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It's two o'clock in the morning. |
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On the Friday the 19th september. |
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Ah,2014. |
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This is interview for the obskure magazine 23#. |
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and the question by Mr.Tassy. |
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Question number one: |
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You explain on your official site that MITTERNACHT and POETICA work very well together and are "related". |
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It reminds me of what you had said to me when POETICA was released, |
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the fact that the album was your Poe, |
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your connection to Poe. |
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Is MITTERNACHT related to POETICA because it is particularly autobiographical? |
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AVC:Yes, I think that Poetica and Mitternacht do belong together. |
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Well, at least to a certain degree... |
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and, yes, Mitternacht is autobiographical ... |
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but then again, |
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so are all my albums. |
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I have always written only about myself, |
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I have never done anything else. |
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I mean, keep in mind that SOPOR is nothing but self-therapy. |
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It has always been. Besides, |
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what's the one thing that all aspiring writers are being told? |
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To bloody stick to the things that you know ... |
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and, well, in my case ... |
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the only thing that I truly know and understand ... |
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well, sort of, anyway ... is myself. So, yes, |
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all my work is entirely autobiographical. |
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Including Mitternacht. |
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I think another reason why both albums kind of belong together ... |
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or, well, maybe not belong together, |
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but certainly work well together, |
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is because one followed so closely after the other. |
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I have said this before, |
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but every album is not only a consequence of the one(s) that came before, |
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but it's also a preparation of the one(s) to follow. |
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The thing about Poetica was ... |
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is ... that it ended on a very sad note, |
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and I couldn't leave it like that. |
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You know, depression may be kind of romantic at the age of 16 , |
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in a twisted sort of way, |
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but, believe me, |
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it certainly isn't anymore when you have reached my age. |
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To tell you the truth, |
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I was terrified. I was really afraid. |
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I could not leave it like this, |
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I could not let this final note linger, |
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echo for all eternity, |
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without dissolving, re-channling it ... |
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because I just couldn't go on like this anymore. |
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I could not allow this to be, |
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because I felt ... I feared ... |
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that it would be the end of me. |
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I had to find a solution. |
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Quickly. |
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Which might also explain why I was under such an enormous pressure ... and why, |
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consequently, |
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this album was (and still is) so very important to me. |
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In fact, |
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and that's perhaps a strange thing to say ... |
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considering the contents of my past albums ... |
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but I can't remember ever having felt such a feeling of urgency about an album. |
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Or maybe I have and I just forgot about it, |
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which I tend to do. So... |
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I know I am repeating myself, |
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but ... in my case ... |
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there is no separation between life and art. |
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And I believe this is true for every artist, |
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or every true artist, |
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regardless of talent and/or skill ... |
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and, really, |
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there shouldn't be a separation. |
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How can there be? |
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Life and art ARE one. |
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They are the same thing. |
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They influence each other, |
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as they are forever intertwined ... |
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because they are the same thing. |
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So, as I tried to find a solution to my ... umm, |
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situation ... |
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I encountered something that caused me even greater pain. |
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I mean, it was ridiculous. |
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There I was hoping to change things for the better, |
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but it only got worse. |
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I hadn't felt so extremely miserable in a long time. |
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There were days when I was crying on my way home ... |
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in broad daylight ... |
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and those were the good days. |
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On others I couldn't even get out of bed. |
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But ... |
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...it was all neccessary. |
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Again, this may sound strange to some people, |
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but ... I am eternally grateful for this. |
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I learned things that I not only had never encountered before... |
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but that I tought were impossible. |
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Yes, it was painful ... |
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but it was also very interesting ... |
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and very educational. |
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Question number two: |
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Can you explain the fact that you needed to explore the question of loneliness and the need for companionship at this moment of your life? |
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AVC:Umm ... no ... things just ... happened. |
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It was meant to happen. |
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It was simply time, |
