Have you ever wondered what’s behind the bricked windows of that grey building next door or the tunnels swarming beneath your feet? Well guys, I know someone who did…

Through his explorations, Sylvain Margaine brings back to light forgotten witnesses of times now long gone. And sometimes, all it takes is to simply flip the coin to allow us to take a glance behind the curtain and contemplate the colossal mechanisms of the city-monster, never quite asleep nor dead.

It won’t take you long to understand you live in a place full of magic and mysteries, you were just too busy to realize these warp-zones are surrounding you…

So let the clock stop ticking for a minute and let’s hear what Sylvain Margaine, brilliant urban explorer and author (with his brother) of the breathtaking book “Forbidden Places”, has to say about his passion and lifestyle. Buckle up and bon voyage.

Cooking With Satan: Hello Sylvain. What’s up? Looks like you had a busy september!

Sylvain Margaine: Busy yes, but not really busy with what we want to discuss here. I moved into a new place, started a new job, drove the kids to school for the first time… The double, even triple sometimes, life takes a little too much space so I had to shut it down!

CWS: Ok so could you first of all introduce yourself to our readers? Do you consider yourself as an urban explorer? And by the way, how would you define urban exploration?

SM: Sylvain, french, living in Bruxelles for 10 years now, I’ll be 33 in two weeks. I work for the Bruxelles subway system.
How do I define urban exploration? I don’t. But there are clearly two different trends. The first one, the most classical, is the following one: we live in the city, entrapped in it, stuck in the paths planned by architects and master builders. Urban exploration consists in crossing these lines drawn by others. Span a fence, walk through a door, crawl in a tunnel, open a trapdoor. All these actions and research leading to the discovery of the “utilitarian” part of the city, often quite aesthetic, is urban exploration. Going to places where you’re not supposed to go. You left the railed path. You’re exploring.
The second approach consists in exploring abandoned places. Call it industrial tourism or decayed explorations. Quite often these places are rotting in the core of the city, sheltered from view, isolated from everyday’s world. Once again, the last step will bring you from a world to another. Everything turns upside down. One more step and that’s it, you’re in, you’re exploring.
I’m definitely closer to the first trend. The discovery of these functional structures. It’s the most exciting one, the one which gives you this feeling of discovering an unknown territory, unexplored. And yet so close!

CWS: How did you get into urban exploration? Do you remember your first experience? Was it some kind of revelation for you?

SM: Like everyone I guess. I come from a rural area that used to be industrial.
When you’re a kid, you go messing around and scare yourself in these old factories or ex-fancy houses which used to be owned by the ex-bosses of these ex-factories. So It started just like everybody else except I kept the taste for it. I was always going a little bit further than my buddies when we were kids. As we were exploring these abandoned houses, they were content with the first floor, while I was searching the basement for a treasure that was maybe awaiting there, I was dragging them in the underground rivers of the town… Well, usually this goes away as you age but that didn’t happen to me yet!

CWS: How do you explain this passion you have for abandoned places and why has it became such a big part of your life? I personally tend to think urban exploration is a good way to explore oneself…

SM: Exactly. It’s an overwhelming passion but mostly an endless one. You learn so much, from things so close to you, it changes your eye on everything that surrounds you.
Also, and consequently, you become a potential prey. When you’re exploring, you act differently, you watch your back, you are really careful with each of your moves because, sometimes, a wrong move could lead you to your own death. Especially when you’re alone, all your senses are fully awake, you smell, you listen, you feel the walls in the dark. Some kind of return to the womb maybe?

CWS: What are the emotions you feel as you’re wandering around these places? I guess these sites are all different & unique but I’m always struck by this common aura of serene melancholy surrounding them…

SM: Yes indeed, each site is different, you don’t experience the same way an abandoned asylum or a technical gallery under Paris for example…
The circumstances in which you live this experience obviously change drastically your perception. Being alone in this abandoned sanatorium on a full moon night or with a bunch of pals on a sunny sunday afternoon… The strongest emotions come of course from solo explorations. In these situations, you can only trust yourself and your brain is working at the speed of light. You reach an hypersensitivity that makes you feel the place in a very intense way.

CWS: I’ve also noticed that, when you explore abandoned spaces on a regular basis, you definitely start to see the world with new eyes. Can we say that an urban explorer lives in a different level of reality connected to what most don’t see?

SM: Yes that’s very true, I see you know what you’re talking about!
Alright, a few examples for your readers: as an urban explorer you notice, no, better, your eyes get literally attracted by fences, sewer entries, emergency exits slightly opened, trap doors, potentially accessible ladders. This stuff invades your life! Every scaffolding, every construction site is a potential access to an hidden world. That might sounds a little obsessional but, as you said, most people simply don’t see it.
You take the subway and you spot a corridor that goes on the side. You’re in a train station and you see a door over there which hasn’t been entirely closed. You’re in a freight elevator? You press a couple of buttons randomly… Just in case, you never know… And so on…

CWS: And therefore, have you ever had to face people who considered this passion as a totally freaky way to spend your spare time?

SM: Well, strangely, no. Maybe because I have good references. A book, some published stuff, interviews… That gives me props for sure or maybe they just don’t dare mention that in front of me!

CWS: How do you spot these places you visited? What are your methods? Do you trade some infos with other urban explorers or do you do your own research via internet and books?

SM: The nicest discoveries are the ones you make by yourself of course. That’s when the word “exploration” gets all its meaning. I also get some hints coming from my website. You can also get lucky reading the newspaper sometimes: an article on a new construction site or a factory soon to be shut down… And finally, you also have the internet forums were weirdos like me share the same passion…

CWS: And are you always in search of undiscovered places? Is it a permanent quest? If so, what would be your holy grail? And so far, what are the places you enjoyed exploring the most?

SM: Yes, this is endless. And permanent. I have a very long to-do list. But it’s an ephemeral hobby, you don’t know if this spot you just found is going to last for a month, a week, a day. So it’s always a run.
I went through an “abandoned places” era but right now I’m much more attracted by infrastructures on a very wide spectrum: churches, monuments, buildings, undergrounds, sewers, subway etc…
There are two reasons to this: it’s infinite and always renewed. And it’s also a perpetual discovery, something exclusive. No one came here before you in most cases. If you compare that to the hype around urban exploration where each abandoned house has been shot dozen of times, where’s the interest? I don’t find any…

CWS: You’ve also been travelling extensively to explore new places… How do you organize your trips? Is urban exploration the main purpose of them?

SM: I was lucky to have a job that made me travel a lot, that’s all. Now I’m a little more settled but sometimes I go on trips just on that purpose. But wherever I’m going I always carry the minimum gear with me and always keep my eyes open.

CWS: Sometimes urban exploration goes hand in hand with cultural activism. Like “La Méxicaine De Perforation” for example… Are you involved in such activities? And if not, what do you think of that?

SM: I’m just a collector who shares his collection and I don’t belong to any group. My independency actually surprised several times. My only purpose is exploring and I don’t bond that to anything else. United we stand, that might be true, and some of them have accomplished nice projects that can make me a little envious sometimes. But looking back, I’m really content and happy with my own experiences.

CWS: There’s definitely a growing number of people getting into urban exploration. Since you’ve been doing that for years what are your thoughts on this phenomenon? Do you feel close to other urban explorers?

SM: Not really. It’s a real trend right now but it will pass. Digital photography is accessible to all but when you have 3000 € of equipment you have to use it somehow. Hey, what about shooting some old factories? I’m so not in that movement. I do it my own way for my own enjoyment.

CWS: What are the limits you fix yourself when exploring a space? Do you have any superstition habits?

SM: Yes, I have a dog phobia, and it doesn’t get better with time!
Urban exploration makes you really aware of your own limits, you get to know when and where to stop. I’ve never had any problem related to this part of the “discipline” and I’ve never been too far. Sometimes with regrets, it’s true…

CWS: I assume that you have already made some quite “interesting” meetings with other visitors or even temporary residents when exploring a place… Could you share with us a couple of stories that left a strong impression on you? Have you ever felt in danger? We want stories!

SM: The dog story of course. An old plant far from everything, a rusty “beware of the dog” sign. Instinctively, I make a lot of noise before I get in, to attract the dog who actually doesn’t show up. I climb, get in, walk 50 meters in the plant… And this big german shepherd is coming out of nowhere, barking. Ok so I didn’t panic but I wasn’t making much fuzz either. Eyes down. The dog barking 1 meter away from me. I walk some tiny steps back to the fence, the dog following me… But he was pretty well trained because as soon as I crossed fence he went away.
More fun: an ex-patient from an abandoned asylum I met in the middle of the night in the undergrounds of the building, hanging out in a nightie. He enjoyed coming back to where he spent so many years of his life. He showed me his old room, now in ruins, and told me everything about his life within these walls.

CWS: Let’s talk a bit about your amazing book “Forbidden Places”. How was born this idea? Could you describe for us what we can find in it?

SM: Sure. This is something I had in mind for a long time. I’ve been travelling a lot and had a lot of different stuff from many various trips. The website is doing pretty ok but a book leaves a longer mark…
It’s a a very general overview kind of book. I didn’t have the pretention of making an art photo book. Its value is in the texts written by my brother which come along with each reports. Short rhythmic texts, almost songs. The aim is to put the reader in the mood after a few lines.

CWS: So your brother was also involved in the making of the book… Did he have “carte blanche” for that? Is he also an urban explorer?

SM: He’s not an explorer, he’s a songwriter. So it all came out naturally. The editor gave us an editorial line to follow but we were absolutely free for the text. And I think we managed to get where we wanted to: make people dream & travel.
It was no easy job. Between Villa Ste-Marie where there’s literally nothing to say and you have to come up with a story, and the Beelitz hospital where HItler got surgery during WWI… Some places entered history books, some did not. So we tried to put all of them on the same level and surprise the reader.

CWS: You mention “La Villa Sainte-Marie”. Some places you present in your book look so incredible it’s hard to believe they are abandoned and “La Villa Ste-Marie” is one of them. Are these places really empty of human lives?

SM: Yes, these old houses are really magical & unique. They are very rare gems. Time has stopped for so many years! You get inside and everything is still here, only altered by the passage of time: dust, leaks… It’s like leaving your house and come back 30 or 40 years after… You see these black & white pictures on the wall and you start thinking about stories… The old TSF radio on the cabinet. The beds still done… We are almost nothing in the end…

CWS: How did you put it together? Did you select these places from your database or did you explore them on that purpose?

SM: The book features about 40 places all over the world. The editing was painful but we came to a fair one. Geographic spread as well as visual and historic value took over. I only did a couple of extra explorations for the book, I have something like 250 places in my hard drive. I “only” show 70 of them on my website…

CWS: What was the response to the book so far?

SM: The book sells well in France, almost sold-out. I don’t know about the sales in other countries. It was translated in english, italian and spanish. And it will be published in the US and Canada in november 2010 which is awesome as I really think there’s an audience for books like these.

CWS: Would you say that you’re an urban explorer first and a photographer second? Did your approach of photography evolved after these years of exploration? Do you actually retouch your pictures?

SM: Photography only came really late. I launched my website in 1998. In those days, I was hanging around with just a disposable camera. I bought my first digital camera in 2003. And after that, photography gradually became more important. From mere reports I tried to bring an artistic dimension to my work. My approach has drastically evolved over the years and this is not over. This bigger role of photography in my work also changed the way I approach a place.

CWS: What is your photo equipment? What is your explorer equipment?

SM: I travel light, just the minimum. I’m not one of these urban explorers geeks.
Photo : canon 5D mark II, canon 16-35 f2.8 mark II, canon 50mm 1.8, tripod and that’s all…
For the rest it depends! A few examples of what you might need in some situations: all kinds of lamps, helmet, fluo jacket, gloves, boots, mask, tools, ropes, ladder, canoë…

CWS: What advice would you give to the ones who are going to read this and probably get excited and start exploring on their own? What makes a good urban explorer?

SM: I receive e-mails everyday from all over of the globe.
Know your limits first. Open your eyes in second. You can make amazing discoveries 100 meters from home. And they will be your most amazing discoveries because they will be entirely yours.
Don’t rush in some high deeds race. Don’t run to the places you’ve seen on the internet. Unfortunately everybody start that way and give up before feeling this real feeling of exploring when you make your first own discovery.

CWS: This blog mostly being music I need to ask what are your tastes in that matter?

SM: I’m kind of a generalist now. Went from metal, through world, through electro. I made a lot of music as well. I’m a perfectionist and very demanding so I enjoy what’s been crafted with skill. These days I’m listening to Air, Camille, Emilie Simon, Infadels…

CWS: What are your future projects? Some exhibitions? Maybe another book?
Do you see yourself still exploring in ten years?

SM: I have some small exhibitions going on. I really hope this second book will come to life and that I’ll be really in charge of its content this time. I need to get my grasp back on things after this busy month-off. In the meantime, I’m stocking stuff. And yes, I can see myself still exploring for the next 10, 20, 30 years!

CWS: I think that’s about it! Thank you very much for your time, the closing comments are yours!

SM: Thanks for inviting me. Explore your world!

Sylvain Margaine Website: FORBIDDEN PLACES

Cooking With Satan: Greetings to you! First of all, thanks for accepting to answer these few questions… How are you today?

Marco Ek Balam: We’re fine, thanks.

CWS: So Xibalba is back and that is awesome news!!! What motivated this reunion
after a 14 years hiatus? Is Xibalba back by popular demand?

M: There was a demand for our early recordings, yes. But I think the passion we have for music makes us come back as well.

CWS: Can you travel back in time a little? Please tell us in which circumstances the band came to life and explain why the band went AWOL four years later in 1996?

MEB: We have always been immersed into this kind of music, practically since we were little kids in the beggining of the ’80s. We used to listen to a lot of hard-rock and heavy-metal from the ’70s back in the days and we lived the transition of that music to a more extreme style. Music was changing and developing really fast back then. So it came a time at the end of the ’80s when we felt the need to contribute and start a band. We merged two of our most important roots: first our musical background and second our cultural roots, which gave us the identity and the connection to our homeland.
From ’88 to ‘89, we began to put all these ideas together and started some rehearsals and songwriting. In ‘92, we released our first demo tape.

In retrospect, I think everything was moving too fast. Too many styles in a very little period of time, which was also really amazing. The situation here was that in the late ’80s we saw something wrong happening in the death-metal genre. Suddenly there were too many bands, all of them sounding the same and everything was starting to get boring. So we decided to go back to the beggining of the ’80s. Listening again to the first bands that started it all and that’s pretty much how we started the band in a black-metal way. Mainly under the influence on old Bathory, Celtic Frost and several past influences, some were black-metal some were old thrash as well.

But as we were going through the ’90s, the same thing that killed death-metal happened again. Suddenly everybody started to jump into this black-metal trend and that was also starting to kill this new refreshing sound. I think that’s why we lost our interest. Also, another thing was the fact that we needed a lot more of solid support and promotion, which in Mexico City is not easy to get.
So we just released our final recording in ‘96, and that was it.

CWS: Right. You say on the Xibalba website: “we were young kids and ended up the way it began…

MEB: We were young kids sure about what we wanted to do. Really passionated for the whole music thing, at a level that if it was turned into a fashion trend then we would just sent all to hell.
In the same way we got everything into the band, it was the exact same way we just left everything aside and moved onto different things.

CWS: On a more personal level: what were the first records you owned? And how did you start playing music? Was your family supportive of that commitment to the metal scene?

MEB: It is hard to remember, as we were all kids as I have said. It must have been a Kiss LP, “Dressed to Kill” I think, or the Led Zeppelin II LP, one of those. As the music developed, we were discovering new things. From the hardest heavy sounds, to black thrash weird sounds, punk-hardcore, grind-core, extreme punk-hardcore, death-metal, ultrafast death-metal and so on. We started to play, having heard all this varied stuff.
We started to get into our instuments in the beginning of ‘87, when Napalm Death’s “Scum” was the new biggest noisy and extreme thing. I think they motivated us to start playing…

It was very strange for our family. Mainly because the sound was too noisy and unbearable for them. They couldn’t stand the image as well. But there was never any negative attitude towards us. They never put any barriers to our interest. I would say they understood our craziness, more than being supportive. Which was good for us.

CWS: Xibalba being part of the second wave of black-metal bands, how did you discover this scene? Were you involved in tape-trading? Black-metal usually gives a strong impression to the new listener… What were yours?

MEB: As I have mentioned, we were involved in the likes of hard and heavy bands, since we discovered the music of the late ’70s… This must have happened in ‘83 or ‘84. There was no thrash-metal, there was no black-metal, no death-metal at the time. I think Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were the most heavy bands around. We used to buy a few albums at local record stores ’cause we didn’t have that much money to spend. And we got some information from the few local metal magazines, as well as by listening to the few heavy-metal shows at the radio.

I remember we got really shocked when we first heard Venom’s “Welcome To Hell”, it was so ferocious. Those vocals were Satan on earth. The whole satanic thing was really, really amazing for us little kids, back in those days.
Just picture yourself in a place where there was just hard and heavy music around, (Priest, Sabbath, Rainbow, Zeppelin etc…) and suddenly Venom arrives. Your whole world changes so drastically in a single minute!

Then we discovered, one by one, the rest of the bands, at a time when music started to change. Many new styles were created. Developing rapidly in a more and more ferocious, aggressive and fastest sound so incredibly. And we were the happiest kids on the face of the earth.
We used to buy mostly tapes of this new music, we couldn’t afford that many records in those days. And we got immersed into every style that was emerging. We didn’t care as long as it was loud, fast and good. From hard and heavy, to thrash, black, punk, extreme hardcore-punk, grind-core noise or whatever new sort of extreme quality thing. I’m talking about the period from ‘83,’84 to ‘87.
I think we started the tape trading in ‘87. Mainly because there were a lot of little underground bands from the then new grind death noisy scene. There were too many new and good bands without record deals, and the only way to listen to them was by ordering or trading their demos, which were not easy to find. Tape trading was the solution. It was really great for us. The small zines helped a lot as well, to promote and distribute great news from new bands from all over the world.

I have said we discovered Venom when there was nothing else around, I still don’t remember very well, ‘83 or ‘84). The impact it caused was really, really big for us. Then came Metallica, Slayer, Voivod, Mercyful Fate and a huge list. And when we heard Bathory’s first album, the impression was awesome as well. The vocals, the music. It’s hard to express that with words, this huge impact that we felt. I think you would need to be there, when all of this was happening.
It was not a thing of black-metal, death-metal, heavy-metal or whatever… The particular style didn’t matter at all. It was the musical thing in itself. A new ferocious, fast and horrendous music was taking over the whole world. And I can tell you that having these memories is something unique for all the people who lived it in the same way we did!

CWS: Your first and only album to date “Ah Dzam Poop Ek” is now considered a
cult record… What do you remember of the recording sessions? Were you aware back then that you were about to unleash a phenomenal release?

MEB: When we recorded that album we were really into it. Our passion for music was renewed again, ’cause the death-metal genre was dying in a boring trend. And this new sound, taken from the past bands, was injecting something fresh and ferocious again, like it was in the early ’80s.
Every song was well thought, and we just wanted to record a great album. Never thought the interest of the people would last to these days.
I just remember rehearsing each song and then getting into the studio to unleashed the whole album. It was really great doing it.

CWS: Did you do anything music-wise while you were awawy from the scene?

MEB: We did something different. The music scene was getting suffocated, as death-metal was, so we turned into a different style. So different that we couldn’t called it Xibalba, so I think the best option was to just leave everything behind.
I think we got back to our elder musical roots in that project, something more like hard and heavy stuff. Never promoted anything. Which was the right decision.

CWS: After so many years, do you have the same relationship with music? Not only
as musicians but also as fans?

MEB: We never stop listening to all the music that grew with us. Sometimes we listen to our old records from hard and heavy bands (we even have found and bought the CD versions), and sometimes you feel in a mood for the good old extreme hardcore punk, or thrash, or grind core… All that music is part of us.
You cannot talk to us about a particular style, ’cause reffering to a style it will only take us back to were the whole thing began.

As musicians we don’t have the same contacts we used to have. We don’t do that much trading anymore and we’re not involved with the local bands and scene around as much as we were in the past. We’re not looking for new bands either, ’cause music hasen’t developed anything new since the early ’90s, which is sad.
When you have been a part of this since the very beginning is hard to get impressed nowadays. That’s a reason why many bands from the past came back and are still good, with their great and immortal past glories, releasing some new and great interesting records in these days.

CWS: When Xibalba went out of the radar in 1996, black-metal started to be highly exposed in mainstream media. Now you’re coming back, it’s 2010, there are thousands and thousands of bands on myspace and black-metal is like any other well established metal genre with all its clichés… What are your thoughts on that?

MEB: That’s what happens to any music with the help of time. Heavy and extreme music in general is not as impressive as it was in the past ’cause now it’s accepted in some way. And that’s pretty sad too. Even the rebelious fast punk music, that was considered music for gangs and violent people, is now accepted by any kind of kid.

I think the world is totally different now, with the advance of technology and the access to everything with the internet. Everybody can listen to any musical style.
And I also think these advances in technology have killed something good we used to have in the past, within the whole music scene. That feeling of uniqueness is gone.
But it’s all part of the development of the whole world, and there’s nothing you can do about it. In the early ’80s when there was nothing, it was a horrible crime to listen to a band like Venom. Seeing some boy with spiky punk hair in the street wearing a Discharge shirt was a reason to run away. Nowadays, the most popular pop stars appear on MTV with spiky hair on reality shows and some magazines gives you the ten tips to get the best black-metal make-up for halloween parties. It seems that everything is a big joke now.
But we still have the passion for the music, and we’re doing music the way we feel the sound should be. It has been an important part of our lives, since the very beginning. We have to continue to praise the roots in order to keep the atmosphere alive.

CWS: Congratulations for the demo! For all our readers who would be interested,
what’s the best way to get a copy of it?

MEB: Thanks. We have open a store in our site. Everybody interested could get there or send us an email:
www.xibalbaitzaes.com
www.store@xibalbaitzaes.com

CWS: Why did you actually decide to release a demo and not an album which is I
guess something you could have done? Did you want to keep that the
old-school way?

MEB: Not really. We had these songs and we recorded them, ’cause we just wanted to show Nuclear War Now (their label) the sound of the bands in these days. Those songs we’re never thought to be release. But in the end we got an agreement and decided to do it as a demo. I think there’s many people still interested in those formats and we are very pleased with the final product.

CWS: Can you present us the new line-up? Are you still the main composer in the
band?

MEB: The actual band is: Victor Ehxibchac on bass guitar, Jorge Ah Ektenel on drums, and Marco Ek Balam on guitar and vocals.
Everybody can write something for the band. Sometimes I give the main riffs and the rest of the band put everything they want on it. Same for the Lyrics.

CWS: The guitar work on the demo brings a new aura to Xibalba music, some kind of cosmic dissonant vibe… Is that where you wanted to go with these new
songs?

MEB: As I told you before, it was never meant to be release. Now that I heard it, I think it’s a very good and great demo. We added this delay to the guitar sound and I’m very pleased with the atmosphere it creates.

CWS: Also your music always included some psychedelic elements (like the ritualistic “Bolontiku Vahom” on the first album or the use of vocoder on “Rituals In The Sun” on the new demo for example) so I was wondering where these psychedelic influences were coming from?

MEB: From the cosmic regions I think. It has too much to do with our cultural roots, in a first place. The ancient Mayan people developed this accurate wisdom and phylosophy of space and time. And it is told the whole culture went to outerspace, when they vanished from the face of the earth.
Musically we have thousands of influences as I have stated.

CWS: Xibalba based its lyrical concept on Mayan mythology. Is that still the case on the demo?

MEB: Yes.

CWS: What are you referring to in the song “Like Leafs They Fall”?

MEB: You had to read between the lines, I think you can figure it out.

CWS: Could you develop this Mayan concept for us? What is the Xibalba exactly?
Could you describe to us the different gods or rituals in Mayan mythology that are the most appealing to you and that you summon in your lyrics?

MEB: The Xibalba is the underworld. The ancient Mayans believed that the world was formed by two pyramids. One heading upside to the skies, with 13 gods in each step. Below there’s a pyramid heading upside down with nine steps, this is the Xibalba, on each step there’s a lord of the Xibalba.
The main ritual is the ball game, in which two teams compete to get a ball into a little hole hanging up from a wall of stone, using their feet or hips only. He who loses offer his soul to the gods.
There are a very vast field of gods in the whole prehispanic cultures of Mexico. The most important to the ancient Mayan Culture is Chac god of the rain, as well as Itzam Na, who founded the city of Itzmal and dwells in the final step of the upside pyramid that leads to the skies.

CWS: Are these myths merely a source of inspiration for your lyrics and some
kind of gimmick, just like the scandinavian bands singing about Odin, or something in which you are spiritually involved in everyday’s life? Do you believe in these gods?

MEB: It’s a matter of spiritual release. Our gods set us free from the outside enslavement. Institutions such as family, religion, school, church or the media, fill your head with standard thoughts. Fill your head with norms and rules built in established hierarchies, in established systems, created by the people in power. The only way to find freedom of mind, spiritual release and identity is to find a connection to your own roots. And one way to get that connection is to get near the ancient gods and customs.
It’s not a matter of believing, but a matter of awakening, to find spiritual and mind release from the outside fake and subliminal world.

CWS: Do you have some special magical place where you hang out and gets inspiration?

MEB: We like to visit the ancient temples, the ancient pyramidal realms. We have many ceremonial places in our country, not only the Mayans. And yes, they have a great influence and are a very important source of inspiration to our music and atmosphere. Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Tulum etc…

CWS: How do you explain the strong correlation with black-metal and primitive
cultures? What is the true essence of black-metal according to you?

MEB: Black-metal, since the very beginning, has a primarily satanic element into it. Lucifer rebels against the established system: god in heaven. These are religious topics, and because of that, the music has to generate some sort of spiritual sounds. These spiritual sounds create an atmosophere of evilness and horror in the music. It fits for us, because we’re heading to a spiritual release, away from the established systems in contemporary societies. We’re looking for release from the enslavement provided by scumy institutions. Freedom of mind. Some kind of rebellion, like Lucifer maybe (in religious words)…

The music that creates an evil atmosphere is perfect for us, ’cause we can make a transition to a prehispanic atmosphere. It allows us to install our ancient realms and plant the seed of our ancient gods into it. That´s the way we kill the fake institutions and find freedom of mind and spiritual release. It’s all about not accepting the established and about being aware of that. It’s not about jumping from a flock of god to a flock of satanic rules and norms. It would be useless to just jump from a flock that give you norms, to another flock that gives you different rules and norms. Again: it’s about looking for freedom of mind and spiritual release.
That’s the connection I see. You have to be aware ’cause otherwise you could get tricked and still be enslaved without even noticed it.
I think black-metal is one of many keys to attain freedom of mind. There are other kinds of music, or other kinds of stuff that could be different keys to the same purpose, but if you´re not aware, all of this could only represent just another prison cell.

CWS: The Mayan calendar also states that the world ends in 2012. What are your
thoughts on that?

MEB: We all are going down on 2010.

CWS: Ok now, stupid question: what did you think of the movie Apocalypto???

MEB: It sucks. Don’t see it. Destroy it if you have a copy. It’s nothing but a pretencious hollywood success and nothing else.

CWS: Also: shamanism and the use hallucinogenic plants such as peyote or
ayahusca is a strong part of south american and mexican folklore. Could that
be related in any way to Xibalba? Have you ever had such experiences or use any other consciousness altering substances to create Xibalba music?

MEB: Not really, we like to travel through meditation, no substances needed to attain the unknown, nor natural plants.

CWS: So what’s coming next with the band? I heard that you’re about to record a
new album! That’s amazing. What can we expect? Is it recorded yet? Please
give us details!

MEB: That´s correct. We’ll start recording in a few days. We have plenty of material to choose from. We don’t have any details yet, we have to still think about the name, artwork etc…

Xibalba Flyers

CWS: You played some time ago a gig in Chicago… Did you play one unique gig in
the states or was it part of a bigger tour? I assume it was your first live
show in a long time, how did that go? And finally: how do you approach a
live performance, mentally and physically?

MEB: It was great, we had a great response from the crowd. It was just a small gig in Chicago. We don’t play live that much, cause we think the atmosphere lies on the records, but doing a few gigs is fine.
We just concentrate on the songs and try to create the same mood from the album, it is important to get the atmosphere and involve the crowd in it.

CWS: Do you plan more live shows in the near future?

MEB: We’re going to the Nuclear War Now Fest Vol II, that will take place in Berlin, Germany on November 19, and problably we’ll be visiting Texas in the next year.
That’s all until now.

CWS: Mexico is reputed for its quite intense, frantic crowds at live metal
shows. Is that something that you notice even more when you’re playing
abroad? What’s your craziest live experience on stage and also as part of
the audience?

MEB: Recently everything has developed with no incidents. But the crowds are wild by nature, moving, banging all the time and drinking a lot. The usual crowds, you know.
I remember an old gig, back in the ‘90s, when some guys that couldn’t get into the gig broked into the place. Suddenly, during performance, I discovered my guitar cable was cut off and had no sound, while everybody was still playing. There was some kind of crazy slam dancing in the pit. Sometimes we had to slam the kids off the stage with our instruments, ’cause they were getting to close to the band. We shared that gig with a punk band, there were not that many black-metal bands around in those days in Mexico, that’s why the crowd got violent I think, a punk crowd. Anyway, that was it.

CWS: Can you tell us a little bit more about your life in Mexico? Have you
always lived here? Are you involved in the metal community there?

MEB: Yes we have always lived here, but there’s not much to say about it, It’s a country that musically doesn’t offer that much development, it needs a real solid infrastructure to allow bands to growth. The country is rich though in cultural treasures: the ancient monuments and temples, architecture, sculpture, painting, as well as all the religious traces from vast cultures. Wisdom is vast in the whole lands.
We’re not that much involved in the metal scene as we were in the past, just a little in terms of agreements for local gigs and to spread the news about our releases.

CWS: If you had the possibility, what would you change in your musical career?

MEB: I don´t think I would change anything. It is useless to even think about it.

CWS: Is there anything else that we didn’t cover up here and you wanted to share
with us?

MEB: Thank you for the interview.
Watch out for the new album. Visit our site for constant info about the band:

www.xibalbaitzaes.com

Cheers!

Xibalba stills from their video:

Check part I here.

Evil: How come you left Morbid and moved to Norway to join Mayhem?

Dead: As everyone knows (or should now): Morbid never was a real band. However after the “December Moon” demo the band kinda split up. I don’t know the reason why, but we were all very different and couldn’t compromise on how Morbid should be or sound like. What’s most mysterious to me is how everybody could change so much. When I and John formed the band, the band was looking for some members and asked them about the thought of having a black metal band as black metal should be, but it never turned out that way. They all seemed to be totally into the idea at first, but… well… I must say that I don’t think the 2nd Morbid demo is in the same vein as the first. But why the hell do I talk about Morbid in an interview when the band never should have been featured???? I talked to Euronymous on the phone and he explained how his view of the most brutal stage show would be and we discussed the problem that everybody wants everything to be so normal, boring and wimpy. And we totally agreed on that, I should come over and try out some rehearsals, to find out how I would fit in the band. And I guess I do fit ‘cos I’ve been singing here ever since. But the problems was that short after I joined the band we were out of rehearsal places…

E: You have said that the “Deathcrush” EP will be released again, what about it?

D: We want to release it again, but we just don‘t know how the hell we can afford it. It was wrong to limit it and now the copies are being sold for far too much money and that wasn’t the idea at all. Those who want it can’t get it unless they are millionaires. We will never release anything limited with Mayhem again.

E: Tell me about your new LP “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”. When will it be out? Any old Mayhem songs on it?

D: Good question… I wish I knew when! It’s planned to contain 8 tracks and to be released on D.S.P. as antimosh 003. When the 2nd edition of the Merciless LP has sold out and paid, the next band will go into studio (Imperator from Poland). When their 1st edition has paid we’ll go into a studio and record our LP. After the tour we have planned, if it doesn’t fuck up, we will have a session of concentrated work on the material that is missing for the LP. I can’t say much more about the release.

E: How would you describe a gig with Mayhem, with all your effects?

D: We haven‘t had a real gig yet, 3 shows in Norway, but only one with parts of our stage show. We had some impaled pig heads, and I cut my arms with a weird knife and a crushed coke bottle. We meant to have a chainsaw, but the guy who owned it had left when we came go get it. That wasn’t brutal enough! Most of the people in there were wimps and I don‘t want them to watch our gigs! Before we began to play there was a crowd of about 300 in there, but in the second song “Necro Lust” we began to throw around those pig heads. Only 50 were left, I liked that! The non-evil wimps shall not listen to our music. We had a great time throwing the heads on each other. I got angry at some idiots who had their heads up in the air, so I wiped the blood on my arms all over again. We wanna scare those who shouldn’t be at our concerts, and they will have to escape through the emergency exit with parts of their body missing, so we can have something to throw around. Some imagine for some weird reason that death metal is something normal and available for everyone. Unfortunately they are right… If you have seen pictures of bands like Defecation, Benediction or Righteous Pigs etc… you know what I mean. If you go into an ordinary school, you will surely see half of them wearing Morbid Angel, Autopsy and Entombed shirts, and once again I will vomit! Death black metal is something all ordinary mortals should fear, not make into a trend! Some years ago it did not exist at all. When Morbid had it’s first gigs almost no one had heard that kind of music before. Metallica or Venom… But hopefully those who jumped on to death metal will leave it soon to the real people who have always listened to it. It took some years or so ’till the trendy hardcore bands jumped over to grind. It took shorter time ’till grind was out, and I hope it won’t take long before they leave death metal to us who do not choose music after fashion. That’s one reason for having a stage show. The wimps will not ever understand it, and I won’t explain it to them either. But they got pissed off at our shows and that is what we want. If someone doesn’t like blood and rotten flesh thrown in their face they can FUCK OFF, and that’s exactly what they do. We are trying to turn the scene back to what it once was, when no death metallers were wearing adidas shit and looked totally normal. The hassle is of course to bring stuff from the slaughterhouse to gigs abroad.

E: What is your opinion on Satanism and Occultism?

D: That’s a great possession of mine! But to learn about Magic takes time. It‘s necessary to know a lot about it before trying some curse on the neighbors or something like that. It needs a lot of time. I don‘t have much time, especially right now. But I’m more into legends of Eastern Europe. They are not known of here, but people still believe in them. Each castle has got it’s own history with a bloody past… that‘s what obsesses me most. The Balkan countries is where I want to live.

E: Do you relate to their bands?

D: Yes, some…

E: What are your main influences?

D: I think we now have captured an own style, but from the start it was only Venom that existed. That can be heard in the “Pure Fucking Armageddon” demo, the one I like the best. As for me I’m influenced by the carpathian castles and pophyrians.

E: Tell me something about your lyrics… What does the contents explain?

D: So far, I’ve written the lyrics to all the songs after “Deathcrush”: “Funeral Fog”, “Freezing Moon”, “Buried By Time And Dust” and “Pagan Fears”. Mostly they deal with how I feel when I wrote them. It’s hard to explain, and they are very different too. I can explain “Funeral Fog”, it’s about a legendary place in the middle of the Carpathian horse shoe. A swampland called Shurlock Basin which is surrounded by fearful superstitions and the weirdest beings are thought to haunt the place. That I thought about when I write that song and started to imagine a heavy fog lit up by the full moon. This fog oozed up from that place. Drifting woefully in silence to extinguish the lives of the local people. And bring their souls to Lord Satan. “Pagan Fears” is the newest song made by us, and it‘s a bit strange. It reminds me of “Chainsaw Gutsfuck” but it is not as brutal. Anyway, the lyrics talk of some people living in an ancient and barbaric society (fucking hell how I hate the word society, when it is used as a topic in lyrics, but of course I don’t mention that word in “Pagan Fears”!) and the idea, that the past isn’t dying, but remains in some faded reality, and that they’ll not die out, but remain in the past which is actually not dying, to haunt people in the future, pop up in their minds. The time itself exists and is eternal, so is it vanishing? They realize they remain forever. That was a strange idea I’ve walked around with till I had to write it down. We don’t have any concept in particular in the lyrics and not only I am writing them. Before it was mainly Necro Butcher who wrote most of the stuff and he has explained to me what it was like. He was almost asleep, then he suddenly thought of a song title. He had to write it down quickly. And after some minutes it happened again and again. The day after he tried to read what he had written down that night and he found out he couldn’t read the handwriting he had written in no light and the pen had been fucked up. But some lines were readable and they became “Deathcrush”. The most difficult one so far is the one that will be the title track on “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”. The lyrics are about an extraordinary evil coven that are the book. But I must change a lot of the lyrics. That satisfied me with the music so we dropped all the music. Then I found out the lyrics weren’t evil enough and it didn’t describe the enormous force enough. Anyway, we will involve ourselves very much in this particular song.

