For this edition of Beyond Africa, AFRICA.ROCKS speaks with Spider Mother Earth, the Lisbon-based project whose work draws heavily from the hard rock and heavy metal that shaped its creator’s musical background. With Reborn already out and another album now in preparation, we caught up with Carlos Falé, the man behind the project to talk about where Spider Mother Earth stands today.
“I was reborn artistically, together with this new awareness and way of living.”
Reborn points towards an idea of rebirth or transformation. What personal or artistic change led to the creation of this album, and in what sense does it represent a new chapter for Spider Mother Earth?
First of all, thank you for the interview! As for the questions, I would say both. The personal change had a direct influence on the artistic one. Rebirth and transformation go hand in hand. From my point of view, one complements the other. It was that realisation that made me believe that anything is possible, even when it seems impossible. In 2024, I went through several ups and downs, including some health problems, which forced me to stop until I recovered. During that period, I started asking myself whether it made sense to continue, to start again, or simply to bring everything to an end. Those questions made me more aware of certain mistakes and ways in which I had been deceiving myself, particularly in terms of my ambitions and the way I had pushed myself without limits in trying to turn the band into something professional. I realised that I had been trying to achieve more than was realistically possible without sacrificing myself and a normal social life. If I became ill through lack of rest and excessive stress while trying to make Spider Mother Earth a professional project, the project itself eventually became part of my recovery. Something inside me slowly began to grow and become stronger. I developed a renewed view of myself, of the world and of what I should expect from it, while learning to approach things in a healthier way and to understand what I can realistically do and give.
That was when I decided to continue and turn Spider Mother Earth into my solo project. In that sense, I was reborn artistically, together with this new awareness and way of living. It may sound contradictory for someone to take on all the work of a band after becoming ill through lack of rest, but in practice it has proved much simpler and more practical for me in every respect. Life gives us challenges and obstacles that force us to evolve, act and think differently, to take risks without fear and with courage. They lead us towards discovering our strength through our weaknesses. A life without challenges is a stagnant life. When I reignited that inner flame of faith, it gave me the strength to live with uncertainty, unpredictable results and the unpredictability of life itself. It means knowing and learning how to give something of yourself authentically without expecting anything in return. The new chapter of Spider Mother Earth is built on everything I have just described, which naturally led to the creation of Reborn. I simply followed what felt right and took what I believed was most important from that new self-awareness. Music, for me, is life. Being able to create it and share it is a gift available to anyone who chooses to do so. I had the courage not to follow trends or the conventional rules of the music world. I simply allowed the creative process to flow and tried to give it to the world as genuinely and honestly as I could, without sacrificing myself and while respecting my physical, mental and spiritual limits.
The project openly draws from hard rock and heavy metal from the so-called golden years. How do you work with those references while still making the music sound like your own?
In general, every artist has influences. Mine come from the hard rock and metal of the 1980s and 1990s. Bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses were the ones I identified with most during my teenage years, along with bands such as Scorpions and Queen on the softer side. The heaviest music I was able to get into was Sepultura and Pantera.
I believe Spider Mother Earth has its own distinctive sound within the general atmosphere of some of those bands, without plagiarising or cloning them. If there are similarities, that is natural and unintentional. I am actually quite careful about criticising my own work and changing things whenever I feel something sounds too close to something that already exists. I can say that guitar solos are the hardest part to create because I try to move away from my influences without falling into the classic licks and patterns that have been used thousands of times by guitarists all over the world. I chose to simplify things and create the best melody I can for the song instead of becoming another guitarist with an inflated ego, obsessed with playing fast or doing complicated things simply to show how good he is.
Music is a whole, not a fragment. That whole is what I focus on, and I try to give my best to every part of it. AC/DC are a simple example of how I see this. Technically, the music is simple, but the magic of that simplicity is what makes AC/DC work as a complete unit. There is a unique groove and swing in the rhythmic dynamics, and all the elements work together. If I start breaking those elements apart individually, I would say the vocals, lyrics and solos do not particularly appeal to me. That is why I believe music should be heard and appreciated as a whole. Today, many people tend to judge the appearance of something in the same way they might judge the cover of a book without giving themselves the opportunity to read what is inside. For me, that applies across the arts, particularly in music.
In the 1980s and 1990s, people from my generation would listen to albums from beginning to end, several times, with the volume turned all the way up. Some of that magic has gradually been lost over the generations. Today, negative criticism has almost become a cliché in the metal world. You only have to look at what has happened with criticism of Metallica since the Black Album. Some people love them, others hate them. Music comes down to personal taste and should create a good feeling in the person listening to it. If you like it, listen to it. If you don’t, don’t listen to it, but respect it and move on with your life. I hope I haven’t offended anyone.
‘Stop Wars’ acts as a short introduction to ‘Losing Human Lifes’, the longest track on the album. Why did you decide to build that sequence, and what were you trying to say about the way war becomes normalised or watched from a distance?
The intention was to create an atmosphere that encouraged reflection. I added samples of sounds from war to the instrumental to make the idea more direct and striking, reinforcing the title and hopefully drawing more attention to the fact that wars are real and create unnecessary victims at many different levels. Death is the most extreme and irreversible consequence. Another way I look at war is that it is driven by people with unhealthy egos who are obsessed with power and willing to use any means necessary to achieve their objectives.
Humanity has suffered the drastic consequences of this for decades without having much say in the matter. Even when there is a supposed right to vote, political parties can still contain people like this, hidden behind what I see as a false democracy. We live in an era of repetition where we can watch war unfold in real time. Talking about war has become ordinary and normal, regardless of the deaths, discrimination, poverty and destruction it causes, including the damage done to the planet, natural resources and animal habitats.
“I never intended to create a solo project.”
With Spider Mother Earth now operating as a solo project from Lisbon, what challenges and freedoms come with controlling the entire creative process, and what would you like African rock and metal listeners to discover in Reborn?
It is important to say that I never intended to create a solo project. Circumstances pushed things in that direction, and it happened naturally. I really enjoy working in a band, preferably with the right people, who share the same enthusiasm, willingness and availability. The main challenge I currently face is knowing how to manage my personal time alongside the band. It is also not always easy to manage several ideas for different instruments. The pressure increases when those ideas belong to different songs.
I can share something more personal. Quite often, I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea that I need to write down or memorise so I can work on it later. The freedom comes from not having to deal with limits, ideas, preferences or restrictions that conflict with my own. The creative process is limited only by me, from the technical side to my influences and musical tastes.
What can I say to listeners? Every human being is unique, so it is difficult to please everyone or know exactly what people expect or look for in the music they listen to. I would simply leave anyone interested with a small thought. I believe everything in life needs balance and proportion. We should weigh the advantages and disadvantages without losing ourselves in the process. I hope the lyrics can offer some kind of help and perhaps make people’s everyday challenges feel a little lighter.
To the listeners, enjoy life consciously because life is only a passage with an expiry date.
Listen to Spider Mother Earth and explore Reborn on Bandcamp.