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I guess. |
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A natural consequence of the things that had happened before. |
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I don't wish to appear rude, |
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but I really cannot be more specific. |
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After all, the details are really nobody's business. |
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It's just ... when I left the, |
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umm, "other side" (to put it this way) to re-enter the ordinary world, |
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which I had abandoned so many years ago, |
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I was instantly reminded why I had left in the first place. |
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I just didn't belong here, |
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I had no part in this. |
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No place in it. |
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It's one thing to be alone on the other side, |
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where there are creatures, |
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things, you can surround yourself with ... |
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or even create to a certain extend ... |
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but being alone in the hostile ordinary world ... |
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well, that is different, and I cannot recommend it. |
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So, my first reaction was to turn around on the spot and go straight back into darkness, |
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but ... I couldn't ... not this time ... |
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because that wouldn't have solved anything. |
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It would have meant stagnation, |
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and, ultimately, death. |
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So I kept on walking. |
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And that was ... yes, |
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almost two years ago now, |
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and it's kind of ... |
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I hate the word amazing, |
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I really do ... |
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but, looking at it now, |
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that's really the best way to describe it ... umm, |
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the things that happend in those two years, |
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I honestly would never have guessed could happen. |
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I really thought that they would never even be possible. |
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number three: |
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Where did the idea to record a cover version of ��La Prima Vez�� come from? |
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AVC:Oh, the idea? |
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Uff, I don't know. |
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It just developped, |
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as it is with art. |
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You know, it grows. |
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But what I can tell you where I encountered this song for the first time. |
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I was watching Wim Wenders' dance-film PINA, |
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and on the songtrack there is a version of that song by ... umm, |
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gawd, what's his name ... Logan 5 ...? |
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No, wait ... Owain Phyfe ... feifei? ... |
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I don't know, whatever his name is pronounced. |
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I had never heard it before, |
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but I immediately liked it. |
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It had a beautiful melody, |
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and that's what drew me to it, |
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that's what caught my attention ... |
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and, as it is often the case with these things. |
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Sometimes, you may not neccessarily know what it is at first, |
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the thing that attracts your attention. |
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Quite often it's entirely subconscious. |
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But once you take a closer look at it, |
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you see what connects you to it. |
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You see the relevance it has for you. |
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number four: |
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I have to ask you the same question for "Bang Bang" |
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why did you chose this song? |
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AVC:To be perfectly honest ... |
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I cannot remember. |
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I really can't remember what gave the impulse ... |
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and that is actually a good thing, |
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because it means that the problem ... |
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or inner conflict, |
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if you wish ... has be solved ... |
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- dissolved. |
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It's a strange song to begin with. |
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Silly even in the original. |
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I mean, it was written by Sonny Bono ... |
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but for whom exactly I don't even know. |
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Either Nancy Sinatra or Cher. |
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I don't know who came first. |
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Iit doesn't really matter, |
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anyway. Both versions are great. |
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Actually, Cher has many great songs. |
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I mean, "Gypsies, tramps & thieves" is fabulous ... |
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but, of course, I cannot do that. |
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I mean, |
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for one the music sounds kind of like SOPOR anyway ... |
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to a certain degree, |
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so that would be pointless. |
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And, let's face it, |
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I wasn't born on the waggon of a travelling show. |
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Thank goodness for that. |
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But back to BANG BANG ... |
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yes, it's a bit of a strange song ... |
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and, in my case, |
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it doesn't just refer to one particular thing or person, |
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and even keeps changing perspective. |
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It's more about a state of mind, |
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if you wish. |
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A neurotic notion ... a dependency ... |
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the sort of thing I dealt with on the Triptychon of Ghosts. |
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The interesting thing for me, |
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however, was that initially I thought I would ... |
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well, maybe not mock it, |
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but be kind of ironic about it. |
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Basically like I did it with Bonnie Tyler's "Holding out for a Hero". |
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But when I was in the studio I couldn't do it like that. |
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I had to do it seriously. |
