SPECTRUM




What was your musical journey that lead to your interest in and ultimate recording within an underground culture of obscure music?

if you want to start at the very root of things, there was an old upright piano in my parents' house which i abused horribly as a child. i would bang on it, hold the sustain pedal down with books, and open up the front to play the strings with kitchen utensils. i composed and later recorded short pieces in near-total naiveté, since the only music which was played in the house was classical on a tinny-sounding radio or ancient record player. then there was "music class" in school, which made no sense to me. to me, written music has always been about as inspiring and understandable as calculus. this drove me away from music for years and i pursued visual arts. i slowly got back into music once the visual side became restrictive in itself. by the time i went to art school i was constantly taking my breaks in the piano rooms. i re-taught myself music from a standpoint of different types of chords, and timbres of sound, as opposd to scales and keys. i learned a few rules and broke them immediately if i thought they were stupid, and let the final judgement be whether or not it sounds good. by this time i'd been exposed to both mainstream and underground music. i thought there was just music that was easy to find and other music that was more obscure, but for me the difference became clear when trying to send demos to labels and managers. i realised how differently these people approached music, and how much they would influence and warp it to suit the needs of the current marketplace, and that they were unable to understand certain things about the artists and the audience. it made more sense to follow the underground culture i was exposed to in books like cassette mythos and re/search's industrial handbook. not only was working in this way more feasible but more attractive to me as an artist. i'm not against commercial success but it should happen on the artist's own terms.


For a brief history December was your first project (of subdued industrial gothic-tinged songs) that was then laid to rest in favor of Dream Into Dust. In particular Dream Into Dust has progressively become more instrumental and neo-classical with each release. Has this been a conscious effort or an inevitable progression?

not conscious at all. given the classical music in my background i'd say it's inevitable, even atavistic. i still can't get into most classical music because it doesn't sustain a mood or key long enough, or i dislike certain conductors or playing styles. but there are segments of it that are just amazing. those are the moments i try to capture and extend for a piece, or work into another context. i wouldn't describe what you said as a progression, at least not the final progression. i wouldn't be surprised if some elements from the older material began creeping back in. i'm reluctant to classify it as "gothic" since that brings to mind a certain bass guitar-driven sound that we only briefly touched on with the "river of blood"/ "venus in chains" single. i like to think it was a unique take on that, and had other elements which point the way to other things. there's constant growth and change depending on what's necessary. there's a lot of variety if you're open to the numerous subgenres of dark music, but our work all stays within a framework that defines the sound.


Do you personally consider December to be the starting point for Dream Into Dust, or did the name change mark a total shift in attitude that ultimately required a new beginning?

it's pretty much the same attitude and feelings in that they come from me, but my life was different then. when things changed, the stylistic shift was enough that the name change was appropriate, besides the fact that several other bands were using an exact or similar name. i think dream into dust is more unique and personal, and does not provoke as narrow or prejudiced a reaction. i probably should have picked it in the first place.


Having already indicated that you are increasingly working within the neo-classical genre, Dream Into Dust still have the ability to transcend mere categorizations of a particular style, drawing from numerous sources (folk, doom, gothic, industrial to name a few). Has this ever created compositional difficulties for you in which direction you pursued? (consciously or otherwise).

i try to balance between letting the song go where it wants and trying to make sure it stays true to the sound i want to portray. a perfect example is "farwell to eden". it's almost entirely classical in arrangement, and the voice is very melodic. i really didn't want to go that far in that direction, since there was a possibility that track would be played separately and misrepresent us as a purely neoclassical band. but that's how it turned out. in the end i have to trust my feelings about it.


