Cryo Chamber Artist - Council of Nine Interview up
1. Maximilian I know you have a few releases out can you tell us a bit about Council of nine?
Council of Nine was a name I choose for a long standing passion of mine to create dark ambient music, For many years I have been hiding so to speak, perfecting my craft and with the generous help of Simon Heath the project was born.
2. The music to me is very much cinematic sci Fi inspired dark ambient where did the idea come to use traditional tools like guitars and strings with loop drones?
Well I don't plan these sorts of "ideas" when making an album, for instance Dakhma was never meant to have guitars on it when started, through the making of the album however guitars were experimented with and used minimally. As far as the synths go, my passion for early LUSTMORD, SPK, TG, NURSE WITH WOUND, COIL , ect really brought me to my love of drone and strings.
3. The cover for Diagnosis is chilling and otherworldly how does it play to the vision of the music?
Diagnosis was essentially an album about the death of my mother, the album was made during the very last stage of her life, all of the song titles are related to my experience with her terminal illness. I think the layers of bones present throughout the album art greatly represent that
4. You have been working with Simon and Cryo chamber for a few releases How did this partnership come about?
My love for Simon and his Dark Ambient [Atrium Carceri and Sabled sun] goes pretty far back, I first started listening to Atrium in 2005 when I started to hear about CMI, I bought so many releases on that label, Atrium being my favorite and Sepiroth a close second. As I said before I have been sort of sitting on all this energy waiting for the right time to release it and I just so happened to read about Cryo Chamber. I watched a video calling out to all producers of Dark Ambient and I thought this is it, I sent him a link and the rest is history.
5. Max I hope it's OK to call you that? Do you create other music or is Council of nine the only musical focus or need?
I have a synthpop project called Flip Knife, other then said project Council of Nine is definitely my musical Focus and yes of course you can call me Max
6. Your music would fit a full form movie or video have you thought about doing sound track work?
It has always been a dream of mine to compose for film. I am always looking for that opportunity
7. What bands or artist are currently impressing you sir ?
At the moment my car stereo has been happily enjoying large doses of HEALTH - DEATH MAGIC and God Body Disconnect - Dredge Portals
8. Does or will Council of nine performing live or is this truly a studio undertaking?
I am always interested in performing live in the right context, I would love nothing more than to share this experience with a live audience
9. Does social media, band camp and digital press seem like the new tape trading and fanzine in 2016. Do you see any traditional media supporting this experimental art?
Well I can really only speak for myself when it comes to this and in my experience all music that is passed on to me or that I actively seek out is done through social media. All of the articles I read related to music are done via social media and or online. As far as traditional media is concerned I have yet to see much in the way of experimental art, in these times at least!.
10. If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be and why?
Masami Ueda of the Resident Evil soundtracks. I know this may be a very odd answer; however I still listen to the Resident Evil soundtracks and have always wanted to expand upon the concept of the first 3 games. Much darker and armed to the teeth with drone
11. How does 24 bit recordings in your eyes make the sound of the band recordings differ and that is what makes Cryo chamber label stand out correct?
To me 24 bit doesn’t make the music sound any better but 24 bits gives the producer a noise floor and headroom to create an excellent recording. You are not pushing the limits of your bandwidth, your instruments will sound clearer, the track will mix better and there will be less noise. These are all quality’s that are essential in high quality ambient.
12. Is it difficult to work with label across an ocean or with email, file sharing and Skype it just doesn't matter in 2016?
It really does not matter, all of my work with Cryo Chamber is done online and has proven to be nothing but solid
13. Where do you see the direction of future releases heading for Council of nine?
I am always expanding my sonic capabilities and testing them. All I can really say about that is try not to have many "expectations" when it comes to Council of Nine, you might be surprised
14. Thank you for time any closing thoughts here
Of course and thank you Clint. A big thank you to Simon and the growing Cryo Chamber Family! And most importantly you, the listener
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