Adrift
If your soul lasts for
weird and dark sounds, if you have an inclination towards dissonant, ambient
and strange notes, if you simply want to explore new soundscapes and potential
in music, then Adrift from Switzerland are definitely capable of providing
you with what your heart desires...
1. FIRST OF ALL GIVE US A SHORT BAND BIO AND
POINT OUT YOUR GOALS WITH ADRIFT.
I started about ten years ago doing some tries.
The logo is the only thing I kept from those early years. I also did some
other tries during the following years, also with some unproductive moments,
I must admit. I also tried to improve my skills with all the instruments
I require, for example by doing little ambient songs in order to use the
synths and computer programs better, or studying classical music in order
to learn more about orchestrations, etc... Last year I thought that I could
do a short CD and not just some isolated songs and present it to the small
world of extreme metallers. My goal, of course I could say is just to create
the music I would like to hear but doesn’t exactly exist by now. With more
details I will say that it’s a music with of lot of orchestrations (influenced
mostly by classical music), but at the same time with a lot of dissonance
and occult influences (black metal mostly) and some computer effects (electronic
and film music mostly) to create some even weirder moments. I think I wanna
create a music that is really disconnected from the real world, that’s
why I chose such a band name. Some bands like to integrate what they live,
society… in their music but that’s not what I wanna do with my project.
Fellini, the film director, used to say that art was about lying and I’m
quite ok with that opinion. Of course my music is an abstract of all the
things I’ve experienced but I think I just kept the best parts and rearranged
it all.
2. THIS IS A ONE MAN BAND AND YOU, NADIR, ARE
BEHIND IT. WHY DON’T YOU HIRE OTHER MUSICIANS? DO YOU THINK BY HAVING OTHER
BAND MEMBERS YOUR MUSICAL VISION WILL BE SPOILED?
Well, I must say that I like to compose everything.
And I think that if it was a band with musicians, it would sound too human,
whereas the concept of this project is about non-human, desert atmospheres.
The only instrument I’m actually not able to play is the drums, but that
doesn’t disturb me to use a drum machine since I like electronic music
(I must just admit that mine is a little bit old and cheap). I can also
say that (rock and its derivatives) music is perhaps an exception within
the artistic world, because artists are mostly known as bands, if you take
other musical genres or film making, painting, you mostly have individual
artists. I must admit that I didn’t search for other musicians. I suppose
that there aren’t many musicians in my area who would be interested in
playing the kind of music I play. I think I wouldn’t mind doing short collaborations
with other musicians though, if there’s a good understanding…
3. WELL, YOU READ MY REVIEW, SO YOU KNOW WHAT
I THINK OF YOUR MUSIC. HOWEVER, IF YOU WERE ASKED TO PRESENT IT TO THE
PUBLIC IN A FEW WORDS, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS
POSSIBLE?
It’s very hard to say something objective
about your own work and even more when you did it totally on your own.
And I don’t like when the artists present their work like on a wine notice,
saying they’re the new ultimate thing, etc… That’s one of the reasons why
I sent the demo to webzines, to have a neutral opinion about it
4. YOU ARE ONE MAN TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING.
ISN’T THAT DIFFICULT? AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT YOU MIGHT GET STUCK WITHOUT
THE HELP OF OTHER PEOPLE? WHAT KIND OF PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST COMPOSING
AND RECORDING THE SONGS?
I don’t think that it’s difficult but of course
there are many differences. For example, it takes more time and work to
make a song because you have to compose the lines for each instrument,
but of course since it’s a studio project you don’t have to make a lot
of rehearsals. Regarding the financial aspects, you cannot divide the costs
per 4-5 musicians so it’s really expensive to be a one-man band. Yes, I’m
aware that when you do something without the help of other people you only
have your own opinion and it could be dangerous, since you could do something
stupid thinking that it’s great and cannot be able to realize it by yourself.
But, on the other hand, perhaps you’ll dare to try new things more freely
since you don’t have other people telling you that your ideas won’t work
‘cause they’re too strange. I compose the guitar lines first, then I decide
what will be the song structure (it can change later a little bit), then
I compose and record (quite at the same time) all the other instruments,
generally beginning with the most important ones (drums, bass, lead synth,
secondary guitar), then the “less” important ones (secondary synths, sound
effects) and finishing with the voice.
5. OK! I THINK IT’S TIME NOW TO TELL US A FEW
THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICS OF “SULPHUR SEAS”. WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
WHICH ARE THE TOPICS THE LYRICS DEAL WITH AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE CD
TITLE?
It’s mostly about desert, dark, inorganic
nature. I must admit that I work a lot less on the lyrics than on the music
since I’m not really a literary kind of guy. I prefer the abstract side
of music. I even would be happy if I could find someone who would write
‘em. The CD title was just a way to celebrate that highly symbolic date
on which the CD was released (06.06.06).
6. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU? WHICH ARE THE ELEMENTS YOU WANT TO FOCUS
MORE ON IN THE FUTURE?
I suppose that the best part is the orchestration
since I’m trying to put a lot of notes, sound effects and not to have a
simple melodic line. I must say that I’d like to have a better sound ‘cause
I’m not sure that other listeners than me can hear all notes and instruments.
