:: Ca un supliment la câteva din gândurile scrise ale lui Nicolas van Meirhaeghe pentru ascultătorii lui, forța creativă din spatele Empusae – cunoscut sub pseudonimul Sal-Ocin – ne-a mai destăinuit câteva cuvinte despre el, în timpul discuțiilor noastre, pentru O.D.K. (Organic Disharmonia Kollective).

:: Într-unul din interviuri ai menționat că ai descoperit scena “dark underground” la vârsta de 16 ani. Ce formații și proiecte te-au impresionat cel mai mult la vremea respectivă? Cine te-a inspirat cu adevarat să compui/înregistrezi/redai muzica ta la început?

Formațiile pe care le-am descoperit la vremea aceea au fost Einstürzende Neubauten, Das Ich, Current 93, Death in June, acestea sunt cele amintite pana acum dar a fost eclectic. Muzica descoperită la petreceri și la radio (tradițional, nu online), m-a inspirat cel mai mult în acea perioadă. Adaug Lacrimosa cu compozițiile lor incipiente, și de asemenea prima lansare Sopor Aeternus.

:: Totuși ai fost apropriat de scena industrială și nu ai derivat pe latura “gothică” atât de mult, însă pe o zona și mai ocultă, străină, prin “peisajele unor tărâmuri uitate” ale minții, cum mai pot fi ele vazute. Cum poți descrie “viziunile” sau sursele de inspirație care te ajută sa creezi? Câteva detalii asupra paralelelor evidente cu civilizații pierdute.

Da, am ascultat multă muzică gothică la început. Totuși Empusae a avut un concept diferit pentru ce am vrut să exprim (și încă vreau) – muzică mai atmosferică, mai melancolică, există un element “gothic” în acest proiect, dar în mod sigur nu stilul muzicii, evident… dar nici chiar eu nu știu.

:: Aș zice că există o disciplină ocultă în sunet, o mișcare atragătoare, împreună cu ceva primitiv și totuși delicat și bine balansat. Care este povestea din spatele numelui Empusae? În mitologia greacă (Empusae – pl. pentru Empuse) reprezintă o semi-zeiță de o frumusețe vampirică, ce seduce barbați, un hibrid cu un picior. De asemenea era paznicul drumurilor și devoratoare de călători. Care din aceste însușiri definesc cel mai bine “Empusae” ca proiect muzical?

Ideea inițială cu care a fost ales “Empusae” a fost de fapt pentru specia de insectă numită “Călugarița”.

:: Și totuși ai profitat de variatele ei înțelesuri.

Estetica ei se potrivește perfect cu sunetul și emoția muzicii – delicată, întunecată și amenințătoare, și totuși înfricoșătoare și diabolică. Descoperirea că a fost și un vampir străvechi a venit mai târziu, ceea ce a fost placut, eu fiind un fan al vampirilor la vremea respectivă.

:: Dupa vizualizarea unor concerte pe internet, am observat că nu în toate au fost prezente proiecțiile vizuale, deși fumul și luminile slabe sunt componente omniprezente. Dacă aceste elemente vizuale fac parte din prezența scenică, ele redau aceeasi poveste ca un segment acustic sau sunt doar un element de fundal?

Putem spune că imaginiile sunt aleatorii, nu exista un înțeles aparte în spatele lor. Doar un impuls adăugat pentru a stimula fantezia; posibil ca acest aspect să se modifice in viitor, lucrez la asta.

:: Într-adevar muzica ta ar putea fi adoptata ca o coloana sonora a gândurilor și a fanteziilor, sunt de acord ca pot fi amplificate cu stimuli vizuali. Întodeauna am avut o vedere limitata asupra muzicii care se impune ascultatorului, care îl împinge sa vada ceva anume, uneori în moduri cu care unii nu pot fi de acord; evident aici nu este cazul.

Da, la fel și eu, doar dacă nu cumva muzica are un concept sau mesaj solid, dar într-adevar, nu este cazul pentru Empusae.

:: Ca o notă secundară, au fost discuții contradictorii printre cunoștințele mele despre piesa colaborativă cu Ordo Rosarius Equilibro (se intamplă să fie una din preferatele mele, împreună cu albumul “Error 404.”); au simțit că ORE au fost “sleiți de puteri și lăsați reci”. Care a fost viziunea generala a piesei din punct de vedere artistic în momentul respectiv? Suna foarte stăruitor, ca și când ar veni dinspre un spirit învaluit într-o mare durere.

Ideea albumului a fost oferirea unor piese colaboratorilor, pur instrumentale, pentru a face orice doresc ei cu ele, atâta vreme cât erau doar elemente vocale. Am ales artiștii pentru voci și puterea lor poetica.

:: Am înțeles, un mediu pentru vocile și cuvintele lor.

Da, exact.

:: Sunt dornic să văd urmatoarele colaborari, cum nu prea am văzut mulți artiști care se aventurează cu succes într-o “simbioză” veridică, mai mult încercari superficiale, în special cu “ingrediente” diferite. Când ne mai putem aștepta la viitoare proiecte?

Nu pot spune mai multe acum; sunt in stadii incipiente, dar interesante.

:: Nu m-aș îndoi niciodată.

Realizez că s-ar putea să dezamăgesc o parte din fani.

:: Cum anume?

Așa cum am făcut și înainte cu “Symbiosis” comparat cu perioada “Hands” și acum cu “Sphere from the woods”.

:: Te referi la “migrarea” linilor melodice?

Empusae nu mai este “Seygot”. Mai puțin electronic sau industrial, dar urmez ce îmi zice Empusae; nu gândește, se manifestă. Mai degrabă și-a schimbat stilul, presupun, cu toate că este o esenta mai adevarată Empusae față de cea din trecut. Mă aproprii mai mult de ea cu fiecare lansare dar “Symbiosis” a fost mai diferit, am avut nevoie de acest experiment pentru a îmi da seama unde mă indrept cu acest proiect; m-a ajutat să descifrez câteva aspecte iar rezultatul este “Sphere from the woods”.

:: Dacă esența se manifestă și crește, se transformă și se rafinează pe ea însăși, ar fi de apreciat ca și ascultătorii săi să se metamorfozeze împreună cu ea, sau cel putin să îmbrățișeze și să accepte adevarata sa natură.

Unii s-ar putea sa nu faca asta, ceea ce este de înțeles uneori, păstrezi o imagine a unui lucru care te-a atins puternic în trecut și trebuie să îi dai drumul, iar așteptările pot fi periculoase.

:: Într-adevăr, un fenomen firesc si o reacție înțeleaptă. Ai parte de același lucru ca ascultator, artist, dar și în viața, evolutiv – cineva poate primi un “cumul” la un moment dat (ex. o opera de arta), pentru care nu este încă pregătit, dar acea persoana poate evolua în timp și se poate întoarce la acel “cumul”,  pentru a-l înțelege pe deplin.

Da, cu timpul, cine știe… dacă nu, e păcat, nici o durere, doar amintiri. Timpul își va spune cuvantul… sau nu.

:: O (mică) parte din fanii “dezamăgiți” se vor întoarce la “Sphere in the woods”, poate într-un an, poate în câteva luni, poate mai mult poate mai puțin, și vor ajunge să îl înțeleagă și să îl aprecieze la final, sunt sigur.

Mulțumesc.

:: Că tot a venit vorba, venind într-o țară nouă pentru un concert, cum te simți și ce faci prima dată?

De-obicei nu am timp să vizitez nimic, dar îmi place să socializez cu localnicii. Când cunosc puțin organizatorii, sau sunt “deschiși”, e interesant să ne adunăm la ei pentru o masă/bauturi etc. Sunt mai interesat de oameni decât de clădiri sau orice altceva, dar desigur, daca am o zi disponibilă e placută o plimbare turistică. Oricum, mâcarea, băuturile si discuțiile sunt mai pe gustul meu; totul depinde de relația cu organizatorii (la un nivel personal).

:: Care sunt interesele tale legate de oameni în general? (de asemenea o curiozitate personală) Nu voi influența întrebarea cu vreo sugestie sau exemplu.

Hmmm, îmi place căldura umana, dacă pot spune așa, nu îmi plac oamenii reci, simțul umorului este foarte important, și să se bucure de virtuțiile vieții (băutură, mâncare, artă, muzică etc.) și prefer oamenii mai liniștiți, la locul lor, în schimbul celor gălăgioși și stresanți.

:: Fiind prezent în locul mic și aglomerat unde s-a ținut concertul în Gent, și după ce am facut schimb de impresii, s-ar putea să știu deja răspunsul urmatoarei mele curiozități: Luând în considerare baza de fani care diferă de la o țară la alta, dar și faptul că ai avut concerte prin Europa și nu numai, ce ai aprecia mai mult: un spatiu mai mare dar mai putin concentrat în fani sau un concert mic cu mai putin oameni dar o mai mare proporție de fani “adevărați”?

