Urgeist - Nature & Man
Thank you very much, first of all, for the opportunity. Let me start by asking you what is the concept behind Urgeist? How was this entity born, which lives in Folk and Black Metal?
URGEIST was born out of the will doing my own musical thing, and not being dependent on permanent cooperation with other musicians, cause all my Black Metal Bands till then failed somehow. I also had a Neo Folk Solo Project called RATATÖSKR back then, which didn’t fit anymore to my aspirations of creativity. This brought me to combine my passion for Mid 90’s Black Metal and Neo Folk. If there is one thing that has always attracted me, to Black Metal, is the ability that it has to transfer, to music, images and scenarios that we sometimes have as real.
Your music is cold, dense, interconnected with sounds from centuries ago. How would you characterize your creation?
URGEIST is the primitive, atavistic synthesis of Norwegian Black Metal and Swiss Ländler Noise.
"De Aelbacher Lochstei", for example, reminds me of Caretos de Podence and Pauliteiros de Miranda, Bragança / Miranda do Douro, Trás-os-Montes. Do you realize that there are elements in your work that are transversal to other cultures (European, in this case)? The "Flame Folk" is a secular reality, in a way.
The music practiced on Swiss "Fasnacht“ (carneval) rites is one of the main motivations for URGEIST. And yes, it is absolutely fascinating that the shapes, performances, and music during Carnival and other Winter or Spring rites practiced all over Europe are somehow familiar to each other. Maybe also the fact that „De Aelbacher Lochstei“ is based on a hurdy-gurdy melody could give some southern European, or even oriental vibe, cause this instrument was first documented at Santiago de Compostela and seems to have his origin in oriental culture. Switzerland was always a country of cultural transfer, so also our musical heritage has its roots somehow in traversing mercenaries and the "Jenische“. These are vagrant people from Switzerland, which had a huge influence on the development on "typical“ Swiss Folk music, called "Ländler“.
There is Nature and Isolation in your Music, from my perspective; there is a soundtrack for the escape from urban existence. Does this make any sense to you or does it sound like a misinterpretation of your music?
Yes absolutely, seclusion and the searching of the "archaic ways“ was always important for URGEIST. In the time I was creating "Aus klammen Tiefen und felsigen Furchen“, I was mostly milking cows, or doing other useful things, as slaughtering Ducks in the "Zigerschlitz“. No jokes here. Therefore, watch my Art Video "Weltenflucht“, it's a pleasure! ("Zigerschlitz“= slangy name for Canton Glarus in CH. Cause the whole canton is a narrow valley (Schlitz=slit, valley) and the origin of the famous Schabziger Cheese).
What is the message you intend to pass on? What are your lyrical inspirations?
Behind URGEIST lays an intrinsic and atavistic motivation, if there’s something as a message it’s more a surreal impulse, than something concrete. A pure passionate burden on the one side, and a shit load of fun at the other.
My lyrical inspirations come mostly from my inner ghostly voice and some Swiss Saga writers as SERGIUS GOLOWIN, MEINRAD LIENERT, and JOSEF ZIHLMANN (called "Seppi a de Wiggere“) all writing down local sagas, ghost stories and about other cultural observations. It’s really sad that there’s nearly no publications in that realm, being published in English.
Do you feel that this Society of our lives trapped in a concrete crate, unaware of its actions; or on the contrary, do we act as we do, without any interest in others?
I feel that this pandemic managed, for a moment, to "clean up" some of the acts of Man, giving back to Nature what we have been stealing from it. It’s sort of funny to answer about specially this question, because I’m having my last Covid symptoms, during THE writing this interview. But in first line it is a challenge to answer properly, cause it would require writing at least an essay for it. First I’m sparely pessimistic about positive influences on mankind from this whole dynamic, which developed from the pandemic crisis. Then I think it’s really difficult to separate Mankind and Nature as terms from each other, so I’m also sceptic about a "nature strikes back“ mentality. During this pandemic I had to think a lot about Boccaccios "Decamerone“, a collection of Novels from medieval Italy, which bases on privileged people fleeing from the pestilent plague to a country house. There they isolate themselves in festivities and every day there’s being told a new story…
When it comes to musical influences, what do you think are the ones that actually influence what you do with Urgeist?
