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mancer-in-the-abbey · 7 months

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Listening to Steam Powered Giraffe as I am wont to do when I need a break from Ghost and Honeybee came on and now I can’t stop thinking about Dew and his relationship with the previous era.

Dew was alone for the majority of his life in the pit- not for any particularly tragic reasons, at least in his opinion. That’s just how his particular variant of water ghoul works: Young ghoul pups stay with their mothers till they’re old enough to hunt for themselves and eventually they just kind of… swim off on their own, likely never seeing their parent again unless by chance.

All this to say, Dew was never a particularly social person before coming topside. Being surrounded by so many people when he was first summoned was a hell of a culture shock to him, almost immediately putting him in fight or flight.

It helped that, in my mind, Dew wasn’t immediately summoned into the Ghost project and instead spent his first year as your run of the mill nameless ghoul. Being put on kitchen duty allowed him to watch how the human staff interacted and bonded. Over time, he was even accepted as one of their own, taught to do more than wash dishes and only speak when spoken to.

Yet, even with that, Dew found himself to be… missing something. His new life on the surface had awakened an ache like the pressure of the deep sea- this longing he hadn’t even known was there till he’d gotten the barest hint of fulfillment. It gnawed at him, day in and day out, but no matter what he did, what avenue he went down, he couldn’t find anything to quell the feeling.

And then, after the loss of almost all their instrumentalists, the Ghost project opened auditions.

It was a tense time in the abbey; no one was sure where the project was heading in the aftermath of the banishments and Terzo’s place in the ministry was coming under question. Dew, however, saw an opportunity for something better, something that just might give him the thing that soothed the ache quickly becoming unbearable to him.

And somehow, by a miracle of Satan himself if one were to ask Dew, he was picked to play bass.

And the ache was, indeed, quelled by his time with the band, but not by the fame or attention it brought like Dew thought it would.

No, the relief came in the form of his fellow musicians, both those summoned and those that passed the auditions with him.

The Meliora ghouls were, for all intents and purposes, Dew’s first real family: Aether opened him to a vulnerability he’d never thought possible, even with himself; Zephyr taught him everything there was to know about the abbey, its secrets, and how to make it home; Mountain was a solid figure in his life, a tree to take shelter under when things became uncertain; Mist, though she was no longer a part of the band, was Dew’s mentor in both bass playing and how to be a water ghoul on the surface; Omega, likewise, was as close to a father figure as he ever had.

And then there was Ifrit. Ifrit, the fiery hearth that warmed him in body and soul. Ifrit, his heat and passion natural foil to all of Dew’s cold and disinterest. Ifrit, who knew exactly when to push Dew out of his comfort zone and when to reel back.

The two were instrumental to each other’s growth, with Ifrit the one to go head first into everything and Dewdrop being the one to slow down and think. Separately, sure, they were their own people, but together they made one better whole, bolstering each other’s strengths and balancing each other’s flaws.

And then, one day, it was all taken away.

One day, Terzo was dragged off stage without warning. One day, Imperator decided he would be of more use as a fire ghoul than water. One day, he was walked into the ritual chamber as a water ghoul for the last time, his pack waiting outside the room- not allowed in for fear of interference.

One day he woke up in the medical wing, burning all over, boiling hot from the inside out, and only found Aether and Mountain at his bedside, the both of them wearing looks that told him all he needed to know of the fates of the others.

(Just before the ritual, Ifrit had pulled him in a hug tight enough to press carbon into diamonds, hiding his worry with a smile. “It’ll be alright,” he promised, “when it’s all over and you feel better, I’ll teach you everything I know about being a fire ghoul. It’ll be fun, you’ll see!”)

(What he wouldn’t give to hold him close, him and all his family together, one last time. What he wouldn’t give to be that little water ghoul again, surrounded by love and joy he’d never known before.)

Nowadays, Dew does alright for himself. He runs much hotter than he ever had before, is a bit quicker to temper than he used to be, but his new pack doesn’t seem to mind- and lords below, does he love his new pack with everything he has.

But still, every year on the anniversary of his first pack’s death, he distanced himself from the rest. He grabs a spare blanket and Ifrit’s old acoustic guitar, walks out to the woods outside the ministry, keeps walking till he finds a clearing he and Ifrit shared with one another, a private place for the both of them to get away when things ever got too much.

Dew stops in the middle of the small glade, spreads the blanket out on the wild grass, sits down, takes out the guitar, and plucks out a tune his wildfire used to play him.

“Hello, goodbye, Twas nice to know you, how I find myself without you, that I’ll never know.”

“I let myself go.”

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day6source · 22 days

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Day6: “The last three years was the time of self-reflection”

The South Korean band tell NME about their new mini-album ‘Fourever’ and how time away from the stage has reignited their love for music

by Crystal Bell

In late-October, just hours after his discharge from the South Korean Navy, Kim Wonpil quietly resumed his idol duties. Sitting in the back of a van, still wearing his green military uniform, the sentimental Day6 member turned his head toward the camera beside him, softly touched his hand to his heart, and exhaled. “I’m really really really really happy,” he expressed. “Thinking about the four of us standing on stage… I think it would feel like something new.” It did feel new, in a way, but also the same. Upon reuniting in the studio in November, Sungjin, Young K, Wonpil and Dowoon – fresh from their respective military conscriptions and solo endeavours – fell back into a familiar rhythm, working on what would become their first album in three years, and their first album as a foursome, aptly titled ‘Fourever’. The music came naturally, as it almost always does for Day6, but their perspectives had shifted.

All that time away from the stage, away from one another, had reignited their passion for the band and redefined what it meant to each of them. The mini-album’s seven tracks reflect the aftermath of their soul-searching. “What we wanted to show was who we are at this moment,” Young K tells NME. And at this moment, amid an evening round of press interviews in Seoul, “It feels like we’re superstars,” drummer Dowoon jokes in English, always one to lighten the mood. Leader Sungjin, steady under pressure, veers the conversation in a more sensible direction, adding: “What we are at the moment is the band that does their best and will always do their best.” (Spoken like a man who says his idea of happiness is “a regular day full of mundane contentment”.) For Wonpil, this moment couldn’t come soon enough. As the last member of Day6 to enlist, the honey-voiced instrumentalist felt the weight of his members’ absences greatly. “I’ve been waiting for this day since I was in the military, before my release from the service,” Wonpil says. “I’ve been ready, and I’m really happy that this is happening right now.”

From the very first lyric of the album opener ‘Welcome to the Show’, it’s clear that this project is a reintroduction of sorts. “I’m so moved by the stage / That I won’t be alone any longer,” Young K sings, his voice wrapping around the melody with a newfound warmth. The song was the final addition to the album, having come together in an hour or two before being rewritten and reworked by Young K. But the essence remained the same. “There will be challenges in everybody’s lives,” Wonpil says of the song’s message. “But I hope this song, or maybe Day6, can help you overcome them.” Unlike some of the band’s more melancholic singles – the unbearable heartbreak of ‘You Were Beautiful’ and the timely existentialism of ‘Zombie’ come to mind – ‘Welcome to the Show’ is sonically brighter and lyrically sweeter and more affirming. Its anthemic sound was inspired by Young K’s experience on the summer festival circuit last year. “When I was going around, doing all the shows and performing songs like ‘Best Part’ or ‘Time of Our Life’, songs that make people jump and sing along, I felt like we needed that kind of track,” he says. ‘Welcome to the Show’ delivers on that front, aided by Dowoon’s thumping precision and a resonant pre-chorus chant that unites all four voices. “Usually, that kind of chant comes after the chorus, like a post-hook,” Young K describes. “It was our challenge to put it at the beginning of the chorus.” The band welcomed these challenges while making the record, together with their longtime collaborator Hong Ji-sang. “We were half excited and half fearful,” Dowoon smiles, describing the in-studio atmosphere by evoking their 2017 song ‘I Smile’. After years suspended in liminality, they wanted this mini-album to represent the here and now. “When we were writing this album, all of the songs were what we just wanted to try at the moment,” Young K says. They didn’t go in with any creative directive; their only goal was to “write good songs” and see what throughline emerged. After all, they’re not the ones who choose the single – they leave it to JYP Entertainment‘s top brass to decide. (If it were up to them, the members all have a particular fondness for ‘Happy’, a song that’s perhaps more in line with Day6’s signature bittersweet ethos.) “We just write the message or lyrics that suit the song the most,” the bassist explains.

The passage of time is a constant throughout. ‘Get The Hell Out’ wonders what life would be like if they could outrun the past (“time, hurry up and run fast / until you become a speckle far away”), while standout track ‘Sad Ending’ depicts the crumbling ruins of a relationship (“love’s expiration date has already passed”). And then there’s the closer “Didn’t Know,” a strumming ballad written that revisits the past with a new perspective (“I keep looking back at what can’t be reversed”). It makes sense that time would be at the forefront of their minds – the time they missed being together, the time they reclaimed for themselves while apart and the finite amount of time that hangs over every idol’s head in the K-pop industry. “The last three years was the time of self-reflection,” Sungjin says. Onstage, his voice bursts forth with grit and power; in person, he’s much softer. Before he enlisted in 2021, the guitarist took an extended hiatus from group activities in 2020 due to anxiety. It’s been four years since he’s performed with Day6, but the time away from the stage has allowed him to fall in love with performing again – and do so on his terms. “I think since I made my debut, I kind of lived to serve others. I put others before me. But for the last three years, I solely focused on myself. I thought a lot about myself, and I learned a lot about myself, and I grew as a result. I focused on discovering what my desires are and what I want at the moment, and I pursued it – I just did it.” Within that time, Young K, Wonpil and Dowoon debuted their sub-unit Day6 (Even of Day), releasing two projects in 2020 and 2021. Young K also went solo with the mini-album ‘Eternal’ later that summer before enlisting. Upon his return, he jumped back into songwriting, dropping his first full-length album ‘Letters with Notes’ in late 2023, while also penning tracks for K-pop acts like NMIXX, Jo Yu-ri and H1-KEY. He even performed at festivals with the sole focus of promoting Day6. “I learned a lot and thought a lot and experienced a lot,” he says. “It made me realise how much I want to do this.” “There has been growth, musically,” Young K adds. “While I was doing solo stuff, I would think about how to improve and how to put a Young K stage together. I tried to bring all of that into Day6. I really thought about how I could contribute what I learned from my individual work to the band. My main focus was promoting who we are, promoting Day6 by putting the name Day6 out there. To do that, I’m doing as much as I can, hoping that if people know who Young K is, then they’ll discover Day6. You don’t have to [choose] me as a bias…” he laughs. “Just please listen to Day6!”

