Iun 02, 2015 (Republished From The Webzine I Worked For At That Time)
Hello Miruna, and thanks for inviting me.
Because of the live-plans for August and investments in
musical equipment, flights for rehearsals, hotels and anything related, it took
its toll on the budget I had already planned for the album recording, and for
those reasons I had no choice but to delay the album recording a few months.
Even though we've already started to do some recordings of guitars,
orchestral/keyboard stuff and also had a session with female vocals done last
week. The idea of doing an EP prior to the new album came to me since we're
already doing some "test recordings" of the live-material, including
some stuff from the upcoming album, and we wanted to do this special EP
featuring the entire live line-up as what we do is basically a one-time event
(now to begin with, at least). So it's a 3-track EP that goes under the name "Carpathia
Symphonia" and will have a playing time of approx. 22 minutes. The plan is
to have it available around the time of our concert in August. As regarding the
artwork for the new album, we will this time go back to using photographs taken
by my Hungarian friend Tamás Vámosi, just like on our demo/EP & first
album. These shots were taken during our trip through Transylvania in July
2014. If it's gonna be Laura Sava or someone else behind the editing and layout
this time around, it's still not sure. I've had a dialogue with Laura, and well
knowing that she's very busy with several bigger illustration jobs, so it
depends on what she manages time-wise. And after all she's purely an artist and
don't really work with design and editing type of work, so we'll see now in the
months ahead.
The 'WALLACHIA' project
started in 1992, and from 1992 to 1995
Wallachia was a solo project of yours. Tell me more about the solo project, how did the idea
for the project take root? what inspired you to start this journey?
I created Wallachia in my
early teens and from the very beginning I wanted it to be a one-man band, as
first of all there were really no scene for this kind of music up here, and
especially to find a drummer was a difficult task. I was heavily inspired by
Bathory and Burzum, and how they more or less were fully one-man bands were
also a big inspiring factor to me. I kept practicing drums whenever I was able
to, and were asking the more experienced musicians in my town about the process
of recording in the studio, etc. But in the first couple of years nothing
happened apart from me writing the material that would become the demo. In the
summer of 1995 I hooked up with Eystein Garberg (now known from Norwegian folk
metal band Lumsk) who was in the same situation as me, living 200 km's away
from my town. And we decided to do Wallachia together as a duo; me doing the
guitar, bass and vocals, and him doing also guitar as well as keyboard and drum
programming. So we bought this 1st generation '80's drum machine (which would
be perfect for artists like Modern Talking, etc.) from the studio of my mom's
band, and during 4 - 5 weekends in the summer - autumn of 1995 we had
completely rehearsed and arranged the demo-songs, and in November we booked
ourselves into the studio and recorded the demo over a couple of days. So much
thanks to Eystein the whole process with realizing Wallachia went very smooth,
and I am very thankful for everything he did with the creation of this band.
And it made me realize that I depend on having someone to help me out realizing
the recording, as I am basically after all only a guitar player. The early -
mid nineties was a blooming time for the underground scene, and it was
inspiring to see how people at your own age or a few years older were creating
these monumental albums, which they still remain today. And it was the need for
saying something, for expressing your soul and thoughts, which in these days
one can do in different ways too. But music is for me the most powerful tool of
expression, as it hits all the senses, and most of all something you can feel
and connect with in a spiritual and emotional way.
As a band Wallachia is
bounded to Romania, to romanian culture, from the band name to songs. How's that?
I guess you've been asked before why Romania history instead of Norse mythology?
The lyrics are written by you, if yes what influenced you? books, history?
