This interview was first published on www.emofag.net
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