Despite his obvious longing for the stage, Wonpil, who released his studio album ‘Pilmography’ in early 2022, found purpose in his service work. “There were a lot of long, strenuous activities involved but also meaningful work,” he says. “For example, I volunteered with the USS Nimitz-class aircraft carrier members.” Of course, working on ‘Fourever’ made him realise how much he “really, really, really loves Day6”. (And Overwatch, Young K teases.) Meanwhile, Dowoon, in addition to raising his plants (“They’re like my children,” he says in earnest), started asking himself more philosophical questions, thinking more deeply about himself, and getting introspective. “I spent a lot of time thinking about my place in the world and where I would be needed the most,” he says. “That thought led to an unhealthy state of mind, but I had a lot of time to ruminate on it, and in the end, I learned to love myself.” It’s why ‘Fourever’ is such a significant title for this chapter of their story. It’s more than the culmination of a four-year journey or a nod to their fans, My Day, who are celebrating their fourth anniversary. “It feels whole,” Young K says. In the music video for ‘Welcome To The Show’, there’s a scene in which Sungjin, Young K, Wonpil and Dowoon perform while looking at one another, their bodies turned inward with smiles on their faces. Like the endless knot featured on the album’s cover, it symbolises a sense of harmony and interconnectedness, an unbreakable bond tied in unity. At this moment, the four members of Day6 say, “It feels complete.”

#sungjin #young k #wonpil #dowoon #day6 #day6 even of day #park sungjin #kang younghyun #brian kang #kim wonpil #yoon dowoon #fourever #album: fourever #day6: interview #240404

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herrlindemann · 8 months

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Metal Hammer - July 2015, interview with Till and Peter

The name’s Lindemann. Till Lindemann. And together with his friend Peter Tägtgren, the Rammstein man has produced the most obscene side-project in metal. For songs about ladyboys and golden showers, step this way…

Hammer is sitting in the lobby of a five-star hotel in London, listening to Till Lindemann sing about golden showers. As the Rammstein singer booms ‘cunt’ down our headphones, we imagine what the businessmen around us would make of all this — ‘this’ being Skills in Pills, the debut album from Lindemann, Till’s new side-project with Swedish multi-instrumentalist and Hypocrisy mastermind, Peter Tägtgren.

When we share this thought with Till later, he creases up. Seemingly seven feet tall, the 52-year-old German is one of the most physically imposing people in metal, yet it quickly becomes apparent that, for all the onstage insanity, in real life he’s soft-spoken, polite and, dare it be said, gentlemanly, proffering his arm on the way to his room where the interview will take place.

In contrast to Peter’s chatty and business-like demeanor, Till is more intense, sometimes shy, but his twisted humor reveals itself as we’re led around to the hotel’s side entrance and into the lift. « This feels a bit like a hooker situation, » he grins. Gentlemanly, indeed…

It follows that the duo’s album is just as multifaceted. Skills in Pills seems to reflect the different aspects of Till’s personality, boasting playful, smutty songs like Ladyboy and the aforementioned Golden Shower, with the bleakly beautiful Children Of The Sund and Home Sweet Home also in the mix. Peter’s years of experience producing for the likes of Dumm Borgir and Children Of Boom have given it a tight sound, with a metallic crunch and industrial heart beating beneath a hooky, Euro-synth Lustre.

In their fancy suite, Peter recounts how the Lindemann project began. It was September 2013, as Rammstein wrapped up their explosive Liebe Ist Für Alle Da tour.

« Till invited me to a festival in Sweden, just before Rammstein were going on a two-year break, » Peter recalls. « He said, ‘Let’s do something!’ I sent him the files for the first song and a couple of days later he sent it back with vocals! It went so smoothly that we had to try another. And another. And another… »

While Peter’s been busy with different musical projects over the years, Lindemann is Till’s first ever major musical departure from Rammstein. That makes this collaboration kind of a huge deal. So, the question must be asked: what has the dynamic been like between these two similarly eccentric, yet delightfully unique characters?

« There is no dynamic, » says a straight-faced Till. He glances at Peter and they start cackling. They share the same sense of humor, but there is obviously something special going on here…

The story goes that their friendship began years ago when Peter rescued Till from getting beaten up by a jealous boyfriend and his mates.

When we comment that we know who we’d rather have on our side in a bar fight, Till smiles shyly, as if he’s unaware of how terrifying he is.

« That fight was all about Flake, » Till admits. « He started shit, like he always did in those days because he’s a tiny guy and nobody ever harms him. He knew somebody would save his ass! »

So basically, this is a kinship born of fights, frolics and partying?

« Why does everybody think we party all the time?! » Till asks Peter, feigning exasperation.

« It’s not like we quit drinking… just not when we’re in the studio, » clarifies Peter, before gesturing to Till and adding, « Although he always has a few beers when he records. »

« It’s good for the voice, » says Till seriously.

« That’s what she said, » whips back Peter.

« The point was to have fun, » Peter adds. « We wanted to do a couple of songs, see what we could learn from each other. Then suddenly half the album was done and it wasn’t just a hobby any more. We had to try and keep it a secret! »

In 2015, that’s no small feat. So far the guys have managed to keep things mostly under wraps, revealing, prior to this interview at least, only the project name, a date and a single image of themselves dressed as a bride and groom — a truly odd couple. But Till tells us he initially wanted to use the internet to gauge fans’ opinions, rather than spread the word.

« I wanted to put the first song up online, to see how people would react, » he reveals. « It was really strange to sing in English because I’d never done it, except on a couple of stupid songs, like Pussy. Peter encouraged me, but I was unsure. I wanted feedback from fans, but he didn’t want to give anything away, which in hindsight was good because otherwise » — he snaps his fingers — « the box is open, y’ know? It was great; a year and a half of no pressure, nobody on our backs. »

Was this freedom from expectation the main appeal of doing a project outside of Rammstein?

« It was a total vacation, » stresses Till.

« And just to create something together, » adds Peter. « We’re from different worlds — he’s more into gothic style and I’m into metal. We learned a lot from each other, helped each other a lot. I think Till sings a lot more on this record. »

« We don’t have these melodies in Rammstein, » Till explains. « Sometimes it’s just the bass and drums and no hook, so it amounts to this talk-singing [known as Sprechgesang in German]. I wanted EBM, Depeche Mode-style sequences, so I pushed Peter to do it and he came up with some great stuff. And writing songs can be hard. You go to bed with it, you dream about it, you wake up with it… and at the heart of it is the chorus. If you find a good one, you never have to work again, » he adds, at which Peter starts crooning, « Laaaast Christmas… »

« …I gave you my heart, » sings Till back to him, before adding with a chuckle, « Asshole! »

The more time spent with this curious twosome, the more it becomes clear that they have an understanding of each other that runs a lot deeper than mere musical collaboration, and that their roles within Lindemann are ones that they have taken with relish. While Peter wrote and played all of the album’s music, the filthy lyrics are all Till’s.

So now that they’ve seen what they can do together, how far are they planning to take it?

A single and video are on the cards, promises Peter, and gigs look to be a possibility, too. But when asked if he still enjoys performing live, Till goes quiet and shake his head, almost imperceptibly — a little sadly, even.

« But I have to, » he sighs after a heavy silence.

He does, however, say that if Lindemann were to play live, he wants a stripped-down show: «I think it’s better when it’s just pure energy, rock’n’roll, no pyro, » he says. « Leaves all this bullshit behind and just play the songs. »

Colour us intrigued — the frontman of one of metal’s most shamelessly showy bands labelling pyro and ballyhoo as ‘bullshit’? Given the nature of Till’s day job, this statement is perhaps a little worrying, and with Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe telling Hammer late last year that he didn’t know what the future held for the German titans, it adds further uncertainty to when or even if we’ll see the six-headed pyromaniac monster rise again. Luckily, though the other Rammstein members are indeed off doing their own thing at the moment, it seems, according to their frontman at least, that that chapter hasn’t been closed just yet.

« We’re all still in touch, » he reassures us.

« We don’t see each other, but that’s the point — it’s a vacation. We’re all going to meet back in Berlin around September, October. » Perhaps the wheels on the Rammstein machine will start rolling again sooner that we’d thought…

In the meantime, metal’s newest odd couple are still in their honeymoon period. They’re enjoying the freedom to make music on their own terms, however and wherever the hell they feel like it. So what’s the endgame for Lindemann?

« That we’re gonna get sued and burned for the lyrics, » laughs Peter. « But I’m just going to pretend I don’t understand any English. »

We won’t tell if you don’t.