E: How is the Norwegian death / black metal scene?

D: Scandinavia hasn’t got any scene. Only wimps and trendies are here. Too many ordinary people and fuckheads! Don’t come to Scandinavia! I wanna move from here!

E: What would you think of people talking shit about you and Mayhem? Saying that you are posers because you have such a great live show!

D: I’m not interested in what they used to listen to or what they are trying to tell me. We do what we like and that is enough for us.

E: What are your plans for the near future?

D: That once and for all nothing will screw up and rip-offs shall shut up so we can go away on our first abroad tour, which has been delayed for more than two fucking years now. We were very close many times, but in the last minute we found out that no gigs were planned. Now it’s been a while since I last cut myself (and others) so I need to do a live show. We really need to play live soon. We also hope our delayed LP can be recorded soon. I hope that the scene will be better and that people will realize that rip-offs, trends and wimps are ruining it!

E: Last words…

D: What would that be??? Wipe your ass folks!

A really cool interview I did with Dennis Dread, the infamous illustrator, some time ago. Enjoy!

emofag: Hi Dennis! How are you doing these days? What are you up to?

Dennis Dread: Things are going great, man! Lately I’ve been busy redesigning my website with a friend and I’m really excited about how it’s coming together! My old website was built with software that made updates very difficult but the new site looks really good and it will be much more interactive. Right now I’m just relaxing at home. You have my undivided attention.

e: Did you study art at school or are you a self-taught artist?

DD: Self taught. I’ve only taken one formal art lesson in my life and it was a requirement at the State University where I studied literature for a few years.

e: You said it’s been difficult to make people accept that your ballpoint drawings are not some kind of jail art. How are things now?

DD: Fuck ‘em! The right people are embracing my art and that’s all that matters. I don’t have any lofy “high art” career goals. This is what I do and people either like it or they don’t. I’ll be drawing until the day they dry the pen from my cold dead fingers!

e: You have a very particular and minutious technique. How would you define your style? Did you get the chance to meet some young wolves inspired by your technique?

DD: I don’t think about it much, but if I had to define my style I’d probably say something like “Ballpoint Horror Noir”. Academic types might call it “Obsessive Compulsive Revenge Fantasy”. And they’d be right! People actually think I’m colorblind but I just really love this hyper-shaded style I’ve developed over the years. Occasionally artists contact me and ask for advice and I’m always happy to assist. I don’t think I’m some hotshot artist but I’m at least as qualified as the average jerk on the internet. It’s important to support the young wolves so the pack grows stronger!

e: The combination of post nuke, medieval & pagan elements in your work create something unique. Do you have to think about it all or it just comes out naturally? What is usually the first kick to start a drawing?

DD: These days I’m usually drawing for a specific project so I tend to be relatively thoughtful and strategic. I actually consider research and reflection an important part of the creative process and it’s important to consider this when setting realistic deadlines. The first part of the drawing process is usually me pacing and wringing my hands nervously. This can go on for days. Then I usually blast some appropriate music to get the blood flowing. At some point I start scribbling on scraps of paper with no particular investment in the outcome. This allows my hand to relax and my mind to unhinge. Eventually I tap into a flow and set the controls for the endless seas of grey. Then it’s just a matter of locking myself down for hours and hours at a time. Total immersion!

e: Do you have a particular ballpoint pen brand that you use?

DD: Bic Crystals with black ink.

e: Who were the artists that inspired you the most as a kid? You fed yourself on comic-books and monster movies, what were the ultimate references for you at the time? Are they the same today?

DD: My dirty secret is that I don’t particularly enjoy reading comics. I like to look at the pictures but I find it distracting to absorb imagery while contending with lots of tiny words. The shame! But I spent most of my childhood making my own comics and reading some of the grittier mainstream stuff like “Master Of Kung Fu”, “Moon Knight”, “Ghost Rider”, and “Swamp Thing”. I resonated with the flawed anti-hero types and that was about as far as my superhero interests ever went. I was very inspired by Frank Frazetta as a kid and started collecting his books when I was in third grade. My teachers got upset about all the sex and violence but my mom was cool and defended my interests. She probably thought it was weird that I was into that stuff at such an early age but there were certainly worse things I could’ve been doing. Frazetta’s work has the narrative momentum of comics without all the words. The brilliant EC Comics covers from the 50’s were like that too. Very economical but absolutely absorbing. I hope art schools are teaching EC Comics to their students because when it comes to “sequential art” a shambling zombie will always trump a man in tights. It may not be readily apparent but I’m hugely influenced by the Symbolists of the late 19th century. When I’m accused of peddling filth it’s always nice to blame older (preferably deceased) artists for their corrupting influence and in a strange way I trace my artistic heritage back to those great decadent visionaries.

e: What is your earliest art memory? At what age did you start drawing? And when did you realize that it was the thing you wanted to do?

DD: I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Ever since I could hold a crayon. Even when I go long periods without drawing, it’s just something I always come back to. One of my most vivid childhood art memories is when I created a crude comic called “The Slasher” when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was really proud of it and walked all around my grandparents’ neighborhood trying to sell it door to door. It was very bloody and people just frowned at it and closed their doors. Not entirely unlike my adult career in that respect.

e: Don’t you think that art was more creative, subservive and pertinent two or three decades ago?

DD: Not necessarily. If you look back there was some incredibly dull and pretentious crap being cranked out a few decades ago. We certainly live in an age of unprecedented fear and conformity and sterile homogeniety masked as diversity and freedom. But every age probably thinks their age is the lamest. We tend to only see importance and meaning from a distance. This is an age of spiritual warfare and it will be fought in the realm of aesthetics. Be prepared!

e: Can you find some kind of interest or enjoyment in mainstream art? What do you think of guys like Richard Prince or Damien Hirst ?

DD: I find enjoyment and inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Creativity becomes stagnant when you close yourself off to influences, even mainstream influences. Regarding those other artists, I’m not familar with Richard Prince but I tend to find installation artists like Damien Hirst very boring. I would only be interested in dead animals as references and I would only resonate with an artist like Hirst to the degree that both of our works contain perverse remnants of the medieval “Momento Mori” motif.

e: You started your career printing t-shirts for Mutilation Graphics. How do you remember those days?

DD: Those were challenging days on a personal level, but they were very exciting creatively. I worked hard and learned lessons in discipline and stamina that have served me very well as an underground artist. I discovered Mutilation Graphics in the back of Fangoria magazine when I was about 15 years old. There was an ad for these insane Punk shirts and I talked my older brother into driving me out to the address. I thought it might be a store but it turned out to be a house in a quiet suburban neighborhood. That afternoon I met Neil O’Leary, the guy who started Mutilation Graphics and who would soon become a close friend and ally. We exchanged art and he got me into all kinds of cool zines like Pandemonium, Black Market, and Blatch. He also had all these old Punk radio shows collected on 8-track tapes! A few years after our initial meeting, just days after I graduated high school, I moved away from home and started working as a silkscreen printer for Mutilation Graphics. It was sort of like running away with the circus. I was a clueless punk and I slept in a car and other humbling crashpads until my girlfriend at the time convinced her family to let me move in with them. I spent the next 4 years printing shirts while I attended school and worked on my drawing skills. We were printing all of John Zewizz’s Sleep Chamber shirts as well as work by underground artists like R.K. Sloane, Jeff Gaither, and Spider Webb. We also had an exclusive license with Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and I got to print all his monster shirts, which was a huge honor. This was 1990, just before Ed Roth had a resurgence with the “lowbrow” scene. In many ways Mutilation Graphics was the culmination of my childhood interests and I rode it until finally I decided I needed to strike out on my own. The business was eventually sold to some guys from Oakland, California who started a company called Ransom Notes and they sold the screens to another guy who launched Rotten Cotton. I set out on my own adventures and never looked back.

e: Time travelling again: tell us more about your first days in Portland. Why did you move there and how long did it take you to set up there properly?

DD: More tales of poverty and squalor! I moved to Portland for the same reason everyone moves here: Bigfoot. I arrived on a freight train that I hopped in Oakland, California and rode north through beautiful Mount Shasta. I didn’t give a fuck in those days and nothing could stop me from experiencing life on my own terms! I arrived with no money in my pockets and I didn’t know anyone on the West Coast. It wasn’t easy or practical but I was fortunate and within a few weeks I had met some of the people who remain my closest friends to this day. I wouldn’t recommend my path to others but I do believe that struggle tempers the soul.

e: Have you ever thought about inking your art on people’s skin?

DD: I actually had a tattoo apprenticeship set up with Spider Webb back when he was inking out of a little shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the early 90’s. Spider Webb was a legendary oldschool artist and advocate for legalizing tattooing back when it was still underground in New York City. He tattooed the porn star Annie Sprinkle on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in protest. Unfortunately I left town before we could actually get started but he really liked my drawings and encouraged me to persue my art. I’d still love to learn the craft of tattooing if a good opportunity ever arises but for now I have other callings.

e: You signed the Darkthrone artwork for the second time… Are you good friend with Fenriz & Nocturno Culto ? How do you discuss the concept with them ? How many hours did you spend working on “Dark Thrones & Black Flags”?

DD: Technically speaking, I didn’t sign my first Darkthrone cover! The “F.O.A.D.” album was such a departure from previous Darkthrone covers that I felt it had to be very striking upon first glance and compositionally it was just more powerful without my signature. I’ve done that quite often in the past. The immediate impact of the image is always of paramount importance. On “Dark Thrones & Black Flags” the signature just made sense. There was a perfect place for my name on the wagon. Anyway, I have a very solid working relationship with Darkthrone and they’ve already commisioned me for their next LP. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have pretty clear ideas what they want but they also allow me total freedom to develop their imagery. It’s actually a perfect relationship. They’re funny and polite and they take care of me as their artist. I couldn’t be more pleased with our friendship. We’ve never actually met but they’ve invited me to visit Norway and join them in the mountains of the Hiking Metal Punks!

e: When a band contacts you to get their artwork done, what’s the thing you’re going to look first ? Who’s the band(s) you’d love to sign the artwork for?

DD: I can tell a lot about a band by how they approach me for a commision. I only deal with honest and respectful people so I’m not likely to bother with some incoherent and impulsively banged out message. If a band comes to me with the right attitude I go straight to the music. Most bands approach me after seeing my work on a record or after spending some time on my website so they usually know what to expect from a collaboration. Man, there are a lot of bands I’d love to work with! A lot of “oldschool” types talk about how great it was “back in the day” but I think this is a great era for underground music and art. There are so many amazing bands these days! Well, I’d really LOVE to do a cover for Roky Erickson! He’s never had cover art that did his amazing songs the justice they deserve. I’d like to do art for Slough Feg, one of the most underrated Metal bands in America. I’d also like to work with Tyrant from Sweden. They really impressed me when I saw them at Party San this summer. Actually there are a lot of Swedish bands I’d be thrilled to work with!

e: Photoshop has poisoned most of the artwork in the Metal scene. To me handmade artwork has much more impact and style. Agree? Can you give us three or four of your favorite album covers?

DD: Photoshop isn’t the problem, it’s the untalented artists who misuse Photoshop that have dumbed down album covers. Technology can’t replace good ideas, imaginative composition, and the soulful nuances of the human hand. Photoshop is sort of a perfect tool, but it’s unwise to overestimate perfection when it comes to art. For example, if you use a ruler you will get a straight line. If you draw a line freehand you’ll get an imperfect line. But the imperfect line will contain something of the line-makers imprint and essence and that line will be far more engaging to the eye. The same principle applies to album cover art and I tend to appreciate artists who have taken the time to develop their own unique vision. It’s hard for me to pick favorite covers because I love so many for different reasons! I grew up with Away’s art for Voivod and “Killing Technology” is definitely a favorite. Of course I love Derek Riggs’ early paintings for Iron Maiden, all the obvious masterpieces but also the singles like “Sanctuary/Drifter” with Margaret Thatcher lying dead in the alley. It looks crude and simple today but that painting was incredibly subversive at the time, especially for a Metal band. I really like the Rudimentary Peni covers by Nick Blinko and Pushead’s drawing for the “Cleanse The Bacteria” compilation. Ketola’s art for Watain is very good, especially his iconic “Sworn To The Dark” cover. I really like the Japanese artists Sugi and Yossie and of course the enigmatic “Tom” who despite the name is actually female. Some less obvious recent favorites would be Benjamin Vierling’s portrait of Joanna Newsom and Arik Roper’s cover for Mammatus which is inspired to some extent by the classic Hawkwind covers “Space Ritual” and “Warrior On The Edge Of Time”. I like that old “Birthday Party” record with the Rat Fink cover too! Man, the list of amazing album covers is endless…

e: And what’s the Dennis Dread work you’re the most proud of so far?

DD: Another tough question! I really like my drawing for the new Golers LP “Backwoods Messages”. I went in an unusual direction with that one but it worked out well. For entirely different reasons I’m also very proud of my art for the “Lucifer Rising” project. It was refreshing to get an opprortunity to work beyond my usual expectations and I think I rose to the challenge and really expanded my range of depth with those drawings.

e: You’re also the editor for the great zine Destroying Angels. Can you present the zine to our readers? Can we expect a new issue soon?

DD: Destroying Angels is a cut & paste zine in the old tradition that covers just about any aspect of underground culture that interests me. I published the first issue in 1998 and I’ve been releasing a new issue about once a year ever since. There are no editorials, no reviews, no letters sections, and no barcodes. It is simply about celebrating and sharing my passion for great underground art. At some point people lost sight of the “fan” in fanzines and started cranking out drivel that was all about complaining and asserting false “scene superiority” but I wanted to keep the spirit of true fanzines alive. I don’t waste my time on anything I don’t wholeheartedly enjoy. The zine is very labor intensive because I create each issue entirely by myself, from start to finish, so I produce them in very small numbers. There will probably be a new issue at some point in 2009. I already have some of the contents ready and it will be a great issue! In the meantime I maintain a blog and curate annual underground art exhibitions entitled “Entartete Kunts”. These exhibits are an entension of the zine and feature some of the most devoted artists from around the world such as Chris Reifert, Kriss Hades, Joseph Smith, Joe Petagno, Ed Repka, Drew Elliott, Nor, Musta Aurinko, and many more. The 2009 exhibit opens on Friday June 19th and I’ve already prepared a very special exhibition!

e: The last issue was dedicated to the pagan religion(s) & culture(s), something you embrace yourself. Can you tell us more about that?

DD: The issue you’re referring to is destroying Angels #9. The number 9 is sacred to the Norse tradition and there are frequent references to this number in the Eddas. So when I began to focus my attention on Destroying Angels #9 I knew I wanted to hail the heathen themes and imagery that have impacted me so profoundly. I also wanted to explore how heathen imagery has been distorted and exploited by certain political agendas. It’s a shame that in Germany that particular issue was seen as “suspicious” simply because I used runes and swastikas on the cover. Regarding my own worlview, I couldn’t care less about organized religion and that includes modern “pagans” that dress in funny clothing and behave like victimized Christians. My spirituality consists primarily of oaths sworn and oaths honored. Our mettle is reckoned in the silence of solitude. As the Hávamál asks: “Knowest how to summon? Knowest how to sacrifice?”

e: Did your studies in litterature and comparative mythologies increased your interest in paganism? Or was paganism appealing to you since forever?

DD: College enriched my interests but they’ve been there since I was very young. I’ve always been fascinated by monsters and scary stories and that has informed my art and worldview more than anything else. My brothers used to take me to the library when I was very young and I spent most of my time in the “monsters” section of the children’s book collection, gradually working my way around the shelves from picture books about Godzilla and the classic Universal monsters to more advanced “youth readers” about the folklore of lycanthropy and vampirism. As it turns out, the “monster movie” section was shelved next to the “folklore & legends” books, which were shelved next to the “mythology” section! As I worked my way around the shelves I eventually stumbled upon a copy of d’Aulaire’s “Norse Gods & Giants”. I was probably 6 or 7 years old at the time and already knew about Vikings because my father had supposedly named my oldest brother after Erik the Red, but here was an entire book of beautifully illustrated stories about monsters and magic and heroes. Not insignificantly, the gods were depicted with blue eyes and fair skin. They looked like me and I remember feeling as though a secret door had just been opened! Needless to say, I spent countless hours of my childhood in that tiny corner of the library. You can probably blame the Dewey decimal system for most of my morbid obsessions and heathen proclivities.

e: You’re also involved in Bobby Beausoleil’s struggle for freedom. I really enjoyed your report in the last “Destroying Angels” issue. How are things for Bobby these days? You printed some “Free Bobby Beausoleil” T-Shirts, are they still available? Where can we get them?

DD: I’m glad you enjoyed my writing about Bobby BeauSoleil in Destroying Angels. He’s a controversial figure but there is much more to his legacy than murder and Charles Manson. That story about our first prison visit is very important to me as it represents the commencement of a pivotal friendship. A slightly revised version will soon appear as the liner notes for the “Lucifer Rising” boxed set to be released in 2009 by the Ajna Offensive. This will be a beautiful 4 LP set containing the complete and definitive “Lucifer Rising” recordings, including previously unheard sessions that are simply amazing! Most of the music was recorded in the late 1970’s against terrible odds at Tracy Prison, one of America’s most violent correctional facilities at the time, and the score emerges as a provocative relic of lo-fi dark psychedelia. As I mention in the liner notes, for me this project has been a close collaboration and nothing less than a sustained ritual of liberation. In my opinion Bobby has repaid his debt to society and should be free to enjoy his elder years with his family. That was the impetus behind the limited edition “Free Bobby BeauSoleil” shirts. The proceeds from those shirts, humble as they were, went directly to Bobby’s prison fund to support his art and generally improve his quality of life behind bars. The shirts are no longer available and there are no plans to print more at this time, but I continue to fully support his freedom.

e: Please tell us more about all these contests that you’re launching…

DD: The contests on my blog are just for fun. I enjoy having that relationship with peope who visit my site. I’ve also found them to be a fun way to get people involved in underground art and culture. I usually present some trivia related to art or film and give away gifts such as signed art prints, shirts, and movie passes to the person who posts the correct answer.

e: On top of that, you’re a social worker, giving help to homeless people in the Streets of Portland. Can you tell us more about this other aspect of your life? How does it affect your look on society & life? Does art play a role in this social work?

DD: I began working with homeless kids shortly after I arrived in Portland. Keep in mind that I arrived on a freight train and slept in parks until I could find a house for myself! It’s no wonder why fuck-ups feel comfortable around me. I’ve been working with the same non-profit on and off for many years and I currently oversee two highly acclaimed street outreach programs. I go under bridges and into squats and camps and talk to runaways and young people living on the streets. I keep my art and personal life very separate from my work with the homeless but I don’t necessarily see these aspects of my life as mutually exclusive or contradictory. This work can be extremely demanding of my time and also emotionally exhausting. I’ve lost a lot of people over the years to murder, suicide, and overdoses and it would be foolish to deny that this has not taken some emotional toll. I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about child abuse, family dysfunction, and addiction. I’ve also seen first hand the stupidity and ugliness of real life violence. It is always the lowest common denominator. Tyr is my muse when I am walking the streets and it pleases me to know that I have touched the lives of many young people in a positive way. I live my life without shame.

e: You’re obviously a very busy man, what are you doing when you’re not working ? Do you have some time for travelling?

DD: Busy is an understatement! I work long hours every week and if I’m not a prolific artist it is only due to the limitations of the 24 hour day and the human requirement for occasional sleep. When I’m not working I like to spend time with my family. I don’t have much time for travelling these days but I try to take a few short trips every year. This past summer I spent three weeks in Germany for my first European solo exhibit and it was absolutely amazing! Hail to Germany! I really hope to visit Europe more extensively in the coming years. In the meantime I have a secret getaway in southern Oregon that I retreat to once or twice a year to clear my head and commune with… HIM!

e: What are you seeking as an artist?

DD: Transcendence or transgression, whichever comes first. To paraphrase your flamboyant countryman Paul Verlaine, great art should reverberate like “the invading sound of the enemy trumpets!”

e: As a huge music fan, you have to share with us your last weeks playlists…

DD: Ok, here’s what’s stacked up around the stereo in the past few days:
Lebenden Toten “Near Dark”
Hasil Adkins “Out To Hunch”
Golers “Backwoods Messages”
Repugnant “Epitome Of Darkness”
Midnight “Farewell To Hell” 10”
Wehrmacht (demo)
Flower Travellin Band “Satori”
Link Wray “Jack The Ripper”
Funerot “Nova II” 12”
13th Floor Elevators “Easter Everywhere”
Evil Army “Under Attack” 7”
Coil “Scatology”
Cult Of Daath “Slit Throats & Ritual Nights”
Sacrilege B.C. “Party With God”
D.R.I. “Crossover” (it’s playing right now!)

e: On the battlefield, 1000 years ago, what weapon do you choose ?

DD: I’d rather draw the aftermath.

Dennis Dread

DENNIS DREAD OFFICIAL WEBSITE
http://www.dennisdread.com/

DENNIS DREAD OFFICIAL BLOG
http://www.dennisdread.com/

This interview is the start of our massive south east Asia Black Metal scene report that we entitled “East Of Hell”.

From now on we will propose on a regular basis interviews from musicians, label managers, tape traders and die-hard followers who support this TRVE underground scene. A scene deeply rooted in the old-school shape of Black Metal: primitive, raw and totally uncompromise. Many, many great bands come from this scene and they all preserved the original essence of this genre now in serious decline in western countries. No room for trendies here, envenomed by ruthless life conditions and cultural censorship, their wrathful musical assault has nothing to envy to the so-called tenors of the scene. Hailing from Singapore, Istidraj is one of these bands and its charismatic leader Lord Arian Inferno answered our questions about his music, his life and the asian BM scene. We hope you’ll enjoy this first episode and guarantee you some really cool upcoming stuff. Stay updated.

emofag: Hail Istidraj, for those who don’t know you & Istidraj, could you please give us the history of your band? What led you to play BM?

A.Inferno: Hailz! I’m A.Inferno Ov Istidraj… I’ve been into Heavy/Thrash Metal back in
1988… Somewhere in 1990 I discover bands like Sarcofago, Bathory etc… Thats where it started & till now I’ve been possessed by Black Fucking Metal!!! Istidraj spawned forth in 1993 anno
bastardi… Istidraj had vomit forth 1 demo, 1 rehearsel promo, 2 ep’s, 3 album’s & 5 split releases…

Our wrath opus so far:
“Eastern Blood Reh/Demo” (Unreleased till included “Singakult Black Metal” Album as bonus)
“Metafizika” Album
“Bhinneka Tunggal” Ika EP
Istidraj/Luger Split EP “Total War Epuratio”
Istidraj/As-Sahar Split EP “Conquerors Of Syonan-To”
Istidraj/Insane Vesper/Ironfist Split EP “Unholy Demonic Trinity”
Singakult Black Metal Album
“Blasphemic Rites” Rehearsal Promo
Istidraj/Dry Split Album “Singanezian Heathens”
Istidraj/Makam Split Video CD “Alive In Solo”
“Blasphemous Ritual” Album
“Blasphemized Perversion” EP

e: You released a tape, “Blasphemized Perversion”, in september on the french label Chambragaz Records, is the tape format something you really dig? Tell us more about its content… The tape was limited to 100 copies, is that sold-out already? It seems that the label doesn’t exist anymore right?

A.I: The new EP has been only out on pro-CDr promo & tapes… Chambragaz Records has closed down due to some shit happens between them… Currently we are hunting for label to release it on CD & 7″EP.

e: Do you have any particular connections with the french scene? Who are the french bands you know & appreciate?

A.I: I’m only in contact with few french guys like Pzkw of ex-Luger, Arggon of Black Worshippers & Grimvald of Armaggedon…
I adore those above-mentioned bands & also Antaeus…

e: Before “Blasphemized Perversion”, you released “Blasphemous Ritual”… What was the feedback for this one? Did you manage to tour to promote the album?

A.I: Hell-yeah! We been doing live holokauzt around asian hell to spread our stuff… The response was ok… the CD album is out of print by now…. maybe will be re-press sometime in near future.

e: The artwork on “Blasphemized Perversion” is really sick… Who’s taking care of the art direction in the band? Did you ever have any problem in your country with the explicit content of your artwork?

A.I: Thanks for the compliments! I’ve been leading the horde since the beginning… So far no problems with the cuntry regarding our blasphemous arts!

e: The production on “Blasphemized Perversion” shows a huge step compared to “Blasphemous Ritual”, tell us more about the recording sessions of the EP and the studio where you recorded it…

A.I: We recorded the ep at TNT studio in Singapore… We’ve been recording there since our first album till now…. The session goes as per normal… Desekrating the recording equipments with our hell-hymns… We are much more stronger than before…

e: Istidraj stands as a old-school BM band… Are you fed up with the current BM scene? What’s the meaning of old-school to you?

A.I: I’m glad to see some few true bands around… I don’t actually care about the establishment, Thru those years you can see for yourself which bands will be around & which bands will fade away…

e: I’m really interested about how you deal with BM life in Singapore so if you don’t mind I’d like to ask you a few questions about that.
First of all, how is the scene in SIngapore? Please introduce us to a few bands & labels of your choice…

A.I: We don’t care about the scene which filled with clueless kids around… Only few true bands which we support like: As-Sahar, Impiety, Blaspherion, Infernal Execrator, Imperial Tyrants, Ctanic, Eternal Oath.

e: Are you guys friends with Impiety? Can we talk about a Black Metal community in Singapore?

A.I: Yeah.. read above….

e: I read that you’ve been playing in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand… Is there a strong link between the Singapore scene and the other scenes in Asia? What do you think of the other band communities in asia?

A.I: The connection is strong without the so-called scene.

e: How is Black Metal perceived in Singapore average society? Here in Europe, (average) Metal is something that doesn’t really shock anymore, corporate radios plays Metallica and you can find Motorhead T-Shirt in fashion stores…

A.I: The mainstream act will get recognise easily.. We are too obscure to be known…

e: Istidraj is a satanic entity, with anti-christian lyrics right? Why anti-chritian? What is the importance of christianism in singapore?

A.I: We are not just anti-christian… We denounce the existence of all religions… The hypocrisy of it all which fuels our hatred to blasphemize…

e: What is the meaning for you of anti christianism & satanism?

A.I: For many years the concept of evil being the roots of blasphemous/misanthropic Black Metal have been here to stay throughout, without this critical belief system Black Metal will not be as filthy and obscured sounding as it is and would in fact be a manufactured and plastic-packaged branding. But sadly this concept has been brought about by the world of profits in epic proportions, with promises of glam in a already dead Black Metal scene. I do not want to be preacher of the black faith but more to the leader of my own destiny… Thousands have got their own views of satanism, to me I believe in the spirit and might of the individual, he who is not afraid to thread the unknown path and he who do not wish to share his path with others, the strongest of the will shall rejoice! So individualism is the key to satanism, not one of many will have the same say in how he/she views satanism as an entity of as a way of life. The meaning of Satan itself is a judeo-christian invention that is borrowed from older pagan religions and to really believe that Satan will bring in the cruel fate of the humankind is too much shallow to believe in… We humans are also the embodiment of the evil entity! If you could describe this feelings in a few words it would be, suffering, death and morbidity… Istidraj exist to blasphemize the mass!

e: Are there many places to rehearse in proper conditions? And clubs that you can easily book for a show?

A.I: there’s a few studios around the island for rehearsel/recording…. The organiser’s need to apply for licence to do show here… we are banned in a pub due to excessive loud noise & kaos during show… No boycott can stop us!

e: From what I saw on your Myspace pics, Istidraj shows seem pretty intense… Tell us how it’s goin’ on stage? Can we talk about a certain form of ritual when you perform? How the crowd usually react to your Satanic onslaught?

A.I: Our live holokauzt is usually filled with kaos along with our blasphemous hell-hymns… We exorzise the mass to their hell on earth!

e: Who is the ultimate BM frontman? Who is the ultimate rockstar?

A.I: Dead of Morbid/Mayhem… The rockstars are alot to mention here…

e: What your family & relatives think about your BM state of mind? Is that something generally accepted in your surrounding?

A.I: My parents accepted the way i am… There’s nothing people can change in my life except myself..

e: What do you do for a living? What about the other guys in the band?

A.I: I’m working in a foreign embassy here… E-Aiman is a immigration officer, Mace Of War is a poly student & Antichristo Xul is a soldier…

e: I really think that somebody should tell the story of east asian BM because at the moment it’s still an untold story, would you be ok to be part of that?

A.I: Well, there’s nothing to be mention here… It’s obscure because we are distance from America/Europa.

e: You also seem to be really into Punk-Rock and that’s good… Who are your fav Punk bands? What’s the link between BM & Punk according to you? Do you think that BM should be associated with politics?

A.I: Well I only listen to old-school Hardcore Punk… Not those wimpy Punk Rock… My fave are The Exploited, The Misfits, Discharge, Crass….
BM has got nothing to do with politics & nationalistic!!!

e: You also run “Inferno Zine”… Can you tell us what does it feature? How do you work on your zine? Where can we get some copies of it?

A.I: I’m working on 3rd issue now which will be out by may 2008… It will feature interview with Warlust, Imperial Tyrants, Infernal Execrator, As-Sahar, Armaggedon, Almighty Sathanas, Misantrophy, Watain, Varathron… The 2nd issue is still available which features interview with Blasphemy, Thornspawn, Demonic Christ, Blaspherion, Black Torture, Dry, Occidens, Morbid Goat Fornicator, Necrophile, Totenkopf… I interview all those bands which I like/support…
It’s available directly thru me for 5$ or 4 Euros, p&p each copy…

e: So what’s goin’ on these days with Istidraj, any record coming out soon?

A.I: As for now we are busy rehearsing for our upcoming “Pandemonik Kaos SingaMalayan Mini Tour May 08″… We’ll release our 15 years of hell-kaos release by this year…

e: You recently got in trouble with justice for having beat up a woman who cheated on you… So, is the trial over now? Are you gonna end up in jail? Will that be your first time
behind bars? What’s your current view on man/woman relationships?

A.I: The trial is over… As that muslim slut has lack of evidence to proof against me… I sodomize & blasphemize her, making her pathetic life miserable… Nothing can stop Satan’s Will… I’ve been behind bars for bashing up some fags…
I do appreciate companion… I do have a new countess which fill my sexual desire & lust…

e: Thanks for answering this interview, the closing comments are yours… I hope we’ll stay in touch in a near future…

A.I: Mega Salutants for the interview & support! Hell-yeah! keep up the evil works with your zine! Cheers!
Raising High the HORNS OV HELL,

A.Inferno Ov Istidraj

OFFICIAL ISTIDRAJ WEBSITE:
www.istidraj.cjb.net

OFFICIAL ISTIDRAJ MYSPACE:
www.myspace.com/istidraj

In a little over a year span, Grammal Seizure (the one man Power Electronics tour de force is actually visual artist Erik Stanger) has produced 10 CD/EP’s, participated in a various artists compilation, and has a track coming up on the Sleepchamber Tribute download release (through Kill Your Godz). The musick is like a hammer, smashing through the social taboos of todays dogmas. Attacking our perceptions of the mind as band such as SPK and Whitehouse had before him with musick paid for in pain and suffering. Through his hard work, he has already generated considerable noise in the blogosphere. Sharing a considerable amount of musick with his fans for free. And what should happen with so much Grammal Seizure musick available for free? His CD sales have also blossomed. His name has gotten out there and is recognized. His musick is sought after. A case study for the modern musician. All this from Baltimore Maryland.

TheeBradMiller: It’s a strange journey for most of us from are earliest musick purchases to where we are now. It’s actually my favorite question to ask musicians I respect… what was your first release YOU bought. And how did you get here from there…

Erik Stranger: The first album I actually bought and paid for with my allowance money as a kid was Iron Maiden’s “Killers”… I had been listening to my dad’s Black Sabbath albums before that when I was like 7 years old… Oh and also obviously growing up a kid in the 1970’s I listened to KISS as well… I loved the “Alive 1″ record my dad bought for me… My father was a full time jazz guitarist who exposed me to a lot of music at a young age. So I suppose when I first heard the early Iron Maiden stuff, that sprung me into wanting to play guitar and get involved in bands and stuff. I just loved the raw energy and fast pace of the early Iron Maiden records and in a way they were kind of the beginnings of Speed Metal in a way (along with others like Motorhead)…. I wore that “Killers” album out on my suitcase record player…. Then I began buying Black Flag and Dead Kennedys records. Also got into bands like Celtic Frost, Bathory and Venom. Played around in Punk and Thrash bands as a teenager and it’s been all downhill since… In a good way.

TBM: Power Electronics, by the very nature of its core, is anger and aural violence. I guess this is a two part question. Is this therapeutic for you? Or is this punishment for the listener?

ES: I’ll tell you the truth, as I got into Punk and Hardcore in the early to mid 1980’s, I thought this was as far as things could be taken in an all out assault on the ears and mind… Then I got into the Anarcho Crust and Grind scenes around the time Napalm Death put out their first record “Scum” which blew me away… I also really loved the band Amebix and loved there Apocalyptic / Atheistic sound and views. Then I found 2 bands that changed my mind and turned me onto power Electronic / Industrial music… The early Extreme Noise Terror, and Godflesh… Both bands had done interviews in zines (can’t remember which ones), and Extreme Noise Terror mentioned being influenced by this obscure electronic band called Whitehouse… And Godflesh had mentioned being influenced by the founders of industrial music called Throbbing Gristle… The name alone intrigued me to seek those bands out… And to tell you the truth, in my teens… I just didn’t get it… Especially Whitehouse when I bought a copy of “Total Sex”… I was like “what the fuck is this”… My ears hurt… And left it at that till years later.

I really began to get into the power Electronic / Industrial / Noise scene in the mid 90’s sometime and my passion for the aggressive sound / vocals and lyrics just became a cathartic experience for me as a visual artist. So I started to dabble in analog synths (when you could get them reasonable) then moved onto small hand built oscillator type synths, and making contact mic’s from radio shack… I was also attracted to this genre because I have bipolar disorder and a host of other mental ailments. So Whitehouse, S.P.K., and Throbbing Gristle spoke to me.

When I make Grammal Seizure recordings they are totally therapeutic to me. It’s a release that would other wise manifest itself in me harming myself amongst other things. When I record it’s just like painting to me, just an extension of being an artist. That’s probably why I quit playing in bands because I like to work alone for the most part, and you can totally do that with Power Electronics and make great music. And yes I totally like to assault the listener with the sound as well. I know that I enjoy the power of this music when it just steamrolls over my brain, it releases something inside. So I know other’s enjoy that feeling / sound as well. That’s the thing with Power Electronics, it’s not just a sound and there is really for the most part no melodic structure to follow… It’s chaotic and it’s a feeling. I enjoy that. People either like it or not… there is no in between ground in Power Electronics…

TBM: Oddly enough, your version of Power Electronics is at times more accessible… You manage to create a style of Power Electonics that gives the musick a sense of direction. It’s hard to describe for those who haven’t heard your musick, but certainly there is structure to Grammal Seizure. Not just screaming and noise. That being said; is the musickal aspect of Grammal Seizure rekorded as an extension to the theme of the individual track, or is there some other motivation to the actual musick?

