A biographical question. Reading your blog, thinking of the moniker "Æthenor" or of the artwork, I realize that you're interested in many different forms of expression and you are not only focused on sounds: what did you study at college / at school? Why did you decide to express yourself also (and maybe mainly) through music?
Vincent de Roguin: I’m currently studying visual arts but I’ve always been interested in many different means of expression and I’ve never done much distinction between them all. Music was and is still the thing that I feel the more obsessed with but I spend a lot of time doing other things too: drawing, writing, reading, drinking, talking… Some people have this vocation, specializing themselves doing only one thing. I’m not like that, I like way too many things and want to try out everything simply because it’s there and available. It’s not like I’m especially multi-talented but simply because otherwise I would feel like missing a possible life-altering experience. But that’s also a very contemporary problem, this infinite stream of options and eventually you get lost because you don’t really exploit things to their full potential. Back to your question, it’s just too open to give you a short answer. What’s so fantastic about music? I could write an essay about it.
I would like to speak with you about the role of the "physical" place in the creative process of some ambient/field recordings albums (it’s similar to the importance of objects in industrial music). Please, explain our readers why did you decide to mention "room" as one of the instruments used for the recording sessions.
Well, anything can be a sound source depending on how you want to use it and how you integrate it into a musical context. The environment you play in obviously have an important impact on the atmosphere of your record. On "Deep In Ocean…" we purposely used the acoustic of the place where we recorded most of the album and it really took a prominent role in creating the identity of our sound. It simply seemed fair to mention it as an integral part of our instrumentation.
During the creative process some artists consciously use drugs, some drink, and in general many of them have different approaches to writing and these approaches may or may not affect also their bodies. There's also Nick Cave, who wakes up every morning trying to do something, like in a normal daily job. Finally, in other fields of expression, art becomes the body of the artist (i.e. Orlan). You recorded this album choosing not to sleep. Why? What were your feelings?
Honestly, it wasn't an outspoken decision to record these sessions late at night. It just happened and we realized that the lack of sleep somehow affected our playing in a good way so we sort of carried on from there. I suppose it's just an altered state and like some drugs, it sharpens your sensibility and helps you to focus what really matters. It’s an alternate sort of control over what you do and it produces interesting results. But it shouldn’t be seen as a sensational and inflexible modus operandi we impose ourselves. That would be fairly ridiculous.
Definitely that would be fairly ridiculous, with "coffee" as your next fundamental instrument. But both you and Daniel underlined the importance of your "bizarre" physical state. So the question is: does art come from a mental and physical detachment from what we call everyday "normality" or is this a "decadent" legend?
Coffee is indeed very important. But you can’t narrow down such a complex topic to just one question or answer. Where does art come from? These days it comes from anywhere and everywhere and places where it often should have stayed. So many things have changed about the position of the artist in the last 40 years; anyone can make it today with the right amount of work and an honest attitude. The myth of the reclusive genius is beautiful but a bit outdated too; Jandek, Darkthrone and Coil have all finally played live. The music we produce with Æthenor is rooted in a free zone, very far away from daily concerns and urban lifestyle but we also need to make a living, take the bus, vote and pay our taxes. And I don’t complain.
O’Sullivan, O’Malley and de Roguin. Do you have a common quality, or do you collaborate in order to learn from your differences?
Circumstances, shared interests and mutual respect were the key factors to start this project and I think the differences are there to help the music, taking advantage of the individual skills and making an homogenous whole out of everyone’s sensibility and vision. It’s necessary to have a common ground but it’s always more challenging to play with people with different ideas and perspectives than your own.
In an interview, Daniel O'Sullivan talked about the role of improvisation during the recordings. I think that a live situation can be very interesting for this project. Do you plan to play live?
We actually did a few shows already and we’re intending to do more in the future. This band is entirely improvisation-based so playing live makes complete sense!
Some years ago Stephen O'Malley was only on extreme metal webzines, in these days he is on the cover of one of our best "indie" paper magazines. So here every review starts this way: "Æthenor, O'Malley side project...". Guys, it's completely wrong! Did you listen to the electric piano? Does it happen also in general?
I’m not sure how to answer this. You can’t really blame Stephen for having a good reputation and the association has been nothing but positive so far…
Ok, you can’t of course blame Stephen for having a good reputation (he deserves it), but you can't think that "Deep..." is another Sunn o))) record (I quote an Italian review: "here to you is another masterpiece signed O'Malley"). Don't you fear this eventuality? If it's not too difficult/long, would you like to explain our readers why this is not "simply" a record signed O'Malley?
That’ll be absurd, it’s not our role to tell people what is what. Let them listen to the music and decide what to think. Some people have a fixation, that’s their problem. I don’t care.
The fan question. Ulver is one of my favorite groups and the connection with Æthenor in my opinion is simply the idea of not having boundaries. What about Kris Rygg's contributions to your new recordings? And in general, what do you think about Ulver?
There are always boundaries, whether you’re aware of them or not. I believe that liberty is mostly our ability to work with restrictions. Having no boundaries is a non-sense to me because you’ll always be a prisoner of yourself anyway… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Kris did a wonderful vocal performance on one of our new records, which should be released in the upcoming months. Thanks Kris. Ulver? They're amazing, especially "Blood Inside", which we all love and regard as a milestone in the history of mankind.
Ulver composed an album called "Silencing The Singing". I know "Deep..." and I know "Malval" by your band Shora: there's a singer in only one track. Do you like to speak only through music? Can words influence too much the listener? Or do you play in other bands with lyrics in their songs? Do you like the idea of the use of the voice as an instrument, like sometimes Lisa Gerrard, Beth Fraser or Björk do?
Of course, I love vocal-based music; I’m completely open when it comes to instrumentation, it’s really a matter of whatever’s working for the music. There actually are vocals on the first two tracks of the Æthenor album. The thing about vocals is also about human presence and I appreciate a lot of music that speaks of places devoid of Homo sapiens. At the same time, Nico’s voice is completely otherworldly so it’s just plain stupid to have dogmatic conceptions about those things. And I like humans too. Anything can be interesting; it’s what you make of it that matters.
In the mp3 era it’s fantastic to find such a beautiful artwork, beautiful at sight, but also beautiful at touch. The artwork is by you and Nicola Todeschini. What can you tell us about it?
Thanks! This artwork is meant to be simple yet hinting at the music you’ll find inside. I guess we thought of it as a book cover, keeping up with a certain tradition of sobriety and relative old-school classicism. The cardboard package was very important and we must thanks VHF for accepting the idea…
Classic final question. Future projects with Æthenor and Shora?
We’re currently putting the final touches to two new Æthenor records that we hope to release soon. We’re also planning to tour at one point this year. As for Shora, we’ve just recorded a soundtrack for a movie by our friend Nathalie Rebholz and we’re aiming to finish our new album within the upcoming months, depending on everyone’s enthusiasm and free time.
Gruppo: Æthenor
Intervistato: Vincent de Roguin
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