#till lindemann #peter tägtgren #lindemann #flake #interview #2015 #rammstein #*

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the-90s-music-colosseum · 6 months

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The people voting "did not know who he was until this tournament" must be having the worst time on this blog. Sorry!!! And sorry I'm about to send another Damon ask... oops... As someone involved with Gorillaz for many years and involved with Blur for about half of them, for me Damon now sort of exists outside of both. He's his own completely bizarre entity. There's Damon's side of Gorillaz as a faceless collaborative experimental free-for-all, and then there's Gorillaz as a fandom with plot and characters and expectations attached, and those are actually very different things to me. Damon's work outside of both, even though it has the least "mass appeal" is sort of my darling tbh. Damon playing with Africa Express for 5 hours straight and having to be physically carried off stage! Damon writing operas with a lineup like "medieval strings, chamber organ, theorbo, viola da gamba, shawm, dulcian, crumhorn, Malian kora, steel drums" and more alongside the London Philharmonic! As much as I truly do adore Britpop beauty Damon, and I think it's obvious why he's the focus of an attractiveness tournament, Damon loving music as fully as a person can feels like a journey that becomes more evident later in his career... but it was definitely still there in the 90s. Just wasn't on the cover of NME or Melody Maker as much as a mouthy Britpopper was.

It's just wonderful how much Damon loves music and how freely he's expressed it in recent years! Must be especially surreal for those who grew up with Blur and watched his complete evolution from Britpop guy to brilliant multi-instrumentalist and master songwriter.

#most attractive 90s musician #asks #damon albarn #blur #gorillaz

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pensiveday · 2 years

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Subject: The Instrumentalist’s Ghosts Art: blueirisvibes @blueirisvibes Writing: Chir @dreamcatcher-ranger

[ID: A page of illustrations of ghostly figures titled, “Instruments (Ghosts).” Most of the ghosts are vague gray shapes with just the suggestion of form, all with red thread trailing from them. A few are more solid humanlike figures drawn in harsh shades like charcoal figure drawing. One of these appears to have pegs stuck in the sides of their head like on a violin. Various instruments are scattered across the page, including a trumpet, flute, violin, and piano. At the center of the page is a key with a crowned skull on the handle.

The following pages are written in blocky, all-caps text, with red notes added in different handwriting. It reads:

Instruments (Ghosts). Dangerous: Yes - if controlled by the Instrumentalist. (A note in red adds, “Otherwise they’re just people.”

Sentient: Full sentience--can be reasoned with. Playing their instrument can puppeteer them, though.

Encounter location: According to Diggory Graves, piano-connected ghost Percy Reed has been found in the abandoned Alder House. All the other ghosts instead can be found in the possession of the Instrumentalist Solomon Reed, who owns their instruments. Where the instrument is, the ghost is there too. (A note in red adds, “That slimy old bastard kept them prisoners by storing their instruments in his basement. The ghosts are connected through strings that can be cut only by destroying the instrument; once they’re all broken, the ghost is gone.

The Instrumentalist travels and fights using the ghosts. Since the instrument is required to be played in order to do so, the Instrumentalist attire is similar to a one-man-band. (A note in red adds, “Like one of those ridiculous toys.” A large drawing of a fermata symbol is drawn in red at the bottom of the page.)

Description: The ghosts look like they did when they were alive, except their appearance is modified as to how it was necessary to create the instrument. (A note in red adds, “Examples: Percy had his bones used, you can’t notice whether or not a person’s body contains bones. Can’t say the same for poor Al, though.”) Their bodies are translucent and luminous, but the colors are still discernible. They wear red band-players’ outfits. Can turn invisible. (A note in red adds, “Can you also build rock instruments? A guitar haunted by me would be sick...)

They’re created by building a classical instrument (Note in red: “nevermind.”) with their remains and then placing the instrument inside (Note in red: “Solomon you fucking psycho!”) Solomon’s cabinet(?). (Note in red: “You can change a ghost’s look by putting them inside the cabinet, together with new clothes. Diggory has also been able to cut Percy’s hair with silver scissors. When Percy is injured he bleeds black, and black are his scars.”

Abilities: Cannot interact with the external world on a normal basis, but since the moment that Solomon uses his ghosts to fight and travel, playing their instrument probably allows them to do so. As said before, the precision of their shape can vary, and they can turn invisible. (Note in red: “Zelda told me that Al can get, and I quote her on this, ‘real scary.’ I don’t know what that means.”) Can touch silver.

(Note in red: I saw this happen only a couple times, so maybe only Percy is capable of doing so, but when there are strong, like, really strong emotions at play the ghost’s body starts glowing white and becomes solid. But not just solid, also sharp. Percy has been able to smite that monster before the Spring Solstice party this way.)

Advice: You can hear the Instrumentalist’s orchestra music from a long distance. If you do so, run. Fast. The ghosts in themselves aren’t an issue; Solomon Reed is. Even if you could reason with them, if he plays their instrument the ghost will be puppeteered into doing whatever he wants them to do. (Note in red: “Also, Percy’s glowing death hands were activated (question mark) when Diggory was in danger. I wouldn’t risk threatening another of his loved ones.”)

Connections: The instrumentalist. (This is followed by a doodle of a skull and crossbones, and a note in red that adds, “Formerly. now all the instruments have been destroyed, and the ghosts freed. Only Al and Percy remain. Al lives with Zelda Duckworth at the Scoutpost, while I wouldn’t say that Percy is affiliated to the Scoutpost as much as he is affiliated to Diggory. I don’t want to be sappy, but I think he likes me and Olivier too.”) /end ID]

#pensive day 2022 zine #Hello from the Hallowoods #HFTH #HFTH spoilers #HFTH podcast

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 10 months

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Larry Desgaines sat on a piece of cardboard atop a damp rock near the mouth of a large sewer drain in Queens on a recent Friday evening. “It’s a privilege to be here,” he said, without irony.

It was just before sunset, and he was among a concert audience of about 50 people who were also perched on rocks, facing the waters of New York City Combined Sewer Outfall #BB 029, where the buried Sunswick Creek flows into the East River.

In the water, which, improbably, did not stink of sewage, two men in a canoe sat very still. The boat’s bow pointed toward land. As the sun dipped behind Roosevelt Island, another man sitting by the entrance of the tunnel banged on a metal pipe with a stick. The resulting sound was that of a ringing bell.

The canoe’s frontman, wearing a Tyrolean hat, yodeled: “Willkommen!” He drew out the final syllable, and his voice amplified and echoed in the tunnel. As the song ended, the canoe disappeared into the sewer, leaving only echoes behind.

This was the final evening of Drain Bramage, an unlikely concert organized by the musician and composer Stefan Zeniuk, along with experience designers N.D. Austin and Danielle Isadora Butler.

Mr. Austin and Ms. Butler are co-founders of the Tideland Institute, which encourages New Yorkers to treat their home as a maritime city, reimagining how various waterways might be used.

“The water in New York has just kind of become a backdrop to the city,” Ms. Butler said. “When actually, it is the why, and the how, of how the city was made — and how the city still functions.”

Mr. Austin has been involved in various watery, ephemeral experiences around the city over the years: a speakeasy in a shipping container, an extremely socially distanced desk floating on a raft in the East River, a bar inside a water tower.

Like his previous events, the sewer concert had a secretive, treasure-hunt aspect to it.

At 7:30 p.m., attendees gathered at the far end of a big box store, by a sign that read “Attention Shoppers.”

Instructions arrived via text message:

Follow the fenceline along the water. The sidewalk turns away from the river when it reaches a thick row of shrubbery hedge trees at the far end of the parking lot. Discreetly keep following the fence, *behind* the trees. There’s a small hole thru the fence. Be respectful of the fishermen.

One by one, people trickled down to the rocky shores of the East River and the banks of the underground creek turned sewer overflow. The concert was timed to correspond with low tide, allowing for watercraft to float into and out of the tunnel.

After the yodel echoes faded, there was a pause. Then came the silvery sound of a trumpet and the low moan of a tuba. Slowly, a wide barge emerged from the sewer, holding four horn players — Mr. Zeniuk was on saxophone — who performed as Mr. Austin and an associate kept the boat steady.

The horn piece, titled “Low Tide,” was composed especially for the night by Mr. Zeniuk. Foghorn-esque notes swirled and reverberated wildly, drowning out the noise from the adjacent parking lot.

For the musicians, much of the event’s allure was in the incredible, immersive, ricocheting acoustics produced by the sewer tunnel.

“It’s nature and magic, it’s chemistry,” said instrumentalist and singer Yuli Be’eri. “It’s alchemy. It’s all of it combined together.”

Ms. Be’eri followed the horn piece by emerging from the drain on a barge, playing a piano (from which the legs had been removed) while singing a song that was “partly made up, partly Hebrew poetry, partly random sounds.”

That evening, the skies were clear, but the concert was performed for four nights — including one during which New York City was in the grips of wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada.

“Wednesday, we weren’t even really sure if we were going to have a show, because that was the day that the entire sky was blood red,” Mr. Zeniuk said. Battling elements in order to sit next to a sewer made for a “communal sort of sort of situation,” he said. “It was really beautiful.”

The little cove by the water was quite peaceful. Birds tittered. Passing ferries created occasional waves, gently crashing against the rocks. Trees rustled in the breeze, and when people walked, there was the warm sound of dry leaves crunching and tiny twigs snapping.

Twilight set in, the dark crept around, and the show ended with another yodel. “Auf Wiedersehen,” sang the Tyrolean hatted man, Sylvester Schneider, from his perch in the canoe.

Ms. Butler thanked everyone for supporting New York’s “alternative underground culture.”

“It’s still alive!” she said.

As if on cue, a couple of bats, squealing and flapping, appeared near the drain opening and flew into the sky.

“Nowadays with social media, everything looks cooler than it is,” Ms. Be’eri said afterward. “Here, it was the opposite.”

She added: “Doing that was cooler than any picture of it you can ever see.”

#NYTimes #S.A.S.S #Shalin #performance art #sound #music #on the water #alternative underground culture #Jess

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rainbowolfe · 11 months

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Ok how's about kallamar with someone who plays the violin

Life Begins Anew

Kallamar did not allow himself to be out and about on his own—at least if he could help it. A survival tactic from when he was mortal, now becomes a bad habit as a god. Well, others thought it was bad, Kallamar didn’t see the issue. He was just being cautious.

