Interview with Marc Fischer of Six Days of Calm
-Can you tell us a little bit about Six Days of Calm and what made you decide to form it? What bands were you in prior?
6DOC is basically a project that I run on my own. I write all the songs, play the instruments and when I go on stage, I'm supported by some great musicians from my inner circle. I was previously active in Watch Them Fade, a metalcore band where I was also the main songwriter.
Over time, however, I've realized that my songwriting is increasingly drawn to my real passion, post-rock.
That's why I disbanded Watch Them Fade in 2018 and founded 6DOC, but not with the idea of being musically active on a larger scale again, but just to create cinematic post-rock sounds for myself at home.
-What inspires you to write music? What band or bands have inspired you, if any? What band would you compare Six Days of Calm to?
I find it incredibly difficult to categorize my own music, how it sounds or who it sounds like. My sound is often compared in magazines to Mono, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky etc. which of course I gladly accept.
I make music purely out of my emotions. I'm not a trained songwriter who is so technically adept that he can simply write anything. I bring my emotions into the music, often very unconventionally, without paying attention to any “rules”. I don't set myself any limits with 6DOC, everything just happens as my emotions create it. I think the people who really engage with my music feel that, they feel these emotions and it touches them.
-Tell us about your most recent album My Little, Safe Place. How did you come up with the title for the album and what does it mean to you?
I have been through many difficult phases in my life and I have realized how important it is to have a “safe place”. A place where you can recharge your batteries, where everything is fine, where problems have no place. Whether this is a real place or a virtual one that you create for yourself is irrelevant in this case. I think it's incredibly important that everyone has something like this. And this place was also very important to me in the songwriting process for “My Little, Safe Place”. Therefore the title of the album.
-I would consider Six Days of Calm to be in the genre of post-rock music. Can you tell our readers who don’t know, what that genre is exactly?
Yes, I agree with you. But post-rock is a broad spectrum and there are hardly any limits to the genre.
I think my kind of post-rock, or that of many other bands, I would call cinematic post-rock, music that has soundtrack-like structures, from very fragile to very epic and bombastic. Songs that contain every instrument you can imagine, song lengths that are quite normal from 2 - 15 minutes and in my opinion highly emotional.
But you have to take time for all of this, listen to and perceive music very consciously and then the whole emotional spectrum of post rock music unfolds
-What challenges do you face when playing live? As the sole member of Six Days of Calm, do you hire people to play with you, or do you have regular musicians who play with you?
Yes, of course it is not easy to play this kind of music live because you can often hear a large number of different instruments in the songs. In the case of 6DOC, I play with 2 live-guitarists, bassist and drummer. All orchestral sounds and effects are then played live via samples. Depending on the size of the show, it may well be that I will also play with orchestra musicians, but that always has to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
-I’m absolutely in love with your album The Ocean’s Lullaby that came out before My Little, Safe Place (which I also love of course!). What inspired that album?
Oh, thank you very much, I'm really pleased that you like The Ocean's Lullaby so much.
That was my debut and my first "attempt" to see how it sounds when I don't set myself any genre limits when writing songs, I just do what's inside me and try to convey my emotions in songs.
The vinyl is now sold out worldwide, which really surprised and pleased me.
I was going through an extremely difficult time at the time and there were big changes in my life. So I tried to put everything that moved me, everything that caused me problems, into songs. All my emotions are in these songs. It's no different with "My Little, Safe Place" of course, but it's always different when you're creating a debut album or already working on album 2. There are differences that you can probably hear.
-How did you come up with concepts for your music videos? I find them fascinating.
Thank you so much Sarah. Most of the time, while I'm recording songs in the studio, I get an image and a feeling that I'd like to put into the form of a video. I usually work on these ideas with a great team (friends, label, video production company, actors) until I have a concept of how to best put it all into pictures.
The videos were really elaborately produced and I have a great team around me to thank for the fact that my songs could be put into such a wonderful visual form.
-Tell us about your newest single Neuanfang, which you collaborated with Sperling. What is the song about? What does Neuanfang mean? What inspired the song?
The basis for "Neuanfang" was the song "New Beginning" on the album "My Little, Safe Place".
