Interviews_CoF_I3

Capturing the Cradle of Creativity: Interview with Cradle of Filth
From Chronicles of Chaos, April 1997

Since bursting onto the scene with the release of 1994's _The Principle of
Evil Made Flesh_, Cradle of Filth have been both praised for their
orchestral, emotional arrangements, and harshly criticized for apparently
selling their image too much, through countless shirt designs, scantily clad
women adorning their CDs, and their own merchandising company.

Think what you will about the hype and publicity surrounding them, their
musical prowess is undeniable. They really need no further introduction, and
Dani had enough to say in the interview anyway, so I'll just cut this intro
short and let you start reading.

So what's new since the release of Dusk and Her Embrace? What have you guys
been up to?

Well, it essentially was released while we were on tour, at least in
England, on November 28th or something. We took a break over the Christmas
period, and we've been designing some new merchandise and what have you.
We've got a tour coming up, shortly, in Europe. We've been writing new
material because we enjoy writing new material all the time, you know, and
it gives us time to fuck around with it and expand it... it's really, really
good. We're really pleased with it. Also, the video has gone into
pre-production, as soon as I get back from this press trip I'm on. We start
shooting it, probably next Monday [March 3rd].

Video? For which song?

It's for the track "Dusk and Her Embrace", but it's incorporating a track
that hasn't been heard that was supposed to be designated for the end of the
LP, but it didn't meet the schedule. It's like an orchestral piece, it's
beautiful, it's called "Carmilla's Masque". And that's going to be like an
intro to the track, and then we're going to record two versions of it; you
know, one that's sort of MTV-friendly, which the record company demands, and
then our version [laughs], and then a live track, but we won't be playing on
tour in the video, it's going to be like a short film, an art film. Then
there'll be an interview. But we've been given quite a good budget for it,
so it's going to be interesting. We've been really, really busy.

Which members contributed most of the material to the new full length?

A lot of the material was actually written with the original lineup, a while
ago. We were waiting for this business with our previous record company,
"Crap"cophonous records . To cut a long story short, we placed a litigation
order upon them, and it looked like our career was in jeopardy, like the
band, there were arguments and stuff because we were getting frustrated, so
there were three of us left to deal with the court case, to end it, you
know, so we could get on with our musical careers. We recorded the
_Vempire..._ EP for them, so we were then free, because we withheld the
masters for _Dusk and Her Embrace_, to re-record it, which we did, and
changed a lot of it with the new members, and also wrote a couple of new
tracks for it. "Malice Through the Looking Glass" was a new track, "Humana
Inspired to Nightmare" was a new track, and we did some extensive work with
the other songs as well.

What are your feelings on the other bands that some of the former members
have formed? Some of them have a pretty similar sound, wouldn't you say?
Actually one of them (Hecate Enthroned) is -extremely- similar in sound.

Yeah, well I won't even -mention- that band's name because I mean, people
say "Are you worried about it?" Well what have we got to worry about, it's
an imitation, and it's ridiculous. It doesn't even make much sense, really.
But, you know, good luck to them, if they want to rip off our ideas... it's
flattering, really. As for Blood Divine, I think they're kicking themselves
now, because one of the reasons that... well, the two brothers were kicked
out, but the other guy, I was the best man at his wedding about a month
before he left, which made me the godfather to his son. But I've often
spoken to him since then, and he's just a completely different character
now. I'm sure he's kicking himself. And, you know, that's his just fucking
reward. But I'm not going to run my mouth and slag off his band, because
they're probably quite good, I mean they were in our band. I still have a
lot of respect for them, but as far as I'm concerned they're getting their
just rewards.

Any plans for a U.S. tour this summer, or anything else of that nature?

Apparently yes, we're supposed to be doing the Milwaukee Metal Fest this
year, and then the preparation for the tour is underway. Their's talk of us
doing, I can't name the band, but a big band, supporting a re-formed band,
if you know what I mean. I don't really want to disclose who it is, because
if it doesn't pull off then everyone'll just go "awww..."

What, is it Venom?

Ehh... could be. [laughs] Anyway... [laughs]

What would you guys be doing if you weren't playing in Cradle of Filth?
Where do you see yourself, as far as your career, if you weren't in the
band, or in music?

I probably would be dead from a drug overdose, I reckon. [laughs] No, I
don't know really, because music is my life. As well as doing Cradle of
Filth, I partially run Vamperotica (merchandising company). I mean, I don't
do the production of the shirts, obviously, but essentially I sort of run
that label and do the designs and everything. It's a full-time job. But I
suppose I would be in design or something, something along those lines, but
this is my life, and I really enjoy it.

What do you think of the people who think you're a bunch of rock stars,
because of your image, and your appeal to the 13 and 14 year-olds, and your
whole merchandising company?