ES: I agree. There is a bit of structure to my sound. I like there to be twists and turns and a surprise or 2 that you wouldn’t expect. I suppose that comes from playing guitar, bass and drums in various bands over the years. It’s hard to just completely go “chaotic”. Sometimes I wish that would happen just to hear what comes out… complete randomness. When I record GS tracks, both the lyrics and the music are 95% improvisational. That basically means I find a sound I like and hit record and start building from there. I don’t plan anything out, unless I have a particular sound in my head that I heard somewhere and want to re-create. Once the music tracks are done, I usually just have a working song title, then I improv the vocals as I listen to the track in the headphone monitors. Very stream of consciousness vocal approach. If I don’t like something that just came out, I go back and redo that part of the vocal. I suppose you could say it’s an alchemical approach to creating. Or even a bit of Burroughs cut up writing style… I am a huge Burroughs fan, so I guess he rubbed off on me a bit.

Well about theme and motivation. When I did the first couple E.P.’s I really had no theme in mind other than transmitting this sound to people that would listen to it at visual art installations. Then as things progressed, I started to do theme based E.P.’s like “Power” and “Soundtrack To A Mental Breakdown”. I have always liked certain soundtrack music / artists like Wendy Carlos and what she did with “The Shining” and “A Clockwork Orange”… So I wanted my stuff to play out kind of like a movie to listen to and visualize yourself. As far as motivation for the music, there is no ulterior motive. I don’t have a manifesto to carry out so to speak. My motivation is to release my thoughts and whatever it is I am feeling that day through sound. And to confront and attack vocally anything I have disdain for. Actually though I guess I do have another motivation in creating this music. I remember hearing a quote from Genesis P-Orridge talking about sound for the sake of sound and how certain frequencies affect the brain in different ways… That intrigues the hell out of me. I would love to get to another dimension through sound.

TBM: On to the lyrics… (Which I was surprised to find out are improvised). There are some very common themes in your recordings. “ECT (Treatment or Torture)”, “Psychiatric Medication Regiment”, “Is Your Mind Tearing You Apart ?”… to name a few. Not to mention the CD EP “Soundtrack To A Mental Breakdown”. Can you explain the obsession with mental illness/depression/therapy?

ES: I’ve been under a psychiatrists care since my 20’s. I’m 36 (37 this month) years old. So that’s quite some time, also I have seen a psychologist for about the same amount of time off and on. I take mood stabilizing / anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication every day, and I’ll have to for the rest of my life. I’ve been to the emergency room on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to panic disorder and depression as well. My Grandmother was a manic depressive as well and was in and out of hospitals in the late 60’s and 70’s where she received Shock treatment (ECT) like you see in the movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”… So mental illness runs in my family’s genes and I inherited that. Also to make things worse for me other than my genetics, I was molested as a child by a family member from my Dad’s second marriage. So I have a lot of material in terms of thoughts that develop into the lyrics… I really don’t have to sit and write them down… I lived them, and continue to live with mental illness everyday. I take 3 different medications, some 3 times a day… I can’t help but have those lyrics come out in the music…

I hope some of the songs remove some of the stigma attached to mental illness as well. S.P.K. started the idea of raising awareness of mental illness with their first few releases and those records inspire me as well… especially “Information Overload Unit”… I believe a few of the S.P.K. members worked in a state run mental hospital and saw the conditions these people were being treated under. So they wrote about that in their music, which is some of the most powerful early industrial starting to cross over into noise music I’ve heard… S.P.K. were real pioneers in that sense.

TBM: You had mentioned that “Soundtrack To A Mental Breakdown” is autobiographical. Was it difficult to put it together?

ES: In a way “Soundtrack To A Mental Breakdown” was tough after I finished it… Listening to it played back. The track I have the most difficulty listening to is “Fixated On Killing The Abuser”, it’s completely auto-biographical about my abuser… I have thought of killing him in very “Saw” / “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” / and just plain torturous ways. So that is a dead serious track for me… I can hardly listen to it. I have done other songs about abuse like “Abuse” on the “4″ release, but “Fixated” was much more far reaching into the dark subconscious about my personal feelings about child sexual abuse. I think those people should be tortured / executed… And I don’t apologize for saying it.

Also, “Tearing My Nerves Apart” was tough. That’s completely about my panic / anxiety disorder which is crippling at times. I can’t do anything, constantly thinking I’m going to die… etc… It gets to your nerves so much that eventually you start thinking of ways out of the situation like suicide. Even if you don’t want to actually kill yourself, the thought of that back door out does cross your mind as a way out of the situation that won’t go away. So that song is another rough listen… So in short, I suppose it was in total a tough recording to do.

TBM: I imagine it would be daunting to perform these songs live… Simply from an emotional level. You have told me that you really have no interest in performing live. Could some of that stem from the personal nature of these recordings.

ES: Yes. I really have never overly enjoyed performing live even when I played shows in Punk and Hardcore bands. It’s a double edged sword really, I love the idea when I think about performing live, but the actuality of it drains my nerves. That being said, I DO plan to perform live at some local art / show venues in Baltimore. Maybe even at my friend’s record store where he holds shows on occasion. The only way I can do this is to have most of the music tracks pre-recorded and do the vocals live over them. Still I will be able to do some improvisational stuff with my equipment as well, just when I do a song that has a good deal of lyrics in it, it will have to be pre-recorded and played on a CD player through the mixer while I perform the vocals.

I plan to have the performances be much more of a performance art sort of thing with short films projected behind me. Nothing like a “rock out” type show really. It will steamroll the audience, just in a different way. That suits this genre best I believe. Even Whitehouse and TG use pre-recorded tracks from their laptops now when they perform (well before Whitehouse recently called it quits anyway). I think it’s much harder to pull off a live performance of power electronics that are going to sound exactly like the recorded songs than say a Punk band who is using a 4/4 time signature and “verse / chorus / verse” approach. Also, a lot of the sounds you happen upon with analog / unstable oscillator equipment while recording are almost magickal… And the chance of finding that frequency or pitch again is unlikely. But, yes I do plan to do some local live “actions” if you will.

TBM: You’re a visual artist too. Photography, collages, painting, and ready made art. Some of it is very personal (and award winning, I might add). Particularly pieces like “My life’s Daily Regiment…” and “Never Healed”. Would you incorporate some of these visuals into any live performances?

ES: I don’t know if I would incorporate my paintings into a live performance, unless it was just an actual gallery exhibit of my work and maybe have Grammal Seizure stuff playing in the gallery (as was the initial concept of Grammal Seizure / music for art installations). Or maybe do a live “action” in the gallery with my work around me on the walls, of course that would probably be at the discretion of the Gallery. I may put some of my found object sculpture stuff on stage with me… But I don’t really see paintings working well…

I do make short cut up films from declassified nuclear test footage / U.S. dept. of health mental hospital and procedure films of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s… And other clips of films that I like as well… I would love to get a projector and screen to show those silent films behind me while I perform on stage. I do plan to paint a large Grammal Seizure backdrop; it’s going to be the Deathshead logo with the 4 on it.

TBM: Tell me about Thee Transmissionary Movement. What is its purpose, and what is your hopes for its future?

ES: Thee Transmissionary Movement was something I created to get local Baltimore area based visual / sound and performance artist’s together to collaborate and exhibit their work and ideas. I wanted the group to have a “face” so to speak, and I took some cues from Coum Transmissions for some help in crafting Thee Transmissionary Movement. Basically an art movement that incorporated all genres of art, and an anything goes attitude (with some exceptions, obviously anything illegal in the manner of say child exploitation etc…) approach to an art movement. As far as the name… I just love the word and meaning of “Transmission”… My idea was to transmit ideas through sound / visuals and performance… So I kind of came up with this made up word “Transmissionary” like a Jesuit of art transmitting ideas.

My hopes for the movement is much the same as your “Kill Your Godz” idea. To flush out the old and give the unknowns and newer artists that fit in with that transgressive art community, a voice.

TBM: How do you see artists who join Thee Transmissionary Movement working… separately, or with you in conjunction for different art exhibits – and have you had much interest in Thee Transmissionary Movement in Baltimore? Would you consider moving beyond Baltimore?

ES: I have a few close friends / artist’s who I talk and collaborate / exhibit with that are into the movement. But I guess it’s really me who is the flag bearer for Thee Transmissionary Movement. There is interest, but not widespread. I would love to have anyone worldwide who wants to be part of Thee Transmissionary Movement get on board. Maybe we could do a website and exhibit ideas / music and artwork through the web. Honestly though I am so busy as is, that I don’t honestly know how much time I could devote to organizing and maintaining a site devoted to the movement. So it will most likely stay local with the small group of artist / friends I have now.

TBM: You have referred to yourself as an “Atheist”/”reformed catholick”. One of your most interesting and powerful works is “Burning Book Of Hymn”. How does your belief system tie into that release?

ES: Well, that’s a tough one. Growing up a Lutheran and then in my early 20’s my wife and I had I first child and converted to Catholicism. I thought that going to church and all that shit would fix my mental illness and suicidal thoughts… You know the saying “Jesus will heal you”… Well the more I read the more questions arose that couldn’t be answered by anyone in the Catholic church and I realized this was all bullshit… Gods and masters… I didn’t need it, and it didn’t work. So honestly I want to dismantle Catholicism and organized religions in general. They need to be exposed for the fairy tales that they are. If it works for someone, fine… Just don’t come at me with pamphlets and how I am going to hell because then you have a verbal fight on your hands with someone who can debate you into the ground about it.

Atheism just works best for me. I just don’t believe that there is any concrete life after death… I believe that when you die your energy is released back into the universe, but you’re not going to hang out with all the loved ones that you lost and live like you did when you were “alive” for real… The more I did an introspection on religion and heaven and hell, I thought to myself “what makes one human being so important that they need to be immortal / live forever”? Isn’t this life enough for a person, must we make up stories about “going to a better place”? Honestly the thought of death does scare me, but it also comforts in a strange way. I won’t have to suffer anymore after I breathe my last breath. So I live my life by the atheist statement started by the late Margaret Sanger “NO GODS, NO MASTERS”… And it’s working for me.

TBM: It’s funny, and people really need to hear the release to understand this comment, but the Catholick (I know I am misspelling it) church is beautiful. Faith in God has produced some truly wondrous works (hence your cover, and some of the sounds that you use), and you deconstruct it, turn it into rubble, and shove it up the establishments ass. I imagine that was fun.

ES: Yes. That’s the thing as well. I love the iconography the church uses. I have a collection of Mary statues and old nun dolls, and I think they are great. But they are just objects to me. I like the aesthetics of the church and its icons, but that’s about it. The cover of Hymns is great. I love Michael Angelo’s “Pieta”, one of my favorite works of art. Here again, Michael Angelo was a gay man, most believe, and here he is creating art for a hierarchy that basically hates him. That always astonished me. From what I have read, they barely paid him as well, and when they did it was always late and little.

That cover has been completely worked over in layers in Photoshop to create the blood stains and old book appearance. Photography being one of my mediums I know my way around Photoshop.

TBM: Yes; Famous (appreciated) when your dead. You are amazingly prolific. How long can you keep this pace up?

ES: Well, I am going to start doing some more visual stuff since the weather has warmed up. My studio is my outside garage, so in winter it’s tough to get out there and mess with frozen paint and such. I am working on a full length Grammal Seizure record right now. It’s going to be 8 songs or so, the longest release I’ve done thus far. It’s going to be titled “The Modern Age”. It will deal with a lot of different subjects, most of which pertain to living in the world today. I have some vacations coming up in the summer as well, so there is some down time there. I have been going at a fever pitch to get my name and work out there, and it’s starting to pay off…

Erik Stranger

Erik Stanger and Grammal Seizure can be found at Kill Your Godzs.
theebradmiller.wordpress.com/theetransmissionary-movement-records
as well as his own self released materials though the Grammal Seizure shop.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6391466
Erik Stanger visual art can be found here:
http://erikstanger.carbonmade.com/

P. Emerson Williams (or 333 as I call him). Musician, artist, illustrator, web mogul, chaos magick practitioner. Since the late 1980’s P. Emerson Williams has been making his mark in a world that is not often seen by the mainstream media. But through his incredible work ethic and vast amount of creative energies, as well as a knowledge of how to tap into the powers of the web, he is now able to reach across to his fans in a multi-medium fashion that has only become possible since the turn of the century. And just when the world catches up with him, he takes another quantum leap forward – as he did in 2005 with the multimedia work “Panic Pandemic”, and promises to do again this year with new releases including the newest Choronzon recording “Controlled Substance”. Perhaps the best way to describe 333 is like a Whirling Dervish – of the Sufi Order… Both in the constant movement and spinning (in great productivity), but also as a man on a mystical journey.

TheeBradMiller: You have been recording your brand of musick for over 20 years. I suppose one could say that you were berthed out of the Black Metal scene of the late 1980’s. Was that a scene you identified with in the beginning?

333: Well, I was listening to a bit of primordial Black Metal at the time I started out, but what I did on the first two tapes and corresponding events really had little to nothing to do with Black Metal. I can’t really say there ever has been a scene per se that I would say I could identify with. Obviously, a Bathory and Celtic Frost influence crept in at some point and I did find that the early Norwegian bands along with the Greek bands were tapping into a current that I still wonder if they knew what that current was, or even if they knew they were drawing on something not quite of this universe. That aspect disappeared as soon as the world found out about them in any case, following the events that have come to identify the genre in most peoples minds ever since.

TBM: While many of Choronzon distributors categorize you as Black Metal (they have to call you something), it seems that you are moving away from the standard trappings Black Metal fair… in fact, as I go through your catalog I noticed that this becomes particularly noticeable with “Psychosis Ex Machina”. Was this intentional?

333: I don’t think “Psychosis Ex Machina” would have happened without my having done Veil Of Thorns‘ “Birthed” right before it. “Magog Agog” was my first all digital recording, but I had used a lot of looping using primitive processes of splicing tape into loops or using a reacjmount digital delay and creative use of analog delay. If you compare “Magog Agog”, “Era Vulgaris” and “Larvae” which were all recorded using the same equipment and set-up, you find that experiments as they exist on those recordings are in the playing, not the arrangements.
On “Psychosis” I was manipulating the source sounds a lot more. I took a lot more time to twist and distend the sounds and arrangements, making the process of creation more like painting, in a way. So, the change grew out of expanded experience and new technological capabilities. I also changed my approach and intention from creating a record or artifact from rituals, through making a musical statements, with the trio of albums starting with “Magog Agog”, to creating hypersigils. That is, creative works as weapons of magick. Part of the intention of “Psychosis Ex Machina” was to wrap the Black Metal, musical albums into a larger hypersigil that is traced by the sum of all Choronzon releases and early events.
That means the hypersigil is always developing, as I find pieces I’m working on continue to develop even when I don’t touch them for days, weeks or months.

TBM: Tell me more about hypersigils. What inspired it? What is the process? Does it contain a similar structure to more traditional (as if that even exists) chaos magick (formulation, conversion, implantation)?

333: Hypersigils is a term coined by Grant Morrison, to the best of my knowledge. Traditional sigils distill words and image elements into a single glyph which is easily subsumed into the subconscious and is usually burned and forgotten. This is so the intention the sigil is charged with can work without interference from the conscious mind or limitations placed on it by what is considered possible by the individual.
A hypersigil uses the same methodology, but is distilled into a narrative, in a sense. I use the Burroughs/Gysin cut-up method in all media, from lyric and story writing, sound manipulation and video to avoid straight narrative and embed the intention behind and story arc into a greater work. The memetic material is thus transmitted in subtle ways and magickal intentions are placed outside conscious thought in the same way.
I had been doing this in my visual work and music from the start, but didn’t become fully aware of hypersigils and their magickal and creative possibilities until I became involved in some discussions with younger chaos magick practitioners around the time I was working on “Psychosis Ex Machina”.

TBM: “Controlled Substance” (a new Choronzon recording) is going to be released soon. What type of early magikal ground work was done for this release?

333: Well, I hate to be coy or come off like I’m trying to be mysterious or something like that, but we are not talking a whole lot about the work behind this one just yet. Some parts will not be revealed, but will be experienced. I’ll say that before the work was started, weaving spiders went there, saw and are delivering a drubbing that will not be truly appreciated until history gives perspective.

TBM: Hmmm…. Can I speak with the spiders for a inside scoop? How about this then, is the process you used on the new recordings substantially different than what you have done previously… or… is the new work(s) a continuation of a process/journey that you have all ready been on?

333: In a way the spiders are Eris’ apple as it was thrown into the proceedings.
The new works bring the way I have always worked visually into the realm of sound. I like to start by raising the densest chaotic dust storms and seeing what faces stare out at me. The living center of a piece becomes clear in the process of taking away. Electronic Voice Phenomena work like that. I’m less concerned with theorizing what they represent or what causes them as I am in emphasizing them and adding elements to enhance them when they appear. of course, with digital recording, I have no limits on how many tracks or midi devices I can have running all at once, so my first inclination was to heap up sounds as thickly as I could. Now leaving enough sonic room around chaotic accidents to show them in higher relief is key.

TBM: So you reach your final out-come through chaos and discord? Correct?

333: Chaos is my jumping off point, discord the quantum waves and the ripples therefrom are the patterns imposed on chaos as the work filters though ears and crania. The act of listening continues the act of creation in that sense.

TBM: The cover for “Controlled Substance” is up at “Center Of Pestilence” (http://choronzon333.livejournal.com/). Can we infer anything about the recording from the cover? How about from the title?

333: It’s the first iteration. The initial spark is there, but much more work will be put into it. Mesila (Demimonde Mesila Thraam) told me to kick her into gear on the site and album(s), so I figure posting stuff in process will get the conversation into action.

TBM: Let’s move backwards for a bit. I’d love to talk about “Panic Pandemic”. It’s epic is it’s scope… There are so many twists and turns… even within one song. I believe I told you once that I thought it was your magnum opus (to this point). When you first began formulating this release what were your intentions?

333: Part of the large scope of “Panic Pandemic” is due to the long gestation period of its genesis. I had gone through an extended period of cutting away of past creations, perceptions, persona’s and viewpoints. What the process of creating this release signaled was a new period of building up form a point of zero.
The work began immediately at the conclusion of the “Psychosis Ex Machina” sessions and ran concurrently with the gestational period of writing Veil Of Thorns‘ “Manifestation Objective” and alongside the Choronzon East/West creation of “New World Chaos”. (An aside – “Manifestation Objective” – see the thoughts of regeneration reflected in the title?) It was 2003, well into the extended ritual of Rovian Black Magick. My focus was on the eternal to the point where it didn’t seem important to me if fascism completed its power grab in the US and internationally, if the human race survived its own folly or indeed if life on this planet were to continue or not. Several interviews, especially in Punk Rock oriented magazines were dropped because of this stance and some close associates kept coming at me with political concerns, Space-time limited fears etc…
So.
This release is a book and two discs because I felt a need to answer these issues in a way that could be pointed to in future. In toto, the release is a hypersigil that effectively blocked the psionic influence of the prevailing corporate/state/consumer culture’s memetic leak into minds that were not inviting it in. (Kinda like the way a demon or vampire has to be invited in according to some theories and myth complexes.) More than that, this release is a declaration of the end of the “Panic Pandemic” just as it is named, and a foundation of creation from point zero, chaos, pain, pure potentiality
A future P. Emerson would probably have distilled all this down further to a more pure form, but “Panic Pandemic” was as succinctly put as I was capable of at the time.

TBM: In away then “Panic Pandemic” was your “Fuck You” release or your “Metal Machine Music” release. It was personal. It ended up being incredibly powerful. Was your “eternal” view related to personal struggles?

333: Hm… I think my releasing the mangled master for the “Lilith” album 1.0 under the name “Evocation Of Sandstorms” may fit the description “Fuck You” release or my “Metal Machine Music” release. I felt a setting and a story arc at the center of “Panic Pandemic” that was vast and universal, but the point of view within that setting was singular, so in that may have made it more personal.
My eternal view came from some heavy meditation and the visions that meditation brought, along with astral travel. In both cases I was going ever further, inward with meditation, the image making faculty being dismantled in meditation and going ever outward in the astral work. The planet, solar system and galaxy faded further away and I had vision of the universe, the bodily point of view faded and I observed the center of my consciousness not as the meat and bone container of this ego and accumulated experiences but the origin of pure consciousness.
All the games, aggrandizement and struggles for order by politicians, religious leaders and heads of the “Corporate State” reminded me of Joseph Campbell’s telling of a story that has come to be known as “Indra’s Lesson”.

INDRA’S LESSON

There is a wonderful story in one of the Upanishads about the god Indra. Now, it happened at this time that a great monster had enclosed all the waters of the earth, so there was a terrible drought, and the world was in a very bad condition. It took Indra quite a while to realize that he had a box of thunderbolts and that all he had to do was drop a thunderbolt on the monster and blow him up. When he did that, the waters flowed, and the world was refreshed, and Indra said, “What a great boy am I.”
So, thinking, “What a great boy am I,” Indra goes up to the cosmic mountain, which is the central mountain of the world, and decides to build a palace worthy of such as he. The main carpenter of the gods goes to work on it, and in very quick order he gets the palace into pretty good condition. But every time Indra comes to inspect it, he has bigger ideas about how splendid and grandiose the palace should be. Finally, the carpenter says, “My god, we are both immortal, and there is no end to his desires. I am caught for eternity.” So he goes to Brahma, the creator god, and complain.
Brahma sits on a lotus, the symbol of divine energy and divine grace. The lotus grows from the navel of Vishnu, who is the sleeping god, whose dream is the universe. So the carpenter comes to the edge of the great pond of the universe and tells his story to Brahma. Brahma says, “You go home. I will fix this up.” Brahma gets off his lotus and kneels down to address sleeping Vishnu. Vishnu just makes a gesture and says something like, “Listen, fly, something is going to happen.”
Next morning, at the gate of the palace that is being built, there appears a beautiful blue boy with a lot of children around him, just admiring his beauty. The porter at the gate of the new palace goes running to Indra, and Indra says, “Well, bring in the boy.” The boy is brought in, and Indra, the king god, sitting on his throne, says, “Young man, welcome. And what brings you to my palace?” “Well,” says the boy with a voice like thunder rolling on the horizon, “I have been told that you are building such a palace as no Indra before you ever built.” And Indra says, “Indras before me, young man— what are you talking about?”
The boy says, “Indras before you. I have seen them come and go, come and go. Just think, Vishnu sleeps in the cosmic ocean, and the lotus of the universe grows from his navel. On the lotus sits Brahma, the creator. Brahma opens his eyes, and a world comes into being, governed by an Indra. Brahma closes his eyes, and a world goes out of being. The life of a Brahma is 432,000 years. When he dies, the lotus goes back, and another lotus is formed, and another Brahma. Then think of the galaxies beyond galaxies in infinite space, each a lotus, with a Brahma sitting on it, opening his eyes, closing his eyes. And Indras? There may be wise men in your court who would volunteer to count the drops of water in the oceans or the grains of sand on the beaches, but no one would count those Brahmin, let alone those Indras.”
While the boy was talking, an army of ants parades across the floor. The boy laughs when he sees them, and Indra’s hair stands on end, and he says to the boy, “Why do you laugh?” The boy answers, “Don’t ask unless you are willing to be hurt.”
Indra says, “I ask. Teach.” (That, by the way, is a good Oriental idea: you don’t teach until you are asked. You don’t force your mission down people’s throats.) And so the boy points to the ants and says, “Former Indras all.Through many lifetimes they rise from the lowest conditions to the highest illumination. And then they drop their thunderbolt on a monster, and they think, ‘What a good boy am I.’ And down they go again.”
When the boy is talking, a crotchety old yogi comes into the palace with a banana leaf parasol. He is naked except for a loincloth, and on his chest is a little disk of hair, and half the hairs in the middle have all dropped out.
The boy greets him and asks him just what Indra was about to ask. “Old man, what is your name? Where do you come from? Where is your family? Where is your house? And what is the meaning of this curious constellation of hair on your chest?”
“Well,” says the old fella, “my name is Hairy. I don’t have a house. Life is too short for that. I just have this parasol. I don’t have a family. I just meditate on Vishnu’s feet, and think of eternity, and how passing time is. You know, every time an Indra dies, a world disappears— these things just flash by like that. Every time an Indra dies, one hair drops out of this circle on my chest. Half the hairs are gone now. Pretty soon they will all be gone. Life is short. Why build a house?”
Then the two disappear. The boy was Vishnu, the Lord Protector, and the old yogi was Shiva, the creator and destroyer of the world, who had just come for the instruction of Indra, who is simply a god of history but thinks he is the whole show.
Indra is sitting there on the throne, and he is completely disillusioned, completely shot. He calls the carpenter and says, “I’m quitting the building of this palace. You are dismissed.” So the carpenter got his intention. He is dismissed from the job, and there is no more house building going on.
Indra decides to go out and be a yogi and just meditate on the lotus feet of Vishnu. But he has a beautiful queen named Indrani. And when Indrani hears of Indra’s plan, she goes to the priest of the gods and says, “Now he has got the idea in his head of going out to become a yogi.”
“Well,” says the priest, “come in with me, darling, and we will sit down, and I will fix this up.” So they sit down before the king’s throne, and the priest says, “Now, I wrote a book for you many years ago on the art of politics. You are in the position of the king of the gods. You are a manifestation of the mystery of Brahma in the field of time. This is a high privilege. Appreciate it, honor it, and deal with life as though you were what you really are. And besides, now I am going to write you a book on the art of love so that you and your wife will know that in the wonderful mystery of the two that are one, Brahma is radiantly present also.”
And with this set of instructions, Indra gives up his idea of going out and becoming a yogi and finds that, in life, he can represent the eternal as a symbol, you might say, of the Brahma. So each of us is, in a way, the Indra of his own life. You can make a choice, either to throw it all off and go into the forest to meditate, or to stay in the world, both in the life of your job, which is the kingly job of politics and achievement, and in the love life with your wife and family. Now, this is a very nice myth, it seems to me.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987),
“The Power Of Myth” (with Bill Moyers)
Doubleday, New York, 1988
From: http://www.wisdomportal.com/Enlightenment/IndraUniverses.html
Now, Indra is a god similar to the old testament Jehovah. This is also the lesson of the Brothers of the Left Hand Path, as defined by Crowley, (not to be confused with LHP in Satanic practice). The overarching forces of influence and power of our age are bringers of death in life, and may prove to bring literal death in the end. It is they who are the still, shadowy figures in the abyss. If they end all terrestrial life, their influence is not even a blip, for the creative force can not be halted.

TBM: Brilliantly told by Joseph Campbell. It actually brings a whole new listening experience to the CD, and sheds a whole new light on many of the tracks (“The Time / Death / Birth Gimmick”, “Our Cacophonous Ghosts” come to mind instantly). Are you still exploring themes in “Controlled Substance”?

333: There’s a theme of addiction, the tendency in humans to want security and to control everything to the point where reality is static and dead. And the addiction to control and addiction to order. I’d cite Herman Hesse’s “The Glass Bead Game” as a reference. Once an aspect of human endeavor is ossified into a formal set of works, it’s repertoire falls off until a narrow selection is all most people know. There may be a correlation between the calcification of the classical music repertoire in the last thirty years, the pervading neoconservatism/crypto-fascism and the “retro-necro” of popular culture, as Momus puts it, in the same period.

TBM: And that is the great thing about staying away from a “scene” when trying to remain free in the creative process. But your identified often with Black Metal, even though Choronzon is so far and away “different” than – really any genre. This maybe impossible to answer, but how does one set out to break the the “retro necro” of pop culture. And by doing this do you stave off any chance of commercial success?

333: Well, my own history and career has shown that I probably have avoided any chance of commercial success. I can’t say I give the “retro necro” of what passes for culture in these days much thought. The overarching, ever present bilge pumped at us from large corporate entities has nothing to do with anything and needs not be heeded or answered. While this behemoth of rehashed, watered down ideas and forms seems to be all powerful, its influence can be avoided easily enough. Television and commercial radio are as influential as one lets them be. Scene trends and styles are as limiting as one lets them be. Every one of us creates unspoilt and creative drawings before we get the message that things have to look a certain way to be a legitimate pursuit. Production values can be murder on the spark of a good idea if you accept that everything has to be squeezed into certain forms. This goes for all forms of art.

TBM: I believe it was Sting who said “there is nothing new under the sun”. (that’s a joke)… But submission to pop culture certainly gives in to Ambrose Bierce’s claim. The idea of creativity – unspoilt, pre-influence (pop culture influence) – must require quite a bit of filtering. Who do you admire, and how do you keep that from taking over your musick?

333: In a sense, I can’t help what I do. Even when I have tried to take on a style, a particular artist aesthetic or a take on a genre, there’s always something weird about it. Usually, the attempt turns into something entirely different from what I had attempted to do. It’s that inner voice.
While I’ll spend a lot of time with Killing Joke, SLEEPCHAMBER, Christian Death, Coltrane, Celtic Frost et al, I don’t consciously imitate or weed out their influence. I can hear it all in there, and what I do wouldn’t be the same without having known the work of those artists I admire, but I don’t try to cop their mannerisms.

TBM: You are a incredibly creative person, whose outlets go beyond musick. There are many people who know of you for different things, perhaps not fully being aware of the other aspects of P. Emerson Williams. You are an illustrator, musician, accomplished artists and designer, as well as somebody who has his fingers in many different projects on the web. For instance, Mythos Media and FoolishPeople… Can you tell us a bit about these projects.

333: The best way for me to give a sense of what and who FoolishPeople and Mythos Media are is to quote their (our) own words:
FoolishPeople create weaponized art, ritual theatre, collaborative events, books & film to raise a numinous experience within the witness. We engineer immersive, open source experiences that become a catalyst for positive change.
Amidst the current financial and environmental collapse, we seek to use ancient mythological techniques, elements of shamanism, drama therapy and strategic forecasting to enable a radical re-awakening of humanity’s purpose & the individual’s “true will”.
John Harrigan founded FoolishPeople in 1989, taking its name from one of the major arcana of the tarot, card 0: The Fool. “The Fool” reminds us of sacred things that we have forgotten or repressed and knows his or her own ignorance, thus is seen as the most wise. “The Fool” coaxes us to walk our own path, not the path of the “herd”, to become a “Free Spirit” – a self-actualized person, free from societal constraints, who is able to let go of outmoded beliefs and ideals with the courage to pursue their own special path.
Recently I worked with FoolishPeople on “Terra Extremitas”. The first work of theirs I became aware of was “Dead Language”. I’m currently engaged in some very intense and rewarding work with FoolishPeople. I can’t say anything about that at the moment, for they are part of our Black Ops for 2009. I will say that at the crossroads of art, music, literature, performance, ritual, magick, memetic engineering and much more I found Foolish People waiting for me. It’s thrilling to be involved.
And Mythos Media:
Mythos Media takes the ancient arts of storytelling and myth-making, and brings them to the present through modern media. We seek out the edgy and iconoclastic mavericks that exist off the beaten path, pump them full of our patented, secret super-drugs, and help them reach your eyes and ears. (We also enjoy a good fib, if it entertains or serves the plot.)
Rather than avoiding the unsettling, the unusual, the intense, we embrace it. There is nothing “cookie-cutter” about any of our products: they are all home-grown and independently produced. There are no focus groups. There is no formula aside from pushing our boundaries. You will find yourself entertained, edified, horrified, aroused and even possibly disgusted. In other words, everything you hoped to get out of college, for a fraction of the price. Take a trip with us.
Mythos Media is a company I started with author James Curcio, Michael Szul and Tovarich Pizor.
We have already published “Lives of Ilya”, an illustrated novel by Tara Vanflower of Lycia and wonderful illustrator Daniele Serra. It’s a new addition to the mythos o9f the vampire canon told in a language that is characterised by the musicality of Tara’s unique voice. For the audio book version we have several readers, one part is read by Jarboe, one by Martin Bowes from Attrition and one by an amazing artist known as Mister Sam.
The novel Fallen Nation: “Babylon Burning” is a psychedelic road trip across the highways of the modern collective unconscious. It’s a world where just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you, where the things you dream about can come back to haunt you when you wake, and where the end of this world is just the beginning of another.
The audiobook for Fallen Nation, read by me and Tara Vanflower can be found at Alterati.
In addition to literature we have two musical releases. The first is SubQtaneous “Some Still Despair In A Prozac Nation“. On this album is me, Sean Marsden and Gaetan Sputnik (Elektroworx, 233Project), Scott Landes (Collide, Mankind Is Obsolete), Zac Shaw And Paul Heath (Dead Unicorn), Ryan Moll (Rumpelstiltskin Grinder), Dave Clark (Rob Banks), Jesse DeSanto (ATWG), Insanity (I&I), Martine Sinatra, Agent 036, Nate Sampsel, NightInGale & Aric Viecek (subNatural).
The other is Veil Of Thorns “Cognitive Dissonance”. A pretty little effort…

TBM: …And you have time to breath… When? In the intro for this interview I called you ” a Whirling Dervish (of the Sufi Order )… Both in the constant movement and spinning (in great productivity), but also as a man on a mystical journey. I suppose as a fitting final question… How long can you keep this pace up for?

333: Ah, well. Things go in stages. Once I go through the cycle of bringing current project home I hope to have the means to go somewhere remote for a while and recharge. I went away for a while ten years ago, but part of that was living on the streets, then working on the ocean and on to a couple years in corporate management. The journey of outward manifestation must also be balanced with the journey inward. The work itself is part of the latter, but there comes a time when sitting on a mountaintop is imperative.

333

OFFICIAL CHORONZON WEBSITE
http://choronzon.org/

OFFICIAL CHORONZON MYSPACE PAGE
http://www.myspace.com/choronzon333

It’s 1997 – to the outside world the future couldn’t seem brighter for Sleepchamber… completing a successful German Tour, CD’s were now being distributed overseas and in the US by the Italian label Musica Maxima Magnetica and the German label FünfUndVierzig. And, perhaps more promising, Cleopatra Records out of L.A had signed the band with the promise of even wider distribution.

However, things are not always what they seem…

The gods had begun to frown on John’s life a year earlier. On June 21st of 1996 Swedish nanny Karina Holmer was found sawed in two in a dumpster down the street from John’s home. Her torso was left in two separate bags… Her lower portion has never been discovered. Although no charges were ever brought against John, he was brought in as a suspect and questioned. The fragile world of Sleep Chamber quickly began to splinter.

Also smoldering under the surface, out of public view, John was suffering from a 9 years hardcore addiction to Heroin. The fabric of the band had already begun to disintegrate. Friends of John even held a benefit concert to help him with his drug addiction in the early summer of 1997. It would be the second to last show of Sleep Chamber.

Effectively Sleepchamber ceased recording in 95 just before the Nanny Murder. A huge catalog of unreleased tracks managed to keep the band in existence by name till 2000. A final Sleep Chamber show went down December 31, 2000. It featured John, one musician and a dancer.

The final blow came on November 2 of 2001, when Zewizz girlfriend, and former band-mate, Laura Graff died from a heroin overdose. Heartbroken and addicted John went further into seclusion.

If this is where the story stopped then we would be left with the memories of a large number of outrageous live gigs, many compelling releases, and a virtual who’s who of former band mates sprinkled all over the “underground” musick landscape. But November 2 was not the end of the world for John or Sleepchamber (as of 2000 Sleep Chamber became Sleepchamber).

In 2004 John beat heroin addiction, reformed Sleepchamber and began producing musick. The first foray came quick, with the ultra limited release of “Sirkle Circus” – a collection of remixes. Work on other projects quickly began to fill John’s time. As of 2008 John has a number of projects nearing completion, and the hunt for a distributor has begun. All of this is good news to fans who have been hungry for new material for nearly 9 years.

In early 2008 “The John Zewizz Appreciation Society” was created by me out of frustration at the lack of Internet representation of a true American musick pioneer. As an archivist, completest, and all around obsessive compulsive pack rat, I knew going in that this was going to be a time consuming effort. During the Spring of 2008 I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with John. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated. But truth be told, John is a very friendly, articulate, and up front person. And fortunately for us, he agreed to this interview.