În mod sigur aș alege un spațiu mai mic cu un public entuziast în locul unuia care nu are nici o afinitate cu muzica. Atunci cand oamenii se asteaptă la ceva specific de la concert (să zicem că se asteaptă ca Empusae sa fie Dark Electro sau Rythmic Industrial) s-ar putea să fie dezamagiți si să nu fie deschiși la ce văd și aud. Atmosfera este foarte importantă pentru mine, în special pentru acest proiect, având în vedere muzica atmosferică.

:: La sfârșitul micului nostru schimb de gânduri, ai ceva specific de adresat ascultătorilor tăi în general, sau spre O.D.K și România?

Vreau să specific faptul că Empusae a fost și va fi mereu un proiect în stare de evoluție. Să zicem că se poate considera “organic”. Este de asemenea o caracteristică a Empusae ca insectă (Călugarița); își schimbă “pielea” de câteva ori pe durata vieții. De fiecare data crește si mai matură, iși schimbă câte puțin înfățișarea până aproape de ultima etapă a metamorfozei, când atinge stadiul de frumos și totusi înfricoșător. Cât pentru fanii din România, sper sa ajung să vă vizitez țara intr-o zi (cu cât mai devreme cu atât mai bine), să împărțim câteva pasiuni si să ne bucurăm de câteva obiceiuri și băuturi locale.

:: Mulțumesc încă o dată pentru interacțiunea plăcută și pentru deschidere, pe lângă unicele tale compoziții. Până pe data viitoare!

 răspunde Nicolas van Meirhaeghe

foto | Nicolas van Meirhaeghe. Empusae. Din amabilitatea artistului

:: As a modest addition to the few samples of Nicolas van Meirhaeghe’s written thoughts to his listeners, the creative force behind Empusae – Sal-Ocin by his pseudo name – has offered a few more insights about himself during our discussions for O.D.K. (the Organic Disharmonia Kollective).

:: In one of the interviews you mentioned that you have discovered “dark underground scene” when you were 16. Which bands and projects impressed you the most at the time? Who did truly inspire you to compose/record/play your own music in the beginnings?

The bands I discovered at that time were Einstürzende Neubauten, Das Ich, Current 93, Coil, Death in June, these are the ones I can recall so far, but it was very eclectic actually. Just the music I discovered at parties and radio (real old school radio, not online), those were the ones that inspired me the most during that period. Ah yes, there was Lacrimosa in his early compositions, and the first release of Sopor Aeternus as well.

:: Yet you were also close to the industrial scene, and didn’t derive towards the “gothic” side of things that much, but on a more occult, if not otherworldly area, through some “landscapes of lost realms” of the mind as one might see them how would you describe your “visions” or sources of inspiration that help you create what you now create? A bit of a.. detail on the obvious parallels with lost civilizations.

Yes, I listened to a lot of gothic at the beginning. Though Empusae had a different concept of what I wanted to express (and still do) – more atmospheric music, more melancholic, there is still something “Goth” in this project, but definitely not the style of music, go figure what exactly… don’t know myself.

:: I would say there is an occult discipline in sound, a certain luring motion with something primitive, yet uniquely delicate, and well balanced. What is the story behind the name Empusae? In Greek mythology (Empusae – pl. for Empuse) is a vampire-like beautiful demigoddess seducing men and a one-footed hybrid. She also was the guard of the roads and devourer of travelers. Which of the meanings impersonates “Empusae” as a music project better?

The initial idea of choosing “Empusae” was actually for the specific kind of praying mantis.

:: Yet you did take advantage of its many meanings.

Its aesthetic fits the sound and feeling of the music perfectly – delicate, dark and threatening and yet scary and devilish. The discovery of it being an ancient vampire was revealed later, which was a nice discovery, me being a fan of vampires at the time.

:: After watching some of your live performances on the web, I have observed that not all of them are accompanied by projected visuals, although smoke and dim light-works are omnipresent components. In case these visuals make part of your stage activity, do they tell the same story as an aural segment or they are just a background ingredient?

The images are so to say, random… in the sense that there is no meaning at all behind the visuals. Just some extra input to stimulate the fantasy; this might change in the future though… working on that.

:: Indeed, your music may well be adopted as a soundtrack for one’s own thoughts and fantasies, I do agree that they can be well augmented by visual stimuli. I always had a somewhat limited view on music that imposes on the listener, which pushes him to see something, sometimes in a way they may not agree with; this is obviously not the case.

Yes, me too, unless it’s music with a very concrete concept or message but that indeed, is not the case with Empusae.

:: As another side note, there was some controversy amongst some of my acquaintances about your collaborative track with Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio (happens to be one of my favorites, along with “Error 404..” album); they felt as ORE has been “stripped by their power, and rendered cold” What was the overall vision of the song, from an artists’ point of view at the time? it does sound very haunting, as if it came from a ghost enshrouded in great pain.

The concept of the album was to offer some songs to the collaborators, pure instrumental and they could do with it whatever they wanted, as long as it was only with vocals. I choose the artists for their voices and power of poetry.

:: I understand, a medium for their voices and words.

Yes, that’s it.

:: I’m keen on seeing your next collaborations, as I haven’t seen many artists who would venture successfully in a veridic “symbiosis”, rather than superficial attempts, especially with different “ingredients” When can we expect some new projects in near future?

I can’t tell you more now; too early phases, but exciting.

:: I would never doubt it

I realize I might disappoint some fans.

:: What do you mean?

As I did before with “Symbiosis” compared to the “Hands” era, and now with “Sphere from the Woods” as well.

:: Are you referring to the “migration” of melodic lines?

Empusae isn’t “Seygot” anymore. Less electronic or industrial, but I follow what Empusae tells me; it doesn’t think, it acts. No, merely to the fact that it really changed style I guess, although it’s an even truer Empusae-essence than before. I’m getting closer to it after each release, but symbiosis was kind of different I needed this experiment to find where I was going to with this project; it helped me figure out some aspects and “Sphere from the Woods” is the result.

:: If the essence of it manifests and grows, transforms and refines itself, I would only appreciate the listeners that get transformed together with it, or at least accept and embrace its true nature.

Well, some of them might not, which is understandable sometimes, you keep the image of something which hit you in a strong way in the past had to let it go, and expectations can be dangerous.

:: Indeed, an understandable phenomenon that happens, and a wise response to it. You experience it as a listener and I’m sure as an artist as well, and life, evolution as it goes – since one might receive a “package” at a point in time they might not be ready yet to receive after a certain time, they might evolve, and go back to that “package”, which in this case can be a work of art, and understand and embrace it fully then.

Yes, within time… who knows? If not, too bad, no harm, just memories… Time will tell… or not.

:: A part of your (few) “disappointed” listeners will come back to Sphere in the woods, maybe in a year, maybe in a few months, maybe less maybe more, and understand it and love in the end, I’m sure of it.

Thanks.

:: Speaking of which, each time you come to a new country for a gig, how do you feel and what are the things you are trying to do first-off?

I usually don’t have time to visit anything, but I like to mingle with the local people. When I know the organizers a bit, or when they’re ‘open’, it’s interesting to get to their place to have a meal/drinks etc.; I’m more interested in the people than buildings or whatever, but when I have some extra day of course, it’s always nice to have a guided tour. However food, drinks and chats are more my kind of thing; all is depending on the relation with the organizers (on a personal level).

:: What are your usual interests in people generally? (Also as a personal curiosity) and I will not influence the question with any suggestion or example.

Hmmm, I like human warmth as a matter of speaking, don’t like cold people, you see what I mean humor is important as well, and also being an enjoyer of life’s virtues (drinking, eating, art, music, etc.), and I prefer more quite, laid back people instead of loud and stressful.

:: As I’ve witnessed the rather small, crowded venue in which the Gent concert was held, and changed a few impressions afterwards, I might already know the answer to my next inquiry. Taking into consideration that your fan base differs from one country to another and you have played all across the Europe and overseas, what would you appreciate more, a large venue but less “fan” – concentrated or a smaller gig with fewer but more of them as the “true” fans?

I would definitely choose for a smaller venue with enthusiastic audience instead of a bigger crowd which has no affinities with the music. The thing is, when people expect something specific from a concert (let’s say they expect Empusae to be Dark Electro or Rhythmic Industrial) they might just be disappointed and not be open to what they see & hear. The atmosphere is very important for me, especially for this project, being all about atmospheric music.

:: At the end of our small exchange of thoughts, would you have any specific words to address to your listeners in general, or directed especially towards O.D.K. and Romania?

I want to specify the fact that Empusae has always been and will always be an evolving project. Let’s say you could consider it ‘organic’. This is also a specification of the Empusae as insect (praying mantis) it changes skin several times during lifetime. Each time, it grows more mature, changes a little bit of appearance until close to the last metamorphose, where it really reaches its state of beautiful though horrific state As for the fans in Romania, I really hope to visit your country one day (the sooner, the better), share some passion together and enjoying local customs and beverages.

