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INTERVIEWS

For those who want to dig deep

Interview with ArtistLaunch Magazine

Interview: Craig Rempel

All of Dark Territory's music has been released on their own record label which as John states assures them control of their own destiny. "In 2006 I decided to start up my own label, Guflu Industries. This decision was one of the best for me in years. We had a lot of bad experiences with labels in the past: bills never got paid, mastering sessions went wrong, postponing of releases etc. etc. The great joy of having your own label is, that you are in control of your music and artwork, and you get to do it the way you want, when you want to. And early this year we got offede worldwide distribution for our CD's through EMI by Guido Müller from Prussia Records (Germany), so that's a big plus as well."

Now a new CD is due out later this year with songs that will be sure to further evolve Dark Territory and get into the hearts of many more people.

Interview with Tomahawk

Interview: Tomahawk

TOM: Tell us about your discography. You have been active since 2004 and you released a few MCD's and a full CD "Libera Me". What are the differences between “"Libera Me" and the upcoming CD "Dichotomy - New Moon"?

"Libera Me" is our debut album. It was written inbetween 2002 and 2005, and released in 2005 by German label Dark Wings. After they quit their business in 2006, we decided to re-release "Libera Me" on our own label Guflu Industries, together with the "DarkFlower EP".

Later this year our new release entitled "Dichotomy" is planned. It will be released as two separate discs, subtitled "Dark Moon" and "New Moon". "Dark Moon" is a collection of eleven remixes by artists like AngelTheory, Ah Cama-Sotz, Tankt, Tonikom and many more, and it features guest vocals by Sara Noxx. "New Moon" contains only new and original material that was written over the last two years.

Where "Libera Me" was more a collection of our ideas fused together into various dark styles, "Dichotomy - New Moon" has a more destinct ethno-electronic sound, with oriental influences and percussion. It also includes some wonderful guest appearences from angelical singer Sepideh Vahidi and cellist Saskia Le Poole.

TOM: Do you think your music can be played in a club? I think that it´s a great music to dance and move…

Definitely, especially the new remix disc "Dichotomy - Dark Moon" is suitable for the clubs. We still love to combine the gothic ethereal music and modern dance. It's our love for so many good music in so many genres that makes our sound fitting for listening at home as well as in the clubs.

(please contact Tomahawk for the complete interview in English)

Interview with Side-Line Magazine

Interview: Stéphane Froidcoeur

SL: You have both been active for quite a long time in the house scene, tell us a bit more about your background as artists and the move from house to undergroundmusic?

Jamez: I’ve been a house/techno producer for twelve years. I produced my first release together with my good friend Dobre under the project name “Trancesetters” and it was released on Jaydee’s First Impression label, back in 1993. A year later, me and Dobre, decided to release our music on our own Touché label. We didn’t know then, that the label would become one of the leading labels in the house scene. Artists like Carl Craig, Darren Emerson, Felix Da Housecat and many more took part in one or more releases. Some of our own releases became club classics. In all, it was a wonderful time, but two years ago the music-industry collapsed and even a strong label like our Touché did not survive.
In the late nineties I was looking for a vocalist and had the pleasure to meet John. We started producing songs as “Lemonsoul”. John had always been more interested in EBM and gothic than me, and his enthusiasm made me curious. I already listened to bands Front 242, KMFDM, Consolidated and later on Dead Can Dance, but John opened up a whole new world to me.

John: Jamez introduced me into the house/techno scene. Up ‘til then I'd been mainly performing as a singer in bands that used authentic instruments, like piano, guitar and cello. We started working together and we released some 12"es as Lemonsoul. Also I did the vocals on Jamez' solo album "Dreamchasing". But since I grew up listening to bands like Frontline Assembly, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox and Siouxsie and the Banshees, I kept the urge to experiment outside the boundaries of the house scene as well. We'd already done some 'darker' tracks, but it wasn't until the Australian EBM band Angel Theory asked us to remix their single "Transmission", that we took Dark Territory to a next level.

SL: A few songs like “Vrijdag”, Ankesuei” and “Kalandare” sound in the spirit of Dead Can Dance. Tell us a bit more about these songs and the eventual influence of Dead Can Dance?

John: We are very honoured that people connect our music to the music of Dead Can Dance. Both Jamez and I admire and adore the music of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. Of course being inspired by artists you admire is inevitable, so I can understand that people make this connection, even though for us it is not intentional. The songs you mention all started off as vocal improvisations. The soundtracks to the songs were later arranged to complement the melody and emotion of the vocals.

SL: In which way can we understand Dark Territory as a kind of escape from the ‘happy and commercial’ House scene to explore and express darker thoughts and subjects?

Jamez: I’ve always been interested in the dark side, however I’m not a Darth Vader wannabe. I like to watch Horror movies, listen to Coil and I’m interested in fantasy, witches, sci-fi and other things like that. These influences also reflected upon my house productions, so the “happy and commercial” house scene is not entirely where I come from. Dark Territory is however some kind of escape, but more from the boundaries that are set in music instead of our inner thoughts. With Dark Territory, we can explore a much larger spectrum of music, combine much more music styles and at the same time use our love for darker things to make it in to songs.

Interview with Orpheus Fanzine

Interview: Pascal Ascheberg

OR: If you had a machine to go back in time and if you could travel in a time of your choice, where would you go and why?

