Interview с Procer Veneficus : DARKSIDE.ru

First of all Night hello from Russia and thanks for your music. There is a very local but strong interest in your art. Please introduce yourself and PV. What does the name of the band mean?

Hello to you as well. I'm not great with introductions, but basically my name is Derek (or Night) and Procer Veneficus is my project attempting to explore minimalism and surrealist techniques through the genres of ambient-soundscape and experimental black metal (as well as whatever other style which strikes my fancy at the time). I chose the name Procer Veneficus long ago when the project had a very different set of goals. I like to leave it open to interpretation (as it's a loose translation), but it means something along the lines of "The Dark Wizard" or "The Venomous Prince". Obviously it's a name intended for a black metal band, and Procer Veneficus has long since evolved beyond those aspirations. However, at the time of the naming I was thinking of the nature of alchemy, wizardry, self-transformation, and the dark atmospheres of the dreams I was having. So either way, I think the name is legitimate and I've chosen to stick with it.

How is creating and recording of two new albums is going? When will it be released? Tell us more about Night's music creating process.

The new albums are coming along well. Currently I am focusing most directly on "Convoy (Pt. 2)", which is my next black metal piece – this time around it's all much more refined, psychedelic, and mechanical. Quite alien sounding, I think, which is my intention. It's similar in atmospheric quality to "Of Starfire..." and "Argo Navis", only with a much more apparent psychedelic / doom influence. The other album is "How The Heather Moonlit Shivers", which I've been composing on and off for the last year or so. It's all a bunch of thick, murky drones, acoustic guitar melodies buried under dust, some piano bits here and there, and spoken word poetry from my own writings as well as a few poets whom I admire. At this point there is really no information whatsoever regarding releases – as the recording process isn't even finished yet, I've barely begun to consider who I'll ask to release these. However, the releases which are supposed to be upcoming are the reissue of "Deathwanderings" on Onomato Label and the "Summerhaze Array" box set ("Duskworlds" and "Lunar Transit") on God Is Myth. I don't know when the Onomato release will be out, but "A Summerhaze Array" will be released on August 1st in celebration of the summer.

Each of your albums has its own unique atmosphere in it. Please can you give a brief comment (a few words) on each of your releases. Your thoughts, feelings, associations, imagery...

On each of my releases? Well, I've made a lot of recordings. But I generally think of things in categories according to the atmosphere which influenced their creation; the state of mind I was in at the time. There is a large number of albums which I associate with the stars and their drastic influence, the far reaches of space, and vast empty fields of darkness reaching on for eternity. Among these albums I place "Of Starfire And Blackshadows Crawling", "Astral Birth", "Argo Navis", "What Shadows Of Stellar Haven Writhe", "Convoy (Pt. 1)", and "Convoy (Pt. 2)". I also have more Earthy-feeling albums; these are the ones I associate with the beauty of this planet and all its strange phenomena. "Ghostvoices" is all about the water, the fog on the bay, the mist and the mountain lakes. "Duskworlds" and "Lunar Transit" are about dusk and mid-night, respectively. "Saltwater And Glassmoon" is about the depths of the ocean, kelp forests, and the effects of moonlight in the salty air. "Residual Tides" is a celebration of vast empty beaches, the sand, shimmering water, and the renewing power of the morning sunlight. I've got another category, as well – this one's a much stranger atmosphere: it has to do with Iolanthe and all that she's given me. It can be found on parts of "Argo Navis" (on "Bloodsleep", for example) as well as "Invocation To Iolanthe" and "How The Heather Moonlit Shivers". In fact, those last two recordings are entirely dedicated to this atmosphere. The only way I can describe it is this: picture vast black seas on alien planets orbiting dying red stars; glasses of bordeaux reflecting starlight on ebony tables; long crimson velvet drapes; naked bodies floating through darkness; shimmering wisps of a woman's voice carried away into murky obscurity; the scent of orchids and powder; deep opiate-sleep in pools of warm blood. All of these images are from my dreams of Iolanthe. Don't ask me where they came from or why I was chosen to deliver them; all I know is that they are some of the most mysterious, beautiful, and enticing things I've ever seen. Anyway, this list could go on and on. I'm always being struck with ideas about new atmospheres I could attempt to capture and contain in music. I'll probably never get to them all at this rate, but I know that I'll keep going as long as I feel impelled to do so and as long as I continue to be awed by all that I witness in this universe.

