OF THE WAND AND THE MOON (Eng.)
– Hello Kim, thanks for taking your time. What are you currently up to?
At present I am working on some video that I hope will be out on a DVD, hopefully some time along 2012.
Apart from that we are rehearsing a little bit for some shows next year.
– You have played some dates with DEATH IN JUNE. How has meant to you opening for one of the mightiest bands of the style in their 30th anniversary? What are your best memories?
Yes, that was magickal to be a small part of, and good to get a chance to see Douglas live again.
– First of all, though OF THE WAND AND THE MOON is an established project into the Folk world, I would like you to make some history of it (a bit about your past and present).
I used to play in a doom metal band called Saturnus. At the same time I had a love for bands such as Current 93, Death In June etc.
After a while my acoustic material began to pile up and the other members of Saturnus didn’t have the same interest in this kind of music, so eventually I decided to do my solo project OTWATM.
Guess the rest is history.
– And why did you pick the name «Of the Wand and the Moon» for the band? Both its origin and meaning.
It came quite intuitively. I needed a name when releasing the first album, and I usually work on the songs at night. So the moon represented the inspiration of night-time and the wand represented the Magick aspect of things.
– You have recently released your latest «The Lone Descent», your first in 6 years, something really unusual in you. Why did it take you that long?
I moved to another area here in Denmark for a couple of years. So needed some time to get settled.
And then I moved back again. So a bit chaotic.
However, I still did the Solanaceae album, an album with my funeral doom project, Black Wreath and
my project Les Chasseurs De La Nuit. Plus I also managed to record for other peoples albums.
So I still managed to do some music in between.
However, I really wanted to take whatever time needed to do this album until I was satisfied with everything.
I didn’t want to spare any money on this one either,
so it also became the most expensive recording I have ever done.
The thing about just releasing one album a year, just to release something doesn’t appeal to me.
I did some early rough recordings in the studio, which I abandoned because I really wanted to try and record everything on analog 2” tape, to get a more warm sound.
It was a time consuming matter, as you have to rewind every time you make a mistake, and when the tape is full it needed to be transferred to the computer.
Some songs had a lot of tracks, to put it mildly.
– All your albums have got an amazing feedback; does this mean more pressure when it comes to create new material or just bonus motivation?
I would do this music for myself even if nobody would listen to it.
Probably just on my 8-track recorder.
Of course it is nice to make some money to make the productions better and life a little less stressful.
But in the end I do this to satisfy my own sick needs.
And hey, it’s only money. You can always steal some more…hehe…
– I think «The Lone Descent» is your most melancholic and desolate album so far, still keeping the NeoFolk roots though. Was this something planned?
That was how life made it. Guess it couldn’t have been any other way.
– You have also managed to create something really catchy. Is it easy to create a good balance between something catchy yet beautiful and desolate?
Well thank you for liking my music. I just try to do my music the best way I can.
Whether it is catchy, beautiful or desolate I guess it is up to people listening to decide.
– In fact the album’s title fits perfectly with the whole effort, as so does the simple but effective cover artwork. What could you comment on it? I mean the artist, its meaning, etc… Maybe is a way to represent such «Lone Descent»?
While working on the music, it became clear where the sound, theme and look were heading.
However I came across this guy called Alex Rose, that wrote me that he liked my music.
He also made some art that I could check out on his blog on the internet (behindourmoon.blogspot.com), “in case I ever got bored”, as he put it.
I was really blown away by his wonderful imagery and knew that this would be perfect for my new album.
So I asked him and he agreed.
It was hard to limit myself to a few images, but the “Ikaros” image on the front of the booklet seemed perfect, and delivered an even deeper layer of darkness in my opinion.
– We can even find really outstanding tunes as «A Pyre of Black Sunflowers», which has a certain electronic feeling to it. Would you mind elaborating a bit on it?
Think I originally made this basic keyboard stuff, for a project I had a long time ago, called The Loveless.
Felt the time was right to try and incorporate something new to OTWATM.
Not sure what to say. It is definitely very different from previous work of OTWATM, but that was what I wanted.
– This being said, I’d dare say «The Lone Descent» is your most diverse album so far but keeping the primary essence. Due to this, I would like to know how was the songwriting process this time, or how uses to be like for most of your albums.
From the start I knew that I wanted to incorporate more 60’s kind of feel to the whole sound.
Loved how The Flaming Lips had produced their albums, their vintage sounds and instrumentation.
So that was an inspiration for me.
But I always loved that raw 60’s sound, Merseybeat, Wall of Sound. Even old Ska.
My father had a huge record collection when I was a child, and loved The Beatles.
The albums “With The Beatles” and “Rubber Soul” were among those records and later became mine.
I still have them.
Maybe these things in your childhood sticks to you somehow.
– As I said, your music has always had a dark, desolate and melancholic feeling, which fits with your main lyrical themes. Are your lyrics reflected in your life?
My music is very personal and has always been. Think this album, and other songs I did at the same recording sessions, has been very painful to produce.
Yes, it is very personal.
– Anyway, what do you want to express with your albums?
Not quite sure. Would like to say that it may be some kind of exorcism. But as I wrote in the scratched message of the vinyl “This was an exorcism…or a possession?”.
Maybe it is both.
– OF THE WAND &THE MOON is a solo project but, have you ever thought about doing of it a «full band»?
No, OTWATM will always be my solo project. It is much too personal for me to have anyone else tell me what to do with it.
I have witnessed how very close friends have corrupted my art one too many times.
Of course I have no problem with participating in other peoples projects, join projects with others or have people take part in OTWATM. But in the end OTWATM is my solo project, and I have the last say.
– Anyway some different artists have worked with you (as John Murphy among others). How do you choose them?
Coincidences really. John was in Copenhagen playing drums for Die Weisse Rose or OTWATM. Or both.
I can’t really recall. But I booked the studio and we had some fun doing various stuff for The Lone Descent,
And also some things that may be used for other things in the future.
Soma Allpass (cello) I last worked with for the debut album with Saturnus. She was great even back then,
and turned out to be even more great this time around.
Anne Eltard (violin) I had worked with on many OTWATM albums and other projects. Always a joy to work with.
Didn’t really know Bo Rande (trumpet & omnichord), but ran into him a couple of times, here and there.
Just knew he would be perfect for what I had in mind, so very pleased that things happened.
Was a great moment when he recorded in the studio.
So it differs how people come along. Yeah, coincidences…
– Finally, what does future hold for :OF THE WAND & THE MOON:? What can we expect from you from now on?
Apart from the DVD thing and playing live I am not sure. I am not ready to work on another album just yet.
Think I will know when time is. It was a very time consuming and consuming in a lot of other ways, to do The Lone Descent.
I also did some other songs at the recording sessions. Maybe they will be released in some form or other in time.
But for now I will play some shows and see what happens.
– That’s all from my side, thanks again for taking the time. Now the famous last words are all yours.
Thank you too for the interest and time.
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro!