Jamez: Wow, I don’t know. There are many past times I’d like to visit. To see with my own eyes, how the Egyptians build a pyramid, see Rome in its glory years, see Pompeii before the destruction, meet and talk to Jesus. I could not choose a particular time. If the time machine was any good, I’d use it to visit all major events, that changed the world in one way or the other.

John: That's a very interesting question. Well, If I could go back in time, I for one thing would like to go back to the beginning of the eighties, to attend at a concert of Siouxsie or Dead Can Dance, when they were at the beginning of their career, or to go see a Joy Division-show which I never got to see. Also I would definitely want to go forward in time, to see how people will be living e.g. in the year 3000. How societies might have changed, if humans are still at war with each other, or if it is possible to have world peace after all.

OR: What inspired the wonderful song "DarkFlower"?

John: The whole song came from improvisation and was written in less than an hour. The melody and lyrics came from the heart. When the song was finished, the name "DarkFlower" felt perfect. Listening back to the song, an image came to my mind about a black flower that absorbs all light. So the actual lyrics of the song were written after the song had already been finished.

Interview avec Orpheus Fanzine

Interview: Pascal Ascheberg

OR: Si tu avais une machine à remonter le temps et que tu pourrais voyager à une époque de ton choix : ou irais-tu et pourquoi ?

Jamez: Wow, je ne sais pas. Il y a beaucoup de temps passés que j’aimerais visiter. Voir avec mes propres yeux comment les Egyptiens ont construit une pyramide, voir Rome dans ses années de gloire, voir Pompéi avant la destruction, rencontrer et parler à Jésus. Je ne peux pas choisir une époque particulière. Si la machine du temps était bonne pour tout, je l’utiliserais pour visiter les événements majeurs qui ont changé le monde d’une façon ou d’une autre.
 
John: C’est une question très intéressante. Bon, si je pouvais revenir dans le temps, je retournerais au début des années 80, pour assister à un concert des Siouxsie ou des Dead Can Dance quand ils ont été encore au début de leur carrière, ou pour voir un show de Joy Division que je n’ai jamais pu voir.
Je voudrais vraiment aussi aller en avant dans le temps pour voir comment les gens vivront par exemple en l’an 3000. Comment les sociétés peuvent changer, si les humains sont encore en guerre les uns contre les autres, ou si il est possible d’avoir un monde en paix après tout.

OR: Qu’est-ce qui a inspiré cette sublime chanson "DarkFlower"?

John: Toute la chanson venait d’une inspiration et a été écrite en mois d’une heure. La mélodie et les paroles venaient de mon cœur. Quand la chanson a été fini, le nom de  "DarkFlower" était parfait. En réécoutant la chanson, une image est venu à mon esprit sur une fleur noire qui absorbe toute la lumière. Donc les paroles actuelles de la chanson ont été écrites après que la chanson ait vraiment été finies

Interview with Dark Heart Magazin.de

Interview: Andreas Ohle

DH: On your new album "Libera Me" are a lot of good new songs. Where do you get the ideas for the melodies? Is this something that comes deep from your mind?

John: Many of the vocal melodies on the album come from improvisations and are therefore spontaneous. For instance, the vocal in "Ankesuei" was done in one improvised take, and later put to music. In "Kalandare" I started improvising over a bourdon tone and the melody just formed itself. It almost felt like being connected to a higher spirit.

Jamez: We make music, based on what we feel at that moment. We have tried to make music, starting off with a preset plan, but we failed every time. Melodies come with trying new things, using it, then throwing it away and try again, until you have the melody that suits with what you want, so that the song gets it’s form. Using electronic sometimes makes searching for melodies a lot easier, but at the same time it’s also a lot more difficult. When you have four people on violin and cello, you have four people thinking about the right melody. With a computer you don’t have this luxury, but it will not argue with you if you want to change a note.

DH: I like very much the song "Deliver Me" from your album. What is the song about?

John: The lyrics of "Deliver Me" are in Latin and are part of the Catholic Requiem Mass. It is a prayer for mercy at the Last Day, the apocalypse, when God decides if you go to heaven or hell. It is not that I am a very religious person, but I am interested in spiritual and religious topics like heaven and hell and the afterlife. Since the text of the requiem is very dramatic, I wanted to use it in a dark electronic song.

Jamez: Seen as John is the songwriter and the vocalist, most of the meaning of songs come from his mind. I more concentrate on the musical sounds and what I want to give to the listeners. When we make music, we usually start of with a rough idea and John takes over, trying out melodies and writing the lyrics. With this particular track, I took the original song, listened to it a couple of times and decided to make a remix. This remix is now on the album. The earlier 'Morte Aeterna'-version is still kept for compilations or a future single.

DH: About what topics are your songs in general? Are your songs a reflection of the society in which you are living?

John: Some songs, like "Ptolomea", have a specific thought behind it. Others songs, like "Tora Firome" and "Trista Me" are based on a musical idea. But there is no general theme to the album and most of the lyrics are improvised vocalizations that came from the heart. For instance in 'Kalandare', 'Ankesuei' and 'Vrijdag' the vocals are 'wordless' and used as an instrument. For me sometimes an idea or feeling is better transferred through melody and vocalization than actual lyrics. A melody can flow freely when it is liberated from pre-written words. When I do want to give the song a specific meaning, I use actual words, like in Deliver Me, Ptolomea and Creator. But I need the rhythm and sound of the words to fit within the musical texture.

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