Why are so many good records of yours (such as "Of Cold Gloom And Ghosts" and others) left unreleased?

Well, simply because I haven't tried to get everything released yet. There are a couple of recordings which I intend to withhold from the public eye forever (although I'm sure they have made or will make their way onto Soulseek someday), but most of them I'd like to see released. It's just a question of who would be interested in releasing them, and whether or not they'd be willing to deal with my desires for elegant packaging and other little novelties.

Can you describe a perfect environment and conditions for listening to PV to get the right mood and atmosphere?

There is absolutely no single perfect environment for listening to this music. As I described before, there is such a diversity of intended atmospheres that naturally they wouldn't all fit one mood or setting. Additionally (perhaps more importantly), it's totally dependent upon the listener's own preferences. I love listening to "Of Starfire..." in broad daylight, contemplating the vast power of the star around which we orbit. I also enjoy listening to it at night, beneath Orion, from whom it was given to me. It all just depends on one's mood and fancy at the time.

Can you give us a brief presentation on your life's philosophy, Night?

It would be impossible for me to give you a presentation that is both brief and complete. However, I will try my best to do so. My music is generally inspired by everything that I discover in this universe – particularly natural phenomena (the life cycles of stars, planet formation, weather systems, geology, et cetera) and our dreams, our human dreams – our grand mental dramas played out on the greatest stages of all time. I hope this is evident through the sounds I've created. I am also deeply fascinated by that which is not us; that which is inhuman and alien. Of course, our perception of what is "alien" is filtered through our own human perspective, but it's interesting to contemplate nonetheless. According to my own experiences in life, there are definitely things above, below, and beyond our limited scope of reality. People can communicate with one another in very subtle ways using nearly invisible psychological languages – often times even we are unaware that we are broadcasting these signals. I also think it's important to consider the differences between the realities each of us experience. For example, I've gradually discovered that in my own personal reality-lens, chance, coincidence, and even free will are not things which exist. Life as a human and self-discovery as a human are complex processes. I don't want to go too in-depth into my personal beliefs, but I will say that there seems to be a sweet fruit being born of a marriage between scientific observational techniques (id est, scrutiny) and focused spiritual pursuit. Those two paradigms have always been placed at odds according to tradition. Why not bring them together now? Who says that they must be incompatible? At any rate, each person will find his or her own path eventually as they continue to live, experience, and learn. The important thing is to enjoy life to its fullest extent.

Ok Night if this is not a problem for you – can you tell more about your real social life? Tell more about Derek S. – age, occupation, stuff like this... (once again – if this is not a problem)

When I am not turning the lights low, zooming out, and recording music, my name is Derek Schultz. I live in Santa Cruz where I am attending the university – working on my bachelor's degree in art. I'm 21 years old. In my spare time I enjoy reading, watching films, going for long walks and hikes along the coast or up in the woods and meadows, riding my bike, and of course, painting and drawing. I'm not really sure what else to say about myself; my day-to-day life doesn't have a whole lot to do with Procer Veneficus aside from the observations that I make and the dreams which I am given.

Why do you prefer to keep your personality some kind of incognito?

Well, I don't. It's just that you're the first person who's asked; the reason I never really revealed any of this information before is because it doesn't have a whole lot to do with Procer Veneficus. The reason I decided to start using my birth name on my website and such is just because it gradually became silly in all the e-mails and whatnot calling myself Night. It's a name that I still feel is appropriate, but more so conceptually than in practice. There's no reason why people shouldn't refer to me as Derek; it's what I'm used to being called in my daily life. Also, I suppose this is an attempt to sever my connections to the black metal scene a little bit further. Of course my stuff is going to be released by BM labels, but the whole stage-name thing is a very black metal phenomenon, and I don't really want to uphold that image for Procer Ve

neficus. Evolution continues to occur; thus, changes such as this are inevitable.