For me, the idea came about during the production of "My Little, Safe Place". "New Beginning" is a relatively minimalist song for me, where I worked with a cellist, violinist and a brass player as a small ensemble. I love this song in its minimalist and fragile style, but it was clear to me that I also wanted to create a big, epic version because the song was made for it.
And when I was thinking about how I wanted to design this new version, I came up with the idea of trying an additional experiment and implementing the song with german, spoken word-like vocals.
So I contacted Jojo, the voice of Sperling, and he was immediately open to this project and that's how "Neuanfang" was born.
The song is, just like the title, about a new beginning /neuanfang when life just can't go on anymore, when you need new impulses to be able to breathe and feel yourself again.
Something that I think many people can relate to because everyone probably reaches a point in their life at some point where nothing works anymore, where it is necessary to change things in order to feel solid ground beneath their feet again.
-Do you ever plan on touring? Specifically, do you ever plan on coming to the United States? (Hopeful interviewer here. Lol)
Yes, we would love to come to the United States for a tour or festival. We would be very happy about that and in fact we currently have a few contacts regarding a big festival in US. So maybe with a bit of luck it will work out in 2025.
Otherwise there are definitely a few things planned for 2025, let's see what we can do in the end.
Vinyls, Merch and digitals (EU/World)
www.sixdaysofcalm.bandcamp.com/music
Vinyls (US)
www.athousandarmsstore.com/products/six-days-of-calm-my-little-safe-place-2xlp
Vinyls (CN)
www.weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7177382692&wfr=BuyercopyURL&share_relation=6bb66ebddfdc63b1_1146334241_1&spider_token=46cb
SOCIAL MEDIA:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sixdaysofcalmofficial
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/SIXDOC
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5JWSWO9UdShEaknC9zISmo?si=oPCApUnbQpyW67hAZlYUxw
YOUTUBE:
NEUANFANG (with Sperling): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawpR8EZaSU
UNCERTAINTY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejy9UCb6OfY
SORROW (with circle&wind): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKRa-GoTR30
MAKING OF UPCOMING ALBUM 11/2023: https://youtu.be/G5xhmsFi23Q
REFLECTIONS: https://youtu.be/oCCBDV8phMU
BREATHE: https://youtu.be/QppPyejN9Xg
-Can you tell us a little bit about Six Days of Calm and what made you decide to form it? What bands were you in prior?
6DOC is basically a project that I run on my own. I write all the songs, play the instruments and when I go on stage, I'm supported by some great musicians from my inner circle. I was previously active in Watch Them Fade, a metalcore band where I was also the main songwriter.
Over time, however, I've realized that my songwriting is increasingly drawn to my real passion, post-rock.
That's why I disbanded Watch Them Fade in 2018 and founded 6DOC, but not with the idea of being musically active on a larger scale again, but just to create cinematic post-rock sounds for myself at home.
-What inspires you to write music? What band or bands have inspired you, if any? What band would you compare Six Days of Calm to?
I find it incredibly difficult to categorize my own music, how it sounds or who it sounds like. My sound is often compared in magazines to Mono, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky etc. which of course I gladly accept.
I make music purely out of my emotions. I'm not a trained songwriter who is so technically adept that he can simply write anything. I bring my emotions into the music, often very unconventionally, without paying attention to any “rules”. I don't set myself any limits with 6DOC, everything just happens as my emotions create it. I think the people who really engage with my music feel that, they feel these emotions and it touches them.
-Tell us about your most recent album My Little, Safe Place. How did you come up with the title for the album and what does it mean to you?
I have been through many difficult phases in my life and I have realized how important it is to have a “safe place”. A place where you can recharge your batteries, where everything is fine, where problems have no place. Whether this is a real place or a virtual one that you create for yourself is irrelevant in this case. I think it's incredibly important that everyone has something like this. And this place was also very important to me in the songwriting process for “My Little, Safe Place”. Therefore the title of the album.
-I would consider Six Days of Calm to be in the genre of post-rock music. Can you tell our readers who don’t know, what that genre is exactly?
Yes, I agree with you. But post-rock is a broad spectrum and there are hardly any limits to the genre.
I think my kind of post-rock, or that of many other bands, I would call cinematic post-rock, music that has soundtrack-like structures, from very fragile to very epic and bombastic. Songs that contain every instrument you can imagine, song lengths that are quite normal from 2 - 15 minutes and in my opinion highly emotional.