The following took place through the mail in October and November of 2008.

Thee Brad Miller: What has Sleepchamber been up to since 2000?

John Zewiz: Well, we’ve been doing musick constantly since then, we just had many obstacles. After the 1997 tour of Germany we got ripped off… There waz the accidental death ov a very close girlfriend, I waz recovering from heroin & cocaine addiction, and we were broke. Inner-X went thru a company break-up. Our Italian label just disappeared. Our German label also went broke so we were dropped… Which makes no sense since we had just done a German tour.
We weren’t doing musick on our regular scale. I mean we were releasing CD’s about every 4 months for awhile. I mean you do get burned out. Sleepchamber iz a extremely demanding concept to maintain. With the rap & dance musick dominating the market it wazn’t eazy getting a decent paying gig – if you could get one at all. Even with the 97 German tour, regular venues that had booked bands had switched over to DJ’s and showcase DJ celebrities. They are far less work to set up, soundcheck, and cater too. Again we were doing musick, it just wasn’t set up for a compiled release. There iz roughly 5 CD’s worth ov musick recorded within the past 8 years. Bottom line… I mostly needed a long break from playing live. I discontinued The Barbitchuettes in their prime. It waz time to strip down Sleepchamber for a new change. Playing live just got to be a very big deal and wazn’t worth it.

TBM: Why did you disband The Barbitchuettes? They seemed to be a large part ov the live show.

JZ: I wanted to discontinue them while they were still in their prime. I really felt we had gone az far az we could with them. I didn’t want them to be the big draw to the live shows and that’s what waz evolving. There were security problems starting and its pretty hard running a band – never mind an additional 8-10 girls.
The last show we did on New Years ov 2000 waz a disaster. A nightmare live performers fear…. My guitarist vanished that night. Barbitchuettes were canceling that night like flies… it waz unbelievable! We ended up with 3 people doing the show. Half the show waz fine, then we started getting all sorts ov sound problems. Worst ov all, all this brought on anxiety and destroyed me and my focus ov the show. I could eazly say it waz the worst Sleepchamber show ever!!!

TBM: Do you think this time off has damaged your popularity?

JZ: We don’t do musick for acceptance or approval. Sleepchamber iz a concept. We stay az far away az possible from fitting into a format. Sleepchamber musick evolves from us not delivered for demand. I know that sounds crazy – but it’s true. I really work az I want and feel. There iz no time format.

TBM: Ok then, while we are on this topic… all the rumors. There are rumors of heavy drug use. There are rumors that Sleepchamber was dissolved because of the deaths of people involved with the band.

JZ: Yes, I know. And parts are true. We had about 4 deaths due to all different reasons. But we never dissolved Sleepchamber. I mean I live the Sleepchamber lifestyle. The musick iz a reflection ov my life and personality.

TBM: The rumors of your drug problems are nearly legendary.

JZ: Yes I started drugs at an early age (14) and they have had been getting stronger az time went by. I never had a drinking problem, I liked drinking – but never had a problem at all. Thru the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s I used mostly pills. All kinds – ups, downs, and narcotics.
I started using heroin in the late 80’s. For almost 20 years. Cocaine waz something I had always used. It just changed from sniffing to injecting and eventually smoking.
I always favored the exotic drugs – like amphetamine/barbiturate combination’s and coke & heroin mixtures. I also favored barbiturates like qualudes, Seconal, amytal and carbatol. I had to use magick to break the bonds that drugs had on me. It waz part ov my being. Drugs became my world and everything in it. Only magick waz strong enough to focus my will and to direct my will into power.

TBM: Seems to be a theme… Drugs and Magick?

JZ: I feel both are elements ov danger. Most think they know about drugs… they don’t!!!! Same with magick. Most don’t even know about “Equivalent Exchange” or “Will”. Drugs will kill you eventually…. Blind magick experiments will also change your life forever. Az when I began with magick I have always know that it can not be organized or predicted. Sigils, spells, trixsens are all talismans perceptions to the subconscious. Magick iz a beilef system. It’s what you live by – like a code ov perception and desires you direct thru your true Will. The Will iz the strongest ability you live by. If you can control or focus your will to what you desire – that iz magick.

TBM: What about Magick? You once said magick was as dangerous as drug use.

JZ: I am extremely careful with my magick. I started with “Sexmagick” but eventually moved on to a form of “Kaos Magick”.

TBM: Why is that?

JZ: Because my concept of use ov “Kaos Magick” iz not exactly the type that iz written about – it also contains many ov my secret intentions and abilities used to overkum my difficult situations. Magick, when evoked, presents its results unpredictably. That’s why knowing how to design a talisman iz so important. Az I had learned or experienced in my earlier daze ov experiments. Drugs kill and I belive magick haz an ability to kill. Especially if misdirected by an amateur. Once you understand how your personal concept ov magick works you instantly have an instinct ov respect and understanding. A perceptional ability to control a powerful direction ov your true will.

TBM: How would you explain your “Kaos Magick”?

JZ: Now you must know… that if I explained my formula it’s “magick shared – magick lost”. I can only go here – over the past 10 years my ability ov scenes have bekum almost triple ov what they had been. Some believe – those who know, know it does not matter – Now, I can’t go into talismans, sigils, spells, trixsens or charms – right now. But maybe sometime in the future.

TBM: What about drugs? Are they a problem in the current line up?

JZ: Truly not. I’m not claiming that we are all completely straight, but there iz no “hard stuff”. We learned about what took us down once and I drew a line in the sand. None of us ever had a drinking problem and the new line up sees the mistakes we made in the late 90’s.

TBM: Back To magick… Who inspires you?

JZ: Well, for a short time I waz involved with the Temple Ov Psychic Youth. I waz reading a little Crowley (I like books about him, more than books he writes, even though some ov hiz books are pure genius)… Austin Spare iz another favorite. But finding anything on him iz almost impossible. Hiz sigils are magnificently powerful and strong.

TBM: Iz magick part ov your everyday life?

JZ: Az I mentioned before I use only magick when totally necessary. It’s dangerous, unpredictable and costly.
An equivalent exchange could turn out to be just about anything… you have to give to get… I live magickly everyday in some sort ov way. But when it kums to full moons, blood and sorcery formulas I plan extensively and cover all my angles. Magick iz deadly when people play games with the power ov energy and spiritual dimensions. No one person iz an expert on any form ov magick. No matter what kind it iz.

TBM: What have you found you can rely upon through the last 10 years?

JZ: I am an alpha. I rely on no one. I do all I need myself. I’m the originator ov Sleepchamber and after 25 years am still the only original one putting out musick. I’ve always been older than everyone else and they use to kid me (about this). But now most Barbitchuettes are out ov shape or married (no difference), I’m not putting them down – it’s just I’m in the best shape ov my life – emotionally and physically. And when you hear the new Sleepchamber releases you will see I’ve gone no where – nothing haz changed and it’s a new era for Sleepchamber. I will continue Sleepchamber till I pass on…

TBM: I understand that there is a order to Sleepchamber and those who are involved in Sleepchamber.

JZ: I look at Sleepchamber az a lion pride. I’m obviously the alpha male and have a good size pride ov members. Be they band members or Sleep Rooks (Sleepchamber assistants).

TBM: So in theory, it’s more ov a hierarchy?

JZ: That’s a perfect analogy.

TBM: Looking back over the last 30 years, would you do anything different?
JZ: Most definitely, I would have started Sleepchamber in 1975 instead ov 79-80. I would have done more material with Women Of The SS. This project conflicted with Sleepchamber many times. It wazn’t an eazy project but waz a concept that I really admired working on.

TBM: You have fans from all over the world. “The John Zewizz Appreciation Society” receives email from Sweden, Russia, China, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Poland…. every where. Why do you think that despite Sleepchamber absence to the public eye… you seem to be attracting new fans?

JZ: I don’t know where the new resurgence came from. It’s almost like some have just discovered us. Some maybe younger, some admire our persistence… After I seen a live Killing Joke DVD I truly felt like I had much longer to go with Sleepchamber. The singer Jaz Coleman seems to have more energy and creativeness than ever. It inspired me to beef up Sleepchamber to its max.
After 20 odd years ov sticking to something that iz original and individual. I think that there are many more mystics in the world than people know. But that’s good. We want to keep our secrets secret.

TBM: The interest has spawned quite a crop of bootlegs…

JZ: I will admit since I saw the interests and then the bootlegging ov Sleepchamber I was furious! We were doing musick – but not releasing it. We don’t follow the rock n’ roll mentality. I waz working doing a couple ov independent film soundtrax. I had an offer to do video game musick. I was even in a film – I played a priest.

TBM: Describe your experience of releasing Sleepchamber material through other labels.

JZ: Most labels want you because you are the most popular artist on their label. This helps sell more ov their project ov mostly unknowns – including many times their own bands. This waz popular with compilations and live shows. Not that I mind, but at a certain time they shift all the promotion and energy to themselves instead ov Sleepchamber – which iz or haz been always the headliner.
Musica Maxima Magnetica in Italy always favored the Gothic magick style ov material. Always. FünfUndVierzig was always open, they released mostly all the Sleepchamber projects on CD. They dropped us right after the 97 German tour. I am wondering if he waz involved with Ralph (the tour manager) and helped rip us off ov close to $25,000. A trixsen on the way.
I would have to be honest on this one. With most all labels – I have been greatly disappointed. They never deliver what they contract to. FünfUndVierzig waz the best. But after falling off the face ov the world we went out ov print. FünfUndVierzig had plans for a 7″ vinyl single on green vinyl that contained “Sweet Dreams Sweet”. Edited with Pope John the 23rd singing along. See the “Siamese Succubi” VHS or DVD releases. The flip waz going to be “Psychosexual”. But this novelty single never waz released. There waz also a Live In Germany 97 – “Best Of The Livetrax”. It waz quite good – especially for live material. It waz titled “Species Innteruptus”. Future plans to release it in the works. I am not sure if it would be on an independent label ov 500 or something from Inner-X.

TBM: How successful was the last tour (Germany 97)?

JZ: It waz an adventure, that’s for sure. Other than our tour manager ripping us off $25,000. I lost a camera with 6 shows & backstage footage… That sucks! But overall we had a great time enjoying Germany.

TBM: Do you miss the stage?

JZ: A bit, not too much. It just takes so much… Besides the 4 band members, there’s 8-10 girls, a soundman, 4 roadies, 2 lightmen, and a 3 man video crew! That’s not mentioning a retail crew to sell T-Shirts and CD’s. Its too much ov a production after awhile. So az much az I’ve grown to dislike it… I miss it a bit.

TBM: About the future…. What is the future of XXX releases?

JZ: Yes, I have plans for a Women OF The SS CD/Video pack, and a Inner-X CD release with trax from Hidious In Strength, Women Of The SS, Daze Ov Trance, Dokument, and others… more on that later. It looks like spring ov 2009. Right now, I’m sure most Sleepchamber products are out ov print.

TBM: Do you plan on releasing anything anytime soon?

JZ: Yes we are finally got some backing and that actually brought Sleepchamber back to its regular place. There are plans to release 3 CD’s with in the next 3 months. “Soundtrax”, “Second Initiation”, and “Socerey. Secrets, & Secret Charms”.
I decided to start off where we left off. “Soundtrax” waz always in the planning but never got to see the light ov day. I figured this time period waz perfect for a release that covered a time period mixture. This release starts at 1989 and ranges up to about 2006. The material iz all Soundtrack style music. Some iz from independent video and film scores. We have also been working on a song styled release.

TBM: Iz that one planned az one ov the 3 being released by the spring?

JZ: Yes, it’s called “Second Initiation”. The concept iz a bit more darker and psychedelic compared to past releases. It’s moodier and really different for us.

TBM: Can you tell me more about the release?

JZ: We did close to 70 trax over this period for this release. There iz a jazz track, a lounge track, a more electronic and cabaret type ov style to it. I know it will surprise just about everyone.

TBM: How long do you think Sleepchamber will last?

JZ: I’d say az long az I’m alive…

TBM: Not to be morbid, but what if you are bed ridden?

JZ: Makes no difference…. I’ll do what I can from the bed. So az many assume my age haz something to do with it. That’s bullshit. I have bekum Sleepchamber. Truly… I live the life. I write the lyrics (words to my life) etc…

John Zewizz

THE JOHN ZEWIZZ APPRECIATION SOCIETY WEBSITE:
http://www.freewebs.com/theebradmiller/index.htm

SLEEP CHAMBER MYSPACE FANPAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/sleepchamber

“We sing the praise of war. Not for the way it makes people die, but for the way it makes people come alive”. This is how Arditi (re)introduce themselves when their latest album was released earlier this year. Their music brings the war at your doorstep like a blood-stained letter from the front. Grandiloquent tales of glory and sacrifice stomping mercilessly on the battlefield, Arditi has definitely something to say and they say it well. So I couldn’t miss the opportunity to interview this great band. The questions took the form of an ABCD questionnaire where, as you’ll see, the duo played the game showing a great sense of humor. Unless…

emofag: A for ARDITI. Quite an interesting band name, did you know by the way that a guy named Pierre Arditi is a famous french actor?

Arditi: I did not know that. I don’t watch French movies that often. I don’t know the language too well and most French films I have seen have been way too arty for me.

e: B for BLACK METAL. What’s your actual thoughts on this scene? Does it still have the same importance in your life than it used to? Any bands you would recommend?

A: Obviously it is not as important to us now as it has been in the past. We still listen to the some of the Black Metal bands we liked back in the days and we kept a lot of friends from those days, but at least I am hopelessly out of date when it comes to new bands. I don’t listen to music that often and I definitely do not keep track of the current metal scene. My favorite Black Metal band so far has been the Norwegian band Thorns, but the upcoming releases of Swedish bands Ofermod and Nefandus might change that from what I have heard.

e: C for CARTER FAMILY. Do you also listen to Johnny Cash? What do you think of a biopic like “Walk The Line?” What about Arditi going Country? I mean, in the future will you experience outside the Martial Industrial frame?

A: I am a huge fan of the Carter Family and I like them a lot more than I like Johnny Cash. I like a lot of other old time country music as well, The Stanley Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers and others… What I really can’t stand is country music of the “Horse Jazz” brand, and I think Johnny Cash does not walk that line very steady all the time.
I already do a lot of music outside the Martial Industrial frame but I would never dream of calling it Arditi.

e: D for DER BLUTHARSCH. Still an influence? What do you think of their new orientation?

A: Up and down I would say. Some of the new songs are horrible and some are rather good.

e: E for EQUILIBRIUM. It’s your second album with them, do you think your collaboration will go further?

A: Yes, we are very satisfied with Equilibrium’s work and we have no thoughts on leaving them.

e: F for FUTURISM. What inspires you so much in this movement? How did you discover it? Any work from them (painting, litterature…) that you would particularly recommend us?

A: What inspired me the most in the Futurist movement was the glorification of action, and how they justified non-material values over material. I found out about them when I was at the university and a guy in my class who was really, really anti-fascist started rambling about how much he hated the Futurists and why, and from the way he described them they seemed like something I would like so I started searching for material. I would recommend the “Futurist Manifesto” to anyone. It is easily accessible and does not take a long time to read.

e: G for GLOBALIZATION. Is that something you stand against and why? How do you see mass-culture evolve over the next 20 years? Can things get worse than they already are?

A: Globalization will be the death of civilization if it is not stopped, and of course it could get a lot worse than it is now. We do not in theory have a world government now as I am sure we will have in shorter time than 20 years if people do not wake up to what is happening to us.

e: H for HATE. What or who do you hate the most in this world? Does Arditi feed on hate?

A: I can’t tell you what I hate the most in the world. I don’t think Arditi feeds on hate. We do not hate things for the hatred’s sake, we hate things that are opposed to things we strive for.

e: I for ITALY. There are a lot of connections between your band and Italy, is that a country you’d like to live in?

A: Yes, I could live in Italy. F. Soderlund of Puissance, who is one of my best friends, have an Italian wife so he has practical connections there, and if Sweden gets the prime minister I fear we will get in 2010 I will have to move somewhere.

e: J for JUSTICE. What would be ideal justice to your eyes? What about death penalty?

A: I cannot sum up my views of jurisprudence in any format that would fit here. I am a supporter of the death penalty for a number of reasons. One is that I do not believe a criminal has the right to force the cost of lengthy imprisonment upon the state.

e: K for KING, you’re living under monarchy in Sweden , what’s your thoughts on this? What would be your regime of choice?

A: In theory I have no problem with monarchy if it is strict monarchy and the monarch stands for acceptable ideals. I am in favor of any system with very centralized power and do not really care what the head of that power is called. The Swedish monarchy though is probably one of the worst examples in the world. They have no political power at all, and thank God for that considering the genetic quality of our royal family.

e: L for LIVE. Will we ever see you playing live? What would be your location of choice for an Arditi show?

A: We have been talking loosely about playing live since we get offers for shows quite regularly. We haven’t done it so far but maybe we will in the future. Personally I would like to play in Pyongyang or Teheran but of the realistic choices Russia or Belarus would be nice.

e: M for MISUNDERSTANDING. What’s the biggets misunderstanding about your band?

A: That we are die-hard Nazis.

e: N for NATION. What are, according to you, the essential values inherent to a nation? Are you guys patriot? Would you fight, I mean on the front, for your country?

A: The way things are in Sweden today I would be more likely to fight against my country, but of course nations are essential to us. Both to counter globalism and to keep people with similar ideals together in a natural way.

e: O for OMNE ENSIS IMPERA. Please describe to us what we can find in your new album… In what is it different from the previous one?

A: Of course it is a little different from our previous albums but you can still easily hear that it is Arditi material.

e: P for PROPAGANDA. Is it the most efficient weapon of all times? I’d like to know your thought on 9/11…

A: I think subtle brainwashing is more effective than downright propaganda, but propaganda is no doubt a more noble way to go. I think the 9/11 attacks were justified. If someone keeps shooting at you for a long enough time, sooner or later you will stop cursing the bullets and go for the shooter.

e: Q for QUESTION. What’s the dumbest question you’ve ever been asked?

A: I was once asked in an interview if I liked the Swedish band Therion. That is a pretty stupid question to ask someone you know to be married to someone of the opposite sex.

e: R for RELIGION. What’s your view on it, do you count yourself among the “Sons Of God”? How do you consider the expansive rise of fundmentalism in the east?

A: I approve of most fundamentalism. Fundamentalism breeds polarization which helps people keep track of who they are.

e: S for SAMPLES. What’s the part of samples in your music? How do you usually create a song?

A: We have used samples quite extensively. I won’t go into detail about how we write our music.

e: T for TECHNOLOGY, the futurism celebrates new technology, machines, speed etc… Do you also share this enthusiasm for new technology?

A: Not in the sense that I buy a new cellphone as soon as a new model is released, but I share the Futurist´s weakness for heavy machinery and advanced weapons.

e: U for ULTRA VIOLENCE. Mankind seems more comfortable with violence than peace. How do you explain that?

A: Violence is an unavoidable consequence of the conflicting wills that will always exist in mankind.

e: V for VICTORY. The Smell Of Blood But Victory. Is it the only thing that matters in the end? Victory at any cost?

A: Yes. If the things you are trying to avoid are horrible enough, or the things you are trying to achieve are beautiful enough, any means are justified.

e: W for WAR. Please explain to us in what it is a factor of self-development and the importance it has in your music?

A: War wakes people up. The comfort of peace is like a drug that degenerates people. War, or the threat of war, makes them focus on what is real and important again.

e: X for X-RATED. What do you think of censorship? Is it something you ever experienced?

A: We have not been censored in the sense that someone edited our material against our wills. We have been unable to sell some material in some countries though, which is also a form of censorship.

e: Y for YGGDRASIL. As scandinavians do you share some beliefs with your elders?

A: I am sorry to say I do not believe the universe is a big tree, and I am quite sure that lightning strikes is the result of electrostatic induction and not a guy with a hammer riding a goat-wagon. I like some of the ideals of the old Scandinavian world as they are portrayed in the sagas though.

e: Z for ZARDOZ. A great movie by John Boorman where Sean Connery hangs out in orange underwer with a Colt 45. Did you see it?

A: No I did not.

Arditi

OFFICIAL ARDITI WEBSITE:
http://www.arditi.tk/

OFFICIAL ARDITI MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/arditisweden

De par ses activités de musicien et de label manager, Shaxul est une figure incontournable du Metal underground. Son label, Legion Of Death, est aujourd’hui LA référence en matière de Metal extrême issu des quatre coins de la planète. Fort d’un catalogue comprenant des groupes allant de l’Afghanistan à la Malaysie en passant par la Thaïlande, la Jordanie et les Philippines, le label, qui presse uniquement du vinyl en édition limitée, ouvre la voie à une scène majoritairement ignorée du grand public. Un interlocuteur idéal donc pour notre deuxième épisode de la série East Of Hell, consacrée à la scène Black Metal d’Asie du sud-est. Activiste passionné et ardent défenseur de la bannière Metal, Shaxul nous parle ici de son label et de ses projets musicaux, de ses motivations et de sa vision de l’underground, sans fausse modestie ni langue de bois. Un discours aux antipodes du music-business et une dévotion exemplaire… Trop rare pour qu’on passe à côté.

emofag: Avé Shaxul, peux-tu te présenter à nos lecteurs?

Shaxul: Infernal hails. Je m’occupe du label Legion Of Death Records. Côté groupes, je fais partie d’Arphaxat (batterie/basse) et d’Annthennath (chant).

e: Tu es là pour nous parler de ton label, Legion Of Death. Peux-tu retracer pour nous l’historique de celui-ci? Quelles étaient tes motivations à l’origine? Tes premières sorties? Voulais tu dès le départ te concentrer uniquement sur des groupes non-européens?

S: Le label est né début 2001, sur l’initiative de Karnage (créateur d‘Eternal Fire Zine). Je l’ai rejoint immédiatement sur ce projet. Nos motivations étaient de soutenir les scènes méconnues que nous avons toujours adorées, donc oui, notre but initial était de se concentrer sur des groupes non-Européens. Notre première sortie nous a permis de nous faire connaître facilement puisqu’il s’agissait d’un split 7″EP entre 2 groupes Japonais de légende: Sabbat et Terror Squad.

e: Il s’agit souvent de pays ou la pression sociale est plus forte pour les individus en marge, la religion plus présente dans les mœurs et la censure plus active… Est-ce que tout cela contribue selon toi à l’authenticité de la scène Metal de ces pays?

S: Bien évidemment. En Europe, tout est très facile, la société est relativement tolérante. Dans certains pays, c’est l’inverse et tu dois te battre, parfois même au péril de ta liberté ou de ta vie pour faire vivre ton groupe de Metal. Ce type de situations, où tout est difficile au quotidien, influence forcément ta musique et tes paroles.

e: Tu as au cours de ta carrière de musicien, joué avec des groupes de ces contrées: tu a été musicien live pour Surrender Of Divinity. Est-ce que tu as joué en Thaïlande avec eux? Raconte nous tout!!!!!!

S: J’ai fait un voyage en Thaïlande avec ma femme en novembre 2006 et il se trouve que Surrender Of Divinity, avec qui je correspond depuis toujours, avait prévu un concert pour fêter leurs 10 ans d’existence. J’ai donné au groupe 3 textes pour leur deuxième album “Manifest Blasphemy”, et ils m’ont demandé de chanter l’un d’eux sur scène. J’ai accepté et ce fut une expérience hallucinante que je n’oublierai jamais. Le public est déchaîné et respectueux à la fois. Salutations à tous mes amis du Royaume de Siam!!!

e: Comment s’est faite la prise de contact et l’échange avec les autres? Est-ce que la culture Metal que vous aviez en commun rattrapait les autres différences culturelles?

S: Oui, nous sommes des metalleux avant tout, contrairement à certaines modes actuelles qui visent à déprecier le Metal, comme ces tapettes qui viennent dire “je suis plus “Black” que “Metal” en fait”. Je crois en une forme d’élitisme au sein du Metal. Ensuite viennent les différences culturelles, qui personnellement me passionnent. J’aime découvrir des cultures différentes, mais aussi faire découvrir la mienne. Ceci dit, une fois de plus, le Metal reste l’élément numéro 1 qui nous réunit. Mais je tiens à préciser que je soutiens tous les groupes Européens qui le méritent, et côté culture, je suis Poitevin et très fier de l’être, et toujours prêt à faire découvrir cette culture. Je précise car certains crétins pensent que nous boycottons totalement tout ce qui vient d’Europe et que nous serions prêt à signer n’importe quel groupe minable tant que ça vient d’en dehors du “vieux continent”…

e: Comment se passe les concerts là bas ? J’ai entendu parler de véritables tornades d’hystérie lors des concerts Metal en Asie, Amérique du Sud etc…

S: En Asie, à ma connaissance, et pour ce que j’ai pu voir en Thaïlande, ça reste assez mesuré, dans le sens où il n’y pas de débordements. Les gens deviennent fous, hehe, mais restent des passionnés, et te parlent avant le concert, achètent aux stands Metal, etc… En Amérique du Sud, malheureusement je n’y suis jamais allé mais je sais que c’est parfois très brutal. Il y a parfois eu des morts à certains concerts underground. Mais il s’agit plus de règlements de compte qui n’ont pas vraiment de rapport avec le Metal. Ceci dit le public est très souvent déchaîné aussi, d’après ce que je sais, et j’aimerais bien vérifier ça par moi-même!

e: Peut-on être bouddhiste et jouer dans un groupe de Black Metal ?

S: C’est quasiment impossible. Je vais prendre l’exemple de certains membres de Ritual Day (Chine) qui sont proches du bouddhisme. C’est une religion un peu à part, dont certains aspects peuvent être pris de manière philosophique. Même si le fait de faire passer le bouddhisme comme une philosophie plutôt qu’une religion dans les médias est d’une hypocrisie sans borne, puisque les gens vénèrent Bouddha comme leur dieu ou comme leur prophète. Mais certains enseignements ne sont pas inintéressants et peuvent être compatibles avec le Black Metal. Personnellement je rejette totalement toute forme de religion (au sens large) qui n’est qu’un lavage de cerveau t’empêchant de penser par toi-même. En terme d’anti-bouddhisme, je soutiens donc des groupes comme Sabbat ou Surrender Of Divinity qui ont écrit des paroles sur le sujet. L’exemple de Ritual Day est tout à fait particulier et bien sûr ce ne sont pas des intégristes de la chose, ils adhèrent simplement à certains préceptes, inhérents à leur culture. Mais pour répondre à ta question d’une autre manière, dans l’absolu on peut être musulman, chrétien, bouddhiste etc… et jouer dans un groupe de Black Metal, ça voudra juste dire que les membres n’ont absolument rien compris à ce genre et qu’ils feraient mieux d’arrêter immédiatement. Personnellement je boycotte ce genre de groupes à 100% et quand je suis en contact avec un groupe, je veille à ce que les membres n’aient aucune religion.

e: Tu as également collaboré avec ce culte du Metal qu’est Sabbat… Qu’est-ce que ce groupe et ce que tu as fait avec eux représente pour toi? Comment les as-tu rencontrés ? Dans quelles conditions s’est déroulé l’enregistrement du EP?

S: Sabbat? C’est le meilleur groupe de Black Metal de tous les temps! Je suis en contact avec Gezol depuis plus de 10 ans. C’était donc naturel pour moi de leur proposer de faire le “French Harmageddon” lorsqu’ils faisaient toute cette série de 7″EP. C’est sorti sur End All Life Productions, le 1er label dont j’ai fait partie. J’ai chanté en Français le morceau “Hellfire” (“Les Flammes De l’Enfer”) en face B. Egalement, la première sortie de Legion Of Death Records présente le morceau “Black Fire” (“Le Feu Noir”) chanté en Français par Gezol lui-même, j’ai traduit et il a tout retranscrit phonétiquement, et franchement, il s’en sort vraiment très bien pour quelqu’un qui ne comprend rien à la langue!

e: On termine ce chapître sur ton rôle de session-musicien avec ta participation au projet Barbatos. As-tu quelques anecdotes à partager avec nous à ce sujet ?

S: J’ai fait la batterie pour Barbatos pour le Drakkar Hellfest 2001 et sur le 7″EP que nous avons sorti avec LEGION OF DEATH Records, “War Metal Drinkers”. Yasuyuki est un type excellent, Metal jusqu’à la moëlle! On a répété de façon intense pendant une semaine avant le concert, ces souvenirs sont inoubliables. Yasuyuki avait ramené du sake dans de petits briques façon jus de fruit ha ha, excellent! Sur scène, il se plaisait aussi à répéter des mots Français que nous utilisions fréquemment, du genre “Putain!” hehe…

e: Revenons un peu à ton label. Tu t’intéresses à des pays ou la scène Metal n’a jamais dépassé ses frontières: Madagascar, Afghanistan, Jordanie, Bangladesh… Comment as-tu découvert ces groupes? S’agit-il de pays ou tu as toi même voyagé?

S: Je n’ai malheureusement jamais voyagé dans ces pays, même si j’espère pouvoir le faire un jour. Mais je m’intéresse à leur histoire et leur culture. Certains groupes m’ont contacté, et pour d’autres, je les ai découvert sur Internet car dans certains pays, c’est ton seul moyen de communication avec l’extérieur. Je pense notamment aux pays islamiques dont les douanes confisquent tout paquet qui contient quelque chose en rapport avec le Metal (disques, zines, merchandising etc…).

e: Raconte nous un peu un voyage dans un pays qui t’a particulièrement marqué, pas seulement au niveau musical d’ailleurs…

S: Pour l’instant, je n’ai malheureusement pas beaucoup voyagé à l’étranger (République Tchèque, Espagne, Irlande, Italie, Thaïlande, Singapour). Incontestablement, mon voyage en Thaïlande m’a marqué à jamais. Côté Metal, j’ai pu rencontrer des amis avec qui je suis en contact depuis très longtemps (Surrender Of Divinity, Witchammer Records, Darkness Against Light Zine, etc…). Mais j’ai pu découvrir un pays aux coutumes et à la culture fascinantes, je suis allé dans des lieux chargés d’histoire à l’architecture à couper le souffle, bref un émerveillement de chaque instant. A Singapour, c’était fantastique également car le caractère insulaire du pays est plaisant, surtout par le fait que tu as l’impression de traverser toute l’Asie dans un si petit endroit, puisque trois communautés cohabitent: Chinois, Indiens et Malaisiens. J’ai pu rencontrer mon vieil ami Shyaithan dans son Metal Shop nommé “To Megatherion”, les cinglés d’Ironfist et le rédacteur de Domain Zine. J’ai beaucoup apprécié l’Italie, où mon tatoueur Nicola (ex-Morbid Upheaval/Goatfire) a eu du travail hehe, mais il nous a aussi permis de découvrir des lieux magnifiques. On a pu aussi assister à un concert avec des groupes que j’adore : Frostmoon Eclipse / Blasphemophagher / Morbid Upheaval. L’ambiance là-bas est très différente de ce qu’on voit en France, plus détendue, ce que j’ai retrouvé en Thaïlande, mais en bien plus développé tout de même.

e: Curieusement le Pérou semble être un vivier inépuisable d’excellents groupes de Metal… Comment tu expliques ça?

S: La scène Péruvienne est active depuis très longtemps. Les ignorants pensent que les groupes de là-bas se contentent de copier les groupes Européens. C’est grotesque, évidemment. Des groupes sont actifs depuis le tout début de l’apparition de groupes dits “extrêmes”, et certains sont toujours en activité, je pense notamment aux dieux ultimes du Pérou : Mortem! Si les groupes sont souvent excellents au Pérou, c’est qu’ils ont peu d’accès aux groupes à la mode, et se contentent des vieux groupes cultes tels Possessed, Venom, Bathory, Sepultura, Sarcofago, Pentagram, etc… qu’ils ont pu découvrir à leurs débuts. Désormais, c’est un peu différent avec Internet et bien sûr le Pérou a aussi son lot de groupes pourris à la mode, mais très souvent, ils sont respecuteux des traditions et du coup, ça s’entend, chez des groupes tels Anal Vomit, Goat Semen, Levifer, Saram, Nahual, Hadez, Hell Torment, Necropsia, Epilepsia, Illapa, etc…

e: Ton label à produit un nombre assez important de disques dont la plupart sont aujourd’hui sold-out. Peux-tu nous expliquer ce choix de ne sortir que du vinyl en édition limitée?

S: Les groupes que nous produisons méritent ce qui se fait de mieux, pour un soutien vraiment total. Et pour nous, le vinyl est le meilleur format en terme de Metal. Ensuite, pour ce qui est d’une édition limitée, c’est naturel puisqu’il n’y a pas non plus des milliers de gens qui sont prêt à soutenir des groupes venus de contrées méconnues. Les gens sont bien mieux dans leur petit confort illusoire, à penser que seuls les groupes Européens encensés par “Merdallian” ou ce genre de lectures valent le détour. Et oui, la majorité des gens fonctionnent toujours suivant le principe du “si ce n’est pas connu, alors c’est que ce n’est pas bien”… Que ces feignasses aillent se faire foutre et écoutent de la variété. En tout cas je suis content que nos disques soient dans l’ensemble épuisés, il aura fallu beaucoup de temps pour certains he he, mais au final je pense que c’est positif pour l’underground. Il faut être radical dans sa démarche, c’est ce qui permet la survie d’une réelle qualité au sein de l’underground Metal.

e: Tu as sorti des disques de groupes monstrueux comme Goat Semen, Surrender Of Divinity, Barbatos, Mantak pour n’en citer que quelqu’uns dans mes préférés… Quelles sont, pour ta part, les sorties qui signifient le plus pour toi?

S: Impossible de choisir. Je suis très proche de tous les groupes que nous avons sortis. Car il ne s’agit pas simplement de musique évidemment, pas besoin de le préciser. Et vu le concept du label, qui est très élitiste et radical, la sélection est drastique, ce qui fait que le résultat d’une collaboration est toujours satisfaisant. Je suis donc fier de toutes nos sorties, sans exception!

e: Est-ce que tu reçois beaucoup de matériel promo en provenance du tiers-monde ? As tu découvert par ce biais certains groupes de ton label ou fais tu la démarche d’aller vers eux dans la plupart des cas?

S: Je reçois beaucoup de promos de groupes Européens souvent minables, jouant un style à la mode, et je ne comprendrai jamais pourquoi les gens perdent du temps et de l’argent ainsi ha ha ha, ils ont sûrement juste trouvé notre adresse quelque part sans même se pencher sur notre concept. Mais fermons la parenthèse! Au début, nous allions vers les groupes. Depuis quelques années, la tendance change et de plus en plus de groupes font la démarche de nous contacter. Nous avons pu découvrir des groupes qui ont désormais un excellent statut dans l’underground, tels Weapon, Ironfist ou Taarma. Ce type de groupes ont compris notre concept immédiatement et cela devient comme un rêve pour eux de signer avec nous! Nous ne faisons pourtant pas de super-productions, pas de CD’s pressés à des milliers d’exemplaires mais le concept radical de Legion Of Death permet d’interpeler les maniaks les plus extrémistes de l’underground et ainsi gagner un respect important auprès d’eux, ce qui permet par la suite à d’autres labels de leur proposer des projets, et je suis très fier de tout ça. Mais il y a toujours des groupes vers lesquels je vais car certains, étant donné la situation dans leur pays, n’ont absolument aucune notion lorsqu’il s’agit de se faire connaître, etc… Du coup des groupes au potentiel monstrueux pourraient tomber dans l’oubli, ce que j’essaie d’éviter hehe!

e: Quelles sont les conditions requises (hormis géographiques) pour une signature chez vous? Es-tu encore en contact avec la plupart des groupes qui sont sortis sur Legion Of Death?

