1. Hello, it's the beginning of the interview, so to catch the interest of our readers could you tell us more about the passionating things that occurred in the world of Glamsdring lately?
Thanks for having me! Lately I've been trying to promote my last EP, Svarte Skogen, as much as possible, and I've also been writing new material that I plan to use on a Split EP in the future. Other than that, it's been fairly quiet in the world of Glamsdring recently.
2. As the sole member of Glamsdring, how do you handle the songwriting, recording, and live performance aspects? What challenges and advantages do you experience as a one-man band?
As a one-man band, I have to sacrifice the performance aspect completely until I find some musicians that also enjoy Black Metal that can back me up on a live stage. If there are any black metal musicians around the Kent area in England who are interested, please contact me through my Bandcamp page, haha. In terms of songwriting, I just mess about until I find something that sounds cool. I never sit down knowing that by the time I stand up again I will have written a song, or even a riff. When I record, I will usually program the drums first, and since I don't have a bass, I use a pitch shifter to imitate it. Then I triple-track the guitars to make it sound as thick as possible. Then, of course, vocals come last. As a one man band, it can be hard to trust yourself to know that what you're doing is coherent and sounds good. In a band setting, you will have three or four other people's input that can give you a sense of confidence in that area, because if you come up with something bad, you will know that it is bad because of the other people in the group setting. When you're in a one man band, when you release something, you do so completely trusting that it is good material. This can be good in some ways because it pushes you to give yourself the greatest sense of confidence possible by making your music as good as possible. The recording process can also be challenging as a one man band - in a band setting, you have the option of the band recording live, which can greatly speed up the process. You don't have that option in a one man band. However, I love being a one man band because you can express your true feelings as a person without them being diluted by the true feelings of others. Being in a one man band, or a personal project, whether that be art, music, poetry, etc, is the highest form of individual expression in my opinion.
3. Before becoming a musician, were you self taught taking private music lessons at a young age or did you fully learn and adapt on your own from there?
Well, I only turn fourteen this December and I am still taking guitar lessons, so I suppose the answer to that question is yes, haha! As I'm still in school, I have a lot of free time to make music, which is great.
4. Are you fine with being called a black metal band or is it important to use terms like “Folk” or “depressive” as well when discussing the music of Glamsdring?
I'm fine with being classed as black metal. I think that if my music reminds people of folk music, or has some depressive aspects in some people's eyes, then that's fine. I do enjoy folk music (particularly Yiddish folk as I come from a Jewish family), and Depressive Black metal is also of influence to me.
5. Explain to us what went into developing the concept, music and album cover for your new EP, Svarte Skogen?
When creating Svarte Skogen, I just wanted to try and perfect what black metal is. I wasn't so much trying to do anything new, so much as trying to perfect the "formula" that was laid out to us by the forefathers of the genre. In future, maybe it will be a good idea to do something more "Original", but at the moment I'm just trying to find my feet with the project and get used to creating this style of music. For the album cover, I can't really afford any professional photography or artwork, so I just walk into the woods and take a picture that looks like it fits with the album, haha! Of course, that's how it is for new and growing bands.
6. How did the process of writing this material move? Were you confronted by anything unusual or unforeseen? If yes, do the songs reflect it somehow?
Nothing really unforseen happened during the creation of the EP, but unforseen things did happen during the creation of the first demo. it was created during a period of mourning, in winter, and it made the general aesthetic of the first demo much darker.
7. How different was the process of composing and recording between this EP and the previous demo?
Like I said in the last question, it was created when I was in a different mental state to the first one, and I think that makes it a less dark EP in general compared to the first one.
8. What were the main challenges you faced in learning to mix music and how did you overcome them?Learning to mix music is difficult because you have to learn from experience.
You have to release some really badly mixed songs and learn from them, which leads to better mixes in the future, hopefully.
9. As a band, what do you hope listeners take away from your music? What emotions or connections do you aim to evoke through your songs?
In my songs, I try and give that feeling that you can only get from black metal. That feeling you get when you hear something musical that resonates with you and it sends shivers down your spine. If I can accomplish that, I'm happy.
10. What inspires you music and lyric-wise? What are the pros and the cons of the maturity and the experience of a musician when it comes to adequacy, originality and spontaneity?
In the first demo I was very inspired by the winter, as it was written from October-December. It was much easier to come up with good black metal in that setting, whereas Svarte Skogen was written March-April. I'm also writing more history-based material, for example 'La fin de la vie' is about D-Day. Proclaiming the Throne of the North is about King Canute invading England. History is amazing, it gives endless inspiration.
11. How do you define “underground” and where do you see yourself and your band in it?
I would define the Underground as a tight-knit community of bands in a genre that is anti-mainstream by definition, like black metal. When you look back across history, many political movements were "Underground", like the French Resistance, early Socialism in Russia, or Zionism under the Third Reich. I like to think of black metal like that, something that feels very illegal, and has been effectively ostracised by society itself. I would say that since my band is hardly known yet in the underground, I wouldn't see myself as part of it yet, but I hope that it will be a part of the Underground in the future.
12. What do you think about all the fashions that come and go in the black metal in general, in the recent years?
I don't really mind them, to be honest. A lot of people really hate the "Blackgaze" thing that was going on a couple of years ago with Deafheaven, Liturgy, Violet Cold, etc. I think it's good! A musician is always on a journey to fulfil themselves, and if you don't want to come on that journey, then the artist shouldn't have to pay for that. Of course, criticism is a good thing, but people ridicule the whole thing when it's not their business to do so.
13. Do you know anything about the Southamerican Metal Scene?
Not really! I know of Personal Records, based in Mexico, and I know that the underground is thriving over there, but other than that not really. I'd love to learn more about it.
14. Last but not least, what are your biggest hopes for the upcoming rest of the year? What do we need more of, and what do we need less of?
As for the rest of the year, I hope to release more material and do a couple of splits to boost my band, hopefully. We need MORE BLACK METAL and LESS POP MUSIC, haha!
15. Thanks for taking the time out for this and all the best for the future! Last word is yours.
Thanks for having me! Like I said earlier, if you're a black metal musician from Kent, let me know! I'm also looking to do a split with someone, so if you're interested in that, also let me know. Stay metal everyone!
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