My fascination with Romanian history, myths and culture began
as a child who was at first embracing the whole Dracula myth - the purely
vampiric legend as we know from Bram Stoker's novel. I was approx. ten - eleven
years when I first got into those things. Remembering very well how I used to
look at those Christopher Lee Dracula movies covers when dropping by the video
rental stores, and that first moment of watching those movies with an equally
mixed feeling of dread and fascination. From then on to be told from a Dutch
kid that lived in our neighborhood that Dracula was not only a myth but a real
historical figure; something I would be able to further investigate on my own
later. At our local library I came across a Danish book about the morbid
characters of medieval times, such as Elizabeth Bathory, Gilles De Rais, and
most of all the extensive chapter about Vlad Tepes. And this was the actual
source that made me create Wallachia, embracing these legends and captivating a
gloomy majestic atmosphere to go along the dramatic descriptions of Wallachian
and Transylvanian nature, the Fagaras mountains, the thick Carpathain forests,
river streams. A song like Fullmåne over Fagaras was purely inspired by this
book's description of the nature and the myths, whereas a song like Arges -
Raul Doamnei was on the other hand inspired by the Bram Stoker's Dracula movie
from director Francis Ford Coppola, which came out to the cinemas in those
times. As a teenager you are very receptive of fantasy, mythology and the mind
is perhaps more imaginative in that sense, and the first songs I wrote were
like a mix of inspirations from books, movies, history and mythology, as well
as also some were of a more personal nature and stance of rebellion against
things that still are relevant for me to speak out about. I'm still fascinated
with these topics of history and mythology, and it was really exciting to
travel to places like Sighisoara, Fagaras, Déva, etc. and to touch upon the
feeling of actually standing inside these buildings, castles and ruins of
places you only had read about and hardly seen any images of (in pre-internet
times). Although my lyrics have become more like a personal and internal source
of inspiration rather than an exterior one. I guess that the mythology and
history from other civilizations can appear more inspiring and trigger a deeper
sense of imagination rather than the one we are standing in the middle of and
don't really see with the same outside perspective. Those far away lands seems
more enchanting and mystic. And Transylvania sure have its aura of mystique,
not only for me, but from other Scandinavian bands who were fascinated the same
way. We are taught the Norse mythology subjects in school, and there's some
fascinating legends there too, of course, and even nowadays here in my town
they are still making archeological discoveries from the viking era - a
millennia back in time. Grave sites of kings, weapons, jewelry, parts of ships,
etc.
The album Shunya it's way different compared to From behind the light? Why did you
changed your style? How was Shunya
received by the public?
Well, from my point of view we haven't changed our style, but
rather evolved the sound naturally over the years. And it's a 13-year gap from
the debut until our latest effort "Shunya", and also we have done the
"Ceremony of Ascension" album in 2009, which makes this transition in
a pure audial sound even more natural. We didn't take away or change any
elements in our musial sound, but rather added to what was already there, and
that's the biggest difference from the debut album and up to what we're doing
now. Even on the 1st album I would say that the music was quite eclectic, but
that became even more evident on the 2nd album - our most experimental one up to
date, as also having Stefan coming into the band and recording process and
adding some of his own touches with the keyboards and effects, which are partly
more ethnic and Eastern influenced in sound. The biggest change, or rather
improvement, is perhaps the way that I do the vocals nowadays; purely without
any effects/harmonizer as to how we did on the early stuff. It's much more raw
and primal, and closer to my original intention now since from the 2nd album.
And everything we do is basically what we instinctually feel evolves the sound.
Now with the upcoming album I think we have songs that are more close to the
1st album than to the other two, so it's like a natural circle of evolution
within the so-called frames you set for yourself. Shunya is our most well
received album until now, as first of all it's more cohesive sound- and
music-wise compared to the previous album. Those who embrace it seems to get
beneath the feelings I put into the songs, and I'm happy that people see the
total picture of the album - meaning the music, lyrics and artwork as a
full-bodied entity.
For the first time in Romania
as a band on stage. Why don't you play in the geographical romanian region
Wallachia?
At least I get to visit and travel through Wallachia itself this
year, and I am looking much forward to that.
It all comes down to the booking and the location being set
in Transylvania, as it's the first time we've been able to confirm yes to play
a show. When Doru proposed the idea for us to play at DBE, I had to ask the
guys if they were up for the job and finally realize a Wallachia live show. So
within a week's time I had gotten a yes from all the guys that help me out;
with Stefan and Paal already being a part of the whole studio process, then to
also have Grolig and Thomas stepping in was a great relief to me.
