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Aaron, apart from your main responsibilities in the band, you are also responsible for designing and doing artworks. How interesting is it for you to make artwork for other bands? Do you always manage to embody all your ideas?
Aaron – I actually only create images for myself and then bands chose one that they like or that represents their music best. It is far too difficult for me to work with a band as they always will have slightly different idea’s and will keep asking for changes to be made if we work together. It’s so much easier for all when they chose an image I have already created.
What modern devices do you use – computer, for example? Or do you stick to classical painting like brushes, paper?
Aaron – Everything. Drawing, painting, photography, digital media. It’s not how you create an image, it’s the subject that counts.
Your cover artworks are very epic and dark. Do you create them before the music or after it? Is it a spontaneous process or do you try to create something “in this direction”? And in general how important is for you a visual side of you album – the booklet, the cover?
Aaron – When I do covers for My Dying Bride I generally listen to the music first, then write the lyrics, which helps to gain focus, and then do the artwork. It does help a lot to know what style the music is in when you start an image.
Being a designer do you download albums of other bands or do you buy the whole album with a booklet? Do you criticize other artworks – just as a professional?
Aaron – I always buy CD’s from stores because for me personally, a release from a band is not only about music; it is image, feeling and lyrics. I want to see photo’s of the band and read the words they sing. And I want to check out the entire layout of the booklet as that gives a good impression of the style of the band and not just the music.
Let us return a little bit to the past to the album "34.788%... Complete". The album was welcomed by the fans rather ambiguously. Some liked it greatly, others – didn’t. As far as I know you consider this album not a very successful experiment? But now, when some time has passed, and electronic samples have become so popular, probably the album may see a second life?
Aaron – I have always loved that album, it would not have been released if I didn’t. It was quite a gamble at the time but it was worth it. Many loved it and many hated it but the most important thing for this band is that we loved it. We write what we want to hear, not what we think other people want to hear; that’s why we formed the band in the first place.
Which MDB album do you consider to be the darkest and the most depressive of all your works? And do you think that after so much time you managed to retain the atmosphere of complete desperation and hopelessness?
Aaron – My favorite is The Dreadful Hours because it encompasses all that you would expect from a band like ours. It’s dark and menacing and brooding with lots of atmosphere and emotion. All the best elements we strive to obtain are held within.
Violin has always been extremely important in your music. And what other instruments in your opinion may create the similar mood on the album?
Aaron – Actually, we have only used the violin on half the material we have released, as we didn’t think it was too important. The guitars are the most important when it comes to creating the right atmosphere and the violin is there to add to this, not the other way around. We went for many years without a violin as we felt we simply didn’t need it. When is came back, we embraced it but we certainly didn’t go looking for it again.
"A Chapter in Loathing", is a very interesting track, as it is not much in the vein of MDB style. It seems to stand out from the whole album. Everything is unusual on it, it is more characteristic for black metal bands, than for you. What inspired you to create such a song and why did you include it in the album?
Aaron – When you look back to our earliest recording you will hear death metal mixed with doom and Goth, but we loved black metal too but simply didn’t bother to include it in those days as we felt we already had a good selection of styles. These days we quite like the idea of mixing in a little black metal just to keep things interesting. People expect us to do one or two interesting things and we don’t like to disappoint.
Could you tell us about the process of creating the new material? Was the new album difficult to write and compose? How much of the material was left over (if any)?
Aaron – Firstly, nothing was left over – there never is. When we write an album we make sure we create about 60-70 minutes of music and release the entire amount. Normally the music is written in lose form to begin with, then I add lyrics and it all comes together in the studio. On rare occasions I will write the words first and tell the band what kind of theme I would like and we write the song from there.
The album is rather diversified. We see that you had a lot of ideas, which we wanted to implement – different vocal styles, and mixture of styles untypical of MDB. Did you manage to implement all the ideas you had in this album? Aren’t you afraid that the album will be not so “one-piece”?
Aaron – The idea is to not make it so one-piece – it is not a concept LP, it is a collection of tracks which all should stand alone with the root of the band keeping it in the theme of My Dying Bride. We had a lot of ideas for the new CD and we used most of them but I still have some fresh new ideas for the next recording.
On this album you often use recitative. Is it made for the sake of the listener, so that the listener should better understand the words?