:: Thank you once again for your warm interaction and openness, added to your unique compositions. Until next time!

answers by Nicolas van Meirhaeghe

photo | Nicolas van Meirhaeghe. Empusae. Courtesy of the artist

:: Echipa Signvm Imperii vorbeşte astăzi cu TRIARII, un nume de referinţă pentru genul martial-industrial.

:: Salut, Christian, şi bine ai venit în cadrul SI. Ne pregătim cu toţii de evenimentul din februarie 2015, în Bucureşti. Ne spui, te rog, pe scurt, cine se află în spatele TRIARII şi când ai început?

TRIARII este un proiect one-man şi a fost înfiinţat în 2004 de mine. Sigur, am lucrat cu muzica cu mulţi ani înainte. Un prieten m-a pus în contact cu label-ul Eternal Soul Records şi aceştia au avut curajul si interesul să lanseze TRIARII. Din păcate, label-ul şi-a încetat activitatea la începutul lui 2014.

Timp de câţiva ani am fost ajutat live chiar de şeful label-ului şi de Axel Frank, de la Werkraum. In prezent, alături de mine pe scenă se află Nicolas van Meirhaeghe de la EMPUSAE.

:: Ultimul concert susţinut în România a fost impresionant şi ne-a rămas în memorie. Mai ţii minte ceva de atunci?

Da, am încă amintiri şi acum. A fost un club impresionant şi a atmosferă pe masură, oaspeţi speciali şi am fost înconjurat de mulţi prieteni de la alte trupe. Nu ne vedem prea des, aşa că reuniunea asta din Bucureşti a însemnat ceva memorabil.

Cu excepţia câtorva persoane nedorite cu ideologii politice înguste, publicul a fost entuziast, prietenos şi generos.

Am recunoscut o limbă fascinantă. Bucureştiul a fost destul de surprinzător pentru mine. Clădiri vechi în stilul Art Deco/Art Nouveau. Păcat că erau în stare aşa de proastă, dărâmate şi murdare. Probabil înainte arătau foarte bine. Iar pe de altă parte, mall-urile caracteristice şi semnatura socialist a regimului Ceauşescu. Toate una lângă alta… Impresionant, însă într-un fel neliniştitor.

:: În aceeaşi notă, speri la ceva special cu ocazia noii tale vizite?

Desigur, sper să avem un concert care să mulţumească fanii şi să ne simţim bine împreună cu gazdele şi publicul. Faţă de data trecută, vom putea sta mai mult în Bucureşti, aşa că sper să pot vedea mai mult din oraş.

:: Înainte de a ne adânci în simbolismul şi ramificaţiile TRIARII: dacă ai putea fi martorul tăcut al oricărui moment sau loc din istorie, ce crezi că ar fi mai interesant de văzut?

Deşi TRIARII are efectul unei revărsării bombastice, în realitate principalul meu interes rezidă în lucrurile subtile. Nu mă interesează descrieriile vizuale, acţiuni univoce sau aparenţele, fiindcă cred că în majoritatea lor sunt false sau cel puţin partial incorecte. Sigur, mi-ar plăcea să observ toate aceste situaţii în care au fost luate deciziile politice între imperii, politicieni şi împăraţi, fără aţine seama de rezultatele pe care le cunoaştem din literature istorică. Tot cee ace lăsăm să se vadă în calitatea noastră de fiinţe umane e deseori camuflat; pentru a ne proteja, a atrage, a ne ascunde gândurile, sentimentele şi speranţele. Infăţişarea evidentă exterioară nu arată mereu ce se petrece cu adevărat în interior.

:: TRIARII preamăreşte Europa atât ca simbol, cât şi ca realitate geografică. Oare mai există valori perene care să întregească o unitate europeană?

În primul rând, realitatea geografică a continentului însuşi. Apoi, oameni în istorie care au încercat să schimbe graniţele; dar asta ţine mai mult de dorinţa de a extinde graniţele unei ţări. Pot accepta definiţia continentului European din prezent. Nu cred în toate aceste viziuni multiple de pan-nu-ştiu-ce-uniuni care pretind anumite teritorii.

Încă mai cred într-o Europă a co-existenţei culturale; în care oameni diferiţi au opinii diferite, limbi diferite, culture diferite şi trăiesc în ţări diferite cu granite pentru care ei au luptat odată pentru a fi cee ace sunt astăzi. Diversitatea imensă şi-a îndeplinit funcţia multă vreme. Apreciez că ţările vecine cu mine sunt diferite. E un elemnt de îmbogăţire şi totodată un factor individual care mă defineşte. Atâta timp cât ai o viziune deschisă asupra lumii, restricţiile identităţii tale culturale te pot face deschis pentru cei din jurul tău. Pare un paradox, dar cred că aşa a funcţionat multă vreme.

Să încerci să faci din Europa un fel de super-stat hardcore-economic, unde fiecare e egal în sensul neimportanţei sale, nu funcţionează. Apreciez Uniunea Europeană ca o construcţie care facilitează comerţul şi călătoriile, dar povestea îndoielnică care spune că o monedă unică îmbunătăţeşte traiul, nu se confirmă pentru mine. Până acum a avut multe efecte pozitive pentru puţini şi o grămadă de efecte negative pentru majoritatea oamenilor.

:: Printre valorile tradiţionale ale epocilor trecute, e uneori greu de găsit noi valori autentice în al treilea mileniu. Crezi că am reuşit să distrugem complet capacitatea de a crea valori sau în realitatea trebuie să reuşim să înţelegem esenţa secolului 21?

Umanitatea a urmat valori tradiţionale de secole. In trecut, aceste valori erau diferite şi s-au schimbat în decursul timpului. Au fost modificate pentru a corespunde cu ce nouă ne convine. Si se vor schimba iar şi iar. Poate în sens invers sau către ceva ce încă nu putem întrezări.

În special acum, văd că valorile tradiţionale devin din ce în ce mai importante. Oamenii se bazează pe ele deoarece le recunosc a fi de ajutor şi convenabile. În vremuri în care structurile sociale, economice şi politice sunt pe cale să se destrame, oamenii se îndreaptă înapoi către valorile tradiţionale, deoarece acestea ne protejează şi ne înrădăcinează; doar să nu fie prea riguroase.

Provocarea e să nu apelăm iar la structuri care s-au dovedit inoperative. Structurile străine şi orice e nou cauzează uneori teamă. Dar a le refuza şi a ne reîntoarce la vechile şi cunoscutele structuri înseamnă o repetiţie fără a realiza ceva util pentru viitor – ci făcând aceleaşi greşeli mereu şi mereu. Sarcina noastră e de a duce mai departe valorile tradiţionale, de a privi diferenţiat noi structuri, şi apoi de a selecta şi separa pe cele folositoare de cele irelevante. Să ducem mai departe vechile valori tradiţionale fără a le uita, ci îmbogăţindu-le. Vedeţi ce ne-a adus revenirea la vechile structuri… In cea mai mare parte frică, război şi negarea structurilor sau a ideilor care sunt mult mai uşor de integrat decât cred unii oameni.

Oricum, valorile tradiţionale sunt importante. O rădăcină din care s-a format identitatea culturală influenţează structura personală şi poate fi utilă pentru realizări în viitor.

Dar, desigur, umanitatea e destul de limitată; mergem cu tradiţiile în spate, dar numai cu paşi mici. Realizăm ceva, apoi respingem, ne întoarcem de unde am plecat; nu la prima fază, dar undeva în trecut, realizând ceva nou, mergând mai departe, negând, dând înapoi… Avansăm cu paşi mici şi repetitivi.

:: Războiul reprezintă o temă constantă pe albumele scoase de TRIARII şi folosită pentru “a documenta mizeria şi cruzimea războiului şi a distrugerii.” Ar putea războiul tehnologic să fie un material potrivit pentru un album TRIARII?

Războiul e o temă constantă pentru orice fiinţă vie. Temele folosite pe albumele TRIARII apar ca provocatoare şi uneori şocante, dar până la urmă totul se reduce la sentimentele noastre cele mai ascunse. Războaiele care au avut loc şi care sunt şi în prezent sunt doar una din formele evidente ale unei expresii dezastruoase. Metaforic, mergem la război de multe ori într-o viaţă; şi nu seamană cu războiul istoric pe care îl cunoaştem. Acesta e foarte subiectiv. Ne luptăm cu păreri, oameni, cu propriile insctincte, etc.

Fiinţa umană e astfel făcută să distrugă lucruri şi să o ia din nou de la capăt. Reînnoire, înflorire, război, distrugere şi din nou reînnoire.

Aşa că da, războiul are şi o parte de eliberare şi e cea mai distructivă cale de a provoca o schimbare… dacă e bine sau rău rămâne să se decidă după.