S: Les conditions sont plutôt simples: pour nous, c’est 50% musique et 50% idéologie. Souvent, des groupes me contactent et proposent une musique intéressante mais leur concept est inexistant ou pire, leurs idées sont à l’opposé des nôtres, je pense notamment aux groupes proches de certains mouvements politiques et religieux. Ces groupes ne peuvent pas avoir notre soutien. Le Metal est au-dessus de ce type de considérations humanistes. Mais il est certain que cela vaut aussi pour l’inverse: un groupe aura beau avoir une idéologie excellente, nous ne pourrons pas les signer si leur musique est minable he he… Je suis bien sûr en contact avec tous les groupes que nous avons sorti, sur une base plus ou moins régulière bien sûr, mais ceci est naturel dans l’underground. Je distribue autant que possible toutes les sorties des groupes qui ont sorti un disque sur Legion Of Death.

e: Tu sembles beaucoup tenir à ce côté blasphématoire dans le Metal. Quand on se souvient qu’on disait d’Elvis, à ses débuts, qu’il jouait une musique démoniaque on peut se dire que, finalement, le rock n’ roll est la musique du Diable par définition…

S: Hehe tu as raison, le Rock n’ Roll reste l’une des bases du Metal! Mais la façon de voir Elvis comme quelqu’un d’influencé par le Diable, c’était celle de l’opinion publique… C’est pareil avec le Metal, certes, mais Elvis lui, ne s’est jamais vraiment vu comme un extrêmiste et encore moins comme un sataniste… Alors que dans le Metal, notamment le Black et le Death, le côté blasphématoire dont tu parles est volontairement recherché, et c’est bien normal. Je vomis sur ces groupes prétendant jouer du Death Metal ou du Black Metal mais qui ne sont que du Life Metal, à donner des leçons de savoir-vivre, à parler de politique ou de religion, etc… Ils n’ont rien compris, qu’ils passent à la Pop, cela leur conviendra mieux.

e: Je crois connaître la réponse mais, du coup, quelle est ta réaction quand le Metal se dénature de sa substance avec des groupes en plastique? N’est-ce pas pour autant un mal nécessaire, pour pouvoir discerner le mauvais du bon?

S: Un mal nécessaire? Non, je me passerais bien du monceau de groupes de trendies merdiques qui polluent et insultent le culte ultime du Metal! Mais je vois ce que tu veux dire… C’est sûr que du coup, le clivage entre l’underground et ce qui est mainstream/à la mode n’en est que plus important, pour ne pas dire abyssal! Bref, inutile de dire que je défèque purement et simplement sur tout ce qui est adulé par l’ignorant de base dont la seule source de connaissance sont les gros magazines Français disponibles en kiosque.

e: Est-ce que cet underground que tu soutiens avec passion perdrait de sa valeur à tes yeux si, tout à coup, il devenait la coqueluche d’autres labels et bénéficierait d’une meilleure exposition?

S: Si c’est fait dans les règles de l’art, c’est au contraire une fierté. Beaucoup de groupes que nous avons sorti ont ensuite trouvé d’excellents labels/contrats, certains étant parfois considérés comme “cultes”, que demander de plus! Les groupes que nous soutenons ne peuvent pas être appréciés par le faux metalleux lambda de toute façon. Donc l’exposition est plus ou moins importante, mais reste underground quoiqu’il arrive. Certains labels comme Drakkar, Hells Headbangers, Iron Bonehead, Nuclear War Now etc… fonctionnent très bien, que ce soit au niveau de leur notoriété ou d’un point de vue financier, et ça ne fait pas d’eux des labels qui cèdent à la mode et signent de la merde juste pour vendre, la démarche est totalement inverse. Bref, un groupe ou un style peut “marcher” tout en restant intègre et résolument underground. Pour prendre un exemple au hasard, il est évident que Surrender Of Divinity ne sera jamais signé sur Century Media, et quand bien même cela arriverait, ça voudrait dire que le groupe s’est fourvoyé en changeant son optique musicale et conceptuelle, ce qui n’est absolument pas possible. Ceci dit, des groupes de traîtres, il y en a beaucoup dans l’underground (je ne parle pas de Legion Of Death, heureusement), et il va de soit que je les conchie au dernier degré. L’intégrité est une valeur importante et inhérente au Metal.

e: L’actualité de ton label est assez chargée en cette rentrée 2008, en particulier avec ce LP complètement fou qui regroupe 8 groupes d’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient. Parle nous de ce disque incroyable…

S: C’est un projet qui nécessitera encore du travail, même si j’y suis depuis plus de 3 ans hehe… L’idée est effectivement unique: réunir 4 groupes d’Afrique et 4 du Moyen-Orient, et chacun d’eux propose un morceau inédit. Ce sera bien entendu disponible en format vinyle uniquement, comme toutes nos sorties, et le disque sera limité à 500 exemplaires. Voici pour l’instant le “line-up” du LP : SIDE AFRICA = Hellchasm d’Egypte, Agurzil du Maroc, Blackcrowned d’Afrique du Sud, Rex Mortyfier de Libye ; SIDE MIDDLE EAST : Ayat du Liban, Mephistophilius d’Arabie Saoudite, Deggial de Turquie, Ekove Efrits d’Iran. Ca ne se présente pas trop mal car il ne manque plus que 2 morceaux pour compléter le tout. N’ayons pas peur des mots, ce disque sera totalement historique hehe!!!

e: Bon, ça va peut-être te saoûler mais peut on revenir sur les raisons de ton split avec Deathspell Omega? De quel œil vois-tu leurs récentes réalisations qui, dans la plupart des cas, suscitent l’enthousiasme général des foules?

S: En fait ce qui me saoûle le plus, c’est les gens qui me posent des questions sur ce sujet mais se foutent totalement de mes groupes actuels que sont Arphaxat et Annthennath. Heureusement, ton honneur est sauf puisque plus bas, tu m’as laissé un espace pour ça hehehe… Ceci dit je suis content que la plupart des gens ait bien compris la différence entre la première et la seconde période de Deathspell Omega. Leurs derniers disques? Personnellement, j’adorais jouer du Black Metal dans ce groupe, mais le jazz avant-gardiste judéo-chrétien, ce n’est absolument pas pour moi. Les foules aiment ces horreurs car pour ces frustrés, ça leur permet de se faire passer pour des intellectuels, alors qu’au contraire, pour aimer ça, il faut avoir une connaissance du Black Metal et du satanisme proche du néant. J’ai fait la batterie et le chant (ainsi que la plupart des paroles) dans Deathspell Omega du début (1998) jusqu’en 2002, année où les autres membres ont subitement décidé de rejoindre la mode du “religious Black Metal”, qui cartonne en ce moment auprès des gens qui tiennent plus de l’emofag (hehe) que du black metalleux. Je ne pouvais pas continuer avec des gens qui ont trahi la cause à ce point. Encore pire que lors du split d’Hirilorn, mon premier groupe. Pour ce qui est des CD’s de Deathspell Omega sur lesquels je joue, ce sont en fait des ré-éditions de disques sortis uniquement en vinyle à l’époque, et ces CD’s sont des tirages illimités, disponibles dans toute bonne FNAC et que sais-je encore… Le tout sans mon accord, évidemment. Tout ceci en dit long sur l’état d’esprit de ce groupe dont l’un des buts est, pour reprendre des termes usités par les “For Him”, d’évangéliser la scène, comprendre : vendre un maximum de disques à des couillons. Et bien sûr les gens tombent dans le panneau car ils ne voient pas plus loin que le bout de leur nez, et pensent que Deathspell Omega est un groupe underground, quelle mauvaise farce. Je fais donc abstraction de tout ça et je continue sur ma voie, dans le respect le plus total de la tradition du Black Metal grâce à mes groupes actuels.

e: Tu as aussi réalisé un tas de layouts pour des groupes excellents tels que Nuit Noire, Mantak, Peste Noire, Abigail, Impiety, Moonblood… Comment travailles tu sur ces visuels ? Quelles sont tes références en matière d’illustration?

S: En général, le groupe me fournit ce qu’il souhaite voir apparaître dans le layout, et ensuite je crée un ensemble aussi homogène que possible. J’essaie en général de rester sobre, dans le sens où je n’utilise pas des effets à outrance comme dans certains layouts mainstream qui ressemblent plus à de la Techno qu’à du Metal. Parfois, le groupe n’a aucune idée, et c’est un plaisir pour moi de chercher des visuels qui vont correspondre au concept, aux paroles et à la musique. J’ai énormément de livres remplis d’illustrations, peintures, dessins etc… Cela m’aide beaucoup. Mais je précise que je ne sais pas dessiner et que je ne suis pas capable de produire moi-même des illustrations, par contre je peux en rechercher pour le groupe. En terme d’illustrateurs dans le Metal, j’adore les travaux d’Erick Neyra, qui a d’ailleurs fait le logo de Legion Of Death Records. Je conseille également Sickness666, excellent artiste Thaïlandais prometteur, dans une veine rappelant un peu Chris Moyen mais à la différence qu’il donne beaucoup plus d’identité à ses oeuvres en fonction du projet, et ne se contente pas de refaire toujours la même chose. Je souhaite citer Nicola Solieri aussi, qui est également mon tatoueur hehe… Sinon, j’adore Bosch, Giger, Bruegel, Dürer, etc… Et bien sûr, je suis fasciné par l’art et l’architecture traditionnels du monde entier!

e: Côté musique, tu en est où? Quels sont tes projets en ce moment ?

S: Je joue dans Arphaxat (batterie/basse), et notre premier album va sortir d’un jour à l’autre sur Hells Headbangers (USA) en LP et CD. La version tape est déjà disponible chez Incoffin Productions (Thaïlande). Il s’appelle “Loudun La Maudite”. Il n’y a pas de guitare dans Arphaxat, à part des parties de guitare basse hehe… Nous sommes deux, l’autre membre étant Draken au chant (ex-Putrefactor). Il s’agit de Black Metal totalement primitif. L’album est un concept sur une histoire célèbre de notre région : Urbain Grandier et les possessions des Ursulines de Loudun, au XVIIème siècle. Sinon je chante et j’écris les paroles pour Annthennath depuis début 2008. Notre nouvel enregistrement est disponible en LP chez Necromancer Records (Allemagne), en tape chez Incoffin Productions (Thaïlande), et plus tard en CD chez Genocide Productions (Brésil). Annthennath pratique un Black Metal violent et anti-humain.

e: Je crois que tu n’aimes pas les hippies, pourquoi?

S: Haha on ne m’a jamais posé cette question! Intéressant, mais je pense que la réponse va de soit. La pseudo-culture hippie est à l’opposé de la culture Metal. Le Metal est fait pour des personnes qui ont une mentalité forte, qui ne se font pas d’illusions dans la vie, qui vont se baser sur des principes tels “only the strong survive”, “only death is real”, “live fast, die young” etc… Alors que les hippies, c’est “peace and love”, “on est tous frères” et ce genre de conneries humanistes totalement irréalistes. Ces gens n’acceptent pas de voir la réalité en face et de comprendre une fois pour toute que l’être humain est une gangrène. Pourtant ils pensent à l’avenir de cette planète, qui disparaîtra quoiqu’on fasse (tous ceux qui lisent ça seront morts avant que ça arrive de toute façon, donc on s’en contrefout). Leur foi en l’Homme est pathétique, et en plus ils aiment se reproduire, comme s’il n’y avait pas assez de vermine humaine partout. Leur ouverture d’esprit est aussi idiote qu’inutile. Ils ont toujours un espoir, même face à des faits accablants, or il n’y a aucun espoir sur cette planète et dans cette vie.

e: Tu soutiens également la scène Poitevine? Comment se porte t’elle?

S: Oui, je m’intéresse à la scène de mon pays, le Poitou, n’en déplaise à nos détracteurs qui sont persuadés que je ne soutiens absolument rien en Europe! Ici, la scène se porte de mieux en mieux, et tous les vrais styles de Metal sont représentés: Black, Death, Doom, Heavy, Thrash… J’ai créé une section spéciale sur notre webshop, pour que chacun puisse obtenir des productions de groupes Poitevins et je crois que ça a permis une sorte de dynamisme et d’unité ici. Certaines personnes m’écrivent de très loin pour me dire qu’ils apprécient la scène “made in Pictavia” hehe, c’est encourageant pour la suite, car en France actuellement, trop de gens ne jurent que par les horreurs à la mode venues de Paris. Nous avons l’ambition de changer cette mentalité. En terme de groupes, je peux citer Valuatir, The Bottle Doom Lazy Band, Quintessence, Deep Vein, Sael, Saigneur, Defunctus, etc…

e: Y a t’il quelque chose que tu veux ajouter pour conclure cette interview ?

S: Un grand merci à toi et à Emofag (CRUSH EMO FAGGOTS TILL DEATH!!!)!!! Je souhaite simplement dire aux lecteurs qu’ils se bougent le cul pour découvrir des groupes vraiment underground, et pas seulement pour leur musique mais aussi pour leur idéologie. Aussi, achetez de bons disques, que ce soit en vinyle/CD/cassette, car avoir sa collection sur son disque dur est une démarche digne d’un inculte et certainement pas celle d’un metalleux digne de ce nom. Nos contacts :

E-mail : shaxul@orange.fr
WebSite + WebShop : www.legionofdeathrecords.com
MSN : shaxul666@hotmail.fr
Snail Mail : LEGION OF DEATH Records / BP 21 / 86210 Bonneuil-Matours / France

BE METAL OR BE DEAD!!!

Shaxul

It took me quite a while to really get into this band…
I bought “The Trident” when it came out but only listened to it a couple of times. Good for me and you, that was not the case with their last effort, “Electrocution”. I guess this album came out at a good moment for me: spring was still expected in Paris back then… Who knows? Anyway, this unique mixture of Sludge and Hardcore concentrates everything I like in both genres. The production on this LP is really huge and tempos are faster than what you can hear in their previous work which is something I definitely enjoy. On top of excellent music, Unearthly Trance always came up with interesting lyrics and the use of occult symbols. “Electrocution” is no exception to the rule. I needed to know more. So when Relapse gave me the opportunity to interview Ryan Lipynsky I coudn’t say nothing but yes… Apologies to the band and the label for delay, this webzine lives in its own space & time. Check this out, that’s a good one…

emofag: Hi, I’m Simon from emofag webzine, a french webzine about international good music. When I say France you think about ?

Ryan Lipynsky: Well strangely I think about all of your toll-roads first ha ha! I actually really like France and think it’s a very nice place. I like the respect for history culture and the arts. The south of France is really amazing and when I went there many years ago I smoked some great weed. I am not a typical American jerk who blindly dislikes France for no reason at all, I like to check out a place and then decided if I like it.

e: Have you ever been in a trance-like state?

RL: Yes absolutely. Sometimes from focused meditation and other times through mind-altering substances. When music is mixed with one or both of those mentioned the trance is heightened. I have played live before where I close my eyes and kind of loose touch with what is going on around me on many occasions. In fact, that is the goal.

e: When that happenned the last time and why?

RL: The last time was the most powerful time. It was through natural intoxicants and it only lasted 10 minutes and lingered for about an hour. It was an invigorating experience.

e: Did drugs or any chemical substances played a role in this?

RL: I can say yes to that.

e: What’s your Relationship to drugs and booze now?

RL: Smoking and the occasional beer Is my M.O. these days. I’ve mellowed considerably and think it is for the better. The older you get, the more you must understand that moderation is the key for longevity If you think that you get do hard drugs all the time with out consequence you are a fool. These days in the US many are hooked on pharmaceuticals and it has become and even more complex and twisted problem as people are getting hooked on the stuff they get from their doctors. I made a decision to stop ingesting that garbage for good. Just weed from the earth and GOOD brews!

e: Your live pics on your Myspace page are labelled under the name « Rituals »… What’s the purpose of these rituals? What are the forces you summon? Are you not afraid of losing control sometimes?

RL: The purpose is hinted at in the words to the songs. Occasionally you will read PRECISELY what we are summoning. And to your question are we afraid of losing control? That is a great question! I think I am at times and have stated that the band is almost a beast that exists on its own and we serve it. We invoked it and now we must evoke it and to a certain extent, provoke it to be its own chaos entity! That is part of the reason why our sound is never the same and the no two songs are the same sound. Chaos!

e: On some other pictures we can see you guys havin’ fun, hangin ‘ around… I was expecting some more gloomy stuff ! Can we say then that Unearthly Trance is the mere expression of your dark side?

RL: Yes absolutely. We often joke about how the only time we ARE serious on tour is when we turn on the amps and start playing on stage. UT does not present some false image, we go with who we are and take a natural and honest approach to super heavy music. I think the fact that we are all good old friends makes it more of a special and unique force. Unearthly Trance is the Trident of Ryan Jay and Darren. We are a Metal band of occult origin and of course we all know laughter is the best medicine of the soul!

e: Do you need to feel in a particular mood to write riffs or lyrics for Unearthly Trance or is it something completely natural? How music comes to you?

RL: The best writing comes when I haven’t played guitar for a while or haven’t thought about writing in a while. I have been known to pick up a guitar cold and write three or four riffs immediately. Sometimes I even deprive myself of writing to have he ideas almost jump out of my fingers. Writing is a gift and its something that I take great pride in, as it has been there my whole life.

e: How would you describe Unearthly Trance music?

RL: A super Heavy Metal band from NY in 2008 who plays the soundtrack for a diseased world.

e: So, you just released a very solid album called “Electrocution”… How the album has been received so far?

RL: As usual people either hate it or love it. And that is a good thing.

e: It’s your second offering with Relapse… Did this deal bring radical changes for the band ? Is there a pre- and a post-Relapse for Unearthly Trance?

RL: Relapse has had no impact on our music. UT has always been forward thinking and without borders. When we put out a super grim and slow first album “SOS, SOS”, that was considered outside the borders back then, and now people ask why we are not still like that these days haha!!! We are a band that has always taken on opportunities and seized anything that came our way. We have had a lot of good luck so far and Relapse has been good to us. One thing I will say that has changed with Relapse is that they do the artwork. That is the only change on UT.

e: Are you still in contact with Lee and Rise Above?

RL: Not in a while but I missed him the last time he came though NY. Lee is a great guy and hope to see him again soon.

e: Do you make a living from your music?

RL: No! None of us in UT make a living from this music. It is more a life long obsessed with music for me. I have no choice but to make this music. I had the itch since I was 11!

e: I’m curious about the album title… What’s your interpretation of it? Is that some kind of concept album? By looking at the cover it seems something big is coming… to conquer!

RL: You got it!

e: Mystic elements have always been part of your music and lyrics. What do we find in the new songs lyrics wise compared to “The Trident”?

RL: The lyrics are just a natural progression of lyrics that I’ve been writing in Unearthly Trance, even Thralldom and the Howling Wind. There is an anti – n.w.o. stance in the lyrics and it’s a natural progression from things like “Wake Up And Smell The Corpses” from “The Trident”. Things are only getting worse for America and this is the point of view I am writing from. I live in NY. I saw the destruction of 9/11. I saw the lies and corruption. That is America government and media. The anger I have from all of this, as I do tons of reading and research, is ultimately reflected in the lyrics I write but in a purely artistic way.

e: Are you apprentices of any occult tradition? Mystic elements and symbols have always been part of Unearthly Trance… Do you consider yourself as a mystic person? What do you think of all this pagan renaissance with the Asatru and other organizations?

RL: I like that Asatru is meant to restore pre-christian beliefs back into peoples lives and I think that is awesome. The Scandinavian history is rich and people should be proud of that. I however come from the United States which is a whole other trip. We are all people from other nations. However, ever since I child I felt I was a mystic person. Believing in past lives and had a great interest for supernatural and ancient things very early on. But have never belonged to any organizations and never will. I subscribe to the lone wolf ideology.

e: What do you think of the occult through unexpected popular mediums? I’m just thinking about Alan Moore right now…

RL: I think it is very interesting. Because I find people rarely pick up on or believe in anything that might be considered witchcraft or sorcery. They are so indoctrinated to thing magick or the occult is hilarious or a joke. But you see the joke is always on them. People who see something on the occult in popular mediums can be triggered to start doing their own independent research and reading for their own growth and knowledge. TO become aware is the true intelligence.

e: Are you afraid of the rift of 2012 ?

RL: I must be honest. I will be more than a little nervous in 2012. But the way our country is going with our wars, it seems like fate has an ugly way of working itself out.

e: Are there some romantic songs in Unearthly Trance?

RL: Yes, ha ha!!! “Scarlet” off “Electrocution” is our power ballad.

e: Some people think “Electrocution” is not that much different from “The Trident”… What’s your thoughts on this statement ?

RL: I agree to an extent and its funny that some people hear it as totally different from “The Trident”. Opinions are like assholes I suppose.

e: The production is really, really huge… How long did you stay in the studio ? What were the different phases of the recording? Was it a painful birth?

RL: Hell yeah, Sanford Parker once again did a stellar job with the recording and engineering. We recorded “Electrocution” in 9 days I think. First we recorded guitar bass and drums live with seperation of the drums all at the same time. We take a long time setting up sounds and drums so when we are ready for “a take” then we just go for it. After that I overdub extra guitar and any other noises for a song then onto vox for the song. This time we did all guitar overdubs/solos and vox song-by-song rather than just running down the list and then switching. It allowed us to take some time on each songs identity and just flow with ideas and feel.

e: The vocals remind me of Neurosis sometimes… Is that a band you listen to? What do you think of their new album? I must also confess that you did an excellent job with vocals but I really enjoy more the “clean” parts…

RL: Yes, Neurosis is a huge influence of all the members of UT. I think the new Neurosis album is awesome and one of the best out of their recent records. I am glad you say you like the clean vox as its something I really worked at and have been really into developing. My goal is to incorporate more singing but with an increasingly heavy sound. Meaning to continue to bridge the sound of screaming and singing. To have more melody but make it heavier and heavier!!! That is my goal with my vocals. I am getting closer and closer each record and my voice and singing has been getting better in my eyes.

e: You also like very much His Hero Is Gone if I’m not wrong… Did you listen to Tragedy their new band?

RL: Yes I love the heaviness of His Hero Is Gone and their ideas in their lyrics and DIY approach. I indeed like Tragedy and think their first and second record fucking kills! They are playing NY this friday and its sadly sold out! Fuck!!!

e: Actually if I like the album that much it’s because there’s a lot of fast parts in it… I really love the Hardcore edge of some songs and I think it really fits with the urban aspect of your music… What do you think?

RL: Yes we are from NY. We grew up in a very vibrant and alive underground Hardcore scene. We used to listen to lots of hardcore in the 90’s and it still shows in our sound. It’s a form of music and attitude that has never left us.

e: What’s in your CD player these days?

Ryan Lipynsky: Old Dissection, Katatonia, Thin Lizzy, Born Against, New Portishead, Dax Riggs, Darkthrone (always!), old ZZ Top, first two Iron Maiden, Jex Thoth, Mars Volta, Motorhead, Autopsy, Birushanah, Black Cobra etc…

e: You just did a tour in the US and I guess you were pretty excited to play the new stuff live. How was the tour? What’s your favorite “Electrocution” songs live?

RL: We did a tour with Black Cobra and Pelican and it was great. Both bands played awesome every night and were all great guys. Best group of people. The shows were all really good for the most part and despite lots of van problems we managed to kick ass most nights! The new songs are great live and so far “Diseased” and “God Is A Beast” were the most played live on tour. I really like playing “Distant Roads Overgrown” live as it really allows me to trance out!

e: Now that you’re back from tour, how do you spend your time? Is there any recent art (books, movies or music) discovery you want to share with our readers?

RL: I spend lots of my free time with my girlfriend. We live together and like to cook organic vegetarian food a lot and do very normal people things ha ha!!! Otherwise I’m constantly busy with my other bands: Villains, The Howling Wind and Pollution, a new Hardcore/Punk band I play bass/vox for… On tour the only thing Unearthly Trance does is go insane with jokes and marijuana. We also like to try to drink GOOD beers.

e: What’s your ultimate purpose with Unearthly Trance? Is it all about turning piss into gold?

RL: In a way, yes. Our band is an alchemical process! We take shit and turn it into a diamond! “Woo hoooo Black Diamond!” Ha ha ha!!! But seriously, our ultimate purpose to write great occult Metal. That is and was our only purpose.

e: By the way, what’s new with Thralldom? Can you introduce us to the NYC Black Metal scene?

RL: Thralldom broke up in 2006 and I formed a new band called The Howling Wind with my good friend Tim that is basically a continuation of Thralldom. We released our first cd on Profound Lore Records and now we will be releasing a new 7” on Trust No One out of Sweden.

e: I think that the US BM scene is now one of the strongest, if not the strongest, with bands like
Xasthur, Leviathan, Weakling, Krohm, Nachtmystium just to name a few… How do you explain that? What’s your favorite BM bands?

RL: Its funny in the US, a common thought is that the good Black Metal these days is from France! Funny how that works.. I think 95% of Black Metal sucks these days. I like Leviathan and Nachtmystium, the new recording with Sanford is quite cool and different!, out of the bands you mentioned. I’ve given up trying to find out new BM bands and usually only seek out older more obscure bands usually from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. From the US my favorite BM bands are Profanatica, Absu and GBK.

e: What do you think of the recent departure of Tom G Warrior from the mighty Celtic Frost?

RL: I don’t really know to be honest. He seems like a very emotional guy and is an all or nothing kind of person. If he wasn’t into it then he made the right call. I couldn’t afford to see their reunion tour but I thought the new record was decent. The old stuff is where it is at for me though.

e: What’s the immediate future for Unearthly Trance? When do you guys coming over Europe?

RL: Europe is the next place we will tour. When and where has not yet been determined.

e: Have you already think about the next album? You released two EPs in 2007 after “The Trident”. Did you plan some other EP releases?

RL: We have some ideas. Obviously it won’t sound like “Electrocution”. I have a few ideas riff wise in my head and things im messing around with but right now UT is not writing and we are taking a bit of break. We have a few split 10” and 7” coming out of some older songs and covers!

e: What’s your most vivid memories from your last european tour? Do you notice any changes in the crowd compared to the US?

RL: We had a great last tour with Ramesses. The most vivid memory was unfortunately not a good one. We blew a tire going really fast down a major road in Sweden. The bus swerved out of control sideways, and luckily NO cars were behind us. Miraculously a cop showed up immediately and sectioned off our fucked van in the middle of this busy motorway! We got real lucky on that one!
The crowds were bigger than the previous tour and were also able to hit some countries that we had not yet played. Another vivid memory is the last show in London with Gallhammer as we got wasted on Jagermeister and actually somehow played well!

e: What’s your view on the current US government? Will you vote for the next election?

RL: Well I could write a book on it and probably should on the first part of that question. I’ll just say that the US government has been over take by the Military Industrial Complex and the American people are eventually going to swindled out of their finances, homes, rights, sovereignty and possibly lives in they don’t wak up! Shit is grim over here, but people are still sleepwalking. I will vote but I have no faith it will do a damn thing. I’ll probably vote for Ralph Nader out of principle since he is the only one that isn’t in the pockets of big business.
It’s all a scam. The majority of Americans are religious slaves of extortion and distortion.

e: This interview comes to an end… Thanks for your time, is there something you like to add?

RL: Thanks for the interesting questions and you have quite a strange name for your zine! Ha ha!!!
93 93/93

Ryan Lipynsky

OFFICIAL UNEARTHLY TRANCE WEBSITE:
http://www.unearthlytrance.com/

OFFICIAL UNEARTHLY TRANCE MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/utny

Depuis “Hanger” d’Unlogistic aucun album de Punk français ne m’avait fait cet effet là…
Est-ce l’imagerie croix de fer du groupe? La syncope rythmique façon Métal Urbain? Le casus belli qui suinte de chaque texte? Ou tout simplement l’affriolante barbe du chanteur? Peut-être un peu de tout ça à la fois… Mais quelque chose me dit que Déja Mort est bien plus que ces premières et fugaces sensations et j’attend avec impatience la suite de leur parcours discographique. En attendant jetez une oreille à leur impérial premier album “Tête De Mort” et prenez le temps de lire les réponses de Gwardeath, insolent frontman cagoulé de cette formation Bordelaise, à nos humbles questions.

emofag: Bonjour Gwardeath et désolé pour mon retard, comment ça va?

Gwardeath: Ça va bien, merci.

e: Histoire de dissiper tout malentendu: Déja Mort est bel et bien un groupe à prendre au premier degré, tu confirmes?

G: Comme dirait le chanteur d’Adam Kesher, l’époque est hyper post-moderne, en tout cas pour tout ce qui est de notre rapport aux groupes de Rock. Est-ce qu’aller voir une grosse production de Heavy Metal avec des monstres en plastique de douze mètres de haut c’est du premier ou du deuxième degré? Disons que je considère le groupe comme un hobby. Avec les potes, on fait ça comme on irait à la pêche. Mais on ne pêche pas. Alors on fait le groupe. On passe de bon moments.

e: Tiens, j’étais au concert de Down hier au Bataclan et c’était vraiment bien… C’est un groupe que tu apprécies?

G: Je ne connais pas ce groupe. J’ai écouté quelques titres sur des samplers de canards de Metal mais j’ai oublié comment ça sonne. J’ai juste vu un gros mec barbu avec un tee shirt de Down taille XXXL, hier soir, dans le métro à Stockholm. Et ce matin j’avais un message d’une copine qui devait être au même concert que toi et qui m’a dit que c’était monstrueux. Comme c’est une super meuf, je veux bien la croire. Elle est vraiment d’enfer, tu peux me croire.

e: Tu es plus du genre à te faire flinguer sur scène ou à flinguer un mec sur scène?

G: Flinguer un mec, mais par accident. “C’était un accident, je le jure !!!”, ah ah.

e: Peux-tu nous parler un peu de Déja Mort, de sa genèse, des membres du groupe et du premier album “Tête De Mort”?

G: On a formé Déjà Mort avec mon pote Monsieur l’Ours, dans une optique Punk Rock français à l’ancienne. Qualité terroir. Si on avait eu un vrai batteur on aurait fait un groupe de Hardcore à la Minor Threat/Circle Jerks, le genre de came dont on est vraiment friands. Finalement on a décidé de faire un truc à la Métal Urbain. On a intégré le Général Dima et et le Docteur Bardou-Jacquet, deux membres du groupe Aeroflot, à la basse et au synthé, pour être plus dansants. On a d’abord fait un split single avec le groupe de grind Tekken, ce que je considère comme nos véritables débuts dans le bizness du rock’n'roll. Et ensuite le CD “Tête de Mort”, enregistré aux studios Amanita, comme la bande originale du film Persepolis.

e: Peux-tu nous dire comment s’est établie la connexion avec Tekken?

G: On connaissait déjà les gaziers, mais on a décidé de faire ce split single après avoir joué ensemble à Toulouse dans une ancienne maison close squattée par des punks. On s’est tous retrouvés à rouler des pelles à la même meuf bourrée si j’arrive à mettre de l’ordre dans mes souvenirs.

e: Que nous réserve ce split du côté de Déja Mort?

G: On a remis deux des titres sur le CD : “Audodéfense” et “Tsunami Mon Ami”. L’autre morceau, “Brûle Tekken Brûle”, a été écrit spécialement pour Tekken. Ça parle de la haine qui existe à leur égard au sein de la scène Hardcore française. Ah, c’est de vieilles histoires à présent. Seuls les anciens s’en souviennent encore et en parlent, le visage grave, à la veillée.

e: Où se le procurer?

G: Il n’en reste plus beaucoup. Envoyez-moi un e-mail, je vous tiendrai au jus. Il en reste dans quelques boutiques, comme Total Heaven à Bordeaux, Vicious Circle à Toulouse ou Born Bad à Paris. Des disquaires avec du matos dans le slip, tu vois le genre, des démonte-pneu, pas des épluche-légume.

e: Quel à été l’accueil réservé à l’album jusque là?

G: A notre surprise, le disque a vraiment été bien accueilli. Le seul souci, c’est que personne parmi nous n’a vraiment le temps de s’occuper de quelque chose qui ressemblerait à de la promo ou de la distribution. On reste donc très underground! Notre street credibility est au maximum, mec, au putain de maximum.

e: Déja Mort, artistes maudits ou fers de lance d’une nouvelle génération?

G: Juste de simples artisans au carnet de commande rempli au jour le jour.

e: Vous en êtes où niveau concerts?

G: On n’en fait pas beaucoup, car nous avons de trop gros soucis d’emplois du temps: travail, famille, patrie, tout cela nous occupe au-delà du raisonnable. On fait juste un ou deux concerts à droite à gauche. J e pense qu’on fera une vraie tournée, ou une série de dates, mais pas avant d’avoir sorti notre nouveau single puis un nouveau CD.

e: Vous qui êtes réputés pour niquer l’ambiance tu as sûrement quelques anecdotes “live” à nous faire partager…

G: On est vachement plus sages, maintenant. Le bilan de nos premiers concerts a été plutôt sévère. On s’est même foutus sur la gueule avec notre ancien bassiste. Et je me suis cassé une dent avec le micro lors d’un concert dans une galerie d’art. J’ai vraiment morflé. Donc le délire “Orange Mécanique”, on laisse ça à nos amis skinheads. Maintenant on se la joue pépère. On sirote des canons tranquillou dans les loges, on devise du sens de la vie, on échange nos points de vue conspirationnistes sur la fin du IIIeme Reich, on parle fringues. A la fin, on drague un peu, qui les meufs, qui les mecs, selon nos différentes orientations sexuelles.

e: Vous avez, je crois, déja partagé l’affiche avec les Guerilla Poubelle… Plutôt étrange comme association vu les univers différents que propose chaque groupe…

G: Mouais, on s’entend bien avec eux. Perso, je les trouve vraiment intègres, presque trop. A leur âge, je n’aurais pas résisté si facilement aux sirènes du pognon et des plans meufs faciles. C’est des bons gaziers. Quand je vois des mecs pareils, c’est bien simple: je suis fier d’être Français.

e: Es-tu d’accord pour dire que Déja Mort ressuscite l’image de barbare des temps modernes qui fait cruellement défaut dans la musique Punk actuelle?

G: Ah non, ça ce serait plutôt à trouver du côté des groupes de Metal brutal ou d’Indus. Nous on est des nerds, on tripe sur des émulateurs, des logiciels, des micros de guitare, des sons de beat box… On est juste une bande d’animateurs multimédia avec des cagoules et des fantasmes inavouables, si ce n’est aux heures tardives, entre adultes consentants.

e: Quelles sont vos principales influences dans le groupe?

G: Musicalement, ce serait Métal Urbain, Bérurier Noir, les Trotskids, Reich Orgasm, Taxi Girl, Devo, The Stranglers, les Ramones, les Dickies et des trucs plus récents comme The Briefs ou Henry Fiat’s Open Sore.

e: Le titre “Tête De Mort” semble être truffé de références… Tu peux nous éclairer un peu là-dessus?

G: C’est une chanson sur les engagés volontaires dans la Waffen SS. Genre Division Charlemagne ou Sturmbrigade SS Frankreich. Des mecs complètement perdus dans le vent de l’histoire. Des aventuriers au destin navrant. La chanson fait aussi un peu référence au film “Croix De Fer”, de Sam Peckinpah. Et il y a même une réplique du péplum Gladiator. C’est notre petit film d’action à nous. Djamel Debbouze a “Indigènes”, nous on a “Tête de Mort”.

e: Tu savais que “Déja Mort” c’était le nom d’un film d’Olivier Dahan?

G: Oui, mais le nom de notre groupe ne vient pas de là. Monsieur l’Ours a vu ce film, qu’il a trouvé fatigant si je me souviens bien. Moi j’ai vu le début, ça ma soûlé et j’ai laissé tomber. Les crises d’angoisse de la jeunesse dorée ne m’éveuvent guère. Qu’ils crèvent, s’ils ont tant le mal de vivre que ça. Vae victis.

e: Déja Mort est-il au Punk ce que le Roi Heenok est au Hip-Hop?

G: Oh, quand même. Respect pour le Roi Heenok, mais on est quand même dans un circuit bien différent.

e: Qui est cette personne qui s’est perdu dans la baignoire au recto de l’album?

G: C’est notre ancien bassiste, un vrai héros post-moderne. J’ai pris la photo chez lui, dans sa salle de bain porno chic. Aucun maquillage, aucun trucage. Juste beaucoup de stress et un peu de drogue.

e: Comment ça se passe quand Déja Mort est dans son local de répet? D’abord un riff puis un texte ou l’inverse?