Aaron – No not really, it’s just for me to deliver the phrasing correctly and ensure the narrative is clear. I have never been the greatest singer in the world so this form of delivery works well for me.
On the song "Santuario Die Sangue" I heard distinctly a sound of a horse! A very strange thing, why did you use this sound?
Aaron – As the woman is being buried alive, the people doing it have their horses near by and animals can sense a human in great distress. This track has a vampiric theme which, being a dark for, will also rouse animals.
Judging from the combination of different elements on this album should we expect something very unusual in the next work?
Aaron – Perhaps but it’s really far too early to tell. It will be early 2010 before we even begin to write new material.
While listening to the new album I thought that the album is probably one of the lightest (meaning not so hard) releases in all your career, but still there is the usual dark mood and a depressive atmosphere in it. Do you think that heaviness of this or that album is an inherent element for such a dark mood?
Aaron – I believe if you get too heavy with the music it will detract from the mood and theme and become over powering. There are lots of very heavy bands out there who rely on their heaviness to attract fans, which is fair enough but I think it takes a lot away from everything else a band has to offer. We’re pretty heavy in places but we’re not out to cast ourselves as the heaviest band on earth….just the most miserable.
Shall we hear another reincarnation of the track "Sear Me", which dates back to the debut album “As the Flower Withers"?
Aaron – No. Sear Me was great but it would become a joke if we kept on doing it.
What kind of a person are you in your day by day life? Are you gloomy and depressive or are these emotions only for your music and for you scene image?
Aaron – We all get gloomy and depressive sometimes and perhaps I get like that a little more
than most. And when I do, I create the artwork or write short stories or poetry or write lyrics for My Dying Bride. I feel better and more lighthearted after I have created something from my misery. Have a look at my miserable work here www.azzron.com
Does the way that you live in GB affect your music much? The GB is considered to be a country of rains and fogs – a very good weather for such music as yours!
Aaron – It is indeed a very inspirational area where we live, especially up here in the North. It rains a lot and when it does I go out for long walks over the dark green hills and watch as the menacing dark clouds creep gently overhead. A true place for poets and artists.
Not so long ago there was a TV show on MTV channel you were asked a question, “Why do you use growl singing? We can’t understand a word!”, you tried to explain, but were interrupted by your drummer who said something like, “Don’t believe him! He sings growl, because he never remembers the lyrics! And in this way of singing you will not understand, if he makes a mistake!" And does it often happen that you forget the words of a song? What do you do in such cases?
Aaron – I like to song in a very aggressive style sometimes, especially if the track is an aggressive one. I don’t do it so much these days as we’re more miserable and less angry at the moment. It has nothing to do with forgetting words which every singer does. I have played many shows already this year and not forgotten a single word!
Why did you change growl into the clean vocals beginning from the album "The Angel And The Dark River"? Did you decide to take into consideration the wishes of your fans or was it just a new path of your development?
Aaron – It’s called evolving and everyone should do it as it can often open up a whole new world of idea’s. I was never going to remain a 100% death metal vocalist and so it was only a matter of time before a change was made. After Like Gods Of The Sun I told people I would bring back the death vocals and no-one believed me. I did it and everyone was shocked! It’s only a style and it comes and goes easily depending on my mood.
What material do you like to perform live more? Do you need a special atmosphere on stage? I think it is rather different to find the appropriate atmosphere at some festival where a lot of bands are performing and all the bands belong to different styles – power, doom, death, electronic music and so on.
Aaron – I much prefer to play smaller indoor shows as we have a better chance to control the elements that help create the right dark atmosphere for us. Outdoor festivals are difficult because of all the different genres and the lack of control of the lighting and the smoke machine which can beautifully enhance the mood of a song.
What did you feel when you played on the scene of Paradiso (Amsterdam, Holland) in April, 2007, where you recorded your double-CD release "An Ode to Woe"? NICK CAVE, THE ROLLING STONES, NIRVANA and SEX PISTOLS performed on this stage – so was it a usual show for you or was it something special?
Aaron – It was quite special, yes but mostly because of the great venue rather than it’s history of bands. It’s always a pleasure to perform at that club.
Your band is almost 20 years old. Did you manage to retain this enthusiasm of your young years?
Aaron – Yes we still have enthusiasm or I guess we would have split up by now. It helps too when we had a few new younger members join as that makes us older guys work harder.
On you latest album the violin has returned to your music. But the violinist left. Don you plan to look for a new violinist?
