For Robin Staps of The Ocean Collective, 'It's the Passion That Matters'

Robin Staps of The Ocean Collective called into our Tower Instagram Livestream show all the way from Europe, hosted by Whitney Moore, to talk about the band’s latest, monumental album coming out in the autumn, Phanerozoic II: Mezozoic/Cenozoic.

The Post-Metal band creates numinous soundscapes blended with lyrics and their last few albums have taken us far into pre-history and then up to the present day with the geological and zoological eras of Earth’s past.

Robin Staps called us from an outdoor setting on a nice evening. He was able to travel from Germany to Spain and was one of the first to arrive on a remote island for some down time. He hasn’t been able to see his bandmates much, mostly because they live in different countries, including Sweden and Switzerland. The record was completed in the beginning of the year, so thankfully they didn’t have to plan anything during lockdown.

Staps has been doing ok, he said, and has used the time to be “creative” and was also able to “properly prepare” for the pre-order and packaging for this massive new album. He thinks if Corona hadn’t happened, they might have been out of service due to an illness that their bass player is suffering from. He’s only now beginning to be able to play again.

The Ocean Collective had a South American tour planned, which has been postponed, but that didn’t influence them financially that much. In Berlin, most people are wearing masks and keeping a distance, though “gigs and parties” are missing.

Is he working on music currently in Spain? He’s “approaching it in a casual way” though he did bring his guitar. “It’s time for something new”, he agreed, and that feels good. He’s been having to focus on production and promotion of the new album up until now.

Moore asked about Staps’ decision to continue with paleontology themes on their albums. Staps has always been interested in the subject area and started working on it back in 2007. The “archaic vibe” of their music goes with “bleak prehistoric landscapes”, he feels.

They released Heliocentric in 2010, and there was a gap following it that he wanted to fill creatively. They wanted to write records that “connect our own past” with creativity, and the Phanerozoic albums are focused on those things. They bring in the “modern day” more than the other albums, which helps create a “bridge” to our times.

Musically, the album Phanerozoic Part II is quite different from Part I, Staps said, using the terms “progressive” and “experimental” for Part II. Part I was more continuous and “streamlined” whereas Part II has a strong “electronic component”. So it includes songs that didn’t really fit on Part 1, though Part II it’s not a B-sides album. He doesn’t necessarily prefer one over the other since “both reflect the band equally”.

Moore commented that Metal music lends itself to “high concept stuff”. The band’s recent single “Jurassic Cretaceous”, is a collaboration and Moore asked how it came about. Jonas Renkse of Katatonia was a guest on the first record in this series and also on this new song, and Staps has been a fan of Katatonia for a while, he said. It took some time to team up, but they met at a show, then revisited the idea of collaborating. Renske contributed on the previous album, and at that time, Renske sent Staps demos that ended up being used for the final track, the quality was so good.

Peter, The Ocean Collective’s synth player, added a new track to “Jurassic Cretaceous” and they decided that even though it didn’t work with the current vocals, they would record new vocals. They sent it to Renske, and he came back with a perfect fit for the track.

Asked if he finds a particular period most interesting or if he has a favorite song from the new album, Staps said that the feelings about songs, for him, really come in once they can play them live. They’ll be rehearsing the new material this Fall, and they hope (fingers crossed) they can go on tour in 2021.

There are some tracks that work really well on the record, but you “hate playing them live”. There are even some that work for the crowd, but not for the musicians, Staps said! Cambrian’s opening track is an “atypical” Ocean track, slower than what they usually do, but it really “works”, and he loves playing that live.

“What’s an inconvenient song to play live?”, Moore wondered. Staps said there are a couple tracks on Anthropocentric and Precambrian that they have stopped playing live, or have never played live, because of this. It’s all “doable” but they are “really lazy people” and don’t want to practice so much, he laughed. Staps also likes to be able to look at the audience and see their faces rather than focusing on his fretboard on complicated songs. He wants to “lean back and enjoy my own show as much as the crowd does”, he said.

Asked about his favorite places to tour or where he’d like to tour, Staps said that they toured a lot of new countries last year, starting in Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, culminating in Russia, and then went to Japan. It was “pretty mind-blowing”. The Armenia show was great, particularly, and though the band have “challenging technical requirements” and they made a big effort to get it right. They played a “weird bar” where there was a bar between themselves and the crowd with a From Dusk ‘Till Dawn vibe. They toured in China five or six years ago, and they hope to get back, since it’s been a while.