G: On ne compose pas vraiment en local de répétition. A ce jour, je fais les morceaux dans ma chambre d’ado attardé. Tout cela est maquetté sur ordinateur, avec les lignes de guitare, une piste de rythme sommaire, le chant lead et une piste de choeurs. Puis j’envoie ça en MP3 par e-mail aux collègues. Certains morceaux giclent comme des merdes. En général, ce sont les chansons d’amour qui dégagent. C’est con, j’adore ce thème. Il ne reste que les chansons de haine, par la faute des autres. Une fois les morceaux choisis et les modifs éventuelles effectuées, chacun bosse ses parties et on se retrouve à la répet pour attaquer directement le répertoire. Comme ça, ça ne traîne pas en longueur et ça nous laisse plus de temps pour aller au pub (le Blarney Stone, cours Victor Hugo). Un vrai travail d’équipe, comme les gars sur les plateformes de forage off shore.

e: Consommez-vous de l’alcool lors de la confection des morceaux et/ou l’écriture des textes?

G: Non. Du café équitable.

e: Combien de temps vous a pris la compo de l’album?

G: Honnêtement, ça va vite. Comme je le disais, c’est juste un hobby. Une toute petite partie de nos vies.

e: “Tsunami Mon Ami” est réellement un tube en puissance et sans aucun doute un très grand titre… Est-ce que l’inspiration t’es venu en voyageant là-bas?

G: Non, je ne suis jamais allé au pays des tsunamis.

e: On dénote un léger acharnement lyrical sur la jeunesse à frange Electro Rock qui se trémousse sur le dancefloor… Donc j’en déduis que tu ne mets pas de pantalon slim?

G: Non, je suis très 90’s. Des treillis, de sweat-shirts à capuche. Au lieu de travailler leurs franges et leurs looks, les jeunes feraient mieux de lire des biographies de grands hommes, apprendre des langues étrangères ou pratiquer les arts martiaux.

e: Pourtant Déja Mort ça cartonne sur un dancefloor non?

G: On va sortir quelques remix spécialement retravaillés pour la danse.

e: Tu te rappelles ta dernière soirée en boîte?

G: En club, oui. En boîte, honnêtement, c’était une boîte échangiste rive droite, qui s’appelle La Chaloupe. Mais c’était pas si terrible que ça. Les boîtes conventionnelles, je m’en fous et je n’y mets jamais les pieds. Je drague les meufs à la bibliothèque, elle sont plus sexy.

e: Possèdes-tu des armes à feu?

G: Non. J’ai juste une batte de base-ball et un nunchaku dans mon hall d’entrée, au cas où.

e: Ce n’est un secret pour personne, tu t’occupes aussi de “Turbojugend” Bordeaux, le fan-club local de Turbonegro… Comment se porte Aeromort?

G: Aeromort est une sorte de blague, réunissant des membres de Déjà Mort et d’Aeroflot, juste histoire de reprendre quelques morceaux de Turbonegro. On a juste joué deux fois à Bordeaux, à l’Heretic Club, pour les soirées de la “Turbojugend” locale. Et je dois avouer que c’était bien fendard. La dernière fois j’avais l’impression d’être sur un nuage, bien assaisonné par mes camarades dans les loges. Au moment de chanter le premier couplet de “The Age Of Pamparius” je me sentais vraiment bien. Je me disais “waow ça assure” dans ma petite tête jusqu’à ce que je m’aperçoive que le câble XLR de mon micro était débranché depuis le début.

e: Tu as déja rencontré les Turbonegro? Si oui, était-ce une immense orgie où sexe et bière coulaient à flots?

G: Je les ai vu en concert sept ou huit fois. Et j’ai juste interviewé Euroboy en décembre dernier, mais dans une ambiance très posée, très cosy. Désolé de doucher ainsi tes fantasmes orgiaques.

e: Toi qui bosses également pour une salle de concert, qui écrit pour plusieurs fanzines/magazines, quel est ton constat sur une scène alternative que tu suis de près depuis des années?

G: La loi de l’offre et de la demande, mec. C’est ça que j’ai constaté. Une offre grandissante, un public qui n’arrive plus à suivre. Le seul truc que je regrette vraiment, c’est la fin de la culture des supports en papier: fanzines, graphzines. Tu verrais chez moi, c’est les archives nationales.

e: Tu as aussi ton propre label Trahison records… Quoi de neuf de ce côté là?

G: Avec un peu plus de temps libre, j’adorerais pouvoir développer un peu le label. A ce jour, j’assure l’intendance et je ne prévois rien d’autre que la sortie des disques de Déjà Mort, vinyl et CD.

e: Parle nous de tes premiers émois musicaux… Quels sont les groupes qui t’ont fait plonger dans la musique?

G: AC/DC, Iron Maiden, les Sex Pistols et les Ramones. Pour le Punk français, les Rats, Bérurier Noir et OTH.

e: Sont-ce les mêmes que tu écoutes aujourd’hui?

G: Oui, plus un paquet d’autres. J’ai maté ce week-end le DVD d’Iron Maiden qui raconte les dessous de leur tournée “Powerslave” dans les années 80 et j’ai trouvé ça hallucinant. Spinal Tap est encore en-deçà de la réalité.

e: Quel est le dernier groupe à t’avoir mis une bonne claquasse (excepté Turbonegro)?

G: J’ai bien kiffé le duo de Caen Karysun. La dernière vraie claque live, ça a été Entombed que j’avais déjà pourtant vu plusieurs fois.

e: Que trouve t’on dans ton I-Pod?

G: Des podcasts d’émission d’histoire et quasiment tout Megadeth.

e: Toi qui est fan de Metal, tu n’as jamais joué dans un groupe de Metal non?

G: Non, uniquement du mauvais Punk Rock.

e: Ton patronyme c’est un hommage à Gwar et à Death?

G: Exactement. Bravo.

e: Quel est le futur proche de “Déja Mort”?

G: On est en train de préparer un nouveau single, qui devrait s’intituler “Injustice Pour Tous”.

e: Qu’est-ce que tu aimerais comme épitaphe sur ta tombe?

G: “Nous sommes morts, âme ne nous harie.”

Gwardeath

OFFICIAL DEJA MORT MYSPACE PAGE
www.myspace.com/dejamort

OFFICIAL TRAHISON RECORDS MYSPACE
www.trahison.net

OFFICIAL GWARDEATH MYSPACE PAGE
www.myspace.com/gwardeath

Just give one single spin to the “Waterloo” split and the fact that there are fuckin’ killer bands in Spain shall be definitely printed in your mind. Among them, Another Kind Of Death is about to release their long-awaited debut album and finally get the attention they deserve. Catchy HxC Metal combining Noise elements, inventive drumming and devastating vocals parts, here’s your new favorite Metal act from Spain or wherever… Before they get too damn hype we ask them a few questions to which they kindly replied… I think you should read.

emofag: I know that’s a boring question but could you please give us the “Where-Who-When-Why” about your band… In other terms, please introduce yourself…

Another Kind Of Death: The band was born in early 2000, in Madrid. Three of the current members of AKOD had a band in the style of Neurosis/Breach which was called Make My Day. They were also interested in bands such as Converge, Poison The Well and Morning Again, so they started a new band with a different drummer and vocalist. The current vocalist joined in 2001, so the band consolidated its line-up and started to work as a real band.

e: I think I’m right to say you have this album in preparation… How is it going? It seems that the release date has been postponed, why?

AKOD: The new album is called “”Sleepless Every Night”” and it is being mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music right now. It was planned to be out in September, but both the recording and mastering studios couldn’’t give us earlier schedules, so we had to postpone the album release for a couple of months. It is the good thing of not working with major labels: we can “stretch” the delivery dates!

e: What’s the musical & lyrical orientation on your upcoming album? Things seem to be a bit more groovy than in the past no?

AKOD: We were fed up with complicating things just because, so we wanted to make brief songs and to gain intensity. Maybe we have learn that you don’’t need “fireworks” to sound crushing. The lyrics used to be gloomy in the past, and they still being gloomy, but
the are more aggressive an colorful now. Love has been repaced by hatred, but always from an intimate point of view.

e: I think you have a quite cool band name… Who came up with it? What’s this another kind of death you’ve experienced, some kind of brutal hangover?

AKOD: The band’’s name was taken from one of the first songs that the band made. It was written by the former vocalist and we don’’t really know what he was talking about. We think he took it from a book, but when we are asked about it, we use to say that we
prefer people to find their own meaning of “another kind of death”.

e: However you have to keep in mind that the name sounds Emo in some way… Maybe this Emo touch in Metal bands is typically spanish? Look at Looking For An Answer, the name’s Emo and they’re fuckin’ Grindcore (NB: Was just kidding here)…

AKOD: When we started, it was in to call your band something long and meaningful, like Skycamefalling, Poison The Well or Morning Again, and to play guitar pointing to the sky, as if you were killing birds. If we started a band now, we would call it “The…” and something that sounds rocking. Concerning Looking For An Answer, we think it is a name that has a politic tone, about animal freedom… But it is best to ask them about it.

e: Do you have any good label(s) offer(s) to release the album? Who’s payin’ for the studio? When I started to play music I thought the
label you’re on always pays for the studio but I’m afraid this only happens with major companies…

AKOD: We are going to release the album with Underhill Records, who are doing a great job. We are interested in working with Red Cobalt Industries too. It is a Doom/Sludge label and distro, but it is not possible at this moment. We think you are right about the labels: we have to pay the studio, the merch production… It seems that everything is becoming
a little bit more professional now, but it stills being underground. It is really hard sometimes. Anyway, we’re still feeling lucky of being able to release what we do.

e: At that time I was fourteen and used to play air guitar in front of my bedroom mirror while blastin’ Iron Maiden’s “Live After Death”… Were you also possessed by this strange behaviour?

AKOD: Of course! But we used to think that we were Kurt Cobain instead of Steve Harris.

e: Who were the bands who gave you the passion for music and the will to make some? Are they the same you’re listening today?

AKOD: We still listening a lot of bands that influenced us. If you listen close, you will find so many features from bands such as Helmet, Botch, Breach, Dead Guy or The Cure (lyrics) in our current style. We listen for lots of new bands today, but the good bands keep being good through the years.

e: Last album you bought?

AKOD: Carlos: Guana Batz: ““The Very Best Of”
Victor: Hella: “”There’s No 666 In Outer Space””
Mario: Lucky Dados: ““Crash‘’em Out””.

e: Spain’s really got something going on these days with kick-ass bands in the DIY Metal Hardcore scene… How do you explain that? Are you friends with most of them?

AKOD: Everything is some years behind in Spain, and especially the musical press. The new bands don’’t have any support from press, so they pass by without recognition. When the press discovers them, it uses to be late. There are amazing bands that have been in the underground scene for years, and press is paying some attention to them now. We are lucky to be friends of most of them: Adrift, Moksha, Moho, Vortice, Ictus… and more!

e: What’s your opinion on the french scene? Any bands of your choice in our country?

AKOD: We used to listen to french bands like Dead For A Minute, Submerge (we shared the stage with both of them), Ananda, Tantrum, Undone… and some of us liked the french Screamo, but the truth is that we don’’t know very much about them. It is a pity that even though we are neighbours, it is so difficult to get french music (european music in general) in Spain. It have to change!!

e: As I alreday told you, I discovered your band through KMBT Radio hosted by the mighty Scott Kelly (and by the way, have a look on the interview we did with the man)… How did you manage to get played? Did you send any drugs and/or money?

AKOD: Someway he got the “”Waterloo”” split album, but we don’’t really know how. It was absolutely surprising because we didn’’t think he would like a band like ours. We have been Neurosis fans for years and it was a truly honour. In fact, we met at a Neurosis show in Madrid, from the “”Times Of Grace”” gig, before the band was started.

e: When the album will be out, did you plan any tour schedule? Will you come to France? Have you ever played there? Where did you play so far?

AKOD: We have some shows scheduled in Spain, and the label keeps working to get more. We’’d love to go to Europe, and France would be a certain destination. Do you know anybody who can get us some shows in France? We have played around every Spain and Portugal. We know it is not too much, but spanish bands don’t have too much support…

e: Your definition of a good AKOD gig?

AKOD: When your van gets broke, only ten guys are watching your show, nobody pays you… an AKOD gig.

e: Do you drink or smoke pot before takin’ the stage?

AKOD: Not really. We are all abstemious (somebody used to call it straight edge some years before). We think it is hard not to fail the playing even when you are completely sober, so we can’’t imagine how it would be when you are stoned….

e:Your definition of a bad AKOD gig?

AKOD: When your van gets broke, only ten guys are watching your show, nobody pays you,… an AKOD gig!

e: I’ve noticed you use a very well crafted artwork for your band’s image… Is that someone in the band who takes care of that? Do you think the aesthetics of a band are definitely part of its music?

AKOD: Our vocalist Mario is who takes care of that. The image of a band is important when it involves an added value for the band’’s concept, but it is not an essential requirement. There are amazing bands with an awful image and great designers supporting awful bands.

e: Lemmy says all musicians come to music to get laid… Do you agree this statement?

AKOD: If Lemmy said that, it must be true! But we might have chosen the wrong style….

e: What’s your favorite Alex De La Iglesia movie?

AKOD: Anyone. We would rather like films such as “”Los Sin Nombre”” by Jaume Balagueró or “”¿Quién Puede Matar a Un Niño?”” from Chicho Ibáñez Serrador. Fortunately you didn’’t ask us about Almodovar!

e: Well that’s it… Thank you for answering my questions… The last comments are yours…

AKOD: We would like to thank you your interest. We’ll keep rocking for so many years, so we’d love to play in France and with french bands sometime. For those about to rock, Another Kind Of Death salutes you!!!

Another Kind Of Death

OFFICIAL ANOTHER KIND OF DEATH WEBSITE:
http://www.anotherkindofdeath.com/

OFFICIAL ANOTHER KIND OF DEATH MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/anotherkindofdeath

You can also check the Underhill Records website in our links section…

READ THE ENGLISH VERSION RIGHT AFTER THE FRENCH ONE

Ok, la section “Interviews” n’a pas été updatée depuis quelques mois mais on se rattrappe tout de suite et maintenant avec cette interview d’Aluk Todolo, obscure formation française à la musique rituelle étourdissante, hybride de Rock Psychédélique ténébreux et de Black Metal, puisant son inspiration dans la tradition occulte. Prochainement en concert à Paris, l’évenement s’annonce tout simplement incontournable, alors en attendant de découvrir le groupe sur scène pour la Grand-Messe, A.H à bien voulu répondre à nos questions.

emofag: On va faire classique pour commencer… Peux tu nous présenter Aluk Todolo? Quelle a été la génèse du groupe? Je me trompe ou cette nouvelle incarnation est un side-project de Diamatregon?

AH: Aluk Todolo s’est formé il y a 3 ans, de manière très particulière. Pour résumer, disons que ce groupe est le fruit d’un pacte.
Non, Aluk Todolo n’est pas un side project de Diamatregon.

e: Votre concept est basé sur l’occultisme en particulier l’école Aleister Crowley et la Golden Dawn (ainsi que le grand mage Gerard Majax)… Etes-vous familier avec son oeuvre (celle de Crowley pas Majax), quelle rôle joue t-elle dans la composition de votre musique?

AH: C’est vrai que Crowley est important.
Il a levé le voile sur certains secrets et a reçu les nouvelles formules lors du changement d’éon.
On a utilisé un sample sur la face A du 7″ et le nouvel album contient quelques trucs subliminaux dans le même goût.

e: Vos morceaux sont comparables à des rituels qui plonge l’auditeur dans un effet de transe… Quelles sont les conditions recquises pour jouer la musique d’Aluk Todolo? Les champignons hallucinogènes ont-ils un rôle à jouer là-dedans?

AH: Les drogues psychédéliques ont effectivement un rôle à jouer.
Mais la défonce n’est pas une fin en soi.
Les hallucinogènes sont un moyen d’accéder à un état de conscience, je les considère seulement comme un éclaireur.
Une fois ce chemin emprunté, il est possible de s’y aventurer à nouveau sans l’aide des drogues.
Les conditions requises pour interpréter notre musique sont de se mettre en transe et de tout oublier. Pour moi, jouer de la musique est un combat permanent contre l’égo, et les moments de grâce sont ceux où le musicien s’efface completement derrière les forces qu’il canalise.

e: On sent une part d’impro quand on écoute les titres, comment vous y prenez vous pour structurer les morceaux, quel est le processus de composition? Etes-vous toujours éparpillé aux quatres coins de l’Europe?

AH: Les morceaux naissent tous d’improvisations qui, au-fur et à mesure des répétitions se structurent d’elles même.
Mais chaque interprétation donne lieu à des variations. Les structures sont donc définies mais pas figées.
Sinon, on est maintenant éparpillé dans le monde entier.

e: L’aspect rituel de la musique est également nourri d’influences Rock Psychédéliques ancré dans les 70s… Peux-tu nous éclairer un peu sur ces influences? Vous n’écoutez pas Sweet Smoke quand-même…

AH: Tu sais les années 70 ce n’est pas seulement les fleurs et les oiseaux…
C’est aussi (je mets ce qui me vient à l’esprit) Bobby Beausoleil, Ash Ra Tempel, Amon Duul, Faust, Can, la Black Mass de Mort Garson, Antonius Rex & Jacula, Moolah, Gunter Schickert, German Oak, Don Bradshaw-Leather, et de bien d’autres trucs encore…
Quoi qu’il en soit, je pense que ça ferait du bien à pas mal de black-métalleux de se rendre compte que les ténèbres ne sont pas nées en 1992, et même j’ajouterai que si un négre n’avait pas vendu son âme au diable pour appendre le Blues, le Black Metal n’aurait pas existé.

e: Aluk Todolo est-il destiné à être un projet uniquement instrumental? Que penses-tu de l’utilisation de samples ou d’instruments propres à la transe comme la cythare ou le sarod?

AH: Oui le groupe restera instrumental.
On utilise un Tempura sur l’album et il y a aussi quelques parties avec des voix, mais de manière très ponctuelle: Aluk Todolo est avant tout un trio guitare-basse-batterie.
C’est le principe même du groupe de jouer une musique rituelle avec des instruments de Rock.

e: En partant du principe qu’Aluk Todolo est un des nombreux side-projects de DMG, le genre Psych Rock n’avait pas vraiment été abordé dans vos différents projets (à part peut-etre Vediog Svaor)…
Pourquoi maintenant? Quel a été le moteur derriere tout ça?

AH: Ce n’est pas “maintenant”, on a toujours écouté du Krautrock et des trucs expérimentaux, et lorsqu’ Aluk Todolo s’est formé cela faisait longtemps que nous avions en tête de faire cette musique…
D’ailleurs comme tu le dis toi même Vediog Svaor sonnait déjà bien psyché.
Que les choses soient claires: on parle d’Aluk Todolo comme d’un mélange des genres Rock Psyché et BM, mais c’est une manière de décrire la musique, pas un concept.

e: Vous allez jouer à Paris au Point Ephemere le 21/09… Peux tu nous en dire plus? Qui organise? A quoi ressemble Aluk Todolo en live?

AH: On va jouer avec Träd Gräs Och Stenar, entre autres…
Ils font partie de cette scene suédoise incroyable: International Harvester, Parson Sounds, etc… Ces disques on les ecoute depuis des années. C’est un grand honneur d’ouvrir pour eux.
Sinon, je ne sais pas a quoi ressemble Aluk Todolo en live. Il faudra venir au concert.

e: Etant donné que vous apportez un grand soin à l’esthétique et a l’artwork de votre musique, avez-vous pensé à une video pour Aluk Todolo?

AH: On y travaille, mais ce n’est pas pour tout de suite.
On a en tête quelque chose d’assez particulier qui nous oblige à attendre une date précise pour le tournage.

e: Un album est-il en préparation? A quoi peut-on s’attendre? Est-ce que ça sortira chez Amortout?

AH: L’album s’appelle “Descension” et sort en octobre, chez Public Guilt en CD et chez Riot Season pour les LPs. L’album est très différent du 45 tours, bien qu’il en soit dans la continuité.
Il est beaucoup plus sombre, rituel, et primitif.

e: Ou en êtes-vous avec Amortout, quelles sont les sorties à venir?
Généralement vos disques ont un très bon retour… N’avez-vous jamais pensé à developper un label plus conséquent?

AH: Je ne m’occupe pas d’Amortout.

e: Peut-on dire que William Burroughs, Aldous Huxley et Charles Manson font partie d’Aluk Todolo?

AH: Non. Les membres du groupe sont S.R (guitare), M.C (basse) et moi même, A.H (batterie).

e: Que penses-tu du dernier Motorhead?

AH: C’est le meilleur de tous, comme dirait Lemmy.

e: Le BM semble mieux se porter aujourd’hui qu’il y a quelques années quand toute la vague symphonique a explosé… Ton avis sur la question? Qu’est-ce que tu écoutes en BM en ce moment? Que penses-tu du dernier Deathspell Omega?

AH: Je n’ai pas écouté le dernier Deathspell Omega. Le black va mal, le black va bien… Ca dépend ce qu’on appelle du black. Des groupes de merde il y en a toujours eu, hélas.
En ce moment j’écoute Ildjarn.

e: Diamatregon prépare un nouvel album, tu peux nous en dire plus? A part un EP il n’ya rien eu depuis “Blasphemy For Satan” non? Il y avait une grosse évolution entre le premier et celui-là avec des morceaux comme “Mystic Death” ou “The Beast Is Dead” plus progressifs et barrés, qu’en est-il du prochain?

AH: Le nouvel album, “Crossroad”, sortira d’ci la fin de l’année.
Il est bien sûr très différent de Blasphemy. Beaucoup plus expérimental, et en même temps années 80’s.

e: Est-ce que vous vous reconnaissez dans la scène dite Suicidal Black Metal avec des groupes comme Svrid, Shining, Xasthur etc…?

AH: Ce sont de bons groupes.
Mais Diamatregon ne fait pas partie de cette scène.

e: Revenons un peu a Aluk Todolo… Es-tu d’accord pour dire que c’est votre projet le moins extrême à ce jour? Ca reste plus lumineux que vos oeuvres précédentes, en tout cas c’est ce que je ressens…

AH: Je pense au contraire que c’est notre projet le plus extrême.
Mais c’est vrai que j’ai l’album en tête et que la musique s’y radicalise nettement par rapport au 7″ sur lequel l’aspect lumineux dont tu parles est effectivement présent.

e: Etes-vous familier avec les prods de War Office Propaganda ou Cold Spring? Vous semblez être pas mal influencé par la scène Dark Ambient non?

AH: Je connais mal.
Il faudrait demander aux autres.

e: Aluk Todolo est-il là pour guider l’humanité?

AH: Certainement pas.

e: Qu’auriez-vous à dire à Aleister Crowley?

AH: Thanks for the add.

e: D’après toi, le Necronomicon existe t-il vraiment?

AH: Ph’nuglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!

e: Britney Spears existe t-elle vraiment?

AH: ?

e: Jon Nodtveidt de Dissection est mort il y a un peu plus d’un an maintenant et son suicide a été annoncé comme l’acte luciférien ultime alors que je penche plutôt pour un acte de dépression pur… Quel est ton avis là dessus et sur les morts qui entourent le BM? Elles sont entourées de mythes mais la réalité semble être souvent bien plus banale non?

AH: Il y a sûrement beaucoup de façons d’expliquer son suicide, mais je crois au mythe comme à la seule réalité. Le Black Metal = sturm und drang!
Je déteste la psychologie, ça réduit tout à de la merde.

e: Aluk Todolo pousse t-il les gens au meurtre ou au suicide un peu comme “La Fin Absolue Du Monde” dans le film de Carpenter?

AH: Non, pas du tout.

e: La musique de Britney Spears peut-elle pousser au suicide?

AH: ?

e: Avec Aluk Todolo vous n’avez pas peur de vous faire taxer de sales hippies de merde?

AH: Pas vraiment non, et en plus on s’en fout.
Mais si ça a traversé l’esprit de quelqu’un je pense que l’album va remettre les pendules à l’heure.
Au fait, je ne vois aucune différence entre un black métalleux et un hippie.
Ça a les cheveux longs, ça parle musique et politique, ça fume des joints et ça picole pareil.

e: Les derniers mots sont pour toi… Hail!

AH: …Merci.

Antoine Hadjioannou

ALUK TODOLO OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
http://www.aluktodolo.tk/

ALUK TODOLO OFFICIAL MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/aluktodolo

French Black Metal pioneers, the multifaced entity originally named Diamatregon comes up with a new band: Aluk Todolo.
Occult Rock at his best mixing Black Metal elements with the Krautrock scene from the 70’s, Aluk Todolo is one of the most exciting band at the moment. Live, they’re a fuckin’ storm and the upcoming album shall blow your mind, that’s for sure. So I thought It would be good to ask them a few questions and Antoine kindly accepted to answer them. This is an e-mail interview again and that’s for sure a pretty bad way to have a good talk with such an interesting band. I met them two days ago and realized that there’s much more to say than what you have here. But right now, that’s all we get. ‘Till next time.

emofag: Could you introduce Aluk Todolo to our readers? What’s the band history? Is that a Diamatregon side-project?

Antoine Hadjioannou: Aluk Todolo was born three years ago in some very special circumstances. To put it simple, this band is the result of a pact between us.
No, Aluk Todolo is not a Diamatregon side-project.

e: A part of your concept is based on Aleister Crowley & The Golden Dawn… Are you all familiar with his work? What’s the Crowley part in you music?

AH: Crowley is important indeed.
He unveiled some secrets regarding the change of aeon.
We used a sample of him on the A side of the 7″ and the upcoming album contains similar stuff too.

e: Your songs are like rituals which submerge the listener in a transe-like state…
What are the conditions requested to play Aluk Todolo music? Any use of drugs behind that?

AH: Hallucinogenic drugs have definitely a role to play in our music. But to get stoned is not an aim. Hallucinogenics are a mean to reach a certain state of consciousness… They’re like a pathfinder. Once you found the path, you can reach it again without the help of drugs.
The requested conditions to play our music is to get in a transe and forget everything. For me, playing music is a constant struggle against the ego and the moments of grace are those when the musician finally disappears behind the forces he does summon.

e: It seems there’s a part of improvisation in your music? How do you work when it comes to songwritting? Are you still spread allover Europe?

AH: Our music always come from improvisation sessions, then rehearsals after rehearsals, a structure emerges. But each and every interpretation leads to new variations. Therefore, the songs’ structure are all defined yet not frozen.
To answer your question, we’re now spread allover the world.

e: The ritual aspect of your music is also fed by seventies psychedelic rock influences
Could you tell us more about these influences? Don’t tell me you listen shitty bands like Sweet Smoke?

AH: Well, the seventies aren’t only flowers and birds you know.
It’s also (and these are the first who comes to my mind) Bobby Beausoleil, Ash Ra Tempel, Amon Duul, Faust, Can, la Black Mass de Mort Garson, Antonius Rex & Jacula, Moolah, Gunter Schickert, German Oak, Don Bradshaw-Leather and many more…
Anyway, I think it could be helpful to many Black Metal heads to get aware of the fact that darkness ain’t born in 1992 and I would even say that if a nigger would have never sold his soul to the devil to learn the Blues, there wouldn’t be any Black Metal at all.

e: Is Aluk Todolo bound to stay an instrumental project? What do you think of samples or transe-like instruments like cythar or sarod?

AH: Yes the band will remain instrumental.
We use a tempura on the album and there are also some vocal parts here and there but Aluk Todolo is a drums, guitar & bass trio in first place. This is our very goal to play ritual music with Rock instruments.

e: When we have a look at all your numerous side-projects, one thing is that the Psych Rock genre has never been really one of your favorites (except maybe in Vediog Svaor). So why now? Who came up with this?

AH: It’s not about “now”. We’ve always listened some Krautrock and experimental stuff. We had this shit in mind since a long time when Aluk Todolo came to life.
And as you point out yourself, Vediog Svaor sounded already quite psychedelic.
Let’s get straight on this: Aluk Todolo is mix between Psych Rock and Black Metal but that’s just the way to describe our music and not the concept of behind it.

e: You’re gonna play in Paris at the Point Ephemere soon… Could you tell us more about that? Who booked the show? What can we expect at an Aluk Todolo show?

AH: We’re gonna play with Träd Gräs Och Stenar among others… they’re part of this incredible swedish scene with bands like International Harvester, Parson Sounds… We listen to this stuff since many years now… It’s an honor to support them.
But I don’t know how an Aluk Todolo show looks like, you’ll have to come and check by yourself.

e: As you really pay attention to your artwork, have you ever think of shooting a video for Aluk Todolo?

AH: We’re working on it but it’s not for now. We have in mind something quite specific and so we have to wait a precise date for the shooting.

e: An album is on its way… Please tell us more about that… Will it be released on Amortout?

AH: The album is called “Descension” and is out in october on Public Guilt for the CD version and Riot Season for the LP. The album is quite different from the 7″ but still in the same vein though. It’s far more dark, ritual and primitive.

e: How is it goin’ with Amortout? Any releases to come? All your records always get a very good feedback… Have you ever thought of bringing the label on a higher level?

AH: I am not involved in Amortout.

e: Can we say that Williams Burroughs, Aldous Huxley and Charles Manson are part of Aluk Todolo?

AH: No. The bandmembers are: S.R (guitar), M.C (bass) and myself, A.H (drums).

e: What do you think of the new Motorhead?

AH: It’s the best of all, as Lemmy would say.

e: Black Metal seems to be i a better shape now than a few years ago when all this symphonic wave took over the scene… What’s your point on that? What BM band you listen these days? Did you listen the new Deathspell Omega?

AH: I did not listen the new Deathspell Omega.
Black Metal is bad, Black metal is good… It really depends on what you call Black Metal. Unfortunately, there always have been shitty bands.
These days I listen to Ildjarn.

e: Diamatregon is working on a new album… What’s up with that? Since the EP “Charognard” you didn’t release anything, did you? There is a huge gape between the first one and “Blasphemy For Satan”, what about the next one?

AH: The new album, “Crossroad” will be out at the end of the year. It’s really different from “Blasphemy…”. Much more experimental and 80’s.

e: Do you fit yourself in the Suicidal Black Metal scene with bands like Xasthur, Strid or Shining?

AH: These are good bands but Diamatregon is not part of this scene.

e: Let’s talk about Aluk Todolo again… Are you agree to say it’s your least extreme project ’till today? I think it’s more luminous than your previous works…

AH: On the contrary, I think it’s our most extreme project to date. But it’s true that I have the album in mind and the music is more rough than the 7″ where this luminous aspect you’re talking about does exist.

e: Are you familiar with War Office Propaganda or Cold Spring Productions? You seem to be a bit influenced by the Dark Ambient scene.

AH: I don’t really know this scene.
You should ask the others.

e: Is Aluk Todolo here to guide humanity?

AH: Certainly not.

e: What would you say to Aleister Crowley?

AH: Thanks for the add.

e oes the Necronomicon really existst?

AH: Ph’nuglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!

e: Does Britney Spears really exist?

AH: ?

e: Jon Nodtveidt from the mighty Dissection is dead for a bit more than a year now. His suicide was announced like the ultimate luciferian act but I rather think he was just fuckin’ depressed… What’s your point that and all the deaths surrounding Black Metal? Reality often kills the myth don’t you think?

AH: There are surely a lot of ways to explain his suicide but I do believe in myth as the only reality. Black Metal = Sturm Und Drang!
I hate psychology, it turns everything into shit.

e: Does Aluk Todolo music push people to commit murder and/or suicide like Carpenter’s “Cigarette Burns”?

AH: No, not at all.

e: Does Britney Spears music push people to commit murder and/or suicide?

AH: ?

e: Don’t you afraid that people think you’re fuckin’ hippies with Aluk Todolo?

AH: Not really no, and we don’t care.
If someone thinks that well I think the album shall clear up everything.
And I see no difference between a hippie and a Black Metal head by the way. They both have long hair and drink booze and smoke pot the same way.

e: Last words are yours… Hail!

AH: …Thank you.

You walk down this dark back alley at night, whipped by an ice-cold rain. You’re tired, broke and filled with auto-destructive feelings. A neon sign is flashing, you push the front door, looking for some liquor strong enough to burn your guts and, why not, some venomous female company to forget this dog-day you could call “my best “life’s a bitch” experience so far”… Men dressed in black with faces full of scars looking at you as you approach a free table and grab a chair. You order a bourbon and gaze at the half-naked woman (is this a bruise on her face?) dancing on the stinky stage. The night has just begun and will probably end bad…
A tall dark-haired man approaches and sits at your table, his name is Bain Wolfkind and he’s going to talk to you about his music and everything else if, of course, you buy him a drink…

emofag: Bain, are you a lover or a gangster (you can’t be both)?

Bain Wolfkind: Of course I am, and why not?

e: Have you ever beaten up somebody with a pimp stick? Did you enjoy it?

BW: No I haven’t. A pimp stick, for the benefit of your good readers, is a wire coat hanger fashioned into a kind of riding crop, popular in Chicago from the 1930’s onwards, that pimps used to beat their whores. For more information read Iceberg Slim’s book “Pimp” (NB: Yes he’s right: read this book).

e: I really love the black & decadent atmosphere on the album… Do you hang out in lousy bars that much?

BW: Lousy bars are the best, unfortunately they are getting hard to find these days, except for New-York, Mexico City, Bangkok and Vienna of course, which still have the some of the best, lousiest and sleaziest bars in the world.

e: In fact, I enjoy even more the concept than the music, we really feel that there’s a complete universe goin’ on there… Was it your main intention? Did you think of the music & the themes before creating them?

BW: Well you would hope that musicians, like film directors and writers try and create their own complete universe for the audience to get lost in. Most of my lyrics are based around a story and the music has to compliment the story with a sense of time, place and emotion. Obviously what has happened and is happening in my life, the music, films and books that I’m into inform and colour the style and content of my music.

e: Please describe your music in three words…

BW: Fishnets, booze and cigarettes.

e: Even if there are some loops & samples, there’s a creepy vintage atmosphere on the album… Don’t you think more electronics would have ruined it?

BW: Yes exactly, I attempt to use 1950’s and 60’s production values in my music. I still enjoy electronic music but will save that for another project sometime in the future.

e: How long was it to write all the songs? Would you have done it faster if you weren’t drinking?

BW: It took about 5 weeks to write and record during a very hot tropical summer permeated with horrific thunder and lighting storms and torrential rain. I don’t drink too much when I’m recording, just smoke a lot of cigarettes. The drinking is done when I’ve finished a track, if it sounds good to me when I’m drunk then I’m satisfied.

e: “Music For Lovers & Gangsters” could be a perfect score for a modern “film noir”… Please introduce us to your cinematographic influences…

BW: Well my first memory of cinema was at a Drive-in movie with my parents, I must have been about 5 or 6 years old and they took me to see this surreal vampire film called “Let’s scare Jessica to death” by John D.Hancock. They also took me to the Drive-in to see Roman Polanski’s “China Town”. My father was working in this old 1930’s era cinema and I got to see Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” when it was first released. I used to hang out at the cinema most weekends soaking up the nostalgic atmosphere and really dug the cool organ music and Morricone soundtracks that were played before the films. Eventually they started putting on Punk Rock gigs there which was cool. There isn’t space to go into the details of all genres, films and directors I like but I love Film Noir, 60’s Espionage, 70’s Crime, Spaghetti Westerns and am a huge fan of early John Waters, Russ Meyer and David Lynch.

e: By the way, I don’t know very much about you… Please give us a “Bain Wolfkind Rockstar Biography”…

BW: I started an old school Industrial project in 1988 called Korrective Services. In 91, I was part of a Swans inspired band with Helen Rose, who sang with the Beasts Of Bourbon, on vocals. In 94, I created a Martial Industrial project called Blood And Iron with John Murphy. In 95 came the first purely Electro version of Novo Homo. In 97, I began a group called Frankie Maschine, the precursor to Bain Wolfkind. As well as joining Der Blutharsch, 2000 brought the second coming of Novo Homo. In 2004 I started performing and recording as Bain Wolfkind.

e: If you were not into music, what would you do?