At one side the rare old Norwegians as ISENGARD, STORM, WONGRAVEN and the legendary ULVER trilogy of course. At the other side there’s much passion in my veins for CURRENT ’93 and the whole English Post Industrial and Neo Folk scene and its branches all over the world. Important also to mention STURMPERCHT and the Austrian scene - a sort of insider tip are the wicked ELLI RIEHL. From Switzerland: Artist and Mouth Harp Experimentalist ANTON BRUHIN, and the alpine noise pioneer CYRILL SCHLÄPFER are huge influences. Moreover, the one, which you probably wouldn’t expect, is ELUVEITIE! You know if you grow up as a Metal youngster in around Zürich about 15 years ago this band was with the rural mixture of Celtic folk and Swedish Death metal with a touch of Black Metal the absolute thing you could get. They somehow brought me to the idea of playing the hurdy-gurdy, so I began to build one with a good friend of mine, who’s a highly talented craftsmen and blacksmith.
"Gipfel und Wipfel" takes us back to traditional and ancestral sounds. Is it something that you carry with you since you were a child? Is it something rooted in you since the beginning of your formation as a Being? Unfortunately, these traditions are losing its essence within this "Modern Society".
Yes, I’d say "Gipfel und Wipfel" is a quite rural and primitive Track. At least the fascination of playing Trümpi (Mouth Harp) is something I know from my father, since I was an embryo probably. The riffing is a clear homage to Isengard with a pinch of scorn and madness in it. Traditions are losing, as local dialects and country lore are too. Nevertheless, I am disgusted on the mystification and instrumentalization of this lost in real life, as I am fascinated expressing myself within the Art of URGEIST. You know Switzerland is a Country of big contrast and antagonism. Within the circuit of few kilometers you have built up concrete wastelands, where the biggest international corporations have their offshore companies and pay Taxes with Bitcoin, and some hills away from that there are lost cottages, where Alpine herdsman sing the "Betruef“ in the same way as hundreds of years ago. (Betruef/Alpsege= Swiss German for the traditional alpine prayer, which is told each evening from the dairyman to protect man, herd and pasture. Pre Christian tradition, kept in business by the Catholics).
Ean Lord & Urgeist - "Im Rausch der Ziegelhütte" - how did this brilliant fusion of artists, music, atmosphere and essence happen? You have become one, in reality, right?
To be honest, I did the only spontaneous thing with URGEIST so far. My friend EAN LORD is always doing his gigs in a ritualistic, improvised mood. In big contrast to myself, who is more the antiquated and over organized citizen. Therefore, we decided a week before to play at the birthday party of a friend in a wood cottage, then recorded our semi improvised collaboration and released it on tape. EAN LORD doing guitars, sampling and vocals and URGEIST guitars, Trümpi (Mouth Harp), and a shit load of percussion. And not to forget the lotus flute.
Urgeist is part of the Helvetic Underground Committee. What are the premises that characterize this set of bands? How does each band fit into this circle?
To speak the literally truth, the H.U.C. came together as a bunch of distracted weirdos, which began to make some inarticulate, abominable screak and squelch together in a filthy container in Zürich "Gwaltstätte“. After enjoying this cooperation, we developed to some kind of self-help group with serious intentions of starting an aesthetic revolution in the canalization, if you know what I mean. So our admission exams got pretty fast into higher levels. Today there are only these characters allowed: idealistic psychotics, highly talented divas, borderline Alcoholics, Zoroastrian slaves, hipster workaholics, guys with really long beards and sometimes also harmless counterspies.
What can we expect from you, and from your creation, in the near future? New album, we hope.
Thank you so much again. May your coming to Portugal take place, one day. Cheers. Probably more an ancient one than a brand new album, but there’s surely a FULL LENGHT coming, and creative process also nearly prepared. But first I want to release some kind of "ARCHIVE TAPES“ a double tape with nearly all raw material emerged from 2015 till 2021, cause I really have to clear away the dung out of my creative legacy. And yes I would be a pleasure to visit Portugal, as my friend EAN LORD’s mother tongue is Brazilian and he could translate my unspeakable farmer gossip somehow.
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