Tot ceea ce trăieşte, trebuie să moară…mai devreme sau mai târziu…de ce aceasta să nu se aplice şi ideologiilor, sistemelor politice sau statelor? Suntem prea mici şi neimportanţi pentru a crede că noi sau ce lasăm în urmă ar fi pentru totdeauna.

Aceastea fiind spuse, un război tehnologic nu reprezintă interes pentru ceea ce fac eu. Muzica TRIARII nu se potriveşte cu o astfel de temă. Ar însemna să apelez la sunetele artificiale synthetic-techno, iar aceasta nu se potriveşte cu sunetul TRIARII… Dar cine ştie.

:: Ascultând o piesă ca “On wings of steel”, revine în minte figura lui Yukio Mishima şi relaţia sa mistică cu avioanele de vânătoare. Această simbioză om-maşină capătă noi semnificaţii pe timp de război, fiind poate o prefigurare a noului om, sau mai degrabă vezi în aceasta o reinterpretare a eroului greco-roman în viitor?

“On Wings of Steel” se referă la dorinţa de distrugere şi depravare. Si la războaiele secolului 20 în care avioanele au aparut şi s-a făcut un mare pas înainte în crearea unor noi forme de distrugere. Pentru TRIARII, e proclamaţia de a distruge lumea de la înălţime pentru a dezvălui ceva ce ar folosi mai mult decât ceea ce lumea stupidă face în prezent.

:: Cultura de expresie germană a reuşit să atragă atenţia cu stilul ei tranşant şi bombastic. Odată ce a trecut de aşa-numitul sindrom Werther, germanul devine integru, decis şi afectat în mod pozitiv. Poţi ilustra în câteva cuvinte spiritul german?

Mă îndoiesc puternic că aşa-numitul efect Wertherian stă într-o relaţie cauzală cu spiritul german. Deşi în istorie, comportamentul germanilor a fost uneori auto-destructiv şi foarte agresiv, nu i-aş descrie drept suicidali. Poate narcisişti referitor la credinţele lor şi într-un fel convinşi de ceea ce fac.

Poate mă înşel, dar cred că germanii nu sunt mai mult sau mai puţin suicidali decât alte popoare din alte ţări. Cred că rata de sinucideri dintr-o ţară depinde mai mult de problemele personale decât de realităţi ca lipsa luminii soarelui, persecuţiile politice sau singurătatea.

Pot fi de acord că există diferenţe în felul în care situaţiile şi problemele se exprima şi sunt rezolvate, dar cred că asta are legătură mai mult cu sursele socio-culturale şi socio-emoţionale. Sunt o singură persoană şi nu pot generaliza comportamentul meu pentru a defini spiritul german.

Mulţi care au prejudecăţi, cred că germanii sunt integrii, decişi, destul de lipsiţi de umor, mereu punctuali, exacţi, stricţi şi precişi, zgârciţi, foarte pragmatici, conservativi şi limitaţi. Prejudecăţile sunt uneori utile pentru a categoriza oamenii, altfel nu avem nevoie de ele. Parţial conţin adevăr datorită experienţei, dar sunt şi parţial false şi înflorite pentru a concretiza într-un mod simplu.

Unele dintre prejudecăţile de mai sus mi se potrivesc, altele nu.

:: Dacă ai avea de ales între un concert Wagner şi unul Brahms unde ai merge? Sau ai alţi compozitori clasici pe lista ta?

Aş alege Brahms. Stiu că orchestraţile mele monumentale sunt comparate cu Wagner dar, de fapt, nu îmi place Wagner aşa de mult.

:: Ne poţi recomanda câteva albume care ţi-au plăcut în 2014, precum şi unele dintre favoritele tale în general?

Nu, nu prea… cu cât mă implic mai mult în muzică, cu atât mai puţin ascult muzică pe care nu o fac eu.

:: În prezent apari pe scenă cu Nicholas van Meirhaeghe (Empusae). Cum v-aţi întâlnit?

M-am întâlnit cu Nicolas de câteva ori cu ocazia unor concerte.

După ce m-am despărţit de persoanele care mă ajutau live, el s-a oferit să mi se alăture. Aproape toţi care intră în contact cu TRIARII presupun mai întâi ceva radical sau îndoielnic din punct de politic , însă el a înteles intenţia mea şi ce se află în spatele conceptului şi poate susţine ceea ce fac. Să lucrezi şi să afisezi orice formă de “ism” nu înseamnă neapărat că le susţii.

Pe deasupra, suntem în relaţii de prietenie şi îl consider unul dintre apropiaţii mei, deşi stă departe în Belgia şi nu ne vedem prea des.

:: Ai planuri pentru un nou album TRIARII? La ce proiect(e) lucrezi în prezent?

Da, am câteva idei şi planuri pentru produse viitoare.

Cu siguranţă 2014 a fost un an prost pentru muzică. Acelaşi lucru îl aud de la prietenii şi colaboratorii mei muzicali. Parcă a fost o graniţă invizibilă, o bulă în care creativitatea a fost interzisă.

Muza e ca un partener de o viaţă. Nu o poţi forţa să apară când vrei tu. Dacă totuşi încerci, de obicei nu se termină cu bine.

După fiecare lansare, am nevoie de odihnă, fiindcă mă consumă mult. Parcă sunt gol şi extenuat. Titlul “Exile” deja conţinea anunţul de retragere. M-am concentrat asupra noii mele vieţi la tară aproape de Alpii germani şi pe alte probleme personale. Am pornit din nou, dar sfârşitul neaşteptat şi brusc al label-ului Eternal Soul Records a cerut o altă schimbare. Unele idei şi concepte necesită prea mult timp şi sunt prea mari ca să le poţi pune pe un singur produs. Mi-a trebuit ceva timp să accept asta, că unele lucruri sunt imposibile…până la un punct, cel puţin. Intre timp, mi-am dezvoltat posibilităţile de lucru.

Sunt destul de perfecţionist când vine vorba de propriile creaţii şi chiar dacă toţi ceilalţi sunt mulţumiţi de rezultat, nu e sigur că şi eu voi fi. Impulsul meu interior mă împinge să îl îmbunătăţesc, să-l completez şi să-l definitivez. E mai rău de la album la album. Pe de o parte e bine pentru rezultate, dar pe de altă parte e chiar un handicap uneori; să încerci să realizezi ceva ce nu poate fi realizat în acest moment…poate nu va fi niciodată realizat.

Pentru moment lucrez la un nou album TriORE. Deja există tema conceptuală şi câteva cântece…dar mai sunt de făcut. TriORE a fost mereu un fel de proiect secundar pentru mine şi Tomas Pettersson şi nu trebuie să se intersecteze prea mult cu proiectele noastre principale. Aşa că singura problemă care poate împiedica finalizarea albumului e timpul.

EP-ul “Farewell all my Cumrades” a întârziat deja, şi sperăm să îl lansăm cât mai curând.

Sunt în contact cu un label cu care aș lucra, dar vom vedea dacă pot fi îndeplinite cerintele mele pentru calitate.

Pretenţiile, restricţiile şi cerintele mele au meritat întotdeauna efortul.

:: E posibilă o colaborare în viitor cu alţi artişti?

Da, sigur… dacă nu apare nimic serios, se va naşte, ridica şi lansa în 2015.

:: La fel cum se întâmplă cu multe idei îndrăzneţe şi prezenţe impunătoare în undergroundul cultural, controversele apar de-a lungul drumului. Ai vrea să adaugi un mesaj cititorilor legat de esenţa TRIARII, ce te face să continui?

După cum am mai spus: “Arta nu e niciodată doar la stânga sau la dreapta nici doar neagră sau albă… Viaţa nu e aşa de simplă.”

Dacă accepţi că tot ceea ce apare conţine ceva dincolo de aparenţă şi esti dornic să lasi forţa TRIARII să deschidă o poartă către interior, să accepti şi apoi să încerci să vezi şi să simti ce se întâmplă înauntru -cu toate refuzurile interne, conformisme şi alte sentimente emergente, departe de orice limitări ideologice, atunci probabil că eşti la jumătatea drumului către înţelegere.

Pot înţelege că e mult mai uşor să-ţi trăieşti viaţa într-o limitare ideologică, deoarece foarte multe sunt predeterminate. Acest fel de simplitate face ca viaţa să fie mai uşoară, dar înseamnă negarea sau segregarea unei imense parţi a personalităţii şi fiinţei umane.

Umanitatea nu a fost făcută doar pentru aceasta.

:: Îți mulțumim Christian, și abia așteptam să ne vedem in București în Februarie.

răspunde Christian Erdmann

foto | Christian Erdmann. TRIARII. Din amabilitatea artistului

:: The Signvm Imperii staff talks, today, with TRIARII, a reference act for the martial industrial genre.

:: Hello, Christian and welcome to SI. We’re all preparing for the upcoming event in February 2015 in Bucharest. Would you like to tell us, in short, for our newer readers, who is behind TRIARII and when did you start?