BW: Well I gave up on other art forms many years ago, they made my hands too dirty. That being said, I would love to direct films or write crime fiction. My other great dream is to own my own bar.

e: Where’s the priest in “Music…”? There’s always a priest somewhere…

BW: Well, by birth I’m a White Anglo Saxon Protestant but by nature I’m an atheist. Luckily I grew up in a family who could care less about religion, although one of my uncles is a priest! If you’d done your research, a priest does appear on the “Love Letters Ep” on the track “Death House Blues”.

e: Can you tell us more about the little stories we can hear on the album? Who’s “Black John”? Why “Their Honeymoon Won’t last”? Where do you go “Driving All Night”?

BW: Black John was a sheriff who was beheaded in the 1800’s by some local hillbilly’s in Tasmania, the small island state at the south eastern tip of Australia. “Their Honeymoon Won’t Last” is a purely autobiographical revenge piece written about an ex-girlfriend who ran off with one of my so-called buddies. Where do I drive all night? The same places Travis Bickle drove in “Taxi Driver”.

e: You do almost everything yourself… How do you manage it “live”?

BW: Well I sometimes refer to myself as the “King of Karaoke” which basically means me performing to a backing track with some kind of trashy movie playing on a screen behind. When possible I get someone to play live guitar. It’s kind of lame but it makes touring and soundchecks a dream.

e: You really seem to enjoy walkin’ on a stage right? Is this only because of the groupie thing?

BW: Well yes and no, lately I’ve been so smashed by the time I hit the stage and fall off the stage that I have no idea what’s happening.

e: Do you have to get drunk before performing?

BW: No I don’t, and there are other intoxicants I prefer much more than alcohol! Unfortunately, I’ve been hitting the stage lately at say 2:00 am so by then I’ve been hanging around for 5 hours in a club so it’s hard not to have a few drinks or whatever else is on offer.

e: What’s your liquor of choice?

BW: Bourbon, Gin or Vodka.

e: A lot of Goths must come to your shows… Are you into the Goth
culture?

BW: I haven’t noticed too many Goths at my shows and I’m not particularly into Goth culture but I’m happy if they want to buy my records, buy me drinks or come to see me perform.

e: This album is now out on HaurucK!. I think that’s a very good thing that this kind of music is on the label, don’t you?

BW: Well I’m happy to be on the label and HaurucK! releases many different styles of eclectic music so I don’t feel out of place.

e: Martial & Militaria music is far too much exploited in the Industrial scene nowadays… What are your thoughts on that?

BW: Every genre of music gets exploited and most of the time becomes a diluted form of the original. The interest in the Third Reich and music has been around a long time, the Stooges were into it, as was Jimmy Page, Jim Morrison, Bowie and even Ace Freehley from Kiss. The American, Garage Punk band Gonn, used to get banned from performing for hanging a nazi flag on stage back in the 1960’s. Even though it’s been done to death it still creates extreme reactions in people so I suppose it remains the last taboo of Rock n’ Roll and that’s why people keep doing it. If people were still shocked by Elvis style ass moves, it would definitely be more fun.

e: You’re also part of Der Blutharsch… How did you hook up with Albin Julius? Was it in a lousy bar?

BW: You could say that. Lousy bar but good gig. I was performing in one of the support acts for Death In June back in 1999 when he was still playing with them. We met up again in 2000 when I was living in Austria, we enjoyed each others company, he needed a drummer, so I joined Der Blutharsch and played my first show with them later that year in St Petersburg.

e: You live in Australia, he lives in Austria… No problem with that?

BW: No, I’m sure I would be dead by now if I still lived in the same country as Albin. I partied so hard in Austria earlier this year that I had to go into rehab!

e: You did vocals for the next Der Blutharsch album… Can you tell us how it’s gonna sound? Do you also write the words you sing in DB?

BW: Well Albin describes it as Psychedelic Rock, obviously it’s very different to the early stuff but I’ll leave any detailed analysis of how it sounds to him. Yes, I write all the lyrics I sing for Der Blutharsch, I listen to the finished tracks and then write lyrics inspired by the music.

e: Rumors say that you pay a lot of money to play in Der Blutharsch and Albin also forces you to clean up his house every month, right?

BW: Really? That’s news to me, you must have got your information from one of those stupid Neo Folk forums! The only thing I have ever cleaned at Albin’s house is my own vomit from his bathroom floor after too much drinking.

e: Douglas P. (NB: The man behind Death In June) also lives in Australia I think… Do you go hunting together sometimes?

BW: I’ve performed as a support act for Death In June four times in Australia. I usually meet up with Doug when he’s in Sydney on hunting trips. The last time he was in town we went to see the Tiger Lillies together at the Opera House.

e: Maybe I’m wrong but, is this not you butt-fucking one of your friend dressed in an elegant uniform on the DB website gallery? Do you think it’s a way for a gangster or a lover to behave? Aren’t you ashamed of that?

BW: A lady never tells!

e: What are your next artistics projects?

BW: Well there’s the “Wasteland” EP coming out in august and at present I’m recording a full length album due out in 2008.

e: I think you should hire some musicians to create the darkest big band on earth, that should be your next project…

BW: Yeah I’m working on that as we speak. I’ve had offers from some very talented musicians… Just have to find people of a similar persuasion who are not too fucked up on drugs.

e: Among all the great artists you put in your “sounds like” section on your Myspace page, please pick up three of them with who you’d love to do a song with…

BW: I’d love to be produced by Kim Fowley, Phil Spector or Shadow Morton.

e: Kylie Minogue also lives in Australia… Do you go shopping together sometimes?

BW: Kylie Minogue has lived in England, a place a don’t have much affection for, for the last 20 years so we rarely get the chance to go shopping together.

e: When you listen to “Music…” two years after its recording, what would like to improve on it?

BW: Well I don’t listen to it often but from what I remember, apart from some out of tune singing, nothing.

e: What’s your plans for this summer? Any travelling schedule?

BW: Well it’s winter here now, I’m heading to LA and New-York in October to
play a few shows.

e: Have you ever crossed the route 66? What would be your vehicle of
choice?

BW: No, only Highway 101 in California and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem, New-York. If I was to travel by route 66 my vehicle of choice would be a Chevy 69.

e: Is Elvis God?

BW: I told you before, I’m an atheist!

e: Well, that’s it Bain, thank you very much for your time… If I forgot to ask something you wanna talk about please do it now as the last words are yours…

BW: Other than check out the “Wasteland” EP and come to my next shows in the USA if you’re there, that’s about it.

Bain Wolfkind

OFFICIAL BAIN WOLFKIND MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/bainwolfkind

OFFICIAL DER BLUTHARSCH SITE:
http://www.derblutharsch.com

FOR MORE INFORMATIONS ON BAIN WOLFKIND, CHECK THE DER BLUTHARSCH INTERVIEW ON THIS SITE

This year, we got the opportunity to discover on a larger frame the mind-blowing talent of this Brooklyn native singer known as Julie Christmas… If “Coward” by Made Out Of Babies confirmed all the good we were thinking of them since their debut on Neurot Recordings, the Battle Of Mice album, “A Day Of Nights”, brutally brought us the certitude that she’s among the greatest vocalists we can hear today (and there are not that numerous)… Added to the fact that she seems to be quite an interesting person, I had no other alternatives than sending her my questions… Few of them returned unanswered, but regarding her schedule you won’t be surprised that she have better things to do that answer stupid questions from a stupid webzine… But, well, we manage to talk about Black Metal, James Bond girls & Chuck Norris, so I think this interview is not that bad… See for yourself!

emofag: Paris has became a very strange city now as we got this new president, a Giulani fan-boy, full of cops and scared people… How is New-York these days? Did you always live there? Do you live in the “Woody Allen” NYC or the “Scorcese” one?

Julie Christmas: It’s really hard to think about mayoral personalities when your President is such a lazy, lying, hateful, spoiled, evil, viciously idiotic, anti-humanitarian coward. New-York is really different from when I was growing up (which would have been partially Scorsese, partially Spike Lee, I am from Brooklyn and still live there). It’s still pretty great though. There is something about the city that transcends any of the people in it at any one time. It’s like you can feel the collection of marks left by all of the immigrant classes that have ever been here. Corporations are going to rip down Coney Island to make luxury hotels for people swimming in blood money. Hey, like our president, so ask
me in five years! Not that I’m bitter, or anything.

e: If I come to New-York to open a French restaurant will I get rich, famous & fat?

JC: Definitely.

e: When did you start to perform as a singer? Was it a dream when you were a kid? You know… singin’ and dancin’ in front of your bedroom mirror?

JC: I would like to think that I was always cooler than that, but I was definitely a bedroom singer and dancer. I used the hairbrush and everything.
I have been singing since I could speak, and I learned very early that if you put your face very close to a wall and sing, you can hear your own voice and do different things with it. We always had flat full of strangers, so people would pass by me all the time, a little body singing to a wall.

e: Who were your first music heroes? Are they the same today?

JC: The list has grown, but my first music heroes were B.B. King, Aretha Franklin and Mozart. I didn’t know anything about them, except for the way the music made me feel. I listened all the time.

e: I love to listen to Black Metal these days… Good ol’ Black Metal from the early days… Don’t you?

JC: Except for knowing some amazing, and sometime hilarious, band names, I don’t really know much about Black Metal. From what I hear, though, Black Metal came from what sounds to me like gang culture – where the most insane characters were also the most amazing front men.

e: Any good musical discoveries you recently made?

JC: Yes, but none of them are from bands. I have been listening to sounds around me. Everyone should try it. It’s summer here, and all of the broken air-conditioners chug along in a way that sounds like an enormous cat purring.

e: Now that you’re supposed to be an adult, do you feel much different from the kid you were?

JC: Yes. I can do whatever I want now.

e: “Coward” came a few months ago and then the Battle Of Mice album followed right after… It must have been a quite busy year right?

JC: It WAS Very busy, but nothing compared to right now. I am working on a new project called Spylacopa. John LaMacchia, from Candiria, started it. The other members are Jeff from Isis and Greg from Dillinger Escape Plan, as well as an amazing drummer and engineer. I am also working on some music of my own, which is terrifying. I’m getting ready to tour with M.O.o.B in a few weeks, and then we’ll start writing for a new album. Battle Of Mice has a split with Jesu coming out soon on Robotic Empire. I’m also starting to develop ideas for a series of underground art shows with Australian artist Seldon Hunt (because the art you often see in galleries leaves out the some of the best young talent we have today) and doing an advice column for Canadian based magazine “Caustic Truths”.

e: When you’re not writing & singing, how do you spend your spare time?

JC: What is this “spare time” you speak of? Is that some kind of weird sex fetish?

e: I think that “Of Days Of Nights” got a bigger coverage (at least in France) than the Made Out Of Babies album… How do you explain that? Which one was the most successful on a commercial level?

JC: Paying attention to commercial success absolutely rips all the fun out of making music, so I ignore it for the most part. It is amazing to know that anyone is interested in your music enough to support it, so thank you to everyone who did. As for why more people listened to “A Day Of Nights” more than “Coward”, well, you would have to ask them.

e: You’ve recorded then you’ve toured with Made Out Of Babies… I’ve seen on the band’s website that you lost your voice during the tour and therefore had to cancelled a few shows… Not enough rest, too much mess? Everything’s ok now?

JC: It was just one date! We drove all day to get there and I tried my best to get well on the trip and then sat in steam for hours trying to get to the point where we could play. I felt like I let everyone down. The promoter was amazing and even people that came to see us seemed to understand. Sometimes your body takes over, and it’s best to listen. Everything is fine now. I’m stronger than ever.

e: How do you usually warm up your voice before a show?

JC: I walk around singing to walls like I did when I was a kid, or I walk around the club singing. Sometimes cars slow down or stop because men think I’m a prostitute.

e: Have you ever tried the Death Metal growl?

JC: Yes. I don’t know if I’m any good at it, but I can do it pretty easily. It isn’t as hard as singing or full-out screaming. I think it’s one of those things that people can fake pretty easily, without actually being very good at it. I didn’t know who he was when I heard his voice, but I was struck by Atilla Sihar’s voice (Am I spelling that right? The singer from Mayhem, I think). He’s the real thing. You know it when you hear him.

e: Except this broken-voice thing, was the last Made Out Of Babies Tour a good one? What were the venues you enjoyed the most?

JC: The last M.O.o.B. tour was the best so far. Every place we visited was amazing. I can not say thank you enough to all the people that came out to support us and everyone, everywhere, who booked shows, cooked us dinner and let us drool all over their nice clean sheets.
I have to say, I thought about France a great deal before we played there, because there seems to be a long standing cultural animosity between France and America. What I found was rooms full of warm and open minded people. It made me remember how France accepted African American Jazz musicians when most of America was incapable of doing so. I love my home, but I would like to live in France someday. I was thinking of next year sometime.

e: All your shows are critically acclaimed… Is that because you’re a good band or because people writing these reviews are 98% male?

JC: Good band.

e: Any touring plan with Battle Of Mice?

JC: Not yet, we’re trying to work it out.

e: I must admit I’m quite impressed by your performance on “A Day Of Nights”… It makes me think to these oracles in Ancient Greece, they were called “Pythies” and they were supposed to speak the voice of the elder Gods when entering a brutal trance… Have you ever heard of them? How do your consider your vocal parts on the album when you look back on it?

JC: Thank you very much. I think the vocals on “A Day Of Nights” are not always perfect, but they are always honest and straight from the heart. I think sometimes that it is because of the imperfections in the performance that so much emotion shows through.

e: Is this mystic experience the reason why you sing? Is this the state you try to reach whenever you grab a microphone?

JC: I don’t try to reach it. It’s always there trying to get out. If I didn’t sing I would be in a mental institution.

e: Let’s talk about your lyrics… What’s the mood you need to be in order to write a good song?

JC: I haven’t figured that out yet. I think it has to do more with how inspired I am by the music itself than my mood.

e: Even if that’s less (at least physically) intense, do you feel sometimes just like after a singing session… Lookin’ back at your words and say: “Wow, I wrote this??!!”?

JC: Sometimes I like a line or two, but it’s rare and there is never a “wow” in front of it. I feel like I am too clumsy with words to ever actually explain things the way I want to, so I usually end up not worrying about whether people can understand what I say. I try to get everything across in the tone of my voice. There aren’t words for everything I want to say anyway.

e: Do you know a bit about french surrealism?

JC: What I know about French Surrealism, and pretty much everything else, could find shade under a blade of grass.

e: Do you love labradors?

JC: Who doesn’t ? But in my lyrics, dogs are usually people.

e: Is it a really different thing, writing for Made Out Of Babies than for Battle Of Mice?

JC: Yes and no. Everything comes from me, so yes.
But It comes from different places, so no.

e: I’ve read somewhere that when recording “At The Base Of The Giant’s Throat”, you ended your take without knowing what you had sung… Tell us more about that…

JC: I think I just closed my eyes and let myself forget about singing properly, or anyone being able to understand what I was trying to say, and just let my instincts and emotions take control of my throat. I don’t know if I can explain it well enough to make everyone understand. It was like being dragged under a huge wave. When I hear that song I always notice the part where my voice breaks towards the end of the song and it reminds me about a part of myself that I sometimes forget. It is soft and ragged and desperate at the same time.

e: Still no comments on the 911 call?

JC: Can’t.

e: What about writing (short) novels? Is that an idea you keep in mind for a near future?

JC: I do some writing. I would love to try to make the time some day to do a series of short stories. Right now, I pretty much make music, work and sleep. Maybe when my trust fund kicks in. That is a joke, by the way. I’m a poor as a church mouse.

e: Did you see “Coffee & Cigarettes” by Jim Jarmusch? Who’s the smartest between Iggy Pop & Tom Waits?

JC: The RZA.

e: Would you like to play a James Bond girl?

JC: Only if I could have some freakish and hideous lethal talent, like huge fat thighs that clapped together so loud that the sound breaks your ear-drums. Or agent-orange breath. I don’t like the new Bond girls in general. The Pierce Brosnan-era Bond girls are all cute in the most boring way possible. Denise Richards! Christ, A waste of space! I like the Bond girls with character – the girl that dies in the beginning of the newest one has a terrific nose.

e: The guy from “Ong-Bak” is one of your heroes, however I think that my homeboy Chuck Norris would beat the shit out of him… Don’t you think?

JC: Tony (I call him by his first name so people think I’m friends with him…and cool) would take old-ass Chuck Norris, spin him around like a wet cat, and then give him what me & my sister call: “The Smell My Nuts Hold” (see the movie and guess which move I’m talking about) till he passed out right on the nursing home floor. Then I’d run in, pull his pants down, kick him in the balls, and give Tony a hi-five.

e: We don’t have many front-women here in France… We have this girl from Melatonine, I was hangin’ out at one of their shows (what the fuck I was doing here?) and out of a sudden she said: “The next one is for my ex-boyfriend who is a fuckin’ asshole!!!” and all the 13 years old girls in the audience started to applause… That was awesome…

JC: I wonder if she said it cause she was pissed, or because she knew people would clap. Either reason is cool, by the way, it just says something different about the person and the kind of performer they are.

e: Who would you like to play music with?

JC: Anyone good.

e: Would you like to embrace a Gwen Stefani career?

JC: Who’s Gwen Stefani?

Julie Christmas

OFFICIAL MADE OUT OF BABIES WEBSITE:
http://www.madeoutofbabies.com/

OFFICIAL BATTLE OF MICE WEBSITE:
http://www.battleofmice.com/

OFFICIAL SPYLACOPA MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/spylacopa

Back in the dayz (love to write that, makes me feel like a gangsta), I used to listen a lot of Neo-Classical, Folk & Ambient stuff… I remember listening Amber Asylum on a cold winter night as the high-school bus was bringing me back home, my forehead against the window, eyes gazing the bleak nocturnal landscapes of my hometown… And I know what you think but this webzine is called emofag so fuck you… Then I moved on, found more entertainment in Rock n’ Roll and sold my Amber Asylum CDs… But from time to time, I do make quite interesting discoveries in the genre and Dwelling is one of them…
Find the time to listen to their music, we’re on a high level of stunning beauty and commitment here, and enjoy a bit of soothing melancholy in this sick world of ours. But read the interview first…

emofag: Well I first went to your Myspace page as I didn’t know your band at all two weeks ago… This is some really beautiful music you have here…
Could you please introduce the band to our readers even if you must have done this a million times… Why this name, Dwelling?

Nuno: Thanks! Well the band has been a band since 2000. Before that it was just a small project.
We got together in December and in late April we were already recording the first MCD “Moments” that came out as the first release on Equilibrium Music in September 2001. Since then, we’ve released “Humana” in September 2003, and now “Ainda é Noite” on the 26th April.
The band is now a sextet consisting of Catarina Raposo singing, Sílvia Freitas and Alexandra Bochmann on violins, Moritz Branco and I on classical guitars and Jaime Ferreira on 4, 8, and fretless bass guitars.
The band was named earlier on as it could take on a large number of different meanings for everyone. We view it more of refuge in which we create our musical reality, but I have heard other versions from people that found other meanings to it.

e: So right after I discovered your music and my first thoughts were: “This band should be on a major label as it is quite far from the stuff we usually hear in the underground Dark Folk scene…” What’s your own thoughts on this? Are you still deeply rooted in the underground?

N: I’m really not sure what to say. We’re rooted in the Underground because that’s where we’ve always been, so the Major scene was always only something that we know exists but never lived it.
We’ve had an offer in a long distant past, to sign with a larger label here in Portugal, one that works within that kind of scene, but we would lose control over the music, so we ended up not signing.

e: You must have a lot of different people from a lot of different scenes comin’ at your shows, right? But does it really make a difference? With which kind of audience do you feel the most comfortable?

N: Yes, the people attending our shows are quite varied both in style and age, usually depending a lot on the location as well. We’ve had shows where we’ve met three generations of the same family, just regular folk that went to the show because they heard it was happening in their town, as well as shows where the crowd is exclusively Goth and/or Headbangers, promoted within this scene. Regarding your question of preference for the kind of audience, I guess it’s any kind of audience as long as it is warm and welcoming – it really doesn’t matter which “club membership” they own.

e: How are you perceive in your homeland? Can you live from Dwelling?
Here in France it’s not that easy to find some places to rehearse etc… How is the situation in Portugal?

N: For the masses we are unknown, as we release in a small independent label that doesn’t have the same resources as a major label. There is a very small following, mostly friends and people that are interested in the several indie scenes. We are still surprised when someone we don’t know mentions us, and it’s still very interesting when it happens – the when and why people found out about us.
Unfortunately, we’re not able to live off the band. We have a very random concert schedule that depends a lot on the record cycles, and even though we try to be very active concerning live events, they are still insufficient to make a living all year round.
Portugal is quite a nice place to have a band. From my experience talking to musicians from other countries, I learnt that we actually have more investment in small bands by local and regional authorities than in other countries. So you can make some money regularly, which in turn pay for the rehearsing expenses and some minor profits. In all the major cities, you can rent your rehearsal space by the hour, and that’s how most bands that don’t have their own garage work out their rehearsals.

e: Not only the music but the artwork is also beautiful… Who takes care of this? Is that somebody in the band?

N: Thank you for both compliments. As almost everything we do, it is homemade! The photos were done by Alexandra and I, with some help from our friend Ana Catarina at the Lisbon Players with the production. The rest of the work – photo manipulation, font selection, color schemes and so on – was done by me and João Monteiro, who also wrote lyrics for this album.
JM and I usually do most of the artworks on Equilibrium Music, so it is only natural that we end up working on Dwelling’s also.

e: A new album is supposed to be out… You talk about numerous delays, what’s happened? How do you feel now as it’s finally out? Relief? Anguish? Both?

N: Mostly we feel relief but, to a certain extent, also a bit of frustration for not being able to produce the record in a shorter time frame since “Humana”. We were producing the record ourselves, at Equilibrium Music’s studios, so we didn’t have that usual pressure that paying for studio usually brings, so we ended up procrastinating a lot more than we would normally do.

e: This album is a new step in Dwelling history… What can you tell us about it?

N: Well, the album is based on a loose concept that relates the solitude to the romanticism of the late night hours viewed from a feminine perspective. We wanted to keep such a broad concept, so that we could not only incorporate into the work poetry by authors outside the band, but also approach a larger number of topics. So, some songs talk about the more bohemian side of life, even going into total debauchery, while others are really more intimate and introspective keeping the generic concept has a guideline.

e: Now that you listen the album again do you feel like you wanna go back to the studio to re-arrange some parts or you’re quite happy the way it is?

N: We are very happy with it, but of course, if we had a time machine, we’d go back a change a few things. Personally, I think it is only normal. We would have to feel totally unattached to the music or too full of ourselves to think otherwise.

e: In this webzine we mainly talk about Rock music, but also Punk, Hardcore and Indus stuff… Are you into this kind of music?

N: There are six people in the band, and we have some different tastes in it, as you can imagine. I think we cover most of the musical spectrum, probably leaving out Hip-Hop (NB: too bad Nuno) and the MTV culture. Jaime and I follow the Industrial scene more or less, and he and Moritz are also into Prog Rock, but I think these styles are just a small part of what we all listen to.

e: Where do you learn to play music? Is it a tradition in your family?

N: Except from Jaime and I, all members have had classical training. The two of us, started out playing in Metal and Rock bands, so we had a less conventional training consisting of learning with friends, and several weird tutors from time to time.

e: Is there a strong musical tradition in Portugal? I can’t speak for other countries but Folk music from France is only a bunch of clichés…

N: I think we’re fortunate to have a musical style as unique as Fado in Portugal. The people involved in it are very conservative and keep its essence untouched, pinning anyone trying to modernize it totally outside of that circuit – present company included, nor would we ever dare to try to get into that scene. This style represents our strongest musical tradition, not in number of people involved, but in its singularity as an art form that truly represents a people.
We also have some folk bands here that you listen to and think it’s a world music compilation, but I guess that’s the world today…

e: We have this TV show hosted by a guy named Pascal Sevran, featuring only old french songs but I don’t know, it’s done in the wrong way, that’s totally ridiculous… Do you have your own “Pascal Sevran” in Portugal?

N: Unfortunately no, as I would welcome a show like that (NB: Jesus-Christ!!!)! The music played on open TV here is beyond any description… This leaves no opening for the TV show host to make things more ridiculous than they usually are.
Fortunately, the cable channels are spinning some interesting things – even some really hilarious – try finding Kalashnikovarmy on Myspace.

e: By the way, which French bands do you know? Have you already been to France?

N: The French band that most impressed me in recent times, was Rosa Crux (NB: Awesome band indeed). I’m really fond of their work both musical and visuals, and it is a shame that they make it so hard to find. Apart from them, Collection d’Arnell Andrea, Rajna, Gäe Bolg, Land and a few others on the underground scene, Yann Tiersen in the major scene usually end up in my CD player. I know Catarina is into Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf, her father used to listen to them a lot while she grew up.
Yes I’ve been to France. I still want to revisit Paris as the first visit was during a roadtrip, and I only managed 8 hours there. Recently, JM and I got a few friends together and drove to Lyons for the Spiritual Front and Anenzephalia show there. We also took some time to visit the Cathare region.

e: You have one song to do with one artist of your choice (alive or dead)… Who would it be?

N: Bach or Mozart but we would ruin it completely!!

e: What’s your favorite Dead Can Dance album?

N: “Into the Labyrinth”. I don’t know why, I really love the last song. “How Fortunate The Man With None”.

e: What’s the mood you’re in when you write some music for Dwelling… Do you absolutely have to feel as sad as the music is? Do you think that artistic expressions can only emerge from negative feelings and/or conditions?

N: I usually write music when I’m relaxed and just having some good time playing. Most of the music just comes out naturally from what it feels like a special relationship between me and the instrument that stirs or amplifies this or that emotion, and then pursue it until I reach a song. No I don’t think that you “have” to be sad or depressed to express yourself artistically but history shows that that is the driving force beneath some of the best art!

e: As an artist, what do you want to achieve with Dwelling and, more generally, in your life? What do you want to reach with this catharsis?

N: Catharsis itself. That is the reason why we’re doing this. The feeling of being on stage, playing your music, and relate to the audience. Every now and then, we have one of those shows that we always talk about when we’re going back the memory lane.
In life, I really don’t know. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have some clue?!

e: Do you have other side-projects apart from Dwelling? Musical or in other artistic activity?

N: I am a partner at Equilibrium Music, the other one being João Monteiro – a good friend that has helped us on many occasions and always has a valuable input on the lyrics and artworks; Catarina is singing on a blues band called The Moonshiners; Sílvia and Alexandra play at an orchestra in Lisbon; Jaime plays in a Metal band and a cover band… Everyone has its own thing outside Dwelling.

e: Do you plan to tour to promote this new album?

N: Now we’re just preparing some showcases at the Fnac stores Portugal, and the release concert/party, which will take place in a couple of months.
At the moment, there is no real tour ready, but we’re scheduling some shows to help promote the record, both domestic and abroad.

e: Would you play on stage with a Cannibal Corpse T-shirt on?

N: Not in Dwelling, but if I was playing in a Metal band, why not? I used to be deep into the Metal scene in the 90s.

e: If I come to one of your shows, would you buy me a drink?

N: Are you into Port wine?

e: I was doing an interview with Duncan Patterson recently, you’re labelmates right? Did you listen his new album?

N: Yes, we’re labelmates and we also talk on a regular basis due to my position at EQM. And yes, of course I listened to his album! I’m fond of his work since the first Anathema albums a long time ago, so it was a real pleasure to have him at EQM, and to get an inside look at his work.

e: He told me that Equilibrium Music was the first label he thought of for Ion… Tell us how are your relations with Equilibrium? They seem quite professionnal right?

N: We try hard! Well, the relations between the band and the label go directly through me, so it gets really comfortable to develop any project between the band and label, as there is always one person that works on both sides.

e: Did you get some offers from foreign labels? Why did you choose Equilibrium then?

N: Yes, actually we even got an offer from a French label. It’s wasn’t a hard choice – like I mentioned earlier on, it was a matter of having full control over everything.

e: I’m sure you have written a lot of stuff for the next Dwelling album right?

N: Yes, we have some material that is already taking shape, at least 8 new songs. I am hoping that it won’t take another 4 years to release, so let’s see if we can do it this time.

e: That’s it Nuno, here’s now the time for you to say thank you or hello to the ones of your choice but if I were you I would just say: “buy our album!”

N: Thanks you for this interview. It was really refreshing! Good luck to you and to the emofag crew.

Nuno Roberto

OFFICIAL DWELLING MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/dwellingband.com

SOME INFO ON DWELLING CAN ALSO BE SEEN ON EQUILIBRIUM MUSIC SITE
Check the link on our site

I discovered Colossloth on Myspace, I think he sent me a friend request, yeah, he asked me the supreme favor of being my friend… And I said “yes”, of course, or “approve” or something like that… Then, I discovered that it was good music there, well I mean not that good but good enough to make me ask him “hey, would you be ok for an interview?” and he answered me “yeah mate”… So I worked on my questions based on the only tunes I know of the band, which means the ones on Myspace, shame on me, and forwarded them to the guy… Andy answered us and then I discovered that he makes not only good music but he’s also a really cool guy and this is something I really appreciate… And by the way, check our Myspace page, Tom will thank you for that…

emofag: Hello Andy, how was your day today?

Andy Woolaston: Really good, thanks. It’s stopped raining for five minutes so I think summer has arrived.

e: I’m really into english breakfast, the baked-beans thing… Is that what you usually have?

AW: Yeah I love it, especially with extra black pudding and chips. The food of champions!

e: Could you please introduce the band to our readers, the usual “who-when-what-why” question… We want all the details…

AW: Colossloth is just me, Andy Woolaston. A solo project that started in 2005 after playing in various Grind/Noise core bands and I thought I’d slow things down and get Experimental.

e: You’re signed on Skribble Records, which is more into Indie Rock & Alternative than Drone & Experimental… Do you feel at home there? Do you have to give them large amounts of money each month to remain in their catalog?

AW: I had a few label offers when I recorded “Fly Silver Corpse, Fly’ but chose Skribble Records because they really love Colossloth. I mean they were prepared to release a one track cd with a 15 minute song on! A big gamble. Really cool label. I do have to clean their windows once a month though.

e: Do you read comics? What’s your favorite X-Men character?

AW: Yeah, comics are cool. It’s got to be Wolverine, anyone who looks like a wolf and has 12inch blades on his fingers is good with me.

e: What were your main influences (except lakes, woods, mountains and
goats) when you started Colossloth? Any Justin Broadrick addiction somewhere?

AW: Yeah, he’s a legend! I also love Earth, Cult of Luna, and Sunn O))). I was also inspired by the bands and artists on Cold Spring Records, a fantastic label.

e: Some of your electronic waves make me think to Deutsch Nepal… Do you know this band?

AW: No, I am not aware of them I will google them as soon as I have finished this interview.

e: As I only know the songs on your Myspace page, I may make some dumb comments on your music… Please do not hesitate to use verbal violence if necessary… So, I’ve noticed that Colossloth is pure instrumental, any vocal temptation sometimes?

AW: Yeah on the next record, “Heavy Swarm Transmission”, I’ve sampled some monks chanting, it sounds beautiful, really powerful. It seems to fit heavy music perfectly.

e: The songs’ structures are very progressive… Please explain us how do you work on a song and how much time you spend on it (even if I guess that it must varies)…

AW: I start at home just creating sounds on my synth, then I play around with drum machines and guitars. After that I book some time in the studio and just throw it all in to see what happens. I never know when I enter the studio what the track will end up like. I love to experiment.

e: What tools can we find in your gear? Do you record everything at your home studio?

AW: I recorded the first two tracks “Black Mermaid” and “Circle Of Thrones” at home, but I decided to go into the studio for the other tracks. I found it much easier in a professional studio. My favourite tools I use to record are just cheap battered old synth, drum machines and guitars I find on e-bay that no-one else wants, then I just distort them like fuck.

e: I only listen to Manowar so it’s not easy for me to describe your music… Did you find the good words to put a label on it?

AW: Haha! Manowar! Fantastic! I once got described as “slow fidelity” which I really liked or “Sunn O))) fucking about with game-boys”. Haha.

e: And what about you… Any Heavy Metal gods in your heart?

AW: Oh yeah! Iron Maiden, I fucking love them. Also Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Slayer.

e: Is Cradle Of Filth still popular in Great-Britain?

AW: Yeah they are still big here. Funnily enough Colossloth had a track on Zero Tolerance magazine cover CD last year alongside with them. It was the first time I’ve really paid attention to them but I really liked it. They have cool artwork too.

e: Have you ever thought of sampling R2D2 and 6PO?

AW: Only if I could set fire to them first!

e: Do you think Colossloth plays the ideal music for an acid trip? Do drugs play a role in your music? What’s your definition of this word (not music but drug)? Are drugs a bad thing?

AW: I’ve had a lot of e-mails from people saying it’s a great smoking song which I think is really cool. Maybe an acid trip with Colossloth would send you over the edge. If people want to take drugs it’s up to them. There are a lot worse things you can do to your body, like eating full English breakfasts!

e: What’s the strongest drug you’ ve ever experienced?

AW: A goat bone bong.

e: Some people says that TV is a drug, do you agree this statement?

AW: Absolutely, it’s a bastard to smoke though.

e: Some people says that Colossloth plays Heavy Metal, do you agree this statement?

AW: I’m not sure what Colossloth play, I am certain Heavy Metal plays a part in it as does Electronic music.

e: Do you perform live shows? What would be the ideal conditions requested for the ultimate Colossloth live show?

AW: I really want to play some shows soon. I’d love to tour around haunted castles and play in the pitch black. Maybe have some cave gigs too. Yeah, that would be good.

e: Did you listen the Sunn O)))-Boris album? Can we have your thoughts on this?

AW: I thought it was brilliant, I can’t wait to see Sunn O))) at the Supersonic festival in Birmingham.

e: I was listening to Colossloth and I started to imagine what effects
your music would have if it was sprayed at high volume through the subway corridors… I started to visualize a crowd of zombies doing the same steps back & forth all day… This is what I would do if I’d have to make a video on your music…

AW: That would be fucking cool, yeah. Have you got a video camera?

e: Did you think of a video? What would be the main idea(s)?

AW: I’d like some really dark fucked up video with lots of strobe lighting and mind bending graphics.

e: The most interesting aspect to me in your music is this hypnotic side… Do you get inspired by looking at the parade of our half-dead consciousness crushed by daily routine and high technologies’ consumerism?

AW: That’s a great question. I like the idea of music being a trip in its own right. Just lose yourself in your headphones to escape the boredom of everyday life.

e: There’s a Blut Aus Nord song named “Procession Of The Dead Clowns” which I find quite similar to the Colossloth tunes I heard… Do you know this band?

AW: Oh yeah they’re cool, they have a song on the Zero Tolerance CD called “Chapter I” before my track. I think they both sit together really well. I think I’ll buy some of their stuff.

e: Do you have some nightmares with giant evil robots sucking at your
blood?

AW: I wish I did, sounds like fun. But ask yourself “can robots really be evil?” I hope so one day.

e: Do you think skinny little kids are scary?

AW: Very scary. You should never trust skinny people at all.

e: You’re going to release a new EP, please tell us more about this forthcoming work…

AW: “Heavy Swarm Transmission” is out in August on Skribble Records. It’s another 15 minute epic noise fest with monks chanting. It’s not as melodic but just as hypnotic. It’s all about the art of astral projection.

e: How Colossloth is going to evolve?

AW: Slowly and heavily.

e: If you could do a speech in front of millions of people all listening and paying attention, what would you say?

AW: Ladies and Gentleman, death is just the beginning.

e: This interview is now over, as millions of people will read you, the
last words are for you…

AW: Musicians make shit music.

