HMTV DJ Tina Interviews Key of Mythras
Hi Duncan how are you?
Hy Tina, things couldn’t be much better. Just decreased my handicap on my home golf course to under 20, the first medical check-up for the approval to let me do the pilots license has passed positive, thanks to my fans an Austrian TV station plays my video and finally I have now a release date for my second album “Hail the reaper”, which is the 1st of September 2008.
HMTV DJ Tina: Are you working on any new music this summer?
I am perpetually working on new music, but the continual delay of the release date for “Hail the reaper” was a little annoying and psychologically exhausting so I wrote only 3 new songs within this year. Anyway, that’s no problem. I wrote a few songs for “Htr” just 2 weeks before their recording date, so I think I can handle it even when a label wants to have a 3rd album really quick followed. My songs aren’t that complicated and my personal taste also prefers the straight rocking, hard rolling music. If I am in the right mood, the riffs just flowing out and a new song could be finished within a few hours, including ideas for the lyrics and the bass lines. Most of the time I am carrying a dictating machine with me to record ideas right when I have them and no good riffs get lost.
HMTV DJ Tina: Can you tell us about Key of Mythras such as when the band was created, the current band members and their roles such as the musical instruments they play?
Everything started in 2002, when I part ways with my former band, which got a little awkward taste, cause they told me that they don’t want to work with me any longer through SMS. First I was thinking, am I a fucking girl friend or what? They don’t liked my style of singing anymore, but no one dared to tell me in my face. I must confess that I was a little more hot blooded than I am today, so I am not sure about causing them physical damages when they might had told me face to face. Looking back, the decision was a good one, so thank you guys from this point! One day after that courageous SMS I bought my first guitar and started writing songs. I never had a guitar in my hands before but 8 months later I recorded my first album “Demonspeed Metalstorm” with the help of a session drummer. Unfortunately my skills weren’t that good back one, and so the album sounds the way it does. ;-) With the same drummer, I recorded the song for the split 7” in 2005 but since than I decided to work alone. Fortunately I found some advertisement from Wolfgang Czeland, which is pretty well known here, and after a few mails he offered me to record 2 songs for his new project. This guy has a few golden records and a platin one for his former bands, so I was honoured and agreed. Because of the good communication he asked me if I won’t record the whole album in his studio, and I agreed again, he is a truly professional which is hard to find in Austria. Regarding other members, I am now at the point where I say, live members only. I tried to work with others, but all of them wanted to bring their own style in K.o.M. and that’s something I can’t allow. If one couldn’t be professional and do what I say, than he/she could fuck off! Also, I like my artistically freedom of doing everything, except drums, by my own.
HMTV DJ Tina: Why does Key of Mythras stand for revival of the left hand path of Rock?
I am an eccentric; therefore a misfit of modern society and the rules of modern popular rock music industry. In times of “American idol” it’s not that easy to gain attention for a band which is on the run for the big deal, without the will to let get formed into their tight shapes. To follow society’s rules or even the unwritten laws of modern social accepted Rock music might be easier but that’s exactly where my attitude starts to work. Mans natural behaviour is depending on the masses, and all unique and opposite thinking minds where hunted and banished through the centuries. Take people like Socrates, Jesus, Nostradamus, Galileo Galilee, or in Rock music, Elvis Presley, John Morrison, Janis Joplin until Marilyn Manson. I am not different; I just work with different methods. The left hand path is just a synonym for that matter. Marilyn Manson starts to whimp out, it’s time for someone new to kick the obsolete Yuppie asses of modern Rock music!!
HMTV DJ Tina: Why are your influences the daily scars of our environment?
Influences, conscious or unconscious, happen every day, every minute, every second. For example, just read the newspapers, or take a look at the evening news on TV, there are a lot of tiny little knifes which cut your soul and let it look just like the surface of the moon, scarred and full of (emotional) holes. Therefore, the daily scars are the jealousy, envy, greedy, self satisfied, behaviour of the average member of modern mankind. How far have developed our lives in the past million years, all inventions in technical, medical care and all the other little helpers we use every day, but none of them has ever helped developing our character. In the last few months we had 2 of the most awful crimes investigated since the existence of our country, and I am sure there are more to come. Such things make me think about that expression from Friedrich Nietzsche, and what I put into my song “The poisoned stench came from the abyss”: “If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you.”
HMTV DJ Tina: Do you have any musical influences for your music?