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It was the only way. |
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And it makes sense, because there is no irony on the album at all. |
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And that's actually a thing that Mitternacht has in common with Poetica. |
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number five: |
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Do you consider “Confessional” the heart of the album? |
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We can understand the chorus, |
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the mantra of the song, |
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in a lot of different ways. |
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Is that a form of supplication? |
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AVC:Yes, |
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it is the heart of the album ... |
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and THANK YOU for recognising ... |
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and yes, |
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you may very well call it a prayer. |
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number six: |
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Is the album-title “Mitternacht” a reference to the heart of the night, |
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the symbol of the moments when the feeling of loneliness is at its strongest? |
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AVC:Yes. |
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It's like a Dark Night of the Soul. |
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number seven: |
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When you sing ?Beautiful?, |
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do you think about someone in particular? |
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AVC:Sorry, but that I cannot tell you. |
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But, it is more than meets the eye ... |
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it's a little more complex than it might appear at first glance. |
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It seems to be very simple ... |
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and it is simply ... |
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but it's not one-dimensional. |
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number eight: |
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You sing in a totally new way on certain songs like ? |
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You cannot make him love you? for example. |
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Could you tell me more about this experience of the voice recordings of MITTERNACHT? |
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AVC:There is nothing to tell, really. |
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Recording the vocals was the same as always. |
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You're in the studio and then ... you do it. |
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If it sounds different than how I usually sound (which I don't actually think it does) it because the song, |
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the content, demanded it. |
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number nine: |
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Do you think that the "quiet" feeling of the album is due to the totally new way that you had to deal with your energy, |
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as you explained on your homepage? |
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AVC:No, it has nothing to do with that ... |
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because I do not write the music in the studio. |
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When I go the studio, |
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as in when I rent studio time, |
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it means that the music is already completed. |
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Well, in theory anyway, |
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because it obviously still needs to be recorded. |
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But the writing is done. |
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Though, admittedly, |
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it's never written in stone, |
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and there is always room for chance ... |
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fate, you might call it. |
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Sometimes things that suddenly fall into place. |
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And then, |
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yes, there are the vocals, of course. |
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I never know in advance what is going to happen there, |
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because ... as you know ... |
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there are no rehearsals. |
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Would you say...oh question number ten: |
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Would you say that this album is "quiet", |
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because you are in a quieter moment of your life? |
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AVC:Perhaps, yes. |
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number eleven: |
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Music box and theremin have become an essential part of your music; |
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how would you explain this? |
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Now, I feel that those instruments are SOPOR AETERNUS�� |
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AVC:Yes, indeed they are, |
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aren't they?! |
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I agree. |
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I have talked about the theremin (or theremin inspired sound) before, |
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as in it being this beautiful bridge between the "cold" synthesizers and the warm violins. |
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And, yes, |
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there is something quirky and childlike thing about the music-box ... |
| [18:25.325] |
and all those percussive pling-plong instruments that keep haunting my albums, |
| [18:30.812] |
like the toy piano, for example. |
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...... |
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When the album was recorded, |
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it slowly dawned on me that the damn toypiano is in every bloody song. |
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Well, at least on the first half of the album. |
| [19:04.665] |
And, admittedly, |
| [19:07.136] |
I did worry for a second, |
| [19:09.191] |
thinking "have I perhaps overused this?". |
| [19:13.795] |
But ...well ... |
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there was nothing to be done about it. |
| [19:16.394] |
That's just how it was, |
| [19:20.457] |
and how it has to be. But then again, |
| [19:23.952] |
I always worry. |
| [19:25.527] |
I can't help that. |
| [19:29.190] |
Twelve. |
| [19:33.979] |
Is the perspective of releasing MITTERNACHT harder than it was with the previous albums? |
| [19:41.829] |
You explained on your homepage that "it has to be done", |
| [19:47.396] |
but the sharing of this work seems particularly delicate for you - why? |
| [19:55.182] |
AVC:Because... |
| [19:59.351] |
Well, you have to understand that what you hear, |
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when you listen to a SOPOR album, |
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is not what I hear. |
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Remember that the music is like a byproduct, |
| [20:17.144] |
a waste product, almost, |
| [20:19.176] |
of a psycho-spiritual process and of magical work. What you get is only the end-product. |
| [20:30.156] |
Meaning, when you listen to a SOPOR album, |
| [20:33.619] |
you only hear the "stories" ... |
| [20:37.520] |
whereas when I listen to it, |
| [20:39.794] |
I see and re-live all the events that have led to this album. |
| [20:47.244] |
So, what I am trying to say is, |
| [20:49.959] |
it may very well be that what you hear is just a nice collection of singles with lyrics that may not neccessarily make any sense ... |
| [21:02.875] |
whereas for me, |
| [21:04.344] |
who has all the keys to its (I almost said "symptoms")... |
| [21:09.519] |
to all its symbols, |
| [21:13.031] |
it's incredibly intimate and revealing. |
| [21:18.912] |
I feel naked and vulnerable. |
| [21:26.511] |
Why does it seem more delicate to me this time than with the previous albums? |
| [21:34.497] |
Well, |
| [21:36.103] |
probably because I actually was naked... |
| [21:39.791] |
and wounded. |