But you have to take time for all of this, listen to and perceive music very consciously and then the whole emotional spectrum of post rock music unfolds
-What challenges do you face when playing live? As the sole member of Six Days of Calm, do you hire people to play with you, or do you have regular musicians who play with you?
Yes, of course it is not easy to play this kind of music live because you can often hear a large number of different instruments in the songs. In the case of 6DOC, I play with 2 live-guitarists, bassist and drummer. All orchestral sounds and effects are then played live via samples. Depending on the size of the show, it may well be that I will also play with orchestra musicians, but that always has to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
-I’m absolutely in love with your album The Ocean’s Lullaby that came out before My Little, Safe Place (which I also love of course!). What inspired that album?
Oh, thank you very much, I'm really pleased that you like The Ocean's Lullaby so much.
That was my debut and my first "attempt" to see how it sounds when I don't set myself any genre limits when writing songs, I just do what's inside me and try to convey my emotions in songs.
The vinyl is now sold out worldwide, which really surprised and pleased me.
I was going through an extremely difficult time at the time and there were big changes in my life. So I tried to put everything that moved me, everything that caused me problems, into songs. All my emotions are in these songs. It's no different with "My Little, Safe Place" of course, but it's always different when you're creating a debut album or already working on album 2. There are differences that you can probably hear.
-How did you come up with concepts for your music videos? I find them fascinating.
Thank you so much Sarah. Most of the time, while I'm recording songs in the studio, I get an image and a feeling that I'd like to put into the form of a video. I usually work on these ideas with a great team (friends, label, video production company, actors) until I have a concept of how to best put it all into pictures.
The videos were really elaborately produced and I have a great team around me to thank for the fact that my songs could be put into such a wonderful visual form.
-Tell us about your newest single Neuanfang, which you collaborated with Sperling. What is the song about? What does Neuanfang mean? What inspired the song?
The basis for "Neuanfang" was the song "New Beginning" on the album "My Little, Safe Place".
For me, the idea came about during the production of "My Little, Safe Place". "New Beginning" is a relatively minimalist song for me, where I worked with a cellist, violinist and a brass player as a small ensemble. I love this song in its minimalist and fragile style, but it was clear to me that I also wanted to create a big, epic version because the song was made for it.
And when I was thinking about how I wanted to design this new version, I came up with the idea of trying an additional experiment and implementing the song with german, spoken word-like vocals.
So I contacted Jojo, the voice of Sperling, and he was immediately open to this project and that's how "Neuanfang" was born.
The song is, just like the title, about a new beginning /neuanfang when life just can't go on anymore, when you need new impulses to be able to breathe and feel yourself again.
Something that I think many people can relate to because everyone probably reaches a point in their life at some point where nothing works anymore, where it is necessary to change things in order to feel solid ground beneath their feet again.
-Do you ever plan on touring? Specifically, do you ever plan on coming to the United States? (Hopeful interviewer here. Lol)
Yes, we would love to come to the United States for a tour or festival. We would be very happy about that and in fact we currently have a few contacts regarding a big festival in US. So maybe with a bit of luck it will work out in 2025.
Otherwise there are definitely a few things planned for 2025, let's see what we can do in the end.
Vinyls, Merch and digitals (EU/World)
www.sixdaysofcalm.bandcamp.com/music
Vinyls (US)
www.athousandarmsstore.com/products/six-days-of-calm-my-little-safe-place-2xlp
Vinyls (CN)
www.weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7177382692&wfr=BuyercopyURL&share_relation=6bb66ebddfdc63b1_1146334241_1&spider_token=46cb
SOCIAL MEDIA:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sixdaysofcalmofficial
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/SIXDOC
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5JWSWO9UdShEaknC9zISmo?si=oPCApUnbQpyW67hAZlYUxw
YOUTUBE:
NEUANFANG (with Sperling): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawpR8EZaSU
UNCERTAINTY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejy9UCb6OfY
SORROW (with circle&wind): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKRa-GoTR30
MAKING OF UPCOMING ALBUM 11/2023: https://youtu.be/G5xhmsFi23Q
REFLECTIONS: https://youtu.be/oCCBDV8phMU
BREATHE: https://youtu.be/QppPyejN9Xg