No living human artist could says he has no influences, he would be a damn weak liar if he says so! Because of my far spread taste, I have influences from nearly all kinds of music. I won..t list here a load of bands I usually listen too, but there is one band I really feel not only influenced but also guided in some ways, which are System of a Down. After hearing “Chop Suey” for the first time, I was totally blown away. I never experienced such an outstanding and unique music before, it was really impressive and had an enormous effect on my new album, even if it..s not hearable on the first place. It..was more the idea behind the whole album to create something unique, and I mean not that kind of unique the average alternative bands used to mention. I mean it for real! If you ever hear a band that sounds like K.o.M., than tell me but I am sure you won..t find one!
HMTV DJ Tina: Who writes your songs and what do you express in your lyrics song writing)?
As I am the only member, I write the songs and the lyrics too. It was always this way, beside my former band where I was responsible for the lyrics only. The topics are influences and inspire me, which could be something profane like a short note in the newspapers, but also something poem by the good old masters, like E.A. Poe or ETA Hoffmann. E.g. the last song “Peryton” using some ideas of “The raven” ending in a pretty cynical way. I always try to add some sense of black humour to my lyrics, but never let the focus of the meaning of the song out of sight. Another option I like to chose is to use quotes and expressions, therefore I used the above mention one from Friedrich Nietzsche, plus on “Morphium” a quote by Eliphas Levi, and on “When embers becomes fire” some words from Charles Manson. With this kind of input I want to give the songs a higher valuation, and it brings the sometimes very metaphorical parts an easier approach for the readers.
HMTV DJ Tina: Does the band mix, record and master all their songs?
As I usually say, I do everything except the drums. It..s of course the producers job to mix and master the songs but I always have the last word on the final songs. Because of the impressive past works which based on tremendous skills and professionalism, I always listen to what my producer said. It..s at least worth a try, e.g. the choir on “Thou shalt…” was his idea and I couldn..t be more satisfied with the result. We will definitely use more of these kind on the next recordings. If Beside that undisputed skills of Wolfgang Czeland, I would like to work with Timbaland one day. Even if you don..t like his music, he is one of the best, if not the best, producer on this planet! I even would increase the Rap parts in my songs for this opportunity! haha
HMTV DJ Tina: Can you tell us about Hail the Reaper anything from messages to inspirations and challenges to producing this CD?
About 6-7 years ago, I read the “satanic bible” from Szador LaVey for the first time, and I was totally impressed about how easy he described things I never were able to find words for. I think it..s the religion, or guideline or however you want to call it, which is closest to the true nature of mankind, and this is of course the influence with the biggest impact on my music and message, simply because it..s in my genes. To be a human is the message, a unique, natural, independent being in itself. That brings Shakesbear to a new point of view: To be or not to be, that’s the question! Challenge fate! Regarding the challenges of recording, the biggest problem in the first place was the lack of a drummer, so my first idea was to record a mini CD with 4 songs, which I did in 2006. The result was not like I wished it was, but I send it to a few labels anyway. The results were that they need a full length CD or doing a split with an other band, which was out of the question. Why doing a split which might be limited to 500 copies when I can do an album without limitation and with a better promotion? I don..t care about underground rules, and I am not a part of the underground, so I denied. Luckily, in 2007 I got the offering from Mr. Czeland, and the rest was just a matter of time, and this time I am also really satisfied with the result. The only challenge in 2007 was to collect nerves for the traffic jams in Vienna, which I had to trespass to get to the studio. The recordings last until jannuary 2008, but until than nothing special happened anymore.
HMTV DJ Tina: How does Hail the Reaper compare or is different from your previous Albums Bonded by Hatred and Demonspeed?
“Demonspeed...” suffers from my musical skills back than. Recording a full length album after only 8 months of guitar practising isn..t a good idea, this album proves it, even if I got a record deal and a european wide distribution. The music on this record is a mixture of Black and Thrash Metal, in the vein of old Impaled Nazarene demos or some bad Thrash bands form the early 80ies. On the last song “Night of the metal maniacs”, you can hear some Punk riffs as well. The goal was just to release an album as soon as possible and I got my will and my deal without ever releasing a demo, so the result was perfect! “So let it be done…” is the name of the song I used for the split 7” EP with the Spanish band Daemonlord. We recorded that song in a rehearsal room of an other Austrian band. I still like that song, even if it..s still far away from what I do today. The music could be described as Old school Black Metal with Heavy Metal influences, with the priority on the BM side. The only thing I don..t like in the meanwhile is the cover, it shows a burning church, and even it..s a cartoon like drawing the effect of the cheapest form of provocation is unfortunately obvious. With “Htr” I finally found my own style and so the previous recordings are no longer of interest. A few times, I thought about changing the name of the band because of the change of music style, but at the end my decision to stay with K.o.M. was that it..s still the same guy transporting the same emotions, just with a different method. Every band needs to develop, even the big ones need some time to get started and to get a foot into the business, so I always tell the people that they shouldn..t search for the former recordings but listen to the new album instead. Fortunately, the waiting is soon over…
HMTV DJ Tina: What are your live performances like and do you sell Key of Mythras merchandise at your shows?
