German Post-Metal pioneers The Ocean Collective will be gracing our shores at this year’s
RAMFEST shows in Cape Town and Pretoria on the 1 st and 2 nd of September, respectively. With a
career that has spanned 20 years and nine albums (the most recent having been released in May,
2023 called “Holocene”), this 6-piece will surely blow the local minds and gain a slew of new fans.
Kevin Rule had the chance to chat with founding member and guitarist Robin Staps.
20 YEARS – 9 ALBUMS –THAT IS SUPER IMPRESSIVE. WHAT KEEPS THE OCEAN TRAIN GOING?
Personally, I love the travelling and recording. There isn’t even time to get bored because life
oscillates between those two very different aspects of being in a band. There’s this balance of life
that is created, because, after touring, it’s time to work on an album – after the album it’s time to
start touring. There’s not much time for anything else and that’s the way we express ourselves – it is
this artistic outlet that is very important to us. And getting to see weird places all over the world
with friends is just the greatest thing anyone could ask for.
OVER TIME, HOW HAVE YOUR INFLUENCES CHANGED? OR HAVE THEY STAYED MUCH THE SAME?
Sure, there was a time when I didn’t listen to anything new and was kind of stuck in my ways. But
now, I’ve come to embrace the fact that there is so much new music out there that I’m exposed to –
a lot of that is due to the work I do with my label Pelagic Records. But, inspiration doesn’t only come
from music – even an art exhibition can stir an emotional response that fuels a new idea on the
guitar.
OVER SUCH AN EXPANSIVE CAREER WITH MULTIPLE MEMBER CHANGES, HOW HAS THE SONG-
WRITING PROCESS CHANGED?
Well, certainly the first couple of albums were all based off of my ideas and then later on it became
more of a collaborative effort. In fact, the new album “Holocene” was actually all based on (synth
player) Peter’s ideas that I was inspired by and then interpreted and treated as The Ocean songs –
and that’s what makes the album feel so different, but also it is a natural extension from the
previous album. So much so that “Holocene” got its name from the final track on the previous album
“Phanerozoic II”.
WHERE TO NEXT FOR THE OCEAN FROM AN INSPIRATION AND CONCEPTUAL ALBUM POINT OF
VIEW NOW THAT YOU'VE COVERED THE WHOLE 4.5 BILLION YEAR GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE
EARTH?
It will be completely different for sure! The geological inspiration for the albums is now definitely
over. In fact, we were going to change already on the last album, but the ideas Peter had given me
really felt like it should carry on once more. There is, actually, a whole album that was done at the
same time – again as I was inspired by Peter’s ideas – that will definitely be the start of a new era, so
to speak.
WILL YOU TREAT YOUR LONG TIME SOUTH AFRICAN FANS TO SOME OLDER CLASSICS SUCH AS
‘OROSIRIAN: FOR THE GREAT BLUE COLD NOW REIGNS’?
Unfortunately, we only have an hour – and when most of your songs are over 8 mins, that means we
can only do six songs. So we want to focus on tracks from “Holocene”, “Phanerozoic I & II” – maybe
there will be something from “Heliocentric”. The truth is there just isn’t enough time. So, we really
hope we can come back to South Africa for a club tour where we can have more time – not only on
stage but to be tourists.
MY FINAL QUESTION ACTUALLY COMES FROM MY FRIEND DYLAN WHO INTRODUCED YOU GUYS
TO ME MANY YEARS AGO. HE’S A LOCAL GEOLOGIST AND WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU'RE AWARE
THAT WHEN YOU PLAY IN STELLENBOSCH YOU'LL BE AT THE BASE OF EARLY PHANEROZOIC
MOUNTAINS THAT HAVE ROCKS FROM THE ORDOVICIAN GLACIATION AND SILURIAN SHALE
DEPOSITS WITH EURYPTERID (SEA SCORPION) FOSSILS?
That is amazing!! Admittedly, I’m not well versed in South African geology, but I do believe it is home
to some of the most ancient rocks structures. I guess, that means we will have to play our song
‘Silurian: Age of Sea Scorpions’.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER…
See you on the other side!
Band photo by Jaqueline Vanek – https://jaquelinevanek.com/
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]