It will be the only concert
for this year?
It's the only booking we have confirmed so far at least, so
we'll see what happens ahead. At the moment we are set to do this one and only
event before starting the full work on recording the new album.
What can you tell me about
your personal view on black metal? Is it different now than 20 years ago?
When I first got into black metal music in the early
nineties, it was like for many else at that time coming from a death metal
background and discovering a new creation taking shape from the same
foundations. And I'm into this form of music nowadays for the same reasons as
back when I first got into it. The rebellious aspects of the music appeals to
me the same, as that's the whole basis of black metal in the first place.
Rebellion, opposition, the quest for truth and individual liberty; to be free
from doctrinal rules and totalitarian ways of thinking and being bound to live
by - such as we see in religious governed states even now in our time and age,
unfortunately. Black metal as a music genre has evolved over the years, for
good and bad, and some might say it has been dilluted and not have the same
aura of mystique any more. Maybe much thanks to how it became more accessible
with the growth of the internet as a medium, and how some pushed into more of a
purely "Disneyland" entertainment thing rather than the more obscure
artistic form it originates from. But that's basically the same fate all
subcultures have shared at one point or another. Death Metal, too, reached a
peak where it got mainstream and nearly died out by the middle of the nineties,
only to get even more extreme and be revived stronger than ever, and one can
say the same about black metal too. Many of the great bands are the ones who
have always been doing it, when it was totally underground to begin with, when
it got big and popular, and through the hard times when it nearly died out, and
they are still here doing it for the right reasons, for personal satisfaction
most of all. A lot of my favorite bands come from the early - mid nineties, but
also bands I have discovered the past 5 - 10 years have an equal high impact on
me, so I'm just happy to see that there's possible to still create and surprise
when there's so many bands and releases out there. As I have grown older and
have a broader perspective of the world and society, of myself as person too,
one grows a larger sense of understanding, empathy and tolerance, naturally. And
at the same time the rebellious flame and anger towards injustice, abusive
power, corruption, totalitarianism - the opposition and repulsion towards such
things grow even stronger and thus also more important to speak up against. And
that's why black metal as an artform hold great importance to me. The freedom
of speech, equality and individuality are the most important aspects in our
lives, I think.
What do you love so much about music? How would you describe your
musical progress over the years?
As a child I grew up with music being an important thing in
my family, as my mother was vocalist in a 60's styled pop-rock band. And from
her I got the same emotional connection with music, I think. At an early age I
just knew that I wanted to play guitar more than anything else, and finally for
my 13th birthday I got myself an electric guitar and amplifier, and from then
on it has been no turning away from music. My cousin who is one year older than
me, got me into a lot of the metal stuff, basically from I was age 7 - 8, and I
was 12 years of age when I got into the more extreme bands at that time.
Getting into the more extreme stuff only opened up more doors and allowed a lot
more dynamics come into my (musical) life, to have a larger spectrum of connection
and expression. I have always liked music that have a sense of sadness and
melancholy to it, a more reflective, realistic and meditative quality. There
are songs for any situations in life, and some times we need music as a way of
being understood, finding tranquility with ourselves, and also to have music
that is uplifting and motivating, a sense of feeling that nothing can break us.
It's both the pure physical connection and also the intellectual and emotional
connection with music that are important, and especially when all those are
combined. There are a few artists that really manages to move us in such a way
that we feel they are speaking directly to us, and that's the most amazing
feeling and experience with music. I simply need music every day.
Thank you for your time. It was
a pleasure talking to you. Do you have some words for Romanian fans?
Thanks for the interview and the pleasure was all mine. I
want to thank the Romanian fans and friends, and hope to see some of you at DBE
in August. And I look much forward to visit your beautiful country again.
INTERVIEW BY MIRUNA VITRIOL