Until now there were no live performances, simply because I am the only member of the band. About a year ago, I was searching for some musicians to create a live line up to do tours or even some single gigs, but it was impossible to find fitting people. On one side, rookies telling me they want the job, on the other side professionals send me a list how much money it costs when they play with me. I told both sides to fuck off, the first part in a more gentle way, the second ones in a little more, lets say it, clear words. After a few months, I finally found 2 guitarist, both from the east of germany but because of the lack of a suitable drummer I lost contact. I am aware of the fact that my songs are not so hard to play, but a rookie couldn..t play it the way I want it, and that is better than I did on the record! Especially the easy playing stuff most be played exact to get into the peoples bodies. The next point is the show. We have a lot of gigs every weekend in austria, but do I want to play there? Of course not! Just because I don..t wanna be one of those bands which play for a Hamburger and a beer which I have to share with my band mates in front of 30-40 people every week. When the time is right, Key of Mythras will be seen live, and the people will tell afterwards that it was worth the waiting and that they faced an experience they won..t forget for a longer time!
HMTV DJ Tina: Do you have any upcoming tours to promote your recent Album Hail the Reaper?
In the past 2-3 years I got annoyed from day to day, not only because of my former 9to5 job but also because of the stagnation of the metal scene worldwide and especially in Austria. Therefore I think since a few months about moving to the USA, for where I heard the situation is far better than here. I..ve talked with a few people from L.A. and Las Vegas about the situation there and they encouraged me to make my decision; pro California. Not only because of the musically matters but also because of the better looking girls. OK, thats something I have to check out by myself. Back to the subject. As soon as I am in the states, I..ll try to get a live line up and than a tour will follow. I must confess that I start to miss the stage and a tour would be a great experience, also because I am sure that we will get an awesome response too. Until now, no concrete plans done.
HMTV DJ Tina: How about videos any Hail the Reaper video film production planned for 2008?
We already did a video to the song “WCS” which got published in various platforms and got played by Austrian tv too. The first place we did the shooting was a 120 year old house from a friend of mine, which he just renovated, and the second one was a tourist spot, a local cave. The shooting itself was a cool experience, since it was my first video, not only for me but also for the other actors. The script I wrote was 4 sides long, with hundreds of details, but we had just one day so the result is good but far from perfect. I wanted something like the Marilyn Manson videos with some influences from Japanese horror movies, but the time worked against us. A new video is not planed yet, but maybe I do a new one in the states. Good ideas for a great video are not the problem, I have spared enough of them. What is the music scene like in Austria? Not worth mention. But to be precise, it suffers from a lack of professional attitudes in the minds of the musicians themselves and the will to sacrifice everything for the breakthrough. The music scene in general is saturated, so why should a record company invest money in a band which doesn..t work professional and is not willing to put 110% into the band? The selection is an important and so only the best of the best will go their chance to do their thing big time! The only band from Austria which had that power and perseverance is Belphegor which finally signed to Nuclear Blast. One out of a hundreds, really embarrassing for our country, even more than our EU-politicians or our folk music stars. The next point is that the scene here is suffering from jealousy and if you are not licking some asses you won’t get space from the national zines too, even if their slogan is “Support the local scene”. In the last year, I was little upset because of that kind of behaviour but than I realized that I am not a part of that scene therefore it..s an advantage that they continually ignore me. E.g. a small Black Metal zine won..t bring the news from Piff Diddy or how he is calling himself now, and the same is here, just the names are different.
HMTV DJ Tina: Before we wrap up our interview can you tell us your web address so fans can access your music and buy Key of Mythras merchandise online?
My homepage is under construction, only the most important information is on. As soon as I have a new design on the HP, I will spread the news from my myspace site which is until now the most up the date site about K.o.M. Regarding some merchandise, until now there is nothing left to sell, but I think about releasing a shirt when the album is released. Homepage: www. keyofmythras. tk Myspace site: www. myspace. com/keyofmythras Youtube site: www. youtube. com/watch?v=kyCnwXFV2-s
HMTV DJ Tina: Any last words?
“Hail the reaper” will officially see the light at the 1st of September 2008 as an online ONLY release, just like Trent Reznor did with NIN. It will be available at every well known site, like iTunes, Napster, and so on. Thanks for the interview and don..t forget, revolution is not a one time event!
Regards Duncan
Thank you Duncan for allowing our eZine to interview Key of Mythras.
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