Bert: How gets an OCEANSIZE song created? When you add the lyrics? Who or what does influence you when writing songs?
Mike: First, we make sure we’ve had a really strong cup of tea. Then we bugger about on guitars and drums until the wire and wood starts making tunes that we all agree are good. We tend just to jam an idea for 20 minutes at a time and record so we can hear it forming and mutating. Usually in my mind I’m pushing the sections into a specific order so I can then make some kind of coherent vocal over the top. Influences... millions. But mainly just each other is enough of an influence. We are a pretty insular unit.

Dajana: Just generally speaking: what does inspire you at all to write songs about?
Mike: Just general funny thought patterns and in-jokes. It’d be easy to get all po-faced with the seriousness of it all, but actually there’s a bit of humor in most of the lyrics.

Bert: Your songs are often long-running monoliths. Is it difficult to finish such song at the right point? To let it go? When the song changes most: on stage or at studio?
Mike: In our rehearsal space. We tend to do the real hard work there... for months and months. When we think we’re ready, we’ll go out and play nothing but new tunes, then drive straight to the studio so we’re solid and ready to catch the moment. We don’t try to make the songs so long; they just don’t stop when we think they have. When we’re writing a song we usually don’t realize how long it is until we record it. Our brains must run at different speeds to other people’s cos the tunes just sound long enough to us.

Bert: As for the running time of your songs you get almost completely cut out from music TV and radio airplay. There are no singles, because single songs would have been torn out of the overall concept. The next logical step would be an album with only song running over the entire length or a soundtrack. Any plans in this direction?
Mike: I’d love to do something like that yeah. I actually suggested it before we wrote Frames, but it was met with a grunt and a shrug. Maybe one day though.

Bert: The cover of Frames is quite plane, reduced to the essence, contrary to the music… Colors seem to be a very important topic in the OCEANSIZE universe. Red suits the music on Frames well ;) How important is the visual part for you when it comes to album/ covers and booklet/t-shirt design?
Mike: We decided that the Frames cover should be quite minimal and ambiguous, maybe as a reaction against the previous album’s elaborate covers. This record is quite evocative, and we wanted the tunes to speak for themselves, rather than having a big monster or something on the cover that’s maybe gonna connote something that just isn’t there in the music.

Dajana: The topic “colors” runs through all of your releases and is always a welcome theme to get picked up in interviews, sometimes with funny statements ;) How much you (really) think about it and put work into the color coding of your music?
Mike: Er. What? I dunno. I think our music is colorful, all different colors like a kaleidoscope. I probably spelled that wrong.

Bert: You often get compared with Pink Floyd and Tool, but at the same time you get pegged as "Neo-Prog" or „Prog Rock“, a fact you don’t find really funny (as it’s known)
Mike: Personally I’m not a big prog fan... In the traditional sense it’s all a bit daft and pompous. And it’s dated terribly. Obviously, I like a bit of the Floyd, and I can appreciate gentle giant and magma cos I can hear cardiac in it. But yeah... no prog, cheers. I don’t mind tool though, though I wish they’d do something else with their tunes now.

Dajana: Apropos drawers… You once said: „I worry when we can categorize ourselves, that's when we'll really fuck it up.“ Ok, tricky situation ;) How to describe OCEANSIZE for the press and possible new-listeners/fans? Do it here brief and clear ;)
Mike: Many years ago Mogwai and... Trail Of Dead claimed to have spearheaded the new ‘death indie’ scene. I liked the sound of that so I figured we were similar to them but a bit more complex so I call it ‘progressive death indie’, which is so ridiculous, it’s funny. Notice I say progressive and not prog.

Dajana: Last year you had problems with your manager. How much you are reliant on a manager as a band? When you need one and how to employ the right ones handling your business?
Mike: Well, our managerial problems were a few years ago, our first manager left when he realized he was never gonna get rich off us. A manager is important from day one: the band should worry about nothing but making the music. The band needs a complete and clear mind in order to write. Plus, the band needs someone to shout at when things go wrong. I would recommend not getting in your mate who’s a failed guitarist in to manage your band. Band management is a fucking minefield and theirs tones of shit that you need to know to do the job right.

Bert: What’s right now in your CD player? Do you listen to much music besides band-related stuff? Does new music or different songwriting have any influence or change your own point of view in these matters?
Mike: As I type I’m listening to Fight Fire With Water on myspace. Lovely stuff. Also, I’ve fallen arse over tit in love with dEUS; In A Bar, Under The Sea is just sickenly good. Those are often my favorite records, the ones that make me feel totally inept, the ones that make me wish I’d thought of them. I guess we’ve been known to wear our influences on our sleeve; however we do try to make it as difficult to spot as possible. In terms of what I like to listen to, I find that I haven’t really got time for anything unless it inspires me in some way.

Dajana: Many of talented and creative musicians I know are very creative in other things too. Same to you? Do you have other creative/artistic outlets? What you do in your leisure time (if you have any) and what for you waste your hard-earned money?
Mike: I’m afraid I’m utterly useless in every other aspect of my life, but I feel I make up for that by playing guitar pretty well. In my leisure time I pet my cat and sleep. I make time for my friends who I enjoy talking shit with over a few drinks. I don’t really have any rock n’ roll network of mates, but I love drinking with Amplifier and Biffy Clyro. Great chat.

Dajana: I actually wanted to go to your show in Cologne but my car refused my request. Saying: I still didn’t see you performing live but heard a lot of positive feedback from others. So what to expect from an OCEANSIZE show generally? What’s going off in front of your stage?
Mike: Shame, Cologne was a great show. One of my only OCEANSIZE stage dives. Very rare occurrence... Erm, what to expect at an OCEANSIZE show... us... playing our songs... but louder than on record... broken drum sticks flying everywhere... sweat... mellow mellow... heavy heavy......screamy screamy... whisper whisper.... ya know, that kinda shit. We try to play with conviction, but often rely on the support of the audience to create the vibe that we feed off. It’s a kind of cyclic thing; us and the crowd feed off of each other.

Bert: Take a crystal ball and look into the future: Where are you in a couple of years? The niche you carved for you musically will probably never a blockbuster but attract a lot of real and loyal fans…
Mike: Probably touring the next record... I should imagine there’ll be one. We’ve got this far, I see no real reason to stop now. Let’s see.

Dajana: And without the crystal ball: what’s coming next? More tours, festivals (next year), side projects, EP’s, split CD’s?
Mike: We’re working on a sort of Frames live DVD type thing. That’s just being edited and mixed... should be quite a sexy package. I’d imagine we’ll tour around that. We’re looking at getting Frames out in the US and touring it over there. Other than that, we just gonna start writing the follow up to Frames in a week or so.

Dajana: Apropos splits… Did you ever? If not, with whom you preferably would like to be done for 2 or 3 songs and with what you’d coming out then?
Mike: I’m not sure I know what that means. But I think you mean which band we would like to work with. I’d say the obvious one would be Amplifier, we’ve been mates with them since forever, and it’s being a great big band. Fucking loud too. Maybe Biffy Clyro. I’d love for Tim Smith (Cardiacs) to write us a couple of songs, I think we could play them in quite a unique way. I’d love to get Tom Barman from dEUS to guest on one of our records.

Dajana: Ok, we are at the end with our questions. Now it’s up to you to tell us the rest we should have questioned ;) Just shoot!
Mike: Nah mate, I answer questions; I try not to talk randomized bollocks cos I always but always regret it. thank you xxxx.

Thanks for time and effort you have spent on this question :)
Cheers & have a great time