Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Interview with Darth K.I.A. Cacophonyx, man from Shine, My Boregarden

Well, it’s obvious that The Mushroom Brotherhood was created as a fan-club in the first place. But what’s a fan-club without feedback? That’s why we dared contact one of the worship monuments of The Brotherhood – Darth K.I.A. Cacophonyx. The hive mind of our mycelium laid down the following questions to its cult hero and Darth’s individual mind generated matching answers.


1. Is one-man-band concept, in your case, a creative principle? Or is it just due to the lack of people who can share your ideas? Would you be able to create music with a proper band?

With a proper band (and by that I mean rehearsals, concerts etc.) – very unlikely. I’m simply not interested in this shit. But in case of strictly studio/virtual project… given strange coincidence, I may take part in such. For instance, for the last couple of years I’ve been working together with another guy (bass player) on a demo record for our dark/black metal project. Actually, this project kinda hung up, cause this other guy’s just sitting there with his finger in his ass. But I’m not going to urge him on, since the material on the demo pisses me off now. As for Shine, My Boregarden, it was absolutely intentionally created as one-man-band, and the presence of certain pronoun in the name clearly points it out.

2. What’s your attitude towards your works? What is it for you, a way of escaping, a megaphone?

My works are my own reflection.

3. What are the roots of your music, in your opinion? Did somebody influence you? How did you come to writing and performing music?

The roots of my music are within me. Nobody really influenced me, to say the truth, but the echoes of different shit that I listen to and that I like, of course, will be somehow reflected in my own shit. I started to write and perform music when my brother presented me with Casio synthesizer and extensively used boxing gloves on me to make me play it. 

4. Why did you switch from electronic music to metal at some point of your career?

I switched from electro to metal and vice versa several times. And these both also can go together. The thing is, I like both these genres. And even Shine, My Boregarden is metal only up to a point.

5. In what music are you interested now as a listener? Bands, genres?

Abstract Spirit, Comatose Vigil, Shape of Despair, Stark, Bethlehem, Godkiller, Хиазм, Тату, Псаломъ 666, Никонов Дмитрий Альбертович, Константин Крестов, Loli Vomits, Gorduw, Пилигрим, Grimm...

6. What are lyrics for you: rhythmic vocal filler or a way to tell the world about your views? Or something else? What is the inspiration for your lyrics? Funeral seems to be a serious genre, but your lyrics (though they deal with funeral themes) are full of sarcasm and tomfoolery. How can you explain this?

I started to put some sense into the lyrics starting somewhere from the 2006 album "Buried and then Digitized" of Darth K.I.A. Cacophonyx project, and now I treat this shit as a very important part of the songs. Before that my lyrics were strictly psychological and were being born spontaneously (e.g. "Incarnate Reincarnation - Exclamate Illumination"). At the moment (starting from "Sunshine" album), my lyrics are mainly spiteful, mocking, ironical and cynical, and this, in my non-humble opinion, is much more serious thing than songs about autumn, flowers, love, distress, pimples, impotence and other emotional stress of imbeciles. It’s a closed chapter for me and I will turn to these things less and less in future.

7. What does the name Shine, My Boregarden mean? How was it born?

The meaning is simple as rolling off a log. At some point you (I mean, me) get so fucking bored with everything that you (I mean, me) had been building, growing, keeping, guarding, and you (again, I mean, me) take a gas can, pour some over all this and throw a match. Let it shine.

8. Do you care what others think about your music?

Of course, I care! I love to be praised. Because in this case they praise not only my music, but the reflection of myself as well, and this improves my self-esteem. I love it even more when they shit on my music. In this case, it is great that my works reflect (at least, as yet) not all the ugliness that’s inside me. And I’m extremely proud of my ugliness. And this improves my self-esteem even more. But all this “constructive” criticism directed personally at me does not interest me at all and even irritates me a bit, to say the truth. I mean “make drums more varied / simple, do here more/less keyboards, include solo here, change the sound somehow”… I treat such things as an attempt to go against “when in Rome” concept, and I don’t give a #### about it. My music is as it is, as it was made to be. Nothing in it will ever be re-made, added, changed or upgraded just because somebody else wants it. This is my personal, extremely egoistic creative work and I can only suggest such critics to go and #### themselves.

9. Do you have songs which you’re proud of?

There are two of them: "Разумное, доброе, вечное" (“Clever, Kind, Perpetual”) and "Мирный атом - в каждый дом" (“Atom for Peace to Every House”).

10. What inspires you? What in particular inspired you to compose “Sloth”?

I take inspiration mainly from the ocean of shit that is “surrounding reality”, and the song “Sloth” was inspired by my sloth to write music at that time. This song is pretty labored and is a good example of creative impotence from my competent point of view.

11. Do you know the person behind the nick Uff on Darkside web-zine?

I don’t know him personally, but I’ve heard that he’s a poor construction worker from Moscow outskirts. And mom of a certain interpreter had been looking for him for a long time to beat him to death with her son’s sandals. I don’t know, though, if it’s true or not…

12. What book would you like to tear? What CD to break?

It depends and not on “what”, but “in front of whom”. And, of course, to look in the eyes of this “who” afterwards.

13. Have you ever played live?

No. But in the end of the 90s I took part in two rehearsals of local poor-piss-black-metal-band (sorry, I don’t remember the name) as a keyboard player, and I played electric organ. The band broke up right after these two rehearsals.

14. Does altered state of consciousness (not only drugs, but different stress) affect creative process? And how?

I can’t really say, because I don’t really know what is “altered state of consciousness” and what is not. But if you mean drugs, I can say, that I’m always tipsy when I’m not at work (and right now I’m three sheets to the wind). And when I’m at work I don’t have time or care for music.

15. Should there be sense in music?

It goes without saying.

16. Is there need to somehow support musicians these days, or is it law of the jungle-Internet, load up-stadiums?

The issue “need or no need” should be rooted in the will to support or its absence. If you want it, you provide the support, if not, then you don’t. Is there really a need? I don’t fucking know…

17. What’s the point of reverse images?

From my competent point of view, they just look cool. At least, mine do.

18. If tomorrow Markus Steiger (Nuclear Blast CEO) calls you and says: “Come join us! I’ll give you a studio and professional musicians”, what would you answer?

Nothing. Just the same, as if a men’s underwear manufacturer calls me and proposes me to be featured in their ads.


Interviews Oakim a.k.a. Jigsaw Quandary, EmilRegis a.k.a. EzekyleAbaddon & ElGatoEnjuto a.k.a. ElGatoEnjunto
The mycelium's mind expresses gratitude to FreneticJoker for translation and editing.

In Russian - here.

No comments:

Post a Comment