Alas, godhood had turned out to be a fairly active job. His newfound family was busy with all the tasks and responsibilities that came with it—as well as their own personal ambitions on top of that. Kallamar imagined that he would spend his days lounging about and being pampered by his followers, revered just for existing. And while the crowns did have a certain “pull” that made the simple-minded inclined to accept him as their ruler, that was all it did.

The two guardians that accompanied him were not even his own. They were being borrowed—one from Heket, the other from Shamura—for the sake of Kallamar’s outing. He chattered at them mindlessly, as he was ought to do.

He loved visiting this little village on the outskirts of Anchordeep. He had known it as Heartshore, but like many locations in these lands, it’s name changed like the tides. This village sat in a place rich with minerals, crystals, and gems, and its inhabitants made wonderful trinkets and décor with it.

As Kallamar browsed, his chatter ceased long enough to hear an odd, steely noise. It pierces through the general ambience, gentle yet sharp. He had never heard a noise like that before… was it an instrument? He kind of liked it.

Following the enchanting sound, he comes across a reddish crocodile sat upon a wooden crate, a bowl made of stone containing a few gold coins at their feet. Their worn clothing and disheveled appearance clashed with the pristine noisemaker in their hands. Kallamar watches for a few moments, hands clasped together in excitement.

He just had to have it.

Kallamar’s approach startles the musician, causing the song to abruptly stop with a shrieking note. They see his crown and hold the instrument closer to their chest, as if expecting him to try and take it. They open their mouth to apologize, but Kallamar cuts them off

“You there, what is that thing you’re holding?” Kallamar smiles with childlike glee.

“It… It’s a violin.”

“A violin? How queer,” He comes closer. “It’s so… whimsical. Such a unique sound would be a wonderful addition to my orchestra.”

“Erm… I’m sorry but… I really can’t give it to you.” Their volume fades, worry evident in their tone. “I-It’s the only one I have.”

“Do not fret, little critter. I have no use for just the, ah… violin. I require the instrumentalist as well! You will have the honor of living in my temple and adding to it’s beauty with your musical talent.”

“Uh…?” The crocodile didn’t know what to say. They had already told the god “no” once, how many times were you allowed to do that? “I-I look forward to serving you, Master… ah…” They trail off.

“Kallamar. Ruler over disease and health.” He provides without missing a beat. “Call me your ‘lord’, I do not like the connotations of ‘master’.”

“Understood… M… M’lord.”

Despite their positive response, the musical critter seemed reluctant to even stand, shrinking under Kallamar’s curious gaze. His two guardians were waiting nearby, ready to take the crocodile by force if they needed to.

“Let us go, then. It’s clear you own nothing of value besides that violin.” He really liked the way the word rolled off his tongue.

“C-Can I at least… say goodbye to my family…?” The crocodile squeaks.

‘There lies the issue.’

“Aah, you have a family? Let us retrieve them, then, they can accompany you. I do not want your music to be tainted with despair.”

The crocodile stares with wide eyes. It was so hard to read certain creature’s expressions. Kallamar figures that’s how this being expressed happiness, remembering something about how crocodiles had limited facial muscles.

“Come now. Up. It’s not polite to keep me waiting.”

They finally stand up from their makeshift seat, placing the violin into a case that seemed specially made for it. They gather the few coins they had earned and slip them into their pocket. They look around the space, Kallamar follows their gaze.

He doesn’t see anything of note. Some people went about their business, others were watching and whispering to each other.

“Erm… My house is… over this way.” The crocodile's voice wavers as they point.

“We will follow you there.”

They seem to hug the violin even tighter as they turn and stiffly walk forward. They must be so excited! It was time for their life—their entire family’s life—to start anew.

#cult of the lamb #cotl kallamar #cotl fanfic

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mitamicah · 9 months

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Stories from summer camp pt. 6

This is part 6 of my stories from summer camp series - for better context you can check out

Masterpost | Previous part | Next part

6) Magic is created in the smallest of moments: How I accidentally wrote a song

Tuesday in the first week was quite a magical day. It didn’t start out as one since I was finding myself sitting in a sofa scowling at myself for making a mistake when inviting people to jam with me that afternoon (see the previous chapter).

Being deep in my feelings, a guy – let’s call him Zeke – came and sat next to me. He too was feeling a lot of emotions after his course had taken a turn and become rather emotional. So here we were Zeke and I both emotionally vulnerable when Zeke suddenly started to improvise on his guitar. Given that I often sing songs by experimenting with lyrics and melodies on top of random chords I asked if I may sing something to it and he agreed. Twenty minutes later we had half a song; lyrics, and all. Both of us were over the moon because the whole experience had felt so organic and authentic. The next day I would finish up some lyrics and the day after that we met and finished the song.

Having written this song with Zeke was such a wild experience. Normally I am not good at co-writing songs -heck not even playing a song I’ve made in a band setting! I am way too much of a control freak to give over the role of instrumentalist to another person. Yet here it just felt right. Zeke was my rock and him being grounded made me loosen up and dare to play around and just have fun.

That evening, Thursday July 20, we performed the song at the first open mic event of summer camp. Here I learned that while Zeke had been my rock, he too had found confidence in having me on stage with him. Normally he said he’d be dying of stage fright but not this night: tonight, he felt grounded by me and my confidence in the song (that in turn was grounded in his stability) that we both were able to let lose. I honestly felt like magic was made that evening.

The same woman that told me that she now finally could feel me after eight years of knowing me (let’s call her Eva) found me and Zeke later that evening and told us how much our chemistry and story had inspired her so now she’d planned to make a song with this other attendee, Luke, to perform in a week (and they did and it was awesome).

The rest of summer camp me and Zeke couldn’t stop catching glimpses of each other and smile every time we did so. We’d hug a lot and just feel very secure in each other’s company. The two of us together with a third guy, Juels, would often be seen hanging around together. There’ll be more about Juels in the next chapter.

#stories from summer camp #personal #me #micahs thoughts

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takeasadsongandanalyzeit · 2 years

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12 Bar Blues in F

This recording is the second instrumental from the April/May 1960 home recording made at Forthlin Road (also known as the Kirchherr Tape). It's a little long, so be warned. Though, @peaceloveandstarrs did such a fantastic analysis, you'll want to listen to every second so you can follow along.

This seems to be an improvised blues instrumental. We can hear a steady bass, keeping a good rhythm (more evidence that Stu is unfairly maligned as a bass player). Our working theory is that Stu played the bass kind of how Ringo plays the drums, there to serve the song. We both think, had Stu actually tried, he could have become an incredible bassist. Stu was just talented, at everything, so even though he wasn't trying very hard, it's still more than just passable.

There are at least two other guitars, possibly three.

We had some discussion about who was playing lead guitar. We originally thought Paul, but this was 2 years after Paul flubbed the solo in Guitar Boogie, so the likelihood he'd take lead was low. It's therefore likely George. It's interesting hearing him mess with some chords higher up the neck. It shows the beginning of Geo's talent pretty well, we'd say.

But neither of us our instrumentalists, so we're gonna leave the rest of this analysis to someone who is.

@peaceloveandstarrs has been kind enough to write another guest post about this song:

This is definitely improvised going by how rambling the intro is and how it takes them about a minute or so to finally settle into a key signature. As with the last one I listened to, I wish the balance had been better, but again, I get that the technology at the time made sound quality less than great. There’s a lot of really neat lead guitar stuff, like the picking around 1:23 and then the bit around 1:32. I’m not a guitarist, but I know that any technical playing on any instrument takes a lot of skill and practice. So whoever was on lead on this, my kudos! (Not that that means anything 62 years later, ha!)

The bass is definitely keeping a steady tempo, which is what’s expected of a bass player when there’s no percussionist. Stu isn’t the best bass player, but he’s not as bad as people make him out to be. I love all of the chromatic runs from whoever’s playing them, like the one at 3:37. They’re such a good transition between different melodic ideas or the start of a new chord progression. The random bits of dissonance, like the one at around 5:02, are jarring now that the key’s been settled. But hey, it keeps the listener on their toes and attentive.

I love the moments where the whole thing really comes together and the individual lines fit together perfectly, such as around 5:40. And just when that settles in, you get another cool, technical line at around 5:56. Whoever is playing this (Paul? I can’t tell individual playing styles apart yet) made it sound easy. As an instrumentalist myself, technical runs always give me the most difficulty, so I can say pretty confidently that it wasn’t that easy. At least not right off the bat.

There’s a neat little groove at around 7:33 in one of the guitar lines. It’s simple, but the way it’s played (first note accented, slurred into the second part of the line) makes it have a kind of jazzy feel. I listened to that one a couple of times just because I liked it. And we get to more technical bits in the guitar line around 8:24 or so. It’s a repetitive line, but it’s so clean-sounding. Again, not easy to do. I have a hard time articulating quickly and making it sound that clean! (Granted I play clarinet, so I’m not sure if I can really compare it to a guitar…)

It sounds like Stu is trying to bring the chart to an end around 9:20 and the rest of the group didn’t get the memo! That’s a classic ending bass line, descending the scale to the tonic tone (so in this case, he landed on an F since the piece is in F… music theory classes coming in handy finally!) The last 40 seconds or so sounds like they’re trying to figure out how to end the chart. I sort of wish they’d all ended with Stu’s little descending line, but hey, the way they end it works too. Overall, it’s a nice little improvisation with lots of signs of developing talent, especially in whoever played lead guitar.

