MORTUARIUM


please discuss the evolution of DREAM INTO DUST.

i had mostly worked out what i did and didn't want to do in music several years ago. i then assembled a demo tape to give out to various people in the record industry. i soon realised that way of doing things was going nowhere, and also noticed many bands i respected had gone the self-release route at first. around this time a number of things in my life began to change, and my outlook, which has always tended towards melancholy, became even darker. i found everything to be a horrible experience and was not able to work on music as i became obsessed with atonal noise and nihilistic thoughts, which i was unable to completely express in a sonic form. somehow i came out of this period and picked up the acoustic guitar and began a more unique way of playing and writing than previously. it was like picking up stray pieces from the ashes of my past and building them on things i had learned since then. those first songs i was able to complete became the "hope for nothing" tape, and from there i've been adding more elements and broadening the spectrum.


would you consider DREAM INTO DUST to be your main project? is OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, your collaboration with BRYIN DALL (of LORETTA'S DOLL infamy), an ongoing project? what are the differences, concept-wise, between DID and OUO?

DREAM INTO DUST is my main band. i work hard on any project i involve myself in, but it's not the same degree of personal investment. OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN arose out of a mutual interest of bryin and i working more equally on a project, as prior to that i we had helped out with some recording on each other's bands. it's very freeing to do OUO, especially since we never know what we'll come up with. we usually enter the studio with no preconceptions before beginning a piece. we've already started a few more tracks in that vein but they had to be put aside for our main bands. OUO is an unconscious realisation of our respective interests in alchemy and chaos magick, as we build tracks very haphazardly and often completely transform sounds in the process, which should bring the listener into another state. it has a basis in experimental/industrial noise but we bring different elemnts to it that make it a bit more tuneful than most such artists. DREAM INTO DUST on the other hand, contains experimental elements but they must fit within the framework of my concept of the sound and lyrical content. i tend to explore more classical and militaristic themes, and there are lyrics more often than not. i'm very exacting because i often plan on a specific end result. i try to keep a certain purity and harmony in creating each piece, immersing myself in the appropriate state during work.


your former band DECEMBER is not a million miles away different from DID, style-wise. why did you think it was necessary to change the name? is it becuase it's a different entity altogether, as far as you're concerned?

after releasing "hope for nothing", situations in my life changed, which altered my outlook on things somewhat. in addition suddenly there were more bands appearing using DECEMBER prominently in their name. i think the sound did undergo a major enough evolution that a name change made sense as well. of course there's a similarity as they follow pretty much the same intent and will of the same person, but the method has altered. also, at one time "hope for nothing" was going to be called "dream into dust".


do you consider yourselves to be a part of the thriving new york GOTH/INDUSTRIAL scene? which bands do you think are making worthy music at the moment?

i used to be a part of it, as both a DJ and a participant. there's not any time for that now though. the point that i think is missed when people mention a "scene" is that the nightclubs are merely a part of a greater whole, not an end in themselves. they can be enjoyable, and hopefully lead to the discovery of some interesting music or people, but they can also become very tiresome. i don't fault anyone who is more firmly in that lifestyle, it's just not the center of the world. if you're asking about bands from new york making good music, LORETTA'S DOLL and BACKWORLD are always foremost on my list. it may seem as though i'm biased since they now happen to be my friends, but i liked their music before i knew them. i don't think any of us are really totally what's chiefly considered "goth/industrial" although those are the audiences we intersect with for the most part.


please give us a glimpse of the DREAM INTO DUST full-length CD released through ELEFNBLUT RECORDS (a division of the english label MISANTHROPY).


the title is "the world we have lost", which was a book about WWII i saw several years ago. the subject matter doesn't refer to that period however. it deals with different aspects of feelings of frustration, anger, melancholy, loss. in addition it approaches some broader subjects of more worldly concerns, so it looks both inside and outside. sonically it contains elements heard from our earliest efforts through our latest, and hopefully introducing new facets.

you started putting out your own music under a different label name, WAKING DREAM. was WAKING DREAM the direct precursor of your present label, CHTHONIC STREAMS? are there any plans of releasing other artists' products through CHTHONIC STREAMS? please give us a brief history of CHTHONIC STREAMS.


before DREAM INTO DUST became the band name we were already in negotiations with MISANTHROPY/ELFENBLUT for a CD, but the "no man's land" was ready at a time when they no room on their release schedule. rather than wait another 6 months, i decided to re-enter the record-making business, and thought having "dream" in both names was overkill. then they didn't want to do the 7"/cassette because of the hassle involved, so we put that out too. there have always been plans to involve other artists. at the moment it's only in the form of carrying other independent releases, but there are some artists we're approaching about some small scale releases in the future. i always want to keep things very obscure and specialised, our releases should be like discovering a rare gem.


for the benfit of those who are not familiar with the cult 60's british tv series THE PRISONER (myself included), please discuss the concept and motive behind the DREAM INTO DUST 7"/cassette 'a prison for oneself', from the packaging to the actual music.

'the prisoner' was a brilliant series that was only 17 episodes in 1967-68. it tells the story of an assumed former secret agent who is abducted to what seems to be a pleasant resort town called "the village", where everyone is given a number, and he is unable to leave. every episode is a mindgame, him trying to escape and them trying to extract information from him. it addresses several relevant sociopolitical issues and was pretty groundbreaking. we originally re-recorded the theme song in 1995 for a compilation but we withdrew it. when the 30th anniversary of the show came closer, it was decided to do a special tribute package reflecting a unique take on the music and themes of the show. 7" singles were a format that was dominant in the late 60's, and the extra cassette was so the three sides could be labeled "a, b, and c" after one of the episodes. the third piece mimics the hallucinatory sound effects used during drugging or hypnosis scenes. a modified version of the map of "the village" is on the insert, with corresponding buildings and areas renamed as areas of dante's hell. there's also a numbered i.d. card that has a mirror in place of the picture. there are no samples from the soundtrack, but we tried to use instrumentation to give the same sort of feeling with a dark twist.


you have one of the most original voices in the field of "dark music". i've been futilely attempting to compare your style with the most obvious references but it seems like vocal affectations are unnecessary to convey the desolate emotions and desired atmospheric effect of DREAM INTO DUST music. who are your musical and literary influences? where do you specifically draw the inspiration to conjure the very bleak scenarios/images in your lyrics and music?

the earliest musical influences would be the classical music played in my parents' house as i was growing up, followed by PINK FLOYD, GARY NUMAN, and LAURIE ANDERSON. from there i discovered other musical forms, from 80's british alternative bands to industrial and gothic to experimental and extreme metal. by now i've been making music so long, even with a few releases as DREAM INTO DUST, that it becomes an influence on itself. authors such as JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, JORGE LUIS BORGES, URSULA LE GUIN, and of course FRANZ KAFKA have been inspiring. some films that have affected our music have been "ulysses' gaze', 'jacob's ladder', 'slaughterhouse five', 'mishima', and 'the crucible'. working with others has an effect as well, as i wouldn't have done certain things the same way they did, especially in the realm of improvisation. things affect me constantly from all sources, and hopefully the band channels these elements into something unique.


future undertakings? any last words?

in the future hope we can write music for films, as well as do some live performances. more compilations and albums will follow of course. we'll continue to improve and expand. "es muss sein!" - ludwig van beethoven.




SOUNDS INTERVIEWS SHOWS