TRIARII is a one-man project and was founded in 2004 by me. Of course I’ve worked with music for many years before. A friend of mine brought me in contact with the former label Eternal Soul Records and they had the courage and interest to release TRIARII. Unfortunately the label stopped its work in the beginning of 2014.

For several years, I’ve been live supported by the label chief himself and Axel Frank of Werkraum. Nowadays, I am live supported by Nicolas van Meirhaeghe of EMPUSAE.

:: Your last performance in Romania has been monumental and has remained with us for a long while. Is there anything that has stuck to memory since then?

Oh there are several memories still present. It has been a great club and atmosphere, great hosts and I’ve been surrounded by many friends of other bands. We do not see each other that often and so this gathering in Bucharest made it memorable.

Besides a few unwanted political ideological narrow minded people, the audience was enthusiastic, friendly and generous.

I’ve recognized a fascinating language. Bucharest itself was quite disturbing for me. Old buildings from the era of the Art Deco / Art Nouveau. Quite sad to see how shabby they partly were; crumbled and in bad condition. They must have been very beautiful in former times. On the other hand several new capitalistic malls and the socialistic signature of the Ceausescu regime. All side by side… Impressive, but still disturbing in a way.

:: On the same note, is there anything special that you’re hoping for with your next visit?

Of course I hope for a great show that pleases the fans and for a good time with the hosts and the audience. In opposite to last time, we are able to stay a little bit longer in Bucharest, so I hope to see some more of the city.

:: Before we delve deeper into the symbolism and ramifications of TRIARII: if you were to be able to silently observe any moment in history, any place, what would you think would be interesting to see?

Though TRIARII comes along like a bombastic overrun, my main focus actually lies more on the subtle things. I am not interested in visible descriptions and obvious actions and appearances, because I think that they are mostly false or at least partly incorrect. Indeed I’d like to observe all those situations where political decisions between empires, politicians and emperors have been made. Irrespective of the outcome that we know from historical literature. Everything we present as human beings is often covered; to protect ourselves, to appeal, to hide our innermost thoughts, feelings and longings. The obvious visible output is not always displaying what’s really going on inside.

:: TRIARII eulogies Europe both as symbol and geographic reality. Are there still perennial values that cement an European unity?

First of all the geographical reality of the continent itself. Besides people in history who often tried to shift borders; but that belongs more to the longing for extending a single country. I can accept the definition of the European continent of nowadays. I don’t believe in a all those manifold visions of pan-whatever-unions who are claiming certain territories.

I still believe in the Europa of cultural co-existence; where different people do have different opinions, different languages, different cultures and living in different countries with their borders that they were fighting for; to accomplish and becoming what they are today. The huge diversity fulfilled its function for years and decades. I appreciate that my neighbor countries are different. It contains the possibility of enrichment and still leads to me to myself; where I am from and where I belong to. As long as you have an open world view, your restriction of your cultural identity can make you open for the others around you. Sounds like a paradox, but I think it worked like that for a long time.

Trying to make Europa a kind of hardcore-economical-super-state, where everybody is equal in the sense of irrelevant, is no good. I appreciate the European union as construction that makes trading and traveling easier, but the doubtful story that one currency makes everything better for every citizen is not proven for me. So far it brought many positive effects for a few and a lot of negative effects for the majority of people.

:: Amongst the traditional values of the past era, it is sometimes harder to find new genuine values in the third millennium. Do you think we’ve managed to completely erase our capacity for valor, or is it in fact a hidden backbone of the 21st century that we’ve yet to fully grasp?

Humankind accomplished traditional values over several decades and centuries. In past times, those values differed a lot and they’ve changed over time. They’ve been edited and transformed to what we find suitable. And they will change again. Maybe backwards to an earlier point, maybe transformed to something we cannot think about right now.

Especially nowadays, I see, that traditional values becoming more and more important. People do rely on them because they experienced them as helpful and suitable. In times where social, economical and political structures are going to erode, people are falling back onto traditional values because they are giving shelter and keep us grounded; as long as they are not too hardened.

The challenge is, not to fall back into structures, which already have been experienced in an inoperative way. Foreign structures and anything new often causes fear. But to generally refuse them and falling back into old well-known structures often means to make a roll back and to repeat without accomplishing something helpful for the future – but doing all faults over and over again. The task is, to carry useful traditional values to the future, to look at new structures differentiated and then to select and to separate the useful from the irrelevant. Carrying the old traditional values without forgetting them but enriching them.

You can see what the fall back into old structures brought… Mostly irrational fear, war and the denial of structures or ideas that are much more easy to integrate than people think.

Nonetheless, traditional values are important. A root that formed cultural identity, has its influence on personal structure and can be helpful for accomplishments in the future.

But of course, humankind is quite restricted; so we will walk on with our traditions on our back; but only in very small steps. We will accomplish something, then denying, falling back; not onto zero, but to a certain point in the past, accomplishing something new, moving forward, denying, falling back… Moving slowly forward by repeating.

:: War is a constant theme on TRIARII albums used to “document the misery and cruelty of war and destruction”. Would a technological war be a good material for a TRIARII record?

War is a constant theme for every human being alive. The themes on the TRIARII albums appear provocative and sometimes striking, but in the end it all goes down to our innermost feelings and beings. The warfare that took and take place is just one of the biggest and most obvious forms of a disastrous expression.

Metaphorically, we are all going to war many, many times in our lives; and it doesn’t need to appear like the historical wars we know. It is very subjective. We are fighting opinions, we are fighting people, we are fighting against our inner drive, etc.

The human being is constructed to destruct things and then to start over again. Renewal, blossom, war, destruction… and renewal again.

So yes, war also contains relief and is the most destructive way to cause a change… if it is for good or for bad needs to be decided afterwards.

Everything that lives, needs to die… sooner or later…. why should this not count for ideologies, political systems or states? We are way too small and unimportant to think that we or our creations are eternal.

Besides that, a technological war is none of interest for me to work on. The music of TRIARII doesn’t suit that theme. It would be necessary to step into very artificial synthetic-techno-sounds; and those would not fit to the sound of TRIARII… But who knows.

:: Listening to a song like “On wings of steel”, it comes to mind the figure of Mishima and his mystical relation with hunting planes. Is it this machine-man symbiosis that gains new meanings in wars, a prefiguration of the new man or do you rather visualize a reinterpretation of the Greek-Roman hero in the future?

“On Wings of Steel” refers to the lust for destruction and depravity. Referring also to the wars of the 20th century where airplanes came up and a huge industrial step forward made it possible to bring such new forms and possibilities to destroy ourselves. For TRIARII, it is the proclamation to destroy the world from high above; to let something reveal that might be better than what stupid humankind is doing.

:: The culture of German expression has succeeded in drawing attention with its expressionist sharp and bombastic style. Once past the so-called Werther syndrome, the German becomes firm, resolute and positively affected. Can you illustrate in few words the German spirit?

I hardly doubt, that the so called “Werther-Effect” stands in causal relationship to a kind of “German spirit”. Although in historical incidents, the behavior of the Germans often was quite self-destructive and very aggressive, I would not describe them as suicidal. Maybe narcissistic when it comes to their belief and in a way convinced by what they do.

Maybe I am wrong, but I think the Germans are not more or less suicidal than people in other countries. I think the rate of suicides in a country depends more on personal issues and on facts like the lack of sunlight, political oppression or loneliness.

I can agree, that there are differences in the way of how to express and how to handle situations and issues, but I assume that this has more to do with social-cultural and social-emotional sources. I am just one person, so I definitely cannot generalize my behavior and spirit and make it one for all Germans.

Many people having the prejudice, that Germans are firm, resolute, quite unhumorous, always on time, exact, strict and accurate, parsimonious, very much down to earth, conservative and restraint. Prejudices are often quite helpful to categorize people; there is no other need for them. They are partly containing truth due to experience, but are also partly false and embellished to concretize in a simple way.

Some of the prejudices from above suit me, some do not.

:: If you were to choose between a concert playing Wagner versus one with Brahms what would you head for? Or you have other classic composers on your list?

I would go for Brahms. I understand, that my huge orchestrations are partly compared to Wagner, but actually I don’t like Wagner that much.

:: Can you recommend us some albums that you’ve cherished most in 2014, and some of your all-time favorites?

No, not really… the more I am involved into music, the less I am listening to music that is not made by me.

:: Nowadays you perform live with Nicholas van Meirhaeghe (Empusae). How did you come across him?

I met Nicolas a few times on various concert occasions.

After the split up with the other live supporters, he offered to step in.

Nearly everybody who comes across TRIARII first assumes something radical or politically doubtful, but he understood the intention and what’s behind it and can support what I do. To work with and to display any forms of “isms” doesn’t mean necessarily that you support them.

Meanwhile we are having a very good friendship and I’d call him one of my closest friends; though he is far away in Belgium and we do not see us that often.

:: Do you have plans for a new TRIARII release? On what project(s) are you working these days?