#april 1960 #the beatles #improvisation #12 bar blues in f #guest post #peaceloveandstarrs #george harrison #stuart sutcliffe #john lennon #paul mccartney #forthlin road tapes #braun tape

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jarateblog · 9 months

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The Ultimate Gary Numan Album Recap

(long post, you don't have to read it unless you really want to)

Because my OCD willed it into existence. Over the past couple weeks I've been relistening to each of Numan's albums and felt like I'd just write short reviews/recommendations for each of them. I planned to make a page on my website for him, but I may just end up copy-pasting this post on there or embedding it in some fashion since the blog function here works pretty well. Without further ado:

Tubeway Army (1978)

His first album with his initial band lineup still going under the name of Tubeway Army. Early demos heard on The Plan compilation show how rooted these tracks were in the stereotypical punk sound of the late '70s, but his songwriting and alien-like vocals made them unique and fun to listen to. The addition of synths to the final renditions of the songs that ended up on this album punch and feel overwhelming on a good stereo, illustrating Numan's common retelling of discovering synthesizers for the first time. While I feel it may be a hard sell for some on first listen because of Gary's idiosyncratic voice, I feel approaching with an open mind will provide a satisfying listen.

Replicas (1979)

Still under the Tubeway Army name, this is technically their last album and the transition to Gary's "solo" career. The Tubeway Army lineup would still be his backing band until 1981. This album is one of his most successful though and it makes sense. There are even more synth-heavy hits that utilize the electronic sound in place of guitars, and an overlapping but loose set of narratives about a dystopian future of androids going about their dingy, daily lives. I feel his lyrics are probably at their most creative here, as they aren't as repetitive in their format as they would kind of become from here on. A high recommend for a listen to the full album, especially if you're familiar with "Are 'Friends' Electric" or "Down in the Park," two of his most popular singles.

The Pleasure Principle (1979)

Artists in the '70s were cracked. Making two albums within the span of a year is insane, especially when they're both masterpieces. Outside of the obvious worldwide hit "Cars," every track is worth a listen on here too. If I were to critique, however, this is the beginning of Gary finding one instrument sample and sticking to it for a few years before finding something else to use to death. The string synth heard on "Cars" is everywhere on this album, even right from the beginning on "Airlane." It's far from a bad sound, it's actually really cool, very sci-fi-esque, but it's still worth noting that you'll hear it pretty frequently until around '82. With the strings, however, every track feels like an orchestrated event with a rock touch, and the bass and drum work is sublime.

Telekon (1980)

An even more grandiose event than The Pleasure Principle. The opening of "This Wreckage" is still one of the most satisfying introductions to any album for me. The lyrics have a sense of finality to them, partially because Gary planned to retire from the fame and elaborate live shows after its release. It is overall a great close to his self-dubbed 'Machine-Era,' although I'm not a big fan of every song on here to find it a complete masterpiece. The singles released around this era are some of my most favorites of his, however, like "I Die: You Die" and "We Are Glass."

Dance (1981)

Man, did this one take FOREVER to grow on me. Perhaps the most experimental of Numan's work, his original band went on to form their own ill-fated group Dramatis (that Gary still featured on) while he brought on many well-respected producers and instrumentalists to help bring this project to life. It's got ambience, jazz, funk, and rock, and is a long ride in comparison to his previous albums, reaching almost 50 minutes in length (two songs are almost 10 minutes on their own!). It's one of my favorites now though. I'm so glad I gave it another chance after so many years.

Even though I had a hard time getting into it originally, I feel that anybody who has had a longer stake in music than me would find appreciation much quicker than I did.

I, Assassin (1982)

The first album of his that I'm a bit more mixed on. While I feel instrumentally, it is outstanding, this is also one of Gary's most inconsistent vocal performances. Fretless bass provided by Pino Palladino is what gives this album a distinct, sometimes improvisational sound, but it is often marred by lots of vocal drags of Numan's that either don't fit with the funky, danceable grooves, or fail to flow into each other well. Regardless, there are still great tracks like "War Songs" and the B-Sides "The Image Is" and "Noise Noise."

Warriors (1983)

His last album on the Beggars Banquet label, and what feels like another end to another era of his music. Continuing with the experimental, ambient, and funk inspirations from his previous two albums, this album is highly mixed by the public. It took some time for me to fully appreciate, but I like this album about just as much as I, Assassin, if not more on occasion. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of consistent female backing vocals being introduced to his music (something Gary has documented before as a recommendation from Beggars, who must've started losing faith in the uniqueness of his voice). They aren't that bad here, though, the '80sisms of their presence had yet to come I think. Gary's vocals are much more consistent and confident here too (perhaps as a response to the backing vocals being added). Personally, I feel the singles "Warriors" and "Sister Surprise" are the most catchy, while the many other tracks fit well as deep cuts despite their slower compositions.

Berserker (1984)

His first album on his newly opened Numa label. This era started off with a bang that would be nearly impossible to follow up on subsequent albums in the decade. Numan's new ghostly image is paired with heavy drums, icy synths, an occasional oriental theme, and remix-like production edits. Not every song is a masterpiece despite Gary owning full creative control over his music at this point, as he still brought the backing vocals with him and they're even more prominent than last time. He must have taken the haters' criticisms to heart... There is a heavier focus on a pop-funk sound too, which can at times date this record. I still love it despite its flaws and would consider it one of my favorites of his.

(Side note: Gary uses an old slang/offensive term for lesbian on "This Is New Love," but within the context of the lyrics and album concept he isn't condoning the use of it. I guess you could call it a MF DOOM situation, IYKYK)

(Side Side note: Albums from the rest of this decade into 1994 are nearly impossible to listen to in full on streaming services because the current rights holders are lazy, make bad digital transfers, and Gary's ashamed of this era in retrospect. I don't blame him for some, but it's not all bad. The stuff is easy to find on YouTube though. Numa records really didn't release copies outside of the UK either, so a lot of the stuff is absurdly expensive today and piracy is the only feasible way to listen in 'high' quality without going broke.)

The Fury (1985)

While Berserker felt like the perfect start to a new era of Numan's career, The Fury dives further into what I found to be the weaker aspects of it. Opening track "Call Out the Dogs" seems to question the lack of radio play he's been receiving, and this becomes a common theme for MANY, and I mean, MANY of his songs in this decade. In later interviews, Gary has often discussed feeling insecure during this period, and that lead to very uninspired lyrics.

Other tracks are honestly just kind of disgusting to listen to because they require you to suspend your disbelief that Gary is some sort of stud who gets all the ladies (I mean, look at the cover, who wouldn't want a man in a white tux???/s He's legitimately sexy as a DILF nowadays tho ngl). The female backing vocals are at their most prevalent and grating too, often overpowering Gary's own and exuding a level of '80s cheese that no one should have to be subjected to (no offense to the singers, they just shouldn't have been on this album).

I will still say that the song "Tricks" is really good though. I wish the stems for this album would leak or something, because minus the vocals it is quite fun to listen to. There are even more metallic sounding synthesizers that paired with the funky rhythms could really stand on their own. It's noticeably lower in budget than Berserker though, using many stock samples that ignore the sound experimentation he used to employ. I don't hate this album, but it is very mediocre and insulting in comparison to what came before and after.

Strange Charm (1986)

A more positive package than The Fury, thankfully. About 7/8 of the songs on this album are good, great, or amazing, with some being his very best. "My Breathing" is a long, Mideast-inspired piece which he occasionally performs live today, and "New Thing from London Town" is a foreboding collaboration with Bill Sharpe from Shakatak (who'll show up later). Thankfully, the backing singers are actually in the back for the majority of this album, which helps enhance the experience like on Warriors rather than overpower it like on The Fury. There's a broader use of electronics here too, helping it stand out among his other albums from this era.

Metal Rhythm (1988)

As the name implies, there is a heavier focus on using loud, reverb-heavy drums, akin to many industrial acts of the late '80s. Unfortunately, because it seems Gary had never listened to bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Ministry, or Skinny Puppy at the time (or he had but was too afraid to take the risk), this album still leans heavily into the pop-funk style like The Fury. Minus the often uninspired or questionable lyrics...

On "Voix": "I don't like young girls, I don't like boys; I like some bitch to scare me, I like that noise"

?????

...there are some tracks that hit exceptionally well. He even played "Voix" well into the '00s, although he never bothered to improve the lyrics. About half of the songs here are good and catchy, but they come with some caveats. The rest are bland attempts at radio-friendly sounding music with generic synth pads and repetitive choruses although the lyrics often gave stations reasons not to air them.

(Another side note: Because his own Numa Records were running low on funds, Gary had to move to Illegal Records in the UK and I.R.S. Records in the US. Therefore, most countries outside of the UK finally received this album as New Anger a year later with an extremely botched track lineup. The original is still probably the preferred way to listen, IMO, but this album as New Anger is available for streaming)

Automatic (1989)

Throughout the '80s, Gary collaborated with Bill Sharpe of the band Shakatak to provide vocals to what were mostly Sharpe-composed synth-pop songs. This album is a sort of compilation of all their tracks from 1984 to 1989 (minus "New Thing from London Town" which featured on Strange Charm), with this album's own "I'm On Automatic." They are very of the time, but well-produced, catchy, and fit together regardless of the years each track originally released. I feel Gary could have utilized more input like this in his sound during the mid-to-late '80s on his own albums, because as it stands, this is one of my favorite (partial) projects of his! According to him in later interviews, he considered collaborating more, but didn't want to rely on other people for his image and career. Which, I suppose that's understandable. Still, for as rough as the '80s had been on him, it may have been better for his mental health in the end.

Outland (1991)

Probably my least favorite album of his.

*GASP,* the imaginary Numanoid I made up in my head reading this goes

Sort of an experimental album like Dance, in the sense it attempts to build an atmosphere with "Interval" tracks and segues. Musically, many songs just feel off, like they're in the wrong key, but it's more likely that it's just an unfitting choice of instrument samples being used. They're often stock or cheap sounding.