Although your music has a very European flavor, you actually live in New York (and what I'm sure is a very urbanised construct). I wouldn't think this would be an inspiring setting for the music you compose. Do you find your surroundings a hindrance to your creativity?

new york would be wonderful if not for all the people. i try to exist at hours to come in contact with as few people as possible. that's not always an option. i'm not in an especially "urbanised" area, although it is getting worse all the time. i would say the negative aspects of the environment are inspiring in a sense. if i felt there were more interesting things to do, great people to go out and meet, i'd be out spending my time on that sort of thing. instead, there are more yuppies, corporations, and tourists than ever blundering around town, strip-mining each community and turning everything into a bastardized disneyland. so mostly i try to stay in the studio and work. there are other advantages though, so we'll stick it out here as long as we can.


Many people spout on how they would ultimately love to go live away from the majority of human contact etc, however what is your opinion on this?

i think i forsee that in the future for myself. however you have to be careful not to become so cut off you aren't aware of what's going on, or you become unable to function around people because they're so alien to you. ingesting a little of this poisonous society at a time helps keep you immune to it.


What musical groups/scenes, writers, philosophers have played a role in the shaping of Dream Into Dust as we see/hear it today?

there's always influences coming in from everywhere, but i do my best to weed out those not relevant to the band, and distill those that are. industrial, classical, dark metal, experimental, neo-folk are all represented in what we do. if something seems like it's leaning a bit too much towards a certain style i try to throw a spanner in the works that no one else would. that might sound like a hodgepodge, but it does seem to coagulate into something other than the sum of the parts. as for writers and philosophers, nietzsche, sartre, kundera, and perdurabo have all had influence as well as mirroring concepts i already had. everything is filtered through my perception though, the band is not following any doctrine, unless it is that of the individual.


Given the images you have used on your releases have a historic, eurocentric focus, what aspects of European history interest you the most?

i wouldn't say history of any sort interests me per se. to me it's all just ideas, concepts, alternate ways of thinking and living than the bland and obvious path that's set in front of us from birth. i'm drawn to european culture as an aspiration to something higher than the crass generic american lifestyle. others would also say it's because some of my background is european - more atavism i suppose! perhaps a bit of both reasons. it's a part of me that i've been separated from and thus am attracted to as a result.


"Not above but apart" is a song title off your the world we have lost CD. Can you detail how this if at all pertains to the overall philosophy of either yourself or the concept behind Dream Into Dust?

i think the title is self-explanatory. i almost didn't feel the need to write any more words than that. it's a fitting end for the CD. given all the negative lyrics and the album title, one might think the finale would be blowing everything up, or claiming to be superior. instead you get, "not above but apart."


Likewise when exactly was our world lost? Is this a metaphor for loss of a certain mindset or referencing specific historic events?

that depends on how you define the term "world". it could be the planet earth, a particular way of life, a "scene", a circle of friends, a certain time frame...the possibilities go on. like the name dream into dust itself, it's loaded with multiple connotations for people to consider. i want people to think as well as listen to the music. even if they only get something years later - in fact when that happens to me, it makes me appreciate the piece more.


A sense of timeless nostalgia and sorrow permeates much of the atmosphere of the lyrics and music, but the photographic representation of your releases represents an era of past history (approximately the 1930-40's). Do the photos you have used reflect a deeper meaning other than for their aesthetic appearance?

i became interested in war photography several years ago. the fact is, there was more film shot in WWII than any conflict ever before or since. so a lot of images are going to come from that. however the photos we've used have come from various wars since the late 1800's. it's not meant as an historical reference, or in support of any country or political party. it's to show the horror it can bring, and unfortunately, the sick and strange beauty the destruction can provide the photographers with. it's a reminder of how close we all are to that state, how fragile humans and our creations are. it's also a metaphor for the battles all of us fight every day with ourselves and the outside world, and the feeling of desolation we can have after fighting for so long. however, after no man's land and the world we have lost we're moving on to other types of images. the music and lyrics are about more than just those things.