Well, you get that anywhere, people say that sort of thing. Usually it just
comes from jealousy, and that kind of stuff... generally you just end up
tending to ignore that kind of shit, because -I- know different than that. I
know better than anyone, because I'm me. I was on the Internet last night,
and no offense, but some of the kids you can reckon are probably like 12 or
13 years old, and they just sit in their room with their computer and
they've got no experience in real life, so it's a window for them to view
the world. They can say what they want, and act as tough as they want. We
got some funny things here like, they were obviously young because they were
fixated with asses, and the idea of me sucking blokes' dicks, which is all
very amusing. And this is where a lot of this stuff came from, this ideology
you've put forth, about people saying 'image image image' or 'hype hype'...
Fuck 'em. So, things like this are a necessity, to come here and do a press
trip, it's what's required of you if you view it as a job.

The vocal style you use must be pretty hard on your throat. Do you think
it'll have any effect on you, later in life, or are you just going to keep
screaming it out for the rest of your time in Cradle of Filth, or what?

Well I tend not to think about it. I smoke as well, so that probably doesn't
help. I tend to look after it, not as much as I should. I mean, it sounds
painful, but it isn't.

Do you use much overdubbing, during the longer screams, or is it all
natural?

Nah, it's natural. It's surprising really, I'm only a little guy as well.
People are like 'How do you do that? If I could sing like that I'd just do
it all the time, in the street!' But you just have to get in a frame of mind
to do that sort of thing. It's not as hard as it seems; it sounds as if it's
really really taxing. I can't sing like, I don't know, Ronnie James Dio, or
that kind of thing you know. I've got admiration for someone like Joe Lynn
Turner for example, I'm not a fan, but he's an incredible vocalist. To each
their own.

What have the sales been like for _Vempire..._, and _Dusk and Her Embrace_?

Well, we've sold quite a few records in Europe and what have you, and
obviously the sales haven't been massive over here, because it's been on
import. This is the purpose of this press trip, you know, having just signed
to Music for Nations, well, we've got to let people know who we are. And I
guess the reason why some people tag this band as all imagery or what have
you is because all they see of the band are the scraps that have been thrown
from the tables in Europe. And the general magazines that you would get over
here, you know, magazines like Kerrang, and also Hit Parader, and stuff like
that, that's all talk. They need stuff that sells magazines, they're not
really interested in the music. And the good thing about that, is that
people don't seem to realize that (A) it gives publicity anyway, and (B) if
kids want to know more about the band, they turn to things that matter, like
the underground fanzines.

What's your view of the Internet, as far as helping Cradle of Filth out, and
the underground metal scene?

Oh, well I am total techno-fear-man, all-the-machines-are- ganging-up-on-me
type of person. I am hopeless with computers, but that's really because I
haven't paid much attention to them, but I'm going to try and get some sort
of PC, because that's just going to help more with the artwork, and the
Internet just looks like a lot of fun. Yeah, I've seen some of our websites,
like in England. Some people who are fans, or with their own fanzines, just
set up websites, and it's like 'Fuck yeah, how did he know that? I only
stubbed my toe yesterday!' So yeah, it's incredible. It's like a whole
underground culture, isn't it?

What size do you want to see Cradle of Filth grow to, in terms of
popularity? Do you want to be any more popular than you already are?

Now, this must be a trick question. [laughs] No, I see your point, but I'd
be a liar if I said 'oh, I think I'd like to stay this size for the rest of
my life.' No, of course I'd like to see us get to enormous stature, but
we're not going to compromise. We don't have to do that because,
essentially, our music... it's -our- music, and we don't really like to have
anybody fuck with it and what have you. It just so happens that, okay,
people dig us and buy our records now. So you know, we don't go and
compromise... because, fuck, we're not in this to compromise, you know what
I mean? We know that we're not going to be fucking huge, and the rock star
thing doesn't appeal to us anyway. It's just not our cup of tea. The best
thing to get from a band is to get respect, to get people to appreciate you
for creating music. And the best thing in the world is when people, genuine
people, not buttfuckers, love the record so much they tell you about it and
they want to know more, and it's such a cool feeling to know that you affect
someone's life that much. That is the cool feeling, not the money. The money
isn't important, it's a bonus. That's all it is. You've got to live, but the
main thing is respect, that's cool.

In an interview about 10 or 12 months ago (in Voices from the Darkside #9),
you said that you'd written about 80 minutes of music for _Dusk and Her
Embrace_, but of course it's only 53 minutes long (the regular version,
anyway).

"Queen of Winter, Throned" was originally a _Dusk..._ track, which was
changed for _Vempire..._; we re-wrote it, added some new parts in there and
what have you. But I love that, I think it's great.. But we had time to do
that you see, when we were going through the litigation with the record
company, we had a lot of free time on our hands, because they weren't
putting us out on tour, and weren't getting us into the right places and
what have you, so it's understandable isn't it?

The kid who was arrested for wearing the COF shirt... would you mind talking
about that a bit?