It again goes for a pop-funk sound with some more prominent soul influences. "Confession" is a guilty pleasure, "My World Storm" is pretty good, and "Dream Killer" is one of his better ballads, but I can't really stand to listen to the rest. It's not that they ooze too much cheese that it's fondue, they're just... failed attempts at making fromage bleu... I don't know where the fuck I'm going with this.

You may like it. As implied above, there are actually many fans of this album in the community. My thoughts below will probably discredit all my other reviews anyways.

Machine + Soul (1992)

Funny that both Numan and Aphex Twin sample the same thing around the same time lol. Gary's self-proclaimed "low-point" to pay off debts. He claims that this album is musically sound, but not a Numan album, and to that I say BULLSHIT because he's been making non-Numan albums for about a decade at this point if going by his implied definition of what makes one! Anyways, beyond the romanticism of claiming this is the worst to push everything afterwords on a needless pedestal, this album is FINE. It's a perfectly FINE record. It's dated by about 5 years in its style and production, but so was Outland.

Hell, I'd even call some songs good. Great, even. The title track rocks. "Generator" is a slightly embarrassing but catchy pop song. "The Skin Game" is relentless though. One of my least favorite tracks that oddly became one of my favorites upon revisiting. It's actually quite introspective for this time in his career. The lyrics are very self-deprecating when reading into them and it makes sense that Numan almost quit his career after releasing this album. It's veiled under backing vocal refrains that mimic a standard pop song, but it's actually quite bleak. Sounds like something off Cabaret Voltaire's CODE, just half a decade too late. "I Wonder" and "Love Isolation" are two of my favorites of his as well. They evoke a lot of what makes his subsequent '90s releases so good. The B-Sides and Demos of this album (and admittedly many his '80s albums) also really demonstrate that he could make some killer ambient, ominous, or somber tracks that just wouldn't fit with his desire to appeal to radio-play.

You could also tell that he had to really push the runtime for tracks to reach about 50min in total with samples and room to let the drum machines just go, but there aren't many tracks that are hard to listen all the way through. "Poison" is one exception, which has an off-key sounding trumpet reminiscent of Outland and a poor attempt at Gary trying to rap... I think? The Prince cover of "U Got the Look" is fine but sad as Gary rarely covered any artist throughout his career. Plus, Prince should've been the one covering Numan.

Sacrifice (1994)

If Machine + Soul HAD Gary's soul and desires to make what he always wanted. While this album was a sign of things to come, for better or for worse (lyrical themes focusing too much on hardcore atheism basically, something he would only allude to in passing on previous albums), this album is a perfect example of making something with what you have. The ultimate industrial mindset as it were. His to-be wife supposedly introduced him to a world of music he hadn't experienced in his chase for attempted radio-friendly material, including Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails' mainstream industrial records of the time, and the new influences are worn on this album's sleeve while still feeling completely original.

Gone are the backing singers with the exception of the one and only TJ Davis (yes, of Sonic R fame) who adds to the emotion of "Scar" in its chorus and bridge. Every track is amazing on here to me, so it's undeniably my favorite album of his along with Replicas and Dance. Sure, it's lacking any sort of production that should have been expected at the time, and for such a relatively high-profile artist, but it has such raw emotion and energy in it that was sorely missing from his albums in the decade preceding it. It was almost entirely created and produced by himself, with some additional guitar and help from M+S producer, Kipper. So, with no live percussion, Gary just intentionally programmed the drum machines and sequencers to be relentless in their composition while he could focus on singing.

May not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly how I like mine. It's just a shame it's not available on any streaming services.

Exile (1997)

Thanks to the turning point of Sacrifice and a conveniently released tribute album by Beggars, his resurgence into popularity seemed to help Numan release this album with a greater budget and worldwide release. You can actually stream this album! While Sacrifice had many moments of introspection and outward atheism, Exile creates a fictitious narrative where there is no distinction between Heaven and Hell. Some fans left at this point because of the concrete shift in lyrical topics. I personally don't care as I'm not religious myself, but I don't have a hate boner for it like Numan. I feel the lyrics could have been fleshed out more for a better defined world that he is describing though.

Although the tracks still rely heavily on drum machines, there is a heavier focus on live guitar, even an acoustic which shows up in the final, eponymous track, ending the album on a somber but foreboding note in its strummed chords. The rest of the album feels fittingly dark for its themes and expression, and Gary's vocals are often shrouded in reverb like he's singing in a black, empty room. There's an official extended version of this album (as well as the rest of his Numa releases minus Strange Charm for some reason), and it's well worth listening to on its own even though some tracks are pretty lazily edited to be longer (like the opener/lead single "Dominion Day").

Pure (2000)

Probably the first true album of Gary's modern era, so his recent albums can be referred back to here for their song structures. As a result, this is where I slightly fall off of the hype train as sacrilege as that may sound coming from me. There are still some elements of the previous Sacrifice and Exile albums here (mainly the keyboard samples), but a greater focus on utilizing live studio recorded equipment that leans further into what I self-dub "headache-metal." Think of NIN from The Fragile onwards, or bands like Pearl Jam, Breaking Benjamin, etc (I know that's A LOT of crossover but if you grew up in the '90s or '00s you probably have at least an inkling of what I'm getting at).

Therefore, this may be just the perfect album for those who like those bands! It's just not my thing, personally. That's where I like the more fast-paced tracks like "Listen to My Voice" or slow but calmer songs like "Little InVitro" (which mourns his wife's miscarriage). He never fully devolves into screamo territory, but he does do a lot of yelling here. This album is LOUD. Like, the first album of his I had the turn the volume DOWN for. Potentially a result of the loudness wars.

Jagged (2006)

The time between Pure and Jagged was filled with smaller collaborations, remix projects, and touring. His touring band started getting involved more in the recording process though, with guitarist Steve Harris finally being given the credit he deserves (I have one of his guitar picks, so I'm biased!). I think Gary was also trying to find someone to help produce this album, leading him to Ade Fenton, who briefly joined his live band on keyboards and has now been his main producer for the past 15+ years. Ade's production work isn't as prominent here, but there is a greater use of electronics than on Pure throughout. It's a bit more of the same though.

Many tracks blend together in sound and lyrical topics (though the latter is expected if you read my parts on Sacrifice and Exile). Tracks "Halo" and "Haunted" are pretty good, but that's probably because I've heard them live a couple times that I can recall them from those experiences lol. This album feels LONG though. Over an hour for 11 base tracks. The slow pace of most of them doesn't help.

Thankfully, two years later, Jagged Edge released (and thankfully, is available on streaming, unfortunately the original version for comparison isn't) and helps give some tracks a more distinct identity. It's a remix album worked on by a number of people including Fenton and members of Sulpher (who produced Pure) that polishes up some demos and edits of final tracks. There are two discs, but I think the first beats out the second in content. So, kind of like Rush's Vapor Trails.

Dead Son Rising (2011)

An odd release from the past two decades of his work, at least in the sense that it's only about 40 minutes in total when removing the edits of two existing tracks. Some call this an EP, especially for its limited physical release (requiring you to stream or go broke nowadays), but I think this project has the perfect length for an album. Because it doesn't stretch into the hour territory, songs can comfortably last for 3-5 minutes and feel memorable. Unlike Pure and Jagged, I can actually name every track on this album! The lyrical themes are a lot more abstract here too, helping distinct them from 'unfiltered atheism' like his previous few albums.

The production is a lot cleaner, so guitars are less muddy and headache-enducing. "Big Noise Transmission" and "Not the Love We Dream of" are some of my favorites of his career, and I got so hyped when I first heard him play "The Fall" live. Highly recommend this for its modern production and length. Definitely my favorite release of his in the 21st century so far.

Splinter: Songs from a Broken Mind (2013)

An album inspired by recent marital issues and bouts with depression Gary had been dealing with. Thankfully, during the production of this album, things seemed to work themselves out. Songs are often very emotional and slowly build to a powerful climax, utilizing string sections akin to what was present in the late '70s/early '80s for him, just with heavy electric guitars spruced throughout. There are very few up-tempo tracks but "Love Hurt Bleed," a standout that I'm still convinced plays better live than on here. "I Am Dust" is outstanding and the music video for it is probably the only one worth watching out of the rest of his 'videography' (I kid, but most MVs for him are very low-budget and just focus a camera on his face the whole time).

Despite how negative I may sound on here, I do really like this album. It's perhaps just a bit too long and some tracks could have been scrapped and used as B-Sides. I also have a bit more appreciation for the officially-released demos on the Deluxe version that clearly have less of producer Ade Fenton's touch. Feels more dark and gothic than Ade's definition of ""industrial.""

Savage: Songs from a Broken World (2017)

Likely his most accessible modern album, especially for how many new fans it introduced to his work (myself, kinda included, it's complicated). Inspired by a story he supposedly wrote (but for the life of me cannot find a published copy of) about civilization in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with a heavy emphasis on the Middle Eastern region for aesthetics and compositions. There are more uptempo tracks than on Splinter, but many can still blur together and sound the same, and that's nothing to say about the slower tracks that fit the structure of stuff seen since Jagged.

Gary's vocals are at an all time peak, however, and his own daughter Persia (who helps fit in the regional theme by name alone) adds some additional backing vocals. You can barely tell she's there half the time though, along with Steve Harris or Tim Slade (guitar and bass, respectively), because everything has been post-processed with the same booming, heavy synth sound (supposedly Omnisphere software). It's cool when used sparingly, like on Splinter (even NIN uses a similar sound on The Fragile), but it's too repetitive at times. There aren't really excuses to not diversify the palette even slightly when this album had 4 years in the oven and in the 21st century no less. The Pleasure Principle was made in less than a year in the '70s, so its repetitiveness I feel has its excuses to exist (plus, it still sounds more diverse thanks to the help of the Tubeway Army lineup's bassist and drummer).