You seem to be involved in a scene of ethereal/ folk noir groups centered in New York and increasingly solidifying around the middle pillar label. Is this a correct assessment or totally off the mark?

it is somewhat correct in that we all know each other or are aware of each other. several people have switched bands over the past few years, or work with each other from time to time. at one time or another various bands have worked with middle pillar, either contributing to compilations, making distribution deals, or signing recording contracts. they're doing a great thing, but for the most part, the bands exist independently of each other and the label. mpp simply recognizes talent and know what to do with it - kudos to them for doing so. it should be mentioned that before mpp, there was an event called a night of misanthropy which bryin dall used to present, which did a lot towards helping a live dark music scene coalesce here in the 1990's.


Can you provide some detail into your involvement in your various side projects? (of which there are many!).

well, speaking of bryin, he's the one i work with most of the time on other projects, although he contributes to dream into dust as well sometimes. i first helped him on a country song a few years ago, which led to a remix of a track by his band loretta's doll. since then i actually joined them [for two years], playing bass and other noises and mixing half the new album [ creeping sideways]. meanwhile, he and i did an even noisier experimental/industrial project called of unknown origin. i sometimes do mixes for his main project 4th sign of the apocalypse as well as the powerelectronics outfit ursus noir. i helped on two tracks for thee majesty which he does with genesis p-orridge, as well as one track for the sword volcano complex album. recently we collaborated on a dark ambient project a murder of angels, and then applied some of the same techniques in postproduction to the first album by the mirror reveals. we've started work on a full album of dark country songs. i still plan to do other things and work with more people, but bryin and i work well together and he lives nearby. as enjoyable as those projects are, i'd like to slow things down in those areas for awhile and concentrate on dream into dust more.


Elfenblut were responsible to introducing December to the masses and later bringing forth the debut Dream Into Dust CD. How did you get in contact with the label and are you satisfied with the results?

as i mentioned before, my previous dealings with labels were frustrating at best, and i had given up on such a route and released the hope for nothing cassette myself. it attracted some attention in the underground dark music press, and i was trading it with other artists' tape releases. one of these was endura, who dubbed a copy for a friend at misanthropy records, who liked it and wrote about working with us. they then started elfenblut as a non-metal counterpart label to release amber asylum, ain soph, endura, BLOOD AXIS, hagalaz' runedance, dream into dust, and others. they didn't actually release the debut no man's land MCD which came out first due to a scheduling conflict at the time. they did come through with the release of the world we have lost though, it came out exactly as i'd envisioned it. i'm satisfied with their efforts, however unfortunately they decided to fold because of the tedious side of the record business, even though their releases were very much respected and selling quite well. we were one of the last three releases and i believe we suffered a bit timing-wise because of that. no fault on their end, but there was a slight perception and profile problem because the label's closing was known, as well as some distribution problems, especially in germany.


Your other releases being in the form of a 7" and MCD were produced on your own label Chthonic Streams and I believe was originally started to release the No Man's Land CD. What is the future plan for this label and how does Dream Into Dust fit into its continued vision? Do you prefer others to release your music or yourself apart from the obvious cost factor?

in some ways i'd prefer to have others release dream into dust, since i concentrate on so much of it, it takes the pressure off and gets some perspective to have someone else handle a few details. of course doing it all yourself means more control, so it's a tradeoff. the cost factor is a slight deterrent to releasing everything on chthonic streams. however, i'm very serious about releasing good music, so if i didn't believe in something i wouldn't put money into it. besides the MCD and a prison for oneself 7" you mentioned, there has also been the compilation on the brink of infinity, which came out at the end of 1999 and featured 12 artists' reflections on endings/beginnings/death/rebirth/cycles.


As you prepare design artwork for your own label/ releases and for other labels such as middle pillar, is this something you have trained in and is this your career as such that allows you to finance your other endeavours?

that's the way it is at the moment. the covers and ads are only part of it, i do a lot of freelance design and layout which helps fund the creation of music and the inherent expenses of that. the mailorder and label sales help a bit as well, but none of it is making me rich.


Last comments?

thank you for the interview, richard. keep up the great work on spectrum.





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