CHRISTIAN DEATH
an interview with Maitri
Tell me about the meaning of Christian Death: does it have to do with the fact of your possible antichristian beliefs, or is this merely a symbol of irreligiousness?
Christian Death is not antichristian. We just want to open people's minds about what's going on in that aspect. Usually people revere one little thing and they're stuck in it, so in the end they don't want to be opened to anything else. So we're not antichristian at all; in fact, we're using all the Christian beliefs to compose and to write about all the things that are going on in this life and that's all a big part of it. And Christians, they don't exactly live for today, they live for when they die, or what's going to happen afterwards and that's a total waste, I think, so that's where the name Christian Death comes from; it's not anything negative, it's actually a positive thing for Christians, because that's where they always look forward to.
You employ shock value merely as "simulation of the senses"; from this statement, I assume that you give a reasonable share of importance to aesthetics. Do you think a band should be only a sonic thing, or rather a combination of both?
Believe it or not, this is really just us. It's what we feel like doing and this is where we're creating from. We write the music where we're in certain moods, as we're very spiritual when that happens; and when we're creating a song, we're creating the mood for ourselves too, it's for real - everything is 100% us. We're not trying to fool anybody and we hope people appreciate that. We never think "Hey, let's do this tonight, or let's do that", no, it's totally us.
Would it be fair to assume that the new album deals with an internal rebirth within the band (meaning a likely musical and lyrical departure from your precedent releases), or rather a summarised title of all the concepts individually dealt within each song?
We feel like this is a new millennium, a new Christian Death. We just want to go in a different direction right now, especially because we felt like there's such a big history with Christian Death, that this was a brand new beginning for us and we wanted to start all over again, but of course, inserting all the concepts and all the ideas we had before, because otherwise it wouldn't work.
Even if your sound and music have somewhat Gothic touches, I am leaned to believe that your whole universe is richer and much more diversified than the standard and pigeonholed concept of Gothic. Enlighten me about the lyrical spectrum of your latest release.
Personally, I'm very into serial-killers and people that go beyond their control, with courage enough to do all those atrocious things, or viewed by the majority as such. That's what my lyrics are mostly about, concerning the way how I see other people with an increased level of shock value within themselves. I can't believe that serial-killers commit those crimes merely to satisfy themselves, as I could never had that courage myself and sometimes I wish I could; I don't know why, but it's a different thing that I've never experienced before and that's what totally fascinates me, everything about it blows me away. Curiously, when you think about what's going on in Life, it always goes back to fucking Religion and that's where the problem starts, so if you combine those two things, that's very fucked-up.
What drove you to start playing this type of music and the reason of your indulgence in this kind of gloomy, dark scenario in the first place?
The band started in Los Angeles and I wasn't a part of it at the time. In those days you'd just hung around with friends, witnessing a rise of a new musical scene and ultimately you'd wind up involved with it, so that's what happened to me in the first place. V. is also a very good guitar player and he's a key figure in the band. In the end, we're not trying to go for anything, our aim is to follow what we feel like and what our hearts go by, because this is the kind of music we like to play. Our new album might have a harder edge, but that's what we felt like doing this time and if you compare all the other records together, they all have a different touch to them. Personally, I had a lot of input on this one, as we wrote all the music together and I wrote most of the lyrics, so I had a great time. Was (Sarginson) is with us now and Coyote is playing the guitar on tour, so we're a four-piece at the moment.
Which were your early inspirations that ultimately helped conveying your fascinating world? If you feel like, please tell me a bit about yourself.
Let me open my diary and read you a page (smiles). It's really not up to me to describe myself. I know how I am, but I don't know how other people see me, so if I would tell you anything about myself it would be a bit presumptuous (laughs).
As far as inspirations are concerned, I don't have anybody or anything specifically, but I'm sure that when you grow up, everything around you will gradually influence you in one way or another, be it in the way you dress, or what you like to eat, so it depends on where you are, or who do you hang around with and I've been with so many people all over the world, that in the end it inspires me, even subconsciously. One morning I can get up, feeling depressed and I just listen to some sad music, while on the next day I feel completely happy and I'll listen to something different, so it all depends on my mood and how I feel.
Do you have any concern on what's happening with your music once you've finished the writing process, or in other words, how your music is perceived? Are you, or aren't you accessible to your devotees in any way?
Well, you always think about your fans, but you can not do everything for them. To be able to create music you have to be into it yourself, so you put your own input in there and if everybody else likes it too, it makes it even better. It's like, you can't have sex by yourself, you first have to like it yourself to be able to give it to the other person too. But if you're asking me how I would react if someone would talk to me on the street, then yes, of course I'm accessible, I'm giving pleasure to someone with that. Of course, where I live, I don't see anybody, I only see trees (smiles). In the end, my main concern is that people like my music, but if they don't like it, they can just walk way, it's that simple.
Aristotle once said that Art is "either improving what Nature could not finish, or imitates what nature did end" - what would you say Art really is? Do you think it's a changeable or temporary outlet to convey something, although never permanently?
I think Art is an impression of your own self. For instance, you bloom a flower and it all depends how it comes out, how it grows out. I don't think anybody could judge other people's art, because it's something very personal...
What do you think about your touring partners Cradle of Filth and Usurper? Are you informed about the several riots that the subculture from where they once spawned did inflict at almost mass level in the early nineties?
Usurper is fucking Metal (screaming)! It's so great and powerful and they're also a bunch of cool guys. It's also a blessing to have us, Usurper and Cradle of Filth getting along; we're like a big family on this tour. About those riots, I talked to several bands involved in them and I don't think anybody should be killed, that's not right; they got out of control and I don't think anyone should suffer from something you don't agree with. I didn't hear that much about it though, I just know that there were a couple of things going on and that was pretty much it.
Express your thoughts about Portugal and perhaps about your acquaintances with other countries' cultures.
This is the first time that I'm in Portugal and I'm very happy because I always wanted to come here, but we don't really have much time off. My favourite thing in Life is to try different types of food and I don't have time to do that. I don't know much about your music scene at all, because basically when you're writing an album, you're stuck in a studio all the time and then when you go on tour, trying to make it happen, you're also stuck in a way, so this is like a never-ending cycle all the time. I don't know anything about the new movies, I don't know what the new bands are and I don't know anything, really. Sometimes I pick up a magazine and I see those new bands and I don't even know who they are, or what they sound like. If I could, I'd love to visit new cultures, as I learn a lot from that and it's so interesting how everybody is different, how they live, how they think and how they're a unit together. I haven't been to Australia yet, but I'd love to be there some day.
Tell me about your expectations for this evening and something else you find suitable to report in this interview.
Yesterday it was a bit chaotic, when we played in Porto; we went on very late, so I hope this show starts a bit earlier. I loved the crowd yesterday, but somehow I think it's going to be wilder tonight. People are very nice and are all into this in a very positive way, so I'm really looking forward to it tonight and I'm sure we're just going to have a blast onstage.
Převzato z webbworks, The Lodge webzine: http://www.webbworks.org/thelodge/
2025 ©