Andy Woolaston

OFFICIAL COLOSSLOTH MYSPACE PAGE:
http://www.myspace.com/colosslothman

You know Scott Kelly for being a part of the ultimate sonic Rock (let’s be wide on this) outfit named Neurosis…
A band it’s no use to introduce as it has influenced 99% of the people reading this interview and this for hundred of different reasons, whether they play music or not…
But you may not know him for being the co-founder and weekly host of the best radio show on the web: Combat Music Radio…
So we thought it was a good idea to ask him questions about this less-known aspect of his “career” for the main reason that’s a fuckin’ good radio show everyone should listen. Of course, as you all know, the new Neurosis album is coming very soon, so we also ask him questions on this forthcoming masterpiece… Scott answered us and you people, are going to read this…

emofag: So first of all, how is your father? We all wish him a good recovery…

Scott Kelly: He’s doing really well. Thank you for your thoughts. I’m not ready to let him go yet, we’ve only recently got to know each other as we really are.

e: I was in trouble recently because my boss didn’t want me to go on a 15 days tour. I told him I was ready to quit the job for this tour as music is my life and then he finally
agreed… Have you ever been in that situation? What was your choice then?

SK: We have always worked close with our bosses to try to let them know 6 months or more in advance of our plans. Usually it works out, but in the early days we would quit jobs for tour all the time. With children to feed that ceases to be an option.

e: I went to see The Melvins last night, you know the new Melvins with the two drummers, and this was a pretty amazing show… Did you see them live recently? Do you often hang out at shows? Any concert that blew your mind in the past weeks?

SK: I did see The Melvins recently and they blew my mind once again. The Melvins are the one band over the last 20 years that has continued to do this to me. They are on such a higher level creatively and musically. The two drummer thing is incredible: the highest level of competence and effort combined with pure creative genius. I don’t hang out much at all, only when I’m doing a gig myself or when the spirit moves me. I spend most of my time at home when I’m not at work. Working on projects and being with my kids. The last thing that really got me as far as live music goes, aside from The Melvins, was seeing Munly And The Lee Lewis Harlots.

e: So, Combat Music Radio got a brand new skin a fewmonths ago… What can you tell us about the main comments you got on this new site? Did you increase your number of listeners?

SK: People seem to like the new skin. I know that it all works way better from the back end and the front. There have been some comments about the heavy weaponery on display from Christopher and me and Eugene and Bane. The listeners have increased steadily since we started and that was a pretty nice boost.

e: You have to do two shows per week now, any lack of inspiration and/or motivation sometimes?

SK: Sometimes it’s hard to find the time, but once I do, it’s always fun. I really enjoy doing this. In the long term hopefully we will add more hosts and I may go back to once a week. But for now, me and Bane twice and Eugene once a week.

e: How do you prepare the shows? Do you pick up some records at your place depending on the mood you are in or do you really think about it? I remember the family-tree show, good idea…

SK: It varies. Sometimes I have a specific idea in mind such as the family-tree idea. Most of the time I have a beginning and an end in mind and I just do it from feel.

e: Sometimes you go from Townes Van Zant to Meshuggah… Do you like to play with contrasts in your playlists or for you that’s just good music and that makes no difference, whatever the genre?

SK: Thats how I’ve always been with music. I can’t listen to the same tones all the time. I actually have a really bad response to that unless it’s a monotonous drone or machinery. So within the context of a show I just try to paint a picture of whats in my mind at the time.

e: Where do you record the shows? Is it in the same home studio that Bane and Eugene use for their own shows?

SK: We all record at our respective homes.

e: So, the new Combat Music Radio brought us two new hosts… Was it your own idea? Did you first think about some other people or did you immediately say to yourself: they are the ones?

SK: It has been our intention from the start to eventually grow into a full on 24 hour a day radio station on the internet with multiple hosts. Eugene has been involved with us from the very beggining and he was a natural choice for a fight related show. Bane and I have been friends for years and he had done college radio shows in the past, with his vast and unique knowledge of music he was a natural choice. With all the hosts experience, dedication, and understanding of the respective scenes is of utmost impotance. We only want to work with people who are true blue. And self motivation is neccessary to get this done, nobody is holding anybody else’s hand in this, you have to take care of your own show and get it on the site on time everytime. Eugene and Bane are good examples of people like that.

e: Bane always brings us some quite obscure (Black Metal) stuff I’m always surprised to hear on the air (european bands like The Moon lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud, Mutiilation, Absurd etc…)… Can you tell us more about him and his infamous record collection?

SK: Bane is a very private guy. I think you should contact him The Ajna Offensive and ask him yourself. I will say this his collection is unparreled.

e: Since you started the show I guess you got a large amount of demos and stuff… Are you able to listen all of them? Did you get some old-school Heavy Metal stuff with high-pitched vocals?

SK: I do try to. Sometimes they get lost in the shuffle and I find them later but eventually I check out everything. I have gotten Rock music of every
imaginable variety since we started this.

e: US Christmas was one band who caught your attention… Are there some other bands selected amongst the pretenders? Are you now friends with the guys from Us Christmas?

SK: US Christmas is a unique story. They were in the first 15, or so, things that we got and there artwork didn’t strike me so I put them at the bottom of the pile after being pretty disappointed by the other offerings I had a thought at work one day that I should go back and listen to the demo because it would probably be the one that would be good. I did that and it was. It blew me away: a very unique and interesting version of Space Rock. I started playing them and this continued to grow on me. I eventually played them for the guys in my band and now we are not only friends of US Christmas but we will be putting out there next record on Neurot Recordings.
There are some other bands that have struck me such as Poochlatz, The Autumn Project, Time Of Orchids, Owlfood, Amen Ra, Unfortunaut, Lion Devours The Sun, Entrance, Magnetplan and Moho. There sounds are very different from each other but they all are doing something that speaks to a part of me. There are more but those are the first that come to mind.

e: Would you like KMBT to get bigger or you’re quite happy the way it is?

SK: Yes I would. It needs to at least get to the point where we make back our money and can cover our expenses. Even at that it probably won’t sustain for ever people’s time and experience are very valuable and there’s nobody involved in this who doesn’t think so. If we can’t make this happen we will all eventually try some other way.

e: I remember once in a show you were talking about this guy in a wheelchair at a Neurosis concert… You opened yourself a bit and I don’t know… It was a very intense moment in the show, words coming straight from the heart. Back then, what you said made me think about a lot of things, really brought me something… My question is: do you think the radio media can give as much emotion as your music and is it something you look for?

SK: I have learned alot from doing this. And I have grown close to some of the people who are listening, either from e-mail or actually getting Tom knows one another, so the shows have become very personal and cathartic for me. Whatever my mood is when I’m doing
this, I bring it raw. That is the beauty of this kind of expression. I think that Eugene and Bane bring this through in ther own ways as well. Eugene’s shows can be really, really intense depending on whats he’s on about and Bane channels his feelings into his conceptual shows.

e: Have you already thought of a big KMBT show reuniting all the hosts plus bandmates and friends of yours? A kind of anniversary show?

SK: Actually no. But there has been some talk of an event of some sort we’ll see.

e: You can do a show with the guest of your choice, who would it be? (And Hemingway is not available…)

SK: Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix. If they had to be a living guest it would be either Randy Couture or Gaahl from Gorgoroth I find them both to be infinetely interesting at this moment in time.

e: When you were a kid, did us to listen some radio shows? Any favorite ones?

SK: I’ve always loved radio as a little kid it was Dr. Demento. Later, Rodney On The Roq, Coast to Coast AM (mind bending), Jim Rome & Steve Jones.

e: Do you play CDs, vinyls or both?

SK: I’m only able to play CD’s because of my gear limitations, however I can play tapes of vinyl and I have many times.

e: Khanate makes me physically bad, is that normal doc?

SK: I believe that may be the intention.

> Well that’s it for KMBT, my last questions are for your musical projects…

e: First things first, “Given To The Rising” is about to hit the stores… How do you feel about that? It was your fourth time with Steve, everything went well?

SK: I’m ready. It’s been close to two years in the making, I’m very proud of that record. Steve Albini is a great man we love working with him everytime we can. We feel at home at his place.

e: I didn’t want to listen to the MP3 “Water Is Not Enough”, I really want to discover the album in its totality… But please, tell me what can I expect in a few words…

SK: I appreciate your discipline. I think everyone in the band would say the same. This record is heavy in a way that we have never felt before, there is a lot of guitar riffs throughout without a lot of time to come up for air. Overall it’s a very nasty, smothering
record that feels like a very sharp blade to us.

e: Some fans expect a kind of back-to-the-roots album… Did you take care of this wish during the writing sessions or did you keep doing your own stuff like you always did?

SK: Honestly we couldn’t care less what people want us to do.It wouldn’t matter if we did. Our process is one of submission to sound our albums are written from far
away. We don’t even write them, they write themselves through us. We are conduits to the sound that surrounds us.

e: You’re also scheduled to play in France at the “Hellfest” festival and this for the second time… Still want some more? When you’re there, how do you spend your free time (if you have some)?

SK: I spend all the time I have before a gig mentally preparing myself. That includes eating early, stretching, and playing my guitar.

e: You have to know that next time you’ll get there, France shall have a new president and we have a lot of chances that the “winner” will be this guy who gives more money to big companies & cops than to culture & education… Have you heard of him?

SK: No. I don’t pay attention to politicians. They’re all the same. Worthless, void, corrupt.

e: The Bad Brains are back… Produced by this guy from The Beastie Boys… What are your comments on this? Many bands get reunited these days…

SK: I hadn’t heard this. The Bad Brains may have been the best band that ever existed so I’m happy to hear that they’re back. I need to hear it. Bands reunite
all the time for different reasons, I’m sure $ is a factor but I know in some cases time goes by and it seems like the right thing to do. To each his own, do what you want.

e: There’s this thing going on with The Hidden Hand, am I right? How is it going?

SK: Shrinebuilder. It is a project with Wino, Al Cisneros, Chris Hakius and myself. Al and Chris are Om, which is ex-Sleep. It’s in the very early stages right now. We’ll begin focused work on it in early 2008.

e: Did you see “The Devil’s Rejects”? Did you like the movie?

SK: Didn’t see it.

e: Are we all doomed?

SK: Of course we are look at what we do to ourselves and the world around us. Humans have a fatal flaw, that won’t change.

e: Well I guess that’s it, I would have much more to say to you but this e-mail thing is not a good tool for a real conversation… Of course the last words are yours…

SK: Thanks Simon, I appreciate your interest. Take care.

Scott Kelly

OFFICIAL COMBAT MUSIC RADIO WEBSITE:
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He is the man behind the greatest Anathema songs, the original founder of the Antimatter project and these days, he should be known worldwide as the author of the beautiful and critically acclaimed “Madre, protégenos” by his new band: Ion.

Duncan Patterson kindly answered to our questions and didn’t get mad because of the recurrent Anathema subject in it. So all praise due to the man & his music. Support them, they’re just great…

emofag: Years ago, right after your departure from Anathema, we were talking to Vincent and he was like: “Yeah we don’t need Duncan anymore…”
Things seem to be ok now between you & them… Was it only a matter of time?
Are you nostalgic of these Anathema years?

Duncan Patterson: Yeah, we have talked a lot over the years. We were young back then, and all said and did things that could have been handled better. That quote is quite funny though, as after my departure from the band 80% of their setlist were songs that I had written. Add to that the fact that I actually left the band, I was never kicked out, its quite comical. As I said, we were young. I had some great times with that band, and also some really dark days. It happened, its in the past, and most importantly we are friends now.

e: You created Antimatter with Mick in 1998 and left the band in 2004… Antimatter keeps on going its own way without you now… As you are one of the original member, are you ok with that?

DP: Antimatter is basically the title for Mick’s solo material now, it is not a band. I have no problem with that at all. I had no intention of using it for myself, or preventing Mick from using it, so all is ok. I chose not to continue with Antimatter and Mick wanted to carry on using the name for his stuff. He is in a healthy position to release his music under an established name. I hope he gets the recognition he deserves, as I don’t know many better singers/songwriters around than Mick.

e: In 2002, you started your own label, Strangelight Records… The original purpose was to re-issue some Antimatter stuff right? Can you tell us more about this label & its recent activities…

DP: I haven’t released anything for a while. I have been too busy actually making music and playing live. My next release will be the Leafblade album “Beyond Beyond” later this year. I set the label up so I wouldn’t have to rely on other labels, or go cap-in-hand to them with demos and that. It’s nice to have something like that to fall back on if need be.

e: You just released this beautiful album “Madre, Protégenos” with your new project Ion… Tell us first what was your first ideas with this project… The first frames in mind before writing…

DP: I had written a few pieces of music that didn’t quite fit with what we were doing in Antimatter. When I knew the end was near with Antimatter I started putting things together with Madre, Protégenos. It turned out how I intended it to, so I guess the album itself is the answer to this.

e: As you’re a very talented songwriter I would like to know how do you usually create a song… The title track of the album is really awesome…

DP: Thank you. I usually just sit with a guitar or piano and play around. Sometimes a good tune will come to me, then I’ll build on that. I also get a lot of ideas whilst out walking or travelling by train or bus.

e: Could you introduce to us the guests musicians on this album?

DP: Its a long list, and each has a separate story. I’d be here all day explaining that. Read the album credits to find out who did what.

e: There’s also this cover of an old traditional Irish song… Any Irish blood flowin’ in Duncan Patterson’s veins?

DP: Yeah, it was written by my great-grandfather Johnny Patterson, who was from County Clare. My father is from Dublin and there is also Irish on my mother’s side of the family, like many people from Liverpool.

e: How would you describe “Madre Protégenos”? (the words you’re about to write could increase your sales, do not forget it…)

DP: A great album. Buy it and that.

e: Equilibrium Music released the album right? What’s the exact deal with them, did they help you to produce the album? They carry a lot of Martial Indus stuff, is this a genre you’re into?

DP: I contacted Equilibrium when I had the first sketches for the album. They were the first label that I thought of. The deal is that they release the albums. I dont know of any labels who produce music for bands really. I’m familiar with all of the Equilibrium releases. I’m into all kinds of music really and a lot of that style appeals to me.

e: You left Anathema because it was too restraining for you and then you left Antimatter for the same reason… Are you happy now with Ion? It seems that you really need to be the only man on board right?

DP: No, they were two completely different situations. With the Antimatter thing I needed a complete change. I was trapped in this puerile pseudo-emotional Gothic Metal scene that had no relevance to what I was doing musically. As well as that I was trying to improve myself and getting away from negativity as much as possible. We also had some ridiculous bad luck. It seemed that everywhere we turned there was an obstacle placed there to make things as difficult as possible. That may be due to the negativity and pessimism in the songs, who knows? I’m happy enough doing what I’m doing now. I don’t have any responsibility to keep anyone happy, and I can arrange to do exactly what I want to do without getting too stressed about things.

e: May I suggest that you’re a bit obsessed by religious (and mostly Christian) icons with a predominant fascination for the Holy Virgin Mary?

DP: I wouldn’t really call it an obsession. I do love old Catholic and Byzantine artwork. There is some sort of magic in it. I collect Virgin Mary statues and have them from all over the world.

e: Did you travel South America? Is that there that you get your tattoos?

DP: I was in Brazil about 13 years ago, but I didn’t get any tattoos. Everytime I’ve been to Mexico I have had tattoos done. I had the Virgin Mary one done in Monterrey.

e: As well as the Holy Virgin Mary, the masked wrestlers are also very popular icons over there… Are you also attracted by wrestlers? If so, is this a physical or a mental attraction?

DP: Yes, on my right arm I will get a tattoo of wrestling legend Giant Haystacks. I have been searching everywhere for statues too, but they are very rare. Its definately a physical attraction with Giant Haystacks. I saw many of the wrestling masks in Mexico, but I’m
not so keen on that style of wrestler. I much prefer big sweaty men with beards.

e: The “Jesus Christ” imagery is very popular in the Rockabilly/Garage/Rock n’ Roll scene… Do you like the vintage Rock n’ Roll scene or you’re definitely not an Elvis worshipper?

DP: I love Rock n’ Roll. I’ve played Elvis songs live hundreds of times. I’m not really a big fan of Jesus imagery anyway, I prefer his mammy.

e: What are you listening these days?

DP: Today I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen, Capitol K, and Jimi Hendrix. Yesterday I watched a Nick Cave DVD.

e: Is Iron Maiden still a good band?

DP: I thought their last great album was “Seventh Son”.

e: You’ll do this Anathema tribute gig in Krakow… Can you tell us more about that, was it your idea? Anathema seems to be quite huge in Poland right? I can’t remember the name of the place but there’s this tavern all lit by candles in the old Krakow, man you should definitely have a drink there…

DP: I was part of a similar thing last December in Bucharest. The Polish promoter heard about this idea and arranged a tribute night there and asking me to participate. I’m happy to be involved in these things. I love to travel and meet people. I hope it will be as magical
as the night in Romania. That tavern sounds good, I’ll try and check it out.

e: When will you play with Anathema again?

DP: Ask me again in another 10 years time.

e: Since you’re no longer with Anathema, I think the band really lost something, someone… What do you think of their post-Duncan Patterson works?

DP: I think that they gained a new type of listener after I left. The promotion for Judgement was immense, and attracted the kind of people who are attracted by immense promotion. Sure, they lost my style of writing but gained other things for themselves. “Temporary Peace” is a classic song, and the music on songs like “Balance” and “Closer” is really good. Plus they are much better live now than when I was in the band. Danny has always been a good writer so there was no reason that would stop just because I left the band. Some people miss my songwriting style in that band, some people don’t. Others don’t know/care who writes what, the brand name is way more important to them.

e: The lyrics on “Alternative 4″ reach an impressive level in depression & self-depreciation… What was your state of mind back then?

DP: I think it’s obvious in the lyrics how my state of mind was back then. Thankfully I am in a better place now.

e: What can we find in Ion lyrics?

DP: I guess the answer would be to read them, or listen to them. That’s what its all about.

e: Any live shows scheduled with Ion?

DP: Nothing is booked yet. I have been offered a few festivals and things but the timing and conditions weren’t suitable. I will definitely go out live though.

e: Please tell us Duncan how do you feel today as an artist… What are your thoughts when you look back at your career?

DP: I’m content with what I’m doing now. I’m happy that I turned my life around. Looking back, I try to remember the great experiences that I had and the important lessons learned from all the bad experiences.

e: What’s your upcoming projects now that the album is out?

DP: I have most of the music written for the next Ion album. A few bands have invited me to collaborated on their albums. I’m happy to be involved as long as I’m into what they’re doing and I’m not being messed around.

e: That’s it Duncan, thank you very much for your time & your great music, the last words are yours…

DP: Thanks for the coverage and well thought out questions. Anyone interested in my future releases, gigs etc. can check www.duncanpatterson.com or www.myspace.com/duncanpatterson .

Duncan Patterson

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It’s truly an honor for us to open this interview section with one of the most gifted musician in the actual scene, whatever the place, whatever the genre…
Superstars of the Martial Indus Rock scene, Albin Julius & his band Der Blutharsch will release their long-awaited new album in october 2007.
In the meantime, we decided to contact the man and ask him questions on his work, his life and everything in between…
Sure that some his words, especially in his music taste, will freak out some hardcore purists of the Indus scene out there but that’s the way Albin Julius does: like it or leave it!
Enjoy!

NB : Cette interview a été réalisée en anglais et est donc retranscrite dans sa langue d’origine. Pour les non-anglophones en galère de sous-titres contactez-nous par e-mail pour obtenir une version française de l’interview. Ce même principe sera appliqué pour toutes les interviews à venir dans ces pages.

emofag: I get in trouble with my boss because I have to go to on tour for 15 days and this pisses him off, what would you do if you were me (and I know perfectly you aren’t)?

Albin Julius: Well… I can’t tell you. I have never been in that situation, as I never had a job, so I think you should decide for yourself. I think, of course, that a tour is always more important than a job, as music is my life. But I think you should judge well, you have to get the butter on your bread somehow.
Fortunately, with all my gangmembers, they have cool jobs and can easily take one or two months free, which makes life for us easy. Next time, maybe, do a better planning and get some holiday for this time.

e: A new album is expected in a few months, what can you tell us about the direction it takes? Der Blutharsch keeps on evolving since its very beginning so what about now? Martial Rock n’ Roll? Indus Cocktail Music? A back-to-the-roots album?

AJ: Well. Fortunately, we keep on evolving, it would be poor if we would always do the same thing, and from my point of view it would be boring. I evolve every day, so should be the music.
The new album is getting more psychedelic than anything we did before… I am very happy with the result, and as we nearly finished the album, two songs are still to be mixed, I am really satisfied. This album marks the 10th year anniversary of Der Blutharsch, and I am happy with what we reached over these years and where we went to. As well, the release date is my 40iest birthday… So two good reasons to celebrate! We will be in Barcelona then, and be sure we will party!!!!

e: Did you start recording or are you still writing the new stuff? How do you work when it comes to songwritting? Are you still the main man in DB music?

AJ: We already recorded all songs, and, as I mentionned, except two songs, all songs are allready mixed. In june we fly over to Scotland to do the mastering, and then it is done.
Well, I am still the main man in DB, as I am the only original member… But the others got more and more important over the years as well for the songwriting in the studio. I first did ALL my music alone, meanwhile I work most of the time with Jörg on the songwriting, if you want to call it songwriting, as most songs just “happen” in the studio, and we still work as I used to do, take a piece and form a song around. Bain was here for one month, so he did a lot of vocals, and Marthynna did vocals and organs on this album as well… But I am still the “captain of the boat”.

e: I’ve noticed that you get closer and closer to a “real” band… Didn’t you think now about giving names to your songs? (NB: All DB songs are untitled)

AJ:No. It would make life to easy for journalists, fans and radio stations…

e: I’m a bit nostalgic of the first DB albums, I guess I miss the ambient side of it… Do you think you’re definitely done with this kind of stuff?

AJ:Yes… I am. Especially because I lost interest in this kind of music. I like Rock n’ Roll these days, and therefore got influenced by other things. Although Jörg says that the new album is in the vein of the old stuff, I can’t really hear these things in the new songs. But, in the end… I don’t really care.

e: The video on your last album was really good. Who directed it? Did you handle the artistic direction part of it? Is this something you plan to do again with the next album?

AJ: It was done by an Italian director named Davide Pepe… He worked with Diamanda Galas and other artists as well. He is a really talented guy, the video he did for us won a few prices on art video festivals –i.e. 3rd place on the Rimini video festival– and I am happy to be able to have such people working with me. He did the video by himself, so he developped the concept for it following my music.
I have plans to do a video again but not for the new album, as the thing I have in mind needs a lot of preparation and time is too short… I think that for next album we’ll have something done again.

e: “Smoke can burn your eyes but only people can make you cry” (NB: Inserted in the package of the last DB’s album), is this a quote of yours? It sounds really emo don’t you think?

AJ: It is a quote of a song from Roy Orbison. Great stuff. Roy Orbison is one of the big and dark musicians of his time. Great sleezy music, but really dark lyrics. And, yes… it is emotionnal isn’t it? Only peole can make you cry…

e: You did this picture in the “Fight Club” style, I suppose you loved the movie, right?
Who’s the sexiest: Tyler Durden or Robert “Meat Loaf” Paulson and his big tits?

AJ: Yes… I liked the movie… For a short period of time, Hollywood did really great movies… Unfortunately they turned back to stupid blockbusters. My favorite Hollywood movie of this time is “The Big Lebowsky”, absolutely perfect and very anarchisitc in its own way.
Who I consider the sexiest? Yes, I think Robert Paulson. In fact, he is the only sexy person in the movie.

e: Do you know the french director Gaspar Noe? His first movie “Seul Contre Tous ” (“I Stand Alone”) is really awesome, i’m pretty sure you’d enjoy it…

AJ: Yes… I know… I liked “Irreversible”, I even liked “Seul Contre Tous” more… But then I found “Dobermann” really disappointing and cliche… But, well, you can’t only do good movies. But “Irreversible” is really tough, and I liked the method he used to tell the story reverse.
Another french movie I really liked is “Baise moi!”. I have to say that France always had a good cinema tradition, and I like a lot of older movies… From the sixties and seventies… I am a BIG fan of the french police movies form from the seventies, with Lino Ventura and Jean Gabin. And, well, I have to confess that I LOVE Louis De Funes… since I was a child ’till today.

e: Top 5 favorite movies?

AJ: Oh… Making top lists is always stupid… I have far more than 5… I could make a top 200 probably, but I don’t think that makes sense.

e: It was a big shock to me when I discover The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud (NB: Previous Albin Julius’ band) ten years ago and since then I still wonder: Do you need to be in a particular mood to create such vibrant atmospheres, what inspires you the most?

AJ: No, I just did it then… Maybe I was in a strange mood generally then, but I can’t really remember. It is too far away for me, timewise and emotionnally. It doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.

e: I know you piss on Hip-Hop, however some of your sampling work in your early albums is quite similar to the approach of some “martial” Hip-Hop bands like Jedi Mind Tricks, Army Of The Pharaohs or Killarmy. Do you know these bands? Are you curious about how they sound or do you still think Hip-Hop is shit? Is that because this music and its whole culture doesn’t inspire you at all?

AJ: Well… I once said I hate Hip-Hop, I was mainly talking about American gangsta and mainstream Hip-Hop then… Simply because I didn’t know too much about Hip-Hop then.
I had my big “WOW” experience when I went to see a concert of Dälek a few years ago together with Steven Stapelton (NB: The man behind Nurse With Wound). He introduced me to Hip-Hop so to say. I was deeply impressed and Dälek opened my mind a lot. Since then I like some stuff quite a lot, especially the German artist Jan Delay. He is really funky, really good and heavy, although I don’t know if they do real Hip-Hop… And I really like Outkast, when I DJ, I play their music sometimes. So, well, I think I officially have to excuse myself and say “Sorry!” to all Hip-Hop-ers out there.
Well, meanwhile, I only see the world divided in good music and bad music, and I judge very individually. I am a big fan of Gorillaz… Five years ago if you would have told me that, I would have laughed. But I consider this is a good step to get more open, in music, in mind and in anyway… It is a good experience to get more open, as I since discovered a lot of groovy things in life.

e: Did you listen the new Throbbing Gristle album? Genesis P. Orridge freaks me out every time I see a picture of what he became, don’t you think he should have been casted to play the Robert Paulson character in “Fight Club”?

AJ: I just listened to it last time, I went to see a concert and they played it before the show. I was not really impressed… Too arty for my taste, and well, what can you expect from a band who only get reunited to make money!?
But I did see TG two years ago in Turin and it was really great, especially the second set when Genesis was allready drunk and really started to perform very intense. I will see them next sunday, they perform in Krems, a nice town at the Danube, 40 kilometers from where I live, and I am looking forward again to this show, as it will be for sure a party weekend.
I like the transforming of Genesis as well, he is a really extreme person, in all aspects of life and very, very nice. I organized a Psychic TV (NB: The band before TG) concert two years ago in Vienna, and had the pleasure to deal with him… And, well, forget TG nowadays… If you ever have the chance to go and see PTV, DO IT!!!!

e: Any tour scheduled for next winter or did you give up the idea of giving concerts due to the fact that you seem to attract a bunch of morons everytime you put a step outside?

AJ: Well, we decided not to tour anymore, as it simply takes too much energy off you, but well, one year of not performing live… Hmmm, we might change our thoughts about this. At least, we’ll perform in London in November, not as DB but as Albin Julius + Friends… We still don’t know what we will do there, but I think it will be quit experimental and psychedelic, we’ll see….
Next spring we might play at a festival or two, and then we’ll start working on a new album, maybe when we’ll release this one we might do a few dates to promote it.

e: To end with it: what are your current thoughts on the controversy about your band. You always say you don’t care but things must piss you off when you do hundred kilometers to hear you say that your show is cancelled because of some shit-heads’ propaganda?

AJ: Well… I, to be honest, am simply bored by such things. We get accused with things we never did and never happened. Most of the people who slander us don’t even know the music and just use false quotes which I’ve never said in this way. Yes… It is boring, especially to see what methods people use to fight something they don’t like without any understanding by using exactly the same methods of the things they fight against.

e: French press is particularly pathetic about you and your label… What’s your opinion on that? Is there a particular reason for them to talk shit on you? Did you break the heart of too many female journalists over there?

AJ: Well… I don’t know. I have only been aware of an article of a french music magazine, but I think that they are maybe only jealous. Not too many French bands in this scene have international success… And the only two french bands I have on HauRucK! (NB: Albin’s label) sell a lot worldwide and get a lot of attraction. Maybe this might be a reason, I don’t know, I don’t care. The success of what we do counts more for me than some stupid people who write stupid things.
Generally I keep this way with journalists and critics, at the end of the month the only critic which counts is the payment on my account.

e: Any further collaboration with Douglas (NB: Douglas P. from Death In June)? I mean, “Operation Hummingbird” is a wonderful album… My girlfriend works in a strip club and she does most of her shows on it…

AJ: Well, I would really like to see this show… Next time I am in France, let me know where she performs.
Further collaboration, maybe… I don’t know. We are both busy with our own projects, and for the moment I don’t want to waste my energy and ideas for other things than Der Blutharsch, we have a lot of things to be done, and plans for the future. But who knows, never say never!

e: You did some remixes for Wumpscut… Do you enjoy the band or the dude, maybe both? Would you give some of your stuff to get remixed? If so by who? Do you think Wumpscut could make a good score for a porno flick?

AJ: Yes… I did meanwhile 3 remixes for Wumpscut, he has done two for me and he’s working right now on another remix of the title track for the new album. Curious to see what will come out. In the same time I asked two other friends to do remixes… One by Derniere Volonte, one by English band Naevus which will release a great album in june on HauRucK!…
I like remixing stuff myself, sometimes I like more working on music other people did, and would like to remix more songs in the future. But I would like other band to remix my music as well. And also from other genres, which I consider much more interesting. One of my favorite remixing wishes would be The Dandy Warhols and Queens Of The Stone Age, bands I totally worship, but well… Maybe remixes from Dälek could be a good and interesting thing as well?

e: What are the artists you’re listening these days?

AJ: Many… Gorillaz, Earth, The Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Raconteurs, Low, Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Mountains, The Black Angels, Lee Hazlewood, Nick Cave as well as Grinderman, Soulwax, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, Franz Ferdinand… I mean, everythig I like…

e: The first DB album opens with a “Lili Marleen cover”… Have you ever thought of doing an album with these old folk militaria cabaret songs mixed in the Albin Julius style? A kind of compilation including some of your samples, speeches etc…

AJ: Not really… I did choose this song only because I really like it and love it. It is a great song… One of my top 10 list. And, it is quite funny… Did you know that this song, which often gets connected with the national socialists got banned by them for a while, because they considerd it “ungerman” ’till they discovered it is a bad idea to ban this song as it was far too popular? The guy who wrote it got killed later in a concentration camp. So, in the end it’s a very complex and tragic song, if you consider the circumstances. But, the song, itself, is simply beautiful.

e: By the way, Albin Julius, is that your real name?

AJ: Yes… It is my real first name…

e: Is your music & label activities enough to put some food (and wine) on the table or do you also work for the Austrian Secret Intelligence Service for a living?

AJ: I live from Der Blutharsch, and not too bad. Just bought a big house in the woods 16km outside of Vienna and built my own studio in it… So, I can’t really complain.
HaurucK! is more a hobby, all money I make goes directly into new projects. For me it is a good way, I see HR! as a privilege to release music from people I like, and as I don’t want to make profit with it I don’t have to release music just to have something to sell, I can really choose the music I love to be released. A “win-win” situation for me.

e: The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud CDs are around 100 euros on e-bay… I’ve read somewhere that you plan to re-issue those masterpieces, true? What comes to your mind when you look back in the days? Is there a band on earth for which you would spent so much money?

AJ: As I mentionned… It doesn’t mean anything to me today, and I never listen to the music I did then, but I never listen to a Blutharsch album after it is released as well. We talked about a possible re-release of TMLHBAC a while ago, but It has just reminded me why I split up with Elisabeth then and I don’t want to have these things in my life again, I don’t want this negativism. Since we split my life got simply so much better so that I don’t have any emotions about this time.

e: What’s a good day in Albin Julius’ life?

AJ: Every day is a good day in my life!

e: To me, the best track you’ve ever done is the last track on the second “Smell Of Blood” CD, there’s almost a biblical (no offense) feeling in this song, something unique & beautiful…
Could you tell me more about this song and especially the samples on it?

AJ: I can’t remember the song… So I can’t say anything about it.

e: What do you love/hate the most about your country?

AJ: Austria is a beautiful country to live, and there is nothing I really hate about my country. What I love about it? The good food, the nice people, the good relation to culture here, the politeness of the people and their sleazy way of life… I couldn’t imagine any other country to live… Simply because I am used to it here… Of course I think there are many other good places to live on earth. But life in Austria is simply easy and still quite cheap… And that’s nice.

e: Have you ever been to France? What do you think of our country?

AJ: Many times… And I like some parts quite a lot… What I do dislike is Paris, as it is too big for me, too hectic and too dirty… But the countryside is really a nice place to be in France.
Generally in France I feel a certain constant agressivity amongst people… But maybe this is only a feeling I get as a stranger. Fortunately me and Marthynna talk perfectly French, so as soon as you talk to a french person in french, they can get quite nice and polite…

e: Any good place to have a drink in Vienna?

AJ: Thousands!!!
Vienna is full of wine gardens and nice coffehouses… We have many cool bars and cocktailbars as well… And not to forget the great restaurants… Drinkin’ is an important part of Austrian culture… Most Vienese songs are about drinking. Drinking and death.

e: You got a new studio right? can you tell us a bit about the equipment in it?

AJ: I rebuilt my old studio… Only my studio has the same size than my old appartement in Vienna had now.
First I bought brand new mixing desks (a 36 + 24 expander) Soundcraft Ghost… Then I expanded my recording to 32 tracks and will upgrade to 48 soon… I bought some quite old equipment, like a Korg MS20, Polysix, Korg Delta etc… Some old organs (Farfisa, Rheem Mark VII), stingmachines (the same Pink Floyd used as well did Air), set up a complete drumset etc… The new album has been recorded without any use of my samplingmachine, quite interresting, if you consider that for a few albums sampling was the only thing I used to create my music. But I like to work this way now… No sampling, no computer… Good old stay analog… Thousands of knobs to turn.

e: What are your future plans with HauRuck!?

AJ: For now we scheduled the new Naevus album, followed by a limited 7” inch Of Derniere Volonte, a LP re-release of a Changes album and the new Bain Wolfkind MCD, then we go into summer break and for autumn have allready scheduled seven releases as well…

e: If life is war, does death mean peace?

AJ: As my mother always says: “You can sleep when you are dead!”

e: Well, that’s it, thank you for your time, I must say that I support you since a long long time so thank you for this great music and see you around!!! The last words are yours…

AJ: Thank you for your interest and your support!
And don’t forget to brush your teeth before you go to bed.

We then exchange a few e-mails which I consider an interesting add to this interview:

e: All right, thank you very much for the words & the pics, you rock!!!

AJ: Thank you… Well, we try to rock!!!!
You know: “uniforms are allways changing, Rock n’ Roll will stay forever!”

e: No more questions for the moment but more to come when I’ll hear the album…

AJ: Well… You will have to wait a while…

e: Funny that you love Louis De Funes, I was recently talking to a friend and we both agreed that this man is a total genius…

AJ: He IS… Really… I like his anarchistic way of acting…

e: Anyway the upcoming album “sounds” good, good thing that you’re more into Rock music.

AJ: Well… I think so as well… It gives you much more “freedom” to do whatever you want…

e: Thanks again Albin and I’ll let you know when the interview is online….

AJ: Good… Merci!

e: And yes: Gaspar Noé didn’t directed “Dobermann”, he only plays a small role in it, this movie was done by Jan Kounen who also directed “Vibroboy”: a mexican demon attacking people with a chainsaw topped with a dildo, fuck yeah…

AJ: Oh… That sounds quite interresting…
And, well, your girlfriend stripping to “Operation Hummingbird” sounds interesting as well…

Albin Julius

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