Monday, August 15, 2011

Dead Man's Hill Interview


1. Can you update us with what is going on with the band these days?

- I'm working for a new album, but things are going very very slowly. It's a new experiment, a combination of everything I did in dmh in the past. So for the rest things are going very calm for this project - but you can expect some new planned releases soon.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

- Goh, it's very difficult to tell, since almost every album sounds difficult, let us say, a sort of ritual neoclassical industrial with a lot of influences of nature and nature religion.

3. What are some of the lyrics and subject matter that you bring out in your song lyrics?

- They're mostly about nature and all her aspects, in combination with animist religion. Others are about my own fantasies or things I feel or experience. In the past I was also very inspired by various horrormovies :)

4. Have you had any opportunities to do live shows yet

- Yeah, I did several live-shows during the years, especially in Belgium, but also in The Netherlands, Germany and Portugal.


if so what are some of the best shows that the band has played so far

- The best show was definitely on the live noises festival (2008, in Hof ter loo - Antwerp, Belgium). It was together with Con-dom, Sect, Section B, Grunt, and others. This concert is released on cdr in the meantime - and the album is called "speaks in the tongues of the universal reporter". Another one which was special was in January 2006,also here in Belgium, together with Allerseelen, Sanctum and Predella Avant. It was a very short one with the most powerful tracks from the dmh-discography, and with pretty brutal videoprojections.

and how would you describe your stage performance?

'till 2008 I worked with live singers/musicians but thereafter I decided to work solo on stage - I always work with synthesizers, soundeffect boxes and videoprojections. The reactions on those solo-concerts were always very good, so I decided to keep it this way.

5. What kind of influence do you feel you have on other death industrial bands that have came out in the last few years?

- To be honest, I have no idea. I don't follow the industrial scene anymore since 5 or 6 years or so...and silence can often bring more original inspiration than listening to whatever type of music.

6. How has your music been received so far from fans of death industrial worldwide?

- According to the things I hear it all seems to be okay. I already received a lot of mails and messages trough the years from a lot of people living in several regions on earth, who enjoy dmh a lot and buy the albums from me directly, and most (totally not all, but most) of the cd-reviews I receive are telling good things about it, so I'm very happy with that, it motivates me to keep continuing with spreading the music as much as I can.

7. Out off all the releases that you have put out so far, which one are you the most satisfied with?

- Via Occulta, definitely. And Songs from the forthcoming Apocalypse too. But the one I'm the most satisfied of will be released soon (I think at the end of this year), and will be called "Spirits". You can expect a (super)natural horror-dark ambient soundtrack.

8. How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

- I think I work much more precisely, regarding to more recent releases. And about the future...I don't know..with each release I'm trying to bring more power in the music, and also more mystic and unexpected / unusual sounds in it, so that the entire album is a deep and fargoing journey on itself. That's what I want to achieve - to let people use the music, so that they can travel to deeper or higher stages.

9. I have read somewhere that you have a lot of black metal influences, what are some of the black metal bands that have influenced your style

In the past I listened some time pretty intensive to black metal, and I feel that especially Taake and Limbonic Art influenced me a lot. What doesn't want to say that you'll hear those influences in my albums, since I'm inspired by so many things. Life is so diverse that becoming a giant mix happens very soon. But dmh has certainly not the intention to sound like a black metal band.

, and since your music is very diverse what other musical styles or bands that have influenced your music

- In Slaughter Natives have been a giant influence for me in the past, nowadays I notice that I'm very inspired by Gaë Bolg and cabaret oriented singers, what concerns music.


and also what are you listening to nowadays?

- These days I listen a lot to didgeridoo music - especially when it's inspired (or when it is) by traditional yidaki playing, cabaret singers like Wannes Vandevelde and Dimitri Van Toren, and also more Deathrock/wave oriented stuff.

10. When I have listened to your music and looked at the song titles, you have some songs about kaballah and voodoo, what are some of the esoteric or magickal paths that you find the most interesting, Eastern or Western?

- All those paths are very very interesting, as long as they are practised in a consequent ethical way in balance with nature. And the best of all is to combine all those paths - to take out what you need and what suits you the best, and to use it all together. To unite them all is the strongest medicin.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I'm addicted to didgeridoo playing, so I spend also a lot of time with this wonderful instrument. For the rest I read a lot, and I'm a lot outside in nature.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?

Yes: I want to thank all the people who supported dmh 'till so far.
Thanks for the interview!

https://www.facebook.com/deadmanshill/

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