It is very suprising to hear music like PV is coming from the States. How do you think – is there some connection between where you live and music that you create in general? What do you think of American musical culture? What do you think of American black metal?

I'm really not sure. I don't think of music in terms of what country it comes from, since I don't believe that the boundaries of nations are really legitimate boundaries – they are (for the most part) totally contrived and serve no purpose other than to take power away from individual people and subject them to a bunch of nonsensical rules. If you're asking if my music is a product of the land in which I live, then the answer is a whole-hearted "yes". My music is vastly inspired by all of the beautiful landscapes I've visited in my life, and naturally the landscape of the place in which I live plays a large role. The forests and the coastline here are amazingly beautiful, and Procer Veneficus definitely wouldn't sound the way it does now if I hadn't been living here. As for the latter two questions – the topic of American musical culture is a vast one to say the least. Great music has come from this place (look at delta blues, chicago blues, bebop, cool jazz, et cetera, et cetera), but again I don't really think of any of this music on national terms. It's more about the land itself: you can tell that the old blues came out of these hot, swampy, Southern areas just by the way that it sounds – you can tell that hard jazz was a product of the big cities. You can hear the desert or the jungle if you listen to native African music. Regarding USBM, I don't really care much. I'm not very into black metal anymore. The only BM bands I still actively listen to are the ones who are doing something more progressive, more interesting with the genre (no matter what country they are from). Bands like Velvet Cacoon going in the direction of ambience, or Blut Aus Nord with their insane, deranged transcendent atmospherics, or Wolves In The Throne Room with their wild, fierce, wintry epics, or Smohalla with their bizarre psychedelic haziness. The list, as always, could go on.

Can it be that someday we will see Night in very different from PV musical project?

Sure. I've done other projects before, and I used to play jazz regularly (something which I kind of regret dropping, but who knows? Maybe someday once again). I'd like to do some more collaborative albums with friends of mine (a folk album with my friend Mike is sort of in stasis currently). I am also currently playing bass in a sludge metal band with some friends here in Santa Cruz. We've been writing songs for the last three or four months, but we've yet to record anything. It's sort of a big goofy thing, but it's also serious on another level and I love it. Heavy-as-hell, downtuned, Electric Wizard / Eyehategod / Sleep type stuff.

Are you interested in the black metal scene situation nowadays? Maybe you name some new bands that are worth listening in your opinion?

Really I'm not. I mentioned the black metal bands which I can enjoy in the question above. I think there is potential for an international advancement of black metal in all sorts of interesting new ways, but the pure thing itself is long dead; it died in the early to mid '90s. From what I've seen, I think a lot of "black metallers" need to break out of their little musical comfort-zone bubbles and start listening to some other genres. Simplistic, repetitive black metal is just fine, but why not mix it up with some more rhythmically or melodically complex music? Or even just different music, whether it's more complex or not? Try out some jazz, classical, electronic, hip hop, even some well-crafted pop here and there. Be adventurous and open-minded; you never know what you might discover. I believe that vitality in music comes from new situations, new combinations – experimentation. But, then again, who am I to tell people what to listen to?

Have you heard of Furze (Norwegian black metal band) or French LLN bands? What do you think about oldies of BM Mayhem & Darkthrone nowadays?

Yeah, I've heard of them, but I've never really listened to any aside from a couple of the more well-known LLN groups. I had a Möevöt record for a little while. I can't say that I enjoyed much of what I heard. Old school black metal is alright; every now and then I'll put on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", "Transilvanian Hunger", or "Det Som En Gang Var", but only on occasion, and usually along with at least a few beers (after all, that's the type of activity that music was created for). Those albums are great for what they are; they are part of that core of black metal that was really fresh and alive. It's just that so many bands copied that sound, and the genre just plain died off for a decade or more.

What is your opinion on noise music? Do you like it? If yes – name your fave bands.

