After exploring the album The Last Days Of Everything, we got the chance to interview the artist that is pagan interface to find out more about project and how it came to be. Here’s how it went.
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Hey – thanks for the interview, still really enjoying the album. Before we get into that – how would you describe your approach to making music?
Thanks for all the kind words, and thanks for having me here; my approach is basically to take what’s in my head sit down and to transform it into a piece of music; weird, twisted and whatever the output evokes in the listener is all coming from the creative journey.
How long have you been making music, and what first prompted you to begin?
On this level – releasing to the internet, I started it about 10 years ago, releasing on various netlabels and soundcloud as my main portal; it took me about 5 years before that to get an output which is digestible; I got bored with my everyday life and since I – in the first place wanted to make movies; I figured out sitting in front of my mac and opening garage band would be the best thing… things evolved from there.
How did you come to choose the artist name pagan interface?
I released some music under the alias of “hlx” and pagan interface was supposed to be an album title, however I somehow got bored with the “hlx” approach and all its limitations, I wanted to explore all kinds of new directions and pagan interface just felt like a perfect fit.
All our experiences are made through interfaces.
What inspired The Last Days Of Everything, and is there a specific underlying concept or thread throughout the tracks?
Well I am a sucker for dystopian science fiction, cyberpunk, chillwave and 80s aesthetics – I just mangle everything until it feels right to me,
the title originally was inspired by a photograph I found on tumblr; girls in the pool with empty champagne bottles looking relaxed as well as wasted, it had some foreboding of decay, change and apocalypse underlying beneath – a bit brett easton ellis, that’s the thread throughout the tracks in varying degrees.
Regarding the creative process – where in the journey do the track titles come in – do they help drive the mood or feelings of each piece, or does the music come first and the titles follow?
Giving the tracks their names is the hardest brain work, its always music first and then the names.
Who or what would you say inspires you to make this kind of music?
Almost everything; words, photographs, sounds, books, science fiction, sex; as far as “who” it is – massive attack, throbbing gristle, neon indian, flying lotus and mirwais as my main influences.
What do you hope people take away from the album, and is there a particular setting you feel would be the best suited to this as a playlist?
In the best of all cases I hope people will see that so called “chillwave” music offers more than some 80s muzak, shopping mall ambiance, that there is a level of discomfort underneath the neon airbrush
What can you tell us about the artwork for the album?
I was window shopping saw some undressed mannequins and thought this would be a good shot; twisted and glitched it until I was happy with it and that was the artwork… pretty fitting the album mood.
Does your creativity manifest itself in any other ways?
I don’t want to sound overly conceited but I think yes, every aspect of my life is somehow connected to my art or is art in itself; the way I maneuver through a capitalist society, the way I deal with obstacles, problems, losses and success.
It was after reading cosey fanni tutti memoir i realized that my art is my life and vice versa – main outlets being music of course and photography.
What’s something about you that people may be surprised to learn?
The biggest misconception about me, especially among people I deal with in so called “real life” is that I hate people; I actually like people, I tolerate and understand them, I just don’t like to be exhausted and drained by them and their trials.
What’s next for you – what are your plans creatively over the coming months and years?
Well I am working on new music – inspired by anthology series’ like black mirror or electric sheep; meaning the next album spambot // sociopath will be released in four to five consecutive episodes throughout 2019.
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Download the album via Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify. Find & follow pagan interface on Soundcloud & Instagram.
