Cryo Chamber Artist Ager Sonus interview up
1. As Ager Sonus is mostly new frontiers for my readers tell us a bit about the begins of the project.
The origins came from not being content with the amount of progress I was making playing in a band, I had much more to express musically and was listening to a lot of Dark Ambient music at the time and thought I should just try to make my own. The first tracks were very experimental, me trying to find a style but I still like my beginnings and actually a lot of people listened to it and gave me great feedback, that motivated me to keep on doing this.
2. I'm hearing elements of Eastern Occult , Fragile Theatrical Ambient music on Mirtha how does this differ for other albums ?
For Mithra I had a very specific tone in mind, I wanted it to be pompous, somewhat big and epic while still trying to stay in the ambient space. I always found it tricky to mix orchestral instruments with ambient soundscapes but I am very happy with the result. I did implement some classic instruments in the two Egyptian themed albums already, though, but not to this degree.
3. Cryochamber is a very impressive experimental / ambient label how did you come to work with them?
When releasing my first album I didn’t actually think about sending my music to a label, but the positive feedback changed my mind. So I always knew it had to be CC because of all the amazing artists that are on there, most of which were my inspirations even at the time. My first few albums did not catch Simons (Atrium Carceri) attention that much, it changed with the first Egyptian themed album and he invited me in.
4. What is the running theme or idea behind Mirtha?
When thinking about the initial concept there were a few things I had in mind and that were haunting horns in the distance, subtle percussion and big impacts. Also I found the idea of a “competing” clandestine religion running in the underground very compelling and instantly painted certain scenarios in my head I wanted to turn into music.
5. How does the cover of the album play into the over all theme of Mirtha?
The cover was done by Keoz and is just perfect in the sense of scale it was able to capture, the contrast of this huge empire and, in the instance of this cover, the one Legionnaire going off to an adventure to find this cult and get engulfed in it.
6. If I was to ask you to describe the sound of Ager Sonus in 5 words what 5 would you choose?
Dark, mysterious, ambiguous, melodic, varied
7. What bands or Project are impressing you Thomas?
Too many to name, if we stay in the Dark Ambient realm and have to pick only a few I have to say Atrium Carceri, Kammarheit, Inade, Svartsinn, New Risen Throne, Lamia Vox, Parhelion, Apoptose.
8. What is the scene like in Germany for experimental/dark ambient music?
There are some giants that are from Germany, Inade comes to mind as well as Apoptose, both of which I very much enjoy. Sphäre Sechs is also a great project, one of the members organises the yearly ambient festival “Phobos” in Wuppertal, Germany, I don’t know that many other German artists off the top of my head, I did not have run-ins with them though I would enjoy meeting them.
9. I do hear a lot of Neoclassical elements how do you feel this style plays into the over all sound of Ager Sonus ?
If we have the same definition of Neoclassical music, I would have to say it is defined by music with a clear sound that does not overwhelm the listener, so especially when it comes to ambient music you can’t really go full orchestra on the audience, at least I can’t. So far I couldn’t find the right mix for a fuller orchestral piece, on Mithra you have two tracks, Dawn and Reborn, that I specifically focussed on one certain instrument, respectively the piano and a cello, mixed with soundscapes and sound design elements, it worked great for those two and I was even able to work more instruments and elements in “Carpe Noctem”, a track which I am really proud of.
10. I do have to ask what does Ager Sonus mean and why that as name for project?
The name is latin and basically means “soundfield”. When it came to naming my project I ran into the problem of all my favorite names already being taken or being too long to really make sense when it comes to text length and being able to be found at all when it comes to search engines. So I had to resort to the latin language and came up with this name which fit my initial ideas very well.
11. Thomas is Ager Sonus your main musical focus or do you have other project you like to tell us about ?
It is my only (solo) project, I only have my band (Hardcore/Punk) which is just more of a hobby and just-for-fun thing to blow off some steam. Since the band members have all kinds of adult things happening like families, jobs etc, we can’t devote that much time together and get things going, though we are recording at the moment, we will see if we will release it to the puclic in the future.
12. How has the digital age YouTube/ Bandcamp, Soundcould, Webzine and internet podcasts changed underground music ?
Well, I am relatively new to this, I did only start a few years ago and at that point Soundcloud and Bandcamp were already huge platforms. I think all in all it is much easier to get your music heard by a lot of people, be it via Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and social media with Facebook having a lot of experimental and ambient related groups you can join.
13. If you could make a proper video for any track off Mithra what song would it be and why?
Oh, hard to say… I think “Dawn” or “Banished” would make for a good source material. With “Dawn” I can imagine visually stunning images of nature and for banished I can think of a dark town/temple setting.
14. Does Ager Sonus play live or would you like to perform live and how?
So far he does not. ;) I thought about it especially since the Phobos Festival is not that far from me, but I don’t know if they would even consider some small artist like me in their roster. Also I would need to build up an equipment pool (a reliable laptop for example) which I have no money for, so no, it seems unlikely that I will perform live anytime soon or if at all.
15. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here
Thank you for the interesting questions and thanks to everybody that checks out and listens to my music, I hope you enjoy it!
Comments