Moonfrost Interview is up..
Interview by Thorn
1. Give a bit of history on Moonfrost please?
We have been musically active since 2001, after 2 demos we released the albums towards the twilight realm and starfall, and now the current album III. That's the story ... and yes, we also had a couple of concerts.
2. you're Swiss home to some amazing music triptykon, samuel, nuclear torn, coroner, zeal & ardor etc. Why do you think your nation has such a diverse sound for smaller nation?
And of course the great celtic frost uhhhh ...
Yes, switzerland has a lot to offer in terms of metal, and there are still bands like: paysage d, hiver, darkspace, forgotten chaos, bestial torment, ghost kommando, sarnath, helslakt, euclidean, borgne, schammasch, cold cell, excruciation, blutmond, bölzer, tribes of cain, wacht, cremation, nihilo, etc. just to name a few more. Or good young hardcore bands like deconvolution or one hour left, from our hometown solothurn. The "scene" is, or was relatively manageable, earlier even more than today, about 15 years ago. one knew each other. With time it grew, and new and young bands followed. Which is good, because everything is a constant change. But I also have to say that I'm not really up to date with things because I'm not very interested in the scene anymore. Many have developed their sound over time, and can hold their ground. You can not compare one band to the other, as each sounds "unique" in some sense. Of course there are exceptions. There are friendly relations to some bands and people, you see each other and respect each other. But I can not answer you why there are so many different sounds in switzerland. Switzerland has always had a special setting in europe, we try to do our own thing, maybe that has something to do with it ... no idea.
Switzerland may be small in terms of area, but is very densely populated. 8 million people live here, a certain variety can not be ruled out.
3. Why self release III and not seek out label?
That was a mistake. When gravity entertainment (our last label) broke up, we thought, to hell with it, we do it ourselves. We liked the "do it yourself" philosophy back then. We did not look for a new label or something, we did not care. Well, that was not our best decision, because you have to take care of everything yourself, sales, promotion, organizational and administrative stuff etc, that's not necessarily my idea of fun. I want to make music. And of course you have to pay for everything from your own bag. Well, whatever. We make do with the situation. The goal is surely to release the next album on a label.
4. I hear elements of manes, sonic youth, ved burn ende and shudder to think .. were did this post black metal meet avant noisy rock style come out of?
Ohh thank you. These are all bands that I really appreciate. I also know that ark our guitarist likes these bands a lot, who by the way is the main person responsible for the songwritting. How much that they have influenced him while writing, I can not tell you that you have to ask him. But it was not that we sat in the rehearsal room, putting our heads together and searching frantically for a new sound. It was more of a natural process that started slowly. It was clear that we had to change our direction and implement it accordingly. Everything else would have been unnatural. Is it exactly these spontaneous magical moments you have when creating a song that makes up almost everything. We are guided by our feelings.
5. How does III differ from earlier material?
The differences could not be greater. The previous releases were, I say, in the "traditional" black metal pattern. With the new material we had to redefine ourselves as a band, it would have made no sense to make a second "starfall" that would have bored us and would not have been honest. We have changed throughout the years, already during "starfall" times, both musically and personally, and have become more open to new things. This was also the biggest challenge for us as a band to channel all these new influences and emotions into something clever. We actually reinvented ourselves as a band and the album "III" is just the beginning of something new, but I think we have done it dignified. But there is still a very high potential for improvement. I even dare to say that "III" is not really a black metal album, because for me personally, and that is my personal opinion, black metal has to fulfill certain cornerstones to make it black metal. Be it the music, lyrics, aesthetics, philosophy, ideology, or whatever, we just barely fulfill one of them, the music. That does not mean that I can no longer identify with it, black metal does not take on a special status in my life, as it might have with 20 years. I still love black metal, it has made me what I am today, but I do not appreciate it any more than other music. My love for music knows no bounds, as long as it touches me emotionally and I'm in touch with my innermost I do not care if it's pop, rock, indie, punk, ambient, hardcore, country or whatever. People can also call it black metal, post black metal, alternative black metal avant-garde black metal, or whatever, that does not interest me.
6. If you could make a proper video for any track off III which would it be and why?
We've always thought about that, hmm for me personally, "obsidian" would be the most interesting, it's a very intense song, which also shows many facets of us, and could visually tell a good story. Let's see what happens ...
7. What this theme or story behind III?
Self-discovery, self-doubt, escapism, anger
8. How has digital age change underground music promotion. Is good pr and good digital distribution all band needs today?
In this day and age, of course, as a band it is ideal with all these digital platforms like facebook, you tube, bandcamp, etc, it's all about spreading music on the net, but a good label and a PR agency is essential to be successful. And, of course, play concerts, we neglected that too much in our "career".
9. What bands or artists are impressing members of Moonfrost currently?
The last CD I bought was from "departures", awesome melodic hardcore from the UK. Otherwise "ulcerate" impressed me very much, death metal from new zealand, an incredible band. The last albums in the black metal that touched me are from "deathspell omega" the synarchy of molten bones, a great album, and scar sighted by "leviathan", although I actually like all the leviathan albums. Otherwise not really much in this genre, as much just bores me. Ah, but the new craft is also quite good. And when I listen to black metal, then a lot of '90s and early 2000s black metal, bands that I've heard since my youth, like: burzum, darkthrone, mayhem, dodheimsgard, aura noir, ulver, manes, urgehal, isvind, sortsind, armagedda, dimmu borgir, limbonic art and many more, and also things like abigor, bethlehem, lunar aurora. and other metal that I grew up with, like, iron maiden, megadeth, slayer, morbid, angel, deicide, stuff like that. But at the moment I do not really listen to much metal, I listen mainly dark ambient. But also any other genre. Things like, dinosaur jr, sonic youth, melvins, nirvana, poison idea, teenage fanclub, deftones, rem, neil young, the cure, tom petty , q lazzarus, velvet acid christ, lana del rey, and many many more ... and of course neurosis. I love this band. I could still list hundreds of bands, but that would go beyond the scope of this interview. There is so much great music ,
10. Do the members of Moonfrost have other project you like to tell my readers about?
Yes we have. I have the project named "leere", black metal in it's purest form, old school and raw, where I have released 2 albums, “the mystical gate to oblivion” and” bleak”. I did the songwriting and play all the instruments, and for the vocals sarcamon, from ex bestial torment / forgotten chaos, was responsible. Currently, however, no release is planned, it is put on hold, so to speak. Have a listen. But the biggest priority next to moonfrost is a project that ark and I launched about 2 years ago, we are still busy with recording, and we are sure that this year it will be released. I do not want to say more about that, it's alternative / indie rock, with various other influences. It is going to be great.
11. The artwork of III is very interesting how does it play to story of album?
Thanks, I did the artwork. This was a spontaneous outburst of emotion which, in a strange way, combined very contradictory elements, creating a unified whole. When I created the picture, I did not plan to use it as a cover for MF, but then I showed it to the others, and we concluded that it actually fits perfectly to this album, and the respective emotions which we want to express with this record.
12. In 5 words to someone that's never heard Moonfrost how would you describe band?
In five words. hmmm, ohhh
.
Self-loving self-hating passionate outsider art. No idea, listen to the new album and make your own opinion.
13. Thanks for time any closing thoughts here.
Thanks for the interview, and buy our damn album digital or physical, whatever.
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