Yes I do have several ideas and plans for future releases.

2014 was definitely a very bad year music-wise. The same I hear all around me from my musical friends and partners. It felt like an invisible border, like a bubble where creativity was forbidden.

The “Muse” is like a lifetime partner. You cannot force her to appear when you want it. The attempt to do so mostly ends up badly.

After each release, I need time to rest, because it steals so much energy. It feels like being completely empty and exhausted. The title of “Exile” already contained the announcement to  make a withdrawal. I’ve focused on my new life on the countryside close to the German Alps and on other personal things. I’ve started again, but the sudden and unexpected end of Eternal Soul Records made another change necessary. There are several ideas and concepts which are taking too much time and which are way too big to bring them onto one release. I needed some time to accept, that some things are impossible… at least at this point.

In the meantime I’ve increased my working possibilities.

I am quite a perfectionist when it comes to my own creations and even if everybody would be fine with the result, it is mostly not assured, that I am thinking the same. My inner drive pushes me to make it better, bigger and more complete. It’s getting worse from release to release. On one hand good for the results, but on the other hand quite a handicap sometimes; to try to fulfill something that maybe cannot be fulfilled this time… maybe will never be fulfilled.

At the moment I am working a lot for the new TriORE album. The theme concept and several songs are made… But still a few steps to go. TriORE has always been a kind of “side-kick” for Tomas Pettersson and me and should not interfere too much with our main projects. So the only matter that plays a role, for finishing the album, is time.

The EP “Farewell all my Cumrades” is already late but we hope to release it as soon as possible.

I am in contact with a label that I am considering to work with, but we will see if my high requirements on quality and the CI of TRIARII and TriORE can be fulfilled.

My high claims, restrictions and requirements have always been worth it.

:: Is any collaboration with other artists possible in the near future?

Yes it is…  if nothing serious interferes, it will be born, raised, finished and released in 2015.

:: As with many bold ideas and imposing presences in the cultural world, there come some controversies along the way. Would you like to add a message to our readers about the core essence of TRIARII, what drives you forward?

As I’ve already mentioned many times before: “Art is never only left or right nor is it only black or white… Life is not that simple.”

If people accept, that everything that appears contains something under the surface, and are willing to let the bombastic overrun of TRIARII opening a gate to the innermost; to let it happen and then try to see and feel what’s happening inside – with all the inner refusal, compliance and any other feeling that might appear; far beyond any stupid ideological restriction; then you might be on half the way to understand.

I can understand, that living a life in ideological restriction is much easier,
because very much is predetermined. This kind of simplicity makes life much easier, but it means to neglect or to segregate a huge content of personhood and human being.

Humanity was not only made for this.

:: Thank you, Christian, and looking forward to seeing you in Bucharest in February.

 answers by Christian Erdmann

photo | Christian Erdmann. TRIARII. Courtesy of the artist

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

Name: Predrag Pajdic

Location: London, United Kingdom

Occupation: Artist, Author, Curator, Editor

Definition of personal sphere:
There can be no definition of personal sphere as I am completely against the boxing and labeling of creativity. How can one label something which occurs organically, perhaps spontaneously and always passionately? To be free of labels and to continuously create with every breath in and out, is the only sphere worth occupying.

Artwork in 4 words: Make Your Mind Up

What is inspirational for you: Everything that is not limited or defined by ten words or less.

Currently favourite artists: How many can I put? To include just a few would exclude so many and every day brings exciting inspiration.

Tools of trade: Atoms and molecules, did I say in all shapes and forms? Ah yes, I did.

Current obsessions: This afternoon, it was tiny plastic objects that made me laugh and the reconnection with the past linking to a bright future, yesterday it was rest and grace after the exhausting but rewarding launch of my book Beneath The Shadows The Soul Walks as my incredible supporters and friends had traveled literally from all over the world to attend and tomorrow, well, tomorrow will most likely be the next concept to develop.

Personal temptation: Beauty, I am eternally tempted by beauty in every shape and form, both dark and light. Just beauty. It’s always about beauty.

Ingress: pajdic.com

Artwork: Predrag Pajdic. Noetic corpus: Sojourn of the Soul. Part of series. Courtesy of the artist

Full article here.

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

Following their concert at Brave Exhibitions in London this June, we sat down with Die Selektion to discuss their influences and current projects. Formed in Stuttgart, this young band that combines the live fierceness of early DAF with glacial synths and emotional trumpet melodies, is bound to make an impact on the minimal wave scene.

How did you guys form the band?

Luca: I’ve known Hanne since we were six, we went to school together. And then we met Max three years ago, at a concert. My old band with Hanne split up and that’s when we decided to form a new one, called Die Selektion.

I’m sure this is something you hear often, but why did you choose this distinctive instrument, the trumpet?

Max: (laughs) Everybody asks us this question and always have the same answer: we didn’t think of it. Hanne played the trumpet and we decided to give it a go.

Do you have a musical background?

Max: I’ve been making music for a long time, I tried many different things. I also play in a noise-rock band called Die Nerven or making techno music. I didn’t stick to just one thing.

Hanne: I’m the only one who studied music, I studied the trumpet.

What other projects do you have?

Luca: Max plays in a noise-rock band called Die Nerven. And it’s a kind of a techno/electronic project, like he said. And I’ve been working for a long time on a dark folk/neo folk project, called Death of Abel.

Hanne: I’m involved in a classical music project, I play in an orchestra.

Do your colleagues in the orchestra know about Die Selektion?

Hanne: Yes, they know about it. We play modern music in our orchestra and I can see parallels with our band. But basically all music is based on classical music.

What bands do you listen to currently?

Max: I really like the new album from Agent Side Grinder. Also Xeno&Oaklander. And I’m really into a German noise-rock band called Mutter.

Luca: For one or two years I’ve been listening daily to Death in June and Current93 as well. These two bands are currently my favourite bands.

Hanne: Well, I still listen to bands like Motörhead, but I still like the minimal wave stuff, like Xeno&Oaklander.

And in terms of the aesthetics of the band, who’s in charge of the visual aspect and what’s the concept behind it?

Max: We like to keep the focus on the music because they’re too many bands and take music to the background. We just want to keep the design and the appearance very clear and simple so that people can concentrate on the music.

In terms of new bands or bands that you played with, who do you admire?

Hanne: For me the guys from Berlin, Schwefelgelb. They’re quite young and their music is new and somehow similar to what we do.

Have you been compared to them?

Luca: Yes, but I don’t mind.

Max: I don’t know why people have to compare, but they have to. It’s quite difficult to find a band that is similar to us.

And you are often compared to DAF.

Max: Yeah, but the main influence from DAF is their energy, the stage presence.

Luca: And the idea behind it. In the early 80s, they wanted to make punk music with synthesizers. I wouldn’t say that we want to make punk music with synthesizers, but the point is to create powerful electronic music.

So it’s very important for you to create a powerful live experience. In terms of stage presence, who do you admire?

Max: I think Agent Side Grinder have a really great stage performance. There are many bands that make great music, but they’re stage presence is bad. There’s this band that that have amazing live performances, but I don’t really like their music. I think it’s called Future Islands.

Luca: I saw John Maus play in Berlin. It was just twenty-five minutes of playback music, but it was great, the energy was incredible. He goes completely mental and crazy.

What are your next projects?

Luca: We’re playing more and more, in Russia, Austria and so on. And we’re planning to do a second album.

questions by Simina Neagu

photo | Die Selektion. Kai Fischer. Courtesy of the artist

Full article here.

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

What: Exploitation. The Movie

Where: The Netherlands

When: October & November 2012

Director: Edwin Brienen, Independent Filmmaker

Soundtrack: Enfant Terrible

Exploitation is the new film by dutch independent filmmaker edwin brienen. Enfant terrible produced the soundtrack for this gothic-noir satiric fresco. 90 minutes of music to be enjoyed both as true soundtrack as well as a sequel to previous enfant terrible compilations… but more dramatic and ritualistic in the way the record is building up… it will please fans of minimal electronics and (post) industrial music but also moves into different styles such as idm, tekno, angst pop and chanson… while always keeping a dark and cold mood and/or dream state feeling throughout…

Exploitation uses the so-called mise en abyme principle and shows a fict tious film in the film, called apoca­lypse, part 3: a breathtaking abendland of dreamy pictures and nightmarish vi­sions. It’s all there: baphomets, paganism, bizarre costumes. Especially some old-time obsessions of the director are highly celebrated here: the esthetics of death in june, the works of painter arnold böcklin, or aleister crowley’s thelema spirituality.

photo | Exploitation. 2012. Filmstills by Dong-Ha Choe. Courtesy of the artist

Full article here.

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

Hello and welcome to the Spheres. To introduce you to our readers, tell us, who are the Popovy Sisters?

We are twin sisters – Ekaterina and Elena Popovy, professional artists and fashion designers.

What is your artistic background?

We graduated at Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts in Yekaterinburg. We started making dolls in 2004.

