BLITZ!

Interview DUSTHALLOWED

1. Could you introduce yourself to our readers, in a few words? Where do you come from in North Carolina ?

I´m James. I´ve been releasing music since 2003 under the names One Lifeless Eye, with a few deviations. Before I started making music, I studied art and illustration. Originally i´m from New York City but i´ve been living in the Cape Fear area of North Carolina for a short time now, and I lived in Richmond, Virginia before that. There´s not much to say about North Carolina that´s very positive so i´ll refrain from further commentary.

2. Did you take lessons to play the instruments, or are you a self-made musician ?

My understanding of music theory is very limited. Most of the techniques I use to make music are self taught but I have taken sporadic lessons in guitar, bass and violin.

3. What is the meaning of the name « Dusthallowed » ? How did you choose it ?

I stopped making music in 2009 at the onset of some serious personal problems that arose, and at that point I was convinced that i´d stop making music indefinitely. When I eventually started recording again, it seemed as though One Lifeless Eye was something that transpired in a former life and a new name was in order. The name Dusthallowed refers to what i´m doing with music at the moment compared to what I was doing with it before. Whereas One Lifeless Eye dealt with primarily with nightmares and dream imagery, Dusthallowed pertained to more personal, emotional issues. This is an attempt to take the detritus of my life and transmute it in some way, to make it more than the sum of its parts.

4. The music of Dusthallowed is excellent and very impressive, but also very different from a record to another. For example, « Stand For The Fire Demon » could remind us of some Christian Death track, while « I am Misery » is closer to Allerseelen or Heldentod, or even NON, according to us.
   What are the main influences, musically speaking, that you could quote ?

My primary musical influence is Swans, particularly their « World of Skin » material and their « White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity » era. As a guitarist, I spent a lot of time trying to emulate Norman Westberg, Robin Guthrie and Keiji Haino. I try to keep outside influences out of the music as much as I can but individual songs, especially cover songs like the ones you mentioned, are good opportunities to experiment with musical styles that I enjoy. I find it much easier to apply my interpretation of a style to existing songs rather than create a song based around one. On « Stand For The Fire Demon » I tried to channel a gothic/deathrock quality to Roky Erickson´s anthemic chords to give the subject matter a different evocative feeling, and I wanted to take Samhain´s frenetic energy on « I Am Misery » and make it more hypnotic and unsettling. I didn´t have any specific band or genre in mind with that song, so it´s interesting to hear what sort of bands it reminds people of.


5. « The Coming Silence », is your latest album and it was released in December 2015. Five out of its eleven tracks talk about a curse. So could we say that it is a concept album about/against the power of religion on gullible, vulnerable people ?

This album is a direct follow up to 2014´s « A Terrible Sacrifice, » which was about feeling internally vacant and lonely, subsequently surrendering to hopelessness and allowing negative emotions to thrive. On « The Coming Silence, » those negative emotions are fully formed and the songs that represent those emotions are held together by the « curse » pieces, which are representative of things which have been consistent sources of incredible unhappiness throughout the years. They form a congealed misery that suspends these intense desires to alter the world, either without regard for consequences or with the intent to inflict pain in retaliation of my own unhappiness. Personally the album is something inbetween a power fantasy and an exorcism, an attempt to justify these feelings in an real manner instead of letting them fester, and to be able to revel in them without actually acting upon harmful desires.

6. The most impressive track on this album is, to our opinion, «Solitude Curse». I remember a song of Death In June, «In Sacrilege», that says that « Solitude is not given, it is earned », which seems to be more positive. Do you think that solitude is a curse, and could you explain why?

This incidentally relates to the last question. Solitude may have its merits but often the severity of solitude can seem oppressive. In the context of this album, the sense of solitude is inescapable and takes on different forms as you progress through them. It´s possible to feel alone when you´re surrounded by people if there´s no common feeling of understanding. It´s also possible to have a desire to break out of a feeling of solitude, self-imposed or otherwise, and despite your best efforts it proves impossible, and you retreat from one sense of solitude to another. For example, I think the solitude Douglas P. writes about is not the same solitude that someone suffering with leprosy would experience.

7. Regarding your creation process, do the lyrics come first or do you start with the music ?

The lyrics usually show up later in the process. However, before I start working on either one of those aspects I form a concept for each album to work around. A general theme comes first, typically followed by music and imagery, then I try to fit lyrics into parts of the music that might require them.

8. As a visual artist, do you design the covers of Dusthallowed´s records yourself ?

Yes, I design and illustrate all of my work. This endevour of making music only became a serious outlet for me after I became disillusioned with my art studies, so all of my recordings have been attempts to set images to music and to make music for images. One element ´´t exist without the other.