Sure, I dig some noise. I'd even say it has a bit of influence on what I record. It's not my favorite genre by any means, but I do have a couple of Merzbow records and a lot of Nurse With Wound's surrealist noise stuff. Coil has done a bit of noise here and there, and they're one of my favorite bands. I also like NON, Tribes Of Neurot (not pure noise obviously), and a couple of others that I am currently failing to recall.

It is said on your official site that right now you are very into painting. Tell us more about your works; describe it. Is it something only for yourself or it will be shown someday? Maybe name some painters that you like.

Painting is my primary interest – I've been into painting and drawing since I was a kid. I am much more focused on painting than I am on recording music for Procer Veneficus; it is what I have dedicated the majority of my time and energy to, and I love it more than most anything else I do. I paint in an abstract expressionist vein, heavily influenced by surrealist techniques and (lately) bright, almost lysergic palettes. It's definitely not just "something for myself" as it's what I am getting my degree in (although my reasons for painting are purely personal and expressive – I have no real plans on making a living off of it). I haven't had any exhibitions yet, but this will definitely be happening within the next year. My favorite painters are Jackson Pollock (I admire his earlier, more figurative works), Willem De Kooning, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí (a genius in the truest sense), René Magritte, Wassily Kandinsky, and Eugène Delacroix. My bedroom is usually littered with art books, and I love learning more about new and old artists alike.

Night, let's talk a little bit about literature. What do you like to read? Name your favourite authors and literary works. Maybe you name some that are connected with the music of PV? Once again I am interested in your recommendations.

Okay. Currently I've been reading a lot of good old Ed Abbey (I prefer his nonfiction works, but it's all great stuff – read through some Ed Abbey books and you'll see where I got a few song titles), Jack Kerouac, and Chuck Palahniuk. I've also been going back and re-reading all of my Hermann Hesse novels and my Daniel Quinn books. In addition, I read a lot of poetry; Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson are all essentials. The literature that influences me musically is either the literature which captures atmospheres deliciously and explicitly (Ray Bradbury, J.K. Huysmans...) or the literature which plays around with language and words in interesting ways (a lot of the beat writers, some of the poets whom I've mentioned).

This question is for my personal intererest. My all time favourite musician is Greek-American singer and composer Diamanda Galás. Have you heard something about her or her works / albums? If yes – it will be very interesting to know your opinion on it.

Unfortunately I am not really familiar with Diamanda Galás at all. I've heard her name before, but beyond that I don't know much. I'm sorry that I can't comment at all; I'll have to look into her recordings.

In one interview you said that the poetry and music of Jim Morrison and The Doors has influenced you. It is interesting to hear. Can you tell more about this influence?

Jim Morrison is one of a small group of people whom I consider to be prophets or visionaries – the great artistic martyrs of our wild, no-holds-barred Western culture – or whatever you'd like to call them. They all fit a Jungian hero-archetype, and they all died young. Included in this group are Jackson Pollock, Jack Kerouac, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, John Lennon, Jhonn Balance, and a few others (Christ that's a lot of "J" names...). In fact, I'm sure there are a lot of others. About The Doors in particular: they are my favorite band, and they embody in my mind the perfect expression of their time period. As it should be evident, I am a bit of a romantic, and the mid to late '60s would have been a hell of a time to be alive.

What were you listening to last days and what will you recommend for people who will read this conversation?

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Neil Young, Eyehategod, Om, Jarboe, Robert Rich, Underworld, Joe Pass, Ornette Coleman, Philip Glass, and GZA. To those who are reading this conversation, I recommend an exploratory and wide-eyed mindset regarding all forms of music. It's all beautiful stuff, and I find that it's not particular genres which I like or dislike – it's the quality of the music within a given genre.

Your last words to all Russian PV friends, Night.

Thanks for the interview and the thoughtful questions; I appreciate the depth and diversity. To my Russian friends (and indeed all my friends in general): may you all be well, may you all find happiness, may you all celebrate the glory and weirdness and beauty of life on planet Earth. Sweet dreams.
21 июн 2007 the End