What brought you to created these wonderful miniatures?

At the beginning we were interested in realistic human gestures. The magic of certain personalities inspired us to create their images. We tried not only to make portrait dolls, but also to convey the nature of the characters through the gesture and costumes.

Thanks to this interest we deepened our knowledge of human anatomy and facial gesture. We also learned how to work with various artistic materials: China, self fusing plastics (paper clay, efa plast, la doll), fumo, baked plastics.

However doll portraiture didn’t let us express ourselves as designers, so we started experimenting with materials. Finally we found a perfect solution by combining our passion for fashion design and dolls art. This has grown into small conceptual collections of 10 to 15 dolls.

Where do you find inspiration for the themes you use in your projects?

Everything inspires us. travels movies, stories, countries, history.

What does your work process involve? How do you usually start a project?

At the very beginning, we do a lot of research on our theme, reading historical files, finding pictures, doing a lot of paperwork sketching and so on. We learn as much as we can, this helps us to fully and deeply get into the theme. It takes a lot of time but it’s an important stage of creation.

Many of your pieces have a culturally specific air to them. Is any additional research taking place at the beginning of a project?

Of course we learn the history behind them.  As I’ve said before, we study as much as we can. Sketching, finding textures, proper materials.

How would you describe the level of difficulty in creating your pieces, both in design and development?

We find it difficult. The most difficult part is to create our own techniques. Like for example wigs, this is our own technology, it’s hard to develop from theme to theme. We also do a lot of work as designers, as I’ve said before – sketching a lot. We follow modern fashion trends. It often happens when we come up with something and then we see other fashion designers going in the same direction. I can say that we have good sense of fashion trends, and we use it.

What tools and materials do you usually use?

We like to use antique materials as well as modern high quality materials. When we travel in different countries we always buy new materials there. It’s exciting to have many antique fabrics from different countries. We also like to use modern Japanese silk and other materials. We also use organic materials such as animal bones feathers, insect parts.

How long does development usually take?

We work on the whole collection, it is difficult to say… our preparation stage can last up to two months. To create one doll can take from one week to more, it can take three weeks or so. It depends on how complex she is.

Which of your projects do you consider to have been most rewarding, both on a personal and a profesional level?

We can’t specify any project. All our projects are on top level. We can work one year on each project until we feel that it’s done the way we want. So each of our projects has been made with a high level of professionalism, we tried to get the maximum out of each one.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment we’ve started our BJD line. It opens a whole world for us. Now we begin to work as fashion designers as we’ve never had before. Because it will take less time to create bodies. When we now make prototype molds and get their copies from the factory, we can spend more time on our art ideas, creating different themes, costumes experimenting with makeup and so on.

What future projects are in store for you?

We have so many interesting ideas for the future, if we could just work day and night without sleep ha-ha. We usually keep our new themes as a secret before their official presentation. but i can assure that there will be a lot of interesting stuff going on!

If you were to describe your work in 4 words, what would you say?

Concept, art, fashion, doll.

Artwork | Popovy Sisters. Bony and Light. Courtesy of the artist

Full article here.

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

What makes cinema such a powerful environment is its ability to make the worlds presented seem real. Indeed, literature does that too, but in many cases cinema does this faster and with greater impact, because of its immediacy. Whereas literature has to create from scratch those worlds, cinema only has to make them believable. While this is not very difficult when it comes to a neorealist motion picture for example, or a documentary, one cannot say the same about those movies that deal with fictional aspects. Here, things may get a little complicated, but they also get more diverse, because there is no standard recipe as far as this aspect is concerned. Basically, in my opinion, this is where cinema starts: in depicting the less-familiar.

Fiction and intimacy go hand in hand here, because there is no standard pattern that is applicable on large scale in the real world and even if there would be, many would prefer to avoid it. To make things even more fun, this does not apply to the plot development only, but to the way the characters are developed as well. It is a matter of perspective.

One of the first movies that comes to my mind, in this particular case is Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures whose protagonists end up taking a life. However, the film revolves and is constructed around the notion of fantasy and even the real scenes have the same feeling attached to them. This is, indeed, a fairly standard approach and I am aware you have seen it before in many films, but what is not so standard about it is the way the protagonists are being portrayed. Not even in the final scenes are they directly depicted as murderers. The fantasy layer here goes as far as to alter the »real« layer as well as if the real protagonists were mirror images of the characters fleshed out in the fantasy world, not the other way around.

El Laberinto del Fauno by Guillermo del Torro revolves around the same notions and goes even further, by directly linking the two worlds. Therefore, here we do not have fantasy and reality going hand in hand, but two distinct worlds, both real in their own rights, interacting with one another. This is, again, another pattern that is used on a large scale. The first example that comes to mind is Darren Aronofsky‘s The Fountain and even Gerard McMurrow‘s Franklyn. The latter depicts both worlds very convincingly, so the end of the film is not really that relevant: take it out of the table and you will have an even more delicious movie. The list can go on with many other films. In these particular cases, the real/fantasy junctions work mostly only on the level of storytelling, they create new possibilities and sometimes may even give the viewer some new ideas.

However, in spite of everything mentioned earlier, strictly on a cinematic level, this approach is pretty plane and some dedicated cinephiles may find it unrewarding because in most cases it revolves only around the story and the same things could have happened in case of a book.

This is why some directors and viewers prefer a different approach, one where the fantasy elements are not treated/rendered differently from the real ones, where we don’t have indicators to tell us which is which. On the one hand, this may be a more effective approach because, if anything out of the ordinary will happen in real life, I am pretty certain that we won’t have any »indicators«, but those things will happen in the same way every other casual thing happens. So, in this case, the real challenge is to make those scenes extremely convincing. In mainstream cinema, one of the most popular examples is The Blair Witch Project, which not only attracted praise by both the public and the critics, but also a considerable number of copycats. However, The Blair Witch Project was not the first film to use this approach, but the first modern film to bring it back into the spotlight. More than two decades ago, an Australian film had walked the same grounds. It’s named Picnic at Hanging Rock and it was directed by Peter Weir (The Last Wave, Dead Poets Society). The difference between the two of them is that Picnic uses a far more poetic tone, but, interestingly enough, to the same effect – to »summon« a new protagonist: Nature (this will occur in Weir‘s later effort, The Last Wave as well). Of course, younger audiences may find this film dated, some would not understand what is the big fuss about it, mainly because of the two decade difference between the two films. On a similar ground, but on a more »metaphysical« tone, we find Tarkovsky‘s Solyaris or Stalker.

However, fiction does not only include supernatural events; a fictional event may be also something we imagined we have seen, someone we imagined we met or we think we are –  I will choose three films here: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock), Fight Club (David Fincher) and American Psycho (Mary Harron). In Psycho we have a pretty clinical and straightforward approach, but also an effective one. We do not see Norman’s mother in the flesh, but we do hear her in the end and somehow feel her presence. Psycho is effective because it does not show much, but suggests a lot. The film does not focus on showing how its protagonists became who they are, instead it’s focused in depicting »the result« in a very convincing manner. In simple terms: we are not told or shown, in detail, throughout the film, how Norman developed his possessive alter ego (his mother) – we are given a brief explanation in the end – but the more we watch Norman, the more we are convinced that we are face to face with a deeply deranged human being. This strategy of focusing on depicting convincing characters or events, instead of wasting time with useless explanations was frequently used by Carl Theodore Dreyer and the resurrection scene in the end of Ordet serves as a perfect example.

Whereas Psycho suggests, Fight Club shows. Here, the protagonist and his alter-ego are treated as separate entities. An obvious choice after all, since the film does not spend too much time on clinical observations regarding the evolution of its protagonist. Instead, it takes a rather »positive« attitude towards his condition – »OK, I am having a stranger period, let’s see what I can make of it« – which, indeed, points to a more stylistic approach. Many things that happen throughout the film (the ending included) are more legit as pure fiction, however, because it is very verbal and has a rather pragmatic tone. Fight Club makes its viewers forget these minor details and so does American Psycho: even if Bateman remains a serial killer only in his mind, in the end of the film he makes a convincing serial killer outside as well.

I mentioned before Dreyer and explaining versus suggesting. While this is a very effective approach on its own, Polanski proves that we can have it the other way around as well, especially in films such as Repulsion or The Tenant. In both we are shown how a mind can turn against itself. However, do not expect a standard recipe here, because none of these two films are wasting time giving lectures. Instead, Polanski accomplishes his task by using very little. Basically, he takes small events that can cause slight distress, and plays them against a character who has a predisposition to paranoia (for example: the scenes in which Trelkovsky asks for Gauloises, but he is served only Marlboro because the bar he was in »conveniently« ran out of Gauloises and Marlboro was the only brand they had). There is also another detail that I think contributes a lot in creating the right atmosphere: the way the people’s faces are shot. It is menacing, as if those people are ready to kill you anytime.

