living looking glass INTERVIEW : ENOCHIAN APOCALYPSE
FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT - DATED 01/11/2006
1) First of all tell us a few things about Freudstein. How did you meet and what was the motivation behind Freudstein?
Believe it or not we didn’t meet at horror film convention, but at school, at the age of 12 years old. The music came about because nobody seemed to be making the kind of music we wanted to hear so what better way than to make it ourselves...Freudstein came into life after we entered a band competition and suddenly found ourselves performing our first gig in front of 500 people. So it forced us to really get our sound together! We went down pretty well that night and ended up continuing making music. And now we're here.
2) Your name originally comes from old 70's horror movie. Your music also creates an old horror atmosphere to the overall feeling of your cds. Is old horror movies your main inspiration?
Well spotted. The name Freudstein comes from a character in Lucio Fulci's 'House By The Cemetary' called Dr Freudstein. He's a monster who lives in the basement and is made up of a mosaic of childrens' corpses. Horror movies have always inspired us in one way or another. They're like a drug habit. I enjoy freaking myself out watching this stuff but like most addictions it gets harder and harder to find that original thrill.
There are some classic horror movies and soundtracks from the 1970's where bands and directors took real risks to create works of art. Dario Argento's 'Suspiria' is especially inspirational sonically and visually beautiful. His ability to conjure up atmosphere and suspense with shocking visuals are a real trip, and the Goblin's soundtrack heightens everything! Another classic is 'Let's Scare Jessica To Death' which is about a young girl slowly slipping into insanity, or perhaps finding that normality IS insanity; Depending on how you perceive it. That film really puts you in her shoes as everything slowly creeps up on you and confounds you at every step of the way. Highly recommended.
Often our personal outlooks can affect the music we make. We're both into left wing politics and put a lot of our effort and emotions into making people aware about all that's wrong with the world. Modern life can be pretty horrific so I guess a lot of our new music is coming out of that.
3) I assume music is not your primary work? What are your every day habits?
Hmm, difficult question. Music has been my main joy for such a long time that everything else has becomes blurred. My everyday habits are sleeping as much as possible and trying to stay interested in life and the workaday world. Sometimes it all seems so pointless. But sometimes you find yourself fighting for this beautifully fucked up world to stop the rape and pillaging by big business and politicans.
4) Is it a negative aspect working and at the same time keeping up with the band? Having to sacrifice time for both your life and music?
For me life is music. Real life doesnt interest me so much. I'm not interested in little bits of green paper to fill up my soul. But it been a hard few years writing and producing our new album 'Mass Market Misery'. Musically, it's very ambitious as it incorporates many styles from EBM, Electro, Industrial to Soundtrack music. I think once people hear it they'll realise it's like nothing they've heard before and will appreciate it for a long time to come. We dont just churn out music like some bands because our label contractually demands it.
5) Where do you want to see yourself in the future with the band? Lets assume that a big contract comes and you have to leave everything (from friends, to job and everything) and dedicate yourself in composing music. Is this a step you want to make or just keep music for your personal pleasure?
I dont think the music industry is heading that way anymore. Record contracts are becoming more and more irrelevant. Bands can do everything from recording to marketing themselves these days and the only thing that labels can offer are short term success and big advertising budgets. The music business is just that, a business. Probably the only aspects we would be interested in are writing horror film soundtracks or licensing our music to a label for distrbution, and be left alone. Music keeps us sane. It's a compulsion to write sometimes.
6) I am saying this because music industry is moving full electronic and what Freudstein do is absolutely underground?
Ok, I can see your point. Everything is now digital. Gary Numan was right to ask 'Are Friends Electric?'.
7) If you were about to choose betweek a club with 200 people who adore underground music or a crowded stadium but with Freudstein playing commercial music what would you choose and why?
That's a very leading question! It depends how commercial the music had become. I think bands like Depeche Mode, The Cure, Black Lung, Coil others have straddled a fine line between success and good music. I think you can have both without compromising, but I know what you mean. We're not interested in selling out to create that audience but if people's tastes shift away from bad metal or boring EBM and they come to us, then that's fine.
8) Do you believe that underground dark music is still alive?
I think it's now more alive then ever, but it's not well. Too many bands are bad copies of other bands because they've seen what sells and want a taste of that money and success. I mean, the EBM scene seems so staid and driven by people's desire to be seen to be listening to or playing something without actually thinking whether or not they like the music. It's all about image and pack mentality, not great tunes.
I'm a big fan of Soulseek, a Peer To Peer network program. I'm all for people sharing MP3s, including Freudstein's music. I've found so many great dark underground bands and artists that have blown me away...Diabolical Masquerade, Ewigkeit, Silver Apples, White Rose Movement, OTT, Isis. Sharing is good for music and it's a great way to find out what's going on in the underground.
9) Tell us a couple of things about your latest release. An insight into everything. From the philosophy of the album to music and production.
Our new album 'Mass Market Misery' is an exploration of the industrial subjugation of mankind and nature and takes the listener on a harowing emotional journey. It's a real leap in songwriting ability and production for us and it's diversity will surprise a lot of people. It took 4 years to complete from start to finish and is a much darker and more personal affair than our debut 'Mondo Freudo'.
10) If you were able to travel back in the past. Would you still choose to be a musician? If not what kind of art would you like to do? and the thematology?
Yes, but I think I'd choose to be a better traditional musician. I've been writing songs since the age of 18 on guitar and keyboards and sometimes regret not having any real formal training. Other times I think that's the best route to originality. Otherwise you can end up emulating other people's music badly and never finding your own way. There is no better artform than music in my opinion; it's a raw addictive communicator that can immediately affect people's thoughts and feelings.
11) Any message to readers and fans?
If you do one thing today, think about what you see as reality. Question yourself. Question everything and be mentally prepared. I mean, why is news journalism never objective anymore and who does it benefit? Think for yourself. Bypass this old, tired traditional media and find out things online. Did you know that Donald Rumsfeld company ABB sold North Korea their nuclear reactors? Have you heard of The Project For The New Amerian Century? Educate yourself. Visit Indymedia.com, watch documentaries like 'The End Of Suburbia' and 'The Corporation'.
The world is changing fast, wars are staged and waged in your name to secure the world's last dwindling energy resources and it's going to get much worse. Welcome to the last great horrorshow. Welcome to Mass Market Misery.