Moore asked Staps about the Metal scene in Germany, and he described it as a “big and quite segregated scene”. There are people into “Hair Metal” and “Death Metal” without much crossover. In remote places, the scene is smaller, but everyone who is “even remotely” into guitar music will come out to gigs. The fact that it’s not “big scene” can be excited and the fans are really happy to see outsiders coming to their town.

Plenty of people just like to “get a drink at the bar and stand in the back”, which is fine, but on a long tour the “energy feedback” between the band and crowd becomes important, so Staps likes to see folks excited and up front. But maybe that’s his “upbringing” in the “Hardcore scene”, Staps laughed.

The band were supposed to play a festival in Atlanta that’s been postponed, and it feels too early to plan for world travel, especially with visa requirements in the USA. They definitely want to come back to the States! It’s been at least 5 years since then. Maybe the second half of next year.

Why does Staps think Metal, and Progressive Metal, particularly, are so open to “crazy concepts” on albums and telling stories in that way. He thinks it might “lie in the nature of the music”, looking for something that “goes beyond” basic lyrics. But maybe that’s just his own way of thinking. He’s always loved records with themes. He’s always looking for “cross-references on tracks” when he’s listening to other records, too, Staps said.

Staps loves records where “artwork, and music, and tracks, as a whole make sense together”, whether it’s paleontology or collecting butterflies. It’s the passion that matters! Moore recently read an article about how jellyfish will outlast all other creatures on earth, and she’d love to hear a song about jellyfish ruling the earth.

Staps said they already have a song about a tiny species of jellyfish, an instrumental track they released on their label a couple of years ago, so Moore’s wish is granted!

How does Ocean Collective write songs? It is an “intimate process”, rather than meeting in studios to jam in order to write songs. He sometimes writes music at home, then determines with others how to play live. With Phanerozoic, everyone came to Berlin, rehearsed and jammed, and then went on tour. With planning, they can do that, but they are not the band who rehearses every week. Last year they spent 7 ½ months on tour seeing each other’s faces and are glad for a break, no matter how much they love each other, Staps said.

Moore asked about Staps’ record label, Pelagic Records. He’s always been interested in all the angles of making music, including marketing and management. Back in 2009, he was asked “Why don’t you do it yourself?” and he gave it a shot. First he released their own albums that were out of print, then he decided to try releasing another band’s work. He enjoyed it, so that has blossomed over 10 years to a huge number of releases.

Now they have a team of four people working on the label, including their drummer. There was a time when he didn’t discover much exciting Heavy music to release, but he has realized that  it was his own fault, since there is plenty out there to find. He loves finding those bands and helping give them exposure now. Since he’s in a touring band, he understands the different perspectives, whether from a band or from a label. In a time when physical music has been a “risky but also a healthy thing”, he’s been able to bring bands and a label together.

Pelagic Records started a “vinyl prescription service” last year and release two or three records a month, which is the limit of their capacity right now. They pick things they like and go to artists and ask them if they are interested in working together.

[The Ocean Collective on Tour]

Asked what he’s been listening to lately, Staps has been putting together a Spotify list, but hasn’t released it yet. It’s giant! He loves Heavy Music, like Waste of Space Orchestra. Pelagic has released music by Psychonaut this Spring and the warehouse has been very busy with that.

Asked about Ocean Collective’s new merch, Staps said there’s a “ridiculous amount of vinyl color variants” and a wooden box set. The second part (Phanerozoic II) is meant to go into the same box as the first Phanerozoic album. People have been able to reserve the same vinyl color to complete the set too. The sets also contain real fossils from the right time periods to correspond to the album!

Sourcing 1,500 box sets with three fossils each was a “ridiculous journey” for them and they had to have paleontologists help them out. They didn’t have to “ship instantly” thankfully. There’s also a slate rock plate, with engraved artwork, and other items. This is the “most all-encompassing packaging version”. The new record also comes in a “trifold” rather than “gatefold”, which has two gates. Check out their Metalblade page for full details.

He can’t wait for the physical objects to arrive so he can experience the “haptic product” itself. They should arrive this week for Staps!

Asked about our Tower Records motto, “No Music, No Life”, Robin Staps said that if it wasn’t for music, he doesn’t know what his life would be. It’s been the “most defining thing” in his life for 25 years. Sometimes he occasionally “hates” it, too, but he’s happy that he chose the path he’s chosen.

Asked if he has any final words for fans, Staps said that he hopes that The Ocean Collective’s new record will keep us from “boredom” when it arrives in September. He can’t wait for Ocean Collective to return to the USA for touring, too.