There is another category of interesting films here: the ones in which you cannot tell for sure whether what you see is fiction or reality, or in more exact terms: you can’t tell for sure if it is one reality or another. There are these films who use two opposite assumptions simultaneously and they never give you a direct on clue on which one is real and which one is fiction. For me, these films are interesting both on a storytelling level and on a cinematic one. The most recent film exploring this ground I came across is Sound of My Voice by Zal Batmanglij in which we are given reasons for both sides and – what is even more amusing – that we are given plenty of reasons to believe that both sides are true simultaneously. What I like about these films is that they are exploratory by definition, and somehow they encourage you to make various connections, to expand the material and it is not an easy task to accomplish cinematically, either.

There is another notion that rhymes with fiction and that is eroticism, especially if we talk about fiction of a darker nature. Ken Russell‘s Gothic does a fairly good job combining the two. While there are not many passionate character interactions in the film, one cannot deny it has a deeply erotic approach even it its sickest scenes. Russell‘s (and implicitly Gabriel Byrne‘s) depiction of Byron plays and important role, I would go s far as to say the most important role. He is not depicted as simple character/protagonist, but he is depicted nearly as a God of sorts, an entity coordinating everything and Gabriel Byrne I think is the perfect actor for this task. His performance is mesmerizing, submissive and passionate and at one point one may ask oneself on whether the film incorporates it or if this sole performance is guiding the film. And then, there is the imagery. No surprises here, for Ken Russell‘s ability to create vivid and striking images is well known (Altered States anyone?).

Another film I found particularly erotic was The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes by the Quay Brothers. In this case the first thing that comes into my mind is the story: it is both eerie, but strangely believable (not as in it can happen for real, but as in yes, this looks like a story). It does not have a particular message, but it can catch you in its web just by looking at it. The story itself if deeply cinematic. There is also the outlandish tone/acting, the animations; overall, it is a film to be experienced rather than dissected for a particular meaning.

With all its political allegory, Mircea Danieliuc‘s Glissando walks the same shoes. The film – which is an adaptation of Cezar Petrescu‘s short story Omul din Vis – binds together dream and reality, realism and surrealism and works best as an eerie fairytale with an occasionally Fellinesque touch (Satyricon, anyone?). And yes, the film contains a fair amount of nudity, but yes (again) this is an irrelevant aspect.

In the perspective discussed here, eroticism doesn’t necessarily imply anything involving a sexual act, but is referring to that specific type of energy. I think a film can be erotic without necessarily having sex scenes (Valerie and her week of wonders) and, even when it does have it, it is not those scenes themselves that give the film this tone, but the way they are crafted (the sex scene in Don’t look now or the more intimate scene in Tarkovsky‘s Offret are two examples). But if we are to talk about eroticism in both ways, we cannot overlook Walerian Borowczyk. In The Beast(1975), he takes a straightforward story and overlaps it with an erotic fantasy revolving around The Beauty and The Beast, framing everything in the tone of a farce. The latter was barely noticed at the time of the film’s release, due to its shocking content. While his name is sometimes unfairly and unwittingly linked to soft-core porn, Borowczyk‘s films (especially his earlier ones) show a versatile director, able to shift gears and create idiosyncratic and haunting films.

The list can go further with titles, names and approaches, but I believe that so far, this is enough. It is time for you, dear reader, to take your pick and viddy well.

by Shade

photo | The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. Quay Brothers. Filmstill.

Full article here.

The following article was published in N-SPHERE Omega.

Stereo is a blurred vision of a telepath’s commune. Nothing could sound weirder than this, but Cronenberg delivers to the viewer a witty rendition of what could be an insight of the human mind. Not only considered in its neurological or psychological sense, but also probing the great beyond of the unconscious, the deepest roots of the Self, so subtle and so ephemeral. That underworld has been often visited often David Cronenberg throughout his career, in a descending spiralling pathway that counts on its steps masterpieces like The Fly, Scanners or Crash, among others. I figure that his movies could be considered as a peculiar itinerary because of the common experiences shared by the characters, all of them embarked on a journey that touches the shores of hidden realities.

The concept of an unconscious mind developed in western culture when artists and philosophers started to touch the deep chords which were more visceral than reason or aesthetic beauty. The zone where these chords resound is covered by forces connected to sexuality and primal instincts. Our flesh is the ultimate »weight« that takes us back to earth when the mind starts to become more abstract: flesh sends »its« loud cry, making people aware of its existence. Neglected or not respected flesh reacts to the human mind, giving birth to oddities. In The Fly and Scanners we could see scientists playing with bodies. The results are someway extreme: in the first case we could see the deterioration of flesh stripping down man to his mere biologic support, in the second case the overpowered minds of telepaths have a more relevant consequence on the faculty to manipulate the integrity of other bodies. The mind that could »swim upstream« until it reaches the inner-self, attains the power to manipulate reality, therefore distorting other people’s lives, until the extreme exit.

The balance between the mind and the altered body causes an instability that could not be easily regulated: one of the most notable examples in Cronenberg filmography is Crash: struggling and pushing the limits of the body excites the mind, in a lethal and inuring imbalance.
From the first images we are introduced to an unusual kind of documentary, with several narrating voices revealing us information about experiments taking place inside a palace. Places are symbols, the zone where the movie unravels is built out of concrete, representing a sort of »brutal« introduction to the mind and visions of man, the modern man (or even the post-modern, if the »post-modern« term itself makes any sense to you). The filming is made in an amateur style: the viewer’s attention should be directed towards the development of the plot, well beyond the visual aspects of the movie.
Cybernetic experiments are conducted by Dr. Stringfellow with eight subjects, who undergone brain surgery (controlled by a computer) in order to develop telepathic abilities. We are then informed about the development of psychic addictions between individuals. Psychic aspects are also entwined with physical ones, and the knots of the net created between the telepaths give birth to manifolded sexual desires. The communication level becomes deeper: it goes to the origin of memories and emotion, and given the fact that reality could be considered a »logos«, the movie itself tries to show peculiar aspects of language.

The retro-viral enemy of Logos is language

Our »vision« is translated by language to other people, and language could be affected like a living being. Saussure explained the arbitrariness of language: the connection between the Signified (the object) and the Signifier (the word related to that object) is not logical, nor reasoned. This feature undermines the foundations of man’s rationality: the Eraclitan Logos is so inherently poisoned. This poison circulates in the blood of the telepaths, mixing with the impulses of flesh and crumbling down the structure of dialogue. What is latent on our daily experiences could be magnified in this experimental movie. These eight subjects become like messed up cells that cannot longer communicate. They are obsessively seeking for the satisfaction of reaching the meaning of their actions. Their ability to overcome the Signifier, as a part of communication, lets them see a crazy world of random elements moving in a Brownian motion.

The director’s choice of plot made it clear that he has a marvellous obsession with videocameras, television-sets (as seen on Videodrome and other movies made by him). Here the crisis of art and arts’ symbols produces a new electronic language that has shapes into addiction and dominance: the stronger telepath could assume the leading role, and couple with the weaker one, as in real life stronger individuals could shape the mind of others through ideas that spread like viruses (or memes, as Dawkins called them). Throughout the years, media developed to its full capability to shape minds: the Society of the Spectacle of the situationists’ has got a cancer, and this cancer is called infotainment.

I mentioned Situationism here to also point out the fact that experiments conducted in the Academy of Erotic Enquiry could be considered a way to discover new mediums for exploiting the desires of the masses. It is a sort of futuristic deviance of a society determined to obtain the complete control not only of the collective imagination, but also of minds and the bodies of the »citizens«. It is not simple as a chemical experiment, where often knowing the reagents we know where the reaction is heading to. As mentioned previously, the delicate equilibrium between mind and body, expanded now to a bigger level – the »collective unconscious« – body of the masses«, if touched in an invading and abusive way, it could react and bring the fall of the complex.

As time passes, media gets under the skin of the consumer: we are seeing a hybrid of human bodies with electric devices. Today life without social networking, without knowing each others’ thoughts through facebook statuses or single tweets means disability of relationships, at least for most of western-land-inhabitants.

The scene that sums up everything is the one portraying a telepath drilling its way in one another telepath’s brain: it represents the desperate Spectacular attempt to implant ideas (Memes) into an already formed system. The brain has got plasticity, but similar to all biologic layers, this plasticity could not be deformed beyond a certain amount of stress, without involving the death of Logos and of the physical body.

Stereo was ahead of its time (1969): the telepaths’ communication difficulties anticipate the use of the internet and mobile communication issues. Pervasive even if often necessary. It was an odd experiment, nowadays is the field of experience in which we are diving into, submerged in a massive fluxus of data. My hope is that humanity could have more success than the subjects of the experiment, using this »new« way of communication without becoming addicted to it, and losing vital parts of our intelligence like the telepaths lose parts of their
brain.

by Maurizio

photo | David Cronenberg. 1969. Stereo. Filmstill.

Full article here.