is in my spare time and my main time!

How would you call the music that you play with Ektomorf?

Well, I don't really want to call it any kind of Metal. I just call it a really angry music. I don't want to call it Thrash Metal or Death Metal or Hardcore because it's a big mix of the heaviest Metal styles.

Because I have heard many people call you Thrash Metal, Neo-Thrash Metal or Thrashcore...

That's what people say. I just call it really aggressive music!

So, if a famous Pop singer asked you to make a guest appearance on his/her upcoming CD, would you accept?

It depends on who would ask me to do it! I am open to many kinds of music! If someone came up with this idea, I would listen to it and... Maybe yes, maybe no.

How did you decide to establish Ektomorf as a name for the band?

I was reading the Fitness magazine and I came across the word ektomorf and thought it was cool. And it also was not English, because many bands use English names. It sounded good and we established it...

How do you feel working with a label like Nuclear Blast?

It's really great! Right now, we are really good. Basically, we are fucking great together! There are hard times when we have to talk about hard decisions but we are very happy...

What music do you listen to except Metal?

I listen to many kinds of music. I listen to movie soundtracks; I listen to Rock & Roll music, Indian music. There are times I am sitting and watching TV and if a Pop song I come across is good, I even listen to it, too. I just listen to what I like...

I think the music that you listen to is very obvious in your songs! Especially folk music...

I really like folk music and you can listen to it on the Outcast CD. I don't like all kinds of folk music. Mostly Indian, Asian, the gypsy stuff... Music from countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, because this music has the atmosphere that I like...

Have you ever listened to ancient Greek music?

Yeah! And in the song Who Can I Trust there is a solo that is very close to this kind of music like Greek and Bulgarian. I like music that has passion in it like Greek, Romanian, and Bulgarian...

Your new album's title is Outcast. Do you feel that way in today's society?

I call it outcast because I feel an outcast. I always felt like one. It is because I fight for my life inside and outside of music. I am a gypsy and gypsies are hated in Hungary, so I am an outcast. We are going to shoot a video with this as the topic. I was thinking about this word because it is just a small word that means so many things...

Regarding what we said before, do you think that this situation can change?

Gypsies are being treated like shit and these people are fighting every day! They live in the cities like outcasts! It is as if you are going back in time forty years! Anyway, everyone can feel like an outcast for different reasons because today we are all standing in a row and we all have to be the same, and if you don't do that, you are an outcast!

If you had the chance to play any other kind of music, which music would it be?

Hmmm, if I played any other kind of music, it would be something like Dead Can Dance. I would play something like that...

Do you have any touring plans?

Yeah! Our tour will start in February/March or March/April. In the spring and it will last for two months. I hope we will also be able to visit Greece!

I remember you had played here supporting Kreator.

Yeah, in Athens and Thessaloniki. This was not so easy for us because people wanted to see Kreator but it was a really good show!

That's all I had to ask. Thanks a lot!

It was a pleasure, man!

Good luck with everything you do!

Thank you, man! I hope to see you soon! Take care!

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