Don't want to shit on it too much, it's not a terrible album, but I really wish its success didn't give Gary and Ade Fenton the idea to just keep going in this direction. It's certainly a gateway album for those looking for some heavy electronic rock/metal/industrial, but I feel after listening to the rest of his catalogue this album gets pushed further back in listening preference for me. I've seen many a new fan whose enjoyment of this album just lowers as time goes on too.

Intruder (2021)

At times, diet Savage. I personally find the songs on here much more sonically diverse, but the compositions are very familiar to the past two decades. I'm convinced "Saints and Liars" is just a repackaged "My Name is Ruin" for how similar their chord progressions are. This album was inspired by a poem by his youngest daughter as part of a school assignment that questions the destruction of the environment from the Earth's perspective. Right up my alley, as a tree-hugging freak myself!

As an album released in 2021, there are a couple moments that allude to COVID like on "The Gift," one of the Earth's methods to alarm the population to their actions. It's overall an interesting concept, but it still could have been further fleshed out. The lyrics mostly mirror vague topics and atheism again.

I've seen him live 3 times since its release and I've nevertheless enjoyed every show he's performed. I'm just hoping the future takes a step in a fresher direction, like what Dead Son Rising had going for it.

Conclusion

I can be very critical of Numan's output, especially in recent times, but it is because he is one of my favorite artists that I know can make some amazing and memorable works regardless of who he collaborates with. I wouldn't call him my FAVORITE artist, but my near-religious regimen of listening to him every other day speaks otherwise. Perhaps it is a form of Stockholm Syndrome because I am too deep into the pipeline at this point. I'll shamefully call myself a Numanoid, I collect too much of his shit to be considered anything else.

He's a very open person with official released interviews available from even extremely early on in his career. We know his story better than many, so it's a bit of a shame when some, including himself, overlook certain aspects of his history and the context behind it in order to glorify certain aspects (such as in the case of M+S's reputation). Then again, I can't claim to be a scholar as I have yet to listen to EVERY interview that's easily available. There's definitely gaps I'm missing or have been misinformed on as well.

In my honest opinion, I really do not have high hopes for the rest of this decade of output as long as he sticks with Ade Fenton. Even his oldest daughter is looking to make a break in the industry and he is producing her album (and is a bit too close to her in pictures... That's like at least 20y in age difference...). He's a perfectly competent producer, better than anything I can do, but he has so little diversity in his sound choices and I feel Gary's (and potentially Raven's) sound has suffered as a result. Gary has had an issue with a lack of experimentation too, his lenience is why Ade can continue what he does, but as much as I didn't care for Sulpher, they were at least providing something a bit less samey when it came to Pure and Jagged Edge. That's why I'm afraid of the Sacrifice, Exile, and Pure remakes due to release some time this decade. They deserve better production, yes, but their charm will undoubtedly be lost in translation.

All I can do is stay positive, however, and continue supporting his efforts until I can obviously tell he's running out of steam and wants to retire. I doubt that though, he's got too much energy and flexibility for his age.

Anyways.

How original, a tier list. Here are my objective facts, not opinions /s.

This is not concrete, but about the same as it's been whenever I've made it other years. Savage has only moved down while M+S has moved up though, lol. Maybe one day it will usurp it, you never know.

#gary numan #album review #retrospective #music #choppost

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quicksilverdaisyday · 1 year

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Ya know i was about to do a whole bit on you about how your banner (the thing at the top of the blog is a banner right with the one person with an eyepatch? Im pretty sure thats a banner) i was gonna do a whole bit about how it reminded me of bobs burgers and if you liked burgers so much maybe you should marry them, but then youre literally out her putting that youre a big fan of bobs burgers on the damn description section like ok alright ive been beaten to my own punch, if this was a school function id be left with no choice but to become the spiker, im bringing in the hard liquor to get these irresponsible fucks drunker than a really drunk person i dont know whose the guy from mtv you know the guy, you probably dont actually i mean what are the odds like zero probably. Anyway bobs bazinga burger? Thoughts? I mean i hate burgers ok ive eaten more burgers than youve learned bug facts which if you dont know a lot of bug facts you should because bugs are cool and also terrifying and knowledge is power but long story short ive eaten more burgers than should be legal, like if you ever watch the movie supersize me i did that for two years straight except usually id only eat once a day because i was too poor to eat real food, this is the deep shoe fuck lore ok you might think im going at this from the pity party direction here but i assure you i am not i am merely validating my street cred when it comes to burgers ok i know burgers inside outside and possibly even inside-out. Anyway listen right he makes the bazinga burger, spicy pickles, mustard, smash burger, special ingredient? A healthy topping of pickled red onions and cabbage. Bam. Thats good eatin. If youre a believer in bobs bazinga burger gimme a bazinga back ya know its free youre not misleading nobody, nothing bad is gonna happen thats a shoe fuck guarantee, cmon you gotta say bazinga i dropped the hot and heavy lore on ya the loyal fans they gotta be appeased this is like a weekly thing now ok im like one of those guys the weekly comedy segment guys i get on i do my lines the crowd laughs we probably have a very charismatic instrumentalist who rarely speaks and when he does its about the trombone and everyone is like ah im so fascinated about the history of trombone. Ive got a good friend like that love that man holy shit though i dont care about the trombone but i just love him so much that im gonna listen with a smile anyway. Maybe you got a trombone enthusiast in your life i dont know but if you do ya know listen to them cause ya learn a lotta life lessons from trombone players. Probably cello players too. I mean chances are that theyre multi talented, people who are good at music stuff normally are, ya know its a passion thing, like youre out here doing art i bet youre real passionate about the art i bet you got lots of multi disciplinary shit going on behind the scenes like a regular pablo picasso or something ya know clay sculptures, get yourself a kiln man, id love to do pottery, make some pots, mugs, bowls, lil rabbits and the fucking special moments porcelain figures that everyones grandma owns, like do they just like them are they the pokemon of old people? Or are those beanie babies? My grandma does bells, weirdest shit ive ever seen woman just loves her bells i love you grandma but you dont even ring them ya know, theyre just little bells she doesnt want you to ring them. I dont know man. Anyway right, bazinga burger, from bob, bobs bazinga burger you know that shit would sell like hot cakes give it a consider in your mind space mull it over, hit me with a bazinga you wont regret it or your money back, its free though also. Just for the record.

Jasper.

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warmglowofsurvival · 11 months

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twenty one pilots talk origins, insecurities, and their sprawling new album blurryface

Since the release of their 2013 album Vessel and it's attendant hit singles "Holding on to You" and "Guns for Hands," Twenty One Pilots have become summer music festival favorites. Which makes sense, as the Columbus, Ohio, duo work hard to give you an entire Lollapalooza's worth of music in one convenient... well, Vessel. Their new album, Blurryface, out today on Fueled by Ramen, is even more willfully eclectic than its predecessor, veering from dance music thumpers to indie rock-rap hybrids to campfire folk comedowns with little regard for your genre expectations. Before signing with Fueled by Ramen, singer/multi-instrumentalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun were slugging it out in the Columbus music scene, self-releasing albums and posting songs online. They might have some MTV Video Music Award nominations and Pete Wentz's phone number now, but their basic approach hasn't changed at all; they still just want to impress each other first and foremost. Here's Joseph and Dun on their early days, their new album and the intention -- or lack thereof -- behind their gift for doing everything at once.

When did you guys first meet?

Tyler Joseph: You know, when we get asked this question, Josh and I like to make something up on the spot to try to make the other laugh. We've come up with a lot of great answers to that question, like meeting in prison, or that we were the only two survivors on a train wreck. Josh always seems to be a lifeguard in his stories and he always revives me, which I think is a little odd, but it always gets a chuckle out of me. In all honesty, we met through a mutual friend here in Columbus, Ohio. Josh came out to a show that I was playing with some other people. So, we actually met at a show and he said, "Hey, let's hang out sometime," and that's something that's said all the time, you know, and people don't really follow up on it, but for some reason Josh and I did hang out. He came over to the house and late hours into the night we got to talking about music and what we wanted to do with it.

Josh Dun: We knew at that moment that we'd be best friends for life.

When you first started writing music together, how did you guys know that you had something?

TJ: I think what's cool is that we started out as friends first. When we met each other, I think that we just hung out as friends for about a year before we even started playing together. It is probably pretty important, looking back now, that we'd established that trust with each other, just as friends. We developed a cool relationship and then everything fell into place where we were both available to play music together and not with the other people that we were playing with. It just worked out perfectly. I had some songs that I had written that I was throwing together, and I remember when Josh first started playing his songs live, it all came together and made sense for me.

JD: The first time I actually met Tyler was at a show that he was playing with a couple of his buddies. I remember, because I had been playing music for a little while, and I really had a specific idea of what I wanted to be a part of in my mind, and I had never really seen what I had in mind until I saw Tyler performing. I even remember thinking, "That's what I want to be a part of." I think it was the very first time that we ever met that I just totally knew that I wanted to someday play music with Tyler and be creative and take over the world.

What was it you were looking for, and what did you find in him?

JD: I think it's just something that's a little bit different I guess. It was like some sort of itch that I couldn't scratch. What I had in mind was something that I hadn't really heard before and that I finally heard, and I was excited about that.

What was the music scene in Columbus like while you were growing up?

JD: I think Columbus has always embraced music pretty well, and I think it still does. By the time that we were in high school and early college, I would say there was a pretty decent music scene here, and from all different kinds of things: people playing house shows, or people playing one of the local venues, and people doing pretty well. We made friends with some of these people, and then there was a time when Tyler and I closed our eyes and kind of dug our own little tunnel. The way that we describe it is that a year later, after getting to reach the surface again to catch a breath of air, we look back and realized how far we've been able to go over that past year.