Aaron – We already have a new violin player called Shaun MacGowan who has been playing with us all year now so he is very much settled in.
Your line up has been changing rather often lately. Do the new members incorporate some new ideas into the band? Do you feel the influence of this “young new blood”?
Aaron – We certainly feel their presence but their contribution to actual song writing has not yet made itself known. I’m sure that after a while they will start to incorporate more of their idea’s and suggest more things which I’m very much looking forward to.
You have never been to Russia, though you received a lot of proposals. What is the reason for it? When can we expect to see you here in Moscow?
Aaron – We have been trying to come over for a few years now but our agent has not managed to secure us a deal that can get all of us (and our crew members) to Russia and back home again. I’m sure we will make it one day soon as we have been wanting to come over for years. Some of our earliest fan mail came from Russia so it’s about time we repaid the kindness of the fans.
You are considered the fathers of doom metal. And what do you think when you look at the modern doom metal scene? Are there any new bands which you personally consider promising?
Aaron – Well, I’m not a complete Doom fan – I like a good variety of styles in my metal and so I don’t concentrate on the doom scene too much as it would become quite tiresome. I normally get messages from people who tell me which bands are worth checking out because I am terrible at keeping up with the scene.
Do you think that the doom/death metal scene has any future at all?
Aaron – Of course. All scenes have a future – the question is how big will it remain? Doom/Death will be here forever; sometimes it will be huge and other times very small, but it is here to stay.
Do you keep in touch with your former members? Or with the band you happened to play with?
Aaron – I am not very good at staying in touch with people and so the only past member I email from time to time is Martin. I’m just crap with the past.
It is very difficult for talented people (as a rule) to coexist in one band. What relations do you have within your band?
Aaron – Well we seem to be coping ok so far. Admittedly we’ve lost a few members over the years but that’s not always down to musical differences. Outside of rehearsing and touring we do see each other from time to time, normally at the weekend for a few drinks but we still like to keep a certain distance as too much of each other can be a little trying.
On your official web site you wrote that most of all you hate to be on stage… A very strange claim. Why is that? Or is it a joke?
Aaron – I would much prefer not to play live as I get very nervous and would happily stay at home. I’m not the sort of person who needs the adoration from a crowd to keep the feeling real. I’m an artist who studies carefully and quietly at home and standing on stage is terrifying and so I could easily live without it.
Your fellow countrymen – Anathema è Paradise Lost – now perform another kind of music. What do you thing about their music?
Aaron – I like what they are doing because they are not afraid of what their fans think and are brave enough to try new idea’s instead of playing the same kind of music all the time. You have to spread your wings sometimes or you’ll crash to the earth and die out.
Your new album got a very unusual and poetic title – “For Lies I Sire”. What did you mean by this? What concept lies beneath the lyrics?
Aaron – The lyrics delve into the usual areas of My Dying Bride; doom, misery, sadness, romance, love, passion which are area’s I like to write about. I will leave the album title for the fans to work out.
Nowadays music and albums are very easy to download even before the release date. Some musicians hate this tendency, others don’t mind saying that this is a good way of promotion. And what do you think about this tendency?
Aaron – Well, it is illegal so I cannot accept it. It is stealing from the band who have worked hard to make the music. You won’t see anyone in My Dying Bride driving a Porsche or wearing expensive gold chains because we simply don’t make much money from the scene and if more and more people download illegally, we won’t be able to afford to hire a studio to record new albums in. Anyway, I much prefer to buy the CD as it has images of the band and their art, lyrics and notes, web site links and merchandise offers which is great.
Have you ever thought of making a cover album of your favorite bands?
Aaron – Several bands have used my images for their covers, which is fantastic and I’d happily step forward if a major band thought my work would look great on their cover.
And traditionally, a few words to your Russian fans and to the readers of our web-Zine Darkside.ru!
Aaron – We will make it over to Russia – I PROMISE. And hopefully soon, if not 2009 then certainly 2010 and we look forward to seeing you guys. Cheers, Aaron
Thank you for your answers and the time! Hope to see you in Russia one day! The Ukrainian show was wonderful, I hope that you Russian concerts would be even better… some day! Good luck! Bye!
Interview by Ksenia Khorina
© Russian DarkSide E-Zine
16 îêò 2009
ïðîñìîòðîâ: 5120
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