Even if I don’t think that a very expensive sound would be necessary for
the kind of music I play. I think it’s even good to have a slightly unclear
sound since the music will be more mysterious.
7. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED THIS
FAR? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE WORST COMMENT YOU’VE READ?
I cannot say that I know the opinion of many
people about my music this far (with my first demo released a month ago).
But I can say that what I heard or read about it varies a lot. You can
have someone who says it’s crap and someone else saying it’s a fascinating
experience. I think it’s better like that than having everyone saying it’s
average. And I must say I would be happy if I could create some sort of
controversy.
8. HAVE YOU SENT YOUR PROMO CD TO ANY LABELS?
WHAT DO YOU WANT A LABEL TO OFFER YOU IN ORDER TO SIGN A DEAL WITH THEM?
I haven’t had a lot of time for that until
now and I still want to compose some more songs. But of course I’m interested
in signing a deal with a label for evident reasons. I don’t think you can
be especially capricious about labels or think you could win a lot of cash
when you do black metal music, all I really want is that they do their
best to make your name and music wider known, offer decent recording conditions
and let me keep total artistic control.
9. DO YOU THINK YOUR MUSIC IS IDEAL FOR THE MASSES
AND FOR THE LABELS? I MEAN YOU PLAY A VERY WEIRD AND DIFFICULT KIND OF
MUSIC THAT IS MAINLY FOR THE UNDERGROUND DIE HARD BLACK METALLERS. SO,
DO YOU WANT TO TRY AND MAKE YOURSELF WIDER KNOWN OR WILL YOU CONTINUE RELEASING
SELF FINANCED WORKS?
No, I don’t think my music is ideal for the
masses and labels. I can’t exactly figure out what kind of music fan could
be interested in my music by now. Of course, I don’t think that there could
be a lot of people interested (compared to other metal styles), but I’m
hoping to be able to attract some more. The ideal would be to attract anyone
interested in extreme music and the dark side of life in general. I don’t
want to make a clearly more commercial music and I don’t think it would
be a good idea anyhow ‘cause I think it would not be sincere enough. I
think it’s better to do what reflects my way of thinking.
10. HAVE YOU GOT ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? IS
IT EASY FOR YOU TO PERFORM YOUR MUSIC AT A LIVE ENVIRONMENT?
No. It wouldn’t be easy. First of all, I suppose
it would require approx. 7 persons to perform it all live, and since I’m
alone I wouldn’t be able to play more than a really little part of the
music. That question reminds me of a Limbonic Art concert: you just had
the two guys playing the powerchord guitar riffs and all the rest of the
music was just a file in a computer. I wasn’t convinced about that kind
of performance. However, their music is really good. And I don’t think
that the songs I write are well made to be performed live particularly
since they’re created step by step and not during rehearsals with the band
playing everything. Moreover, I don’t think it would be a good idea to
have 6-7 minutes songs with quite a lot of ambient parts (like in my songs)
performed live. I think that it works better on a CD.
11. HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS? IF YES, PLEASE
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL ADRIFT LIVE SHOW…
No. The maximum I could do now would be a
listening session with some little biscuits. But I think you could go to
a deserted Greek beach at night and listen to it there, that would be nice.
12. WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE METAL SCENE OF SWITZERLAND?
THERE ARE QUITE MANY BANDS POPPING OUT FROM OVER THERE LATELY… HOW ARE
THINGS FROM THE INSIDE? ANY GOOD BANDS YOU’D LIKE TO POINT OUT FOR US?
I must say that I’ve not been a big CD consumer
lately so I’m not quite an expert about new bands. But I can say that yes,
there are more quality bands who could be competitive compared to foreign
bands. Swiss are usually humble people who don’t glorify personal ambition
at all, so it’s rare to see us struggle to be as good as the others. It’s
usually already a miracle when a Swiss artist is known outside of Switzerland,
in France or Germany. But right now I think that an exception is occurring.
Perhaps it’s a sort of Roger Federer mimetic effect? The really good bands
I discovered lately are Darkspace and Mirrorthrone, both black metal, Amok,
death metal, and Vancouver, Neurosis-style.
13. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Perhaps mystery or something like that. Strange
and vast landscapes, like my demo’s cover in fact.
14. WHAT’S THE IDEAL TITLE FOR ADRIFT AND YOUR
MUSIC IN GENERAL?
Well, I’m quite happy with my band’s name.
15. I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW THAT LORDI, A METAL BAND,
WON THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT AND WHAT DO YOU
THINK?
Well, I thought it was funny because a lot
of people who listen only to commercial music had to see their lovely bands
defeated by a non-commercial one, even if Lordi’s music isn’t quite my
cup of tea or what I’d like to show first to someone to make him discover
metal. But I also thought it was quite interesting ‘cause it’s logical
since you have for example bands like Metallica selling as many CDs as
Madonna but it’s really rare to see any metal on national public television,
mostly for stupid moral reasons I suppose. So I think of it as a kind of
(funny) revenge but not a really important event.
16. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION?
Well, thanks for the interview. If someone
listened to my music, I’m always interested in his opinion. ([email protected])
Christine Parastatidou
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