Hi Andrew,
The first question that comes to me from ports is how did you come up with the idea of choosing a concept like Caucerian's myth?
To say the truth then is not exactly a concept album but a real story told through songs instead of various chapters (which I find it fantastic)
Hello, and thank you for the interview! The concept first came to me due to my studying English Literature at my university. At the same time, I’ve always enjoyed composing and writing music. Geoffrey Chaucer is my favorite poet, and The Canterbury Tales is my favorite work of literature, and I really wanted to create a musical work based on the Tales. Having listened to Dungeon Synth for a while, I knew that this music was the right medium for this project!
As you said, telling a story though songs is a perfect way to describe it. I really love the idea of transcribing a non-musical, text-based word into wordless, instrumental form. It’s very exciting to see how I can tell the story without actually using language!
This new form if we want to call it "long form dungeon synth", differs somewhat from the classic way to propose an album with a conventional song number, do you think it might even include a literary involvement in your DS type?
Your music has a medieval and somehow ancestral character, however, each piece has its own unique imprint as in the "The Knight Tale" piece, which has a darker and more dramatic atmosphere. Do you feel free to express Chaucerian Myth's music in various directions without having to be labeled just as medieval dungeon synth?
I do. I think it’s important not to limit one’s expression or style. If you want to create old-school Medieval Dungeon Synth forever, I see nothing wrong with that, but if an artist wants to explore other styles, they should feel free to do so! I think the Dungeon Synth genre is seeing a lot of changes for this reason. People are wanting to push the boundaries, and the genre is so nebulous as it is, which makes exploration all the more possible. We’re getting some really amazing experimentations right now from artists like Einhorn, Ranseur, Effluvium, Roman Master, and many others which make listening to the genre more exciting every day!
For you there another writer or poet who could play a concept similar to that played by Geoffrey Chaucer now?
Well, I recently released my third album, based on The Book of Margery Kempe, which I think had a very strong concept. Right now, I have a lot of other works of literature and poetry that I’m working on for future albums: Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Christina Rosetti’s Goblin Market, and some shorter works as well, like the poetry of Robert Burns. These are all different than Chaucer’s works and concepts, of course, but they are still very powerful and evocative, and will make for great music-making!
In one of your interviews, I've heard you've been influenced and you're a great fan of progressive music like Rush ... what do you think it can be taken and reposted in your way in the DS by their way of composing music and even writing lyrics?
Do you think there could be a possible connection between two so different genres and possibly in what?
I think that there are almost infinite connections to be made with Dungeon Synth, due to the sort of vague and expansive nature of the genre itself. It’s a beautiful thing! Rush taught me how to write epic, cinematic songs with changing themes and time signatures, something that I utilize often when I write Dungeon Synth, so the connection is definitely there. Other progressive rock artists like King Crimson also have a huge influence. All of their 70s albums directly influenced the more Folk-oriented Dungeon Synth seen on tracks like “The Miller’s Tale,” which has a soft sound, but is also in an odd time signature (7/8 time). Artists like Argonath also make connections between progressive music and Dungeon Synth, which can be seen in some of the weird rhythms and time signatures used in their music! It’s very exciting!
You’re definitely right about it being more direct. There were a lot of heavily progressive and jazz-influenced songs on my previous album, Troilus and Criseyde, and I just felt like going in a different direction with this new album. It’s still complex in its orchestration and arrangement, but it’s more consistently dark and more focused on hooks and strong themes. There are some weird moments (the outro to “Demonic Visions” is in 9/8, for example), but these moments are fairly rare on this album, and are only used to punctuate and compliment the song when needed.
I think you're artistically a very eclectic person, and I think it's a positive thing, do you have any idea about a particular genre or idea where you would like to experience music and still have not done so?
I’d like to incorporate some sort of Synth-NWOBHM elements at some point. I think that would be a lot of fun – 80s-era Iron Maiden style riffs in synth form! I’d like to do some sort of “Space Age Pop” style like Mort Garson’s Plantasia album, which is one of my favorites. At some point, I want to try to do a full-on Dungeon Noise album, but I want to wait on that until I’m ready. It’s much harder to get right than many might think!
The current DS synth scene is at the moment very cohesive and collaborative ... how is going your collaboration with Visions of Ulnahar?
It’s going slowly on my side! I only have 2 tracks completed as of now, but Visions of Ulnahar has all of their tracks for the split completed already! I’m very excited for it! Visions of Ulnahar’s brand of Dungeon Synth is very much Dark Ambient, which can be a very boring genre in my opinion. However, they make it interesting, immersive, and even exciting! I’m very honored to be working with them.
How do you mean that should be a real collaboration between two bands?
Initially, I wanted to do a proper collaboration, not just a split, which involved the artists actually working with each other on every song, not just working on their own songs. For now, this has proven to be too difficult and time-consuming, so for now, I am more than satisfied with splits! I certainly have nothing against them, and I think they can be an interesting way to showcase both the similarities and difference of two or more artists.
With a real musical exchange or sometimes just to name a CD and hope that the respective band will spread the name of your band hoping for a little more publicity?
In Dungeon Synth, I think both are true. There are many splits which are genuine collaborations, and those are always very exciting. It’s always frustrating to see people be disingenuous, but frankly, I don’t see too much of that in Dungeon Synth. I think it’s a very genuine genre with very genuine artists!
Do you ever dwell in considering the spiritual aspect or sometimes even psychological which can have the music?
I’m not at all a spiritual person, but when composing the music for The Book of Margery Kempe, I couldn’t help but feel a bit spiritual despite myself. Margery was, of course, an incredibly spiritual person. She was a mystic, and she lived her life using her spirituality, tortured as it made her, to help others. It’s a beautiful, and very weird, book to read, and I highly recommend it.
In addition to texts of literature you also read other types of books? Can you name any of these interesting ones that you have read recently?
If you’re talking about books besides the texts of older literature, then yes! I love to read, and I try to read recreationally as often as I can. Some that I’ve recently enjoyed are Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, Brian Chikwava’s Harare North, Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni Rising, and Jenny Han’s Laura Jean series.
I'm noticing that the phenomenon of further classification of genres is also happening with the DS ... such as the medieval DS or the dark-DS, or even the avantgarde-DS .... maybe someday you could record a Jazzy-DS CD?
I think the Troilus and Criseyde album was pretty close to Dungeon Jazz, actually! There were quite a few songs on there that melded both Jazz and Dungeon Synth together. Someday, I might do an album with even more blatant jazz influence, but I’m not sure, and there are no plans for that right now. We’ll have to see what the future brings! Thank you for the interview!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer
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