Yeah, well I'm not too clued up exactly what happened, because it was all
happening while we were out of the country. We pledged our support to his
case, but unfortunately we were again out of the fucking country when his
case came up. He lost his appeal, which meant that he lost legal aid, so he
couldn't pay for his own solicitor. He did want to fight it, out of
principle. But it's all up in the air really, because he was determined not
to lose, and all eyes were on it on the press side of things in England,
because had he lost, and they enforced this law they would have had to
rewrite everything to do with censorship. That would have had massive
repercussions, it would have sent shockwaves throughout any form of
artistry, film, television, and music. In general, the music business was
kind of crapping its pants, so to speak, because, you know, a lot of bands
make a lot of money being outspoken. That's what England should be, it's a
land where you can have free speech so it was kind of worrying. But we ended
up giving him the money that he was charged, basically because it was our
fault if you think about it. I think it's cool. We've got another shirt now,
well we've got quite a few shirts on the way, because the best thing about
it is meeting up with all the photographers, and also to see the women, it's
great fun you know, it's brilliant. But this one shirt, it's like an attack
back, a retort to the "Jesus Is a Cunt" shirt, and we're going to get this
guy to model it for this issue of Terrorizer. Basically, it's just Cradle of
Filth, with our faces down the sleeve, along with our names. Why we are
cunts, you know, like the Irish-born keyboardist Damien is referred to as a
terrorist on it, and Nicholas is referred to as Necroboar. It's a cool,
funny shirt. But, I felt we had to say it before everyone else did. [laughs]

Why did you sign to Music for Nations, as opposed to one of the top labels
like Nuclear Blast?

Firstly, to be perfectly honest, what we did, we led Cacophonous on, we led
them up the gardened path for about four months saying we were going to
re-sign to them so they'd take us out to business meals and, you know, just
pamper us because we'd been treated like shit before then. We were kind of
reveling in it. Behind their backs, we were just going everywhere. We flew
out to Germany, we went to East/West and were taken out, we went up to see
Earache and other people expressed interest as well. It was like a pick of
about six or seven labels, we had a solicitor to get the best deal for us,
and we got a good one in the end. Because obviously we needed cash to buy
new gear, but it was cool, because we visited everywhere and got loads of
free CDs. [laughs] 'Alright see ya, yeah, yeah' or 'Yeah, we'll get back to
you tomorrow.' [laughs] That kind of thing. The reason why we settled with
Music for Nations was because, if I wanted to have a go at the record
company because they had fucked up, you'd have to go to Germany for it, you
know what I mean, you can't hit anyone over the telephone. Music for Nations
is, okay we live in the countryside, but London is like an hour and a half,
at most, and then you're there at the office. So if you have to go up to
check on some artwork, or pick up some mail, or talk to the M.D. to discuss
your next plan of attack, or whatever... plus, they're a good label and
they've got some great bands on their label.

What do you think about the new wave of "unholy evil black metal" bands,
from Norway or elsewhere, who rely totally on image, and who have no real
musical qualities?

I don't think it's fair for me to talk about people's bands because, you
know, it's their life as well, and I don't really want to bitch about it.
Although we've done our fair share of it in the past, I must admit. But it
was fair, it wasn't for no reason. What -does- annoy me, which we get, is
when people say 'oh you're appearing in these magazines... that's not black
metal' And it's like, who the fuck are these people to dictate to us what is
and what isn't, you know, exactly. But I think that whole Norwegian thing
burnt itself out when they realized they didn't have anything else left to
say. But there's some great fucking music still coming from Norway, like
Arcturus, you know?

What do you see in the future for Cradle of Filth, as far as the rest of
this year, and next year? Anything special planned, besides the video and
tours?

We've got new material for a new release, untitled as of yet, because really
we've been too busy to turn our attention towards writing any lyrics, which
is sort of a sad thing to say, but it's perfectly true. It's going to be
like a _Vempire..._-length mini-album which will see release probably around
September to October, is the plan, and then a new album will follow next
March. Obviously, you know, there's a lot of work involved there, because
the tracks have got to be the fucking dog's bollocks, and they will be, but
time will tell. Then we've got a big festival, because we've got to get our
faces out there a bit more, and give the fans a good show. Then I'm getting
married this year and I've got to squeeze that in [laughs]. I love
commitments like that, so... But the actual thought though, now that you're
talking about it, thinking about the rest of the year, and the fact that I'm
tired, I'm like 'Ohhh God... just let me melt.'

Sure, but it'll be fun though, wouldn't you say? Touring, etc.?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of touring. I mean I love
playing shows, but when it comes to touring... I get gradually worn down,
you know? Like I start really good, and my voice will get stronger, but my
mental outlook gets more and more worn down, like a fucking pebble on the
beach. We've got a six-week tour coming up, and we've never done anything as
long as six weeks, and to tell the truth, I'm not looking forward to it. I
can be an outgoing character you know, go out and enjoy myself, but my
favorite thing is being at home, you know. I miss my pets, and it sounds
sad, but I really miss my girlfriend. It's just work done from home, I can
do a lot more things there.

Well, that's about it. Is there anything you want to say, or end the
interview with?

Em... No, because if I open my mouth and say something ridiculous then I'll
just get bad for it. [laughs]

Published in Chronicles of Chaos (http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html)

From the Haunted Shores COF page (http://hauntedshores.simplenet.com/cof/)