You pull from a lot of different genres at once on your album. There's some rap on there, indie rock, dance music, and even some ukulele. Is that the goal, to sound like someone's iPod, with all these different types of sounds in one place?

TJ: I wouldn't say that that's the goal. We're not aiming to try to be as all over the place as possible. I think that the landscape of the record is a testament to the type of music that Josh and I like to listen to, which is all kinds of music. We're a product of that generation that has access to everything, and it comes down to it whenever Josh and I are working on a song. There's a lot of outside pressure, a lot of outside opinions, especially going into the second record, and I think that we work pretty hard to all block those things out and ask ourselves the question, "Do we like this?" So I wouldn't say it's intentional, like, "Let's try to make a record that sounds so sporadic and so crazy." I think that's just the product of what we like in music.

How do you guys make it all work together as one song or one album? Because you'll jump from a song like "Polarize," which is dance music, to a song that's more of a ukulele, acoustic type of sound.

TJ: Like I said, it's not like an intentional. It just kind of all happened. We wrote the record on the road. We were very influenced by our live shows and being in front of fans every night. There's a couple things that we tried to do: one, we want to say this on our record because we didn't say it on our last record. But then at the same time we're very influenced by what we wished we had in our live set. That is very important to us, and we're very intentional about which songs go where, and when you're writing a record on the road, you kind of get to answer the questions, "What is it that our live set needs? Which song do we wish we had in this moment here?" So I guess a lot of this record is just an answer to that, kind of a rebuttal to what it is that Josh and I think our live set needs.

The first single, "Fairly Local" — I believe it has the line, "this isn't for the radio", which is a strange thing to say on your single. But it does seem to be a song about worrying that you might lose contact with where you're from. Is that something you're concerned about?

TJ: I guess there's always that fear that you're going to change as a person. But, also whether or not you're in the spotlight making music, you're going to change, too. I mean, Josh and I are right now sitting in Columbus, Ohio, at my house and we love it here. It's our hometown and it will always be. So, I think in the song "Fairly Local", it's more metaphor. We had a lot of conversations with a lot of people who like listening to music or using music to get through tough times. If anything, I think Josh and I learned when we were traveling the world during the last album cycle that everyone's the same, everyone feels the same issues. So, it's kind of a way of getting on the same level as these people and telling them, in a sense, we understand what you're going through.

What does the title Blurryface mean to you?

TJ: Blurryface is this guy who represents everything i'm insecure about. Honestly, we all know that we're insecure about certain things, but what we don't totally understand is how those insecurities affect our day-to-day life. So it's helped me give my insecurities a seat at the table, so I can stare across at him and give him a name and face and personality. I can kind of retaliate and I can see these insecurities for what they are, and so this guy named Blurryface is someone that i'm trying to understand — but also defeat every day.

#twenty one pilots #twentyonepilots #josh dun #joshua dun #tyler joseph #2015 #may 2015 #may #may '15 #may 19 #paper magazine #paper mag #paper #interview #michael tedder #archive #archive.org

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lovesanmotion · 2 years

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omg could I please request an atz/nct ship?

♡

i'm in my 20s, 168cm, irish, plus size w an especially full chest. long-ish diy bleached hair. love music (ex-instrumentalist), live for praise. my siblings are the most important people in my life. I am more cute than sexy, but I know my way around in the bedroom. im a Leo but in the brooding and moody way like scar. I try to be friendly and optimistic but I'm naturally antisocial and nihilistic. ♡

↬ for ateez; i ship you with : mingi

❀ " your voice is the music that tugs on the strings of my heart " ❀ to meet someone who loves music just like him is like winning the lottery. mingi may talk to you until your ears fall off! but its just because he's so happy to meet someone like you! ❀ mingi's personality as a yandere isn't overboard, rather, he's the soft and dedicated towards you! aren't you a lucky one? ♡ ❀ you can talk to mingi for hours and even apologize for rambling, but he wouldn't mind it. he likes hearing about your day and the sound of your voice ❀ loves to pat the top of your head while praising you how you did well / good today ❀ and since you did a good job, expect a cute reward for him! ❀ as a baby by heart, mingi will push himself to understand what's bothering you if you don't tell him ❀ so if you don't tell him straight away, he will blame everything. even himself! ❀ mingi may be a soft yandere, but the chances of him suddenly becoming dangerous isn't zero either!

↬ for nct; i ship you with : johnny

❀ he will only praise you if he thinks you deserve it ❀ will match his personality and vibe with you, so if his mood suddenly shifts and turns sour or dark, he's just reflecting you! ❀ likes to sleep on top of your chest. says the pillows are no match for it ❀ since your siblings are the most important people in your life, johnny would love to meet them! ❀ johnny meeting your siblings would probably happen very early in the relationship ❀ if you have child siblings, then johnny will lose himself and become the playful guy that the kids love! ❀ by the end of the day, he's already made his way to their hearts and solidified his place in it ❀ but if your siblings are in their teen years, he'll match his humor along with them ❀ if you show him your brooding personality, johnny will not like it ❀ so don't blame him if he has one of your siblings tied inside the basement! ❀ just be his good girl and follow his orders and you'll be rewarded with your awaited praises, alright?

#ateez matchups #ateez mingi #yandere ateez #yandere ship #nct johnny #nct matchups #yandere johnny #yandere nct

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swangtup6 · 24 days

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Artist Interview: Lila Starless (Ardente, Dragonkeep, Fog Kingdom)

Today we're doing something a bit different. I've actually had the privilege to speak directly (through Instagram DMs lol) with Lila Starless, the french multi-instrumentalist and creative powerhouse behind about two dozen different projects spanning the genres of black metal, dungeon synth, and quite a bit in between. I am a massive fan of her works, and have actually reviewed one of their releases here before (Forgotten Passage Demo 2019) and intend to review more in the future. The interview starts a bit suddenly, that's because we agreed to do it previously and had already hashed out our plan for it. If it seems awkward at all, it's because I have no social skills 👍.

Anyways, enjoy!

Begin interview

SU: hey!

LS: hi

SU: alright first off, how did you get started making music?

LS: i started with music lessons on the piano many years ago but didn't understand them at all. it wasn't until i started playing the guitar that i took a real interest in playing and making music. i had a teacher for a few years at the beginning, a great one even, and he didn't really teach me much traditional western music theory and such. he just wanted me to have a good time. but, spending a lot of time on the guitar i got familiar with certain structures that seemed to always "make sense". my first released tracks were on the keyboard in 2018, i "translated" (if that makes sense) the fret structures that i liked to the keys and this is basically how i started making my own music.

SU: that's very interesting. were there any particular artists or bands that were influencial to you at first? what drew you specifically to black metal/dungeon synth?

LS: absolutely. nothing out of the ordinary but i started listening to such things with artists from the old Norwegian scene, at least as far as black metal goes. i got into dungeon synth a little later, the album Taur-nu-Fuin by Thangorodrim was my introduction to it... or maybe it was Rise of the Specter. either way i still have a sweet spot for both of these. then, Depressive Silence, Mortiis... etc. as i said, nothing unheard of. i cannot tell you exactly what drew me to those genres. i was a teenager checking out random metal CDs at the library, one day i heard "I Am the Black Wizards" (the demo version) and it just changed my life. this track remains as one of my favorites of all times. nowadays, i can tell you that making and listening to such music, to me, is important because of the raw emotion that is often present in some of my favorite albums in both genres.

SU: so would you say music that is mostly about emotional expression for you? does that play into how you make your own?

LS: not necesarilly emotional, but about expression, as all art is really, so i don't really know where i'm going with this. i guess the unfiltered, raw nature of it is important to me, not always but often. of course, it's not always direct or explicit either, for example some dungeon synth is themed around other worlds, places, times... but, as Sargeburt of An Old Sad Ghost brilliantly puts it, at the end of the day it is music for prisoners... metaphorically. it definitely plays a big part in my music, at least. i cannot say i've never made music with no real substance, but nowadays everything i make reflects something very real that i experience or experienced, in some way or another. i could not do it any differently now i think.

SU: how did you develop your style? i feel like i can just about always tell when a project involves you, even if i don't know going into a first listen, you have a very distinctive style of songwriting, and a unique aesthetic.

LS: haha, damn... i don't know how i can answer this! you are not the first person to tell me this, and honestly i kind of see what you mean, but ultimately it's just like every other person who "creates" something... i like certain things, and i heavily borrow from them, so it becomes a mix of slightly less good versions of said things, but in the process you make something that somehow feels like your own. i guess that's what happened here as well... i don't have a real answer to give you. the one thing i can tell you is that sometimes actually learning how to play things that i like really helped me to get a different perspective and incorporate something fresh into the mix.

SU: that's definitely a real answer! now, a final question, what can we expect from you in the future?

LS: the way i make/release stuff is fairly chaotic so overall i don't really know. several releases under different projects, of course, most notably Ardente's first full length album, a few splits... but on a wider scale, i would like to branch out a little bit. i like ambient music, and shoegaze too, so maybe something like this? i'd like to release more music that's not under a specific project too. i'd like to play live more, but i need to be better prepared in the future.

SU: alright! that's very exciting. thank you so much for doing this interview, i hope you have a wonderful rest of your day

LS: thanks a lot for having me! you as well. it's been a pleasure.

End interview

So yeah this is super exciting!!! I'm hoping to do more interviews in the future, and if there are any specific artists yall'd be interested in, let me know! (also lmk if theres any ways i can conduct interviews better. i've never done this before, and i would appreciate feedback on my questions and overall approach/presence in the interview)

Here are some relevant links below:

youtube

(Linking this demo as it was my personal introduction to their music)

#youtube #music #metal music #dungeon synth #black metal #raw black metal #interview #musician interview #metal interview #musician #keller synth #dark ambient #ambient #shoegaze #long post

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