9. Have you ever played live ? Have you planned a European tour this year ?

I played live many times as One Lifeless Eye but so far not as Dusthallowed. I´m trying to figure out a method of performing Dusthallowed material right now, so there are no plans to tour anywhere as of yet. My plan is to avoid performing in venues and to set up short, secret performances in strange places, such as graveyards and abandoned buildings, using battery powered amplification. It would be a wonderful thing to do this in some of the more mysterious parts of Europe like Montségur, the Paris catacombs or outside the Black Church in Bra?ov. The likelihood of this happening is very slim. Even a regular tour would likely never take place. The most I hope to reasonably achieve is to perform a handful of these performances and capture them on video.


10. On your bandcamp, the tracks of two other projects, named Jaundiced Dwarf (we could describe their style as industrial noise) and Lichweed (dark ambient sounds combined with a hypnotic guitar melody), are available.
    To which extent are you involved in their artistic works: do you design their album covers/compose music/play the instruments ?

Both of those are side projects in which I contribute both musically and visually. Jaundiced Dwarf was a one-off project based on what a friend of mine was doing with a project called Skowls, and contains references to the Shadowrun games. If anyone who reads this understands what the « Jaundiced Dwarf » actually is, please let me know that you´re in on the joke. Lichweed is a band i´m in with a musician who goes by the name Authorless. He uses complex analog synthesizers while I use distorted bass and an ancient drum machine, the same kind that Suicide used. With any luck we´ll be able to play some shows but it´s exceedingly difficult to find venues in our city that will put up with music that´s outside the normal spectrum. There will be a separate information hub for Lichweed once we accumulate enough recordings.

On the web :
http://dusthallowed.bandcamp.com/
http://dusthallowed.tumblr.com/

Interview : D E P R E S S E D 0 4 0

1. First of all, the oldest track available on your bandcamp dates back to February last year. When did you start playing music under the name of D E P R E S S E D 0 4 0 and why did you choose that name?

I started making music in December 2014 under the name « G R △ VV 3 ». The first thing I did was an EP called « ensamhet &"187; (loneliness in english). After about a month I decided to change the name to D E P R E S S E D 0 4 0 cuz I thought it sounded better and I think it´s boring to use triangles and shit in names.
The word « depressed » is a common topic in my music, and especially in my everyday life and « 040 » is the telephone area code for Malmö.

2. Most of your work are instrumental pieces which convey a blend of strong emotions : sadness, calm, solemn beauty. It is mainly due to the low tempo and the very deep sound of the synthetisers. Which type of synths or keyboards have you been using since you started ?

just bought a AKAI MPK 225 which I used in my latest album « SJÄLVMORD ».
Before that I just used a microkorg and used it as a midi-keyboard.

3. Death is a recurrent topic in the titles of your works: « Självmord » (Suicide in English) is a good example. Do you think that creating music can be a good way to challenge the human condition, which leads everyone to death?

Death is a taboo topic and I think that makes it interesting and that´s why a lot of my music is based on it.


4. One of your tracks, « Ultravåld », almost sounds like an Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio´s track, particularly regarding the vocals. What are your main influences, musically speaking ?

There are bands like Lifelover, Deftones, Christian Death, Apati, Broder Daniel, Trist and many more. I often get more inspiration from those bands than other electronic music. There are some electronic acts I get inspired of, like Gabriel Dior, Team Rockit, PaДocТъ, BLVTHE, o F F Love, Nordpolen and so on. It’s not just music I listen to to get inspired. I find movies and art inspiring to. Movies like Happiness, Ken Park, Christiane F and Fucking Amål are big influences.

5. Why have you chosen to give Swedish titles to most of your tracks?

Cuz I think it gets more interesting for non Swedes and it gets more personal for me.


6. The song «Nollfyranoll Rave Mix» is totally different from your other works. It is very positive, techno and perfectly danceable. Is this the new artistic direction you are going to take in the near future ?

That mix is just songs Ifound on youtube and I wanted to make a rave mix.
No. When I make music, I try to get out as much feelings and emotions as possible and that often makes it sad and dark.

7. Have you ever played live, either in Sweden or elsewhere? Have you planned to go on a European tour (including France, of course) this year ?

Yeah, once in Malmö and I thought it was fun and all but I was quite drunk and the volume was low, unfortunately.
I would love to play outside of Sweden and I think it will happen in the future.

On the web : http://depressed040.bandcamp.com/